Huang Tian opened his eyes and looked around. He was sitting at a round table in a gray, murky space. Four other people sat around the table, and Dong You was among them.
Off to one side stood a long table, where Ding Xueyi sat with four other men and women.
"Master Huang!" Dong You quickly surveyed the room. When he spotted Huang Tian, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
The other three people at the round table—two men and a woman—looked grim.
"I'm finished. I can't believe I was picked for the game. I'm useless! Whenever my life reaches a critical moment, I get nervous, mess everything up, and nothing goes right!" One of the three was a bespectacled man in his thirties, wearing a plaid shirt and looking like a programmer. He buried his face in his hands, seemingly on the verge of breaking down.
"I'm from the countryside. I haven't played many games, and I'm not too bright..." Beside him sat a gaunt man in his early fifties, with a sallow face and a trace of a rural accent.
The remaining woman wore a long teal dress and silver-rimmed glasses. She looked like a university student. Forcing herself to stay calm, she said, "Don't panic. The Destiny Game isn't like a mobile game. It calls for careful analysis of information, but good luck matters even more. Someone lucky can make the right decision even when they have no idea what's going on."
The bespectacled man's hands trembled slightly. "Easy for you to say. Once the five of us enter the game world, who's going to lead and make the decisions? Who can be certain they're luckier? If we make the wrong choice and fail to clear the instance, the five of us will die, sure—but