Death Game

"Hey, Zhou Ze, this experiment is dangerous."

The moment Zhou Ze stepped into the containment chamber, he saw Old Yang leaning against the wall nearby with his arms folded. Wearing an enigmatic smile, he teased, "Be careful. Don't go dying on me..."

Zhou Ze paused briefly, then continued forward as though nothing had happened. He glanced at Old Yang out of the corner of his eye, a question in his gaze.

Old Yang certainly had abilities, but Zhou Ze did not. Recklessly talking to him would only arouse suspicion. God knew how many pairs of eyes were watching this place right now.

"Don't get too nervous. If things really go south, I'll warn you." Old Yang shrugged, his bloodshot eyes utterly untroubled. "When have I ever steered you wrong?"

Before his words had finished fading, Old Yang vanished.

Zhou Ze took a deep breath, calming his mounting anxiety.

It would have been a lie to say he wasn't afraid. He was risking his life in this experiment.

The containment chamber was a spacious, brightly lit circular room. A cube-shaped box stood at its very center, its mirror-smooth surface reflecting the light. Intricate geometric patterns were engraved on it, shifting faintly beneath the illumination, exquisite and mysterious.

Apart from that mysterious box, the room contained nothing else. There were no seams in the smooth metal walls. The entire space resembled a sealed container.

Once they were fully inside the containment chamber, the door slowly closed, locking with a heavy clunk.

All three were pale. They looked around blankly before their gazes finally met, silently sharing their unease and confusion.

In the deathly silence, Zhou Ze could hear only his pounding heart and heavy breathing.

Just then, powerful music suddenly blared from the box. Its thunderous rhythm struck straight at their hearts, leaving them dizzy.

Accompanying the rousing music, indistinct dark figures appeared on the room's smooth walls. Like a silent audience, they cheered and jumped for joy, surrounding the three men.

Shivering, Zhou Ze instinctively huddled toward the center of the room with the two Class D personnel.

"Welcome to the Death Game!"

As the music faded, a charismatic male voice immediately rang out from the box:

"Three brave participants, are you ready to face the trial of fate? Members of the audience, don't forget to cast your soul as a vote for your favorite player! Guess the final survivor correctly, and you'll have a chance to win the precious reward of a 'second life'! Let us witness the birth of a miracle together, and see the flower of life bloom on the razor's edge between life and death!"

"Now, let the game begin!"

What the fuck was this, some kind of variety show?

Zhou Ze felt his head ache.

The two Class D personnel looked equally sick, especially the thin man, who was trembling uncontrollably.

"What do we do now?" The burly man looked at Zhou Ze, his voice shaking. "Should we do something?"

"You're asking me?" Zhou Ze rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, two green light screens appeared on either side of the box, bisecting the circular containment chamber through its center.

At the same time, a ring of dazzling green light surrounded the box, forming a perfect circle and dividing the space into inner and outer sections. The inner section was completely filled with sickly green rays.

"Watch out for the green light! Don't touch it!" Zhou Ze's warning echoed through the empty room, snapping the other two out of their stupor.

Almost instinctively, all three leaped backward, putting distance between themselves and the eerie light screens.

"The first round is a warm-up. Contestants, get those legs moving~"

The words had barely ended when a rapid drumbeat thundered in their ears. At the same time, the green light screens began rotating slowly, visibly gathering speed.

"Run!" the burly man roared, delivering a hard slap to the dazed thin man's back.

Only then did the thin man start running, as though jolted by electricity.

The three sprinted in the direction the light screens were rotating, their rapid footfalls echoing through the empty room. Fear dogged their every step, forcing them to race desperately along the edge of death.

They all knew that running closer to the center would take less effort, but who dared approach that deadly green light?

The bald, burly man led the way. Despite his heavy breathing, he still seemed to have energy to spare.

Zhou Ze followed close behind, feeling his heart hammer wildly in his chest as though it might burst through his ribs.

The thin man trailed behind, his steps unsteady, looking ready to collapse at any moment.

As time passed, all three were drenched in sweat, their breathing growing increasingly frantic.

Suddenly, the thin man at the rear stumbled and crashed hard to the floor.

He whipped his head around, his pupils dilating in sheer terror. He stared blankly at the approaching green light, his mind momentarily going blank.

Just as the light screen was about to sweep over his body, it abruptly vanished without a trace.

For a moment, silence fell over the room.

But soon, the thin man lay on the floor dry-heaving, his entire body shaking violently with lingering terror.

Zhou Ze and the burly man stood frozen like statues, gasping for breath, their eyes still haunted by fear.

"You passed!"

The powerful music blared again, and the charismatic male voice announced, "Next is round two. This round will test your reaction speed and physical coordination!"

"You have five seconds to prepare!"

Five fucking seconds?!

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

As the countdown ended, the thunderous drumbeat sounded again. Two light screens, one crimson and one deep blue, appeared out of thin air, crossing each other as they rotated clockwise at different speeds.

Zhou Ze's mind raced, his eyes fixed on the rotating light screens.

He quickly realized that the two colors moved at different speeds. If he simply stood still and reacted as they came, sooner or later he would touch both screens at once. That would mean certain death.

He had to time it right and actively pass through one, then seize an opening to pass through the second, repeating the cycle.

Move for red, stay still for blue, don't touch green...

Move for red, stay still for blue, don't touch green...

Zhou Ze silently repeated the rules. In this critical moment, he could no longer spare the attention to warn the other two. Without hesitation, he charged toward the oncoming red light screen.

Beside him, the bald, burly man's mind had gone blank under the immense pressure. He had long since forgotten the rules.

Yet in this life-or-death moment, he instinctively made the wisest choice-run after Zhou Ze!

Not far away, the thin man had just climbed off the floor. With his strength exhausted, he struggled against suffocating terror. His vision went black, and his limbs seemed to refuse his commands.

In that brief moment of hesitation, the blue light screen swept silently through his body like a ghost.

He jolted as though waking from a dream, struggling to get upright and escape. But the red light screen abruptly accelerated and followed right behind, mercilessly passing through his body.

The thin man's movements stopped abruptly, as though time had frozen.

A moment later, his skin began melting before their eyes, like a candle rapidly dissolving under a blazing sun. Flesh sloughed off in sticky sheets, pooling on the floor as a thick, dark red liquid that gave off a nauseating, bloody stench.

His eyeballs first bulged, then rapidly collapsed into two pitch-black hollows. His tongue dissolved inside his mouth and dripped down his chin. As though scorched by invisible flames, his muscles swiftly shriveled and peeled away, exposing the bones beneath.

Within mere seconds, the thin man became a stark white skeleton. It still held the pose of his final struggle, its empty eye sockets seeming to speak of the terror and despair of his last living moment.