Chapter Ch62.1 - Jingyi
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Wu Jin froze.
Wei Shi’s eyes were deep and didn’t seem to absorb the light. It was probably because he was too overwhelming, but even his brief inquiry came out like an interrogation.
Wu Jin’s face was red, his heart rate soaring up to 120 BPM.
Obviously feeling guilty.
The man’s gaze swept over the small round face. Wu Jin finally reacted and hurriedly began to rub his face.
Wei Shi: “Why rub your face.”
Wu Jin: “… Be, be, because it’s hot…”
Wei Shi opened a gap in the coffin, and the cold air streamed in.
The freezing wind swept in, and the rabbit spirit who had been forced to cool down didn’t seem to be aware of it as he swiftly turned into a rabbit popsicle, the type that had round, shifty eyes.
“!!!” Wu Jin subconsciously shifted further into the coffin.
Wei Shi: “Cold or hot?”
Wu Jin stilled, then opened his mouth with difficulty, “It’s ho, hot…”
Wu Jin shivered and trembled as he pulled himself out of the big boss’s warm, toasty embrace to welcome the cold, bleak wind.
Wei Shi bowed his head to look at him and suddenly reached out to stuff him back in.
Although the youth had un.o.btrusive muscles, he still felt soft to the touch most of the time. When he was pressed down by Wei Shi, he immediately turned quiet and obedient and changed shape––just when he was about to be squeezed into a ball, the man suddenly reached over Wu Jin’s shoulder and sheltered him from a raised piece of wood inside the coffin.
Most of the props used in the Crosson Show were high-end and impressive on the outside, but shoddy and cheap on the inside.
Wu Jin, who was just about to b.u.mp into a plank, ended up on Wei Shi’s broad, strong arm, his small curls tickling Wei Shi.
The arm blocked the rampaging wind for him, and Wu Jin, sheltered by the big boss, felt like he was soaking in a warm spring. The coffin was still slightly open, but now it only felt cool––
It was like watching snowflakes fall while soaking in a hot spring on a winter night. The freezing wind was blocked by the shelter, and the cold snow was soon melted away by the steaming heat.
Wu Jin subconsciously looked up.
The cold, -20 degree wind didn’t seem to trouble the big boss at all. The man looked down at the dazed, silly rabbit, and the rabbit raised up his cheeks in pursuit of his heat.
Wu Jin’s heartbeat suddenly quickened.
There seemed to be a kind of uncontrollable joy rising up from his heart.
Wei Shi looked at the youth who’d finally quieted down––he was curled up comfortably and looked happy, neither shivering with cold nor flushing from heat.
The man finally showed a satisfied expression. His arms folded in, and he pulled Wu Jin further into his arms.
Five minutes later.
The trumpet cut through the night, and light spread down from the top, driving out the cold. The angel from the Judgement card appeared again, bringing salvation to the world.
The two of them paused slightly as they came out of the coffin, as though deliberately or unintentionally hoping for redemption to come later than it had.
After coming out of the safe zone, due to the rule against illegal team formation, Wei Shi nodded to Wu Jin and didn’t hesitate to turn away.
Wu Jin hugged his carrot gun and watched as he left, then turned back at the first gunshot––
His bright eyes gradually sharpened, warm fingertips sliding across the trigger. By the time he looked up again, he was already in his peak state.
It was now 40 minutes since the start of the game.
Wu Jin went back to his bunker and swiftly retrieved his hidden cards. His eyes quickly swept across the scene.
The trumpet had rung out once before they entered the instance, and twice after they’d entered––
In the center of the instance, a coffin was rumbling as it sank.
The coffins were decreasing.
Wu Jin suddenly understood.
The meaning of the Judgement card was finally revealed fully with the last clue. The angel, trumpet, coffins, and the dead all formed a game that had a complete set of rules.
Every time the trumpet rang out, the number of safe zones would reduce by one, meaning that the next time the extreme cold came, at least one player would be eliminated because they weren’t able to reach a safe zone.
The trumpet represented each turn, while the ‘dead’ and the coffins were playing a game of musical chairs.
The only loophole in the rules was that the instance didn’t prohibit two players from pushing themselves into the same ‘chair’. However, the capacity of each coffin was limited, and the Judgement instance would inevitably become increasingly difficult with time.
The trumpet rang a third time.
Wu Jin once again seized a coffin despite coming under quite a lot of suppressing firepower. Because of this, he was also distanced from Wei Shi, and the two people’s circle of gunfire no longer overlapped.
The trumpet rang for the fourth time.
Wu Jin leapt out of the safe zone and b.u.mped into Ming Yao, a trainee from Jingyi Entertainment. At this time, both sides had made full preparations, and after a fierce exchange of gunfire, Wu Jin finally lost due to his lack of experience. He had to give up the coffin he’d previously occupied and instead robbed another C-level trainee’s ‘chair’.
What he noticed the most was that Ming Yao was fiercer than he’d been in the last battle. He could even be said to be reckless, as though he’d suddenly gotten a certain level of a.s.surance.
The trumpet rang for the fifth time.
There were only 15 contestants left from the original twenty plus people, but there were only 13 coffins left in the instance. Just when everyone was gearing up to fight––
The angel in mid-air suddenly opened up its wings.
Countless steps rose up into the sky, some dotted with patterned columns, leading up to the high platform in front of the angel’s cheek.
On the other side of the instance, a hidden door slammed open. Outside the door was the corridor that the contestants were familiar with, leading out to the next unknown instance.
Almost all the trainees reacted at the same time––they had cleared the Judgement instance!
Wu Jin, who was hiding behind the bunker, looked quickly at his right wrist.
On the wrist terminal, 200 of the 300 trainees were still in the game. Only half the people who’d entered the Judgement Card instance had cleared it.
The 1/3 overall elimination rate and the 1/2 instance elimination rate weren’t equal, which meant that the difficulties of the instances varied. The Judgement Card instance was obviously above the median level of difficulty.
What he hadn’t expected was that there should be only one exit for the instance after clearing it, but there were actually two options to choose from.
One option was to break out into the corridor directly, while the other was to follow the steps and kill their way up to the high platform across from the angel––there was obviously some kind of instance clearance reward there.
Wu Jin narrowed his eyes as he looked up. An intense light escaped from the top, and there was a card suspended on the platform.
Cards…
Wu Jin still had two cards in his pocket, but he hadn’t been able to confirm the real role the cards played by the time the first instance had finished.
They could be used to ‘exchange fate’, and could also be s.n.a.t.c.hed away.
The brightly glittering high platform held an extraordinary allure for Wu Jin. During the third elimination match, any information related to the cards was crucial.
––Yet, he knew deeply that his little life was more important.
The platform was about 15 meters away from the ground. There were over ten trainees lurking around, and whoever dared to go up would become a dynamic training target at any minute.
Wu Jin instantly made a call, his gaze locking onto the exit to the corridor. As long as anyone dared to go up onto the platform, he would have the chance to rush out of the instance––
The sound of gunfire burst out.
Wu Jin turned around quickly, his eyes opening wide with excitement.
The first person to step up the stairs was Wei Shi.
The man looked indifferent as he walked up towards the light. The angel sculpture floating in mid-air seemed to nod slightly as it looked down at him compa.s.sionately.
The atmosphere in the instance was heavy––a stray bullet burst out, hovering in the air as it flew towards the man.
Wei Shi’s eyelids raised slightly as he indifferently returned fire. Wu Jin couldn’t even see his shooting clearly, yet a silver life-saving capsule beneath the platform had already abruptly popped out!
There was a stretch of silence. After that, gunfire fell like rain, the steps becoming the most obvious target for sniping. The trainees tried to cut off Wei Shi from both front and back, wanting to exterminate this powerful enemy making his way up to the platform.
The man who was about to arrive at the elevated platform was fearless, using the cylindrical pillars as bunkers and killing off an enemy with each shot.
Triple kill.
The sound of gunfire paused. The triple kill was like a deterrent, forcing a gap to appear in the dense and solid zone of fire instantly––and Wei Shi chose this moment to jump up onto the platform like a ghostly figure.
The intense white light gathered in front of the angel’s wings, and the man who had his face to the light finally turned around. Beneath the strong lighting, his outline was clear, and the darkness of his pupils made people shudder.
There was a sense of dignity that mustn’t be offended.
Wu Jin’s breath suddenly burned hot as he looked straight at the platform. The gun in the big boss’s hand was like a scepter of life and death. Every time he raised his hand––a life-saving capsule popped up again!
Wu Jin immediately returned to his senses.
His chance was right now––