Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
One hour.
Two.
Five.
Finally, Horse-Face sauntered into the arena.
"Hehehehe."
"What are you waiting for? Kill him!"
His voice was a deafening, guttural roar.
Chen Xiao offered a lazy smile. "My foot's tired. Can't do it."
The flimsy excuse made Horse-Face clench his bulging fists as he closed the distance.
"Five seconds," Horse-Face hissed, the words icy. "Kill him, or I kill you."
"Five!"
He began the countdown, a verdict, not a request.
His insistence only confirmed Chen Xiao's theory.
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
With the final second, Horse-Face's void-like eyes locked onto Chen Xiao.
"One!"
Horse-Face lunged. His fist ignited with annihilating energy, tearing a vortex through the air itself.
Chen Xiao didn't retreat. He stepped into the strike, closing the gap until he was nose-to-muzzle with the creature.
His gaze was a fearless challenge.
"Die!" Horse-Face bellowed. The unleashed power warped the arena's magnetic field, hurling chunks of earth into the air.
But the cataclysm never came. The swirling dust simply settled.
Horse-Face retracted his fist and let out a booming laugh.
"HAHAHAHA!"
He took a step, his equine muzzle now uncomfortably close to Chen Xiao's face.
"Jiangbei. Chen Xiao."
"I'll remember you."
He turned and left. At the arena's edge, he tossed a single word over his shoulder.
"Draw."
Relief washed over Chen Xiao. His gamble had paid off.
As the game's referee, Horse-Face lacked the authority to execute a player who hadn't broken the rules.
This was never a death game. Stalling for five hours forced a draw, fulfilling the only objective:
Survive.
It was the sole path to life. He'd bet everything on it, and won.
If that fist had advanced an inch further, [Draconic Transformation] would have been his only, costly, recourse. But escaping this place remained the true puzzle. The first clue was theirs; now they needed the key.
No sooner had the tension left his body than a primal warning screamed in his mind.
The nascent dawn was violently extinguished, swallowed whole by an advancing wall of absolute blackness. Reality itself fractured, the fabric of space shattering and reforming like a broken kaleidoscope.
In this new, lightless void, Chen Xiao stood alone.
"Horse-Face?" he growled, his face hardening. Was the creature really going to shred the rules just to kill him? The pettiness was staggering.
On cue, a figure materialized from the dark.
Horse-Face.
He offered a grotesque grin, and vanished.
"Son of a bitch!" Chen Xiao felt a terror deeper than death—a sensation of being erased from existence.
Assaults came from everywhere, accompanied by the screech of twisting space. Horse-Face was truly trying to kill him, consequences be damned.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
The darkness became an echo chamber of destruction. This was his first face-to-face with a higher-being, a self-proclaimed "god." Holding back now meant death.
[Draconic Transformation]!
He unleashed his ultimate, hidden trump card.
His body underwent a catastrophic evolution. Scales, the color of aged bronze, erupted across his skin. Muscle mass exploded, his frame swelling with primordial power. The air hummed with the thrill of raw, ancient vitality. His fingers sharpened into vicious talons, and a powerful, living tail sprouted from his spine.
Chen Xiao was gone. In his place stood a humanoid Tyrannosaurus Rex, every breath a rumble of prehistoric dominance.
Yet, when Horse-Face's next attack came—a force meant to obliterate—instinct still screamed at him to dodge. He was hurled back hundreds of meters, his new, indestructible form scraping across the void.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
The attacks were relentless, driving him back. But Horse-Face was playing, not going all out.
[Dragon's Breath]!
Chen Xiao closed his eyes. In the darkness, his senses sharpened to an impossible clarity. He could feel the universe around him.
Locking on...
There!
He kicked off, shattering the blackened space beneath him as he launched forward.
A god? Let's see how long it could defy its own rules!
Boom!
His first counterattack was a force of nature—a fist carrying the weight of extinction. It tore a vacuum scar through the void, a blow honed by the Tyrannosaurus Rex and empowered by the Black Goat's lineage.
Horse-Face was thrown backward, his "hehehehe" laughter echoing unnervingly.
"Jiangbei, Chen Xiao..."
"What... are you?"
As Horse-Face muttered, the darkness began to recede. Was the strain of breaking the rules finally too much?
A familiar hum filled the air.
Hum—
The darkness shattered like glass.
Chen Xiao found himself back in the arena, Horse-Face retreating, Liu Chang'an still groaning under his foot. His draconic form was gone, as if it had never been.
A wave of debilitating weakness hit him, and he staggered to his knees—the inevitable price of his transformation. Liu Chang'an stared, utterly confused. No one had touched him. What was he doing?
He'd underestimated Horse-Face's resolve. The creature had strained against the rules for a dangerously long time, all for a chance to murder him. What a vile beast.
Steeling himself, Chen Xiao looked at the barely-conscious Liu Chang'an. He couldn't let him die yet. Grabbing his collar, he dragged him back to the holding room.
Their return after five hours nearly stopped Jiang Yunhan's heart. Even the unflappable boy's eyes widened.
"What... happened?" Jiang Yunhan stammered, looking from the critically injured Liu Chang'an to the weary but intact Chen Xiao. His mind raced. Did they fight a New Human? Impossible, Chen Xiao was untouched. A duel? Then why were they both back?
Before Chen Xiao could speak, Liu Chang'an, coughing blood, gasped out, "Cough... A draw... The game... can end in a draw... We don't have to kill each other... We can all live..."
The words hit Jiang Yunhan like a physical blow. A draw? Of course! Why had that never occurred to them? They'd been psychologically manipulated from the start, guided toward slaughter by Horse-Face's twisted narrative. That first group... Horse-Face must have interfered, ensuring only one returned. The bastard wanted them all dead!
The pieces clicked into place. He nodded slowly, then took a harder look at the pair. The difference was staggering. Chen Xiao was pensive but fine; Liu Chang'an looked one step from the grave and was watching Chen Xiao with naked fear. Jiang Yunhan noticed Chen Xiao's arm firmly planted on Liu Chang'an's shoulder—a clear signal of control, or a threat.
This "draw" was Chen Xiao's doing. But did that mean he possessed the power to reduce Liu Chang'an to this state and command his silence? Had he been hiding that kind of strength all along? The deception was breathtaking.
The little boy walked over to Liu Chang'an. "Liu Chang'an," he stated, with clinical detachment. "You are severely injured."
Liu Chang'an managed a pained, wry smile. "Brother Chen Xiao... concealed his true power... Who could have predicted...?"
After Jiang Yunhan and the boy left for their own session, Chen Xiao sat, eyes closed, conserving his energy. The five hours passed quickly. Their successful return marked a turning point.
"Chen Xiao," the little boy said, his voice even. It was the first time he'd initiated conversation. "You are clever."
Chen Xiao waved a dismissive hand, a faint smirk on his lips. "Naturally. Don't forget, you both owe me your lives."
Jiang Yunhan sighed, a wave of nostalgia hitting him. "I wonder what's happening out there."
Chen Xiao leaned back, his own thoughts turning inward. I hope Dashan is holding down the fort.
Time lost meaning. Fourteen days bled into one another, each a carbon copy of the last: enter the arena, stall for five hours, secure a draw. Horse-Face eventually stopped showing up altogether. Chen Xiao suspected the creature had injured itself by forcibly attacking him outside the rules.
On the fourteenth day, Chen Xiao and Jiang Yunhan found themselves paired again. They lounged against a stone stele, the incessant "hehehe" from the stands now just background noise. A fortnight of shared confinement had forged a familiar, if wary, camaraderie.
"Chen Xiao," Jiang Yunhan mused. "I've been wondering. What makes you so fearless?"
"Fearless of what?"
"What if I decided to kill you right now?" Jiang Yunhan made a casual throat-slitting gesture.
"Pfft. I made a deal with Dashan," Chen Xiao lied blithely. "If I'm not back in a month, he's to assume you, Jiang Yunhan, killed me in some treacherous plot, and he has orders to execute Jiang Chuxue in retaliation."
Jiang Yunhan knew it was an empty threat. "You wouldn't."
His sister was his greatest vulnerability, his most profound worry since the world ended.
"Wouldn't I? I was very clear. Believe what you want."
"My sister is a remarkable woman. No man with a shred of decency could bring himself to harm her. You wouldn't have the heart." She was beautiful and kind, with suitors lining up before the apocalypse. He was lucky Chen Xiao wasn't already pursuing her.
Chen Xiao's eyes sparkled with mischief. He gave Jiang Yunhan a hearty slap on the back. "You see right through me, bro-in-law!"
Jiang Yunhan's friendly smile vanished. "Don't even think about it. You have Miss Tang. That's more than enough luck for one man."
Chen Xiao shrugged, grinning. "Can a man ever have too much luck? Hahaha."
Just as Jiang Yunhan rolled up his sleeves, ready to teach him a lesson, an ethereal voice echoed through the room, silencing all else:
[Game 03 - Choice]
[Concluded]
[Objective: Survive]
[Status: Achieved]
[Calculating Rewards]