Tyler frowned. This was a simple snake and ladders. It seems like the difficulty level increased after he decided to join this world. He remembered reading something about facing illusion in the first stage. Although it wasn't mentioned what type of illusion the male lead had faced in the original novel, Dean could pass this level easily.
But there wasn't anything related to this current game, snakes and ladders. Not to mention the fact that illusion happened twice: once when they entered, and secondly when Tyler looked at his reflection in the right mirror.
Not only that, but the left side mirror also sucked the two of them into a snakes and ladders game.
It seemed like this time, the story details given by the system really weren't reliable. It was because even before Tyler and Dean came here, there were already a few people who were sucked in the left side mirror as they touched it. Only one of them touched the right mirror, who had just woken up from his illusion.
It was either that more than one person could increase the level of difficulty, or perhaps the details of this world might be the same as the original story, but the system didn't give him enough details.
Tyler shook his head and glanced at two people standing at the start button. Before his eyes, he could see two big dice. Tyler picked them up and rolled them without thinking twice.
"Wait!" Dean face-palmed at his friend's reaction. "Shouldn't you just take a look at the rules first?"
Tyler didn't even glance at a certain male lead, who seemed to purposefully act like a dumb person and said, "If we stand on the snakes, we will be killed, and if we stand on the ladders, we will go several steps up. And after reaching the top, we will get a chance to fulfill one wish." He glanced at the male lead and asked, "Any questions?"
Dean swallowed the words he was about to say and shook his head. When Tyler turned toward the dice, a certain male lead let out a warm smile that reached his eyes. It seemed as if this person was satisfied with Tyler's ability to deal with the situation without batting eyelashes.
Seeing that smile, the man with glasses shivered and didn't say anything. He just felt like Dean and Tyler were really weird people.
"Your turn." Tyler had already stepped forward three tiles and turned toward Dean, glancing indifferently.
Four corners of the tile where Tyler stood gave out the light from all the corners, and the dice disappeared from the board, appearing again right in front of Dean's feet. He sighed and picked it up. He rolled the dice, and the number that appeared on the top was five. He walked over, bypassing Tyler, and reached his tile. Just then, a ladder appeared before his steps.
Dean hesitated at this time. He wanted to go first, but he feared that if he stayed far away from Stanley, something terrible would happen. And at this point, Dean couldn't bear to let anything go wrong. But before he could make his decision, Tyler immediately said, "What're you waiting for? Climb on."
"What if something happened to you once I went upstairs?" Dean could see that this ladder would help him reach the number 50 easily, but the difference was too far.
"What? Are you suddenly worried about me?" Tyler frowned, his suspicious eyes narrowed again, reconsidering his assumptions about this male lead.
Dean smiled but didn't say anything. He just climbed on the ladder and reached his number. "I was worried that if I stay far away from you, you would make a terrible mistake and end up dying." And he didn't want that.
"What're you thinking?" While conversing, Tyler seemed to forget that this person wasn't David from the previous world, but Dean, whose identity still wasn't clear. But the way Tyler talked was similar to when he used to converse with David. "Once you win, you can still make a wish and save me. It's the same thing."
The smile in Dean's eyes deepened. "What makes you so sure that I'll save you?"
At this time, the person playing Stanley's character was stunned. After hearing this statement, he seemed to have come back to himself and suddenly realized that this person might not be David from the previous world. But even if he was, the other person didn't seem to have any intention of revealing anything about himself. This thing frustrated him more than anything, and he lowered his head to hide his expressions.
The two of them remained silent after that, and the man wearing glasses shivered again from coldness. He couldn't tell if this temperature was because of this dark room or the atmosphere between Tyler and Dean. Ah...the man with glasses wanted to get away from these two dangerous people!
Trembling, he silently picked up the two dice and rolled them. On the surface, he could see that the number three was displayed, and his shoulders relaxed. He smiled at Tyler. "It seems like I will be in your care this time." And after saying that, he simply walked over and stood beside Tyler.
Dean's face darkened after seeing this. He also wanted to stand beside Stanley! How come this person, whose name he still didn't know, got to stand beside his friend?!
The man with glasses perceived Dean's cold gaze, and his back was covered with a cold sweat. Why did it seem like the temperature of the room lowered even more?
The three of them continued to play the game until the dice rolled eleven, sending Tyler to the snake's tile. All of them were stunned. A trace of anxiety flashed across Dean's eyes before he lowered his head and said, "Don't worry, I'll save you."
Now it was Tyler's turn to be baffled. After a long pause, he couldn't help but ask, "Weren't you reluctant to help me earlier?" To be honest, his heart said that this person was the same man who had played David's role previously, but due to some reason, he tried to hide his identity. When Tyler was in danger, he suddenly became anxious, revealing his hidden intention to protect Tyler at all cost.
If this deduction were accurate, then Tyler could let out a sigh of relief. But since there were so many differences between Dean's and David's personalities, Tyler also felt that this person might be someone else. These complicated assumptions made it difficult for Tyler to conclude. So he just decided to ignore this topic for the time being.
Dean chuckled nervously. "When did I say I won't save you? You're my childhood friend, aren't you?"
"Fine, save me then," Tyler said arrogantly and crossed his arms across his chest.
The male lead sighed in relief and said, "There's one thing that you hadn't read in the rules. After passing every tile, you will get points, and with these points, you can help your fellow team members in trouble." He paused and continued. "When you reach the top, and if you have zero points, you would have to restart the game. You at least need a minimum of 10 points in your bucket for winning this stupid game."
This feature seemed very good at first, but not all the team members would be willing to waste the points just for another person. That means if someone were to die because of a snake, no one would save you. Perhaps that was how the team members of that man with glasses disappeared and died on the spot.
Before anyone could refute, Dean crouched down and tapped his finger on the points written just beside the tile number. Soon, a square board appeared before his eyes, along with a list of things that could be bought with these points. After reading through it, he bought a method to make one wish and used five points. He inserted a few words and pressed enter.
As soon as he pressed enter, the three of them suddenly disappeared and came right in front of the left side mirror.
Seeing this, not only the man with glasses, but even Tyler was also stunned. Then he suddenly realized what had happened. He turned toward Dean and gazed at him with awe. "You actually used a wish." Then he frowned. "But since it is already written in the points, it doesn't make sense for the players to win to make this wish. Can't they just use the points button to pass this game?"
Dean shook his head and explained, "As I said, no one would be willing to use the points for someone else. And many don't even read the rule properly to realize the function of these points. So these points are actually a shortcut to passing this game." Then he touched the surface of the mirror, and ripples appeared around his fingers. With a smile, he said, "Let's go."