"Motherfucker, what kind of crappy design is this!" Chekhov cursed angrily.
Two gunshots answered him, and the Russian fell to the ground with blood from his chest splattering everywhere.
At this moment, the cavalryman grappling with Mingzi shouted a few sentences—neither Chinese nor English but a completely incomprehensible language.
But only they couldn't understand it.
The newly arrived cavalry immediately reacted.
One remained on horseback, reloading his firelock, while another drew a short gun from his waist and ran toward Mingzi.
It was clear that among the four, only Qianyuan Mingzi had a slight grasp of cold weapon skills.
And for this reason, she was regarded as the primary threat by the enemy, while Zhou Zhi was completely ignored.
Once she fell, their "pirate career" would evidently come to an end.
Zhou Zhi understood this as well, muttering "It's just a game... It's just a game..." while trembling and clutching his axe. As the cavalryman swept past him, he howled and leaped up, using all his strength to chop at the opponent.
Although he looked unsteady, at least he didn't just stand there waiting to die.
This action seemed to catch the cavalryman off guard.
The enemy was forced to retract his hand gun and block the axe with his arm. Just as Mingzi had said, the handle vibrated not with the squish of sinking into flesh but with the shock of metal striking stone, and the huge recoil sent the axe flying from Zhou Zhi's grip, knocking the cavalryman off his horse.
Success!
Zhou Zhi stepped forward to pin the opponent down, reaching for the hand gun, when he suddenly felt a chill in his belly.
Looking down, a dagger had already pierced through his stomach.
"Damn it, this bastard... can switch weapons..."
Zhou Zhi said with the last of his effort.
His vision rapidly blurred.
He saw Qianyuan Mingzi being caught between the original and the reinforcing cavalrymen and carelessly got her head chopped off, her blood shooting high from her neck. The Russian, after being shot, didn't die instantly, but his fate was even worse—since he lost the ability to fight back, the villagers who had been hiding around also mustered up the courage to join the fray with pitchforks and clubs, so he was full of gaping, light-transmitting holes when he died.
Then everything was engulfed in white light.
Just like when they entered the game.
"Gah————————!"
A violent gasp for air.
Zhou Zhi forcefully removed the VR goggles, breathing heavily as if he was suffocating, but even that did little to calm the violent pounding in his chest.
The others weren't any better off, their faces nearly devoid of any color.
"Suka Blat, you lied to me! You call this no pain?" Anthony Chekhov yelled, "I felt like those shots almost killed me!"
"For the sake of the customer's sensory experience, the pain reduction is not zero," the host responded in an even tone, "but I can assure you that this value will not have any effect on everyone's physical and mental health."
The Russian glared at him for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, "What I mean is... can you turn it up a bit? This is so fucking thrilling!"
"Indeed, without experiencing it myself, I could hardly imagine such a game exists in the world!" Joe James lit a real cigarette this time and took a deep drag, "Buddy, you guys are going to strike it rich!"
"The one million threshold fee was the best million I've ever spent." Chekhov couldn't stop praising, "When is the next event? I suspect... it must also cost a lot to run each time? If there are financial difficulties, I can provide sponsorship."
"What, you want to play again?"
"I wouldn't mind doing it ten more times!" Anthony picked up the bottle on the table and took a swig, his eyes ablaze with zeal, "When exactly will the next one be? I'll be even better prepared. Of course... it would be better if the difficulty could be adjusted a bit."
Although Qianyuan Mingzi didn't express her emotions out loud, her face showed that she was significantly affected and had not yet recovered from the recent experience.
Zhou Zhi had a complicated expression on his face.
The host wearing a mask showed no emotion, "The question you ask involves trade secrets, I'm afraid I cannot answer. However, what I can tell you is that this was merely an initial trial run. Paradise is an extremely grand plan, and the next time it opens, it will no longer be as simple as today."
"We will expand its scale and lower its threshold, so that more people can experience the joy that Paradise brings. As for the specific opening time, please wait patiently. When everything is ready, I'll send out an invitation again to guide you to Paradise." He bowed slightly, "Lastly... thank you all for participating."
...
Shidong passed through the shady old city walls and arrived at the West District—this was the edge of the city, where ragged beggars could be seen everywhere, along with gang members eyeing him with ill intent. But they only dared to eye him, Shidong knew that the medal on his shoulder was enough to intimidate these cowards, or rather, if they had the courage to openly move against the Guards of Magnificent Castle, they wouldn't be resorting to working for underground gangs.
At least during the day, it was safe here.
Walking along the damp streets for over a hundred meters and then taking two turns, Shidong stopped at a narrow alley entrance.
There was a makeshift shack made of wood.
A sign hung above the shack—Wonderful Divination House.
This was his destination.
Shidong looked around to make sure no one was tailing him, then lowered his hat brim and walked into the shanty.
Although there was nothing secretive worth concealing, he still didn't want his actions to reach his colleagues' ears.
"Welcome to Wonderful... oh, it's you."
There was only one person in the room, an old man who appeared to be white-haired and hoary.
"It's me." Shidong hesitated for a moment but decided to sit cross-legged. The shanty's cramped interior didn't allow one to stand up straight, so rather than stoop, he chose to make himself comfortable, "Do you remember me?"
"Of course, not many people come here to seek their fate," the old man nodded, then revealed a mouthful of brown-yellow stained teeth, "And fewer still come back. So... did the divination come true?"
"How did you know pirates would show up there?" Shidong couldn't help but ask, "Theoretically, they couldn't possibly pass through the patrol boats' defensive line and approach Magnificent Castle without making a sound—"
"What are you talking about? Pirates?" The man seemed slightly surprised, "The divination didn't cause you any trouble, did it?"
That's right... he doesn't know the details of what happened.
Shidong stared at him for a long time before slowly withdrawing his leaning body. In the old man's words, he divined only the opportunity—such as when and where one might resolve troubles. As for what would happen specifically, even the old man himself could not know.
It was precisely because of this that it seemed all the more incredible.
Yes, the divination came true.
Shidong wouldn't have believed in such things if he hadn't been desperate. Out of a will to try, he took a few brothers to a southern suburb fishing village and, unexpectedly, encountered a landing party of pirates. With these pirates' heads, he got a bonus reward on top of his salary, and then used that money to pay for his sister's medical expenses, stabilizing her condition once again.
There were even rumors that because of the outcome, he might be promoted from squad leader to team leader; if that happened, his treatment would improve significantly.