The turtle was incredibly fast. Before her knife even landed, its head had already retracted into its shell. The woman desperately tried several times, but she could never reach the turtle's head.
"I can't reach it! I can't reach it!" she cried out in despair. Suddenly, the turtle poked its head out again and bit into the woman's left arm, tearing off a chunk of flesh before retracting back into its shell.
Li Wen shouted, "Next time it bites you, take advantage of the moment when it's pulling the flesh and chop off its head!"
The woman verbally agreed but couldn't execute it. After losing two more chunks of flesh, she finally found an opening and decapitated the turtle. The turtle's shell was incredibly hard, but its head was surprisingly soft. After being beheaded, the turtle's limbs twitched twice before collapsing onto the ground with a thud, gradually disappearing into thin air. The young woman was left badly bitten, and her blood flowed across the floor, reaching the 27th square. Those standing in the back rows quickly moved away from the blood.
Li Wen rolled the dice, advancing from the 18th square to the 24th. All eyes turned to Alex.
Alex expressionlessly caught the dice flying through the air. He stood on the 20th square. Currently, squares 21, 22, and 24 were occupied. He could only move to squares 23, 25, or 26. With a 50% chance, he might land on an occupied square, triggering the "Who Will Share Your Joys and Sorrows" effect.
The players standing three squares ahead of Alex held their breath, watching him intently.
Alex gazed at the dice in his hand, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and flung the dice into the air.
Thunk! The dice landed, showing a five.
Alex advanced to the 25th square, where the white light on the edge of the square turned yellow, indicating an empty space. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
But the next moment, the large dice on the ground began to hover, floating into the hands of the middle-aged woman. Standing on the 20th square, her face paled, and she trembled, afraid to touch the dice. She looked up, practically despairing as she gazed at the four people standing in front of her: the bald man, the beer-bellied man, Li Wen, and Alex. They stood on squares 22, 21, 24, and 25 respectively.
The woman was left with only two options.
On stage, Mario grinned mischievously, watching the eight humans below as if he were playing an amusing game. Just like humans had played "Super Mario" for over three decades, he awaited the start of each new round with the same anticipation and joy.
The middle-aged woman threw the dice in desperation. Gradually, it came to a stop, showing a four.
Li Wen's face darkened as he looked up from the 24th square, his gaze fixed on the middle-aged woman. When she saw the number, her last shred of hope was shattered. Trembling, she looked up at Li Wen.
Mario's malicious laughter echoed, "Congratulations, the 'Who Will Share Your Joys and Sorrows' effect has been triggered. My dear child, I'm sure you'll love this fun rule. Why don't you hurry over and claim your reward?"
The middle-aged woman hesitated, while Li Wen stared at her coldly.
Whistling, Mario watched them without rushing, as if enjoying a good show. Just as he was about to speak again, the woman got up and walked towards the 24th square. The two middle-aged men on squares 22 and 21 made way for her, their eyes filled with sympathy but also curiosity and scrutiny.
Then they heard, "Ding Dong! The 'Who Will Share Your Joys and Sorrows' effect has been triggered, activating the Level 7 Punishment Square. Uncle Mario is英勇无比, chopping turtles, stomping mushrooms, slaying evil dragons, and rescuing fair princesses. Mario's world doesn't need companions because he is his own companion. Who will share your joys and sorrows?"
As the middle-aged woman stepped onto the 24th square, the white light on the edge transformed into a deep black.
A massive black Mario descended from the sky, appearing before them. Dressed in black from head to toe, he wore a black cap, overalls, gloves, and shoes, identical to the Mario on stage except for his dark color, including his jet-black eyes. He darted towards Li Wen and the middle-aged woman.
With a slap, he sent them both flying to the ground, spitting out blood. In the Monopoly game map spanning 150 squares, Black Mario chased after Li Wen and the woman. Scanning between them, he grinned and suddenly reached out, grabbing their necks.
As Black Mario's giant hand approached, the woman cried out, pulling a small knife from her bosom, closing her eyes, and stabbing towards Li Wen, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to do this... Die!"
Bang! A loud gunshot halted everything. Black Mario froze mid-action. His hands had almost reached their hair when he chuckled, his body suddenly vanishing.
Li Wen and the middle-aged woman collapsed beside the red "START" square. The woman, knife in her right hand, slowly fell, staring at Li Wen until her last breath, lips trembling as she asked, "W-why..."
Li Wen holstered his pistol, looking down at the dying woman, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to do this either. Die."
The same words, but the outcome was far from what the woman had imagined. Her body went rigid as her blood stained the ground.
When it was Li Wen's turn to roll, the young couple in front of him were tense. The dice spun in the air twice.
Thunk! It landed on one.
The couple breathed a sigh of relief as Li Wen calmly stepped onto the 40th square.
"Ding Dong! Free Jump Square triggered. Choose to move forward any number of squares (up to 30) or backward any number of squares (cannot return to previously occupied squares)."
Li Wen's voice was steady as he pondered for a long time before looking up, "I choose to move backward to the 29th square."
On stage, Mario watched Li Wen from afar, smiling thoughtfully.
The bald man at the front wondered aloud, "Is Li Wen crazy? The last one gets left behind. Even if he stays far away from us, avoiding the effect, that weird Mario will still kill him."
Alex looked at him. Choosing to move backward instead of forward served two purposes. Firstly, it allowed him to avoid the group. Li Wen's strongest weapon was his gun, and he had already revealed it. If he triggered the effect again, the gun wouldn't be a surprise weapon, and their fates would be uncertain.
Secondly, Li Wen chose a strategic position. The 29th square was confirmed to be a Free Jump Square, making it safe regardless of further jumps. Moreover, it was seven squares away from the beer-bellied man, reducing the chances of Li Wen catching up soon but not so far that catching up was impossible.
The large dice hovered in the air before Alex caught it and threw it casually.
One. Alex advanced one square, reaching the 54th.
Eight rounds had passed without triggering the "Who Will Share Your Joys and Sorrows" effect, relaxing everyone. The next round of dice rolling continued peacefully.
The bald man stood on the 60th square. As Alex prepared to roll, the bald man glanced back and chuckled, "Come on, not another six, right? That's too unlucky."
Thunk! The dice landed on six.
The bald man's smile faltered, and Alex frowned.
"Ding Dong! Triggering 'Who Will Share Your Joys and Sorrows'..."
At the moment when Alex reached the 60th grid, the game's prompt sound had not finished yet, when the bald man suddenly took out a sharp knife from his arms and stabbed Alex directly. Alex was ready for this, and he quickly turned sideways to avoid it, raising his left leg and slashing downwards. The leg wind broke the air and struck the man's elbow. The man cried out in pain, and the knife slipped from his hand.
Boom! The black Mario fell from the sky and trampled the ground violently. Alex's eyes narrowed and he took out a large match without hesitation.
Black Mario saw Alex at a glance. He punched the matchstick, and the matchstick head scraped Alex's cheek, tearing a layer of skin the size of a thumb nail. The matchstick was not broken by the punch, but Alex, who was holding the matchstick, was knocked off with it, and his thumb was cracked.
Alex flew away, and the black Mario turned his head and looked at the bald man on the ground. He punched the bald man, but he didn't have the same strength and luck as Alex. He spat out pieces of his internal organs with a mouthful of blood. He was just knocked out and landed not far from Alex.
At that moment, Mario kicked again, and Alex clearly felt his right arm break. The intense pain came from the heart, and it would not be possible for this arm to recover within ten minutes.
Uncle Mario on the stage smiled smugly and kindly reminded, "Poor child, have you forgotten that as long as there is only one player in the grid, the 'Who wants to share weal and woe with you' effect will stop?"
Alex was knocked out and vomited a mouthful of blood and fragments of internal organs. He realized that he had internal bleeding and that if he didn't stop and take another hit, his body's recovery speed would not be able to keep up with the speed of his life.
Mario smiled and reminded again, "Cute child, there are still two players in the grid now."
Alex stared at him coldly, as if he was thinking about something. Three seconds later, he picked up the large match with his left hand without hesitation and turned around to run towards the unconscious bald man not far away.
Suddenly, the black Mario's body froze in mid-air.
Alex looked at the bald man on the ground and bent down to check his breathing. He was dead.
Alex used a large matchstick as a crutch and limped back to grid 60. His body leaned against the large matchstick, and his right arm naturally hung down because it was broken. The glaring blood trickled down his fingers and fell onto the ground. Alex suddenly squatted down and drew a neat red circle on the ground with his blood-stained right hand.
Mario looked at him curiously and asked, "Congratulations on surviving, dear child. What are you doing?"
Alex looked up and said coldly, "Draw a circle to wish you a long life."
"Oh, you are such a lovely child!"
Alex didn't answer. Alex closed his eyes and felt the wounds in his body healing. Although the healing speed was very slow, he would definitely not die.
However, Mario's malicious intent did not end there.
Alex walked step by step to the 80th grid. Behind him, the young man stood at the 70th grid and the young woman stood at the 64th grid. It was the woman's turn to roll the dice. At first, she was still talking to her boyfriend, but when the dice stopped at 6, they both fell silent.
The young woman looked up at the man and said, "Tom?"
The young man swallowed and said, "Don't be afraid, Jane. Come over and we'll fight that black Mario together."
"Even that man can't defeat Mario, how can we possibly defeat it!" The woman cried out in pain, pointing her finger at Alex.
The man gritted his teeth and said, "Even if we can't live together, we can die together! I'll die with you, Mei Mei!"
"Hmm!" The young woman was moved to tears and nodded vigorously, quickly running towards her boyfriend.
"Ding-dong! Triggered..."
The sound of the game's prompting voice in the Black Tower suddenly stopped.
The woman stabbed the man in the chest with a fruit knife, and the man also held a kitchen knife in his hand and stabbed the woman in the abdomen. Both of them looked at each other in disbelief, with a large amount of blood gushing out of their mouths.
"You scornful woman, you scornful creature..."
The woman seemed even more crazy, she laughed and cried, "Men are all liars..." The sound stopped, and the two fell down together, really fulfilling their promise to die together.