The desert is a bit cold at night.
Compared to the daytime, the temperature difference is at least twenty degrees.
At first, Cillian can still warm his body using the residual heat from the sand, but by the middle of the night, he has to fold the parachute from his backpack into a blanket to cover himself.
Even if there's a fire, he doesn't have anything to burn.
Luckily, the sun rises early.
As the sun emerges from the distant sand dunes, Cillian feels the temperature slowly rising.
Then, it gets hotter and hotter.
He looks up at the sun, hoping Carlos will arrive before noon; otherwise, he won't be able to walk far in this heat.
Bored while waiting, Cillian spreads out the map again.
But it's still barren with no sign of the ancient city.
Carlos, meanwhile, is already in the plane.
With him is another person.
Carlos has already learned from the news and messages sent by friends and family the name of the girl with the codename "Assassin."
—Abigail, 17 years old, a super-rich second-generation.
However, she's an illegitimate child, and the thirteenth one at that.
When Carlos sees her board the plane, he moves aside.
Abigail glances at him and sits down at the side, showing no intention to interact.
"Hello, I'm Carlos. I'm the strategist."
Abigail looks at his outstretched hand, slaps it away, and says with annoyance, "Go away."
She hasn't forgotten that it was he who caused her to lose second place, forcing her to become third, making her delay her departure by two days.
If things had gone quickly, those two people would probably already have found the clues leading to the third round by now.
Carlos doesn't care, retracting his hand.
The two of them are blindfolded, and they don't speak again along the way.
When they reach the desert, Carlos realizes that the plane has started to hover, and he knows the moment he's been dreading is coming — skydiving.
Once the blindfold is removed, he immediately sees the vast desert.
Carlos takes a deep breath and quickly glances down.
Good, there are no large trees that will catch him.
The butler says, "Miss Abigail, please jump first."
Abigail doesn't hesitate at all.
She puts on her parachute gear and jumps right out without a second thought.
[Live Comments] Cool!
[Live Comments] The lady's so brave.
Soon, it's Carlos' turn.
He cautiously looks down several times. He even takes several deep breaths.
"…Mr. Carlos, you've already wasted five minutes."
Carlos sighs deeply, and finally jumps.
Abigail, who has already landed, is untying her parachute when she suddenly remembers Carlos hasn't come down yet, and she doesn't see him on the ground.
She looks up and sees… he's floating far away.
"…" That noob must've twisted the direction control!
Abigail clicks her tongue.
How did such a person even make it into the second round?
No, how did he even pass the selection?
Carlos also wants to land in the area marked by the system.
Maybe he'll run into Cillian there.
But the parachute is completely out of control, the direction is completely reversed.
It takes him a while to realize, oh, he must've been too nervous and twisted the direction control by mistake.
***
The sun at around 9 a.m. completely disperses the cold of the desert night.
Cillian stands near a tree, basking in the sunlight.
He touches his arm and face; they are still cold.
After waiting for a while, he sees a large bird flying from the distance, circling in the air.
Wait…
That's not a bird; it's clearly a person.
He pauses, noticing the posture, body shape, and frantic limbs of the person in the air.
——It looks extremely familiar.
Cillian laughs.
Carlos also sees someone on the ground, but without his glasses, he can't see clearly.
Seeing the person rushing toward him, he shouts, "Run!"
Cillian just shifts slightly to the side.
Soon, Carlos, with his huge "wings," flies past, stepping on the sand and rushing toward the date palms, nearly crashing into the tree.
As they pass each other, Carlos finally sees who is standing on the sand.
He immediately lights up.
"Cillian!"
Cillian lifts his wrist slightly, signaling a greeting.
Carlos flies past him, then lands face-first on the sand.
The parachute on his back, pushed by inertia, folds up and covers Carlos completely.
Cillian sighs.
Clumsy Carlos.
He walks over to help Carlos and asks, "Did you land in the wrong place?"
Still tangled in his parachute, Carlos mumbles, "How do you know?"
"Landing here is the best proof."
Carlos is freed.
Sand is all over him, from his body to his head.
Cillian raises a hand and pats his hair, the sand falling off.
Carlos asks, "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you."
Carlos's eyes light up slightly. "Oh."
Cillian continues, "The clue says that the light of the holy sword falls upon the ancient city in the desolate night. I've looked at the map, but there's no location for the ancient city, and I haven't seen the Holy Sword."
[Live Comments] Hmm… Cillian is really using Carlos, he's not really waiting for him.
[Live Comments] Heartbreak for Carlos.
[Live Comments] This game only allows one winner.
Carlos asks, "Did you choose the map in this round?"
"No."
"Then how did you get the map?"
"The Sorcerer ambushed me, and then I took all his supplies."
Carlos blinks.
The Sorcerer ambushed Cillian, but ended up getting completely robbed by him?
A simple sentence seems to contain a surprising information…
Cillian hands over the map for Carlos to look at, thinking that Carlos might be able to figure something out, instead of his blindly searching in the desert.
Carlos examines the map carefully for a while, and as his head moves, some sand shakes loose.
Cillian pats his hair again, causing his once neat hairstyle to get messed up by the sand.
"I don't have a clue," Carlos says. "As expected."
"Hmm?"
Carlos says, "Satan won't let our distance grow too far apart. That would ruin the experience for the later contestants. So, the clues from the first three days are probably intentionally meaningless. Once everyone's gathered, the clues will start to surface. That's my guess."
Cillian thinks it makes sense, very much so.
But at the same time, he thinks Satan is an asshole.
Even though he knows Satan's intentions, in this round, they're still going to fight to be the first to clear it.
This is Satan's game, the devil's game.
"Here, take it." Carlos pulls two sugar cubes from his pocket and places them in Cillian's palm.
"I saved them when I drank coffee."
"How do you have coffee?"
—Why didn't he have any before?
As he thinks, Carlos slips a small piece of bread into his hand.
Cillian: "..." How does he have bread too??
[Live Comments] The strategist had breakfast again!
[Live Comments] The strategist had a snack!
[Live Comments] Damn it, you guys missed the point! Isn't this the time to say how sweet it is?
[Live Comments] ...
[Live Comments] ...
Cillian, who had only eaten some bananas in the morning, doesn't refuse.
Besides, the sugar will melt quickly in the high temperature, so it's better for it to melt in his mouth.
"Are both of these mine?"
"Yes."
Cillian pops both sugar cubes into his mouth and hands the small bread back to him.
"Guess what I chose when I came in?"
At that time, they each picked three things, mutually beneficial.
But this round only allows one item, so Cillian has no idea what Carlos will choose.
Carlos thinks for a moment. "Water."
Cillian is surprised.
Genuinely surprised.
"Carlos, are you an NPC? Did Satan send you to ruin my gaming experience?"
"If you didn't pick water, or if you weren't the water-rich contestant, how could you waste water like this?"
Cillian glances in the direction Carlos is pointing.
There's a bamboo tube stuck in the sand, poisoned by the Sorcerer.
Carlos must have seen the leftover water stains when he arrived.
Under the ten o'clock sunlight, the unclosed electronic map shows scattered red dots.
Cillian's eyes are drawn to the map. In the places where the red gems shine, he sees faint ruins and walls.
They ripple against the backdrop of the heat waves, as though they might disappear at any moment.
He furrows his brows, suddenly thinking of something.
——The light of the Holy Sword falls upon the ancient city in the desolate night.
Cillian says, "Take anything that can reflect light and hold it towards the sun, so the light can be refracted onto the map."
Carlos immediately begins searching through his backpack and then finds something really useful.
—A drone.
The 14-inch drone screen is incredibly smooth, made from glass that's virtually indestructible.
He lifts the drone towards the sun, and a large beam of light immediately shines onto the map.
The faint ruins start to connect, the crumbling walls begin to rise.
One section follows another, one segment after another.
It gradually forms into a whole.
Eventually, the entire structure appears on the map—not a broken place, but clearly a complete ancient city.
Cillian can't help but chuckle, "If we follow the clue, everyone would be operating at night. But last night, there was no moon, so even if you were blind, you wouldn't have seen the ancient city in the light."
"But based on the information I had to accept over the past week, the only one who chose a flashlight was Ali. But the flashlight is in my hands. I entered third, and Satan wouldn't be afraid of me using the flashlight's light on the map?"
"So, the conclusion is that the flashlight's light has no effect on it."
As he speaks, Cillian asks him to take out the flashlight.
When the light is turned on, the map indeed shows no response.
Satan has clearly calculated the contestants in this game, scheming them thoroughly.
[Live Comments] I think these two are getting more in sync.
[Live Comments] Punching the ruthless NPC, kicking the game settings, making the hidden rules have nowhere to hide.
Cillian puts away the map, "Let's go find the ancient city."
Carlos says, "You didn't ask me what I chose."
Cillian knows he's acting childish again. "So, what did you choose?"
Carlos says, "A camel."
"…What?"
Carlos opens his backpack, pulls out a two-meter-high beast, and says seriously, seeking praise, "A camel."
Cillian: "..."
—Carlos, you are really something.