Chapter 68

Gong Ting’s eyes widened in terror, but he found that he hadn’t fallen yet.

Zhou Chenhao was holding onto the back of his suit pants with one hand, swinging him back and forth in mid-air along with the swing.

Gong Ting’s entire body weight was supported by Zhou Chenhao’s hand, with nowhere to gain a foothold. He panicked and reached out, trying to grab his own swing rope, but whenever he did, Zhou Chenhao would move his hand, causing his fingertips to brush past his own rope, and then he would swing further and further away from it.

Gong Ting struggled to turn his head and looked at Zhou Chenhao behind him.

Zhou Chenhao was hanging upside down on the swing board, his red and black hair falling due to gravity, revealing his smooth forehead.

His pair of dark brown eyes were now smiling into crescent moon shapes. With a bright smile, he said in a cheerful tone, “I’m going to let go now—”

He had a bit of a conscience, but not much.

“What?” Gong Ting’s eyes widened. He stretched his hand back, trying to grab Zhou Chenhao’s arm, and shouted, “Don’t let go!”

To prevent being caught, Zhou Chenhao simply flung his hand and threw him diagonally backward!

A sensation of weightlessness came over him. Below were long, sharp spikes. Gong Ting almost screamed. He no longer cared about grabbing Zhou Chenhao’s arm; his own arms flapped about randomly like a bird’s wings, a completely subconscious reaction, but the sight was somewhat comical and ridiculous.

Just as he was falling, the swinging Zhou Chenhao happened to catch him, still holding onto his suit pants with one hand, though this time he had grabbed the side.

Gong Ting didn’t dare to move anymore.

Who knew if Zhou Chenhao would be able to catch him again if he tried it a second time?

Bai Xuechao watched Zhou Chenhao and Gong Ting with great interest.

He knew that Gong Ting was definitely out.

Zhou Chenhao, this manga protagonist, sometimes had a pretty dark heart.

Ling Feng spoke up with some helplessness, “Stop playing.”

“Huh? I’m not playing,” Zhou Chenhao looked at Ling Feng with a somewhat wronged expression, then turned to the trembling Gong Ting, who had just realized what was happening, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a good spot for you before I let go. As long as you don’t move around, you won’t die.”

The comfort was worse than no comfort at all.

Gong Ting was about to break down, “Is this a matter of dying or not?”

Below were all two-meter-high metal spikes! It was unthinkable what would happen if he fell.

Just the thought of it made Gong Ting feel pain all over his body.

Zhou Chenhao ignored him, staring at the long spikes below.

Although they looked dense from ten meters up, Zhou Chenhao could estimate that the so-called dense spikes were actually about 30 centimeters apart from each other. As long as he could find the right spot and throw Gong Ting down sideways, with Gong Ting’s relatively slender figure, there was a high chance he could get stuck in the gap.

Of course, it was understandable that he would get a little injured, after all, he was being thrown from ten meters high. And if he didn’t throw him well, getting pierced a little was even more unavoidable.

It was all within the normal margin of error.

But him throwing him might be safer than Gong Ting falling on his own.

“Don’t throw! Don’t throw, ahhh—!”

Before Gong Ting could finish his sentence, Zhou Chenhao had thrown him down.

During the fall, Gong Ting couldn’t control his survival instincts and struggled. His expression was one of extreme terror as he watched the metal spikes below reflect a silvery light under the wall lamps, their sharp tips getting closer and closer to him—

“Ahhhh!” His scream echoed in the empty space.

With a flex of his muscular waist, Zhou Chenhao easily sat up from his upside-down position.

While pulling on the rope to step on the edge of the swing board again, he said in a coquettish tone, “I told you not to move around.”

One of Gong Ting’s legs and his wrist and arm were pierced by the long spikes, but his head, body, and the other leg were lucky enough to land in the gaps.

To say it was lucky wasn’t entirely accurate, since Zhou Chenhao had aimed carefully before throwing.

Fresh blood flowed from the pierced areas, slowly spreading into crimson stains on the ground.

Gong Ting opened his mouth, letting out a hoarse sound, “Ah…”

Due to the physical pain, Gong Ting’s breathing slowed, but his pair of green eyes stared fixedly at Zhou Chenhao, full of resentment. If he were to die at this moment, he would surely not rest in peace.

【City Lord eliminated】

【Calculating…】

【The City Lord has 5 ropes exchanged for game coins remaining, which will be exchanged back for 250 million game coins and added to the prize pool.】

【The City Lord’s 330,000,001 game coins will all be added to the prize pool.】

【Current prize pool: 1,180,000,001 game coins】

【Tallying the current game coin amounts of the remaining players】

【Player A: 279,999,998】

【Player B: 182,333,331】

【Player C: 1,241,666,670】

Ling Feng glanced at Gong Ting once before looking away, took a deep breath, and said, “Let’s continue.”

【The game will continue in 10 seconds.】

Gong Ting was gone, so no one questioned whether Zhou Chenhao’s earlier action was against the rules. The ten-second countdown quickly ended, and a new question appeared on the big screen.

【Question 12: Who was the person nicknamed the “White Horse General” who also shot an arrow through Guan Yu’s forehead?】

【A. Pang De】

【B. Gongsun Zan】

Both of these men were nicknamed the “White Horse General,” and both were from the late Eastern Han Dynasty, but only Pang De had shot Guan Yu in the forehead.

After figuring out the answer, Bai Xuechao planned to leave this question for Ling Feng or Zhou Chenhao; either was fine. He had wanted to control the score earlier, but Gong Ting ended up answering that question. This time, it could finally fall into the hands of the two of them.

But three seconds passed, and no one answered.

Bai Xuechao gently rested his head against the left hemp rope of the swing. He first looked at Ling Feng, who was clearly trying desperately to remember, then at Zhou Chenhao, who seemed to have already blanked out.

【4, 3…】

Ling Feng finally answered, “A.”

【Correct Answer】

【Player A’s current game coin amount: 329,999,998】

【Player B and Player C must each pull off one rope within 10 seconds.】

Having answered the question correctly, Ling Feng didn’t feel very happy. He had a vague feeling that Bai Xuechao had been letting him have it just now, deliberately not answering the question.

Zhou Chenhao, standing on his swing board, casually chose one of his remaining five hemp ropes and pulled it off. He thought, he only had one system-generated rope left here, so he probably wouldn’t be so unlucky as to “win the prize,” right?

Bai Xuechao still had seven hemp ropes left and was the safest player on the field. He also casually pulled one.

Neither of them had any problems, gained 50 million game coins, and the game continued.

【Question 13: Which statesman did King Zhuang of Chu invite to be the Prime Minister, leading to a great increase in the power of the State of Chu?】

【A. Baili Xi】

【B. Sunshu Ao】

This time, Bai Xuechao answered immediately, “B.”

【Correct Answer】

【Player C’s current game coin amount: 1,341,666,670】

【Player A and Player B must each pull off one rope within 10 seconds.】

Zhou Chenhao sighed at his pitifully limited knowledge and reached out to pull off a rope.

Ling Feng only had two ropes left, both of which were system-generated. Now, no matter which one he pulled, the swing’s rope would come loose. So, before pulling the rope, he prepared himself, standing up in advance with his feet on either side of the swing board. This way, no matter which side’s rope came loose, he could immediately react and stabilize himself on the other side.

The big screen turned red, and one of Ling Feng’s ropes came loose. He directly shifted his center of gravity and then, like Zhou Chenhao, stood on the edge of the swing board with both feet.

Because he had prepared in advance, his movements weren’t clumsy in the slightest. In fact, they even looked a bit cool due to his composure.

The 14th question appeared on the big screen, and again, it was answered correctly by Bai Xuechao.

【Player C’s current game coin amount: 1,391,666,670】

Ling Feng took a deep breath. His last system rope was about to come loose.

He pulled off the last rope as soon as the countdown began. The swing board under his feet detached and fell into the deep pit, landing in the gap between the long spikes at the bottom.

He grabbed the hemp rope with his right hand, wrapped it around his right hand twice with his other hand to secure it, and hung in mid-air with one hand.

Just as he finished, the swing board under Zhou Chenhao’s feet also fell. Like him, Zhou Chenhao was hanging in mid-air, holding onto a hemp rope with one hand.

Obviously, Zhou Chenhao’s two-choice-one had failed.

These two brothers in misfortune had both lost their swing boards and were now hanging on by their own arm strength. It was originally very impressive, but when compared to Bai Xuechao, who was still sitting comfortably on his swing nearby, they suddenly felt like two pieces of cured meat hanging in mid-air to dry, pitiful and comical.

Their gazes met across the empty space, and both remained silent.

Xiao 6 was knocking its wooden fish in Bai Xuechao’s head, accumulating cyber merit for itself, “Sorry, they look so miserable, but I feel like laughing… hahaha!”

Ever since seeing the male protagonist being able to hang on, Xiao 6 was no longer nervous.

Just as the big screen was about to display the next question, Bai Xuechao suddenly spoke up, “System, I have a question.”

【Please ask.】

“After the game ends, is there a priority order for players to redeem rewards from the system’s prize pool?” Whether it was intentional or not, Bai Xuechao asked about the redemption rules of the system’s prize pool just as both of them had started hanging. “Do you have to redeem your own things first before you can redeem others’?”

He was like someone who had bought an appliance and used it several times before suddenly remembering to read the instruction manual.

This question and answer would take time.

【Answering Player C, yes.】

【After the game ends, players will have priority in redeeming their own items that were exchanged. If there are any game coins left after redemption, they may continue to redeem items belonging to others from the prize pool after everyone has finished their redemption.】

Bai Xuechao thought for a moment and continued to ask, “Will people who choose to quit the game leave this room, or what will happen?”

【Players who choose to quit the game will not leave the game room. They will return to the spectator area and retain the game coins they possess.】

Bai Xuechao asked, “What’s the spectator area like?”

The big screen paused for a moment before displaying a demonstration animation.

It started with a stick figure hanging from a rope with one hand, a speech bubble above its head saying, “I want to quit the game.” Then, in the next second, the stick figure was standing on the swing.

【The system will reconstruct the swing.】

Bai Xuechao said, “Oh.”

Just as the big screen was about to display the question again, Bai Xuechao asked another question, “System, can game coins be transferred?”

【Answering Player C, no.】

【During the game, the transfer of game coins between players is prohibited. After the game ends, players can transfer game coins to each other to help others redeem their exchanged items.】

Huh, this game even allows for mutual help after it’s over.

Bai Xuechao said “Oh” again. Just as he was thinking about whether to ask any more questions, a clear and resonant voice suddenly caught his attention.

“I’d like to say—” It was Zhou Chenhao speaking.

Bai Xuechao followed the voice and looked over.

He saw Zhou Chenhao grinning, his eyes curved in a smile as he asked, “Are you stalling for time?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep