Another pair of eyes?

Where was this other pair of eyes?

People instinctively moved forward, wanting to get close enough to see clearly—but the moment they took two steps, they heard the demoness’s silvery laughter:

“Looking for my eyes? I’d advise against that, because if you find them, naturally I’ll see you, and then… you’ll turn to stone.”

Everyone froze and didn’t dare move.

The game hadn’t even started, they hadn’t picked up any swords yet—turning to stone at this point would be far too costly.

“Ah… but if everyone is too afraid to step forward, the game cannot proceed, so there is a reward.” The demoness smiled. “When I use my other pair of eyes, the person closest to me may ask me one question.”

“That counts as a reward?” someone questioned. “What good does asking a question do us?”

“Ah…” The demoness slowly twisted her slender waist, unhurried. “Isn’t this reward good? I thought you’d be quite pleased… Surely you don’t have absolutely no questions about the game? Don’t you want to know what’s happening with your family and friends right now?”

At that, everyone’s expressions shifted to some degree.

To claim they had no doubts about this game—standing here, at this moment—was virtually impossible. That included Shen Mo, who had always harbored questions about the so-called game and the so-called system.

The demoness said, “If there are no questions, let us begin…”

Shen Mo spoke up. “What counts as attacking? Does simply holding a sword count?”

Several people in the middle of bending down to pick up swords paused, all turning to look at the distant demoness.

—If holding a sword counted as attacking and you were spotted, you’d turn to stone. But without a sword, how could they stab Medusa to death?

The rules were explicit: they needed to stab Medusa to death with a sword for the sword they held to become the King’s Sword. No other method of killing—strangling, poisoning, beating—was permitted.

“If I see you moving, then I will judge it as ‘attacking,'” the demoness said, her enchanting brows arching slightly, her smile captivating.

“What counts as ‘moving’?” another person called out. “Does blinking count? Does breathing? Does speaking? Do those count too?”

With lives on the line, they had to ask as thoroughly as possible.

“How could they? That would be far too harsh…” The demoness smiled, her voice rising at the end with a teasing lilt. “Only obvious movements will turn you to stone.”

Despite her words, they still dared not let down their guard, watching her warily.

An extraordinarily beautiful face, yet possessed of an utterly repulsive head of serpent hair. Dense blue-grey snakes coiled and writhed, set against snow-white skin, as though the two extremes of beauty and ugliness had been placed before their eyes simultaneously—producing immense psychological discomfort.

Fear spread, silently and imperceptibly…

Yet there were those bold enough to pick up rust-pitted swords from the ground and find suitable positions among the stalactites, then fix their gaze on the demoness with an air of determination.

Shen Mo swept his eyes left and right, then also picked up a rusty iron sword.

The game’s rules reminded him of “Red Light, Green Light”—he vaguely recalled some words from that children’s rhyme: one, two, three, freeze—no moving, no smiling, no singing, no crying, we are all statues…

So the goal was: while her second pair of eyes hadn’t spotted him, rush to the front as quickly as possible and strike her down in one blow.

But…

Shen Mo narrowed his eyes slightly, surveying the path ahead.

From where he stood to the boulder where Medusa was rooted, the distance was roughly seventy or eighty meters. The ground was covered with stalactites of varying sizes, all wet and slippery. Moving through cleanly would be quite difficult. And furthermore… he still didn’t know where Medusa’s second pair of eyes was located.

“Alright, enough talk—can we begin?” the demoness said with a smile. “I’ll keep myself sharp and play this round through with you. Let’s start quickly—I still need to sleep when it’s over.”

Everyone looked at one another.

After a moment, someone tentatively took the first step—

—