The room buzzed with overlapping voices and constant discussion.
Some had seen Bai Youwei’s posted notice and knew about this already; others hadn’t, and leaned over to quietly ask the people beside them.
“Professor Song’s information network is impressive,” Bai Youwei murmured to Shen Mo. “I posted the notice only yesterday, and he already knows today.”
Shen Fei was sitting beside Shen Mo and overheard her. He immediately said with pride, “Every exchange in the trading zone — every single transaction and offer — is organized into a document by dedicated staff and delivered to Professor Song’s research room before 9 o’clock each night.”
Bai Youwei gave him a baffled look, then grabbed Shen Mo’s hand and frowned. “Why does your cousin keep jumping into conversations? I wasn’t talking to him.”
Shen Fei: “…”
Shen Mo smiled. “He’s enthusiastic.”
Bai Youwei pursed her lips. “Boys shouldn’t be *too* enthusiastic — it tends to make them come across as gossips.”
Shen Fei: “…………”
Just then, commotion broke out at another table.
The powerfully built bald man Shen Fei had introduced earlier called out loudly:
“Du Lai! You’re the only person who’s ever come out of the hide-and-seek alive — tell everyone what this hide-and-seek game is actually like!”
“Right,” the thin young man beside the bald one echoed. “We need to know what’s going on inside before we can make any decision, surely.”
They seemed to have taken an interest in entering the game — otherwise there’d be no point in asking for the specific details.
Du Lai raised an eyebrow and said in a breezy, unconcerned tone, “Ah… I must have said this nearly a hundred times by now, aren’t you all sick of hearing it? The hide-and-seek is exactly what it sounds like — there’s a giant plush cat inside the game. It sleeps during the day and hunts people at night. The players’ task is to find somewhere to hide! If the cat finds you, you die!”
“How do you clear it?” the thin man asked. “The Arbiter must have announced the clear conditions when it read out the rules, right?”
Du Lai smiled. “The clear conditions are… kill the cat, or kill Mary.”
“Mary? Who’s Mary?”
“Mary is the cat’s owner. The hide-and-seek only ends if the cat is dead, or if the cat’s owner is dead.”
Du Lai said this and then let out a slow, mournful sigh. “As for the cat — and Mary — neither of them were anything we could handle. We tried to attack Mary while the cat was napping during the day, but we accidentally woke the cat, and everyone died as a result. I was badly wounded and had no choice but to use a puzzle piece to leave the game. So as for how to actually clear it — I genuinely don’t know.”
When he finished, the noise around the room grew even more clamorous.
People debated loudly in all directions about how to kill the cat, or Mary.
Shen Fei was also animated, asking Shen Mo, “Mary seems the easier target, but she and the cat are always together. Brother, what do you think should be done?”
“There are many approaches, but not all of them may apply.” Shen Mo said evenly. “Without seeing the actual situation firsthand, it’s hard to assess.”
Someone suggested using the daytime to construct a large trap to contain the plush cat.
Someone else proposed finding a way to separate the cat and Mary, then concentrating their attack on Mary.
Another person speculated that the cat must have a weak point — perhaps in its whiskers or tail.
All manner of inventive ideas — some plausible, some fantastical — flew around the room.
Footsteps approached.
Yu Yaqing, who had been on guard at the entrance, stepped into the banquet hall, came to a stop before Chu Huaijin and Professor Song, saluted, and said in a crisp, resolute voice:
“Game 24 is moving toward us. Requesting instructions from leadership — shall an emergency evacuation be arranged?”
Compared to the widely feared Game 21, Game 24 was a game with no presence at all.
Ever since it had appeared, no one had ever managed to trigger it, to the point where people within the urban district instinctively overlooked it, keeping only the other 23 games in mind.
—