The preliminary round rules are as follows:

One: All registered players enter the arena to participate in the game.

Two: Win the game, and your registration is confirmed.

Three: Lose the game, and your registration fails.

A King who loses is demoted to Subject; a Subject who loses is demoted to Commoner.

In other words, registration was not “free” — one had to win within the game to earn the right to participate in the Maze War.

Nor was the title of King or Subject something anyone could simply claim. Lose, and they would face a demotion in rank.

On the bright side, neither Kings nor Subjects would lose their lives if they lost the game.

That detail gave Bai Youwei a slight measure of relief.

If there had been any risk to their lives, she would have preferred that Tan Xiao and Pan Xiaoxin forfeit outright and become Commoners — those two acting alone was simply too worrying.

Two beams of light appeared in the vast white space.

One beam contained the shimmering silhouette of a sword; the other held a crown.

“Please make your final choice.”

The Inspector’s voice was gentle and courteous, yet tinged with anticipation.

“King players, please select the crown.

Subject players, please select the sword.

Please also bring your items and puzzle pieces with you — because the moment all players have made their selections, the preliminary round will begin immediately.”

A buzz of noise filled the hall. The murmuring of all 241 players flooded the entire space in a wave of sound.

Bai Youwei drew Tan Xiao and Pan Xiaoxin aside and spoke to them in a low voice: “The Inspector didn’t say anything specific about what the preliminary round game involves. It’s possible all of us will participate in one large game together, or it’s possible we’ll be separated into groups.

Personally, I lean toward the latter. Games with large numbers of players make it far too easy for people to ride on others’ coattails. If this system truly wants the titles of King and Subject to mean something, it would separate these two hundred-odd players and test them individually — but if that’s the case, we may very well end up in different games.

Neither of you has any experience playing games on your own. Listen to me now: once you enter the game, no matter what the situation looks like, find people to team up with first. Find the strongest people you can! And if you can’t tell who the strongest are, take these out —”

Bai Youwei pressed four puzzle pieces into each of their hands.

“These four pieces, combined with the one you already have, makes five. That number should be on the higher end among Subjects. Any King with ambition will find a way to pull you in — to get their hands on your puzzle pieces, they’ll do everything they can to bring you along to victory. Understand?”

Pan Xiaoxin pressed her lips together and gave a solemn nod, her small face grave.

Tan Xiao listened with earnest attention.

Shen Mo walked over, took out Miss Liu’s longevity lock, and fastened it around Pan Xiaoxin’s neck.

Bai Youwei blinked, caught off guard. She asked him, “What about you?”

“I’ve still got two uses left on the mud.” Shen Mo said evenly. “Xiaoxin doesn’t have any healing items. Better for her to wear this.”

Bai Youwei nodded, then reminded the two of them once more: “Stay sharp. Use your items when you need to. You still have lucky answer cards and snowflakes on you — once you lose, all of that goes to your opponents!”

“Understood!” Tan Xiao said immediately. “Even if we’re going down, we use the items before we fall — otherwise we’re just handing our enemies more firepower! Youwei, trust me, I know this much. It’s like back when we used to fight for territory with Big Brother — take everything you can carry, and smash what you can’t. Never let those bastards have it!”

Bai Youwei stared at him.

…Is that where you developed your street-smart instincts?

“Look over there.” Shen Mo spoke up.

They raised their eyes and looked. The circle of light holding the crown was already densely packed with people, while the circle of light holding the sword had only a sparse handful standing in it.

Tan Xiao was stunned. “Wow… that many Kings?”

—