Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 87: Pretending
The collapse of the sky and the earth shrouded the entire Castle Hotel in deep darkness.
A few hotel rooms with their lights on became the only faint glimmers of light in this inky darkness.
In room 1024, Han Buting and Li Xia stood at the window, while Li Zijin stuck his head out to look around, but the battlefield was so dark they could hardly see their hands in front of their faces.
For Han Buting’s team, their luck was really bad today. Coupled with their own coordination issues, they lost two teammates early and entered the “retirement phase” prematurely. They thought the rest of their time would be spent summarizing lessons and passing time, but unexpectedly, the outside world had turned dark.
“What exactly does that team want to find? And, has the stationery battle escalated this much?” Li Zijin, who usually used stationery recklessly, even wanted to rush over and ask them to calm down.
Such destructive stationery—was it just used without blinking an eye?
Did they not consider the feelings of those who were poor in stationery resources?!
“It’s not exactly a ‘battle’.” Li Xia corrected, speaking in his usual gloomy and indifferent tone. “Both times were instant kills.”
Li Zijin was used to it; he would be scared if Li Xia ever became enthusiastic.
“Yeah.” He sighed with some deflation. “There’s always someone better than you.”
Chi Yingxue’s team had instantly killed the excavator team, and then they were instantly killed by the disc team.
If he connected this with the amusement park battle and yesterday’s oil painting incident, he should be applauding the disc team, but he just couldn’t feel happy, even feeling a bit down.
The team that was annihilated had once defeated his own team. Ignoring their clever maneuvers and just based on sheer strength, they weren’t weak, yet they were easily taken down in one move.
If his team had encountered the disc team, would the outcome be any different?
No.
“Captain.” Li Zijin looked towards Han Buting, who had been silent. “Do you remember the question you asked me when I first joined the team? You asked what’s the difference between a gaming enthusiast who plays day and night and a professional player?”
“You glared at me and said you didn’t want to explain.” Han Buting not only remembered but also probably guessed what Li Zijin was about to say.
The sky that had collapsed outside slowly rose again. The dark clouds dispersed, and sunlight returned.
The four people on the disc were calm and composed, while the one on the tree branch was leisurely and comfortable.
The pit in the front yard deepened, bottomless, like an eternal black hole.
Li Zijin looked at the deep pit devoid of any figures and quietly said, “This is the difference between amateurs and professionals.”
At the same time, in room 1639.
Also having lost the chance to submit their papers early and also gathered at the window, Wei Menghan, Zou Jun, Feng Rang, and Zhu Mo had one more surviving teammate than Han Buting’s team.
“No chance. They’re not at the same level.” Zou Jun fiddled with the flowers in the vase on the windowsill, arranging them into a fan shape and then into a staggered height pattern, but was never quite satisfied.
Feng Rang was annoyed by his fussing. “Come on, with just those few stems, can you make Cleopatra?”
Wei Menghan stroked his chin and stared unblinkingly at the battlefield that had regained sunlight, muttering in confusion, “If they were instantly killed, why hasn’t the badge’s flash appeared yet?”
From the moment that team appeared, not directly taking action but negotiating with Xu Wang’s team, Wei Menghan guessed their goal wasn’t to submit papers but for the badge.
Zhu Mo opened the window completely, widening his view.
In the cool breeze, his voice carried a light smile. “Teacher Wei, I’m looking forward to the next part of the story.”
By the tree, on the disc.
Messy Haired Chen Guan yawned and closed his [Stationery Box]. He knew there must be eyes watching the battlefield from the surrounding windows, but it didn’t matter. The more people who watch, the better. It was best if they clearly remembered the faces of their five-member team, so in the future, they would walk around them from afar and not end up like the team underground, who took a perfectly good chance to submit their papers and lost it through their own doing.
Wang Duanran vigorously scratched his curly hair, to no avail, and yawned along with Chen Guan, extremely annoyed. “Can’t you sleep properly during the day? Yawning is contagious.”
“You could have let me take action earlier, and it would have been over.” Chen Guan wiped the moisture from the corner of his eye from the yawn, grumbling, “The longer it takes, the sleepier I get.”
“At first glance, they look like rookies. Our goals don’t conflict, so there’s no fun in bullying them too harshly,” Wang Duanran said.
Chen Guan lazily raised his eyebrows. “Then why did you change your mind?”
Wang Duanran tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Cute rookies are those who know their place.”
Kong Lizhe, who had been lying down and playing on his phone, laughed at this. He continued tapping on his phone while saying, “You only act tough with rookies. When we met Fan Peiyang last time, why didn’t you let us fight?”
Wang Duanran narrowed his eyes, glancing over lightly. “You don’t want a new phone anymore, right?”
Kong Lizhe immediately shut up, as quiet as a passerby.
“Money is the root of all evil.” Gu Nian picked up the book he had been forced to put down due to the darkness and started reading again.
Kong Lizhe’s hand slipped, causing the character on his phone screen to lose all its health. Just as he was about to take his anger out on Gu Nian, something suddenly flashed through his mind.
He maintained the posture of holding his phone and closed his eyes in confusion, probing for a certain sensation…
A few seconds later.
“The pause button is still effective,” Kong Lizhe opened his eyes and said solemnly.
Jiang Dachuan, who had just stood up to start searching for the flash again, stopped in his tracks, leaning on his sore back, and looked over in disbelief. “What did you say?”
Chen Guan and Wang Duanran also looked towards Kong Lizhe.
The illusory stationery still affecting the other party indicated that the affected party hadn’t been ejected back to reality.
Everyone understood this logic, and that’s why it was incredible.
Kong Lizhe was also surprised, but as the user of [(Offense) The Collapse of Heaven and Earth], the sensation transmitted by the stationery was irrefutable. “They are still here.”
Chen Guan narrowed his eyes, his drowsy pupils shining brightly for the first time that night. “Where?”
Kong Lizhe said, “Inside the ‘earth collapse’.”
Plop.
Sounds like bubbles echoed from the bottomless pit.
At first, it was a distant, faint sound.
Then—
Plop plop.
Plop Plop Plop.
Splash.
Plop plop plop…
The five people watched as water slowly rose from the bottom of the pit, turning the deep hole into a small puddle, then a larger one, until the water level was even with the edge of the huge pit!
All this happened in an instant. The hotel’s front hall turned into a vast ocean!
“Splash, splash, splash—”
The sound of water breaking approached from a distance, like a small motorboat was moving through water.
The five people looked towards the sound and saw a familiar group of people wading through the water!
The two teams at the window were equally stunned—
1024, Han Buting: “Turning the pit into a sea and then surfacing. That’s a neat trick.”
1639, Wei Menghan: “To choose the right tool for escape in the midst of [The Collapse of Heaven and Earth] shows remarkable calmness.”
1024: “……”
1639: “……”
1024 and 1639: “Can’t they just use a rowboat properly?!”
On the “sea level”, Xu Wang’s small team made a triumphant return, walking on water with different tools!
Xu Wang, using a gourd as a boat and an iron staff as a paddle—simple and reliable!
Wu Sheng, using a long sword as a boat, glided on the water surface—as graceful as an immortal!
Kuang Jinxin, sitting in a flower basket, bravely moved forward—full of childlike innocence!
Chi Yingxue, standing on a flute, was gracefully floating. As the water entered the flute, it created ancient melodies!
Qian Ai, riding a donkey backwards, content, occasionally splashing as the waves rose!
The group stopped about ten meters away from the tree. The sea surface instantly became calm, reflecting the ancient castle.
“Thankfully, [The Collapse of Heaven and Earth] is a one-time use tool.” Xu Wang hugged his gourd, looking up with lingering fear. “And thank you for underestimating us and not using a second move.”
Chen Guan brushed his messy hair from his forehead, as if to clear his vision, and after observing for two seconds, he slightly raised his voice. “[(Offense) The Sea is Full of Water]?”
Xu Wang nodded. “Worthy of a team that has been on the leaderboard.”
This remark surprised the four on the disc and the one on the tree.
Even Gu Nian put down his book to glance down at the “newbies”, and upon seeing their “nautical tools”, he was so thunderstruck that he forgot the shock of his identity being recognized a second ago.
“Chen Guan, Gu Nian, Jiang Dachuan, Kong Lizhe, Wang Duanran.” Wu Sheng stood on the long sword, repeating a string of names from his memory. “I hope you haven’t changed members recently in the past fifty days. It’s still the strongest lineup,” Xu Wang sincerely said. “Otherwise, our victory wouldn’t be honorable.”
Wang Duanran laughed at this, feeling a particularly comical sense, and just as he was about to instruct Chen Guan, the latter preempted him. “Leave it to me.”
Wang Duanran said, “I know, what I meant was…”
“No need to pay extra,” Chen Guan interrupted again, his gaze fixed on Xu Wang, no longer lazy. “Not only no extra charge, I’ll give you a free pass for tonight’s work.”
Wang Duanran frowned. “Conditions?”
There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Chen Guan repeated. “Leave them to me. No one else gets involved.”
Wang Duanran: “……”
There’s no free lunch in this world, unless Chen Guan is angry.
“Is the ‘Pause Button’ yours?” Xu Wang asked, but discreetly deactivated a stationery.
Kong Lizhe glanced down at him. “Mine, any objections?”
Xu Wang looked at him earnestly. “Then you must protect yourself well. Don’t let the illusory stationery lose its effect.”
Kong Lizhe: “……”
“At least, until we get the badge.” Xu Wang smiled and nodded sincerely. “Please!”
Kong Lizhe took a deep breath, restraining the urge to crush his phone, and slowly looked towards Chen Guan. “If you don’t act now, we can’t be friends anymore.”
Chen Guan was already itching to jump into a physical fight, but he asked one last question. “What stationery?”
With those words, Captain Xu understood immediately. “[(Defense) Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea*].”
*Ground of legendary immortals in Chinese mythology. One of the tales about time, which has art depicting this, is about them crossing the sea to attend the Conference of the Magical Peach.
Chen Guan: “……”
Xu Wang: “Surprised? Sadly, we only have five people, so we couldn’t use all the crossing tools…”
[Owl: Someone used [(Offense) Wrath of Poseidon] on you~~]
That was Chen Guan’s response.
On the mirror-like sea surface, suddenly huge waves arose!
All five companions, regardless of their tools, were equally thrown into the sea!
The salty sea water blocked their senses, and after struggling for nearly ten seconds, they were lifted out of the sea by their tools!
But another giant wave was fast approaching!
The tool Xu Wang had deactivated earlier finally found the perfect moment to activate—
[Owl: Someone used [(Offense) Frozen for Thousands of Miles] on you~~]
He knew the open sea wasn’t safe!
In an instant, extreme cold spread throughout the entire water area, and the approaching giant wave instantly froze in mid-air. The water surface below the five, along with their impressive watercraft, was also frozen in ice!
“Xiao Kuang—” Amidst the frozen expanse, Xu Wang called out loudly.
Kuang Jinxin didn’t hesitate and immediately activated a defense stationery!
[Owl: Someone used [(Defense) Balloon House] on you~~]
The moment the alert sounded, a small wooden house tied to a giant hydrogen balloon appeared above the heads of the five companions. They jumped up, climbed onto the house, and the balloon swiftly rose, lifting them to the same height as the disc, transitioning from “naval battle” to “aerial combat” seamlessly!
However, in room 1639, Zou Jun and Feng Rang were slapping the windowsill in frustration, as if they had made the blunder themselves. “Damn, isn’t this just asking for trouble!”
At least [Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea] allows for flexible movement and quick dispersal, but gathering in a fragile balloon house and flying so high? They’re just waiting to be easy targets, ready to be wiped out in one fell swoop!
The moment the balloon house appeared, Chen Guan couldn’t help but laugh, leisurely waiting until the balloon house reached a fatal height before unleashing his deadly stationery.
[Owl: Someone used [(Offense) A Thousand Arrows Released] on you~~]
Just as Xu Wang and his team breathed a sigh of relief, countless arrows flew towards them from the sky!
“Quick, dodge!” Qian Ai shouted.
Kuang Jinxin was even more anxious. “I know!”
He closed his eyes, concentrating hard, and moved the balloon house as quickly as possible.
In the nick of time, the hydrogen balloon barely moved away, with the closest arrowheads almost grazing its edge!
But before the companions could relax, they suddenly heard a noise from behind.
Turning around, they found that the missed arrows had circled back towards them!
This time, there was no escape.
All the arrows pierced the hydrogen balloon, and some even thunked into the wooden house!
The hydrogen balloon exploded with a “bang”, and the wooden house plummeted at a high speed!
Qian Ai panicked. “Below us is ice!!!”
Xu Wang, of course, knew, and at the last moment, he deactivated [(Offense) Frozen for Thousands of Miles]!
“Splash—”
The balloon house fell heavily into the water, causing a huge splash!
But before the first wave could settle, the entire surface of the water froze again into thick ice!
The world was suddenly silent.
“It’s not only you who have [Frozen for Thousands of Miles],'” Chen Guan sighed towards the bright ice surface, turned to look at the mere spectators, Kong Lizhe and Gu Nian, and frowned slightly. “I think I overestimated them.”
Gu Nian remained non-committal.
Kong Lizhe closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. “Sorry, the pause button is still active.”
Chen Guan was stunned. “……”
Kong Lizhe closed and then reopened his eyes. “I now understand the magic mirror’s feelings in ‘Snow White’.”
Gu Nian sighed softly. “Repeatedly telling the queen that she’s not the most beautiful—it is indeed quite cruel.”
Chen Guan’s face darkened on one side. “Hey—”
[Owl: Someone used [(Illusory) Mirage] on you~~]
The sudden prompt in their ears made the four on the disc freeze, instinctively turning around.
Jiang Dachuan, who was watching the battle from the tree, was also astonished, obviously hearing the prompt too.
This illusory tool affected all five of them.
But why [Mirage]?
When Kong Lizhe mentioned that “Pause Button” was still effective, Chen Guan immediately prepared to face those guys breaking out of the ice.
Can [Mirage] break the ice?
[Owl: Someone used [(Illusory) Scuttle the Boats*] on you~~]
*(破釜沉舟) Idiom referring to leaving no escape route and acting decisively. This comes from the Battle of Julu, where Xiang Yu ordered his men to sink their boats and destroy all but three days’ worth of rations in order to force his men to choose between prevailing against overwhelming odds within three days, or die trapped before the walls of the city with no supplies or any hope of escape.
Wang Duanran and the rest looked at each other in confusion. Like [Mirage], [Scuttle the Boats] was a stationery they had never possessed. Predicting the exact use of new stationery wasn’t easy, especially since some stationery’s names were misleading!
Another important question was, where exactly were those guys hiding!
Before they could clear their doubts, Chen Guan suddenly slapped the disc hard! The sound of his hand hitting the porcelain was deafening, obviously hitting with full force!
“What are you doing?” Wang Duanran was baffled.
Before Chen Guan could answer, Kong Lizhe also slammed his phone onto the disc!
The porcelain cracked, and the phone screen shattered!
“Damn, I just bought it a week ago!” Kong Lizhe was breathless with distress.
Wang Duanran was about to explode with anger when their disc suddenly plummeted at high speed!
“Gu Nian?!” Wang Duanran was shocked. The disc was controlled by Gu Nian, who never joked around.
“The illusory stationery is controlling my mind…” Gu Nian furrowed his brow, calmly stating, “It wants the disc to crash.”
Wang Duanran: “……”
Chen Guan: “……”
Kong Lizhe: “……”
Jiang Dachuan: “……”
[Scuttle the Boats]—destroying the caldrons and sinking the boats*, leaving no way out, a do-or-die battle.
*Note: This is reflecting Xiang Yu’s action of destroying their food supply and the boats (as explained above).
But they didn’t intend to smash the disc for a do-or-die battle. Was there a misunderstanding in the stationery’s interpretation of its own meaning?
At this moment, no one cared about Chen Guan’s statement of “leaving it to himself”. Jiang Dachuan immediately took action—[(Defense) Soft Landing]!
The defense stationery finally activated just before the disc hit the ground.
The disc landed on a cushioned layer, wobbling and then stabilizing.
[Owl: Someone used [(Illusory) Resurrection Cycle*] on you~~]
*(周而复生) Idiom referring to going around and around in an endless cycle.
The timing of the stationery’s prompt was impeccable.
If they couldn’t recognize by now that those guys were hiding in the dark, then they were indeed naive.
But the immediate concern was, first, where were they? Second, what exactly was [Resurrection Cycle]?
Why were all their stationery named after four-character idioms?
“Slap—”
“Bang—”
Chen Guan slapped the disc hard again!
Kong Lizhe picked up the remnants of his phone, mercilessly smashing it a second time. The cracks in the disc were becoming significantly more apparent!
Gu Nian realized. “This illusory stationery makes a person repeat their previous action.”
Wang Duanran immediately looked up at the tree. “Dachuan, break the illusion!”
Jiang Dachuan couldn’t leave the tree in case they were ambushed, but he was ready to act decisively—
[Owl: Someone used [(Illusory) Awakening from a Dream*] on you~~]
*One sentence awakens you from a dream (一语惊醒梦中人) Idiom referring to a simple or brief remark can provide enlightenment, especially if one was confused or unaware before.
The effects of [Scuttle the Boats] and [Resurrection Cycle] disappeared simultaneously. Chen Guan’s palm was already bruised, and Kong Lizhe’s phone was now just debris, painful to even look at.
In mid-air, behind the original position of the hovering disc, a perfectly intact balloon house slowly appeared.
The mirage also broke.
Chen Guan finally understood. The one bombarded with arrows, plunged into the deep sea, trapped in miles of ice, were all but illusions.
“Sorry.” Captain Xu’s head finally popped out of the crack in the door of the small wooden house, where no one could be seen. “For wasting your [A Thousand Arrows Released] and [Frozen for Thousands of Miles].”
Chen Guan hadn’t been this angry in a long time.
And his anger was something Wang Duan, Gu Nian, and Kong Lizhe could clearly feel—when the usually talkative Chen Guan became quiet, he was unhappy. If he fell completely silent, he was thoroughly enraged.
As teammates, they didn’t really want to provoke Chen Guan at this time.
However, those in the balloon house continued to pour fuel on the fire beautifully—
[Owl: Someone has used [(Offense) Misery and Destruction*] on you~~]
*(生灵涂炭) Idiom referring to a situation where people are suffering immensely.
The ground beneath the four on the ice turned into a swamp in an instant. The mud bound their feet like chains. At the same time, flames erupted on the ice surface!
Chen Guan deactivated [Frozen for Thousands of Miles], and in the moment the swamp and flames were swallowed by the sea, he activated [(Defense) Paper Airplane]. A huge origami airplane swept across the sky, picking up the four and taking them back to high altitude.
So high that the little wooden house below was just a speck.
“They want to delay time.” Kong Lizhe hit the nail on the head. “Delay until the ‘pause button’ expires, and they win.”
Wang Duan: “They still want to get the badge.”
Kong Lizhe: “Hah, you believe them? How will they get it? Just blindly stacking up stationery?”
Gu Nian: “Quite an interesting team.”
Chen Guan: “What do you mean?”
Gu Nian: “What were the last three stationery items they used?”
“[Scuttle the Boats], [Resurrection Cycle], [Misery and Destruction]?” Wang Duan replied uncertainly, then suddenly understood—every curly hair on his head turned into a black line. “They must be crazy…”
Facing a team that plays idiom charades with stationery, their feelings were complex that it was difficult to describe.
……
Room 1639, by the window.
Zhu Mo: “What exactly are they waiting for?”
Zou Jun: “Ah? Aren’t they struggling hard?”
Zhu Mo: “Those stationery items can’t truly be decisive in victory. They should be clear about that.”
Feng Rang: “They want to drag it out until the illusory stationery expires. An illusory stationery that can pause the submission won’t last too long.”
Zhu Mo: “I always feel there’s something else…”
Wei Menghan: “Hasn’t anyone reflected on the [Mirage]?”
Zou Jun: “They used the [Mirage] to make the balloon house disappear?”
Wei Menghan: “Isn’t it obvious?”
Note 1: Mirage, illusory. Can hide oneself and create visual illusions in front of the enemy. However, all contents of the illusion are live broadcasts of the actual situation hidden in the dark.
Note 2: Teacher Wei’s team once used this stationery in a certain level. Due to their poor acting skills, they were seen through by the opponent.
Teacher Wei’s rhetorical question made the atmosphere in Room 1639 subtly heavy.
The four people replayed the scene of Xu Wang’s small team using [Mirage] in their minds—
As the arrows flew, Qian Ai shouted desperately to dodge, his voice strained and changed.
Kuang Jinxin, controlling the [Balloon House], responded eagerly, “I know,” every drop of sweat on his forehead seething with anxiety.
The balloon house was pierced and started falling. Qian Ai, terrified, shouted that below was ice.
The wooden house hit the water, and the last frame had five faces of despair.
End of review.
Four companions: “……”
A drama king is indeed a form of strength, so yesterday they also acted against each other, deceiving each other on the task line.
But—they didn’t need to burn their lives for their acting skills!
The author has something to say:
There’s actually three choices left for [Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea].
[Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea], they actually left three choices for Qian, which were the Lotus (He Xiangu), the Jade Tablet (Cao Guojiu), and the Donkey (Zhang Guolao). Then, I chose the one that best suited Qian’s temperament… (～￣▽￣)～
Kinky Thoughts:
And Best Actor(s) goes to…
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