Chapter 425
Compared to the previous games like "Runaway Kart" and "Diamond Miner," "Chaos Restaurant" was clearly more demanding.
In the past, the focus was on encouraging players to fight each other, but now it seemed to emphasize forcing players to make choices. Yet, no matter what choice was made, it felt like punishment was inevitable. The only option that wouldn’t lead to a guaranteed loss was still subject to “random” penalties.
It was unfair; the ratio of reward to risk was skewed.
This thought flashed through her mind, but now was not the time to dwell on it. She pushed it aside for the moment.
At 9:20, Yu Xunge decisively stopped early, seeking out a red light column to collect skill icons.
Since 9 o'clock, the red light columns had been steadily decreasing. There were far more black households than Yu Xunge had anticipated; even if the cursor was sufficient, the restaurant was still lacking!
At the start of the cooking competition, there had been nearly fifty thousand cosmic wanderers, and now there were even more event gift packs...
At 9:21, Yu Xunge successfully picked up a cursor. These cursors dropped randomly, and before picking them up, it was impossible to tell what position they represented. This time, she had picked up a cleaning position, but at that moment, the cursor was still a transparent shadow.
She immediately began to fly low over the food street, searching for a restaurant to join.
B8017913: "Tu Lan has already died four times. Aren't you worried? She has no usable skills, and her combat power is only at level four. This isn't really the best time for her to be fighting, you know that, right?"
Not to mention that Tu Lan was quite large, making her more likely to be hit.
Without looking up, Yu Xunge replied, "Yes, I need her to feel this sense of helplessness."
B8017913: "Aren't you afraid it will create a rift in your relationship?"
Yu Xunge had worried about this before. She had refrained from pushing Tu Lan to study, not wanting to hurt their bond, even though she knew Tu Lan had a natural talent for engineering. She had only guided and assisted her. But recently, she often wondered if she had been wrong...
She and Tu Lan had obtained the combined skill "Moment of Reckoning" from Li Zhou and Song Gui early on. She had thought their deep emotional connection would allow them to unlock that skill quickly, but she waited and waited, and it never came.
Tu Lan felt heartache for Li Zhou, abandoned by her contractor. Whenever she spoke of Li Zhou and Song Gui, her tone was filled with pain and anger, yet also pride and relief. But Yu Xunge kept thinking about that unlit combined skill.
In this divine game, from the moment she first laid eyes on Song Gui, she had been pondering this matter.
Li Zhou and Song Gui, she and Tu Lan, were like control groups.
The story was too complex to summarize in a few words, but skills never lied.
What Tu Lan thought was pretense might actually be genuine feelings. Did her own perceived sincerity turn out to be mere pretense?
The dragon in the sky suddenly halted. She looked down at the translucent figure flying over the food street. What was little Yu feeling sad about this time?
At this age, humans were still considered younglings to dragons. Was young Yu Xunge going through a phase? Why had she been so sentimental lately?
Yu Xunge couldn’t help but sigh. She said to B8017913, "I’m giving her a chance to choose."
If Tu Lan were to become disheartened or timid because of this battle, she would change her approach to nurturing Tu Lan, letting her guard the Zai Jiu.
It was slow there, and very safe. With her around, no one would dare to scheme against Tu Lan, and Tu Lan could earn honor and respect through her protection.
That would be a good ending, wouldn’t it?
But if Tu Lan could transform that feeling of helplessness into motivation, keeping the fire of will alive, then they could fight side by side from then on.
Yu Xunge flew to the end of the street and finally found a restaurant that hadn’t filled all its positions. The moment she entered, the transparent position cursor above her head lit up, marking her official employment.
**Chapter 553: Divine Game: Chaos Restaurant 58**
Yu Xunge didn’t rush to leave but quickly completed some necessary tasks within the restaurant.
Washing dishes, earning chaos points, organizing the cash register, and so on...
The other three players were also busy; the world battlefield didn’t accommodate idlers. Everyone had their own plans, and they looked at other players as if they were fools.
After finishing her tasks, Yu Xunge still didn’t hurry to leave the restaurant.
Outside, chaos reigned, with players dying left and right. At first, everyone was still collecting.
Some didn’t want other players to succeed in becoming black households and skipping the surprise blind boxes, while others preferred to cooperate with their own kind, willing to draw from the surprise blind boxes rather than die at the hands of enemies. But once the madness began, all that was forgotten.
Yu Xunge knew that stepping outside wouldn’t lead to her death.
She was trying to buy a little more time, delaying her exit.
At that moment, Tu Lan also entered the restaurant. With Yu Xunge’s employment, Tu Lan naturally became a formal employee as well.
She took the dish Yu Xunge handed her and began to eat, recovering health and gaining buffs.
Yu Xunge stood at the restaurant door, arms crossed, observing the players battling in the street and the air. Their antics were somewhat comical.
Occasionally, fruit customers would pass by, but whether they were employees or black households, attacks on the customers were ineffective.
Everything had a strange yet comical harmony, but it felt like something was off.
Yu Xunge stood there until 9:50.
She sensed a troubling signal; the game mechanics were filtering out high-powered players like sand through a sieve.
Although there were still plenty of red light columns, the number had clearly decreased compared to the beginning. Looking at the restaurant, more and more players chose to stay inside rather than venture out to face tougher challenges.
The death rate among black households was actually not low.
The transformation from black household to employee and back was meant to reduce death penalties, but some players found that going outside had the opposite effect, quickly waking them up to reality.
There was another, more important reason.
At the start of the game, those holding black household status were players eliminated from the previous round. Even if there were occasional unlucky ones like Tingzhou Jing'e, they were definitely not many.
In simple terms, black households were the pool of the weak, while those with restaurants and positions were the pool of the strong.
The strong grew bold, willing to give up their positions to become black households to skip penalties. The first round was manageable, but as the second round began, those who had jumped past elimination started to seize positions and successfully get employed.
Thus, the situation reversed; now black households had become the strong pool, while employees had turned into the weak pool.
But would employees be willing to step out of the restaurant and give up their positions? Not necessarily. For them, the safety of being a black household was far more appealing than gambling on surprise eggs.
At this rate, how many positions would flow into the market?
After the hour, a large batch of positions would flood the market. Aside from that, they could only wait for the 1,000 inspectors to clear the restaurant.
This was directly linked to several key moments of high-level battlefield eruptions, not something mid to low-tier players could touch.
As for players going out to stock up? Those who understood what being a black household meant wouldn’t dare step outside. It was like having tens of thousands of invisible assassins waiting outside; stepping out meant death.
From now on, it could be said that becoming a black household was easy, but getting employed again would be difficult.
9:55
Tu Lan had already understood the game rules under B8017913’s explanation and grasped Yu Xunge’s myriad thoughts.
She glanced at the time and anxiously asked, "Aren’t we going out yet?"
Yu Xunge waved to Tu Lan, "You go back to the space first. I’ll let you out after I respawn."
Training was training, but there was no need to face unnecessary death. That clever little B8017913 always timed it perfectly to return, waiting for her to die before reappearing, sharing her life but never sharing her death.
Once Tu Lan’s figure disappeared, Yu Xunge stepped out of the restaurant. There was still time; she could skip two more rounds.
However, as she walked out the restaurant door, she suddenly encountered a lychee customer face to face and recalled the oddity she had noticed while observing the street—these customers were all avoiding the red light columns!
Even the plump customers, while occasionally brushing against the red light columns, never stepped on them.
With a sudden realization, driven by the mindset of "better safe than sorry," she quickly wrapped her arms around the lychee that was about to pass her by, took a few steps forward, and pushed the lychee into the red light column, ensuring its feet stepped into the light.
At the same time, Yu Xunge didn’t hesitate to crush a piece of white coral, triggering five seconds of invincibility.
She wouldn’t be satisfied without testing it out.
How could this game not have a way out?
Three seconds.
Surprisingly, the lychee didn’t resist but stared at her.
In just three seconds, before the white coral’s shadow dissipated, a voice echoed in Yu Xunge’s mind.
【Congratulations, player, you have discovered hidden Easter egg·3 (1/20)】
【So you’re a customer: Guide customers to pick up position cursors】
【Easter egg reward: Lock one skill icon, preventing it from being lost for any reason】
【Each hidden Easter egg reward can only be activated once per player】
An Easter egg?! A pattern the size of a watermelon seed appeared on her left arm, marked with the number 3. When she wanted to use it, she just needed to press it like a skill icon button.
Without hesitation, Yu Xunge applied the Easter egg reward to "Mysterious Power."
Previously, the rabbit fur only prevented theft, but this was clearly more comprehensive.
Silently, she released the lychee customer but immediately retreated back into the restaurant.
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