Chapter 2376: Chapter 2376: Raising the Stakes

The odds of the callers folding or getting the call completely wrong in each round are very small, so it’s almost impossible for the caller to take the whole pot alone. Basically, whoever gets the right to call in that round is bound to put their basic stake into the pool.

Of course, the basic stake doesn’t mean much—unless someone raises the value of the basic stake.

Calling is a losing position, but the gain as a follower isn’t small. Take the first game for example: even if five people split it evenly, Xu Huo could still walk away with three or four props, and they were Rank-B props.

In the first round, everyone gets a chance to be the caller, and whoever has already called and lost their basic stake needs to top it up again. So by the time it was Xu Huo’s turn to call, eight mermaid players had already accumulated in the pot.

That’s right—apart from Xu Huo, the other participants in the game had each brought more than one mermaid player.

And the caller can only put in the basic stake, so before anyone called stop, Xu Huo said:

"I want to change the basic stake."

The Fair Dealer flew from the round table to the screen in front of him, lowered its brows and said, "The basic stake in the first round cannot be changed. If you only brought one basic stake, you can use other items in its place starting from the second round."

"Of course, honored guest, you may also withdraw from the game, but this mermaid will have to stay. No one can sit down at the table without leaving something behind, or taking something away."

"Someone has to lose, for someone else to win."

The doll circled once around Hua Sisi, then produced a Detector and scanned her quickly before saying, "Based on this mermaid’s data, I rate her as Rank-C: appearance Rank-C, physical capability Rank-C, with multiple old injuries on the body that have not fully healed, and unstable emotions. This is a mermaid of low value. If the honored guest wishes to take her away after the game ends, you may exchange for her with the chips you win."

"The Fair Dealer will do its best to adjust matters and ensure every honored guest is satisfied."

A one-hour game leaves no room for quitting, so Xu Huo casually called out a number.

The previous games had already shown that the doll wasn’t lying. The multiplier numbers in each game were fair and guaranteed to appear at least once every three seconds. As long as you could judge the timing, calling out the multiplier number wasn’t hard.

Of course, the dice weren’t turning slowly. At that speed, you had to combine it with the pattern of how the dice faces cycled, predict the next set of numbers to appear, and then call stop accurately in an extremely short time. Sharp eyesight mattered, and so did concentration.

They had already reached the fifth game. Besides Xu Huo, there were three other players who hadn’t gotten a single call wrong.

That ratio was very high. Apparently, the participants in the Mermaid Game weren’t all just pampered rich kids.

In this game of Xu Huo’s, five people called the correct number.

The first set of eight games in the first round ended quickly.

"From the second round on, the caller in each game will be selected by the Fair Dealer." The doll said cheerfully, "I’ll announce a number and guarantee that this number appears at least once every five seconds. The first person to successfully call stop on that number will be the caller for that game."

"If more than one person calls stop successfully at the same time, then the Fair Dealer will draw lots in your place. Naturally, the drawing process will be random and fair."

"Also, please note, in this round the caller has the authority to change the basic stake, and subsequent followers must keep increasing the stake based on the caller’s baseline."

"Next up... eight!"

"Stop!"

"Stop!"

Almost the instant the doll announced the number, two voices rang out at the same time—their speed was so fast they practically overlapped. Even with a player’s hearing, there was no way to tell who had shouted first. But in the square box, the eight dice indeed all had the number 1 facing up.

"Oh my! Oh my, my!" The doll flailed its hands excitedly. "Two honored guests stopped the number accurately at the same time. Unfortunately, even the Fair Dealer can’t determine who was first."

As it spoke, it raised its hand, and a new sixteen-sided die appeared at its fingertip. "Looks like it’s up to me to draw lots and decide!"

Its eyes shifted left and right, and its other hand pointed toward Xu Huo’s position. "This honored guest gets the odd numbers."

Then it swept past one more screen and pointed to the second person on Xu Huo’s right. "This honored guest gets the even numbers."

As soon as it finished speaking, the die in its hand spun at a speed barely visible to the naked eye, then came to rest three seconds later!

"Ten!" the doll announced with a grin. "The honored guest behind Screen No. 5 is the winner of this draw!"

Xu Huo had already been paying attention to this person, because just like him, the man hadn’t gotten a single number wrong from the beginning. Compared to the noisy young man and the other players who occasionally groaned in regret or muttered comments, this one was very quiet. Aside from calling stop, he had almost never spoken.

"My basic stake is a Class A Instrument." From behind Screen No. 5, a flower-shaped instrument flew out.

Next came the following phase. Because the first caller had changed the rules, everyone else’s basic stake now had to be swapped for a Rank A Prop or Class A Instrument, and only then could they add more on top.

From this point on, the atmosphere was no longer as relaxed as before.

With a Class A Instrument as the minimum, if the first follower only added a Rank-C or lower prop, he would definitely be laughed at. Forget Rank-C and below—even Rank-C might be too embarrassing to put on the table.

But the first follower also set the upper limit for that game’s following stakes. If the first follower matched with a prop or instrument of the same level, then the people after him would most likely stack the same type of props and instruments. With eight people, the pot would be very considerable by the end.

If the first follower drove the stake down, the people behind him would have it easier.

Of course, that assumed everyone was "normal." It didn’t rule out someone maliciously inflating the stakes.

Xu Huo was one of the followers, and he added two Rank A Props.

He hadn’t had time to deal with the inheritance from the players he’d killed after entering the Fish Banquet Building. Hard to say how good the quality was, but they were definitely Rank A Props.

By this point the structure of the game was already clear: only those who could stop the numbers accurately every time were the biggest winners. Everyone else—whether calling or following—if their accuracy wasn’t high, or if they outright folded, were all losers.

Since Xu Huo had just added two Rank A Props, each follower after him now had to increase the number of props or instruments by at least one, regardless of the level.

So by the time the seventh person followed, there would be at least three more Rank A Props or Class A Instruments added—because in this kind of setting, if the people later in line only added one Rank-B prop each time, it would look like they had nothing decent to bring out.

"Hahaha!" The young man laughed. "You’ve got quite an appetite—I like it! This is how a game gets exciting! I’ll throw in two Rank A Props as well!"

"It’s only the second round and you’re playing this big. Will you all still have enough Rank A Props to bring out later?" said the person behind Screen No. 7.