The chamber still flashed the cold blue glow of the runic board when new text spread across the surface.

Symbols burned into the air and rearranged into clear lines as every player in the hall lifted their gaze toward it.

[New rules!]

[Rule 1: Coins are spent to open paths, trigger events, mini-games, or challenge obstacles.]

[Each coin represents your Stake.]

[Larger coins hold greater reward value but high Stakes and danger levels.

Smaller coins are safer but offer limited rewards!]

[Rule 2: Coins have different valued Stakes.

1 small coin= 1 Stake

1 medium coin= 5 Stakes

1 large coin= 10 Stakes]

[Your total stake determines the level of danger you attract.]

[Players with extremely high Stakes may trigger special events]

It paused. The glow of the board washed over the stone floor and climbed the faces of those standing below it.

[Rule 3: Players who fail the Challenge will forfeit their coins. Failure will result in elimination.]

[Players with zero coins will get eliminated.]

[The Player with the highest Stake when the Game ends will receive the Jackpot!]

[Don’t worry, surviving players will receive rewards too!]

[Do Not Overspend!]

The symbols faded.

A quiet tension settled across the chamber as several players shifted where they stood, hands tightening around the coins they had taken earlier.

Eli stepped forward and lifted his chin toward the others.

"Let’s keep this organized," he said. "Everyone in the team, state your Stakes. I don’t know how this Game will go, but we need to prepare."

His gaze moved across Xia, Olive, Helena, and Fei Ming.

Helena spoke. "I have nine coins." She opened her palm and revealed several coins resting against her skin. Five small gold pieces sat beside four larger coins with heavier weight and darker engravings.

"Five small. Four large," she said.

Eli ran the numbers through his head.

"That’s forty-five Stakes."

Helena closed her fingers around the coins again and slid them into the pouch at her belt.

Olive scratched the side of his neck before answering.

"Two small, two medium, one large."

He rolled the coins between his fingers while speaking.

"That’s twenty-two."

Eli gave a short nod and turned to Xia.

"How about you?"

Xia pushed a strand of hair away from her forehead and checked the coins in her pocket before answering.

"Thirty-four."

Her eyes shifted toward Fei Ming.

Fei Ming raised his hand and opened the system screen.

The faint blue panel appeared in front of him.

[You have 30 Stakes.]

He had taken the coins earlier without much thought.

Two large coins, two medium coins. Enough to attract attention if the system’s rules held any weight.

Fei Ming closed the panel.

’I’ll adapt.’

BANG!

The lights vanished at once.

The hall plunged into darkness, then the runic board flared back to life, its blue glow spilling across the walls and floor.

[The first mini-game will start soon.]

[Players will be teleported in random groups of 11.]

Several people shifted their footing.

The system had not explained the selection process. The only certainty was that the teams would not remain intact.

A bright flash swallowed the chamber.

Fei Ming’s vision turned white.

His balance lurched as the ground vanished beneath his feet.

Then the light collapsed.

When his sight returned he stood in another chamber, wider than the previous one. The walls painted a deep red tint and the air inside felt colder.

A faint metallic smell lingered near the floor where dust gathered along the edges of the room.

More flashes erupted around him.

Bodies appeared one after another as the system finished transporting the players.

Fei Ming scanned the room.

Olive stood a few steps away with his shoulders drawn tight while he searched the room. Xia appeared near the opposite wall with her weight shifted onto one leg, her eyes moving from corner to corner.

Near them stood the dark umbrella girl he saw earlier, silent with the folded handle resting against her shoulder.

Three unfamiliar men stood near the back wall.

Four women gathered close to the center.

One man stood out right away—tall and lean, white hair catching the red glow and throwing it back in bright strands.

Fei Ming leaned forward slightly, narrowing his eyes to confirm the face.

"Keres?"

Their gazes met. And Keres launched across the short distance and threw himself at Fei Ming.

"Fateless!" Keres squealed.

He grabbed both sides of his face and squeezed.

"I found you again!" he shouted. "Cool, right?"

His laughter filled the chamber while he shook Fei Ming’s head from side to side.

"Now I’m going to survive the second calamity. You’re here!"

Olive stared at the scene with his mouth half open.

His gaze shifted between the two men. The way Keres continued holding Fei Ming’s face without any restraint.

Fei Ming grabbed Keres’s wrists and pushed him away.

"You dyed your hair white."

Keres grinned wide, unfazed. He ran his fingers through the pale strands and lifted them so the others could see.

"Heh. Yeah, I did!"

He turned his head from side to side, watching the hair fall back across his forehead.

"I wanted to try something new. It fits me, doesn’t it?"

His eyes slid back to Fei Ming.

"Gosh, you look sturdier now. You’ve been training?"

Fei Ming brushed his sleeve where Keres had grabbed him. ’And he still shines like a disco ball.’

Just then, a man near the far wall raised his voice.

"Can’t you fucking read the room? Be quiet," said the man, gritting his teeth.

Everyone turned toward him.

He pointed toward the chamber walls.

"If you take a damn look around, there are no windows and no doors. Just that one."

He signalled toward the front of the room where a single metal door stood sealed against the wall.

Silence dropped over the group. Breaths sounded louder in the enclosed space, the red light pressing warm against skin.

Feet shifted on the floor, bodies adjusting their spacing while eyes flicked toward the single visible door and the smooth walls around them.

The runic board materialized suddenly in the center of the chamber,

Ding!

[Welcome to the mini-game: Trap Room.]

[Each choice cost a Stake.]

[Rule: Do not get squished.]

Several players stiffened.

[Many hidden doors. Many hidden traps.]

[Find the correct path to escape.]

[Time remaining: 00:12:59]

The board vanished.

A heavy silence filled the room.

Every player began studying the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

Thirteen minutes.

Olive walked to the center of the chamber with his eyes moving across the group.

He drew a slow breath.

"If we all want to survive, we need to work together. Everyone spread out," he said. "Check the walls first."

His gaze settled on Fei Ming for a moment before shifting again.

"I’ll guide the search."