Chapter 930: Chapter 884: Bad News
Gu Mian had long anticipated the resurrection of Group Two, so he wasn’t surprised when 007 sent this message.
Liu Ruyan also felt something was off about Group Two for a long time: "Previously, we thought their entire group was dead, but when it was their turn, the countdown didn’t skip. When all of Group Three’s chess pieces died, the countdown jumped immediately."
"It might be related to the bonus effect Group Two drew. I wonder if the instance will explain this to the other Chess Players."
"Let’s wait and see what information 007 will send. After notifying us about Group Two’s resurrection, she hasn’t sent any updates." Liu Ruyan leaned against the wall, waiting.
In the initial room, 007 was watching a slew of new content appearing on the screen.
After Group Two’s resurrection, these new contents appeared on the board.
[Group Two triggered the bonus ’Resurrection’]
[Resurrection: The group that draws this bonus will have their chess pieces’ square turn into a Shared Death Square by the fifth round of the game. Following that, the entire group enters a three-round feign-death state, during which they cannot act. After the feign-death state ends, the entire group resurrects. Upon resurrection, the Chess Player can perceive the locations of the treasure box squares. The chess pieces in the Shared Death Square will be transported to a random room, and thereafter, they can only move one step forward in a direction chosen by the Chess Player each round, but each square they enter will turn into an empty square (except the initial room and treasure box room). Once a chess piece leaves a square, it becomes a Shared Death Square.]
The squares entered each round become harmless empty squares, and after leaving, the empty squares will turn into Shared Death Squares. It’s essentially a selfish invincible buff, even more powerful than Gu Mian, as it allows seeing the treasure box squares’ locations.
Fortunately, this buff has a time limit.
[This effect lasts for nine rounds. If, after nine rounds, the instance has not ended, the entire group dies.]
Nine rounds, progressing only one step per round, means Group Two must obtain the treasure box within nine steps, or else they will face true death.
Nine steps could indeed traverse a significant portion of the board, but if Group Two’s pieces resurrect in a remote corner while the Treasure Box Pavilion sits diagonally opposite, things could get tricky.
was staring at the screen, eager to see where Group Two’s pieces would resurrect.
She watched as the little character representing Group Two’s chess piece vanished into the Shared Death Square and then reappeared in another square.
Watching Group Two’s chess piece now, it’s very close, just in the third square below the initial room of Group One, a room that no one had entered before. After the Group Two chess piece resurrected in there, the room’s information quickly turned into an [empty square].
She rapidly calculated which rooms this position could reach within nine steps.
This board is an 8×8 grid, meaning Group Two’s chess pieces could practically move across all squares within nine steps, except for two squares: the ones directly above and to the left of Room Three’s initial room.
Group Three had moved upward in the first round, so the information above their initial room showed on the board long ago as a tired square, with no treasure box there.
Excluding this square without a treasure box, Group Two could only not reach the square to the left of Room Three’s initial room.
thought the instance wouldn’t be so malicious as to place the treasure box in the only square Group Two couldn’t access.
By now, Group Two’s chess piece had resurrected for nearly a minute but hadn’t moved.
"Is the Chess Player hesitating?" 007 frowned. "Other than the square left of Room Three’s initial room, Group Two can access anywhere. Why are they hesitating?"
While she pondered, Group Two’s chess piece finally moved. She saw it step one square closer toward her.
The room the chess piece just left immediately transformed from an empty square into a Shared Death Square, while the current room became a new empty square.
Now, only one square separated Group Two’s chess piece from 007’s initial room.
"Group Two’s chess piece has reborn very close to us. We just need to step left twice and then up once to meet them." Gu Mian noted the information 007 sent to the group.
had already shared everything she saw on the screen with the group, along with Group Two’s movements.
"I didn’t expect there to be such a bonus." Liu Ruyan contemplated the bonuses drawn by Group Two, "Resurrect and end the instance within nine rounds, or face total death. We’re in the eighth round now, and Group Two has already acted this round, leaving them eight more actions, meaning they must secure the treasure box by the end of the sixteenth round."
"Group Two’s Chess Player can already perceive treasure box squares; perhaps they’ll acquire the treasure box before the sixteenth round, leaving us not much time." She gazed toward the direction of the room containing Group Two’s chess piece, but layers of walls obstructed her view, preventing Liu Ruyan from seeing the chess pieces.
Gu Mian considered the general situation of the chessboard: "The square where Group Two’s chess piece resurrected; nine steps can nearly cover all rooms except those adjoining the initial room of Group Three."
had already mentioned this in the group, but Gu Mian continued contemplating it internally.
"The square above Room Three is the tired square, leaving only the left room unrevealed." Liu Ruyan contemplated Group Two’s chess piece movement, "This round they moved upward, nearing our initial room. Could the treasure box be near our initial room?"
Liu Ruyan thought it wasn’t impossible; before the action began, she suspected once the instance knew of Gu Mian’s arrival, it might directly block the door with the treasure box, allowing Gu Mian to exit immediately upon opening the door.
In the first round, they moved to the right, and the room to the right had no treasure box. Group Two’s current direction leads one to think the box might be directly beneath their initial room?
Seeming to understand Liu Ruyan’s thoughts, Gu Mian spoke: "After Group Two’s chess piece resurrected, their Chess Player took too long to decide."
If the treasure box were directly below Group One’s initial room, Group Two’s chess piece position would allow them to reach it in just two steps up, requiring no planning.
Yet, Group Two’s Chess Player almost exhausted a whole minute, hesitating for reasons unknown.
"Now Group Three is also confused, actively killing two of their own chess pieces to avoid entering the Shared Death Square, unknowingly the Shared Death Square is newly added and will display across the board," Liu Ruyan commented.
Besides the Shared Death Square triggered in the fifth round by Group Two, the rooms they pass through later will also turn into Shared Death Squares, all displayed on the board.
While the two spoke, a door appeared on the adjacent wall; Hao Laoshi entered.
Hao Laoshi, without group chat, was clueless about external happenings.
His concern was about the Kuibu Square bonus: "After this round, the Kuibu Square bonus expires. I’m worried if next round’s Chess Player rolls different numbers, we’ll be separated."
Gu Ming considered the positions of the other two Room 605s in his mind. If his calculations were accurate, three squares right and one down would lead to the third Room 605.
The three squares to the right had already been traversed by Group Two’s chess piece. Stepping right once leads to a tired square, halting a turn, stepping two leads to a trap square, with unknown traps, and three lead to the Shared Death Square created by Group Two.
Hao Laoshi mentioned their group drew the three-step bonus; Gu Mian didn’t know how many times Guigu had used it.
During the two turns accompanying Hao Laoshi in the Honest Square, Guigu presumably used the bonus. Whether he used it thrice is unknown, but if there’s a chance, Hao Laoshi could stay on the same square next round.
Locating the Evil God in the next eight rounds is a formidable task, prompting Gu Mian to reflect if his method of searching board by board was inefficient.
However, without doing so, Gu Mian couldn’t simply bring in a digger to unearth the walls.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t communicate with Guigu. Guigu’s [Pen-shaped Repeater] might record the Evil God’s location.
While Gu Mian contemplated the potential location of the Evil God, a door appeared before him.
The ninth round had begun.
Gu Mian pushed the door and entered the next room, encountering a tired square, but this time 007 rolled a two, so neither he nor Liu Ruyan lingered, passing through the tired square into the next room.
The trap square, which had claimed two chess pieces, appeared.
Upon entering, they immediately noted the trap square’s information right before them.
