The Trial Game of Life – Chapter 20

Table of Content | Character Guide

Chapter 20: Kitchen Knife Gang

When Tang Cuo enlisted at the age of 18, the first instructor he met was Jin Cheng. At the time, he was like a weed growing against the wind, with thorns all over its leaves.

Instructor Jin was said to have made a mistake and was sent to train the new recruits as punishment. Within 24 hours, he was given the title of ‘Devil Instructor’.

Thinking about it carefully, the situation back then was a bit like today. The two times Tang Cuo met him, he was both under some sort of punishment.

During that time, Jin Cheng especially had eyes for Tang Cuo. Some thought they had a good relationship, yet some thought they harboured a grudge against each other. People all viewed them differently. 

After three years and many rounds of selection, Tang Cuo entered Jin Cheng’s troop. On the second day he got there, he received news that the captain had sacrificed abroad.

On a rainy day in April, Tang Cuo held an umbrella, did some cleaning and put down flowers on Jin Cheng’s grave.

Three years later, in another April, Tang Cuo passed on. After his death, Tang Cuo opened his eyes to find himself in this place called Yong Ye City, then ran into someone who was supposed to be lying in the grave.

So many things to say, yet the only thing that came out was ―

“What a small world.” Jin Cheng generously poured a glass of whiskey for Tang Cuo. Seeing the grim expression still on his former trainee’s face, he couldn’t help but smile and ask: “You said that you spent some time at my grave. Did you see what was written on my tombstone?”

Tang Cuo: “I forgot.”

Jin Cheng shrugged nonchalantly: “But I’m surprised that you did visit my grave.”

Tang Cuo didn’t want to talk to him about those sentiments of the past. He could tell that this person deliberately hid his identity and followed him around and that his evil mind was still the same as back then. If you gave him a ladder, he could pierce through the sky for you.

Want to drink then drink, why do you need to spew so much nonsense?

He picked up the liquor glass and took the initiative to clink it against Jin Cheng’s glass. With a crisp “clang”, he tilted his head backwards and bottomed up the whole thing, his face unflinching.

“For you.” Tang Cuo put down the glass and rubbed his hands. “Da Li got married two years ago and said he owed you a glass of liquor.”

Jin Cheng laughed: “If it was for me, why did you drink first?”

Tang Cuo glanced up: “Do you want to drink or not?” 

“Is it with his childhood sweetheart?”

“Uhm.”

Jin Cheng had been at Yong Ye City for three years and rarely got news of his old acquaintances. Now he suddenly heard of such happy news and became elated. He also remembered Da Li’s childhood sweetheart well; she was a girl with a sweet smile and spoke with a pleasant, soft tone. Every time Da Li called her, everyone else in the team was envious.

He seemed to think of something and was about to make fun of Tang Cuo, asking him if he was in a relationship, but then he pondered for a bit and figured it was too cruel to ask a dead person about such matters, so he let go of the thought.

For the remaining time, the two of them sat opposite each other and drank together, sometimes staying at each other’s throats and sometimes getting along nicely, so Wen Xiaoming couldn’t tell whether their relationship was good or bad.

But Wen Xiaoming was happy either way, because in any case, they were old friends.

At this point, they paused on talking about the old times. There were many people in the tavern and Jin Cheng didn’t want to talk about missions here, so he proposed to change the place.

As they got out of the tavern, one walked to the left and the other to the right.

Wen Xiaoming stood in the middle, perplexed like a monk trying to find his hair.

Jin Cheng turned around: “Where are you going?”

Tang Cuo also turned around: “To withdraw money.”

Wen Xiaoming immediately added: “Boss, he is going to the ATM to exchange money. Can you give him some? It’s not worth it to exchange points for money. You are all friends, let’s give him 2 million first.”

Jin Cheng cast him a loathsome glance: “Why are you still here?”

Wen Xiaoming: “???” 

In the end, Jin Cheng really gave 2 million to Tang Cuo, and according to his words, only an idiot exchanged his limited points for money. For the sake of the stack of cash, Tang Cuo temporarily accepted this statement.

Money could be put inside the Inventory Bar and also in the Material Box, because it could be used as burning materials when necessary. But this money couldn’t wait to be put in, for it was entirely gone in just one hour.

Medicine, change of clothes, daily necessities and of course, chocolate beans ― these were stuffed in three big bags. 2 million RMB was barely enough.

Jin Cheng gave him another 600,000.

Needless to say, official potions produced by Yong Ye City must be purchased with points. One basic potion would cost 2 points, intermediate potion 4 points and advanced potion 10 points. Tang Cuo bought two basic potions and spent 4 points, leaving him with 6 points.

After shopping, Jin Cheng caught sight of the ATM on the way back and suddenly felt like he was one of them. He had been in Yong Ye City for so long and only Tang Cuo had the nerves to spend his money so comfortably.

Jin Cheng couldn’t help reminding him: “When are you going to pay it back?”

Tang Cuo replied confidently: “I’m not, I’ve no money.”

Jin Cheng raised his eyebrows.

Tang Cuo also raised his eyebrows.

The two were standing on the main road, looking as though they were ready to fight any time now.

Wen Xiaoming hid behind a lamppost not far away from there and watched quietly, feeling more and more amused the more he looked at them. What sort of holy old friend was this Tang Cuo, so much so that he could have the boss dumbstruck and spend more than 2 million without even a flinch?

He must go back and tell Lilith about this, so that Lilith could also be amused.

Thinking so, Wen Xiaoming watched them for a bit more and made sure that the two didn’t end up fighting, then headed back to Zone A contentedly.

Back there, Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo were still at heads with each other on the street. A pleasant fragrance came out from the breakfast place and caught Tang Cuo’s attention. He decisively looked away from Jin Cheng and spent the last 5,000 RMB to buy two meat buns and three vegetable buns.

He gave none of them to Jin Cheng.

Jin Cheng laughed angrily: “This makes me think that you are specifically sent here by Mr. Crow to make me go mad.”

Tang Cuo declined to comment.

Jin Cheng wouldn’t expect this little bastard to become kinder in the next second, so he turned around and bought some for himself. After the purchase, Tang Cuo asked him as though nothing happened: “What really is the matter with Mr. Crow?”

Look at this. The young man who always stubbornly got up every time he was rubbed against the ground had finally become cunning with time. His naivety had gone forever.

Thinking of the past, Jin Cheng’s expression unconsciously mellowed: “You can find him at any corner of Yong Ye City. There are three thousand crows here, and every one of them is him. He has a bad temper, but not always so. It pretty much depends on your luck.”

“Is he the system?”

“No, but he has a lot of authority.”

Tang Cuo got a definite answer, but he still had some doubts: “When the Easter egg game was triggered, I heard a song.”

Jin Cheng immediately understood and accurately named the song: “It’s the [Song of God, Lambs and Crow], the official song of Yong Ye City. It just appears randomly and almost everyone that arrives here has heard it. As for what it means and what it has to do with Mr. Crow, there are different opinions, but there has never been a definite answer.”

Saying so, he looked up at the black steam engine train passing above their heads and continued: “Up there is the real core of Yong Ye City. If you can get on that train to reach there, you might know.”

Tang Cuo asked: “Have you been up there?”

Jin Cheng shrugged: “I haven’t.”

Tang Cuo didn’t ask more questions. He knew that if he learnt of the truth too early, he would launch himself on an expressway to death. He had already died once and he didn’t want to die a second time in such a short time. It would be an omen.

Jin Cheng also said: “Mr. Crow doesn’t seem to be in a good mood in the past few days. You shouldn’t enter the game for now, otherwise, the mission may not even be Hard, it’ll be Nightmare.”

At this moment, there was a commotion in front of them.

The two turned to look at each other, then took a step back together and stood side by side on the pavement, watching a large crowd furiously running through the long street.

Some of them were armed with weapons and some of them were wearing a type of specially-tailored uniform. They seemed aggressive, their intention apparently not kind and were heading for an obvious destination — the East Cross Street not far away from there.

“It seems that Zone F has been really lively recently.” Jin Cheng said.

“The time flow inside the dungeons is the same as that in Yong Ye City, right?” Tang Cuo asked.

Jin Cheng nodded.

Tang Cuo frowned slightly. They were in the dungeon in less than four days, so there should have been several batches of newcomers entering Yong Ye City. The biggest commotion he encountered last time was just some bullying from old players. What caused such a big movement this time?

The two looked at each other and followed the crowd to East Cross Street.

Before they even got closer, Tang Cuo heard a clear, youthful voice coming from across the sea of humans: “Everyone, don’t panic. As long as we are united, they can’t do anything to us! They are strong, but we have more people. We don’t have a lot of powerful weapons, but a kitchen knife can also slash wounds! Have you forgotten the heroic deeds of our boss?!”

“If one of us doesn’t succeed, we will send ten, and if ten don’t succeed, we will send a hundred. Why should we be exploited by them?! We have to give 5 points every month for survival and our points are all taken by them, now we can’t even afford daily meals. We might as well fight back!”

People’s hearts wavered.

Panic and bloodthirst blended together and the noise crashed the air like ocean waves, as though trying to wash through an island in the middle of the sea.

The teenager in green dinosaur pyjamas was on this island. His clothes looked funny as the hat of the pyjamas had been torn away and only a few threads at the opening were fluttering in the wind.

He raised his arm energetically: “What do we have the most in Zone F? New players! More people join us every day, why should we be afraid? Who dares to exploit us, let’s screw him over!” 

In an instant, the crowd broke out with enthusiasm, one after another raising their arms into the air, showing all sorts of kitchen knives, sushi knives and bone-chopping knives. The raging crowd confronted the hostile group of old players and the scuffle was about to start.

“Take him down!”

“Who dares to rob my points, I will go down with you!”

“Get away, get away from me!” 

“Fight him!”

“…….”

Tang Cuo turned around and wanted to leave.

With god-level eyes, Chi Yan spotted him and immediately waved his hands, shouting in surprise: “Ge! Tang ge!”

He didn’t forget to introduce to everyone: “Look over there, that’s Tang ge, the boss of our Kitchen Knife gang. Now the boss is back, we don’t have to be afraid, let’s screw them over!”

Everyone cheered.

“Take them down!” 

“Tang ge is back!” 

“Let’s chase them all out!”

As if a drop of water had fallen into a pan full of oil, the whole of East Cross Street exploded, everyone bursting into an uproar as they chanted ”Tang ge”, so marvelously that even Tang Cuo was stunned at his spot.

What was even more interesting was that because Jin Cheng and Tang Cuo followed behind the crowd, right in front of them was the fraud gang made up of old players.

Everyone looked back. On the long street, under the lights, Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng were the two sole figures casually standing in the middle of the road. Two tall, handsome, stylish men — looking exactly like two bosses ready to make their grand entrance. 

If you ignored the supermarket plastic bags they were carrying.

“Tsk.” The unamused duo let out the same sound perfectly in sync.

Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng looked at each other again, as if they were both asking, Why did you imitate me? The next second, the two put down the plastic bags at the same time and lifted their legs.

This was what people called ‘If you mess with fire, you will get burnt sooner or later.’

“Ouch!”

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

“Ah —”

Like two human-shaped cannonballs, two of them penetrated into the crowd, one with bare hands and sharp kicks, the other with a ‘brick’ that he had learnt to manoeuvre to perfection. This was a scuffle that greatly restricted the use of abilities, firearms or any other tricks, where one would be knocked down if he made just one careless move. More importantly, both Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng were extremely fast, with wrathful attacks that were flawlessly coordinated. They were far above the league of ordinary players of Yong Ye City, a level that couldn’t be reached just by playing several games.

In Zone F, no matter how good the old players were, they were only at the bottom of the whole Yong Ye City.

In just ten minutes, the old players cried in pain, no one standing within a radius of ten meters from those two.

At this point, Tang Cuo saw an acquaintance who was turning his head and blending into the crowd to escape, his fat body as flexible as an earthworm. Tang Cuo weighed the Survival Assessment Report in his hand and threw it with immense force.

“Bang!” The ‘brick’ hit the bull’s eye without fail.

The man fell down as the people around him were horrified by the strength of Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng and started to scatter around, fearing that they would offend those two fierce beasts if they weren’t careful.

Tang Cuo walked over, grabbed the other man by his collar and dragged him to the middle of the road.

“Big, big, big, big brother please have mercy!” The man raised his head. It was Zhang Xing.

Tang Cuo could feel how blatantly reckless this man was, and turned to look at Jin Cheng: “Do you have a knife? Lend me.”

Jin Cheng pondered the thought as he looked back, then he made a careful gesture and threw over a dagger without hesitation. Tang Cuo took the dagger and put it on Zhang Xing’s neck: “Let’s guess how many lives you have?”

Zhang Xing was so frightened his face turned completely white: “It really has nothing to do with me this time. I’m only tagging along with them. This doesn’t involve me!”

Tang Cuo: “Where is your boss?”

Zhang Xing’s mouth hung open as he trembled and turned to look into the crowd. The people moved away from wherever he looked. Blonde Hair hadn’t made an appearance yet, and it was also uncertain where he was hiding. Tang Cuo cast a cold look at them, the dagger waving in his hand as he asked ―

“You’re still here?”

The question was as solemn as a ghost’s whisper at midnight. The moment everyone returned to their senses, cold sweats ruthlessly poured down their backs. Their stiff hands and feet regained some strength and the crowd ran away in chaos.

The new players were stunned and kept staring at Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng in disbelief, no one saying a word. Only Chi Yan got extremely excited and pushed his way through the crowd to run over.

But at this moment, something occurred.

A few streams of bright lights appeared from the scattered crowd, coming at the two from four different directions. Tang Cuo couldn’t tell what kind of attack it was, but the shaking emotions from within allowed even a rookie like him to feel its strength.

But he didn’t move and just glanced at his instructor.

Being stared at like that, Jin Cheng couldn’t help but take out his mechanical bow and plucked at the empty string: “Ting ―” 

The invisible sound wave spread out menacingly and the two forces collided in mid-air, both crumbling down. In a blink, the four streams of light shattered into millions of sparkles and fell down like rain.

Amid the sparkling rain, Jin Cheng smiled and scanned through the entire crowd: “Who wants to die?”

Let me fulfil your wish.

Those who were fleeing froze on the spot. Seeing the light streams that were meant to kill off those two coming back at them, they felt their necks dangerously pressed and clenched their weapons tightly, cold sweats streaming down their faces unceasingly. This wasn’t their first day in Yong Ye City, so obviously they could see that Jin Cheng was powerful, or in fact, unusually powerful.

Hearing no response, Jin Cheng finally nodded in satisfaction and looked back at Tang Cuo: “Are you still dying this time?”

Tang Cuo opened the system panel and quickly glanced through. After he cleared his negative Strength, his HP had returned to normal and was now crawling slowly to 100. The fight just now only made it drop by 3 points.

At this moment, his HP was ― 56.

Even ten more fights would be no issue.