The Trial Game of Life – Chapter 26

Table of Content | Character Guide

Chapter 26: Conquering Demon City (3)

Tang Cuo had always been a tough man, and now he was full of stamina with a HP of 98, but he still chose to walk directly on the cable so he could avoid smashing himself into the cliff and turn into a meatloaf. That would destroy his handsome image.

He could tell that 6 points had improved his physical strength, but he was still far behind Jin Cheng. After all, most players in Zone F were just average mortals.

Meng Yufei was afraid that after Tang Cuo crossed the abyss and met Jin Cheng, the two of them would join hands to beat him up for good. Seeing Tang Cuo set off, he also started moving.

Meng Yufei’s nerves were stretched to the extreme as the two of them moved along the cable, one after another. He firmly held onto the scimitar in one hand, thinking that if Jin Cheng made any moves, he would immediately attack Tang Cuo.

For the time being, the two sides had decided to be at peace with each other.

“Now we see that both No. 8 and the No. 12 have set off. They are moving very steadily and already past one third of the cable. Who will be the next brave cutie?” The little demon flapped his wings as he glanced back and forth at the remaining players, evil thoughts clearly shown in his eyes. “Wow, No. 10 has set off, while No. 5 and No. 7 are determined to not be left behind. Please remember to cheer for them!”

No. 5 and No. 7 were Qian Wei and Peng Mingfan. The two of them had made up their minds: The one true move now would be to hug the right thigh! Jin Cheng’s method was a bit too out of their league, so they chose Tang Cuo’s method — which was to hug the steel cable tightly, hook their feet on it, then quickly crawl over.

They had seen this method in movies and dramas, and now with Tang Cuo setting an example, it wasn’t too difficult.

The girl on No. 10 was a lot mightier — she decided to follow Jin Cheng’s step. When she was about to hit the cliff, she suddenly slammed upward and the impact of her landing was greatly reduced. Although she sustained some injuries, nothing was too serious.

No. 6 Ghillie Suit imitated her. When these players arrived on the other side, Tang Cuo and Meng Yufei had also made it through.

Jin Cheng took out a revolver, the exact same one that he used inside the dungeon [On A Snowy Night, He Returns], and threw it to Tang Cuo. This disciple of his hadn’t got any weapons in hand until now. This was too sad.

Tang Cuo picked the revolver up and promptly aimed it at Meng Yufei.

Meng Yufei’s scalp went numb instantly, but before he could do anything, he saw Jin Cheng take out a rope and tie one end to his waist and the other to an arrow before aiming his bow towards the abyss. He quickly understood that Tang Cuo was guarding for Jin Cheng and was warning him to not to make any trouble.

The rest of the players, such as the cowardly No. 1, didn’t have an easy time as they hugged the steel cables and moved slowly towards this side.

Tang Cuo also discovered that in this dungeon, only No. 1 was a lone player. No. 2, 9 and 11 was one team, while no. 3, 6 and 10 was another team, where No. 10 was likely to be the leader.

No. 2, 9 and 11 looked at each other and decided to go with the safer method of crawling over. The three of them were average in strength, a little stronger than No. 1 but not as strong as Qian Wei and Peng Mingfan. With all this, the whole group was conspicuously slowed down, and the big bugs under the abyss didn’t want to wait anymore.

Meng Yufei didn’t want to wait either.

“If you want to wait for those cowards then keep waiting, but I don’t want to waste time here.” Meng Yufei said as he stepped back, staring at Tang Cuo and Jin Cheng with alert eyes.

He still remembered the mission requirements, which said that the final personal reward would be based on each player’s ranking in the competition. He wasn’t so generous to care about those losers.

Tang Cuo didn’t make any moves and cast an inquiring glance at Jin Cheng.

Just at this moment, the big bugs down the abyss went crazy again and the ground shook violently. Qian Wei, who was about to arrive, missed a step and fell straight down.

Even No.9, who was hugging the rope tightly, slipped again.

Jin Cheng made a quick decision and shot an arrow, which pulled the rope and arrived at Qian Wei in a flash. Clever boy Qian Wei understood instantly and grabbed the arrow. He ended up knocking his body against the cliff several times, and right before becoming the creatures’ food rations, he came to a stop.

It was so painful that he almost fainted. The palm of his hand holding the rope was completely worn out and all the bones in his body were screaming with menace. He managed to look down to find his feet dangling right above the creatures’ mouths. A thick smell of blood rose from inside those giant bloody basins, sending chills down his spine.

“Quick! Pull me up! Big brother, please help!!!” Qian Wei shouted as he kicked randomly, all the hairs on his body standing on their ends and cold sweat streaming down brutally.

No. 9 was still hanging on the steel cable. He wanted to call for help, but the moment he opened his mouth, the wind rushed straight in. After much struggle, Qian Wei was finally pulled up, and only by then could Jin Cheng have a free hand to throw the rope towards No. 9.

“Wow, this is really a scene of harmony and friendship, which is rarely seen in our Demon City.” The little demon continued his exaggerated tone, this time also full of sarcasm: “No. 8 has reached the second round, now let’s focus on No. 8! The second round: The Great Tests of The Master & His Pet’s Mutual Understanding!”

“Will No. 8 consistently stay ahead, reach the finishing line first and gain the greatest glory? Let’s wait and see!” 

After that, the little demon hummed and flew to the front. There were still strange-shaped houses on both sides of the road, where the monster audience behind the windows were pointing at Tang Cuo and others, looking as though they were not satisfied with their performance just now.

But they really liked Jin Cheng, because from time to time, Tang Cuo could hear the word “No. 4” amid the chirping, blasting noise.

By this time, all the contestants had managed to pass through the steel cables, and one by one collapsed on the ground, feeling relieved as they gasped for air. No. 9 had been saved by Jin Cheng twice, and just when he was about to say thanks, Jin Cheng took back the rope and turned around, walking away as casually as the wind.

Tang Cuo, Qian Wei, and Peng Mingfan were walking with him. No. 10 girl thought for a bit, then she quickly wrapped up her brief moment of resting and chased after the four with her teammates.

The group of people walked fast and quickly passed the corner of the road.

In front of them, a huge building that resembled the Roman Colosseum appeared, and all kinds of monstrous spectators were wriggling on the stands, eagerly waiting for their arrival.

“No. 8! The naughty No. 8 hasn’t completed the master’s assigned task. Mrs. Sally is going to be angry. What kind of punishment will she give No. 8 this time?” The little demon flew up and down with joy: “Oh, Mrs. Sally is taking out her rolling pin. Beating is affection, scolding is love1’打是疼，罵是愛’ is a Chinese idiom that lit. translates to ’Beating is affection, scolding is love’. It’s usually used to describe a parent-child relationship, since Chinese parenting generally believes that to raise a child well, you need to penalise them with beating.. Of course when the rolling pin hits her pet, the master is also immensely hurt.”

Inside the colosseum, there was a sturdy figure of a giant lady with blue skin, her height no less than 2 meters, wearing an apron and waving her rolling pin at Meng Yufei’s head. The dozen tentacles squirming under her apron left Meng Yufei with nowhere to escape.

“Wham—” Meng Yufei was smashed on the ground and he spit out a mouthful of blood before getting picked up by the tentacles. Mrs. Sally then hugged him with a broken-heart look on her face, perfectly demonstrating the spirit of ’beating is affection, scolding is love’.

Qian Wei almost threw up as he looked at the slimy liquid all over Meng Yufei’s body, and the other contestants also reacted similarly, their frightened eyes scanning through the other monsters in the arena. They couldn’t bring themselves to even think that the other monsters were any better than Mrs. Sally.

The colosseum was still divided into twelve tracks, from No. 1 to 6 on the left and No. 7 to 12 on the right, none connected to the other. On every track stood a monster that was watching them with loving eyes. Tang Cuo saw his ‘master’ at one glance ― a giant black snake with claws.

Qian Wei’s was a giant mouse with eyes all over its body.

Peng Mingfan’s was a centaur with horns on its head.

Jin Cheng’s was even better ― a flying phoenix with two heads. Li Ying Jun’s curse of ‘defence against fire reduced by 80’ might as well accumulate all its impact on him alone.

Qian Wei was the most scared. Staring at the blinking mouse, he looked as though he would faint in its next blink. Finally, he turned around: “Can I just kill myself first?”

Peng Mingfan: “No.”

“It seems that the rest of our contestants are here.” The little demon noticed them and held his microphone high: “Come on, your beloved master has been waiting for a long time. Now, let’s begin The Great Tests of Mutual Understanding!”

As his voice fell, except for Meng Yufei’s, eleven screens popped up on the other tracks, displaying the content of the test. Tang Cuo’s read ― ‘Cook a delicious dinner for the Dark Lord’.

He looked at the others. Jin Cheng was tasked to play with the phoenix’s fire rings, Peng Mingfan needed to wash the centaur’s back, while Qian Wei’s assignment couldn’t be any better: Help his master wear sunglasses!

Suddenly, a white light flashed and a pair of jumbo sunglasses appeared on Qian Wei’s hands. These sunglasses looked no different from those worn by humans, except that they were massive in size and their temples were made of rope.

He looked at the sunglasses, then at the giant mouse with eyes all over its body before exclaiming in disbelief: “He has so many eyes and only two are real? Are the others just decorations???”

Then Qian Wei turned to look at No. 6 Ghillie Suit next to him, who was asked to bathe a dung beetle, and immediately felt a lot better.

At this point, Meng Yufei’s third test had also begun, and the screen showed that ― ‘Mrs. Sally is having a trip away from home, but she doesn’t have any dresses that fit her. In order not to make your beloved master sad, contestant please sew a beautiful dress for her!’

Simultaneously, an old sewing machine and a large basket of floral cloths popped up.

Meng Yufei was going crazy, and Jin Cheng was absolutely delighted to see him going crazy. He waved at Meng Yufei as though meeting a good old friend, then turned around to play with the phoenix’s fire rings. The phoenix’s two heads were spewing fire one after another, each producing a large circle of fire and stacking them up to make five Olympic rings.

While Jin Cheng was performing acrobatics on fire, Tang Cuo stood in front of the stove thinking about the question of life, the universe and everything.

Really, his cooking skill stopped at making instant noodles, so what should he do with this pile of raw meat?

The giant snake called Dark Lord crawled over, placed his dragon-like claws on the stove and stuck out his tongue affectionately at Tang Cuo. Tang Cuo had no doubt that if he made something that didn’t suit his taste, he would immediately flip this attitude.

How about I just poison him?

But most snakes were already poisonous, would they die when poisoned?

Sometimes, Tang Cuo couldn’t control his thoughts, and they ran amok in his head for a moment before he returned to his senses. It was impossible for him to evolve into a Michelin star chef in a mere few minutes. He decided to put all the chunks of meat into a large iron pot and instinctively added all the condiments he found on the table, then poured water in, lit a fire and covered the pot.

Perfect.

“Great, big baby No. 12 has already covered the pot. I wonder if the dinner it cooks will satisfy the Dark Lord? If you like it, you can give it a gift!” 

The demon flew from track to another, throwing his flamboyant commentary everywhere.

“No. 10 is also very fast, befitting the only female contestant in this competition. The makeup it puts on Her Excellency Martha truly pleases Her Excellency. Look at this gorgeous yet masculine makeup look, I think this will definitely set off a new trend in our Demon City!”

Qian Wei couldn’t help but look back when he heard such praises, and was shocked to the core. The exaggerated purple eyeshadow and red lips combined with the blending technique comparable to that of an ink painting master made Qian Wei feel that he grew up to be so handsome.

But unlike him, the spectators responded with so much enthusiasm. Under the little demon’s leading, waves of cheers rushed at No. 10 and some monsters even threw gifts into her track.

“The first gift of this competition has appeared! Congratulations to No. 10!”

If there was one, there would definitely be two, and No. 10 ended up with three gifts in just a few minutes. Even though she had no idea what was inside, she obviously became a lot more furious and the makeup brush in her hand started moving faster.  

Qian Wei continued to struggle, his hands shaking uncontrollably as he wondered where he should put these sunglasses.

Mr. Giant Mouse was getting a little impatient, his eyes blinking faster than a camera’s shutter. Just at this moment, two strange smells floated over from the tracks on his right ― one smelt like that of spoilt rice that was cooked until it burnt, the other vaguely resembling human waste.

Qian Wei knew that next to his track, a dung beetle was taking a bath.

But where did the other smell come from?

“No. 12! The shocking dinner made by our shocking big baby is ready! The Dark Lord fainted immediately after catching a smell. My god, it actually put the saliva of a thousand-faced spider in the pot, this smell of ecstasy ― my god!” The little demon cried while covering his nose and moving backwards. Luckily, Tang Cuo was always a warrior, and he still stood firmly in front of the stove.

“Dang!” A gift was thrown into track No. 12 from the stands, and the spectator who gave the gift stood up proudly.

It was a tramp with a spider corpse on its back, or no, maybe it was a spider with a tramp trapped inside it.

In any case, those who spent money like this must be rich.

Tang Cuo covered the pot and nodded to the spider. He bent down and picked up the gift to see that it was a bundle of white spider silk. He tried putting the silk into the Material Box and it worked. This seemed like a good item.

Looking from afar, Qian Wei thought that even cooking such a disastrous dish could get him a gift, so he decided to take the biggest risk and tied the sunglasses around the position that should-have-been-its-eyes on the giant mouse’s face

“No. 5 failed his test, the master and his pet have a mutual understanding of 0!” The little demon’s voice suddenly became sharp and brimmed with relish. He stood on the giant mouse’s head and exclaimed: “Mr. Babylon seems extremely angry.”

Of course Babylon the giant mouse was infuriated. His eyes were clearly on his neck, but this damn pet still couldn’t remember. So he pulled off the sunglasses and shot two laser beams out of his eyes, sending Qian Wei flying straight from one end of the track to the other, hitting the barrier at the corner then bouncing back.

Qian Wei pulled himself together and took out a potion, gulping it down while shedding blood and tears both at the same time. The poor boy cried desperately.

Three minutes later, No. 10 girl was the first to clear the test smoothly, followed by the fire ring acrobat Jin Cheng. The attribute of ‘defence against fire reduced by 80’ inevitably made him lose some HP, but acrobatics remained a well-loved sport no matter which world it was, so he leisurely ate some medicine while taking in a lot of gifts.

Which included a man-eating flower, a fish scale and a pile of metal scraps that a random monster just spat out.

The content of the second test was quickly flashed on their screens. Then what about Tang Cuo? 

He sat cross-legged on his No. 12 track, doing nothing.

Because his master had fainted.