Chapter 32: The Five-Group Elimination Match

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Humanity speaks of the perilous heights, yet why do I still endure life's flights? Returning once more as spring grows late, neither leaving nor staying escapes our fate.
The poem was short, composed of five-character lines. One could say it was extremely simple, and its meaning was crystal clear: upon the path of life, malice runs rampant, and even if one were to exhaust their entire life and burn away their youth, it could never be changed.
Although Zhang Xiaofan grasped the general meaning shortly after reading it, no matter how he searched for a hidden acrostic within the poem, he could not find any names. Therefore, he immediately concluded that this person was merely spouting nonsense.
Mysterious Person: Hehe, who would have thought that even a clever person like you couldn't figure it out? Since that's the case, I will give you three days. If you fail to find it within three days, I'll let Lin Rou and Su Qianqian play another round of Saw!
Upon seeing this, Zhang Xiaofan grew anxious and sent a voice message: "Damn it, if I find you, I'll tear you to pieces."
Lin Rou was not one to be outdone either, stating: "Do you think I'm scared? I refuse to yield."
Mysterious Person: Hehe, very well. It seems the ten lucky winners have been selected. Now I will announce the players: Wang Hu, Li Yunfeng, Yuan Jie, Shen Hongwei, Zhang Hua, Tai Yong, Haotian, Hong Liang, Guan Ling, and Sun Muyang.
"A total of ten people, paired in groups of two for five rounds of confrontation! The first game is eating hamburgers! Let us welcome Wang Hu and Sun Muyang."
Wang Hu cursed viciously: "What kind of damn hamburger game is this? Fuck your mother!"
Sun Muyang, who was from Class 1-6, turned pale and said: "Wang Hu, say a little less. If you anger the game publisher, none of us will have a good end."
"Who the hell asked you to care? What do you think you are?" Wang Hu possessed a naturally explosive temper; when he cursed, he showed no regard for anyone. Having said that, he sent another angry voice message to the group.
The Mysterious Person sent a message: Student Wang Hu certainly has a fiery temper. Then, Student Wang Hu, do you dare to say "I admit defeat"?
"Damn it, what is there I wouldn't dare? I, Wang Hu, admi—"
Before he could finish, Zhang Xiaofan's expression shifted drastically. He hurriedly covered Wang Hu's mouth and shouted: "Are you out of your mind?!"
As the words fell, a thin streak of blood appeared on Wang Hu's neck. Although the bloodline did not show any signs of expanding, Wang Hu's pupils constricted violently. Feeling the chill upon his neck, he broke out in a cold sweat and quickly stepped back.
Clang!
At that moment, the Mysterious Person sent a voice message: Student Wang Hu, why didn't you finish your sentence?
At this point, Wang Hu no longer dared to finish. If he spoke any further, the bloody scar on his neck would likely widen.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaofan was also filled with extreme shock. Staring at the bloodstain on Wang Hu's neck, he said in astonishment: "Too powerful. I couldn't sense at all how your neck was injured."
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"Th-Thank you," Wang Hu muttered, his eyes filled with terror. Originally, he had thought this person wouldn't be so cruel, but he hadn't expected them to kill without hesitation.
Mysterious Person: I said before, in this game, I am the game publisher. Any violations of the rules or admissions of defeat on your part will be regarded as game failure. The penalty for failing the game is death! Now, I will say this one last time: Wang Hu and Sun Muyang, step up to the podium!
With pale complexions, Wang Hu and Sun Muyang walked over. Wang Hu picked up his phone and typed: You said it's a hamburger-eating game. How do we play?
Mysterious Person: There are five hamburgers under the podium. These five hamburgers were carefully selected by me for you. Bring them out and take a look.
Wang Hu immediately took out a large box and opened it. Inside were five smaller boxes, which looked completely identical from the exterior.
Mysterious Person: Here are five small hamburgers. Among them, I have laced one with poison. Now, you are both required to choose a hamburger and eat it, continuing until you finish and complete the game!
Upon seeing the message on their screens, the classmates were dumbfounded. One of the hamburgers actually had poison in it, which meant one of them was bound to die.
No matter how bold Wang Hu usually was, his face turned completely white at this moment. Sun Muyang was shaking so badly he could barely stand, muttering: "It's... it's poisonous..."
"Then who goes first?"
"Yeah, whoever eats first is definitely in the most danger."
The classmates spoke all at once, casting their gazes alternately between Wang Hu and Sun Muyang.
Ding!
Mysterious Person: The match begins. Time limit: twenty minutes.
With a glare, Wang Hu grabbed Sun Muyang by the collar and cursed: "You eat first, or I won't let you off."
Although Sun Muyang was somewhat of a delinquent, in the face of life and death, a tenacious will burst forth within him. He brushed Wang Hu's hand away and angrily said: "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? This is a matter of life and death! Why should I be the one to eat? Are you trying to bully us from Class 1-6?"
"Bully your sister! Here, everyone has to give me face," Wang Hu said coldly.
As they spoke, several of his subordinates also stepped forward.
To everyone's surprise, Tai Yong and Li Yunfeng stepped up to back Sun Muyang. Tai Yong said in a deep voice: "Wang Hu, I don't care how you usually bully people, but in a life-or-death game like this, Sun Muyang is right—this kills people. So why should he eat first? Class 1-6 is not so easily bullied."
"Right, Class 1-6 should stick together," Li Yunfeng shouted.
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Once the two backbone figures spoke, the students of Class 1-6 chimed in with approval, glaring angrily at Wang Hu.
Zhang Xiaofan took a deep breath. If the games were to continue in the future, it would naturally be best for the people of Class 1-6 to die off. However, Tai Yong and Li Yunfeng were too troublesome; the two of them had completely united Class 1-6, making them much harder to deal with.
"It seems I'll have to find an opportunity to get rid of these two fellows," Zhang Xiaofan thought secretly to himself.
Although he was thinking this, Zhang Xiaofan knew that if things went on like this, time would run out. Thus, he stepped forward and said: "How about this? Play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets to eat later."
Li Yunfeng nodded at Sun Muyang and said: "Agreed."
"Fine, bring it on," Sun Muyang said fiercely.
Wang Hu sneered, and the two of them readied their hands.
"I'm going to throw rock," Wang Hu announced.
"Hah, do you take me for an idiot?" Sun Muyang sneered.
Zhang Xiaofan called out: "One, two, three, start!"
The two threw their hands out simultaneously: Wang Hu threw a rock, while Sun Muyang showed an open palm!
Wang Hu's expression shifted, and he said: "Didn't you say you wouldn't believe my words?"
"Haha, I'm not stupid. You deliberately announced you were throwing rock, but you forgot that I intentionally argued against your words. That way, you'd think I didn't trust you, and you'd throw something other than paper, believing your rock throw was foolproof. But I chose to throw paper precisely because of that, so I won!"
Sun Muyang said triumphantly.
Zhang Xiaofan sighed inwardly. Although Wang Hu was overbearing, when it came to intelligence, he was still a notch lower. If it had been him stepping up, he would have anticipated this trick and thus thrown neither rock nor paper, but scissors instead!
Shaking his head, Zhang Xiaofan said to the pale-faced Wang Hu: "Pick one and eat. With a probability of one in five, the odds of surviving are still quite high."
Wang Hu also knew he was now in a tight spot. He nodded, grabbed the hamburger in the very middle, weighed it in his hand, put it back down, reached for the one on the right, and hesitated once more.
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