The Crimson Game Chapter 11

Dark red spotlights shone down from above, illuminating twenty-five positions.

At each lit position sat a bride wearing a red veil, facing a mirror with her back to us.

A bone-chilling cold swept through the room.

Tank sidled up to me and muttered, "These are probably all corpses."

Hearing this, my heart trembled. What kind of grotesque, horrifying face would be under that red veil?

Fear of Asian horror was coded into everyone's DNA.

Many female players shuffled backward, hiding behind us.

Tank and I made eye contact, both straightening our backs.

Real men don't back down.

Though outwardly confident, internally we were panicking.

The mechanical dog explained: "This is where you'll complete your final test."

The heavy door ahead automatically opened.

We appeared in an extremely cluttered storage area.

About fifty giant shelving units were packed inside, yet the space didn't feel cramped.

Finding five items for each person here would be quite challenging.

My required items were: "white gloves, suturing needle and thread, makeup kit, antibacterial soap, urn"

Tank's items were: "white gloves, white dress shirt, sun sleeves, teacup, car steering wheel"

The young girl's items were: "white gloves, welding machine, welding tongs, slag hammer, protective face mask"

I waved them over and leaned in. "Stay sharp. We three stick together. Game note number two said players can steal items from each other. Let's find weapons for self-defense first, in case someone gets ideas."

Tank and the girl both nodded seriously.

The speaker crackled to life.

"Players, you have 1.5 days to find your items."

"Game starting. Countdown: 3—2—1—Begin!"

WHOOSH—

After the announcement ended, players swarmed toward the hall. Our trio followed close behind.

I quickly assessed the situation—everyone was in groups of two or three.

Looks like everyone had formed alliances.

Soon, while weaving between shelves, I spotted gleaming white gloves on the bottom level.

"Over here! Found them!" I shouted excitedly to the other two.

Tank rolled up his sleeves. "I've got this!"

Sure enough, our team's muscle wasn't for show.

Tank yanked out the gloves that were pinned under something with just a few tugs.

Before we could celebrate, Tank cursed:

"Damn, there's only two pairs."

I was mentally preparing to give up my gloves when Tank shoved both pairs into mine and the girl's hands.

"Jake found the gloves, so he definitely gets one. The girl's weaker than me and needs protection, so she gets one too. I'll steal mine from someone else!"

The girl clutched the gloves, stammering like she wanted to say something.

Tank barked, "Stop wasting time! Let's find the next item."

Our team moved fast. By the end of the first day, I'd found four items, Tank had three, and the girl had four.

The girl and I each needed one more item. Tank still hadn't found his white gloves anywhere.

While crouched against a wall taking inventory before lights-out, I felt two hostile gazes watching us from an angle.

When our eyes met, they quickly looked away and huddled together, whispering.

I lowered my head and whispered, "Tank, girl, we've been marked."

Tank sat on the ground, muscular arms supporting his knees, looking like a bandit boss.

"Leave it to me. Anyone who messes with Tank is gonna regret it."

I frowned. "Don't underestimate them. They might use dirty tricks."