The resounding bell echoed, and Xia Feng looked up.
"The free trading phase has ended, please compose yourselves. We are now starting the 'Basic Hunting Stage'."
The masked individual, wearing a black top hat and with a jesting tone, tossed the 37-sided die into the air, the black and white shadows spinning.
The die hit the ground: {19}
"Lucky~," the masked individual snapped their fingers and gestured toward participant number 19, "Starting with player number 19, they may choose the direction of play, clockwise or counter-clockwise. I wish you all good luck."
With that, the figure vanished in a flash. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveIꜰire.net
The Basic Hunting Stage began.
One by one, hunting commenced. Xia Feng noticed that in the early stages, the players were more or less taking shots in the dark which indicated that they all had very little information.
For instance, player number 14 attacked player number 3, the hunt failed, and not only did they lose 4 Life Points, but they also wasted a hunting card.
Xia Feng shook his head. Bored and idly picking at his nails, it was soon the turn of player number 11 to hunt.
Player number 19 had chosen a counter-clockwise sequence, so player number 11 hunted before him.
To Xia Feng's surprise, player number 11 waved their card in his direction, then with a mocking, light laugh, inserted it into the slot, "I hunt player number 10."
Xia Feng's dark eyes slightly squinted. This meant that the guy actually had three of my Number Cards! He used the first one to trade with me, the second for basic hunting, and he planned to use the last one to hunt me down in reality!
Not a single one wasted, Xia Feng thought with a wry smile, not overly concerned.
Because his identity as the ace black card was practically useless now, with only 9 Life Points in total, it wasn't worth much.
[Player number 11 has successfully hunted player number 10—]
A solemn and somber announcement echoed in all directions.
[Player number 11 gains 4 Life Points, player number 10 loses 4 Life Points. Due to player number 11 having the 'Game Skill Card - Poison Sting', player number 10 must first lose 2 Life Points before they can initiate a hunt—]
Xia Feng glanced at his life gauge.
Not very healthy, but it was a minor issue. Xia Feng clicked on the panel to choose to forgo hunting.
Player number 11 seemed to have a lot of Life Points. Unfortunately, it was not possible to trade Life Points during this phase; otherwise, Xia Feng would have really liked to transfer another four points to player number 11.
Soon, the Basic Hunting Stage ended. Xia Feng noticed bright light suddenly illuminating the edge of the circular platform, countless purple lines like streams converging under his feet, forming a Teleportation Array.
[We now enter the 'Reality Hunting Stage', I wish you all great fortune in battle!]
As the solemn voice resounded by his ear and dazzling light entered his eyes, Xia Feng faintly saw player number 11 raise their hand to their neck, making a provoking gesture by slashing it across.
The surrounding environment once again transformed into patchy pixels, rushing towards him.
As if traversing through time and space, countless pixels formed lines, zipping past him and flowing behind him in just a blink.
He landed on the ground, looked around, and found himself back inside the instructional building.
"It looks like a body carry."
His cellphone kept vibrating with incoming text messages.
Xia Feng looked at it curiously; they were all from Mushroom.
[Mushroom hates Potato: It's an emergency, help! Feng, I need your help!]
[Feng? Are you there, are you there, are you there?]
[Where did you go? Fall into a toilet?]
[You didn't really fall in, did you?]
[Help, hey! Something big has really happened, wuwuwu—]
[If you see this message, remember to reply to me, or I'll really be doomed!]