"…Defective?"
"…Malfunctioning?"
Beneath the cloak, the pale, faceless mask slowly lifted, staring directly at Bai Youwei.
The air seemed to suddenly drop by more than ten degrees, becoming abnormally cold.
Unfazed, Bai Youwei spoke again, "I'm not deliberately trying to stir up trouble. If you don't believe me, ask Tan Xiao and Teacher Cheng. That ball game we encountered last time, didn't it deliberately obscure the rules? And they even switched the frogs for tadpoles midway, right?"
"Right!" Tan Xiao enthusiastically chimed in, echoing her words. "They said we had 20 seconds to find the ball! But it wasn't 20 seconds at all! They said frogs were coming, then decided it wasn't exciting enough and threw in a bunch of tadpoles! They were totally messing with us!"
Cheng Weicai sighed deeply. "Such behavior disregards the rules of the game and is truly unfair."
"Exactly!" Bai Youwei nodded emphatically. "What if all the questions are things we don't know? What if they ask us about relativity, quantum mechanics, the mysteries of the universe? Then we're definitely doomed!"
Her words sparked panic in the others.
"They wouldn't ask such difficult questions, would they?!"
"Damn! I didn't even finish elementary school. Asking those kinds of questions might as well kill me now!"
"This game claims to be fair, but it's deliberately torturing people!"
"This is so messed up! If they want to kill us, just kill us! Why put on this righteous facade?!"
"Making excuses for murder…"
"I don't want to answer questions! Let me go! I want to leave!…"
—Boom!
A hurricane suddenly struck, instantly pinning everyone to their seats!
The fierce wind howled past their faces, tightening their skin! They couldn't speak! Even their breathing was suppressed!
After about ten seconds, the wind calmed, and people finally caught their breath.
The Supervisor spoke in a flat tone, "All questions are constructed from the knowledge base of the 36 players present. They will never exceed your understanding! I will also explain all the rules clearly to everyone!"
The voice was low but resonant, as if suppressing anger, each word enunciated with clarity and force.
Beneath the gray robe, the fabric billowed and rustled like the Supervisor's current anger.
It asked hoarsely, "The rapid-fire round is about to begin. Everyone, are you ready?"
No one spoke.
The Supervisor seemed satisfied with this, sitting on the axis of the pointer and reading out the first question—
"Question 1: What causes the four seasons on Earth?"
As the question was read, Bai Youwei noticed a square LCD screen appear in front of her. The number 4 was displayed at the top of the screen, and there was a red button on the right side, presumably a buzzer.
She knew the answer, of course, but she didn't move.
Bai Youwei looked around and saw that no one else had moved either. Everyone's eyes held vigilance and inquiry, hesitant to buzz in.
Shen Mo and Yan Qingwen were the same.
Even though this question was extremely simple.
No one buzzed in, and the gray-robed old man didn't rush, sitting still and motionless.
After a few seconds, a "beep" sounded—
Supervisor: "Player Number 1, please answer."
Bai Youwei turned to look.
Player Number 1 was Pan Xiaoxin.
Their group had been standing together, so their seats were also arranged in order. From 1 to 8, they were Pan Xiaoxin, Teacher Cheng, Tan Xiao, Bai Youwei, Shen Mo, Lü Ang, Yan Qingwen, and Zhu Shu.
Number 36 was Li Li.
Everyone else belonged to Fei Ge's group.
Pan Xiaoxin swallowed nervously and answered, "The four seasons on Earth are caused by… the Earth's revolution around the sun."
"Correct answer, 1 point accumulated." the Supervisor said.
A heart immediately appeared in front of Pan Xiaoxin, right at the position of his heart. It was peach-pink, like a small, glowing lamp suspended in the air.