Su Baiye looked at the goblin before him, certain of one thing: this guy was absolutely ruthless.
"The Head Jar?"
Without much hesitation, Su Baiye accepted the Challenge Task.
*This is exactly why I came to the Lost Train!*
If he didn't have the courage to dance with death, he would eventually be tricked and killed. That would be when the real regret set in.
Fang Lin's roadside robbery, being blacklisted by the Strategy Group, getting screwed over by the Golden Dragon King... In this godforsaken place, the slightest weakness meant being devoured alive, without a single scrap left behind.
Su Baiye knew he had to seize every opportunity to grow stronger.
And this Challenge Task was his best chance to pull ahead of the pack.
The Challenge Task in Carriage No. 1 had given him 1,000 Points. The one in Carriage No. 3 had to be worth at least 3,000!
Points were everything. If Su Baiye wanted to become stronger, he needed to earn more of them.
The rules of the game were surprisingly simple:
Pick any jar, stick your head inside for three seconds, and then pull it out. Some of the jars have deadly mechanisms at the opening; choose the wrong one, and your head will be sliced off.
The survivors continue playing until only one person remains—the winner.
That's right. The jars would "eat" a person's head, hence the name—Head Jar.
It was a contest of luck and courage—and perhaps a little bit of skill.
Obviously, the Perfect Strategy contained a technique to increase the odds of survival, but unfortunately, Su Baiye couldn't purchase any strategies.
He was still under a Level 5 Wanted Notice, which would be upgraded to a Level 3 Wanted Notice if he didn't report to the crew lounge within seventy-two hours.
The Goblin Boss made sure to emphasize, "You have a maximum of one and a half hours for each choice. If you don't put your head in a jar before time runs out, you lose! I don't have time to waste a whole day with you here!"
Su Baiye asked curiously, "If I survive the first round, can I wait three hours before choosing the second jar?"
The initial time was one and a half hours. After one round, would the timer increase to three hours, or would it remain unchanged at one and a half?
Su Baiye needed to clarify whether this was a countdown for a single turn or if the time would accumulate.
This was a crucial detail. The Head Jar game would obviously get more difficult in later rounds, requiring more thought and time. Su Baiye needed to confirm the rules before he could formulate his strategy.
"You think you'll even survive one round? You're underestimating this game..."
The Goblin Boss scoffed at Su Baiye but answered nonetheless. "Yes, your time will accumulate. Each person is timed individually."
This meant that each round would add another one and a half hours to his personal timer, which started at one and a half hours.
After explaining, the Goblin Boss urged, "Who's first?"
Su Baiye volunteered. "I'll go first."
The Goblin Boss: *Huh???*
He was actually aware of the so-called "Perfect Strategy" that the Players talked about. It came from a Player who had lost the Head Jar game. His head had been sealed away, but he hadn't died. He was forced to reveal the strategy to the Goblin Boss in exchange for release. In the Goblin Boss's eyes, the most valuable part of that strategy was... to let the Goblin Boss choose first.
Because the Head Jar the Goblin Boss chose was guaranteed to be safe, a Player could simply copy his choice, greatly increasing their chances of survival.
The rules never said the same jar couldn't be chosen repeatedly.
But this Player named [Explosive Dragon Baby Wants a Hug] was going off-script, volunteering to go first...
What was he up to? Was this some kind of feint?
Wary of a trap, the Goblin Boss thought for a moment before finally nodding in agreement. "Fine, you go first!"
If Explosive Dragon went first, the Goblin Boss could turn the Perfect Strategy against him! New chapters come out on g.com first.
The Strategy Group never would have imagined that the Perfect Strategy they created would one day be used against a Player!
The Goblin Boss thought he was an absolute genius!
Nine jars were scattered haphazardly on the floor. Su Baiye's gaze swept over them, pausing on each one.
His soul had left his body a total of five times, which meant five of the jars were lethal to him.
[Death Methods: 20]
[Collection Rate: 0.2%]
[Foresight Time +5s]
The Ten Thousand Deaths Method had grown stronger. Su Baiye used Death Rewind to confirm the process of his own demise.
The moment he put his head inside, blades, steel rebar, and even corrosive spider silk would materialize out of thin air at the jar's opening.
A severed neck was beyond saving, even for the gods. Head separated from body, death was instantaneous.
If nothing else, the Head Jar game was certainly a new high in terms of gore.
Recalling the various ways he had died, Su Baiye found he needed a bit of courage just to look at the jars again.
"Have you picked yet?" the Goblin Boss prodded.
Su Baiye countered, "How do I know you won't attack me while my head is stuck in the jar?"
The Goblin Boss snapped, "If I could attack you directly, do you think you'd still be alive right now?"
I would have smashed your annoying, poor-ass head in with a hammer the moment we met!
Su Baiye shook his head and repeated his question. "Under what circumstances *can* you attack me?"
The Goblin Boss fell silent, refusing to answer.
*So you're not going to explain the rules, huh?*
Su Baiye cleared his throat. "Hello, Little Mi."
An impatient voice sounded in his ear. "What is it? I'm taking a crap!"
The Sprite, a cigarette dangling from its lips, sat on a miniature toilet reading a newspaper, its face a mask of impatience. "Even an emperor doesn't send hungry soldiers into battle! Forget feeding me, now I can't even take a crap in peace? You call me for work every time I'm on the toilet, you won't even spring for a VIP subscription... I can't live like this! The Carriage No. 3 game is so simple, what could you possibly not understand..."
Just as it was pulling up its pants, the Elf Assistant noticed something was off about the props on the floor. Those weren't stones, they were jars? Damn! A Challenge Task?!
In a flash, the Elf Assistant had changed its clothes and snapped to attention in front of Su Baiye. "Coach! Your orders, please!"
If he succeeded in a Challenge Task, the Elf Assistant would benefit as well.
After all, the Elf Assistant and its master were bound together; they prospered as one and fell as one.
However, many of the Elf Assistant's permissions required Points to unlock, and since the assistant had no way of earning Points on its own, it had to rely on its master to pay. Most of these permissions... were pretty useless. This often led to a stalemate, with the Elf Assistant wanting more permissions and its master being unwilling to spend the Points.
But when it came to a Challenge Task, they could put their differences aside and work together to overcome the ordeal.
*If we get rich, let's not forget each other!*
Su Baiye asked directly, "What do you know about the rules of this Challenge Task?"
"Rules?" The Elf Assistant was confused at first, then shot an angry glare at the Goblin Boss. "You bastard! Are you trying to betray the Lost Train?! How dare you not explain such important rules! I'm definitely reporting you to the proper authorities! I'm telling you, I'm furious right now! Take away one of those jars, and maybe I'll forgive you!"
Su Baiye was speechless.
He had only asked a simple question about the rules, and his Elf Assistant had immediately gone into extortion mode, trying to lower the game's difficulty for him. This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
The Goblin Boss threw up his hands. "I told him the rules. It's not my fault he didn't believe me."
"Then you must not have explained it clearly! This isn't over, I'm telling you! Just wait for my complaint! I'll take this all the way to the second floor!"
After chewing out the Goblin Boss, the Elf Assistant turned to Su Baiye, squeezing out an obsequious smile. "Coach, is there anything about the rules you don't understand? Anything at all I can help you with, just give the word!"
"Can he harm me?" Su Baiye asked.
"Absolutely not!" the Elf Assistant said, puffing out its chest. "The first three carriages are all beginner levels. Aside from the game itself, no personnel belonging to the train are permitted to harm you!"
"Then can he take a Head Jar and force it onto my head?" Su Baiye asked.
If he couldn't attack directly, could he use a Head Jar to kill him?
The Elf Assistant shook its head. "That's not possible either. If you pick up one of these jars, it will only move toward your own head."
*Then again... what kind of decent person would even think to ask that?*
It seemed his Coach wasn't just broke, but a devious, stingy, broke bastard!
The Elf Assistant was secretly relieved. A little bit of wickedness was a good thing! What decent person could survive on the Lost Train? In this godforsaken place, the more rotten you were, the longer you lived!
Su Baiye pointed at the Goblin Boss and asked bluntly, "Then can I attack him?"
The Elf Assistant's expression turned strange. It glanced Su Baiye up and down before whispering, "Coach, let's not make such embarrassing jokes..."
"What do you mean?" Su Baiye asked, confused.
The Elf Assistant decided to just be blunt. "Your physical strength is Unranked, and your mental strength is Grade 2 of First Rank. What are you going to hit him with? You couldn't hurt him even if you headbutted him!"
The Elf Assistant threw up its hands. "That's right, you *can* harm him, provided you have the ability *to* harm him."
Which you don't...
After confirming that an attack wouldn't be against the rules, Su Baiye asked a few more bizarre questions, and the Elf Assistant answered each one.
Finally, Su Baiye was ready to begin.
Looking at the ceramic jar before him, Su Baiye reached out... Good. His soul didn't leave his body.
The moment his hands grasped the jar, a mental force truly did compel him to place it on his head.
Su Baiye tried to resist, but the effect was negligible. He could only delay the inevitable, not change the outcome.
Su Baiye surmised that with stronger mental power, he could probably resist for longer, or perhaps even become immune to the compulsion.
In the end, the jar settled over his head. His world went dark, and he could only count the seconds in his mind. *One, two, three...*
After three seconds, Su Baiye removed the jar and placed it on the floor. His head was still on his shoulders. No surprises.
"Fun, wasn't it?" The Goblin Boss strode forward with a grin. "My turn!"
With that, he picked up the very same Head Jar Su Baiye had just used and placed it on his own head.
*Bet you didn't see that coming!* No matter which jar Su Baiye chose, as long as he survived, the Goblin Boss would simply copy him. This put him in an unbeatable position from the very start...
*Who told you to be so arrogant and go first?*
The Goblin Boss was savoring this thought, his head having been in the jar for less than a second, when—*BAM!*
A dull thud, accompanied by the sound of shattering pottery. The Goblin Boss's head was suddenly exposed to the light again, a dazed look on his face.
*What... did that guy just do?*
Once he processed what had happened, the Goblin Boss's expression twisted into a mask of fury. That guy had smashed the jar?!
"That wasn't three seconds," Su Baiye said coldly, holding a blackjack. He pointed to the remaining jars. "Your turn. Choose again."