“How… how did you do that?”
Wen Di couldn’t believe it. He suspected the dice might have been swapped—replaced with a special set made by Fu Zhen, one that would land on whatever number he called.
He quickly stepped forward, holding the dice up to his eyes for a careful inspection. Nothing seemed unusual.
“Take a guess?”
Fu Zhen propped his chin on one hand, his dark eyes fixed on Wen Di, the corner of his mouth lifting in a faint, fleeting smile.
Then he added, “Stop looking. I told you, I just rolled it randomly.”
Seeing Fu Zhen’s confident, calculating demeanor, Wen Di found it hard to believe he had rolled randomly. But the dice were his—how could anyone have cheated? Maybe it really was just luck.
“Since both of you rolled the same number, you’ll have to roll again. The smaller number goes to the back.”
“Wait.”
As soon as Wen Di finished speaking, Shen Wangqing suddenly cut in, “Isn’t it a bit early for Wen Wen to say that? I haven’t rolled yet. Actually, none of us three have rolled. Maybe we’ll roll a five too?”
He had a point.
So the dice continued to be passed around.
Yao Nana rolled a “two.”
Liu Yajun rolled a “four.”
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Shen Wangqing rolled: “Five.”
“…”
“Another five??” Liu Yajun felt inexplicably frustrated. Suddenly, he had the sense that he couldn’t fit in with the three big shots. It was as if they were playing a different game, in another dimension—one they hadn’t invited him into, shutting him out instead.
No, wait—only two of them were big shots. He’d never even heard of this Lu Jieyang guy.
Rolling a “five” like the two big shots had to be pure luck.
Wen Di was also a bit annoyed. “…Since all three of you rolled fives, you’ll each have to roll again. The smaller numbers go to the back.”
The three of them rolled once more, one after another.
All three rolled “five.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Let’s try again, with a different rolling method.” Wen Di strongly suspected they had mastered some technique to control the dice, freely landing on whatever number they wanted.
So he had them spin the dice on the square stool in the middle, without using their hands.
All fives.
Wen Di was so furious he nearly flipped the stool over.
“What should we do, Wen Wen? How about letting me go after you? After all, I was the first to roll a five, right?” Lu Jieyang whined unhappily to Wen Di.
“That’s not fair—we have to follow the rules,” Shen Wangqing said with a gentlemanly, friendly tone, though there wasn’t an ounce of concession in his eyes. “The rules don’t say first come, first served.”
Lu Jieyang snorted impatiently in disdain.
Fu Zhen also refused to back down. “Let’s change the game, Wen Boss. These dice are too obedient.”
“…!!!”
Now he understood—these three had been toying with him all along! They could all control the dice, no matter the method!
How… how could they be this skilled?!
Damn it!
Wen Di felt like crying. He hadn’t prepared any backup plan! If they weren’t rolling dice, how were they supposed to decide the order?
He checked the time—over half an hour had already passed, and the first activity hadn’t even started! He never expected this team-building event to get stuck on the least important part: deciding the order!
“Why did all of you have to roll five?”
Was it just because they wanted to ask him questions? But they were on the same team—was it really necessary to be so confrontational? They could have discussed it and asked together.
Besides, the Instance had just started, so the questions they wanted to ask were probably similar. Wouldn’t everyone know the answers if just one person asked?
“I already said, I’m very curious about Wen Wen.” Lu Jieyang smiled.
“Of course, I am too. But I suspect the questions Xiao Lu and I want to ask are different, so I had to fight for my own chance.” Shen Wangqing explained as if troubled.
Wen Di grew anxious. “How could they be different? Maybe if you discussed it, you’d find they’re the same!”
“No need for discussion.” Shen Wangqing said without hesitation.
Lu Jieyang added, “Wen Wen only said the self-introductions were public, not that the questions had to be. So, I want to ask Wen Wen secretly. I don’t want them to know about Wen Wen’s matters~”
“……”
Wen Di was utterly shocked and felt bewildered.
He sat in his seat, thought for a moment, and timidly spoke up, “How about… each of you asks one question? Is that okay?”
His nature was soft; the eerie persona he usually displayed was just an act. Sometimes he spoke with confidence only because he knew the script in advance, which gave him courage.
Like an oil painting imprisoned deep in a basement and covered with a black cloth, deliberately dressed up by its owner to appear eerie and terrifying—until someone sneaked in, lifted a corner, and discovered that beneath the canvas lay a dusty treasure, vibrant in color, bright and fascinating.
The little ghost sat on the large main seat, his round, dark eyes watching them. One moment ago, he had been pointing and commanding like a tyrant; now, he hung his head as if wilted, looking utterly obedient.
The little ghost was showing weakness.
No—the little ghost was acting cute.
If acting cute worked, how would Players ever clear the Instance?
Fu Zhen suddenly stood up, walked over to Wen Di, stopped in front of him, then bent down to look at the small face shadowed by the hood. Up close, it looked even more delicate—an NPC like this could be toyed to death without even lifting a finger.
The two were extremely close, their noses barely three centimeters apart. Wen Di shrank back slightly, his lips trembling, but Fu Zhen remained expressionless.
Lu Jieyang frowned, displeased, and was about to step forward and push him away when Fu Zhen retreated on his own and returned to his seat.
“Fine. There’s no point wasting more time here.” Fu Zhen voiced Wen Di’s thoughts!
Wen Di finally showed a faint smile.
Lu Jieyang caught sight of it and froze for three seconds, his heart pounding—Damn, so cute! His smile is so beautiful! The corners of his mouth curved into two little parentheses!
“I think so too! Wen Wen, were we making things difficult for you? We’ll listen to you. One question each, as you say.” Lu Jieyang immediately ran to Wen Di’s side to show goodwill.
“……”
Wen Di didn’t want to face the hypocritical Lu Jieyang, so he avoided looking at him.
Seeing this, Shen Wangqing smiled slightly and said, “Since you both agree, the minority yields to the majority.”
Just as Wen Di began to feel happy, Fu Zhen added, “Since we’ve agreed to your request, you must also ensure that the answers to these three questions are public. We all need to know.”
Among the three, someone might have wanted to monopolize Wen Di’s three questions. But when the three questions were divided, sharing all three was naturally more beneficial than keeping just one to oneself.
Wen Di nodded in agreement.
This segment was, after all, meant to provide clues to the Players.
He just hadn’t expected that even among themselves, the Players would keep secrets from each other.