Chapter 3 Gem Appreciation - Round 1

"My profession is fitness trainer. We don't know what game is about to start, but no matter what it is, physical fitness is fundamental. I suggest for the first round, we send someone to test the waters. It's best not to use our strongest force for this initial probe."

The speaker was No. 6, the muscular man. Knowing he appeared to be the physically strongest among everyone, he believed he held the authority to speak.

"I agree. Anyway, the first round is just testing the waters. If it looks bad, just run back quickly." No. 4, the college-aged guy, glanced meaningfully at the three women present.

"Yeah, yeah, just scouting things out, it shouldn't be dangerous." No. 1, the delivery guy, chimed in, following the trend.

"Why don't you just say you want to pick one of us three women to be the cannon fodder!" No. 5, the lady in the blue dress, was struggling to calm the fear brought by the direct confrontation with death. Her psychological defenses were teetering on the brink, terrified that she might be the one chosen. In her panic, her shouted words lost their normal tone.

"I was an athlete before, and I've been working out regularly since retiring. In terms of physical strength, I'm no worse than any of you." No. 7, the woman in yoga wear, narrowed her eyes and looked around, unable to resist fighting for herself. People are selfish. The women couldn't gain a numerical advantage by banding together; only by following the prevailing trend could she avoid becoming the cannon fodder.

"Don't forget, the game only has three rounds total. The game didn't show if voting is multiple-choice. Maybe there are only three chances to enter. Is no one really going to fight for it?" Bai Xiao thought for a moment and spoke softly.

Facing the unknown, no one wanted to be the first to taste the crab. She was gambling. She knew that in terms of physical appearance, she probably seemed the weakest, making her an easy target to be voted out. She said this to confuse everyone, to thoroughly muddy the waters, hoping some confused fool would believe her words.

After Bai Xiao finished speaking, everyone was momentarily unable to figure things out. The discussion came to an abrupt halt. Each person lowered their head, secretly calculating.

The most basic principle of a game is to strive for fairness. Moreover, since this game could pull so many people in, it wouldn't make sense not to give people a chance to try. So her guess was probably wrong. It couldn't be helped. She could only throw out a smokescreen before everyone fully calmed down. It was the only thing she could do.

**[Voting countdown: 10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1.]**

The mechanical female voice sounded again. Bai Xiao quickly voted for No. 6, the man who claimed to be a fitness trainer.

The others also finished voting before the countdown ended. Having witnessed the consequences of choosing wrong or not choosing, no one dared to take risks anymore.

**[Voting concluded. Starting statistical announcement: Player 1: 0 votes. Player 2: 0 votes. Player 3: 3 votes. Player 4: 1 vote. Player 5: 1 vote. Player 6: 2 votes. Player 7: 0 votes.]**

**[Player 3 has the highest vote count. Please leave the monitoring room immediately and proceed to the treasury. Remaining beyond the time limit will incur game punishment.]**

Damn, I didn't fool many. Bai Xiao was still voted out by a narrow margin.

As the announcement ended, the prison door that everyone had failed to kick open earlier slowly opened before Bai Xiao.

Not daring to linger, fearing game punishment—after all, the scene of the Man in a Suit's brutal execution was still vivid in everyone's minds—no one now dared to disobey the game's instructions.

Bai Xiao walked out of the prison door and stood in the center of a small path. There was only one road, leading in one direction. She stared straight ahead at the intersection, her heart pounding a bit.

The pitch-black intersection seemed like a crouching monster, lying in wait quietly, its maw wide open, ready to devour any creature that entered.

Fortunately, soon after, several beams of light seemed to flicker deep within the path. But this space was too bizarre; the distant light appeared veiled in a haze, impossible to clearly identify as any specific source no matter how hard one looked.

With no way back, Bai Xiao had no choice but to grit her teeth and move forward.

"Hey! No. 3! If you can come back, tell me all the information. I promise if I'm next, as long as I get a gem, I'll definitely give you one. At least it'll guarantee you an appraisal qualification." No. 6, the fitness trainer's voice, came anxiously from the distance.

The others also followed with vague, empty promises.

Hearing this, Bai Xiao only wanted to sneer. From the moment the voting ended, all surface-level friendliness had vanished. Everyone understood in their hearts that voting was an act that destroyed unity. This game was likely a competitive one.

Moreover, no one knew how to obtain gems, how to distinguish real from fake, let alone giving one to someone else. Their words were emptier than empty promises.

Without giving any response, Bai Xiao plunged into the darkness without looking back.

From the outside, this path looked pitch-black and bottomless. Unexpectedly, just a few steps beyond the iron prison's range, the path came to an end.

At the end of the path was an ancient-looking stone door. In front of the stone door was only a small stone platform. There was nothing else around.

Just as she was unsure what to do next, the game continued its broadcast.

**[Player 3, congratulations on being the first player to enter the treasury. Announcing the treasury appraisal rules below.]**

**[1. Each game round allows only one entry into the treasury. Each entry permits a maximum stay of ten minutes.]**

**[2. When leaving the treasury, you may carry at most one gem.]**

**[3. Place the gem on the verification platform outside the stone door. If the platform emits white light, the gem is genuine. If it emits red light, verification fails.]**

**[4. Each game round offers only one verification opportunity. Verification opportunities cannot be carried over to the next round. If you choose to forfeit, you cannot return to verify after leaving the treasury area in the current round.]**

**[As part of the trial game's first batch of players, with the treasury space opening for the first time, you will receive a valuable game hint: If the guardian spirits become enraged, they will indiscriminately hunt all living creatures.]**

After the broadcast ended, Bai Xiao took a deep breath and stepped forward. The stone door looked heavy, with no decoration except for two door rings. She thought it would require some effort, but surprisingly, it opened with a slight pull.

The room behind the door was completely different in style from the prison cell she came from. The palace-like room was easily twice the size of the previous space. Four thick pillars rose from the ground, a full ten meters high. Two stood on each side like guards flanking the hall. The pillars were jade-white, carved with unfamiliar beasts.

It had a serpentine body and a fish-like head, its over-three-meter-tall form tightly coiled around the pillar. The weapon clutched in its two short claws was identical to the steel trident that had killed someone earlier, the only difference being that here, the trident was carved from jade.

Even more astonishing was that on both sides of each pillar stood display shelves as tall as library bookshelves. Every shelf was filled with gems. The moment she pushed the door open, Bai Xiao was nearly blinded by the fire and brilliance of a whole room full of gems.

The sheer number of gems was intoxicating, making one's heart race. For a moment, it even made one temporarily forget the fear, forget they were still in a game.

Bai Xiao swallowed hard. Just as she lowered her head, about to step over the threshold, she suddenly noticed she was still wearing slippers on her feet. The surging emotions instantly cooled, as if doused with a bucket of ice water.

She remembered the game's initial instruction: entering the treasury required maintaining quiet, otherwise it would anger the spirits. The valuable hint she just received also said enraged spirits would hunt all living creatures.

This meant making noise could pose a fatal danger.

Moreover, she didn't know what material this space's floor was made of. Such a large area, yet not a single seam was visible—just one vast expanse of eerie, translucent white. Wearing slippers would easily create slapping sounds against the soles while walking. If she encountered danger and needed to run, the noise would likely be even greater. Bai Xiao chose to take off her shoes and enter barefoot.