Chapter 875: Unfair Candy Crush
"Go to hell," Bohemia muttered to herself.
Bohemia pondered for a moment, then suddenly became angry. She sat down cross-legged on the ground and tugged at Lin Sanjiu's pants leg, gesturing for her to sit down too. "Let's not play this anymore! This game is impossible. Sit down."
A peaceful protest, huh? Lin Sanjiu glanced at her and understood how to talk to her. She bent down and asked softly, "What do you think?"
"He's just bluffing," Bohemia said angrily, slapping her own hand a few times, causing her accessories to jingle. "A mother lion can get three in a row with us, so what can't? Let's take the bicycle as an example. It has iron inside, right? We also have iron in our bodies! So, we could be eliminated too!"
"Bicycles are not allowed."
Before Lin Sanjiu could respond, pocket dimension's owner laughed first. "Even if the ball contains air, it won't be eliminated just because it contains oxygen, like you do."
"Why?" Lin Sanjiu raised an eyebrow and asked.
Pocket dimension's owner seemed to attempt a shrug—but he was too fat, and his neck was engulfed in layers of fat, making it almost impossible to see the gesture.
"He's just making things up now," Bohemia said, showing no trust in him. "Once the game starts, he can find any excuse to eliminate us. Do you think I'll fall for it?" She turned to pocket dimension's owner and spat, "I don't believe you. If I can't get out of here, I'll just die here. Your ball can serve as a final resting place for a dutiful child."
Not participating in the game and being trapped here indefinitely was definitely not an option. But what Bohemia said was a hidden worry in Lin Sanjiu's heart as well. They couldn't recklessly gamble their lives... After some thought, she raised her voice to the pocket dimension's owner. "I hope we can continue with the Test Bureau. We were eliminated in the first round, and we still have no concept of how to play."
"That's also possible. After all, you'll eventually start playing Candy Crush," pocket dimension's owner blinked his bald eyelids twice and smiled. "I won't say anything else. How long can your food sustain you? Trust me, I've been through it."
Even with the abundance of supplies provided by the Grand Prize, Lin Sanjiu and Bohemia couldn't live their entire lives in this empty space. Lin Sanjiu looked at the several balls behind the pocket dimension's owner and pondered for a moment, then glanced down at Bohemia.
Bohemia still had the appearance of nonviolent non-cooperation, sitting on the ground with her arms crossed, silent. But upon closer inspection, one would notice that her eyes rolled around the three balls several times. Lin Sanjiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed that Bohemia wasn't completely focused on resisting until the end.
Apart from their different colors, there were no clues on the three balls. After thinking for a while, Lin Sanjiu realized that random exploration was the only option. She pointed her chin towards the rightmost ball and said, "I'll explore this one."
As her words fell, the color of that ball also faded away, gradually revealing its contents—a row of various company names, constantly changing red and green numbers followed by percentage changes like "-2.4%" or "+0.5%."
"What's this?" Bohemia indeed didn't recognize it.
"It's the stock market," Lin Sanjiu was a little surprised. She didn't expect this kind of virtual digitized thing to appear inside the ball. "It's... well, explaining it won't make you understand anyway."
"Just because you understand doesn't mean you'll explain it to me."
Lin Sanjiu ignored her.
The key now was how to determine if the "stock market" was a disguise. No matter how she thought about it, she felt there was no way to judge—after all, each ball had a one-third chance of being disguised.
"Since you don't know if this is a disguise, let's choose the one next to it," Bohemia couldn't help but suggest.
"The first half of your sentence and the second half have no logical causality," Lin Sanjiu sighed, but she still went along with Bohemia's suggestion and said aloud, "Then I'll choose the one in the middle to open."
As soon as the middle ball opened, Bohemia suddenly jumped up, emitting a half-sharp cry of excitement. It turned out that the ball contained a male construction worker, covered in gray with dark skin. However, before the two of them could rejoice, they saw the construction worker stepping out of the ball expressionlessly and standing next to the pocket dimension's owner, leaving them dumbfounded.
"You seem to have forgotten," the pocket dimension owner chuckled, clasping his hands together, "this is just the second item. I still need a third item with the same trait to be triple eliminated."
Even though they had known beforehand that the number of players was uneven, it wasn't until they personally experienced it in a game round that they realized how perilous it truly was. Even if they could consistently hit the pocket dimension owner in their attacks, they had to ensure that they wouldn't be triple eliminated within two rounds.
... The difficulty level between the two sides was too disparate.
"I'm not playing anymore!" Bohemia immediately sat back down. "Forget about this ridiculous game. Can't you see all these balls around you? They should have been eliminated with you a long time ago. This pocket dimension is completely unfair! It's impossible to play. Lin Sanjiu, bring out the food. Let's eat in front of him."
Faced with her obese mockery, the pocket dimension owner no longer seemed angry and his smile remained frozen on his muscles.
"Wait, hold on a moment."
Lin Sanjiu felt like there was something important here that needed attention, furrowing her brows as she pondered for a while. She felt like the answer was right behind a thin layer of paper, but she couldn't see through it no matter how hard she tried. After a while, she had to temporarily give up. "Let's continue the test for now and try to gather as much information as possible."
Although Lin Sanjiu's side had already been "eliminated," a new ball floated in for supplementation in the second round of the game, allowing the test to continue. However, when they glanced into the ball, both of their faces turned grim. The new ball actually contained a human-shaped plastic mannequin—the same type used in women's clothing stores and by puppeteers.
Now, from the pocket dimension owner's perspective, the balls on their side appeared as follows: cutlery, unknown (ball from the previous round), unknown (new supplementary ball).
There was nothing to say about this. The two of them immediately placed the disguise inside the ball containing the plastic mannequin.
Sure enough, the disguise was used. The pocket dimension owner peered into the new ball but opened the one containing the bicycle instead. Finally, they managed to avoid being triple eliminated once again.
"It's your turn to peek again," the patience of the pocket dimension owner seemed to be gradually wearing thin. "After this round, you'll have to make a choice. The test cannot continue indefinitely."
Since a ball was opened earlier, a new ball floated in as a supplement by the side of the pocket dimension owner.
From Lin Sanjiu's perspective, the balls on the opposite side were: stock market, unknown (ball from the previous round), unknown (new supplementary ball).
After discussing for a while, they decided to peek into the ball from the previous round. Inside was a long-haired dog sleeping soundly, its belly pressed against the ground, making it impossible to determine its gender. After hesitating for a while, they ultimately opened the new ball with a stroke of luck in mind.
"Oh, what a pity. I didn't get triple eliminated," the pocket dimension owner said, looking at the dark screen of the computer inside the new ball, patting his chest and smiling. "It seems you have mastered the game mechanics as well. The test should come to an end now. It's time for you to make a choice—whether you want to be trapped here until death or take a chance and play a game of Candy Crush with me. Remember, once you make a choice, there's no turning back."
The two of them exchanged glances, and Lin Sanjiu quickly turned her head and called out, "Wait, can we discuss it first?" If they didn't know what to do for the time being, at least they should buy themselves some time.
"Of course," the pocket dimension owner said with a smiling face, "but you only have ten minutes to consider. If you haven't made a decision by then, I'll decide for you."
Lin Sanjiu bit her lip, listening to the rushing sound of blood in her ears, and stood there blankly for a while. Even Bohemia remained unusually quiet, fidgeting with her bracelet while deep in thought.
"Hey," Lin Sanjiu suddenly crouched down and asked her in a barely audible whisper, "I have a plan that might help us escape from here... but I need your help."
"What kind of help?" Bohemia asked.
"I want to borrow something from you."