Yutu had spent countless thrilling and blissful nights, enjoying a life he'd never even dared to imagine before.
But now, just five days later, he stared blankly at his bank account — less than 5,000 yuan left.
"Countless" might've been a bit of an exaggeration.
He glanced at his chest, full of regret for having wasted his exchange coins on thirty days of life extension.
Having life but no money was useless. You needed both to make it count!
Next time, definitely remember: more money, less life!
Life without money meant you'd burn through it fast. But if you ran out of money first, then that extra life was just wasted.
And wasting life… that's just wrong.
Sighing, Yutu began preparing for his next round in the game.
He had spent several days and nights in the internet café but still hadn't found a single trace of information about the Divine Cage game. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
He even tried calling the number the tattooed guy had given him—it turned out to be a dead line.
In the end, Yutu just started browsing tons of logic puzzles online and watching horror- and supernatural-themed Japanese and American dramas. Who knew? Maybe it'd help one day.
As for reading novels? Too damn slow. And those damn authors kept dropping or ghosting the updates!
Yutu rented another short-term apartment and even bought a surveillance camera—he wanted to see what happened to his real-world self when he entered the Divine Cage space.
Right before entering the game, he suddenly remembered something—he had gotten a talent last time.
Some "Divine Time" thing? Letting him know the rules of the game one minute ahead of time?
What the hell was that supposed to help with?
Screw it!
Yutu cursed, slapped his right hand onto his left chest, and couldn't help giving it a squeeze. Damn, these pecs were nice. No wonder they'd been all over him these past five days.
"Would you like to enter the Divine Cage game now? To proceed, say, "Enter now'."
"Enter now!"
"Loading game..."
"Congratulations on passing the newbie trial. Please choose a game name for yourself."
Game name? Yutu was a bit dazed, too lazy to think much, so he casually said, "Tiezhu!"
"Game loaded successfully. Welcome to the Divine Cage space!"
"Player Tiezhu has triggered a talent: entering Divine Time!"
A flash of white light appeared before Yutu's eyes, and he found himself in a luxurious suite.
On the wall of the living room in the suite, several lines of blood-red game rules were written:
[Welcome to the Divine Cage Game: The Brave Fear Nothing. Game Rules:]
1. All players start with 0 points. Any two players can engage in a "Fight or Peace Duel." During the duel, each may freely choose "Fight" or "Peace."
2. If both choose Fight, both lose 1 point; if both choose Peace, both gain 1 point; if one chooses Fight and the other Peace, the Fighter gains 10 points, and the Peacemaker loses 10 points. Only the two involved know the result.
3. Each person may duel up to five times. After the game ends, the player with the lowest score dies. If there's a tie for lowest, all tied players die.
4. Survivors will split 200 exchange coins. The top scorer gets the most coins. Outstanding performers may receive special rewards.
5. No physical conflict or attacks are allowed.
Note: Do not attempt to leave the room or violate the rules, or you will be executed immediately!
Damn, the Prisoner's Dilemma—classic no-win situation!
On the surface, both players had the option to choose "Fight" or "Peace," but in reality, the choice was almost predetermined.
If the other side picked "Fight," then choosing Fight meant losing 1 point, but choosing Peace meant losing 10 points.
If the other side picked "Peace," then choosing Fight got you 10 points, while choosing Peace only got you 1.
From the perspective of both players, no matter what the other chose, picking "Fight" was always the better choice.
Prearranged agreements were pointless—according to the rules alone, betrayal yielded higher returns.
Each player could only duel five times. If you chose peace every time, you'd get at most 5 points. But betray just once? That's 10 points right there.
Betrayal meant profit, so both sides would naturally betray without hesitation. Agreements were meaningless.
"Divine Time has ended. The game begins!"
Yutu didn't even have time to complain about how short one minute was before he lost consciousness. When he woke again, he was lying on a white Simmons mattress.
He rubbed his eyes. For a second, the environment had him forgetting he was even in the game—this wasn't much different from the five-star hotel he'd just been staying in.
Especially since, beside him, lay a woman with a killer body.
Yutu habitually placed his hand on a certain familiar area—damn, hers were even better than his pecs!
"Little brother, big sis doesn't mind, but can you not be so eager?"
Yutu finally snapped out of it and quickly pulled his hand back. "Sorry, habit—I forgot I was in a game now."
Not entirely his fault. The woman beside him was way too bold. Come on, they were entering a game—could she at least dress decently? Nope. She just showed up in sexy sleepwear.
"How about we go check out the game rules first? If we have time, I wouldn't mind getting frisky again."
After checking out her figure, Yutu finally looked at her face.
Hiss—
Never mind looks for now—that gaze could melt glass. He'd never met a woman like this before!
She chuckled softly, completely unfazed by Yutu's dazed expression, and gracefully got up to head outside. The tight-fitting sleepwear outlined her figure perfectly.
Yutu exhaled deeply. He waited a few moments until he calmed down, then got up and walked toward the living room.
When he got there, the couches were already full. A quick glance told him there were seven others besides himself—five men and two women.
Near the floor-to-ceiling windows, there were two metallic booths that looked like KTV glass rooms, each labeled "Fight/Peace Booth."
Above them, a four-hour countdown had already started.
"Damn it, slut, I knew there was someone else in your room!"
The voice came from a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. One arm was wrapped around the same woman Yutu had just shared a bed with, the other already sliding inside her sleepwear.
"Giggle. Don't be mad, big brother. If it'll make you feel better, I'll go in with you too!"
The man couldn't hold back anymore and scooped her up. "Whore, tell me—which room?"
"How about… the one I shared with this little brother here? Little brother, do you mind if I and this gentleman… play a bit in our bed?"
Yutu smiled faintly. "Whatever makes you happy."
"Hahahaha, spicy! Little newbie, feel free to come in anytime and watch me work your bed!"
Bang!
"Hehehe, careful with the table—you might hurt yourself~"
A loud door slam followed by flirtatious giggling.
A scrawny-looking man sidled up to Yutu. "Bro, your speed…"
"Man, who are you looking' down on? If I really wanted to make a move, the game would be over by the time we came out!"
"Hahaha, Brother Tiezhu, you're awesome. Name's Haozi. Nice to meet you!"
Yutu gave him a curious glance. "How do you know my name's Tiezhu?"
"Bro, it's written on your shirt."
Yu Tu looked down and noticed that at some point, two blood-red characters had appeared on his clothing: Tie Zhu.
He looked around at the others in confusion—none of them had names on their clothes.
"You just finished the newbie game, right? Next time you enter, you'll be able to see other people's names too."
Before Yu Tu could ask further, a woman's scream echoed from one of the rooms: "Ah~! What are you doing? Stop!"
Then, an even sharper, more piercing scream followed: "Aaaah—!"
Bang!
The door slammed open. The woman stumbled out, covered in blood. "He... he's dead!"
Yu Tu rushed to the door in shock and saw the man lying on the bed—his head was gone; only a body remained.
That method of death… It was just like the guy in the last game who broke the rules.
Yu Tu turned around and saw that, except for himself, the others in the room looked completely unfazed, all calmly seated on the sofa, frowning as they studied the rules on the wall.
When the woman noticed Yu Tu looking at her, she clutched her ample chest and clung to him, whining, "Little brother, I'm so scared!"
Yu Tu frowned and stepped away.
"Alright, Bunny Ears, this game isn't about killing. Stop stirring things up," a man in a suit on the sofa said impatiently.
The woman pouted unhappily. "Hmph! Tie Zhu, little bro, let's get to know each other. I'm Momo Bunny Ears, or just Bunny Ears if you like."
"Tie Zhu," Yu Tu replied.
Bunny Ears patted his shoulder with a warm smile. "Relax, newbie. Don't be so tense. You live or die—no big deal!"
Still soaked in blood, she gracefully sat on the sofa. When she saw Yu Tu still frowning and staring at her, she kindly explained.
"Don't worry, little brother. He was killed for breaking the rules. The game clearly says, "No violent behavior. He broke that rule and was punished."
You You still didn't quite get it. "But… didn't you agree to it?"
Bunny Ears started making exaggerated gestures as she explained, "Sure, I agreed when he hugged me. I agreed when he started. But I changed my mind halfway through. Why shouldn't I be allowed to?"
Yu Tu's lips twitched. "You… you can do that?"
Mousey came over, laughing, and shoved Yu Tu down onto the sofa. "See? This is Bunny Ears' little gift to you as a newbie. Better be careful next time. But hey, Bunny, I heard you agree. Can you still go back on it?"
"You've got good ears, Mousey," Bunny Ears said sweetly. "But in this kind of thing, I'm the only one who gets to decide."
The suited man frowned and cut off the chatter. "Enough. We've got a newbie here—let's all introduce ourselves so he knows who's who. I'm Xing Chen."
"King Kong," said a tall, burly man still holding a long machete.
"Origami," said a cold-voiced girl who didn't speak much.
"Overlord," grunted a man covered in iron chains.
After everyone finished introductions, Xing Chen spoke up: "Obviously, this time it's an intelligence-based game. Since we're all familiar with this, I won't waste time. King Kong, Overlord—put your weapons away."
King Kong slammed his machete down under the sofa. "Damn it, I hate these sneaky-ass games. Wouldn't it be easier to just kill and be done with it?"
Overlord was also clearly tense, fiddling with his chains.
Origami's voice cut through the room like frost: "Prisoner's dilemma—a guaranteed death match."
King Kong looked confused. "I don't get it. Why is it a guaranteed death? Overlord, you seem like a straightforward guy. How about we go first? Let's both pick peace!"
Overlord sneered at him. "Don't pretend. Anyone who made it through these games—none of us are idiots."
Yu Tu also felt lost—these were all veterans, and none of them would be easy to deal with.
Mousey didn't seem troubled by the current predicament. Instead, he leaned in close and whispered to Yu Tu, "Hey, Tie Zhu, bro, is this really just your second game?"
"Yeah."
Yu Tu didn't bother lying. Clearly, everyone here was experienced. A pointless lie would only make him more suspicious.
"Damn, impressive. Your first game must've gone really well if you made it into a match like this."
The others glanced over. They all understood Mousey's intention.
Whoever had the lowest score would die. That meant someone had to be the sacrifice. And right now, the newbie Yu Tu? Looked like a great candidate.