Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1427: More Often Than Not, Things Don't Go as Planned

As Lin Sanjiu displayed her astonishment, the same reaction appeared on the faces of the others at almost the exact same moment. "Must be placed where the note was found" – these words cast a shadow over everyone, much like an impending storm cloud darkening their moods. She looked around and realized that not a single person present had a storage space that could be deemed large.

Silvan's side pouch on his combat belt wasn't even worth mentioning. It clearly wasn't a Special Item and was only palm-sized. Chen Hanwu's shoe insoles might be long, but being so thin, there was only so much they could hold. And let's not even talk about the two ladies across: one had a pendant necklace as her storage space, and the other used her own mouth.

Even if a Special Item had an infinite storage capacity, you still need to fit the item through its entrance, right? All these storage spaces seemed smaller than most of the products in the mall. She wasn't sure about Advaita's item, but judging from how she had taken out the scroll using her pinky, it probably wasn't much better.

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Everyone, including Advaita, fixed their gaze on the volunteer and asked, almost in unison, "How do we fit the items inside?"

"You'll have to figure that out on your own," the volunteer said with a shrug, ending the discussion. "Now that you all know what to do in this game, please listen as I introduce the rules."

Everyone fell silent.

"Firstly, once the game officially begins, the mall will no longer have areas segregated by the type of items," the volunteer said, gesturing towards the distant shelves. "All target products will be mixed up and randomly appear on shelves or display cases within each person's domain. There's no pattern to their appearance. Even the shelf numbers will be randomized. For instance, my domain could be A1-A5, but the ones next to me might be E23 and D6."

That meant she couldn't just head to the kitchen area to find the trash bin—there wasn't even a designated kitchen area. For all she knew, trash bins might be frozen in the freezer alongside leather shoes.

Lin Sanjiu was still thinking about how to win the game. It took her a moment to realize she shouldn't even be thinking about that damned trash bin since her intention was to lose.

"After the game starts, for example, if five out of the six participants need to obtain an apple, then there will only be five real apples in the entire mall. Apart from these five genuine apples, any other apples you see would be fake items made of plastic or cardboard, serving as background props... I must emphasize again, all target items will be within the domains of these six participants and will not appear anywhere else." He stressed, obviously considering this point of utmost importance.

Silvan raised an eyebrow, a hint of intrigue shining in his eyes, glinting like an emerald reflecting the hues of a shimmering lake. Clearly, his interest was piqued.

"Secondly, you cannot damage the goods, change their shape, or move them from their positions, other than placing your target items into the storage space," the volunteer said. Seeing the thoughtful faces of the silent group, he chuckled. "Even if you happen to know what the opposing team's target item is, you can't destroy it, hide it, or make it invisible. Take the example of the five apples again; even if you find all five at once, you can only take the one that's on your list. Furthermore, if you use any method to shrink, flatten, or alter your target items in any way, it will be considered as not having obtained the item."

Given these rules, Lin Sanjiu thought it was fortunate that she was set on losing the game. Otherwise, if she couldn't turn the items into cards, how was she supposed to fit a 13L trash bin into her pocket? And since they couldn't touch another's target item – which wasn't a major issue since no one knew each other's target – it seemed less critical.

This rule appeared to have a significant impact on their upcoming game. Everyone silently pondered it for a moment before the volunteer interrupted their thoughts. "The third point concerns the penalty for the losers of the game."

All eyes immediately shifted to him.

"Once the game ends, everyone must leave this mall immediately. After leaving the mall, the losing side of the shopping game will..." he paused for dramatic effect, "become a money tree."

"What?" The girl with fox-like eyes couldn't hold back her surprise.

"As the name suggests, when you shake it, money falls off." The volunteer chuckled. "The losers will lose control of all their resources – abilities, items, money. Even traits like quick thinking or acute senses are considered resources. This loss of control lasts for five minutes. During these five minutes, anyone who collides with you with enough force can cause these resources to fall off you and into their possession."

A heavy silence filled the space.

"I heard, and I understood..." Chen Hanwu murmured, staring blankly. "What?"

"That's how it is," the volunteer said. "Five minutes can feel long or short. If the loser is lucky, perhaps they can dash out of the parking lot and hide in the city within that time frame."

Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered that this mall was surrounded by vast parking lots. Both losers and winners had to leave the mall at the same time and with such open space outside. The dark bloodstains on the exterior of the building and the signs of conflict in the parking lot finally made sense. She glanced at Silvan, and their eyes met.

Lin Sanjiu gave him a slight smile.

The fate of becoming a money tree made her feel a sudden tightness in her heart as if it were a reflex, but when she looked up at Silvan, her breath relaxed once more. Her determination to lose the game was stronger than before—after all, they had the opportunity to deal with Advaita's minions. Could there be anything better than that?

The only thing that concerned her was that she might drag Chen Hanwu into this. Maybe Silvan could protect him.

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The volunteer, seemingly reading the thoughts on her face, suddenly said, "Pay attention. Due to the unique circumstances of this round of the game, in the interest of fairness, there's a slight change in the victory conditions."

Lin Sanjiu slowly turned her head towards him.

"The original rule was that if one member of a team failed to achieve their goal, the whole team would lose the game. If members from both sides failed to meet their goals, the game would continue to the next round. But now... given your situation, that rule is temporarily abolished."

This was clearly a rule change to prevent her from intentionally losing, wasn't it?

"The item lists among team members are now shared. If you look at your lists now, you'll find that below your items, there are the target items of the other two team members." As the volunteer spoke, he took out a piece of paper and quickly jotted down some notes. "Each person has 5 target items, so each team has a total of 15 items. The game duration is one hour; by the end of the game, the team that has obtained more items will be the winner."

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Advaita smiled gently, almost imperceptibly. She turned her head to look at Chen Hanwu and extended a hand to him.

"From now on, we need to work together. Please guide us."

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