Chapter 75: Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku (4)
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
Rain intertwined with white steam fell continuously from the sky like silver threads. The water droplets turned to steam the moment they reached the ground, adding to the already thick white fog around them. The Red Team stood surrounded by fog, and in that instant, they really hoped that they misheard those words because their ears were filled with water.
"The White Team gets to move three steps forward?" Chen Fan was the first to leap up. If it wasn’t for Mr. Dot, he would have rushed up and grabbed Lin Sanjiu and shake her till she came to her senses. "What’s that woman doing? Why did she let the White Team move three steps!"
With the exception of B.Rabbit, the other members of the Red Team had the same disgruntled expressions. As if to rub salt in the wound, the young man from the White Team took three steps forward quickly. After that, he paused and turned to Lin Sanjiu and the Red Team deliberately and showed them his beaming face. He pointed to Lin Sanjiu and said something then shook his head as if lamenting Lin Sanjiu’s stupidity.
While the Red Team was bewildered and angered by the outcome, Mr. Dot spoke just at the right time, "What a pity! Who would have guessed that the strategy from the Red Team contestant failed!"
"Let me explain to everyone what has just happened. The contestant from the Red Team made a request to speak to the contestant from the White Team. She wanted them to cooperate for the next turn so that they wouldn’t just move one step per turn because it was obvious that it was just detrimental to both parties. She argued that it was better for them to duel as soon as possible than to drag on and suffer more losses."
"The contestant from the White Team agreed after hearing her proposal and told her that he would call for three squares. However, the contestant from the White Team broke his promise and only called for 1 square while the contestant from the Red Team complied with their agreement and called for three squares. As a result, we got to see this discrepancy."
After Mr. Dot finished his explanation, Zhong Junkai’s face grew red with anger, he glared at the young man from the White Team and shouted, "Mr. Dot, isn’t there any sort of punishment for such an agreement violation?"
"Even though it is morally wrong, but that is not in the rules," both teams heard Mr. Dot’s reply loud and clear.
"What… But that’s cheating…" Zhong Junkai was about to rush over to protest, but his girlfriend held his hand. He turned and looked at the others, with some doubts. He noticed their darkened expressions.
Old Wang clicked his tongue as he commented softly, "That Miss Lin looks cold-blooded but she actually just a naive woman. That was a good suggestion but can’t she see that this is not the right occasion?!"
"That’s right," Chen Fan added, "she was just asking to be cheated! It would have been embarrassing if that bastard didn’t take the chance to backstab her."
Zhong Junkai’s eyes widened and was dumbfounded. After a few seconds, he turned to look at his girlfriend. "Please don’t confront Mr. Dot. What will I do if something happened to you…" Lara pleaded quietly. Her words were like a breeze which instantly extinguished the flames of Zhong Junkai’s fury. He looked at everyone for a moment and finally sighed, saying nothing. B.Rabbit was resting at a side with his eyes closed. He did open his eyes to take a glance but quickly closed them, as if he was falling asleep.
Mr. Dot spoke again as if he knew that their conversations ended, "The contestant from the White Team advanced three steps. He reached a lottery booth, bought a lottery ticket, and won a treasure chest. White Team contestant, do you wish to open this chest?" The young man replied gleefully, and everyone could tell that he said, "Yes."
"Congratulations, you’ve received +2 points! However, due to the Witch’s Curse, you’ve only received 1 point… And now your score is -1 point."
Even though he only received 1 point, it was already a great surprise to him — the young man did not expect that his choice would bring him this much luck. A broad smile immediately surfaced on his face, and his expression relaxed considerably.
"The contestant from the Red Team displayed extraordinary bravery on the public bus, she caught a pervert, a gangster, and a thief. The police awarded her with +3 points. Now, the Red Team’s score is 1 point."
The young man’s smile went rigid.
Current stats after 8 turns:
Red Team: 2 prizes, 1 point, a chance to "PASS", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 8th square.
White Team: three prizes, -1 point, a chance to "Undo 1 move", bound by a -1 curse, 10th square.
"Haha! She’s quite lucky! In one turn, our score went up to 1 point!" Old Wang slapped his own thigh as he laughed, his wet round belly wobbled with his laughter. "If we think about it, the young chap is still 6 squares away from the finishing point. If he steps on a few skips, we might still have a winning chance..."
Chen Fan nodded his head in agreement and just as he said, "I hope so—" He saw Lin Sanjiu from the corner of his eyes and was flabbergasted. He was not the only one, everyone in the arena was a little shocked. This was because Lin Sanjiu repeated the same action. She called for Mr. Dot and said something. Then, she turned to the young man and talked to him for a long time after she got Mr. Dot’s approval.
As they could not hear what she said, the members of the Red Team could only stare hard at the young man’s face. They scrutinized every micro-expression and every detail, down to the water droplets which rolled down his face.
The young man looked as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He stood on the spot stunned for quite some time. He stared at Lin Sanjiu from head to toe a couple of times before he finally nodded his head again. Lara’s heart thumped anxiously, as she pulled her boyfriend’s sleeve, "Honey, she… she wouldn’t, right? How can there be such a stupid person?"
The members of the Red Team could only think of one possibility, and their faces turned pale.
Once again, Mr. Dot announced with his ever-enthusiastic tone, "Three steps forward for the White Team. One step forward for the Red Team."
If everyone could hear the contestant from the White Team, they would hear his loud, obnoxious laughter as he moved three steps forward in a hurry. He was already on the 13th square and was only three steps away from victory. Chen Fan stood up. Popped veins laced his forehead as he sprinted toward the contestants’ field. Unexpectedly, no one in his team went to stop him. But before he could reach Lin Sanjiu, a sudden flash of lightning came from within the white fog. It struck him directly, and a smell of burnt flesh pervaded the air.
Lin Sanjiu looked at Chen Fan indifferently. He was quite near to her so she could see that smoke was rising from his clothes. She ignored him and turned toward the young man who was reaching the finish point soon.
"I am giving the Red Team a warning, if anyone tries to get close to the contestants again, the punishment will be death."
With that said, Lin Sanjiu knew that Chen Fan would definitely walk back to the team compliantly without even looking behind her.
"The contestant from the White Team found 1 point from his grandmother’s inheritance, +1 point for the White Team. The current score for the White Team is 0," Mr. Dot revealed the prizes and punishment for the current turn. "When the contestant from the Red Team went to the bank to deposit some money, she was the lucky 100th customer, so she won a treasure chest. Do you wish to open this chest?"
"Yes," Lin Sanjiu replied mildly as she looked at the square in front of her.
"Congratulations, the contestant from the Red Team won a prize!"
Despite the peculiar reactions from the others, Lin Sanjiu remained composed.
Current stats after 8 turns:
Red Team: 2 prizes, 1 point, a chance to "PASS", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 8th square.
White Team: three prizes, -1 point, a chance to "Undo 1 move", bound by a -1 curse, 10th square.
Current stats after 9 turns:
Red Team: 2 prizes, 1 point, a chance to "PASS", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 9th square. Contestant Lin Sanjiu received 1 individual prize.
White Team: 3 prizes, 0 points, a chance to "Undo 1 move", 13th square.
For the next 10th, 11th, and 12th turn, both teams moved only one square per turn.
From the looks of it, Lin Sanjiu already realized her mistake and didn’t give her opponent another chance to deceive her — unfortunately, there was already a four-square distance between them. The outcome of the game seemed fixed, and there was nothing they could do.
However, both parties got quite a few rewards in the three turns. They either got treasure chests or some advantage, so everyone was somewhat ecstatic.
Current stats after 12 turns:
Red Team: 2 prizes, 3 points, a chance to "PASS", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 12th square. Contestant Lin Sanjiu received 2 individual prizes.
White Team: 3 prizes, 2 points, a chance to "Undo 1 move", a chance to "get external assistance", 16th square, White Team Contestant received 1 individual prize.
The White Team was already on the 16th square, that meant that the game "Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku" would end in the next turn, with the White Team as the winner. None of the members of the Red Team looked fine. It was apparent to them that Lin Sanjiu lost on purpose to avoid death duel.
"For the 13th turn, White Team stays on the spot. One step forward for the Red Team."
[Huh?]
That announcement drew everyone’s attention, some of them even looked shocked. Didn’t Mr. Dot say that the contestants cannot call for 0?
"The contestant from the Red Team used the chance to ‘Pass’ and did not have to choose a number for this turn. Therefore, the contestant from the White Team will just have to remain on the spot," Mr. Dot cleared up the confusion kindly.
The young man was just one step away from the finishing point, he looked at Lin Sanjiu with a frown. [This last struggle had no purpose other than delaying the inevitable, right?]
Lin Sanjiu averted his gaze and listened to Mr. Dot, "The contestant from the Red Team accidentally spilled some wine on an old man during a company dinner, so she got to know the third richest man in the world. In the end, they got married, so the contestant from the Red Team got a wedding gift of +1 point and a treasure chest. Do you wish to open this chest?"
"Yes."
"Congratulations! The contestant from the Red Team received one individual prize!"
The young man’s eyes widened, and he quickly said something to Mr. Dot in an agitated manner.
"Oh? The contestant from the White Team chose to use his chance to ‘undo 1 move’!" Everyone was taken aback when they heard Mr. Dot’s words: "Unfortunately, as your opponent determines your steps, you can only move backward if your opponent uses that chance to ‘undo 1 move’... If that is the case, do you still want to use it?