TDU Chapter 359
TL Note: Read this before continuing this chapter, you’ll need it to understand what’s happening:
The Nian beast (年兽) is a mythical creature from Chinese folklore and is known to emerge every year on Chinese New Year's Eve (除夕) to terrorize villages by attacking and eating people. Some claim that it resembles a flat-faced lion with the body of a dog and prominent incisors. Legend holds that the Nian beast fears loud noises, the color red, and firelight. To ward it off, people developed customs such as hanging red paper (spring couplets), lighting lanterns, and setting off firecrackers (which later evolved into Chinese New Year traditions). Read more here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nian
Translate Checked by Molly Z
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Chapter 359 Rules of Calamity
“{Year of Calamity}?”
“That’s right. In this game, I play the role of the {Nian Beast}—and you all are to use every possible means to defeat me.”
Terrestrial Dog then pulled a small remote from his pocket and pressed a button.
Suddenly, three incandescent lights lit up inside the central cylindrical glass chamber, arranged in a row and suspended midair.
“These three lights represent my {health points},” Terrestrial Dog explained, turning back to them. “After each of you uses one {fortune stick}, that counts as the end of one round. The game lasts a total of eight rounds.”
“Wait a moment…” Su Shan realised Terrestrial Dog was about to finish explaining the rules, but the most important part hadn’t been mentioned yet. “If these three lights are your {health points}, how do we extinguish them?”
“With your {fortune sticks},” Terrestrial Dog replied. “Some {fortune sticks} deal {damage} to me—that is, they can extinguish the lights above my head. If you can extinguish all three lights within eight rounds, you win. The game will conclude regardless of what happens during the eighth round.”
The four young women fell silent. The {rules of the game} seemed well covered, yet something felt incomplete.
“That doesn’t seem right…” Qin Dingdong spoke up, “I basically understand these rules that look like a card game, but aren’t you participating?”
“What?”
“Don’t you need to use {fortune sticks} too?” Qin Dingdong asked. “The four of us just surround you and attack? You just sit in the middle and take hits?”
“Of course I’ll be participating,” Terrestrial Dog said. “Like I said, when you four each use a {fortune stick}, that counts as the end of a round, and I also get to use one {fortune stick} per round. Sounds fair, right?”
Su Shan immediately caught the key point in that sentence and asked, “Do you use your {fortune stick} before or after we use ours?”
“That depends on my strategy,” Terrestrial Dog replied. “I can use my {fortune stick} at any time during the round, but only one per round.”
Lin Qin noted that this Terrestrial Dog was unlike the usual {Earthly Branches}; he replied to every question posed.
With this insight, she stepped forward and asked, “Then I want to know, how exactly will you kill us in this game?”
That direct question caused Terrestrial Dog’s expression to flicker.
“I…” Terrestrial Dog paused to think, then said, “Fine. Since I’m going to take this seriously, I might as well tell you everything. The {fortune sticks} I hold are a bit different from yours. I have eight {fortune sticks}, each representing a different {calamity}.”
Su Shan nodded upon hearing this. “So you’re a {Nian Beast} that brings {calamities}?"
“Yes,” Terrestrial Dog replied. “My {calamities} can potentially kill, so you’ll have to be careful.”
The four young women fell silent once more. Once the game began, they’d be at a disadvantage with no way to communicate, so they had to ask as many essential questions as possible beforehand.
“Then these four glass rooms…” Su Shan pointed to the four square glass rooms, “what’s the order for drawing {fortune sticks} later?”
Terrestrial Dog furrowed his brows and remarked, “Aren’t you asking too many questions?”
“I—”
Su Shan was about to reply when Qin Dingdong stepped forward first and said to Terrestrial Dog, “The problem is your unclear rules. We go in blind, and then what? Total chaos?”
"I’m always meticulous and dogged in my work. How could I forget to explain the rules?” Terrestrial Dog frowned as he said, “I believe what I’ve told you is already enough.”
“Dogged?” Qin Dingdong laughed. “Dog tóngxué, this jiejie is conflicted whether to break it to you or not.”
“You can doubt my personality, but you can’t question my work ethic,” Terrestrial Dog snapped back.
Qin Dingdong snorted coldly, then turned and pointed to a dirty handprint on the nearby glass.
“You claim to be ‘meticulous and dogged’, but you don’t even clean the glass when a new group of participants comes in?”
“Huh?” Terrestrial Dog was stunned, his dog ears twitching slightly. “I didn’t clean the glass?”
“See for yourself.” Qin Dingdong pointed at the handprint. “You gave us such a poor gaming experience but we endured. All we want is to ask a few more rule-related questions. Is that too much to ask?”
Terrestrial Dog walked over to examine the handprint on the glass, his brows gradually knitting together.
“Am I wrong?” Qin Dingdong patted Terrestrial Dog’s back. “Answer one more question for us and we’ll call it even.”
Terrestrial Dog looked at Su Shan and Qin Dingdong, then finally nodded. “Fine, ask.”
“What’s the turn order for these glass rooms?”
Terrestrial Dog pointed to the pink glass room with his finger and said, “The person in the pink glass room takes the first turn each round, then turns proceed clockwise: green, orange, and blue.”
“What do the colors represent?” Su Shan asked.
“I don’t know,” Terrestrial Dog replied coldly, cutting her off. “I’ve explained all the rules. What happens next depends on your fate.”
He slowly walked to the central glass cylinder in the room, then called out from the door, “Please choose which room you want to enter quickly. The game will start in five minutes.”
After saying this, he shut the door behind him, and an unusually complex lock clicked into place.
“That damn dog…” Qin Dingdong glanced at him with displeasure. “He’s got a big ego—he can’t hear anything we say next, so it’s the perfect chance to mess with him.”
“I beg to differ,” Su Shan remarked with some worry, glancing toward Terrestrial Dog’s direction. “The fact that he’s so confident locking himself in means he has absolute confidence. He must believe there’s a very high chance he’ll kill us in this game.”
“So what should we do?” Qin Dingdong assessed her team. Their impressive results in the {Mortal-grade} matches today proved they were all competent. If they coordinated well, facing a {Terrestrial Dog} wouldn’t be beyond them.
“Let’s choose our positions first,” Su Shan said. “I intend to be the {first player}. If I can uncover all the clues early, I’ll think of a way to pass that information to you all.”
“Pass on…”
“Even without sound, hand signs and mouthing words should be enough for basic communication,” Su Shan said seriously. “We’re in glass rooms, and we can see each other’s every move.”
Zhang Chenze, who had been quiet for a while, spoke up. “Terrestrial Dog clearly could’ve put us in opaque rooms, yet he chose glass ones. This deliberate choice raises significant suspicions.”
“Though suspicions exist, we cannot pinpoint anything concrete right now,” Su Shan stated. “Our priority is to choose our rooms and proceed with the game. Afterwards, each must depend on their own abilities.”
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
