TDU Chapter 377
Chapter 377 Fair at Heart
"Nonsense." Terrestrial Dog retorted. "The reason Su Shan made her current choice is because she doesn’t truly understand this place."
"Regardless, you have no right to claim to know what's best for others," Zhang Chenze explained. "From my perspective, you’re pushing Su Shan to make a choice she understands even less—and that’s unfair."
"Hmph..." Terrestrial Dog snorted coldly, then turned his back and spoke in a low voice, "Su Shan, this is the first time in all these years that I’ve seen you, still alive and vigorous despite losing your memories. I’m genuinely glad for you. But here, trusting anyone is a disadvantage."
"Is that so?" Su Shan retorted. "But from where I stand, it’s them who have been protecting their teammates, while you’ve been scheming to kill."
"But I never killed you," Terrestrial Dog said. "From start to finish, I never used a single {Calamity} against you."
At these words, Su Shan slowly furrowed her brows.
Could it be that she never received a {Calamity} not just because of Terrestrial Dog’s tactics—but because of some personal feelings?
"You—" Su Shan was about to say more, but Terrestrial Dog pushed the door open and stepped outside.
"Sorry, it’s really late, I'll miss the last ride if I don't hurry," Terrestrial Dog said from outside. "You all should rest here tonight. Until next time, if fortune permits."
"Can you tell me your name?" Su Shan asked.
"My name...?" Terrestrial Dog blinked. "I’m just a stray dog who wants to slack. One that might bite others, but won’t bite my own."
He closed the door behind him, then vanished into the darkness.
Only then did the four women finally exhale a sigh of relief. This game was truly over.
Now, apart from Su Shan, the others weren’t doing well. Qin Dingdong and Lin Qin were injured, and Zhang Chenze was still pulling locusts out from her hair.
"How are you all?" Su Shan looked at Qin Dingdong and Lin Qin.
"How could we be?" Qin Dingdong shook her head helplessly. "One injured internally, the other externally. Are you able to magically heal us both now?"
"I’m just worried since you both don’t look too good."
Hearing Su Shan’s words, everyone turned to look at her. If anyone here looked most concerning at a glance, it was either Qin Dingdong or Su Shan herself.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and two prominent streaks of blood ran down her face.
"What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me?" Su Shan asked.
"Are you... okay?" Zhang Chenze asked with concern. "Your eyes..."
Only then did Su Shan reach up to touch her cheek. When she turned her hand over, her fingertips were stained with fresh blood.
"What is this...?"
"Don’t you feel unwell?" Zhang Chenze continued to ask.
"Not really... just that my vision is a bit blurry," Su Shan wiped her cheek with her sleeve, but a few seconds later, a sharp pain began to sting her eyes.
"At least we made it out alive." Su Shan showed no concern for her own state; instead, she turned to Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong. "You two are veterans. Tell me, surviving as a complete team in a {Terrestrial-grade} game, what sort of caliber would that place us at?"
Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong pondered carefully, their brows slowly furrowing.
Indeed, having everyone survive a Terrestrial-grade game was an exceedingly rare occurrence. Although a Terrestrial-grade wouldn’t necessarily slaughter all the {participants} every time, they would definitely kill.
After all, the purpose of every Terrestrial-grade game was to use the {Dào} to lure participants in, then exchange it with their deaths.
"Honestly... full survival is very rare," Qin Dingdong coughed lightly twice. "I’m as good as dead, so I can’t really give you a perfect score. Your best choice would have been to let me die."
"Maybe I’m just not used to the {survival rules} here," Su Shan explained. "I believe that as long as I’m alive, I can do more—as if others were asleep but I’m not, I get to live a little longer than them each day."
"What twisted logic..." Qin Dingdong sighed, then found a corner to lean against and sit down. "We probably can’t leave tonight... we’ll have to stay here overnight. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably get a good sleep..."
Hearing this, Zhang Chenze turned to look at her. "You all say you can’t go out at night... is there something strange about this place after dark?"
"Yeah, it might be beyond your imagination," Qin Dingdong closed her eyes and leaned against the wall, answering softly. "There are human-like insects crawling all over the place."
"Human-like… insects?" Zhang Chenze blinked. Confused, she opened her mouth to ask more when suddenly—
{Crash}!!
The door to a glass chamber suddenly burst open with a tremendous sound that echoed through the room.
Everyone turned to look and saw a black women’s suit jacket leap out of the room. It landed on the ground with both sleeves supporting it, the collar raised as it faced them.
It didn't just look like a locust, its surface teemed with actual locusts, causing instant goosebumps among the onlookers.
"I almost forgot that thing was here..." Su Shan frowned as she studied at the suit jacket. "Lawyer Zhang... what exactly is that thing, and how did it come to be?"
Su Shan could clearly see a glowing locust-shaped outline on the suit jacket.
"I’m not entirely sure..." Zhang Chenze said. "It seems like it’s because of something I did... that transformed this garment into a {Locust}..."
Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong shared a look at that instant, mutually recognizing the oddness of their circumstances
This clearly resembled a {Reverberation}, yet neither of them had ever encountered this woman in the past seven years.
If her {Reverberation} was so powerful, why had she remained hidden for so long?
Lin Qin’s mind flashed with the image of Qi Xia, while Qin Dingdong thought of Chen Junnan.
It seemed some odd events had unfolded, causing none of the people from that room to appear at {End Point}.
Su Shan took a deep breath and pulled Zhang Chenze behind her, then faced off against the strange black suit jacket.
Since this thing’s essence was a {garment}, Su Shan didn’t know how to kill it—so she planted her feet firmly and tried to project as much presence as possible.
Zhang Chenze frowned as she glanced at the spotlight above. After a moment’s thought, she walked to the wall and opened the door.
A rush of air flooded into the room, carrying the distinctive stench of {End Point}.
The suit seemed to have caught on, casting a look toward the dark void outside. After a pause, it hauled up its sleeves and vaulted outside.
Zhang Chenze immediately double-locked the door behind it, and only then did everyone’s tension finally ease.
If her guess was correct, this locust-like suit would wander {End Point} indefinitely. Since it was not a living organism, the concept of {lifespan} did not apply.
"I may have killed you… but in a way, I’ve also made you immortal..." Zhang Chenze whispered. "A fair trade."
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
