The King of Black Fog

[Three Sisters (3)]

(Qing Lan: Departure)

(Qian Xia: Received!)

(Changzhou: My spear is already starving and thirsty.)

(Qian Xia: ?)

(Qian Xia: Get serious for me.)

(Qing Lan: No swearing, keep the dirty jokes appropriate, occasional jokes to lighten the mood are okay.)

(Changzhou: I'm sorry.)

At the gate of Ming University, at 8 p.m., there was a coming and going of people. Many students rode electric bikes rented from the school to stroll the night markets or to see movies at the mall.

There were also those who wouldn't return for the night, but since dirtiness should be kept appropriate, they were ignored.

Li Changzhou's dorm was even closer to the school gate. He was the first to arrive at the designated spot, and after a few minutes, Li Qianxia and Yang Qinglan walked over together.

Both were wearing dresses that reached their calves, slinging tote bags from the bookstore around.

Li Qianxia's ponytail swung with each step. If there was ever a girl who embodied the feeling of summer, she was the epitome of such a girl.

Yang Qinglan's straight black hair gently swayed with the night breeze, making her everybody's ideal type.

The passing boys all laid their eyes on them, while Li Changzhou thought about the rolled-up pant legs beneath their dresses.

They, in turn, assessed Li Changzhou; a black T-shirt, black casual pants, with a bit more of a sharp and free-spirited air than his previous bookish vibe.

"Good evening, the most handsome guy at Ming University!" Li Qianxia gave a thumbs up.

"Good evening, the most beautiful girl at Ming University!" Li Changzhou responded in kind.

"Let's go," Yang Qinglan headed towards the school gate.

The three of them left the school and boarded the bus at the gate, Route 69, one of the least crowded routes.

When swiping the card, you just have to think about using the Dungeon Ticket, and the QR code on the phone will automatically switch.

Li Changzhou, who was walking at the end, took notice of the driver—a middle-aged man with white gloves, expressionless. It was unclear whether he was bored or numb.

Inside, the bus lighting was dim, perfect for listening to melancholic songs and getting lost in the neon lights outside the window.

After chatting for a while, as the bus plodded along, Li Qianxia let out a long yawn.

(Buses, subways, ships, airplanes, just like us, are destined to wander.)

(Someday, though we don't know when, we will become our true selves.)

Familiar songs.

...

('Arena 549' has arrived. Please be careful when opening the doors, and watch your step when disembarking.)

Li Changzhou suddenly opened his eyes, the world was contorting, the cruelest side of nature laid before him—the desert.

"Hmm—" Li Qianxia woke up to the sunlight stabbing her eyes, unable to open them.

Yang Qinglan also woke up, her expression tense as she looked at the endless rolling sand dunes outside the window.

"Bring the dresses too; they might come in handy," she said.

"Not keeping it to hide our identities?"

"Hiding our identities is also for survival. Take off your white dress!" Li Changzhou said as he removed his black T-shirt.

"What are you doing?" Li Qianxia didn't react much.

To the two of them who had grown up together, Li Changzhou's bizarre remarks and his upper body were child's play.

"Don't you see my clothes are black? Black absorbs heat; hurry and take it off for me."

"You want to wear a dress?" Li Qianxia, amused, laughed as she took off her dress and kindly offered, "Do you know how to wear it? I'll help you."

Li Changzhou borrowed a dagger from Yang Qinglan and modified the white dress into a style he could fit into.

The long hem of the dress, along with his black T-shirt, was tied around his waist.

Nothing could be wasted in the desert.

While he fiddled with the dress, Yang Qinglan also took off her dress to reveal sports pants and a T-shirt underneath.

After tying her dress around her waist, she gathered her hair at the back of her head and swiftly coiled her long hair into a bun.

(The '549 Arena' station has arrived. Please be careful when opening the doors and mind your step when disembarking.)

"Let's go," Li Changzhou said in a solemn voice.

The two nodded and followed him.

The driverless bus came to a stop at the foot of a sand dune, where a lonely sandstone sign stood to the right of the rear door.

As soon as they stepped off, the heat clung to them immediately, more tenacious and passionate than the madams of ancient brothels depicted in TV dramas.

With a hiss of changing air pressure, the rear door of the bus closed slowly, and it trundled away through the desert.

The three of them watched until, with an unthinking blink amid the distorting heatwaves, the bus suddenly vanished as if it had never been there at all.

"Let's check the mission," Yang Qinglan said, covering her smooth forehead with the back of her hand.

In just a moment, the cool air they had brought from the bus was gone, and their body temperatures began to rise.

The trio walked to the sandstone sign to review this mission's details.

[Station Name: 549 Arena]

[Terrain: Desert]

[Next bus arrival condition: fewer than 15 surviving lives]

[Special Note: The return bus from this arena has no scheduled departure time. After the game ends, swipe the card at the departure platform to call the bus.]

[Messages from outstanding lives in this arena]

[Message 1: Teammates are the most convenient sources of water and food (Autumn Leaf)]

[Message 2: Thanks for the heads-up, first floor. To add to that, teammates are also a source of value and money (Isn't Soft Rice Delicious?)]

[Message 3: Please contact officials at www.jzyx.cn; if anyone has real-life information on the above two individuals, please inform the authorities in a timely manner! Anyone who harms their own kind will be punished without mercy! The Value Game is not beyond the law... (Wolf Head)]

As if to mock, to provoke, to declare that this was a lawless place, 'The Value Game is not beyond the law' was cut off due to the word limit.

"The situation doesn't look good," Li Changzhou turned to the others and said.

It was not only in the game that the situation was grim; reality was no less so.

Just like the user 'Autumn Leaf,' you could tell from the message that some people had ceased to be human.

"This is why I was looking for teammates," Yang Qinglan said.

"Well, if you want to eat someone, eat me. Just don't eat my sister," Li Changzhou joked with feigned urgency.

"Brother—" Li Qianxia looked at her brother with touched feigned emotion, "if you're thirsty, just tell me. I'll pee for you to drink."

"...You're disgusting."

"My reasons for finding teammates were not to eat or drink," Yang Qinglan said, glancing consciously at the nauseating siblings when she said 'drink.'

"Then for what? Isn't it to survive?" Li Changzhou asked curiously.

"It is to survive, but there's an even more important reason," Yang Qinglan explained. "Traveling alone makes you strong but also causes you to lose your humanity. Reliant only on yourself, you'd do anything to live."

She looked at the two of them and continued, "With teammates, you understand the importance of unity, you maintain your humanity. To put it more formally, it means understanding the importance of friendship and affection."

Li Changzhou said to Yang Qinglan in a light tone, "You live with such clarity."

He wanted to say, 'How about love?' but the words died on his lips.

(The participants have gathered; the mission begins.)

The voice emanated from the sandstone sign.

"No," Yang Qinglan began walking towards the dunes, "I just read more books than you."

"That's debatable, isn't it, sister?"

"That's debatable, isn't it, brother?"

"Where are your weapons?" Yang Qinglan, who was leading, turned back to ask.

With the Sun at her back, she was haloed in light, and her face in the shadow was rather imposing.

Both siblings shrugged, and after five heartbeats, a red steel gun, the 'Mosquito Style Blood-sucking Gun,' and a sturdy AK-47 materialized out of the mist, appearing in their hands.

Walking on the crunching, shifting sand, the three ascended the crest of the dune.

The desert was like a sea; the world lay open and bare before them, the Earth like a reflective board, shining white and refracting the Sun's heat.

The air itself twisted and trembled with visible warmth.