Acting According to Circumstances

Qian Xun had items in his possession and was confident that Crow would not be able to discover them.

After all, he was the second-ranked player; he surely had his own methods.

As for exactly what he was observing, Qian Xun hadn't quite figured it out himself, but in short, it all boiled down to four words: act according to circumstances!

If the person in first place was truly unworthy of the title, it wouldn't be out of the question for him to take her place. Alternatively, observing her strength and seeing if she possessed any special items could save his life in this hellhole if he knew a bit more.

However, after witnessing the battle between Crow and Fengyun Tianxia with his own eyes, he no longer felt any sense of unwillingness.

If he had been the one facing Fengyun Tianxia at that moment...

Qian Xun asked himself, and he knew for certain he wouldn't have been able to withstand those moves.

He stopped talking, led his people away from the shelter, and their figures soon disappeared into the fine, misty rain.

After Qian Xun and his group left, Slacking Headquarters followed shortly after.

Only the five members of the team remained in the shelter. They had obtained the rewards they came for, and with the acid rain still falling outside, running around was far worse than staying put.

There were no lights installed in the shelter; light only shone in when the iron hatch above was opened.

But Slacking Headquarters were quite disciplined, carrying out the habit of closing doors behind them to the very end—even for these iron hatches, they closed them without fail.

Qi Wanyi pulled a flashlight from her pocket and set it in the middle of the group, shining it toward the ceiling. The atmosphere was very much like the opening of a horror movie, where they should have been playing some strange, suicidal horror game next.

There was no horror game, but there was a deck of playing cards.

These were kept in a pocket of Xinxue's backpack. She explained with a smile, "Someone gave them to me when I was packing my bag. I suddenly remembered them. Shall we... play a few rounds?"

Then let's play.

But with five people and one deck of cards, what could they play?

Cheng Shuili was somewhat silent. The last time she played cards was on a rest day when she and Su Rui were playing 'drawing the turtle'. Back then there were only two of them, but now there were too many; they couldn't even play Fight the Landlord.

But life rarely goes exactly as planned, and the fact that everyone was still alive was already a blessing.

While Cheng Shuili was still lost in thought, Qi Wanyi, who was sitting beside her, poked her with her elbow. "What do you want to play, Boss? Anything you're in the mood for?"

Cheng Shuili came back to her senses, her gaze sweeping over the expectant faces of her teammates huddled together, then landing on the brand-new deck of cards in the middle.

She wasn't particularly good at multiplayer card games, but since Qi Wanyi had asked, she naturally had to answer.

Cheng Shuili pondered for a second, her tone uncertain: "...Draw the turtle? Or, Run Fast?"

These were the simplest games she could think of that didn't require complex rules or deep calculations.

"Draw the turtle is too childish, Boss!" Ginger Candy immediately protested. "There are five of us! And... what is Run Fast?"

"I haven't heard of it either."

"It must be a game from Boss's hometown, right?"

"Eh... none of those are fun. Listen to me, let's play Red Ten. We have exactly five people! I'll introduce it to you!"

...

Cheng Shuili felt a bit dazed when she returned to her vehicle. It was only an eight-hour dungeon, but it felt as if a month or a year had passed.

Su Rui, the lonely widow, heard the movement in the cabin, silently stopped the car, and pushed the door open. Seeing that it was Cheng Shuili who had returned, she felt relieved and asked out of routine: "Did the dungeon go smoothly?"

Cheng Shuili looked up, seeing Su Rui's familiar figure and questioning gaze, and her tightly wound nerves finally relaxed completely.

She let out a long sigh, as if trying to exhale all the pressure and exhaustion accumulated in the dungeon.

Honestly... can we not have dungeons like this in the future? Wave after wave, intense and thrilling; one slip-up on something you didn't know and it's a death sentence.

If it weren't for Ginger Candy, the lucky charm, Cheng Shuili would have lost her life.

But now that Su Rui had asked, Cheng Shuili answered quite concisely: "It was alright."

As she spoke, she stood up and moved to a more comfortable spot, slumping down before adding two more sentences: "We got the core reward, and the hell-level dungeon is cleared. It’s just that the process was a bit... frustrating."

Su Rui didn't ask specifically how it was "frustrating," just handed her a bottle of water and said calmly: "As long as it went smoothly."

Cheng Shuili took the water and drank a mouthful. The cold liquid slid down her throat, making her feel a bit clearer.

She looked at the scenery outside the window that had come to a stop, and suddenly said out of the blue: "...In the shelter, I played cards with Xinxue and the others for a while."

"Oh?" Su Rui seemed a bit surprised, tilting her head to look at her. "What did you play? Did you win?"

She understood Cheng Shuili and knew she had always had little interest in such group recreational activities.

Playing 'drawing the turtle' last time was only because she was too bored; she hadn't expected them to be playing games inside the dungeon.

Cheng Shuili was silent for a moment, her tone somewhat complex: "A new way to play... Qi Wanyi taught us."

She paused and added, "I lost a few rounds."

Although she didn't provide details, Su Rui could almost imagine the scene.

Cheng Shuili had likely been egged on by her teammates to participate, and perhaps due to being unfamiliar with the rules or bad luck, she had lost the game a bit clumsily, and might even have had slips of paper stuck to her face.

Most people wouldn't have the conditions to do this in a dungeon, but since Cheng Shuili carried that magical ring, how could she not have such items?

Thinking of the helpless yet unable-to-get-angry expression that might have appeared on Cheng Shuili's usually cold face, the corners of Su Rui's mouth curled up very slightly, only to quickly return to her usual expressionless state.

This person was too tired right now; she couldn't be teased.

She had a bad temper; if she teased her now, she might actually get angry.

Save it for later.

"Hmm, relaxing occasionally isn't bad either."

Su Rui evaluated, her voice still flat, but those familiar with her could detect a trace of very faint gentleness.

Cheng Shuili didn't speak again, just leaned back against the chair.

The vehicle drove steadily, and the cabin fell into silence once more.

For some reason, this time the system delayed the announcement of the dungeon rewards until exactly six o'clock.

【Ding-dong! Attention, surviving companions!】

【First of all, thanks to your efforts, this one-day acid rain dodge tour has come to a successful conclusion! Survivors! Your strength and perseverance are admirable! But I am the system, so there are no extra rewards, oh.】

Cheng Shuili: "..."

What kind of nonsense is this guy spouting again?

Cheng Shuili rubbed her temples, frowned, and opened the regional channel to take a look.

It didn't matter if she looked, but the regional channel was actually discussing her.

Cheng Shuili scrolled up a few times and immediately found the culprit.

【Wu Ren Zhi Jing】: Who keeps saying that Crow is a 189-tall, eight-pack-ab, long-legged, muscular hunk who looks imposing yet elegant? Can all you rumor-mongers just go die!