Hei Zeji was a blunt person.
Regardless of the circumstances and possible consequences, Hei Zeji wouldn't say what he didn't want to say, what he didn't think was necessary, and what he merely found was too troublesome to explain. Lin Sanjiu didn't know what his reasons were this time, but she had already suffered a lot because of this particular bad habit of his.
Earlier when Hei Zeji had been explaining the basic rules of the game, he forgot to mention an essential detail.
If there were two people with a large combat power disparity present in the same game, the default difficulty of the game would be adjusted based on the person with higher combat capabilities. In other words, Starry Carnival Amusement Park only cared about extraordinary Growth-types with great potential and ability.
This could also mean another thing: the difficulty for this game was set based on Hei Zeji's combat capabilities; thus, it would only be a tad more challenging than usual for him.
The duration of the game, according to Hei Zeji's level, would be five minutes.
It was clear enough that the bumper kart game didn't care at all about Lin Sanjiu's survival.
"Hey, Hei Ze-- woahhhhhh—"
Lin Sanjiu's hailing for Hei Zeji changed into a cry of fear. She turned the steering wheel sharply to one side and, in a split second, narrowly avoided crashing into a pink bumper kart before her bumper kart tilted over. She had to use her arm to push her bumper kart back into balance.
As Lin Sanjiu slowly regained from the shock, the pink bumper kart swerved and vanished into the ether.
"Anything?"
Another white bumper kart zoomed out from the side and gave the already badly frightened Lin Sanjiu yet another shock. After she realized that it was Hei Zeji and was confident that they were safe for the moment, she quickly asked him, "What is happening? Why are there fewer karts now than the previous game?"
The game had merely been in play for a few seconds, yet Lin Sanjiu already began to feel powerless. If the previous match was described as a slightly dangerous bumper kart game, then this time it had turned into a complete killing machine.
Well, it wasn't entirely accurate to say that all of the bumper karts were gone. There were some bumper karts of various colors not far away. All of them continually patrolled around the only two players, Lin Sanjiu and Hei Zeji, while trying to ram into them at top-speed whenever possible. However, compared to the previous game, at least more than half of the bumper karts had disappeared which made the large, spacious arena look vacant.
Could it be that they can go into stealth-mode?
Before Lin Sanjiu got an answer from Hei Zeji, a massive force hit her and thrust her body forward. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that a green bumper kart had rammed into her.
"Damn it!"
While she cursed inwardly, the familiar female voice reverberated from her back, "Collision with a green bumper kart. For the next fifteen seconds, the player can only move in the 'forest.' Failing to do so will result in continuous collisions. "
"Even the rules have changed!"
Raising her head, Lin Sanjiu offered Hei Zeji a blank look. While she was waiting for him to say something, a pink bumper kart appeared out of thin air. Luckily, the pink bumper kart came diagonally from behind her this time, and there was a considerably large gap between the pink bumper kart and her, so she could dodge the pink bumper kart by simply spinning the steering wheel.
"Don't turn!"
Following Hei Zeji's bellow, a crescent moon materialized right above Lin Sanjiu's hands and stroke downward. Shocked, Lin Sanjiu instinctively withdrew her hands from the steering wheel. Losing her hands was the very last thing that she welcomed.
"Reverse your kart!"
Lin Sanjiu's body reacted before her brain gave the command. After she pressed the accelerator to the floor and opened the throttle, a thought came to mind: wasn't there a green bumper kart behind her?
However, when the pink bumper kart screeched to a stop where she had been previously, Lin Sanjiu had backed her bumper kart into the space behind her without a problem. The green bumper kart was nowhere to be seen.
The pink bumper kart did not continue the assault, and Lin Sanjiu thanked God for that minor good fortune. The pink bumper kart moved around like a living organism looking for direction. It inched backward for a short distance and vanished into the air again.
Lin Sanjiu's expression grew grim as she asked Hei Zeji, "What is wrong with these karts?"
Hei Zeji glanced up, revealing his even grimmer expression and met Lin Sanjiu's questioning gaze.
"Why are you so dull? Could it be that you've met some mongrels by chance and gave them your reflexes to fill their stomachs?" Hei Zeji effortlessly evaded another bumper kart that came from nowhere. Then, he continued, "I wonder how you survive the previous game. Let me guess, you took advantage of your strengthened body and braved through it?"
Lin Sanjiu, who was about to say something to defend herself, was silenced by Hei Zeji's critic.
"He's right," Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
"Okay, listen to me carefully," Hei Zeji seemingly always breathed with the air of impatience when he was talking. He said, "Space here has been distorted and folded into multiple layers. Light cannot shine directly on them, so you can't see them—"
As if he was proving his words, he made a sharp u-turn before finishing his sentence. He followed the bumper kart that had ambushed him earlier on and vanished before reappearing moments later.
"Although they are invisible, there will always be a signal when they emerge from the folding space. Look for that signal," Lin Sanjiu felt that Hei Zeji's demonstration belied his explanation. He just vanished and popped out at another spot without showing any sign at all, "... Your reflexes are too slow. You should start practicing how to evade their ambush first."
"What does it look like in the folding space?" Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment and quickly followed up with another question, "Can you also explain to me what it means that I can only move in the 'forest'?"
"I don't know. I drove with my eyes closed, but it seems that there are many runways inside the folding space. Nevertheless, don't feel relieved once you successfully evade an ambush. These runways are designed in 360-degrees, so the bumper kart can bump into you from any angle—"
Hei Zeji paused and squinted before he continued, "Well, for the 'forest,' I'm guessing it probably refers to the route where those green bumper karts have traversed. That is to say that from this moment onward there are two things you need to do: first, recall the routes those greenies have traveled, and second, try your best to keep your eye on them all the time. Once you drive on a track that has not been traveled by any green bumper karts, you'll be punished."
Apparently, Hei Zeji had exhausted his patience after giving Lin Sanjiu the lengthy explanation in one go. While Lin Sanjiu was digesting the hefty amount of information, he floored the accelerator and launched his white bumper kart forward.
Although both of them had exchanged a substantial amount of information, the game had only started thirty seconds prior. As the distance between Hei Zeji and Lin Sanjiu grew larger, four bumper karts cut into the gap between them and charged at Lin Sanjiu at full speed.
Lin Sanjiu drew a deep breath to steady herself and made her utmost effort to ignore the bumper karts that were closing in on her.
Although she wasn't a prodigy, she learned things rather fast. After she'd fully digested Hei Zeji's explanation, she found that the bumper karts that were always in her sights actually posed little threat to her.
"Green, green, where are you…"
From the beginning of the game until now, she didn't even have the time to catch her breath, let alone to pay attention to what was going on around her. As such, memorizing the routes that each type of bumper kart had taken was an impossible task.
Lin Sanjiu sighed and repented inwardly, "It would be great if I still had the enhanced perception that I obtained from School of Higher Consciousness. It would have spared me the aggravation of rummaging through my memories…"
Hei Zeji was right: she was too oblivious. She didn't know there was a bumper kart in front of her until the collision happened and the impact sent her sliding away.
"Collision with a brown bumper kart. Buried the seed deep into the soil effect. Last until the end of the game."
As Lin Sanjiu was distracted, an invisible object pounced on her face, covering her mouth and nose. She felt like she was being buried alive. Her chest got heavier and breathing grew more difficult until she was not able to draw air into her lungs.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hei Zeji's voice was filled with anger as it traveled far from the opposite side of the arena, "Didn't I tell you to watch out for the signal before they appear?"
Lin Sanjiu's face quickly became red as her brain's oxygen supply was depleted. She could not even speak a word now, so how could she still have the energy to spare to observe the bumper karts?
Suddenly, she caught the sight of a bumper kart with the corner of her eyes. Lin Sanjiu was struggling for air, and it was several folds harder for her to make a move at her current state. Still, Lin Sanjiu promptly hit the accelerator and carefully drove toward the spot where she had collided with the green bumper kart.
Like sharks attracted to blood, ten bumper karts quickly gathered around Lin Sanjiu leaving her not more than three seconds to steer clear of their ambush. At the same time, Lin Sanjiu heard her blood boiling in her eardrums as fear began to swallow her.
"The reason Soulsqn became a raggedy doll was probably that she joined me in the previous game… Will I become like her as well?"
"There are only two seconds left before that kart crashes into me——"
"So, where did those green bumper karts actually go?"
Not even Lin Sanjiu was aware that her consciousness had expanded as it flowed madly. There was only a second left before the collision. She could even see the words imprinted on the pink bumper kart.
"There!"
Just as she thought she was doomed, a vividly clear scene jumped out in her mind. It was as if a dazzling ray of light pierced through the darkness; it granted her a glimpse of hope to shatter the tricky situation.
Her heart beat twice, and Lin Sanjiu knew that she did not have enough time to turn the steering wheel anymore. She spread her left bony wing in the spur of the moment and thrust it into the floor. Just before her blue bumper kart toppled over, she slammed on the accelerator. With the acceleration and the propulsive force provided by her left bony wing, she propelled herself forward leaving a streak of sparks behind.
When she was at the peak of her concentration, she calmed down. She didn't know whether it was real or was just an illusion. She felt that her body, reflexes, and her joints had become much smoother and quicker to react.
At this moment, the memory that she had been struggling to recall became clear, almost crisp to her foggy mind. She knew a green bumper kart had gone this way.
She waited anxiously for half a second. When the sound that symbolizes the "punishment" did not reach her ear, Lin Sanjiu knew.
She was on the right track.