Doomsday Wonderland

Life is composed of a surfeit of surprises and chaos. Maxin thought he had long understood this since he was a child.

He also thought he had adapted himself well to it.

He was a slum dweller. His father had run away when he was born because he could not afford to take care of his family. In a neighborhood where gangsterism, drug dealing, alcoholism, and crime flourished, Maxin supported himself by working day and night to complete his studies. Compared to his previous life, the days in the doomsday were pretty much the same. In fact, the experience he had garnered throughout his childhood in a poor district had helped him better survive in the apocalyptic world.

The fortune’s wheel is ever turning. Just when he had gone through four D-class apocalyptic worlds thinking that he had mastered the game rules, his luck began to go down the hill. He made a small mistake and ended up in the Olympics, a B-class world. In the Olympics, he was cautious with every step he took. He stayed low and minded his own business all the time. He was prudent and shrewd; however, it still wasn’t enough to completely steer him away from danger.

Maxin had never expected that he would one day be targeted because of his swimming skills.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Maxin didn’t know whether or not Lin Sanjiu could hear him amidst the roaring breakers. His throat felt sore as he’d shouted too much.

“This is not a swimming competition! Did I say I want to be here? Did you ask for my permission? I don’t care if you’re drowning or what, I’m not going to be your surfboard anymore!” Maxin shouted as he kept his upper torso afloat with practiced ease despite the churning sea. In comparison, Lin Sanjiu and her gang looked miserable. “Zeus! Zeus! Please send me back to where I came from. It’s all this woman’s fault! She cheated you! I never said I wanted to participate in this competition!”

“I—I’m—sor—sorr—y.”

Lin Sanjiu could barely finish her sentence before she and her comrades were washed away by a sudden surge of ocean waves. As if on a roller coaster ride, each wave brought them up about ten or so meters high into the air before sending them crashing down into the seafloor below with tremendous force. No swimmer could survive in such harsh conditions, but this group of posthumans was somehow able to emerge after each assault from the tumultuous sea.

Craning his long neck like a snake when finding its prey, Zeus looked at Maxin.

“That won’t do, my dear,” he giggled slightly. “She said you wish to enter the competition. That is considered as her testimony. As a matter of fact, I only accept testimonies, not personal statements.”

“Why the hell is that?”

Although the seawater was cold, it could not cool down the anger in his heart. His face was scarlet with rage.

“Will you bring everybody here if I say everyone in this world wants to join the game?!” Overwhelmed by his anger, Maxin shouted at Zeus.

Hearing his words, the damned creature’s eyes glowed. He held his hands together and rubbed them excitedly like a fly.

“Is that true?”

His eyes brimmed with manic glee, and the words poured out of him with passion and excitement. “Are you telling me that all of them want to join the competition?”

Maxin didn’t reply. He knew if he answered yes, Zeus would definitely bring all of the people in the Olympics to join this game. He remained silent for a few seconds before barking out, “Get lost!”

However, he immediately regretted it the second the words tumbled past his lips. He didn’t know how Zeus would react to his bluntness. He was too careless. He shouldn’t allow his emotions to get the best of him.

“Oh my, what a brute. I’m so sad,” Zeus raised his hand. Maxin’s heart picked up its pace, and his muscles tightened, readied for any attacks Zeus might throw at him, but the wretched creature just patted his chest. Sighing, he shook his head as he strolled towards the blue iron aircraft that was hovering in mid-air. Before going into the aircraft, he gave them a flying kiss and said with a grin, “Well then, good luck to you all. The game will start in another half hour.”

Maxin could return to land without the help of Zeus. The only obstacle he had was that woman.

Truth to be told, there was no way Lin Sanjiu could stop Maxin if he insisted on leaving. Maxin could turn around and withdraw himself from here, but he didn’t. This was because every time Lin Sanjiu resurfaced after getting pushed into the sea, he would hear her pleas amid the howling gale, “I’m sorry! But please! Please save my friends!”

She was propelling herself towards Maxin as she shouted, even though her movements were clumsy and stiff. As an experienced swimmer, Maxin could tell that she was exhausted, but she never gave up.

Saving them wouldn’t bring Maxin any benefit, but turning a deaf ear towards a person’s cry for help, especially when she was somebody he knew, was something not everybody with sentience could do. He remained frozen in place, staring at the several bobbing black dots in the distance, black-faced. When another huge wave came, the woman closest to him disappeared from the surface of the sea.

She didn’t resurface even after he’d counted to ten.

Now was his best chance to go away. He must get out of here before the competition started.

Maxin inwardly scolded himself with a vulgar word he learned when he was a child that he had long forgotten. After that, he dove into the sea.

Swimming to someone who was drowning and trying to take ahold of them was dangerous even for professionals. When panic and fear took over, the power that erupted from the drowning person was lethal enough to drag the rescuer down, not to mention that the person was a posthuman, a kind of human with a level of strength multiple times that of ordinary people. Maxin had to wrestle with Lin Sanjiu’s steel-like deathly grip as he dragged her towards the sea surface. After what seemed like an eternity, both of them finally reached the sea surface. Even with the help of his Special Item, there were scratches and huge purple-green bruises all over his body.

“Calm down! Hold on tight to my waist!” He wrenched on her shoulder and shouted into her ear.

She looked as if she had just awoken from a nightmare; Lin Sanjiu’s lips were bloodless, and her countenance pale. The sea was cold, and she shivered profusely. Her hair stuck to her wet forehead. Just when Maxin wanted to shout at her again since he didn’t receive any response from her, her brain finally snapped back into place. She gripped his shoulders tightly, causing him to wince in pain as she shouted, “My friend…”

“I know!” Maxin cut her short grumpily. As he swam towards the other two people—no, one human and a creature, as the latter couldn’t be considered a human—he said, “I’m putting it to you now that I want half of the Special Items from that man in your birdcage!”

Lin Sanjiu’s highly-strung body relaxed upon hearing what he said. She heaved out a long sigh of relief and wrapped her arms weakly around Maxin’s waist.

“Thank you, thank you…” she muttered.

Maxin did not reply. Pulling a long face, Maxin realized that his great patience, which he took pride in, had been worn out by the woman and the burning pain that spread from his wounds.

He thought an eternity had passed after he found and saved Ji Shanqing and Soulsqn from drowning. When two human hands and a fleshy tendril clung to his arm, bone-deep exhaustion instantly swept across his entire being.

“What happened to you?” The fleshy worm hissed out a question next to his face.

Maxin paid Soulsqn no mind. He began to take in their surroundings.

The competition hadn’t started yet. In other words, he still had time to get out of here and return to the land. Although carrying three people on his back might slow him down, there must be a limitation to the competition area. As such, all he needed to do was swim as far as possible, hoping that he would be able to get out of the competition area.

“Where are you heading to?” Seeing Maxin swim in silence for some time, Lin Sanjiu craned her neck forward and asked.

“I’m going back to the land,” Maxin replied with a stern face.

However, Lin Sanjiu suddenly grabbed his shoulder and yelled into his ear, “No, we are not going back to the land!”

Maxin thought his ears were playing a trick on him. He stopped swimming, turned around, and stared at Lin Sanjiu disbelievingly. “…What did you say?”

“We can’t go back yet.” Lin Sanjiu was obviously embarrassed about her demand, but she still bit the bullet and said, “We have to win the game. Besides, I have a friend. He should be here too, and I can’t leave him behind.”

Although she said “friend”, her tone was much more distant this time.

‘He is your friend, why should I care?’ Maxin thought.

“Okay,” he answered indifferently, “Then we should part ways here.”

Lin Sanjiu didn’t let go, but instead gripped even harder. “None of us can swim!”

“Then shut up and follow me back to the land.”

“No, we can’t!”

“How can you be so shameless?” Maxin exploded. “Do you want me to carry you three and participate in the game?”

Lin Sanjiu didn’t reply, but Maxin could tell from her expression that that was what she wanted.

“No! That’s impossible.” Maxin turned around and peeled Lin Sanjiu’s fingers off his shoulders. “Good luck to you.”

“Wait, I will give you 60% of the Special Items!”

“No.”

“70%!”

“Let go.”

“80%!” Lin Sanjiu’s face turned even paler.

Ji Shanqing had been observing them silently. Before Maxin could say no, he chimed in and said earnestly, “We’re very grateful that you saved our lives.” The grand prize always had a unique charisma about him that would make people listen to what he said. When he saw he had gotten Maxin’s attention, he continued to say, “I have an idea. How many Special Items do you have in your arsenal that can be used in the water? More than one piece?”

Maxin nodded. He pushed the water and continued to swim towards the land, ignoring Lin Sanjiu’s shout that he should stop.

Ji Shanqing sighed when he saw Maxin’s nod. He said, “How about this? We will trade 80% of the Special Items from this man for a water-type Special Item from you. After that, you can leave. What do you think?”

“That’s a good idea,” Lin Sanjiu immediately chipped in, “I can stretch my arm into the birdcage and take the Special Items…”

Maxin stopped. He studied the long-haired, effeminate young man.

He also felt like it was a good idea, but at the same time, he felt that something was wrong. After he thought about it with a frown for some time, he decided to turn down the young man’s offer. After all, the moral values he learned from his childhood bedtime stories was that he shouldn’t be greedy and should instead be content with what he already had; otherwise, a catastrophe might befall him.

“One item for another. I don’t have much time,” he said decidedly, “Anything would do. I can exchange it with the [Mermaid’s Tail]. I’ve never used it before.”

Time was of the essence. The moment he finished speaking, a palm-sized mermaid tail appeared on his palm.

Lin Sanjiu almost cried. She stretched her hand into the birdcage. The design of the birdcage was ergonomic. A small window was installed in the front that allowed the owner to extend his or her hand inside. Right after she activated her [Planar Worlds] several times, she had converted a few Special Items on the balding man into cards. Without taking a close look at them, she shoved those cards into Maxin’s hand. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

It was at this moment that Ji Shanqing stopped her.

“Sis, how can you give so few to Brother Maxin? This isn’t fair to him,” he said softly to Lin Sanjiu, “After all, the thing he gave us is going to save our life. Like I said earlier, sis, we should give Brother Maxin 80% of the share.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” Maxin declined again, “Just give me…”

“Good morning!”

A highly energetic voice spread across the sea, tearing the sky. Maxin’s heart sank deep into his stomach.

“Fellow contenders, I’m delighted to see all of you here. I hope that you all can give your best in the upcoming competition to please the highest god, Zeus!”