The Earth is Online

The black tower didn’t give players time to understand the new rules and started the game directly.

In the middle of the board, Mosaic was wrapped in a light film and humming happily. The humans were no longer noisy because time was tight. They thought about the number of steps they could take in this round and when they should move to make the most impact.

Tang Mo participated in so many black tower games and this was the first time he met new rules for the game. Every time, the black tower would clearly explain all the rules at the beginning. It set up plausible traps but never added new rules. On reflection, the black tower never said that the number of steps taken by each player would be the same. It just said that it would announce the number of steps a player could take before the round began.

This was what Tang Mo and Bai Ruoyao had been thinking about, the key to balancing the game.

In fact, this wasn’t a new rule. It was just that the players had fallen into the black tower’s language trap.

First, the number of steps taken by the players was inconsistent. In this round, Bai Ruoyao could move four grids, Liu Wansheng and Lin Qianxi could move three grids and Tang Mo could only move two grids. The location of the book was in A2. Tang Mo could only move two grids so he couldn’t get to A2. Even Bai Ruoyao was too far away and couldn’t move to A2. This time, only Lin Qianxi and Liu Wansheng could step into the grid containing the book. Bai Ruoyao and Tang Mo’s task was to control the brightness of the grid.

Second, apart from the player with the most number of steps (Bai Ruoyao), the rest of the players could choose when to move. For example, once Bai Ruoyao took his first step, the other three could give up this round. They could wait for Bai Ruoyao to take his second step before moving. This rule didn’t seem to make sense but it actually determined who was last to move into a grid.

There was no doubt that Tang Mo must leave one step behind to ensure that he was the last to move into a grid.

The third round of the game went quickly. Lin Qianxi and Liu Wansheng stood near A2. Bai Ruoyao didn’t care about A2 and moved step by step to E4, standing in front of Tang Mo. He smiled at Tang Mo. After staying still for two rounds, Tang Mo finally took his first step into D5.

Bai Ruoyao watched him and didn’t hesitate to take his last step into E5.

Liu Wansheng looked up cautiously at the young woman in front of him. He stepped into A2.

There was a click and A2’s light went out.

At this moment, as long as Lin Qianxi didn’t find anything strange, she would step into A2 and the grid would light up. Bai Ruoyao had no more control over the brightness or darkness of the film. As long as Tang Mo ensured that Mosaic’s light was turned on, Liu Wansheng and Tang Mo could win. However, Lin Qianxi glanced at Liu Wansheng and walked into B1, not turning on A2’s light film.

Liu Wansheng had long guessed this result in his heart but he still clenched his fingers with disappointment.

“Am I that stupid to you?” A clear female voice was heard.

Liu Wansheng turned to look at this woman who had been very mediocre. Lin Qianxi’s clothes were covered with blood from the wound Tang Mo had caused in order to save Liu Wansheng’s life. Lin Qianxi hadn’t dared move when Tang Mo threatened her with the parasol. She cowardly stayed still and didn’t dare resist. At this moment, she sneered, “I am also a player who has cleared the black tower’s first floor. Liu Wansheng, 10 minutes ago you could still dream and thought we needed to beg you. Now it is time to change your prayers. In the next round, if your teammate can only move one grid and the position of the book is far away from him then he can’t completely control the results of the game.”

Liu Wansheng immediately retorted. “Then it doesn’t make sense for him. Will the black tower give us such an unfair game?’

Lin Qianxi asked, “Then before these new rules appeared, was the black tower fair?”

Liu Wansheng was dumbfounded.

At the end of the third round, the two teams once again failed to clear the instance.

Liu Wansheng’s face became rather ugly.

He pondered the previous rounds and considered the changes that the game had brought about with the addition of the two new rules. The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became.

Lin Qianxi’s words were good. It was clear that these new rules were added to balance Tang Mo and reduce the game imbalance brought about by the advantage of the last person. With these two rules, there was a limit to the number of grids Tang Mo could move to. Second, if there really was a situation like Lin Qianxi said where Tang Mo could only walk one grid then Tang Mo wouldn’t be able to change Mosiac’s light film. In the event of a worst case scenario, the position of the book would be in A1 to C3. In this 3×3 square, Tang Mo would have no effect. It didn’t matter if Tang Mo was present or not.

“No, the black tower wouldn’t give such an unfair game. It’s too unfair to us.” Liu Wansheng constantly convinced himself but his mind recalled Lin Qianxi’s words.

‘Then before these new rules appeared, was the black tower fair?’

Liu Wansheng’s heart sank.

Yes, the rules of the game were unfair. It used to be unfair to Bai Ruoyao and Lin Qianxi. Now there was the possibility of it being very unfair to Tang Mo and Liu Wansheng. Both teams suffered from unfair game rules. From a certain perspective, a negative and a negative made this a fair game.

If all external factors were ruled out, it could be said…

“It relies on whose luck is better?” Liu Wansheng was very depressed. “If we are lucky and the location of the books and number of steps is in our favour, we can win first. If they are lucky, they can win. The black tower wouldn’t simply look at a player’s luck…”

Liu Wansheng himself didn’t believe the words he spoke at the end.

The black tower didn’t look at a player’s luck?

The black tower always believed that luck was a type of strength. Every player who successfully loaded the game was lucky.

Liu Wansheng pondered for a long time and was ready to talk about his thoughts with Tang Mo. He turned his head and found that his teammate was staring at the opposite side. He followed Tang Mo’s gaze…

He was watching that psychopath again?”

Liu Wansheng thought, ‘Why do you keep looking at that person? What relationship do you have?’ However, he said, “That, Tang… Tang Mo, there is no other way. We will proceed with the old plan. I will occupy the book and…”

“Okay.”

Liu Wansheng spoke for a long time but Tang Mo didn’t look at him. Tang Mo still stared at Bai Ruoyao and replied in a perfunctory manner. Liu Wansheng gritted his teeth and couldn’t help asking, “What are you looking at?” Was that psychopath so beautiful?

Liu Wansheng thought that Tang Mo would ignore him and not answer. Unexpectedly, Tang Mo turned to look at him and asked, “What is he looking at?”

Liu Wansheng was stunned. “What is he looking at? Aren’t you the one watching him?”

“Since the last round of the game when the soundproof film descended, he has been using this weird smile to stare at me and you.”

Liu Wansheng carefully observed the psychopath not far away. Bai Ruoyao noticed Liu Wansheng’s gaze and pulled a silver butterfly knife out from his pocket. His fingers held the thin handle and the knife rotated quickly in the air. Liu Wansheng felt a pain in his neck when he saw this knife and hurriedly removed his gaze.

“Is his smile strange? Doesn’t he always smile like this…” Liu Wansheng trailed off.

Tang Mo glanced at Liu Wansheng and didn’t say anything else.

This wasn’t how Bai Ruoyao smiled.

This time, the psychopath was smiling very strangely. He must’ve discovered something. Perhaps he figured out the strategy to clear the game or he saw something interesting, making him look at Tang Mo and Liu Wansheng with such a happy look.

There was a sudden flash in Tang Mo’s mind.

…Did he see the dead air?

Tang Mo’s heart suddenly sank. He closed his eyes and prepared to look at Bai Ruoyao’s dead air, but stopped just as he was about to open his eyes. All types of complicated thoughts flashed through his head. Finally, Tang Mo sighed and slowly opened his eyes without using the Mortal’s Death ability.

Today, he had looked at Bai Ruoyao’s dead air twice. He only had one attempt left.

It wasn’t time yet. He would wait until a more crucial moment.

Every player was calculating in their heads how to win. The five minutes discussion time ended and the black tower’s voice rang again.

“Ding dong! In the fourth round, Player 1 can move forward four steps, Player 2 can move forward four steps, Player 3 can move forward three steps and Player 4 can move forward two steps.”

The voice ended and a blue light flashed in the centre of the yard. The glare dissipated and revealed 20 items. Tang Mo stared and suddenly became shocked. He saw that in the 20 squares, apart from a few small dressed, a few quirky rag dolls and a big match, there were actually four books! From B1 to C2, there were four squares filled with books!

Joy filled Liu Wansheng’s heart.

As long as there were at least three books, the possibility of him and Tang Mo winning was greatly improved. However, Liu Wansheng was only happy for a second before cold water was poured on him. The four books were too far away from Tang Mo. Tang Mo could only walk two grids. He couldn’t affect the light of these four books and could only affect the brightness of Mosaic’s grid.

In addition, these four books were too close. Liu Wansheng just had to step on a certain grid and he would gain ownership of the book, as well as turning on the light of the grid. Then Lin Qianxi just had to step behind him and the brightness of his grid would turn off, making what he did useless.

Damn movement limit!

The black tower finished speaking and the fourth round officially began. The four people started to move in turn.

Tang Mo still waited until the last two turns to move. He stepped on the E3 grid and extinguished Mosaic’s light, causing the four people to fail again. The game failed while Bai Ruoyao was standing in D2. Upon seeing it, he shrugged with an indifferent look and walked back to his grid.

“From the beginning… what are you looking at?”

Bai Ruoyao’s footsteps stopped and he turned to look at Tang Mo. He smiled innocently and said, “Tang Tang, I don’t know what I am looking at.”

The pink parasol suddenly arrived at Bai Ruoyao’s neck. Bai Ruoyao didn’t blink as he kept grinning at Tang Mo. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and asked in a strange tone, “Do you want to fight me? Ah, if you’re dead, you won’t be able to protect that idiot. So that’s it.”

Bai Ruoyao’s words made Liu Wansheng and Lin Qianxi feel confused.

Meanwhile, Tang Mo felt like he had caught something.

This wasn’t the first time he confronted Bai Ruoyao. The two of them fought before entering the reality instance and no one gained the advantage. Tang Mo just used the small parasol to threaten Bai Ruoyao, wanting to find out the reason behind his strange look. Before he had time to put down the small parasol, Bai Ruoyao suddenly took out his butterfly knife and rushed to Tang Mo.

This time, he brought out two butterfly knives. It wasn’t as casual as when he previously dealt with Liu Wansheng.

Tang Mo’s eyes narrowed and he bent back to escape the two silver knives. He touched the ground with one hand and jumped backwards. Bai Ruoyao seized the opportunity to attack again. The butterfly knives hit the open small parasol. Bai Ruoyao took two steps back while Tang Mo was on one knee to stabilize his figure.

Bai Ruoyao laughed. “Hehe, Tang Tang?”

Tang Mo’s eyes narrowed.

The two people looked at each other before acting.

Crashing sounds filled the yard. Lin Qianxi and Liu Wansheng looked at each other and decided not to join in. They would find a safe place to avoid being affected by the battle. Mosaic had to sit in the centre grid and couldn’t move. The little girl wasn’t afraid of being accidentally injured. She watched the battle between Tang Mo and Bai Ruoyao and excitedly shouted, “Fight, hehe, fight!”

Tang Mo moved sideways to avoid a blow while throwing his small parasol.

Bai Ruoyao’s fighting skills was much better than his. Tang Mo threw the small parasol while waving his right hand, causing a hot flame to rush towards Bai Ruoyao. Bai Ruoyao flipped to avoid it and then attacked with the butterfly knife. This time, he seemed determined to kill Tang Mo as he aimed for any gaps without mercy. The two men entangled together and the black tower never told them to start a new round of the game, as if it was acquiescing to them killing each other.

Bai Ruoyao crouched down and swept his legs in a kick. Tang Mo was forced to lean back to evade it.

Bai Ruoyao used this chance to attack and Tang Mo’s eyes became cold as he prepared to use the big match.

At this moment, two sounds filled Tang Mo’s ears.

One was a rough and arrogant female voice. “Mosaic, get out here. Where did you put my turkey! I wanted to bring it to Uncle Mole. Did you steal and eat it again?”

This sound stunned everyone present, including Lin Qianxi, Liu Wansheng, the excitedly shouting Mosaic and Bai Ruoyao who was preparing to attack Tang Mo. A variety of strange expressions flashed on Bai Ruoyao’s face, as if he suddenly realized his mistake. He immediately took back his hand and watched the gate vigilantly.

Peking University’s school gates were violently kicked down by the giant werewolf. The werewolf roared and entered the yard. Once she entered, she saw that the little girl’s desk was empty and there was no book.

The werewolf froze and then roared angrily, “You four stupid humans, you haven’t got this bastard to read a book yet!”

Liu Wansheng and Lin Qianxi were shocked and stunned. Bai Ruoyao took two steps back while holding the butterfly knife. Only Tang Mo had one hand pressed on the ground and didn’t seem to notice the werewolf was back as he listened attentively to the low male voice in his ears. Fu Wenduo’s voice steadily entered his ears. He only said a few simple words and his tone wasn’t fast but Tang Mo knew that this man wouldn’t bother him unless it wasn’t an emergency. Fu Wenduo didn’t say any extra words and only requested,

“Tang Mo, help me turn on the archiver.”

Tang Mo didn’t have time to respond. He put his hand in his pocket and prepared to draw the S on the turkey egg. His hand had just touched the eggshell when the werewolf stomped on the ground. Like an earthquake, the ground shook violently and a deep crack appeared at the werewolf’s feet, splitting the earth into two.

“You useless tutors!”

Tang Mo rolled twice to stabilize his figure. He once again reached into his pocket to draw the S. Unexpected, the werewolf looked up and rushed straight at him,. “Hey, I will start from you. Tell me, why didn’t you make this damn girl read?”

Tang Mo, “…”

Damn!