CR: Wine and Sugar – Extra One

[Welcome to the Nightmare Room.]

[You need to survive here for ten days. If you survive smoothly, you can directly pass the level]

[Good luck.]

Only three simple announcements popped up in the floating box.

Lu Jiuchuan stood up with a solemn expression and touched the card pack in his pocket. His cards were still on him, which made him slightly relieved. He walked out of the cave and looked around to find that the surrounding environment was a deserted island just like the J of Clubs secret room.

The Nightmare Room?

Those who were eliminated would come to the Nightmare Room.

Countless memories flooded his mind.

 The 15 person team he led had experienced the most difficult living environment in J of Clubs. The number and strength of the hunters far exceeded their imagination. It was like a herd of sheep being thrown into a forest full of beasts. They were besieged by hunters and died one by one…

The desperate eyes of his teammates before they died were like sharp knives piercing Lu Jiuchuan’s heart.

In the end, only he and Tang Ci were left.

In the dark night on the deserted island, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci were surrounded by dozens of hunters. He grabbed Tang Ci’s wrist tightly and kept running. He could hear the violent gasping and rapid footsteps of the two people running desperately. Their palms were covered in cold sweat and it wasn’t known how long they had run before a cave appeared in front of them. Lu Jiuchuan thought about it and took Tang Ci into the cave.

Their physical strength wouldn’t be able to keep up if they kept running. They had to find a place to rest for a while.

The moment the two of them entered the cave, a few poisonous snakes swarmed around them. Lu Jiuchuan took out a sharp sword and simply cut the poisonous snakes in two. He held Tang Ci tightly with one hand while his other hand wielded the sword and opened the way. He took Tang Ci deep into the cave.

Fortunately, there were no other beasts in the depths of the cave. Lu Jiuchuan found an open space and sat down. He took out the last bottle of mineral water from his backpack and handed it to Tang Ci. The dryness of his throat made his voice extremely hoarse. “Drink some water.”

Tang Ci also hadn’t drank any water all day. He took the mineral water bottle and drank half of it. Then he handed the bottle back to Lu Jiuchuan. Lu Jiuchuan didn’t mind that Tang Ci had drunk from it and naturally gulped down a few mouthfuls of water.

The cool water reached their stomachs and the two exhausted bodies finally regained a bit of strength.

Lu Jiuchuan said, “Let’s rest here for a few minutes first.”

Tang Ci looked at the dark opening of the cave before declaring softly, “Brother Jiu, we might not be able to survive.”

Lu Jiuchuan, “……”

Their teammates died and only the two of them were left. The number of hunters was more than ten times their number. How could they survive?

Tang Ci’s words might be cruel but they were calm.

He had always been calm. There had never been a panicked expression on this face. Even when saying the words ‘might not be able to survive’, Tang Ci’s voice was very calm.

Lu Jiuchuan had always believed in Tang Ci’s judgment. This time, he believed it again.

“I know. It seems we have to die together today.” Lu Jiuchuan turned to look at the young man beside him with a smile on his face. “It is good to know you in this world. It is also good to die with you by my side.”

“……” A trace of an unknown emotion flashed in Tang Ci’s eyes. He was silent for a moment before saying clearly, “Brother Jiu, our death in this secret room doesn’t mean we will be obliterated in the Card World. Don’t forget, the keepers once told us that players who are eliminated from the ordinary secret room will be thrown into the Nightmare Room.”

“Nightmare Room?” Lu Jiuchuan was stunned before soon remembering this matter. They had previously been going smoothly all the way only to suddenly be overturned in J of Clubs. This was the first time their team really encountered a crisis and was almost wiped out.

An ordinary secret room was so difficult. Could they survive the Nightmare Room? Lu Jiuchuan couldn’t imagine it at all.

“According to the statistics of the Intelligence Bureau, less than 1 in 10,000,000 people in the entire Card World can survive the Nightmare Room. Still, it isn’t without a chance. We might also be the lucky one in ten million.” Tang Ci took a deep breath. He took out the Night Pearl and a piece of paper and quickly wrote on it. He was drawing a map of the deserted island.

He pointed to the map in his hand and said seriously, “Brother Jiu, you must memorize this map as soon as possible. I have already figured out the topographical distribution of the deserted island after all this time fleeing. This island faces the sea in the south. The terrain in the north is more complex with large bushes, hills and caves to hide in. There is a swamp to the east and a dense forest to the west. We didn’t go west at first because I was worried that the large number of wild animals in the forest would threaten the lives of our teammates…”

Lu Jiuchuan heard this and finally knew what the other person was going to say. “You mean, if the environment of the Nightmare Room is the same as J of Clubs, we can re-select the route and avoid the hunters’ pursuit?”

Tang Ci nodded solemnly. “This time, I made a big mistake in my decision making. We shouldn’t have gone northeast in the beginning. In fact, there might’ve been a chance to survive if we had gone deep into the forest.”

Lu Jiuchuan frowned and looked at the map without speaking.

Tang Ci handed the map to Lu Jiuchuan. “Brother Jiu, you are a soldier and must have a lot of training in field survival. I believe that when you encounter wild beasts in the forest, you must be more experienced than these hunters. The beasts might be dangerous but they can also be used to eliminate the hunters. If there is a chance to do it again, head west and try it.”

He was still thinking of Lu Jiuchuan at this time… Lu Jiuchuan’s heart trembled and he asked, “What about you? Your fighting ability isn’t that strong. How will you deal with those ferocious beasts if I’m not by your side?”

Tang Ci simply answered, “Don’t worry, my mechanical cards should be able to help me.”

He took a deep breath, drew a fruit knife from his pocket and handed the knife to Lu Jiuchuan. “If we can’t survive in a while, please just kill me and then kill yourself. Go to the Nightmare Room as soon as possible to start over.”

Lu Jiuchuan, “……”

Lu Jiuchuan faced Tang Ci’s serious eyes and his heart stung, as if this knife had already pierced his heart.

Killing Tang Ci with his own hands? How could he bear it?

However, if he didn’t do it, the hunters wouldn’t show any mercy to them and they might die in an even worse manner.

The cold-bloodedness and cruelty of these hunters had been seen in the past few days. One of their teammates had been cut to pieces by the hunters. The pain they experienced before death was unimaginable!

At least killing with a knife wouldn’t cause too much suffering before death, right?

Lu Jiuchuan took the knife from Tang Ci’s hand with an ugly expression. He placed the knife in the pocket of his jacket so it could be retrieved at any time.

The cave was very quiet. Tang Ci took the initiative to extinguish the Night Pearl to prevent the light from attracting the hunters.

A moment later, Tang Ci’s soft voice entered his ears. “Brother Jiu, if we are really wiped out by the Card world, do you still have an unfulfilled wish?”

Lu Jiuchuan thought about it for a moment. “Yes.”

“What is it?”

Lu Jiuchuan joked, “I have been single for so many years and I’ve never been in a relationship, nor have I met someone who likes me. I am a bit unwilling to die like this.”

Tang Ci, “……”

Brother Jiu had never been serious but Tang Ci’s eyes turned slightly red when he heard these words. It was just that in the darkness, Lu Jiuchuan couldn’t see Tang Ci’s expression clearly, let alone know that Tang Ci was actually saying something in his heart.

Unfortunately, the two of them couldn’t rest for too long before the hunters came.

The hunters, who outnumbered them by several times, sealed the entrance of the cave and a cold voice was heard outside. “Lu Jiuchuan, Tang Ci, only the two of you are left. Do you want to come out and die yourself or wait for us to go in and slowly torture the two of you to death?”

Another voice said with a chuckle, “13 out of your 15 member team have died. The two of you should give up resistance!”

Lu Jiuchuan’s eyes were cold and his fists clenched tightly by his side.

Tang Ci also stood up. His fingers moved and a large number of mechanical spiders appeared at the entrance of the cave. The spiders showed their fierceness. The mechanical legs that were as sharp as knives waved wildly. Some people were stabbed through the abdomen by the mechanical legs and screams like a pig being slaughtered rang out.

Tang Ci said indifferently, “It isn’t a loss to take a few away before we die.”

Lu Jiuchuan held the ice sword in his heart as hunters gradually rushed in from the entrance of the cave. Lu Jiuchuan was full of anger and the sharp sword in his hand was fast and ruthless. He cooperated with Tang Ci’s mechanical spiders and killed three people in the blink of an eye!

His eyes were bloodshot like an enraged beast.

The hunters who rushed in with torches were stunned by the blood-covered Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci. However, they soon relied on their advantage in numbers to surround the two people.

They raised their guns, dark barrels aimed at the heads of the two people.

Tang Ci held Lu Jiuchuan’s hand and said softly, “Brother Jiu, I was really happy to know you… go ahead, I would rather die at your hands.”

Lu Jiuchuan’s hands were shaking violently and he couldn’t stab the knife.

The next moment, he saw Tang Ci pull Lu Jiuchuan’s hard and stab himself in the chest.

Lu Jiuchuan’s eyes widened and he roared like he was about to collapse, “Xiao Tang!”

Tang Ci quickly fell into his arms and whispered in his ear, “Remember what I said… head west… I believe you can get out.”

“Brother Jiu…I will definitely.. see you again…”

The surrounding hunters hadn’t expected Tang Ci to commit suicide by Lu Jiuchuan’s knife and were stunned for a moment.

The even more surprising thing was that the next moment, Lu Jiuchuan took the knife from Tang Ci’s hand and stabbed himself neatly, dying along with Tang Ci.

The hunters who still held their guns, stared at the corpses hugging each other on the ground, “……”

After a moment, the hunter who led the team came back to his senses and cursed loudly. “F*k, they actually committed suicide! It doesn’t count as us killing them for the killing mission and we can’t get the reward!”

---

Lu Jiuchuan got a chill as he remembered the scene where Tang Ci died in his arms.

Tang Ci was so calm and decisive even when he died. Lu Jiuchuan sometimes couldn’t help wondering if Tang Ci was the same as the intelligent robots—the higher the IQ, the less emotions there were?

Even if he fell in love with someone in the future, would Tang Ci have to conduct a brainwave data analysis?

Yet at that time, he clearly saw the tears in Tang Ci’s eyes.

Against the background of the surrounding torches, Tang Ci’s eyes were dark and clear. There were tears in his eyes as he stared at Lu Jiuchuan intently.

Those eyes seemed to be full of complicated emotions that he couldn’t express.

The more Lu Jiuchuan thought about it, the more his heart ached. However, time didn’t allow him to think wildly. He had already seen the notification of ‘Welcome to the Nightmare Room’ in the floating box.

Lu Jiuchuan stared up at the sky. The night sky was full of stars and it was just right to determine the direction according to the North Star. The map that Tang Ci drew before death clearly appeared in Lu Jiuchuan’s mind.

There was the sea in the south, the hills and bushes to the north, the swamp to the east and the forest to the west.

The Nightmare Room might be more difficult but it was equivalent to repeating the instance with a map guide.

Tang Ci had told him to go west and enter the forest.

There was undoubtedly a large number of fierce beasts in the forest of the deserted island and the flowers and plants around him might be highly poisonous. Now he didn’t have any food on him and it was an almost impossible task to survive in the forest for ten days. Yet for Lu Jiuchuan, who had already ‘died twice’, there was nothing more terrifying than watching his teammates die one by one in front of his eyes.

Lu Jiuchuan gritted his teeth, tore a piece of cloth from his clothes and simply bandaged the wounds on his arms and legs to prevent them from bleeding and leaving traces on the ground.

Then like an agile panther, he quickly headed toward the forest.

He thought of Tang Ci’s words.

“Brother Jiu, I believe you can come out and we will definitely meet again.”

How could he disappoint Tang Ci?

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten