novelraw Chapter 368: Lazy to the Extreme, Life-and-Death Battleground!
Chapter 368: Lazy to the Extreme, Life-and-Death Battleground!
Lu Ce observed the clearly mentally broken woman before him and secretly nodded in satisfaction.
He thought to himself that this was enough—no need to actually anger her to death.
This woman was interesting and still had plenty of benefits to squeeze out.
Consider it... giving that girl a beginner's gift package as a casual favor?
Greed's malicious thoughts swirled in his mind.
The next second, the furious Chiyo Eine suddenly saw a blur before her eyes—the elusive, speed-of-overload Greed had already appeared right in front of her.
"Heh, tired of playing with you."
Hearing the voice beside her ear, Chiyo Eine hurriedly transformed into black water, but was clearly a fraction too slow. A tremendous force struck her in the next instant.
BOOM!
Her body smashed into the black disc behind her, causing everything to instantly collapse as massive black cracks spread across the surface.The tremendous impact then sent a mass of black light crashing into the ocean.
Lu Ce glanced at the scene but didn't pursue. Instead, he turned to face the numerous players behind him.
"Alright, I've given you all enough face during today's East Sea Tournament."
"Game's over—there's something more fun waiting."
"Hope everyone..." His gaze swept across the crowd below, "...is fully prepared!"
The next moment, a metal sphere suddenly expanded with the wind, transforming into a motorcycle that roared into the sky.
Lu Ce flipped onto the vehicle without hesitation or nostalgia—there was nothing worth lingering for anyway—and sped away toward the Pacific Ocean.
He didn't know exactly where he was going, but the priority was putting distance between himself and these people before preparing to enter the game.
The remaining players exchanged bewildered looks. Top-tier players like Perfect Life and Sun didn't waste words either, immediately disappearing to prepare for the game.
Meanwhile, the remaining Illuminati members locked eyes with the Dragon Group from across the distance.
......
[Next game begins in: 00:11:53!]
[Please make necessary preparations in advance.]
[Please choose to participate as spectator or player.]
"Player!"
On a small Pacific island, Lu Ce randomly plunged into a patch of rainforest. With no one else around, it didn't matter where he went.
After all, he'd need to return here after completing the game.
With little time left before the game started, there was no question about whether to join. Lu Ce swiftly made his selection.
[Welcome, honored top player.]
[This session will utilize Game Version 2.0, featuring updated mechanics. Enjoy your game.]
[Note: Matchmaking parameters have been automatically adjusted for this session.]
The initial announcements for Version 2.0 sounded no different from before. After quickly processing everything, Lu Ce's vision returned to normal.
Final preparation time before game entry.
[Game initializing...]
[Of the original Sin Masks, one remains locked: Sloth.]
[Please choose to unlock it now or select from already-unlocked masks.]
"Sloth!"
Lu Ce answered decisively. This was the last one—he needed full access to the masks' permissions to properly develop Overload capabilities.
Honestly, he felt this process was already moving too slowly.
But then something completely unexpected happened.
After waiting several seconds, the system notification delivered an absolutely absurd message:
—[Sloth is too lazy to participate in battle. Recommending alternative mask selection.]
Lu Ce: ?
The hell? This is a thing?
"Sloth!"
[...]
[Sloth mask carries the most severe side effects, with far more disadvantages than benefits. Strongly advise against usage.]
Lu Ce: ??
"What, since when do you nag like this?"
"Select Sloth! Unlock it!"
He'd never encountered this situation before. Lu Ce actually laughed in frustration, his temper flaring as he resolved to force the selection today.
[Mask confirmed.]
[Sloth has been selected.]
[Game start. Welcome to hell-difficulty session: Life-and-Death Battleground!]
[...]
After the final announcement, that familiar vertigo sensation returned. Lu Ce's vision went dark as he entered another world.
The game world...
When Lu Ce reopened his eyes, his surroundings had completely transformed. He now lay flat on an icy, mirror-smooth surface.
The space was small—about 20-30 square meters—but with extremely high ceilings. The walls displayed endless scrolling images of everyday objects, scenes, and basic items, like browsing some website's image database.
Directly ahead stood a glowing gateway.
Clearly, passing through would lead to the actual game arena.
The game's voice promptly announced:
[Welcome all players to the thrilling competitive game—Life-and-Death Battleground!]
[You now have five minutes to memorize all wall patterns.]
No further instructions—just these two simple lines, perfectly embodying CHOSEN'S PARADISE!'s distinctive style.
Now was memorization time.
Yet Lu Ce discovered he... didn't want to move.
Even though the floor was painfully hard and cold, to him it felt like a premium mattress.
So comfortable...
With great effort, he rolled onto his side. Using the floor's reflective surface, he examined his face.
Teal green...
—Sloth (MIKU)!
"Finally... took you long enough."
Lu Ce sighed with bitter amusement. After all the anticipation, this most arrogant mask better have the strongest functions.
No rush to learn the game rules—he never bothered with them anyway. First priority was assessing his current status and the Sloth mask's properties.
Right on cue, the Sloth mask's description appeared before him—and instantly left him stunned.
No explanations or functions listed yet.
Just a single heading:
[Player Advisory.]
[Sloth Mask Side Effects Listing:]
Then, to Lu Ce's utter disbelief, an extensive catalog of wildly varied side effects unfolded before his eyes.
"...Huh?"