Chapter Ch117.1 - Ghost

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Wu Jin’s pupils contracted, and he retreated backwards.

The sword scraped the tip of his nose, and the cold, rusty smell penetrated into his nasal cavity. It seemed to carry a mixture of moss, soil, and dried blood, and the smell of mold wafted out as the armor shook.

It seemed like a ghost that had been smouldering for over ten centuries inside the armor had suddenly awakened. Its blood red pupils were stuck to the helmet, and the whites of the eyes were nowhere to be seen.

“Careful!” Wu Jin kicked at the knee joint of the armored warrior. The iron plating collided, and the scene was particularly horrifying by the flickering candle light.

“The armor is empty inside!” Wu Jin heard the hollow sound and quickly spoke up to remind Vera––there was no skeleton and no body. Who the hell knew how the armor was moving?

The ghost warrior moved in a trance and turned its eyes towards Vera, once again gathering strength to cut down again, this attack more powerful than the last.

Wu Jin held his breath, narrowed his eyes, and tried to find a flaw. His eyes suddenly locked on a place, “Its right hand, the hand holding the sword!”

Vera looked down, and her eyes brightened. Purple flashed near the palm of the armored warrior’s hand, between two fingers that were wrapped around the hilt––

A purple card.

In the survival show, purple colored resources were very rare. They were second only to orange and red in scarcity and were important items that helped support the team in the middle and later stages of the game.

The Hyacinth Show’s female trainee’s momentum surged instantly. The knight’s sword stabbed at the ghost’s wrist, the blade clashing against the plate armor, almost causing sparks to fly. The two of them paled at the same time.

The armor remained intact, while Vera’s sword began to break inch by inch.

The blood red pupils flickered, and the ghost raised its sword at Vera again––

“Run!” Wu Jin grabbed the indignant Vera and ran like crazy.

Vera was still defiant, “… Wait, I’ll go snatch its sword and the purple card…” With that, she grabbed a torch from the wall and wanted to go back to face the sword empty handed.

Wu Jin stopped his teammate in a panic. Before the game, he’d watched a large number of video clips from the Hyacinth Show. The Red and White Rose were both legendary spartan players––“Tough and fierce, consider it my loss if I dare to take a single step back.”

However, an armored warrior’s combat power was no lower than that of an A-level trainee, and it even had an additional weapon.

Wu Jin hurriedly tried to persuade her, “Our opponents are the 348 other trainees. We can’t waste our time on a small boss during the early stage. We’ll first look for resources and develop.”

Vera: “Purple card…”

Wu Jin: “The purple card will be ours, once we find the right weapon.”

The armored warrior’s blade was sharp, and its strength was shocking. Other than ‘protecting the card’, it seemed that it couldn’t execute any other instructions. It was obvious that its IQ wasn’t high, and it was soon left behind by the two of them. Wu Jin took the lead in running out of the corridor and looking around.

“Here.” The youth kicked open the half-closed door to the storage room, passed the handle to Vera, then turned to face the ghost warrior, making a provocative, sword-snatching action.

The warrior’s eyes were bloody as he chased Wu Jin into the storage room under Vera’s narrowed gaze. There was a crash from within the room, and then Wu Jin leapt out&#k2013;&#k2013;Vera reached out to pull her dusty idol out and closed the door.

Banging could be heard from the other side of the door in the storage room.

It took a long time before things quieted down again.

Wu Jin wiped his sweat, “It’s a good thing that it can’t open the door. Let’s go, we’ll go look for a bookcase and block the door so other teams can’t snatch it away.”

Vera looked at her dusty, grey idol who looked like he’d been plucked from the garbage, then silently turned and made it a point to take it out on the armored warrior later.

By the time the two of them had finished moving the bookcase in front of the entrance, the storeroom had already grown silent.

Wu Jin finally looked at the small door that they’d blocked and said softly, “Women’s armor.”

Vera was confused, “What!”

Wu Jin: “The one that attacked us wore women’s armor. The plate armor was decorated with a floral letter J, and the workmanship was very fine. Based on the craftsmanship, it was at least made after the 17th century. From the end of the middle ages, the status of women in Western Europe began to decline, and aristocratic women were marginalized from military activities, making female warriors quite rare. I think her identity may have something to do with the card in her hand.”

Vera nodded, then suddenly said, “How many ghosts are there in this Palace of Versailles?

Wu Jin: “I don’t know. I hope that the more there are, the better.”

The youth raised his brows and laughed, “After all, we have to snatch the cards from ghosts.”

Vera looked at him for a long time, and then her cheeks also creased into a smile, “Also, the clue for the fifth elimination match was art, and armor can also be considered art.”

Wu Jin nodded, “Now, we need to find a second card. As for the art collection… let’s try our luck in the painting gallery in the King’s suite.”

The youth looked down at his watch.

349 people.

Someone had already been eliminated by either the ghosts or by someone who’d managed to snatch up a weapon. The two of them no longer tarried and went up the stairs, their breath catching as they opened up a wooden door.

The colorful marble shone brightly in the glow of dusk. The tall corridor connected the entire King’s suite together, and the frescoes carried traces of time. Countless paintings were set in the walls between the windows, and the sound of faint footsteps could be heard at the other end of the corridor.

The two of them stepped quietly on the carpet.

Vera walked in front of Wu Jin. The sound of footsteps was moving away, and it seemed that the players on the other side of the corridor had stepped into other rooms. The corridor was so quiet that only their breaths and heartbeats could be heard.

Vera was very good at remaining in blindspots. After stepping into a shadow, she suddenly gestured for Wu Jin to stop.

Other people. Vera mouthed the words.

The corridor was as quiet as ever. From the perspective of the two peepers, only the fading light at the end of the gallery and an ancient wooden grand piano could be seen. Wu Jin squinted hard, but for a long time, he was unable to find any human figures––

Where? Wu Jin mouthed.

Piano. Vera moved her lips.

Wu Jin opened his eyes and looked over. He noticed that the light in front of the piano was dim, and there was nobody over on the piano bench.

Wu Jin: I don’t see it!

Vera frowned and was just about to speak––

All of a sudden, the harsh sound of the piano rang out!

Wu Jin was given a scare. However, the keys seemed to be pressed by a pair of invisible hands, seven keys forming a chaotic harmony. There was a boom from close by––it seemed that other contestants had been scared enough to misstep on the stairs. After that one strange chord, slow piano music followed. Wu Jin could clearly see the keys moving up and down, but there was no sign of the player.

Just then, a blue card suddenly fell down from the top of the curtains.

Vera didn’t hesitate to pump her legs, “Get it!”

However, the contestant who’d slipped on the stairs was closer and was one step faster in snatching up the card. The sound of the piano quickly attracted many people from all over the quiet Palace of Versailles, and contestants rushed out from all corners.

There were several other similar blue cards next to the piano.

Vera was over 10 meters away from the crowd, and was half a floor higher than the level with the grand piano. She was just about to jump over the railing when Wu Jin suddenly pulled her back.

To the right side of the corridor was a gap between a framed oil painting and the wall. A thin, dark blue card was inserted in the gap, and the pattern on the card seemed different from the one beside the piano.

Wu Jin quickly reached out to pull out the card while Vera looked on anxiously.

Wu Jin was stunned to find that the card was blank.

Below the landing, around the piano, the players had all started snatching up the cards. Caesar and Lin Ke were both there.

Caesar looked down and his eyes also bugged out. He forced a big brother into the corner, “Hey, does your card have words on it? Why doesn’t mine have any words? Come, come, let’s trade. If you don’t agree, we’ll fight…”

The big brother smiled bitterly, “Mine also doesn’t have words––”

A young woman rushed out from a side alcove and picked up the last card beside the piano. The crowd beside the grand piano all hesitated at the same time.

Caesar was delighted, “There’s words, there’s words!” Then, he hurried towards his teammate, “What is it? Music score?”

“Number of people.” Wu Jin spoke up swiftly from the platform, “The trigger condition for the deck is in the number of people. If there aren’t enough players who’ve found the same card, the card information won’t be displayed. There are enough contestants for the blue piano card, so the clue has been triggered. The oil painting blue card is only in our hands, so it’s still blank.”

Vera suddenly understood, “Then what should we do?”

Wu Jin spread his hands, “Look through the corridor and pick out all the blue cards behind the paintings, then give them to people.”

Beneath the platform, more players had been drawn over by the sound of the piano, and a scuffle was imminent. The trainee who’s picked up blue cards hurriedly ran away, and someone soon charged at Wu Jin’s team.

“……” This person was Lin Ke. When he saw Wu Jin, he quickly raised his hand, “Good evening, Brother Wu! Have you eaten? If you haven’t, we’ll eat together next time. Ah, I’m heading off…”

Wu Jin, who’d just been plucking out a second painting card, beckoned him over, “Come, let’s trade cards.”

Lin Ke was aware that he couldn’t beat Wu Jin. From beside him, Vera was also smiling broadly as she looked at his female companion. Lin Ke’s expression was bitter as he came over, “Alright, a blue card for a blue card. Brother Wu, don’t trick me. I saw three people fighting over a green card just now…”

After the piano card and oil painting cards changed hands, Wu Jin looked down for a long time, then suddenly said, “What’s on this card that you just gave me?”

Lin Ke: “Ah? Brother Wu, you’re asking me? It’s music! Isn’t it there…”

Wu Jin spread out the cards. The piano card was blank.

Lin Ke was stunned, “This… it was still there earlier…”

Wu Jin made a sound of acknowledgement and smiled, “Alright, I was joking. Let’s trade back.”

“……” Lin Ke could only trade back obediently.

After Lin Ke left, Wu Jin looked at Vera, “Players in the same team can only hold one uncracked card. The oil painting card is in our hands, so the piano card won’t show us any clues.”

Vera finished for him in a low voice, “There were seven blue cards beside the piano, and at least two oil painting cards. Each team of players can only hold one card…”

Wu Jin took a deep breath, “In the fifth elimination match.” He paused, then spoke again, “In the fifth elimination match, the instances aren’t the same as they were in the past.”

“In the previous few rounds of the competition, players who stepped onto the same map were considered as entering the same instance. In this round, those who find the same card are deemed to have entered the same ‘instance’.”

Vera’s eyes grew wide.

Wu Jin pointed to the piano, ‘The piano instance, the oil painting instance. And there’s the purple card on the female warrior that we locked up in the storage room.”

“In terms of difficulty level, the purple card is higher than the blue card, and the blue card is higher than the green card. Just now, Lin Ke said that the number of participants for the green card is 3, and the number of participants for the blue card is 7. The purple card––my guess is that it’s at least 10 people.”

Vera paused for a long time, then finally figured it out, “The oil painting is a blue card. Once there are seven teams who have found the oil painting card, the clues on the card’s surface will appear.”

“The clue for the piano card was a music score. For the oil painting––it should be a painting.”

“Considering the level of difficulty for the instance, the best way to win the oil painting instance––”

Vera’s lips curved in a smile, “Give the other six cards to teams with strength level E or below so that they can’t pose a threat to us.”

Vera plucked out the second oil painting card from Wu Jin’s fingertips and returned a few minutes later, “Alright, it’s done.”

Wu Jin gave her a thumbs up, and then continued being a hardworking groundhog inside the gallery.