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Beatrix Henry's gaze lingered on Phedra Henry's face, noticed his frozen expression, and gently asked, "Why?"
Phedra Henry asked, "How many players are there in the preliminary round?"
Beatrix Henry touched his eyebrows, recalling, "A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?"
He turned left and right, estimating the number of players, then said to Bridget, "Oh, there are a lot. This time, it looks like over three hundred thousand. Maybe a thousand more."
Bridget didn’t react, but the big white wolf's tail flapping up and down showed his impatience.
"Wait a minute." Phedra Henry suddenly realized a key issue. "You said that those who do well in the qualifying round are treated well. It’s very beneficial for the end of the season."
Beatrix Henry nodded.
"So how many people survived the preliminary round?"
Bridget bowed his head and looked at him, his emerald eyes sparkling with an unusual light.
The corners of Beatrix Henry's lips curled up, but he quickly raised his hand to cover his mouth, as if suppressing a laugh.
Amaya Yuki noticed Beatrix Henry's strange reaction. Deep down, a nameless fear filled her chest instantly.
Bridget folded her arms, glanced at Amaya Yuki’s trembling shoulders, and said, "Let's go."
Beatrix Henry smiled, speeding up as they walked.
Bridget George's seat, which Beatrix Henry mentioned, was in the most prominent spot in the hall, at the center, around seven o'clock. The golden chair stood within a huge white circle. Although called a chair, it resembled a throne. A red carpet lay underneath. Above, a magnificent chandelier hung from the ceiling.
Four people were already seated in the circle, separating the seven chairs from the surrounding crowd.
Phedra Henry’s tongue felt stiff. If he survived the preliminary round Beatrix Henry spoke of, a certain title suddenly came to mind.
Beatrix Henry tilted his head to look at Phedra Henry’s face, quietly capturing all his subtle expressions.
Without a sound, he slipped his arm through Phedra Henry’s, placed his hand on his shoulder, and drew him closer. “Seven Thrones, seven sinners. The host system gives them the title of sinner.”
Beatrix Henry paused, taking a deep breath, and the cool scent of his hair lingered. “You must have heard of the seven great sins: Anger, l**t, Greed, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, and Pride.”
He stopped by his ear, saying softly, “Those are under the protection of the seven princes of Hell.”
“Cheer up?”
Beatrix Henry replied, “In this game, the seven sinners are imitations of the seven princes.”
Phedra Henry couldn’t speak. After a moment, he looked up and asked, “So are they still themselves?”
Beatrix Henry, still staring at his lips, suppressed the urge to say more: “…Of course.”
Phedra Henry closed his eyes, focusing once again on the central area.
The entire hall was covered in pure white, minimalist and luxurious. But because the floor and the walls were all white, it felt ambiguous and frustrating.
The size of the hall was enormous, its capacity beyond imagination, impossible to measure by eye. Phedra Henry was quite outstanding in the crowd, but from his perspective, he couldn’t even see the sea of people packed like ants in the distance.
He raised his head to look up. Next to the central circle, three or four smaller circles floated in the air. He guessed they were survivors of previous preliminary rounds, but something about them felt different, the cost of standing among the seven sinners was very high.
The group of survivors standing above looked down coldly at the crowd struggling below, showing no intention of getting involved.
The game deliberately placed the old group so high up that no new people could reach them. Even those sitting here, the seven sinners, seemed accessible, but they were surrounded by a protective, invisible energy barrier, completely separated from the environment. No one could even get close to them.
If Beatrix Henry hadn’t left his seat, Phedra Henry wouldn’t have known any of this.
The seats of the seven sinners were extremely luxurious, and the air up there was noticeably different from below, a sphere, which had to be admitted, was a truly privileged place.
The arrangement of the seven thrones was triangular.
The first row held the top seat. The second row had seats two and three. The last row held seats four to seven.
Seats one, two, and three were empty. It wasn’t hard to guess the countries of the other four by looking at them.
Two of the four were aliens, while the others were terrestrial.
The man sitting in the fourth chair looked exactly like an ancient Southeast Asian emperor. He wore a crown, a long robe, a sash, and his collar was embroidered with gold and pearls. One could hardly believe he would lower himself to bow or kneel.
Beatrix Henry said, “He’s the Emperor. He represents Greed.”
Phedra Henry was surprised. Beatrix Henry squeezed his shoulder, saying, “That’s just a nickname.”
“Then why are you…”
“I like it. If I die here, at least someone will remember me as I was.”
Phedra Henry nodded in understanding. “So the Emperor is also from Earth? His clothes…”
Beatrix Henry said, “The Emperor’s clothes are S-level props, hidden in the S-level version of . For example, if ten people who don’t know each other are in a room, and the Emperor uses his skill, more than half of them will side with him. More than half will trust his words and see him as their leader. There are exceptions, of course, unless someone’s mental strength is strong enough to resist the Emperor’s skill.”
“What’s the hidden mission?”
Beatrix Henry looked off into the distance. “In that version, the Emperor was a general. His country’s main city was Azora, which was occupied by the Wood. The Wood expected the Emperor to come reclaim Azora, but he led his army to destroy another key city, Metal, to the east. General Wood didn’t expect that. Even as Azora Castle burned, the Emperor ran to attack the city of Metal in the east. After a long time, the Emperor ordered his soldiers to wear the uniforms of the dead Metal soldiers and attack the city of Wood, which was actually a warehouse for Wood’s army.”
“Prime Minister Wood received news of Metal’s attack or the defeat in the east, believing the Metals wanted to steal his country’s payroll. He hurriedly withdrew a quarter of his troops from Azora Castle to defend the grain warehouse of Wood’s army. Meanwhile, the Emperor, disguised in Metal uniforms, attacked Jupiter midway through the war. Pretending to retreat, General Wood thought the Metals had run away and immediately led his army east, and Wood and Metal fought fiercely. While they clashed, the Emperor went back to Azora, easily defeating the few soldiers there and reclaiming the castle without much loss.”
Beatrix Henry said, “After entering the city, the Emperor found all his people had been killed by the Wood. The city’s population was now entirely Wood. Then the Emperor found a hidden mission and completed it.”
“What was it?”
Beatrix Henry replied solemnly, “Kill all the men in the castle. Kill every last Wood soldier, leave none alive.”
Phedra Henry took a deep breath.
- Writer
