Upon seeing the "Contestant Number 1" prompt, Xiao Lou had no time to think it through before her body was suddenly sucked into the world of Plum Blossom 2.
To his slight relief, the world of Plum Blossom 2 was not a desolate wilderness, nor were there any terrifying zombies or wild beasts.
This is a square, enclosed room, about ten square meters in size. There is a door at the front, and mirrors occupying an entire wall on both sides. In the middle of the room is a desk, and behind the desk sits a young man who looks about sixteen or seventeen years old in an executive chair.
He was dressed formally in a black tailcoat over a crisp white shirt and a bow tie. He had fair skin and delicate features, but unfortunately, his face was expressionless. He sat there like a beautiful, exquisite sculpture.
The young man looked up at Xiao Lou and said calmly, "Hello, I am Guardian." "Plum Blossom A, welcome to the Plum Blossom Secret Chamber."
Xiao Lou was taken aback. Recalling the scene in Zombie Town where the Zombie Leader deliberately said "I am the Ace of Spades " to trick him into opening the door, he immediately tensed up, his whole body on alert. He calmly asked, " Guardian? Shouldn't he only appear after clearing the level?"
The boy said, " The Plum Blossom Secret Chamber is different. The challenge game needs a fair referee, so I will arrive early."
The boy sitting on the sofa had a blank expression and didn't seem to have any intention of attacking Xiao Lou. Xiao Lou breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked, "Are you personally acting as the referee?"
The boy nodded and said, "Before the game starts, I will give you some basic items."
As soon as he finished speaking, some props appeared out of thin air on the table in front of Xiao Lou.
A very formal black suit, a silver metal mask, a strange bracelet, and ten gold coins.
gold?!
Xiao Lou's eyes lit up, and he immediately took the gold coin to examine it carefully.
The round gold coin, about 5 centimeters in diameter, has hearts, spade, diamonds, and plum blossoms painted on the top, bottom, left, and right sides of the obverse, while the reverse has "1000" written on it, which should be the face value of the coin.
Card World's coins are much larger than real-world coins, and their denominations are outrageous—starting at 1000.
Plum Blossom A said, "I hate Challengers dressed in bright colors. Please change into this outfit when you enter the Plum Blossom Secret Chamber from now on."
They disliked brightly colored clothes, so they made everyone wear identical black suits?
Are you sure this isn't a funeral?
Before Xiao Lou could even complain, his clothes suddenly changed—he was magically put on the black suit, a silver mask, and a bracelet automatically wrapped around his wrist, while his previous clothes vanished without a trace.
The instant costume change feature startled him slightly, but many things in Card World couldn't be explained scientifically, so he quickly accepted the "equipment for entering the Plum Blossom Secret Chamber." In the mirror, he was wearing a black suit, a mask covering his face, with only his eyes showing.
Xiao Lou looked away from the mirror and asked the boy, "What are these props for?"
The boy said, "The mask is for the protection of beginners, to prevent your expression from revealing too much information to your opponents. The bracelet has a Luck Bead that can help you get good cards, but you can only use the Luck Bead once per game. The ten gold coins are the initial capital I'm giving you."
Xiao Lou raised an eyebrow slightly: "Principal? Plum Blossom 2 escape room, could it be a gambling game?"
"Yes. Plum Blossom Secret Chambers below Rank B are more beginner-friendly. You can earn some gold coins through lower-rank Plum Blossom Secret Chambers to prepare for the future. In Card World, poor people without gold coins won't survive long."
Xiao Lou: "..."
It turns out that Ace of Spades wasn't lying when he said, "You'll find out soon enough."
The first three secret chambers reward cards, but the Plum Blossom Secret Chamber rewards coins. Coins can be used to buy items like " contract books " from the Guardian, and later on, they might even be used to buy the equipment you need.
He got the Luck Bead, and the other Challengers must have gotten the same item as him. When to use the Luck Bead to win a big bet in the later rounds will be extremely important.
A mask that covers the entire face can be a great help to beginners, otherwise, when you encounter a skilled card player, they can tell whether you have a good hand just by looking at your expression—nowadays everyone wears masks, so you can only guess.
Xiao Lou rarely plays poker games. His cousin taught him how to play "Dou Dizhu" (a popular Chinese card game), and he'd never even heard of "Ten and a Half." A contract book costs 10,000 gold coins, and he has exactly 10,000 in capital. He doesn't care about making more money; as long as he can keep his 10,000, he can use those gold coins to buy a contract book and find Yu Hanjiang after passing the Plum Blossom 2 secret room.
As Xiao Lou was deep in thought, he suddenly heard Plum Blossom A's indifferent voice: "Go, the game is about to begin."
The door directly in front of him slowly opened, and Xiao Lou took a deep breath and stepped inside.
At the moment he entered, six other doors also opened simultaneously.
The seven Challengers walked into the game area together—
This is a very high-end casino, with a spacious area of over 100 square meters. In the center is an oval table covered with a dark green velvet tablecloth. Around the table are eight luxurious chairs, seven of which are labeled with numbers 1 through 7. The chair directly opposite is not labeled with a number, but instead has a " plum blossom " pattern.
Plum Blossom A, who was just handing him props, is now sitting opposite him...
On the chair.
Guardian can split into countless clones. Just now, it was clear that seven Plum Blossom A's were distributing items to everyone at the same time. Therefore, all seven Challengers were dressed in identical black suits and silver masks, creating a somewhat eerie scene.
The thick carpet on the floor was very soft to walk on, and all the sound of everyone's footsteps was absorbed by the carpet.
It was extremely quiet around us.
The crystal chandelier overhead cast a light like shattered diamonds, and the silver masks on the seven faces reflected the same cold metallic luster. The quiet room gave people a sense of oppression, as if the air had been sucked out.
No one dared to speak.
Until Plum Blossom A spoke calmly: "Everyone, please take your seats according to your number."
Only then did everyone start moving.
Xiao Lou's gaze swept around briefly—
Number 2 was a girl with long, straight hair who was less than 1.6 meters tall. She had pale skin and a thin, slender figure. It was hard to imagine how such a frail girl managed to get through the other escape rooms.
Number 3 is a tall, strong, and nearly 1.9-meter-tall adult male. His long, straight legs are very eye-catching. He has a perfect physique and looks like a fashion magazine cover model when he wears a suit. I wonder if he specially adjusted his image when he entered Card World.
Number 4 is a voluptuous, mature woman with long, curly hair and red nail polish. Number 5 has a braid at the back of her head, but judging from her figure and attire, she is clearly a man.
Number 6 was a middle-aged, overweight man with a beer belly; Number 7 was a tall woman with a high ponytail, looking very neat and tidy.
Four men and three women—I never expected there to be so many participants in the game.
Xiao Lou walked over and sat in seat number 1 to the right of Plum Blossom A, and the others followed suit.
He turned his head, wanting to take another look at his opponent in this game—but suddenly met a pair of eyes.
Those were a pair of dark, deep, and cold eyes.
Number 3.
Although the other person was wearing a mask, their sharp, sword-like gaze pierced through the mask and shot straight into Xiao Lou's face, seemingly able to instantly penetrate a person's heart and see through all the ugliness and evil thoughts deep within.
Staring into those eyes, Xiao Lou stiffened, and a scene suddenly flashed through his mind.
—On a rainy day, when the Criminal Police Detachment chief, standing by the window, turned to look at him, this was the look in his eyes.
Xiao Lou had met many people, but Captain Yu's eyes left a particularly deep impression on him. Those eyes, as cold and deep as a winter pool, were imprinted in Xiao Lou's mind after just one glance.
Even if a man's face is completely covered by a mask, he can recognize him just by looking at his eyes.
I just saw an announcement saying that Yu Hanjiang has refreshed the Spades 2 Secret Chamber. Based on the timeline, it's highly likely that Yu Hanjiang entered Plum Blossom 2 after clearing the Spades 2 Secret Chamber, which holds the world record for Zombie Town. Furthermore, Captain Yu is already close to 1.9 meters tall, with long legs, and his physique matches the description.
—Number 3 is Yu Hanjiang!
Xiao Lou could hear her heart pounding.
He never expected to run into Captain Yu directly in the secret room of Plum Blossom 2!
The latter met his eyes and was clearly taken aback for a moment. Whether he recognized him or not, the man's originally cold gaze softened slightly, and he even nodded slightly at him.
Xiao Lou nodded politely in response.
In the unfamiliar Plum Blossom Secret Chamber, with the rules still unclear, the two dared not say much.
But a single glance, a single nod of confirmation, is enough.
—It was him.
They both thought the same thing at the same time.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang remained calm in perfect unison.
Before the rules are clear, they cannot directly acknowledge each other, nor can they let other Challengers know that they know each other.
Once all seven people were seated, Plum Blossom A took out a deck of cards and read out the game rules with a blank expression: "Challenge Ten and a Half, this is a card game. During the game, communication with each other using language or body language is not allowed. Anyone who violates the rules will be eliminated immediately."
The boy glanced at everyone, then swiftly laid out a deck of cards on the table with his long, slender fingers.
This is a brand new deck of cards that has not been shuffled, with all four suits arranged from Ace to King.
After removing the Jokers, there are 52 cards in total, consisting of four suits of Aces and Kings.
The boy pointed to the playing cards on the table and said, "In the game of 10 and a half, A, 2, 3, 4 all the way to 10 are called 'point cards,' where A represents 1 point and 2-10 represent their respective point values. J, Q, and K are called 'hand cards,' and they all represent half a point. The goal of the game is to make up [10 and a half] points with the cards in your hand."
"A game consists of five rounds, and there are five possible final hand combinations. Please look at the screen."
On the large screen on the side of the room, five card combinations were listed in descending order.
King: The total points of the five cards are exactly 10.50, for example, A, 2, 3, 4, K.
Five of a Kind: After five rounds of dealing, you happen to get five human cards, such as J, Q, K, Q, K.
Five small: The total points of the five cards are less than 10.50, such as A, A, 2, 2, 2.
Ten and a half: You have less than five cards in your hand, but the total points are exactly ten and a half, such as 8, 2, and K.
A "flat hand" is one where the sum of the cards in your hand exceeds 10.50, such as 7 and 6, or is less than 10.50, such as 2 and 7.
Seeing that everyone was watching the screen intently, the boy continued, "In the D-class secret room, to accommodate beginners who have never played poker before, the hand rankings will remain unchanged."
On the large screen, you can easily compare at any time.
"After the game starts, during each round of card dealing, you can choose to [take cards] or [not take cards]."
"In the first round, everyone is forced to bet 1,000 gold coins. Starting from the second round, you can fold voluntarily. If you fold, you lose the bet gold coins. If you do not fold, you must call at least 1,000 gold coins each round. Furthermore, the amount bet by subsequent players must be equal to or greater than that of the previous player. If you do not have enough gold coins, you can also go all in."
"If all five players have the same hand in this game, and no one has a hand of 10.30, and no five small hands or five small hands appear, then it is considered a draw, and I will take back all the bets."
"In a seven-game series, players cannot fold more than five times. The player who loses all their coins will be sent to the Nightmare Secret Room for punishment."
"The rules of the game have been explained. You will now have 5 minutes to understand them."
Although Xiao Lou rarely plays poker, the order of card rankings on the screen, along with the clear explanation of Plum Blossom A, allowed him to understand it quickly after reading it twice.
The game consists of seven rounds. Before each round, everyone is forced to bet 1,000. You cannot fold more than five times. This means that you must call at least two rounds and cannot keep folding to play safe.
If you can't win a single game, after seven games you will lose all of your 10,000 yuan and be thrown into the Nightmare Secret Room for punishment.
Nightmare Secret Room – just hearing the name sends chills down your spine, and Xiao Lou doesn't want to experience it for herself.
The key to the game is to win as much money as possible from other players while ensuring you don't lose everything yourself.
Everyone has a Luck Bead, so the opportunities are equal.
When to use Luck Bead to get the best hand, when to call, and when to fold...
This is not just a bet in a card game, but also a psychological game!
The author has something to say: I've seen it in their eyes, and they're the right person.
When two people's eyes meet, that counts as an encounter:)
The rules of the game "Ten and a Half" are actually very simple. A-10 represent 1-10, JQK represent 0.5. You should try to make the total points of the cards in your hand equal to 10.5. If you have 5 cards that make exactly 10.5, then you have the highest card, "King".
If you don't understand, take another look at the card rankings. Mwah!