Chapter 146: The Ranking Board with Unknown Rules

Because Qingyan was in fairly good physical condition, she could still endure dizziness of this degree.

But two minutes later, the carousel accelerated again. This time, it was moving fast enough to throw people off. Xi Yan finally understood why the puppet had told them to hold the horses’ necks tightly.

If I hadn’t held on so tightly, we would have been thrown off by now.

Another two minutes passed, and the carousel’s speed doubled once more. This time, a player who could no longer keep hold of the horse’s neck was flung off. At such a speed, being thrown from the carousel meant only one thing: instant death.

Xi Yan watched as the players who were flung away died on impact, and she instinctively tightened her grip around the horse’s neck.

“I surrender!”

Three players had just been killed, leaving seven still on the carousel. After one of them announced his surrender, two others immediately followed suit.

“Players 11, 22, and 44 have voluntarily surrendered and withdrawn from this event.”

Once the system’s announcement faded, the three players vanished from their horses.

Five people remained. Apart from Xi Yan and Qingyan, the other three had begun to waver as well. After witnessing the gruesome deaths of those who had been thrown off, they could not help but hesitate. Just then, one of them was flung from his horse.

At that very moment, another two minutes had passed, and the carousel’s speed doubled again.

While the remaining two players were still staring in shock at the person who had been thrown off, one of them was flung away as well.

In an instant, only three people remained on the carousel.

“I… I’m quitting!” Qingyan suddenly called out.

Hearing her voice, Xi Yan turned his head with great difficulty and stared at her in surprise.

Why had Qingyan suddenly withdrawn? Her abilities should have been far superior to his. She shouldn’t have been unable to endure this.

Xi Yan’s mind filled with questions, but the system had already announced her departure.

“Player 99 has voluntarily surrendered and withdrawn from this event.”

Just like the other players, Qingyan vanished with the system’s announcement. Xi Yan saw her glance at him in the instant before she disappeared, but he did not understand what she meant by it.

Was she asking him to give up the carousel event and leave with her? Or was she telling him to keep persevering on the carousel by himself?

Only two minutes remained before the ten-minute clearance time was reached. If he could endure those two minutes, he would pass.

So Xi Yan gritted his teeth and did not announce his withdrawal.

The other remaining player was a stranger. Although he had witnessed the people around him being flung away and dying horribly on impact, he gritted his teeth and continued as well.

…

“Ten minutes have passed. Congratulations to Players 66 and 88 for successfully completing this amusement facility. Please leave the game area in order.”

At last, the ten minutes were over. By the time Xi Yan climbed down from the carousel, he felt completely drained. When he reached the carousel’s exit, he saw Qingyan waiting there anxiously.

“Xi Yan!” The moment Qingyan saw him emerge from the exit, she hurried toward him.

Xi Yan nearly collapsed, but Qingyan caught him just in time.

“How are you? Are you all right?” she asked anxiously, looking him up and down.

Xi Yan smiled and shook his head. “I’m fine. The carousel was just spinning far too fast. I’m a little exhausted now.”

He had used every ounce of his strength in his arms to cling desperately to the horse’s head. At one point, his entire body had been lifted into the air.

If he had not held on tightly, he would have died on the spot just like those three players.

“As long as you’re all right, that’s enough. Come on, let’s rest over there. There’s a bench.” Supporting Xi Yan, Qingyan slowly led him toward the bench in the distance.

Once Xi Yan was seated safely, Qingyan suddenly began to cry.

Xi Yan hurriedly fumbled through his backpack for some tissues and tried to wipe away her tears.

“What happened? Why are you crying? Did someone bully you just now? Tell me who it was, and I’ll deal with them!” he coaxed her as he wiped her tears.

But Qingyan laughed at his words. “Who could have bullied me? I was just too worried about you.”

Her words left Xi Yan stunned. His hand, still wiping away her tears, hovered uncertainly, unsure whether to continue or pull back.

“What’s with that expression? I never said you had to take responsibility for me.” Qingyan turned her head away, pretending to be angry.

Only then did Xi Yan remember that Qingyan had confessed her feelings to him not long ago. She liked him, so it was only natural for her to worry about someone she cared for.

Yet Xi Yan felt that he did not like Qingyan. So why did a small, secret sense of delight rise in his heart when he heard how worried she had been about him?

“No… That’s not what I meant. I just…” Xi Yan suddenly found himself at a loss for words, unable to explain himself to Qingyan.

Seeing his embarrassed expression, Qingyan laughed again. She patted him on the shoulder and said, “I wasn’t crying entirely because I was worried about you. I’ve just been under a lot of pressure lately.”

“I’ve mostly recovered. Let’s go take a look at the rankings.” Xi Yan quickly changed the subject, unwilling to continue the conversation.

Qingyan did not pursue the matter either. She rose, helped Xi Yan to his feet, and supported him toward the rankings.

Although Xi Yan was not injured, he had truly exhausted all his strength, and he had no choice but to rely on Qingyan along the way.

If she had been an ordinary girl, she might not have been able to support him. Xi Yan had placed nearly the full weight of his body on her as he walked.

The two of them reached the rankings with their own thoughts on their minds. But when they looked up, they discovered that the standings had changed dramatically once again.

“How did the person in first place suddenly reach 1.5 million points? Not long ago, they had only a little over five hundred thousand! And how did tenth place become ten thousand points?” Qingyan stared at the rankings in confusion.

Xi Yan was equally puzzled by the standings.

If ten thousand points were enough to rank tenth, then he should currently have fifteen hundred thousand points. Why could he still not find himself among the top ten? And if the rankings favored women over men, why was Qingyan, with fifty thousand points, not on the list either?

“These rankings probably aren’t based on the number of points,” Xi Yan said suddenly.

Qingyan followed up in confusion. “Then what do you think they’re based on, if not the number of points?”

Looking at the rankings before him, Xi Yan formed a guess.