"This is a bit strange..."
Qi Xia said in a low voice, "I thought a physical elimination game would have a much more complex arena, so it could continuously eliminate participants."
"You're right," Qiao Jiajin nodded, also looking at the perfectly square arena and the iron plate in the center, his face growing puzzled.
"How are they going to eliminate us here?"
As soon as his voice fell, the large iron gate before everyone vibrated and then slowly rose.
"Huh?"
The plump middle-aged man watched the gate open, a look of confusion on his face.
"What's this? Do we have to keep going forward?"
At the same moment the gate opened completely, the countdown on the wall also started. It seemed the game had truly begun.
"What's going on?"
Everyone looked at each other, completely clueless about the situation before them. But in the next second, a deep, muffled roar came from within the gate. That sound... was not human.
"Damn..."
The hair on Qiao Jiajin's body stood on end.
"Are you kidding me..."
A massive, pitch-black animal walked out from inside. It stood on two legs, its mouth slightly open, saliva dripping continuously. From the look in its eyes, it seemed to have been starved for three days.
After it had completely walked out of the iron gate, the gate immediately closed.
"Is that... a bear?!"
Qiao Jiajin couldn't help but take a step back. If his opponent were a person, he'd be fully confident in fighting it out, but this was actually a bear taller than a man. Qi Xia looked closely, and his expression darkened.
The species of this bear was a "black bear," with a distinct white crescent pattern on its neck, but this particular black bear was simply too large. Generally, a black bear's height rarely exceeds a human's, typically ranging between 1.6 and 1.7 meters, but this one looked to be at least over two meters tall. It was terrifying.
"Ah!"
A girl was about to scream but subconsciously covered her mouth. Still, a sliver of the sound escaped. This abruptly cut-off sound not only made everyone jump but also startled the black bear.
After a brief pause, the black bear let out an even deeper, muffled roar. It seemed to have been angered.
"What the fuck kind of game is this!" the middle-aged man wailed, then turned and ran.
But after three steps, he froze on the spot. He discovered that the stairs they had come down were gone. Behind them now was just a high wall, with no way to retreat.
The middle-aged man seemed to have lost his wits and plopped down on the ground.
"It's over... We're dead... We're all going to die..."
"Damn... What do we do?"
Qiao Jiajin turned his head to look at Qi Xia.
"This isn't something we can win with just physical strength anymore."
"This is going to be difficult..."
Qi Xia's expression also grew heavy. Why did it have to be a bear? A bear's close-range killing power surpasses even that of a tiger or a lion, and this confined space was its perfect hunting ground.
Watching the giant black bear approach them step by step, the two young girls closest to it were already too scared to move.
"Quick, play dead!" the middle-aged man sitting on the ground shouted.
"If you encounter a bear, playing dead gives you a chance of survival!"
His shout snapped the two girls at the very front back to their senses. They immediately lay down on the ground, trembling all over as they shut their eyes.
"Don't do it!"
Qi Xia also shouted.
"Get up! Run!"
But the two girls didn't listen to Qi Xia at all, lying motionless on the ground. Seeing someone play dead, the rest of the group also sprawled out on the ground. Now, the only ones still standing were Qi Xia, Qiao Jiajin, and a slightly chubby girl.
"Con man, is playing dead wrong?"
Qiao Jiajin asked with a serious expression.
"Aren't you supposed to play dead when you see a bear?"
"If you encounter a brown bear, playing dead might give you a chance of survival, but not with a black bear!"
Qi Xia shook his head with a serious look.
"Brown bears don't eat people. They attack humans only to protect their territory. When they think a dead human no longer poses a threat, they'll stop attacking. But black bears are different. When a black bear is extremely hungry, it will eat people!"
As soon as his voice fell, the giant black bear approached one of the girls playing dead and sniffed her face with its nose.
"Foolish..."
Qi Xia thought to himself. This was bad. When humans encounter a black bear, even if everyone runs for their lives, their chances of survival are slim, let alone lying on the ground waiting to die.
Sure enough, after sniffing for a few seconds, the black bear suddenly opened its mouth and bit down on the girl's neck. The girl let out a miserable scream, but the sound stopped abruptly, stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
In a panic, her hands continuously beat against the black bear, but it felt like hitting a hard sandbag. The black bear didn't let go. Instead, it raised a forepaw and slapped it firmly onto the girl's chest.
Her chest visibly caved in. It looked like all her bones had been shattered. The girl spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood, and then her whole body went still.
Seeing this scene, Qi Xia's heart felt as if it had skipped a beat. He had only ever seen news of animal attacks on his phone, never with his own eyes. This scene was nothing short of a massacre.
Everyone, men and women alike, gasped in horror. Only now did they finally believe that playing dead was useless, and they scattered in all directions. Although humans were the rulers of the Earth, they were completely vulnerable before these original inhabitants of the planet.
Without tools and weapons, how could they possibly fight this bear? Wait a minute... tools and weapons? Qi Xia suddenly thought of the iron plate in the center of the arena, the one about the size of a table.
Who said there were no tools and weapons here? Didn't the organizer leave something here?
"Qiao Jiajin, we need to get that iron plate!"
Qi Xia said.
"I don't know what it is, but it looks like it can protect us."
"Damn... you sure know how to pick 'em..."
Qiao Jiajin looked at the iron plate, which was practically at the black bear's feet, and said with difficulty, "That item is temporarily out of stock. Would you like to pick something else, sir?"
"Cut the crap!"
Qi Xia said.
"If we don't use that iron plate to block the bear, it's only a matter of time before we're both dead."
"Alright then..."
Qiao Jiajin seemed to have made up his mind.
"I'll lure the bear away, you go get the iron plate."
"Lure it away...?"
Although Qi Xia was hesitant, he knew this was the only way now.
"A black bear can run up to 48 kilometers per hour. You can't outrun it. Do your best to maneuver around it."
"Got it."
Qiao Jiajin nodded. The two discussed their plan and immediately split up. Qiao Jiajin was seen slowly approaching the black bear.
Suddenly, he shouted, "Hey!
You idiot!"
The black bear froze, raising its head to look at him. Its eyes were filled with cautious killing intent. It slowly took a step forward, as if testing him.
Qiao Jiajin didn't back down and also took a step forward. This action, however, made the beast before him hesitate. It couldn't gauge Qiao Jiajin's depth.
"You real idiot, you want to go a few rounds with me?"
Qiao Jiajin forced a smile and beckoned with his hand.
"Come and get me."
Although the black bear didn't understand human language, it was clearly provoked by Qiao Jiajin's attitude. It slowly straightened its upper body, standing on its two legs to make itself look even bigger.
"ROAR—" The black bear roared as if to build up its own momentum, and the rotten stench from its mouth sprayed out.
The huge roar echoed through the small arena, making everyone's hair stand on end. A trickle of cold sweat slowly ran down Qiao Jiajin's face. He felt like he had just provoked something he shouldn't have.