When Rita completed her second kill, she immediately unlocked Mystic Force. Survival came first—only the living could deal damage.

By the third round, the summoned beast had already reached Level 21. This time, instead of coming with weaker mobs like before, the monster was simply one level higher than those in the other corridors—a penalty for reaching tenpai.

Not that it mattered. Those little mobs couldn't unlock skills anyway. At first, she'd thought Divine Game was giving her a bonus.

The hardest part—the first round—was finally behind her. Now each player had their own skill.

With Midnight Exile, Rita's kill speed had caught up.

At the fourteenth minute, all four players almost simultaneously finished their third kills.

When the corridor monsters were wiped out, the blue magic barrier between each 1-Bamboo corridor and the mahjong zone lifted like a curtain, letting them through. They rushed toward the mahjong table together.

Rita, seeing Maple Syrup and the others racing beside her, paused before redeeming her third-kill reward. If anyone managed to win this hand, it would be wiser to save her next skill unlock for the fourth round.

The four apprentices gathered solemnly around the tall magic mahjong table, all stretching their arms up to draw tiles.

The table was a little high, so they even had to stand on their toes to reach.

But when Rita tried to lift her tile, it wouldn't budge. Then they noticed Maple Syrup's name flashing on the table's edge. Divine Game was prompting them—it was Maple Syrup's turn to play, following the kill order.

The young Owl Emperor's face was serious, her expression almost reverent as she drew with a practiced motion.

"Ugh, annoying!" she snapped, slamming down a 9-Bamboo tile.

Pine Bloom immediately squeaked, "Pong!" in her childish voice, then tossed out a tile she didn't need.

Rita's turn came next. She drew, slammed her tile, muttered a curse, but didn't rush off right away. She glanced toward Mistblade, just in case the next tile was something she could use.

Mistblade drew, then discarded a West Wind.

The four little warriors cursed under their breath and sprinted back to their corridors.

Back to being ten years old—fighting monsters while playing mahjong with your rivals.

What a strangely satisfying life.

Just as Rita reentered her corridor, the fourth wave of beasts arrived—a massive wolf engulfed in blue flames.

This round's weapon chest gave her a dagger, which she quickly slid into the tactical belt at her waist.

Then came the random event triggered by Pine Bloom's "Pong."

[Random Event: For the next 5 minutes, the Endless Slaughter Corridors will temporarily connect.]

The transparent barriers between the 4-Bamboo corridors rippled and vanished.

Rita instantly felt a bad premonition. Her first reaction, however, was to use a basic magic rune technique to buff herself with a simple effect—Attack Speed +2%.

That way, even if Maple Syrup unlocked Temporary Betrayal and used it on her, it wouldn't strip away her Mystic Force.

Almost at the same time, Maple Syrup, Pine Bloom, and Mistblade—all hearing the random event alert—immediately rushed toward her corridor, with their own monsters charging close behind.

Rita sprinted toward the far-right snowy corridor—the one furthest from BlueStar's area.

If they wanted to fight, they could do it there! Not in her corridor.

She couldn't risk them leaving all their monsters behind for her to deal with.

As she ran, she was already thinking about which skill to unlock next after her third kill.

Unchanged Fate?

Even with Mystic Force keeping her alive, what if she lost all her limbs and couldn't fight anymore? Theoretically, Unchanged Fate would be the safest choice.

[Warning: Marmang Crab has three tile alerts.]

Another system message popped up. It sounded like another tenpai indicator.

Rita made her decision instantly. No—skip Unchanged Fate.

What she needed right now wasn't survival—it was firepower.

Skill unlocked: Lucky Number.

While leaping across treetops, Rita snapped off a twig and, with quick cuts of her blade, carved it into a rough wooden die.

She slid under a flying strike, skidding across the snowy ground at the edge of the 4-Bamboo corridor, and tossed the freshly carved die forward.

Kicking off the wall, she spun midair, blade in hand, her back pressed to the glass wall of the arena—facing all her incoming enemies head-on.

Ahead of her charged Mistblade through the forest canopy.

From above, Pine Bloom and Maple Syrup dove down.

Behind them came the four new monsters of the fourth wave, charging right alongside.

Rita lowered her stance, her eyes locking with Maple Syrup's, Mistblade's, then Pine Bloom's in turn.

Four pairs of eyes, one shared will to fight.

The uneven wooden die rolled a few times over the trampled snow, finally stopping.

Today's Lucky Number—2.

[Alert: Dawn-Cicada has entered flag time.]

Ding!

Mistblade struck first.

Blade met blade, their burning gazes reflected on the mirrored steel edge.

Above, a spear and war hammer came down together. Rita twisted her wrist and slashed upward, her third strike empowered by Midnight Exile's twenty-fivefold multiplier, sending Mistblade flying!

She sidestepped and dodged the hammer, then brought her blade up in a rising slash, deflecting the spear that had been aiming straight for her head.

The three-meter-wide corridor exploded into chaos.

When Rita noticed that the beasts chasing the others still focused on their own targets, she lunged into their midst, using the monsters as shields to offset the three-on-one assault, weaving between them to keep Maple Syrup and the others at bay.

One minute... two minutes...

[Alert: Tiger Ear Quex has revealed their tiles.]

Clang—clang—clang!

The corridor rang with the clash of steel.

No one spoke. No one shouted.

Blades cut through flesh. The hammer slammed into chests. The spear pierced through bodies.

Blood splattered across the snow. Fabric tore as weapons were pulled free.

The monsters roared in fury, mingling with the sharp, pained grunts of players.

Those were the only sounds left—the music of battle.

The four beasts had become mere scenery. For these four veteran fighters, they were nothing more than moving obstacles.

[Alert: Tingo Autumn Deer, the Beast King piece, has awakened.]

Each system message hit like a ticking bomb in her ear.

With all the players now awakened, the advantage Rita had built through her Let It Die luck effect was quickly fading.

And just as she'd feared, Mystic Force could stave off death, but not disablement.

Without any healing or recovery skills, broken bones stayed broken. Her right hand had been useless for over a minute now. She could no longer grip her blade—only cling to it with her left hand, struggling to fight on.

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