Chapter 571: Carnival of Desire [3]
As soon as Adrian finished speaking, the gray-skinned wooden horse that had just glided past let out another small crack. Its neck twisted sharply to one side at a grotesque angle, its murky glass eyes fixed intently on the divider.
The representative of the Themisia Guild—the man who had just introduced himself as Julian—frowned slightly. He glanced at Adrian, then at the five freelance players fumbling around behind him.
"The rules of the game are clearly laid out," Julian said in a flat, cold voice, lightly tapping his white-gloved fingers against the iron railing. "Ten people. Five of us from the Themisia Guild will take the positions at the front. For this first round, the remaining five will be chosen by your side."
One of the freelance players who had been with the group earlier—the man Adrian had just pulled to his feet, named Leo—immediately took a step back. He swallowed hard, his face twitching as he stared at the dense stitches on the wooden horse’s back, which rose and fell as though something underneath were breathing.
"Th-then... why can’t all of you go in?" Leo stammered, his voice trembling. "You’re from a Great Guild, after all..."
Another member of the Themisia Guild standing behind Julian cast him a cold glance. "We’ve already taken the risk of occupying the five vanguard positions to scout ahead. Don’t expect free protection in a Super Dungeon."
The atmosphere between the freelance players and the Themisia Guild immediately grew tense.
Ember glanced at Adrian. "Looks like this one doesn’t meet your standards, Adrian."
Adrian tilted his head toward him, blinking innocently. "What are you talking about? I just want to help everyone out of the goodness of my heart."
Ember: "..."
Nick remained silent as well, his attention focused elsewhere. His brown eyes stared intently at the central rotating axle of the carousel. The number 99 on his chest flickered once, changing to 98.
Time waited for no one to finish arguing.
"Now, now, no need to get so tense," Adrian said, stepping forward and inserting himself between Julian and the group of freelance players. He turned his back to the carousel, spreading both arms wide as if he wanted to embrace the entire space, the smile on his face so radiant it was almost blinding. "It’s just an amusement park game. Julian is right. Cooperation is the best way forward."
Julian was slightly taken aback by Adrian’s sudden cooperative attitude. He nodded. "Then who will the Erebus Guild send?"
"I’ll volunteer first!" Adrian cheerfully raised one hand. "I’m the leader, after all. How could I possibly let my two poor, tiny members take the risk?~"
The others looked at Ember and Nick, the corners of their eyes twitching.
[Look at them again, he’s actually the smallest one on the team.]
[It feels like he’s scolding Julian.]
[Two poor little members, hahaha.]
[His wording is a little questionable, but Adrian really is responsible.]
[Responsible? More like he just wants to have fun.]
Ember stared at Adrian’s slender shoulders swaying in front of him, his brows drawing together into a deep furrow. He stepped forward, his large hand grabbing Adrian by the shoulder and yanking him backward. "Let me go first?"
"Oh, come on, Ember," Adrian turned around, draping an arm over Ember’s, blinking innocently.
Ember seemed so horrified by the gesture that every hair on his body stood on end. He pulled Adrian’s arm down, his expression just as stubborn.
"Look, cake!" he suddenly exclaimed.
Adrian almost immediately turned around to search for it. "Where?!"
And in that very moment, Ember had already darted away like the wind.
Adrian froze for a moment, pointing a finger toward Ember before finally smacking his own forehead. Nick, standing beside Adrian, looked somewhat worriedly toward the carousel. There was something about this thing that made him a little afraid to look at it directly.
The ten positions were quickly filled: five members of the Themisia Guild, two members of the Vaelthor Guild, one member of the Abyssus Guild, Ember, and a freelance player who had been forced into a corner.
CLACK!
The moment the tenth person stepped onto the carousel platform, the iron restraints automatically dropped, locking the chests of all ten people against the bodies of their wooden horses.
The out-of-tune violin music from the loudspeaker suddenly doubled in volume, shrieking out piercing high notes. The central axle began to turn, pulling the ten wooden horses into a circular rotation.
Click... click... click...
The carousel accelerated rapidly. Cold wind carrying the stench of rotting cotton candy whipped straight into everyone’s faces.
"Everyone, keep a close eye on your surroundings!" Julian shouted, both hands gripping the metal reins of the horse he was riding. "Check the Satisfaction Gauge!"
However, the abnormality did not come from outside.
Riiip!
The wooden horse ridden by the freelance player suddenly began to shake violently. The crooked stitches along its back burst open, revealing that what lay inside was neither wood nor cotton stuffing, but a gigantic mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp bone teeth!
"Aaaah!" He screamed in panic, desperately trying to pull his foot out of the stirrup, but the safety bar had already locked him in place.
The frozen-flesh mouth on the wooden horse’s back gaped wide and lunged straight at the freelance player’s thigh.
There was no sound of breaking bones or splattering blood. The instant the bone teeth sank into his flesh, countless brightly colored sugar granules began spilling out from the wound. All the vitality and emotion were quickly drained from his face, and the Satisfaction number on his chest plummeted from 98 to 0 in just three breaths!
"Hungry... I’m so hungry... Feed me..." he muttered. His eyes immediately turned the same murky gray as those of the wooden horse. He turned around, opened his mouth, and bit straight into the shoulder of another person beside him!
"It... it bit me! Help!" the other person screamed frantically, struggling to push away his newly mutated teammate.
Julian’s expression darkened at the sight. He immediately drew a silver short sword from his hip, but instead of striking the monster, he swung the blade toward his teammate’s safety harness. "One person has entered the ’Endless Hunger’ state. For the sake of the team’s balance, the harmful element must be eliminated."
He intended to knock both Leo and the mutated player off the carousel to reduce the pressure!
Just as Julian’s blade was about to sever the other man’s restraint, a slender hand lightly tapped against the metal blade.
CLANG!
A clear metallic sound rang out. Julian turned around in astonishment.
Adrian was standing right beside him. His clear blue eyes gazed at Julian, while the hand pinching the blade remained as steady as a stone slab.
"Your way of dealing with this is rather lacking in elegance, Julian. Isn’t he a member of your team?" Adrian tilted his head, his voice gentle, as though he were casually chatting over afternoon tea.
"Why did you come up here?!" Julian snarled, attempting to shove Adrian away.
But Adrian did not let go.
He curled his lips into a faint smile, his body moving sinuously like a snake slipping through the narrow gap between two horses. Adrian’s other hand reached out and seized Julian by the collar. Then, with an incredibly smooth yet decisive shove, he slammed the head of the Themisia Guild representative straight down into the gaping mouth of the wooden horse beside them!
CRACK!
The dry sound of bone joints colliding rang out.
"Would you like to find out what its ’balance’ feels like?" Adrian leaned down and whispered into Julian’s ear, the smile on his face growing brighter and brighter.