Santa’s Candy House was a tall room from the outside but after entering, the space was more spacious than Tang Mo imagined. BY now, the players had followed Santa Claus through three rooms, each with a variety of candy desserts.
The three rooms were the same size and the fourth and fifth rooms weren’t much different from the first three. They were still exactly the same.
It was because they were the same that the doors of the two rooms almost clung to the walls of the third room. Santa Claus stood in the middle of the two doors and smiled at the players in front of him. The players looked at each other and didn’t speak as they inwardly made calculations.
Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo glanced at each other. Tang Mo took the left and Fu Wenduo the right.
The players were soon divided into two teams as they stood in front of the door they wanted to enter. One team chose to enter the door on the left and the other team chose to enter the door on the right. Santa had no opinion on their choices. He stretched out a hand and counted the number of players in each of the teams. “One, two, three… well, there are eight lovely children on the left.”
There were a total of 19 players so it was easy to directly calculate the number of people on the other side. However, Santa seemed bad at maths and directly counted the number on the right side.
“…Eight, nine. Hey, why are there two people missing?”
Santa looked up and found a little girl and young woman standing in the middle of the two teams.
Santa asked with surprise, “My dear children, didn’t you hear what I just said? The most democratic Santa Claus in the Underground Kingdom decided to let you vote to choose which room to enter first. Don’t you want to vote?”
Mu Huixue had both arms crossed and she smiled brightly once she heard this. “Must we join the vote?”
Santa Claus was stunned.
“If I must choose then I will choose now.” Mu Huixue said this but she didn’t move.
Santa Claus replied, “Well, if you don’t want to choose then Santa won’t force you. After all, I am the most democratic Santa Claus.” Santa Claus touched his thick white beard before putting into hand into his crotch, searching for a bit before finding a key. He went to the door to the right and opened it.
Everyone entered the room one after another.
Mu Huixue and Chen Shanshan stood outside the teams and were far away from the door. Thus, the two of them were the last to enter the room. Chen Shanshan entered the room and went straight to Fu Wensheng, silently integrating into the big team. Mu Huixue watched the little girl’s back and touched her chin silently.
Tang Mo had been quietly observing this woman, never relaxing his vigilance. He saw that Mu Huixue didn’t move and started observing the room.
“Congratulations cute children, you have chosen the most popular chocolate bean room in my candy house.”
The huge room had a five metre giant inflatable bed in the centre. Santa Claus stood by the inflatable bed and bent over. He took a bunch of coloured balls from the bed. Some of these balls were the size of big fists and Santa Claus opened his fingers, making the coloured balls fall down. They hit each other and clattered.
“No child in the world can refuse the temptation of the coloured chocolate beans. The best goods sold in this candy house are the chocolate beans.” Santa didn’t give the chocolate beans to the players this time. Instead, he patiently explained how the chocolate beans were made. “…Thanks to the chocolate bean machine made by the great Schrodinger. It is my second favourite invention next to the golden toilet he made me.”
Mixing the chocolate beans with the toilet, everyone felt that a strange smells suddenly filled the rooms.
Tang Mo carefully observed every corner of the room and finally fell on the chocolate beans.
Apart from the absence of the ‘M’, these chocolates were enlarged versions of MMs.
Santa Claus finished the introduction and didn’t let the players touch the chocolate beans. He just took them to the next room. As soon as they entered, the players’ bodies tilted. They didn’t fall thanks to their physical fitness. Tang Mo stepped on the soft floor and carefully distinguished it.
Tang Mo stated, “It’s marshmallow.”
Fu Wenduo added, “The first rom is a chocolate fountain, the second room is a glass sugar ball, the third room is strawberry ice cream while these two rooms are chocolate beans and marshmallows.”
The two of them looked at each other. Tang Mo opened his mouth and silently said something.
[Where is the lollipop?]
Yes, the lollipops.
No one knew that in the previous true or fake store game, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo had a natural advantage from the beginning.
They knew that Santa operated a candy store.
Half a year ago, Tang Mo and Fu Wenduo dressed as Mr. A and Mr. B in the Strange Circus assembly instance and had to survive for seven days in the capital of the Underground Kingdom. The two men deliberately traveled through every street in the capital of the kingdom to gather information. Tang Mo once saw a store that was called ‘Santa’s Candy House’. The store’s signboard was filled with huge lollipops and many underground children entered and left. The business was excellent.
Unfortunately, this type of information was too trivial and the two of them didn’t tell Chen Shanshan and Fu Wensheng. Fortunately, Fu Wensheng was assigned to Tang Mo’s team and the four people could clear the game.
Any seemingly insignificant piece of information might be the key to determining the outcome of a game.
Tang Mo never ignored any clues.
Lollipops were printed on the signboard of Santa’s Candy House. Tang Mo didn’t think this was done casually. If there was candy in each room… where was the lollipop?
Santa Claus was surrounded by players and didn’t notice the eye contact between two small players. He led the players to the next door. This time, it wasn’t two rooms next to each other. The sixth room was a separate room, like the first three. Then the seventh and eighth rooms were next to each other.
Once again, Santa asked the players to make a choice. This time, there were a few more players who gave up on voting.
Everyone entered the room on the left and then the right.
Once the two rooms were visited, Santa Claus took the key and stood at the door of the ninth room. The dome door that was three metres high only reached the head of the giant Santa Claus. He looked at the 19 players, his eyes full of kindness. “Children, the happy times are always so short. This is the last room.”
Everyone tensed as they watched the old man with the white beard.
Santa Claus’s face was full of disappointment but no one thought that this was a pure and harmless old man. He was Santa Claus. From the surprise instance last year to the present, he had never shown any malice to players but he was still a black tower monster.
[…Santa Claus likes honest children most? Santa Claus himself is very dishonest, ahaha!]
Wang Xiaotian’s gloating laughter from the Happy Question and Answer show filled Fu Wenduo’s mind. He leaned towards Tang Mo and whispered these words. Tang Mo had never thought of Santa as a true friendly boss but he became more vigilant after this.
Then Fu Wenduo added, “This doesn’t mean that Santa wants to kill players. Grandmother Wolf has malicious intentions towards players and wants to eat players. Schrodinger’s attitude towards players is neutral.’
The world wasn’t black or white. For now, Santa Claus didn’t seem to be as sinister and vicious black tower boss.
Tang Mo nodded. “Keep observing.”
Santa Claus continued to express his regret for this short tour. “Children, I want to be with your forever but unfortunately, this happiness can’t be preserved forever. Before entering the last room, let Santa Claus give you the last gift.”
Santa took a red gift bag from his waist. He frowned as he reached inside the bag for a while. “Ah, I’ve finally found it!” The old man smiled, his face full of wrinkles as he pulled out an ice sugar die.
Under the bright light, the ice sugar die shone like a diamond. There were six faces in total, each with a number written on them. Santa Claus tied up his bag and showed a rare hint of pride. “This is Santa’s lucky die.”
“Every year on Children Eve, Santa Claus will ride the reindeer sleight and give gifts to children. There are so many children over the world and I have many gifts. Sometimes I don’t know which gift to give to which child. Thus, the great Schrodinger made this beautiful die for me. Praising the great Schrodinger.”
Santa said cheerfully. “It is a magical die and always finds the most suitable gift for children. Every time I put a gift in the children’s socks, I will throw the die first and pick a loving gift. Now children, I have decided to share this luck with you.”
Santa held up the ice sugar die. “There are a total of six digits. The larger the number, the luckier it is. Throw it children. It is a small luck game and it is my gift to you.”
Santa twisted his wrist and threw the ice sugar die into the sky. In the process of the die landing, light penetrated it and illuminated a line of golden letters in the air. At first, the players didn’t find it strange when they saw the text. The black tower would never embarrass players when it came to props. IT would give the function of each prop to the players but the method to find the instructions would vary. Sometimes the methods were very strange.
However, the players all gasped after seeing these words. Everyone was short of breath, their eyes lit up and the temperature of the air rose sharply.
Tang Mo’s eyes widened and he subconsciously took a step forward. Fu Wenduo’s narrowed eyes were locked on this crystal clear die.
Mu Huixue made a surprised sound and quickly spoke some Cantonese words that no one understood. She seriously considered the instructions of the die from beginning to end.
Chen Shanshan was startled. “This die is that amazing?”
The die fell to the ground, as if tempting players to go and pick it up.
“That’s right, it is amazing.” Santa laughed. “Come children, before entering the last room, this is Santa Claus’ last gift to you!”
[Prop: Santa Claus’ Magical Die]
[Owner: Santa Claus]
[Quality: Rare]
[Level: 1]
[Attack: Normal] It is hard and might be a bit painful.]
[Function: Improve the user’s luck. Throw the die. The user can increase their luck according to the size of the number. The bigger the number, the more their luck will increase. This is an increase in causality and can’t be reversed. The classification of luck is according to the black tower’s guidelines and the specific values aren’t show. All explanations are owed by the black tower.]
[Restrictions: Can only be used in instances. The effect of the dice will disappear automatically after leaving the instance. However, Santa seems to have a way to solve the problem.]
[Note: Teenager, do you want to gamble? Stowaways, this is the last chance!]
Merry Christmas! Keep an eye out on my wordpress for teasers of my next BL projects after EO and GLS finishes.