Five-Element Card Game (Card and Chess Player) Chapter 157: Luck

The number of players in Dayun City had dropped significantly, though the local Tribunal maintained a relatively friendly attitude toward them. Despite the desolation left in the wake of the disaster, the place remained a decent spot for a temporary stay.

Wu Hui sat in the villa, keeping company with Ren Yin and the others.

Today, Ren Yin was set to experience a level-five Playwright game. The rest of them stood guard nearby, ready to step in and administer medical treatment should Ren Yin emerge injured.

They had grown quite accustomed to this routine, given how many games everyone had already played.

Approaching level five, one could hardly be considered a novice anymore.

Failing a game did not necessarily mean death. Depending on the rules of the specific game, it could result in deducted points and reduced attributes, or exposure to other dangers. Alternatively, there might be no penalty at all, yielding nothing more than a wasted effort.

The exact outcome depended almost entirely on the Demon God's mood.

For matters entirely beyond one's control, Wu Hui could only accept them. Unlike ordinary games containing elements of chance where everyone faced the same conditions, in front of the Demon God, it was utterly extravagant for people like them to speak of fairness.

It was much like gambling in a casino, playing against the house; as long as one played often enough, defeat was inevitable.

Luck was a ridiculous word; humans used it to describe things they could not control. In reality, luck should be a summary of the past rather than a projection of the future. Most of the time, when you thought your luck was bad, it was actually because you had made mistakes in some inconspicuous areas.

Take a casino, for instance. Why did you always lose more than you won? Either the probabilities built into the rules were designed that way, or the opponent was cheating.

Yet, games of gambling and the like could be avoided.

The Demon God's games, however, were ones you had no choice but to play.

Ren Yin entered the game.

"Every future stems from the choices of the present." — The Playwright.

The sound of war drums echoed in her ears.

"You are the princess of the Kingdom of Kuimu."

"Your father was slain on the battlefield by General Zhu Hong of the Kingdom of Lihuo."

"Bearing your father's unfulfilled ambition, you shall lead the army to avenge him."

What followed was a lengthy narrative, detailing the significance of her current identity and presenting her with a script.

The script was simple, outlining only the general plot: defeat the Kingdom of Lihuo, reform the internal administration to ascend the throne, personally lead the army to attack the Kingdom of Zeshui, retreat to hold the royal city under the assault of the tri-state coalition, and ultimately perish in a self-set fire after defeat.

Any action violating the script would incur a punishment, and accumulating three punishments would result in death.

Ren Yin reached out to push up her glasses, only to find they had vanished.

In her hand was a long crossbow. Though called a crossbow, its overall shape resembled a sniper rifle, even equipped with a scope, yet it was imbued with the aesthetic of classical mechanical craftsmanship.

The Kingdom of Kuimu was renowned for its mastery of mechanisms, plant control, poisons, and illusions, located in the southeast of this world.

The elderly king had worked diligently to govern the state, yet had unexpectedly stumbled.

Hence, just how foolish was it for a monarch to lead an expedition in person? Ren Yin could not comprehend.

Very well, there were indeed times when a personal expedition was necessary to boost morale. However, based on what she saw in the script, such a move was entirely unwarranted.

There were five nations in this world, corresponding to the Five Elements. Ren Yin felt these elements were connected to the game of Five Elements tiles Wu Hui had previously played.

Dying after three violations of the script?

But if she never violated the script, wouldn't the ending still be death?

Did she need to defy the plot once or twice at the appropriate moments in order to alter the final outcome? Every future stems from the choices of the present?

Ren Yin understood roughly. She cradled the long crossbow and looked around.

Everyone was dressed in ancient Eastern-style mourning attire, clearly grieving the death of the king.

Wood generates fire, which made Kuimu appear relatively weak in the face of Lihuo.

In the distance, she could hear several ministers discussing ceding territory and paying reparations. While the Kuimu Kingdom excelled in mechanisms and agriculture, the neighboring Lihuo Kingdom specialized in various flame weapons and possessed powerful Lihuo energy.

On the battlefield, mechanism-based forces suppressed by fire could hardly expect to win.

Therefore... Ren Yin began to ponder how she should handle her first move.

Outside the game, Wu Hui and the others watched as Ren Yin vanished.

Since the game suspended time for outsiders, they could only wait. Unless they possessed telepathic abilities like Li Xiaojing and Li Yue, communicating with someone inside the game was utterly impossible.

Perhaps a collective ant consciousness might work, Wu Hui mused in thought.

Once inside the game, no one could help Ren Yin. He hoped she would return safely. Not far away, Wang Xiaodie was busy cleaning in a maid outfit; she seemed to have been thoroughly trained by Ren Yin.

Before entering the game, Ren Yin had returned Wang Xiaodie's contract to Wu Hui to prevent herself from dying in the game and dragging Wang Xiaodie down with her.

The sisters Li Xiaojing and Li Yue were once again engaged in telepathic conversation, growing more animated by the second and occasionally glancing over at Wu Hui.

Lacking Ren Yin to play chess with, Wu Hui suddenly felt a bit bored and coaxed Wang Xiaodie into playing cards with him.

Wang Xiaodie hesitated for a moment before resolving herself: "Let's wager on something else! Even if I bet points, I'm not extending the slave contract time limit again!"

Wu Hui pushed up his glasses: "Very well."

Silently, he began to toy with classmate Wang Xiaodie, step by step leading her into a trap where she lost more and more.

Then, he made her exchange her points back by extending the slave contract time limit.

Just what the heck was the difference? Wang Xiaodie began to doubt the meaning of life.

Meanwhile, Ren Yin was still progressing through her game.

She had persuaded a small squad, leveraging her status as a princess to rally a group of people, and entered the army to secure command.

These experiences roughly matched those outlined in the script, though Ren Yin executed them perhaps even better than the original princess had.

After careful deliberation, Ren Yin decided her initial approach was correct: defeating the invading enemy was the proper path.

Those who surrendered never met a good end. Furthermore, after reviewing the terrain maps, she was certain that victory was not entirely out of reach.

First-time participants in battle rarely achieved good outcomes; no matter how clever one was, a lack of experience was fatal.

Naturally, a small number of people were exceptions, making a resounding name for themselves the moment they stepped onto the field.

Ren Yin was not stepping onto a battlefield for the first time. She had previously gained experience commanding troops in another game. Overall, she was doing fairly well.

Yet she believed that if Wu Hui were here, he certainly would have done better than her. Because Wu Hui was more ruthless than she, and far more adept at seizing fleeting combat opportunities—in military operations, both boldness and caution were indispensable.

Faced with a group of NPCs in the game, Ren Yin felt no excessive softness.

However, excessive caution remained a flaw she could never quite shake off. Holding the mechanical long crossbow in her hand, she prepared to snipe the enemy vanguard next. Lacking prestige—even with her status as a princess and the slogan of avenging her father—it would be difficult to make the army completely submit.

Thus, she had to rely on trickery and unorthodox strategies. Under the current circumstances, a direct head-on confrontation offered zero chance of winning.