บท 12: BLUE OR RED I

Be careful, Axel," Livi cautioned, quickly grabbing his arm while Rian held him firmly.

"Thanks! Now let's meet up with the other players," Axel said with a smile, and the other three players also nodded in agreement. They all walked towards the ward exit, guarding Axel.

As they stepped out of the ward, they were met with gazes from the twenty players outside.

"Don't tell me we're all playing with a sick man in the second game," whispered one of the players, giving Axel a spiteful gaze.

"He looks like he wouldn't last at all before dying in the next game," whispered another, shaking his head in pity.

"Hey!" yelled a girl, who walked out majestically from the crowd. All players' gazes followed her every step until she stood in front of Axel.

She had long ombre curly hair that fell freely down her shoulder, beautiful blue eyes that shone like the night stars, and rosy red lips. She was slim and curvy, exuding elegance.

"The second game is starting soon," the girl said with seriousness in her tone. "Don't you dare slow me down or I might end up killing you with my own hands," she added firmly.

"You..." Livi retorted, but was cut short as the girl walked away, flipping her hair in Livi's face.

"Who's that rude bitch?" Livi questioned angrily. "How dare she?"

"It's okay, just ignore her," Rian said with a heavy sigh.

"It's understandable that they would all be like this since we don't know what the second game will be like," Rosa added with a heavy sigh. "They don't have to worry about Axel slowing them down. Just like the first game, the second game will also be about saving yourself without anyone disturbing you," she explained.

Ding!

All players turned their attention towards the system when they heard the loud notification sound.

(The second game starts now. All players' identification has been confirmed. There are twenty-five players present in this second round.)

(All participants, please make your way to ward thirty as the second game has already started.)

"A ward again?" Rian murmured with a smirk.

(There are twenty-five scrubs present in the ward. Hurry!)

The players rushed towards ward thirty, with Axel's team slowing down due to his stab wound.

They caught up with the other players and entered ward thirty.

Just like the first game ward, this ward also had a big table in the middle with boxes placed horizontally on it.

Ding!

(The boxes have numbers one to twenty-five written on them. Each player is allowed to pick any number they wish.)

"We can pick any number, that sounds good!" exclaimed one of the players happily.

"We better hurry and pick a box with a number of our choice," said another, and all players swiftly moved towards the table, picking the number they wanted.

"Darn it!" Rosa cursed bitterly, leaving Axel in the care of Livi and Rian as she rushed towards the table to pick boxes for her team.

Rian and Livi helped Axel walk slowly towards the table, but were shocked by what they saw.

"How come we get the last numbers of the boxes?" Rian asked angrily, his gaze fixed on Rosa. "What's the point of allowing you to pick boxes for us when you'll end up with the last number?"

"Number twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five," Livi counted, letting out a heavy sigh. "There are six boxes left."

"Who hasn't picked a box then?" Rian asked, furrowing his brows at Livi.

"You called for me?" a voice said from behind, and a girl revealed herself in front of them with a smile on her lips. "Thanks for keeping this for me," she added, taking a box from Rian and leaving.

"That rude bitch," Livi murmured angrily. "Didn't she say Axel shouldn't slow her down? Why did she take a last number box then?"

"What number did she take, Rian?" Rosa asked, raising her brows.

"Oh! Number twenty-four," Rian replied with a heavy sigh.

(Hurry up and change into the scrubs, dear players, and head into ward fifteen. Your opponent, the second pawn, is waiting for you to begin the second game.)

"I hate last numbers," Rosa grumbled angrily. "And those people have already taken the first numbers," she added as she threw a hateful gaze at the twenty players before shifting back to her team.

"It's okay, we'll just take these ones. Numbers aren't important now, just like our names weren't in the first game," Rian said. "The most important thing is to participate in the game and win to come out alive," he added, and the others nodded in agreement.

"We don't know the second game yet," Livi said seriously. "I suggest Axel should take number nineteen, considering his injury. If anything dangerous happens, he can escape faster as an early number."

"That's true. We can create time for him to escape," Rosa said, nodding in agreement.

"I'm not allowing anyone to create time for me. I'm never going to allow anyone to sacrifice themselves for me again," Axel said seriously.

"What is he saying?" Rian asked, confused. "Just drop the drama and change into your scrub," he added, handing Axel a box with number nineteen on it.

"I'll take number twenty," Livi said. "I want to stay closer to Axel no matter what," she added with determination.

"Whatever! I'll take number twenty-three, while Rian takes number twenty-five," Rosa concluded.

"No! I don't want the last number. You should take number twenty-five, and I'll take number twenty-three," Rian suggested.

"You should have thought about that when you handed over number twenty-four to that rude person," Rosa retorted. "But since you couldn't think, then you can only get the last number," she added, throwing the box with number twenty-five to Rian.

Ding!

(Kindly change into the scrubs, dear players, and head towards ward thirty as your opponent, the second pawn, is already waiting for you.)

The players quickly changed into their scrubs which is all blue in colour and headed towards ward thirty.

Ward thirty was as big as a stadium, with hundreds, maybe thousands, of boxes arranged horizontally on the floor. The ward was brightly lit with colorful bulbs.

"What is the second game about?" Axel thought, smirking.

Ding!

(The second game is: Blue or Red.)

(There are one million boxes here, and only one box contains a blue ball. The rest have red balls.)

(Each player will come forward, starting from number one, and guess which box contains the blue ball.)

"Out of a million boxes, only one contains a blue ball?" Rosa asked angrily. "Isn't that insane?"

"What happens if a player can't guess correctly?" Livi asked, raising her eyebrows.

(The only result is Death)

Although the other players find it difficult to express their fear with their mouths, their faces show it all.

(Once a single person finds the box with the blue ball, the others behind them are safe and win the second game. The second pawn loses and faces death.)

(But if all players guess wrongly, you all die while the second pawn of the chess game remains alive.)