Chapter 3
Immediately after, out of nowhere, a saber-toothed tiger, easily three times the size of a grizzly bear, lunged out of the darkness.
But it wasn't coming for me. It was coming for Jett.
Jett's face drained of color. He did not expect a monster like that to show up out of nowhere.
Panicking, he threw a fireball at the saber-toothed tiger, but the flames didn't even faze the beast. It was like a tickle to its thick hide.
The tiger hit Jett aside with a single paw, then went straight for the kill, jaws gaping.
"Jett!" His lackeys screamed and scattered in terror, not daring to get anywhere near.
Jett scrambled desperately across the ground, just barely dodging the tiger's jaws. Its claws tore a deep gash in his thigh, right down to the bone.
Jett cursed, "Damn it!"
He roared, flames erupting all over his body as he barely managed to force the saber-toothed tiger back.
Jett and the tiger fought in the middle of the camp, tension crackling in the air.
And I, from beginning to end, leaned against the tree, didn't even change my pose.
Perfect timing. Of course, this wasn't just a coincidence.
There was a rule in my ability guide that covered exactly this kind of situation.
[Clause 58: When Felix gets hit with a hostile attack from another contestant, the system automatically triggers the 'Disaster Redirect' mechanism. It randomly picks the biggest threat within a kilometer, could be a beast, disaster, or trap, and shifts all its aggression straight onto the attacker.]
To put it simply, he hit me, so he would be the one to get screwed.
The chat in the livestream had gone eerily quiet at this moment.
[This is a coincidence, right?]
[Of course! That saber-toothed tiger was already lurking nearby, and Jett happened to trigger it!]
[But this is way too much of a coincidence. Contestant 44 didn't even get a scratch.]
[He's lucky! That's right. He's just lucky!]
Jett glared at me bitterly as he fought the saber-toothed tiger.
He also thought it was a coincidence.
But the anger in his chest was burning stronger than ever.
He blamed all his injuries on me, convinced it was my stubborn refusal to show him any respect.
Very good, let him keep fooling himself.
I yawned and got even more comfortable against the tree.
This farce was far from over.
Three days flew by in the seven-day survival game.
During this period, over a dozen contestants got knocked out, either their abilities got exposed, or they got eaten alive by monsters.
Every survivor was all nervous wrecks, paranoid and twitchy at every little sound.
Jett's leg was still messed up, and after that whole saber-toothed tiger fiasco, he was running on fumes. He was getting more and more irritable.
He took all his frustration out on me, always picking fights with me.
But every time, things blew up in his face.
The first time he tried to ambush me with fire, the beehive above dropped right onto his head, and he ended up covered in stings and swelling.
The second time, he tried to set a trap for me, but wound up falling into his own pit, dazed and battered.
Every time, I was just chilling, untouched, like nothing ever happened to me.
The mood in the livestream chat was getting weird.
[Contestant 44 is a bit awesome.]
[How can there be such a coincidence? Every time Jett makes a move, he ends up getting wrecked.]
[Could contestant 44's ability be some kind of jinx aura? It makes those who are close to him unlucky?]
[I bet it's 'Luck's Blessing'.]
[I bet it's 'Absolute Defense'.]
A bunch of people started to guess my ability, but they were all way off.
The system didn't twitch.
My ability was so complicated that they couldn't even guess in the right direction.
After getting screwed over again and again, Jett began to have a deep fear of me.
He didn't dare mess with me anymore, but every time he looked at me, it was like he wanted to eat me.
He was convinced my ability had to be some kind of passive "reflect damage" or "jinx" ability.
Not a bad guess, but his imagination was way too limited.
That day, the icy mechanical voice sounded again.
"Round one is over. 62 survivors remain."
"Round two is about to begin: The Phantom Castle."
"Mission Objective: Survive in the castle for 48 hours and expose the 'Phantom' lurking among you."
"Hint: The 'Phantom' is one of the contestants. They know who you all are, but you have no clue who they are. Each night, the Phantom can strike at one person."
Everyone's expression changed, tense and wary.
This meant that besides facing unknown dangers, we'd have to start watching our backs and suspecting each other.
The scene shifted. We suddenly appeared in front of a spooky Gothic castle, chilled to the bone by the cold rain pouring down.
"Everyone, pick your own room in the castle," a pale-faced butler in a tailcoat said, his voice flat and emotionless.
Jett snorted and led his men straight to the luxurious master suite on the second floor, the safest and fanciest room, claiming it before anyone else could.
The others rushed to grab rooms.
When it was my turn, all that was left was a dark, damp storage room down in the basement.
"A trash belongs in trash spots," one of Jett's men jeered with a nasty grin.
Not bothered, I just shrugged and went inside.
Perfect. Now I could do my own thing down in the basement.
I closed the door, shutting out all the prying eyes.