The King of Black Fog

"Now we begin the selection of lucky players. When Xiao Yue counts one, two, three—what?! It's already over? I didn't even start..."

"Brother—" Li Qianxia opened her eyes and threw herself at her brother.

Whenever she was bullied and mocked as a child (with no parents), that was what she did, flinging herself into Li Changzhou's arms, and then he would scold her, "No crying!"

She was selected, and so was Yang Qinglan.

Li Changzhou's face was somber; he had a black identity card and a white identity card, double the odds of an average player, yet he still wasn't chosen.

In the past, Li Qianxia's luck had always been better than his; she even won a tablet, a suitcase, and a semester's subscription to Tencent Video at the start of her freshman year in a microblog giveaway.

Of course, Li Changzhou would never admit that his luck was worse than his sister's, instead suggesting that the microblog giveaway was rigged.

Being selected for the full moon event could be seen as good or bad luck, depending on the person. For him, it was bad luck.

"Brother, I can't be without you," Li Qianxia said, putting on a performance as if her brother had died.

Still in the mood for acting, Li Changzhou immediately caught on.

"Your twin?" he asked.

"Mhm." His sister pouted, nodding her head pitifully.

"Pull me in."

Knowing full well he would say that, Li Qianxia couldn't help but feel elated, her heart skipping several beats as she felt reassured.

Li Changzhou's tone was quite nonchalant, but to her, it sounded incredibly dominant, so inspiring, and so comforting!

She remembered the summer after her high school graduation, getting her first phone, and couldn't resist trying all sorts of things on it.

During a game of King's Glory with QQ friends (back when she wasn't grown up enough to use WeChat), she was getting hammered by the opposing team and mocked by her teammates, just as Li Changzhou happened to pass by.

"Brother! They're bullying me!"

Li Changzhou dragged a stool over to sit next to her, pulled out his Xiaomi phone from his pocket, and said, "Pull me in."

Then he... they (this "they" is important) thrashed the opponents and mocked the teammates back.

King's Glory and value games are completely different, but Li Changzhou's 'pull me in' is still just as dominant, just as uplifting, and just as reassuring!

Soon, the moment of being moved passed, and her heartbeat steadied.

After all, they were siblings; she only felt it natural for her brother to help her and for her to help him. It's just that the latter happened less often—she hadn't had the chance to prove it.

Yang Qinglan only glanced at them, confirming that Li Changzhou could be "pulled in" by the "twins" for the event, then closed her eyes again to continue watching Xiao Yue's live stream.

The lucky players appeared.

"Um," Xiao Yue tentatively asked, "can you speak?"

Before the ant could answer, she turned her head back to the camera and said:

"Everyone can understand and comprehend what Xiao Yue says, no need to worry about communication barriers between species. Once everyone enters Prague, you also don't need to worry about language; the game will automatically translate into Czech."

The ant fiddled with its antennae, trying to grasp the situation.

"It seems it can't talk," Xiao Yue observed the ant for a moment and said.

The ant began to lay eggs, and little ants quickly became soldiers, starting to line up.

"Uh... this feels like it might get a bit dicey if we continue. Let's quickly switch to another guest!"

The ant and its soldiers vanished from the desk, replaced by a rabbit as big as a pig.

The rabbit was massive with an even bigger belly, seemingly pregnant; upon reaching the studio (it should be the studio), however, that big belly started to deflate suddenly.

"Ahhh!" Xiao Yue screamed excitedly, "I know this! I know this! I, Xiao Yue, have raised rabbits! This is called fetal resorption!"

"When rabbits encounter insufficient food, disease, or other adverse conditions, they can directly absorb the fetuses in their bellies, turning them into their own nutrients!"

"Biology is truly amazing!"

Without the fetuses, the rabbit transformed from a pregnant lady into an Amazon warrior. Its white fur flew wildly, its eyes turned blood-red, and its sharp incisors ferociously bit towards Xiao Yue's neck.

"Change, change, change!" Xiao Yue shielded her face with her hands, eyes closed as she yelled.

The rabbit disappeared.

Xiao Yue patted her chest, heart pounding with true fright, her patting actions clearly purposeful.

"Xiao Yue was scared to death." she said. "Here's a little advice for the non-human players out there. Whether you want to become human or not, you can learn human language and wisdom, because on the whole, they are currently the most successful species in terms of evolution."

"Oh, some non-human players might not know what humans are, let me educate you all a bit."

"Humans, vertically structured upon two hundred and six bones, their bodies filled with fat" (she touched her chest), "blood vessels" (she showed off her neck) "and muscles" (she lifted her slender arm), "covered outside by a layer of thick and elastic skin" (she patted her own cheek).

"Additionally, at the very top of the human body, right here," she pointed at her own head, "there's an excellently performing nerve center that can capture images, sounds, touches, tastes, and smells."

"Through humans, life forms have experienced wisdom. What? Still don't understand?"

"Alright, Xiao Yue will simplify it."

"Hmmhmm!" She cleared her throat, "Everyone, non-human everyone, listen closely to Teacher Xiao Yue—before the game starts, humans have three attitudes towards you, control you, ignore you, care for you, just like before the 'Value Games' started in the previous 'Value Games'."

"Is this explanation satisfying? Did you understand?"

"As for whether or not to change into a human appearance, Xiao Yue won't comment. Xiao Yue is also very interested in non-human players and would like to try it out! Non-human players who are interested in human appearances, please try it for yourselves."

"Okay, that's the end of the education segment. Please welcome our third guest."

Xiao Yue clasped her hands together, eyes closed, and prayed like she was drawing a card: "Human, human, please be a human..."

In her murmuring, a long worm that could completely be used as a monster prototype in Ultraman appeared.

Its long body, covered with bumps all over, had countless oval-shaped tiny feet lining both sides of its abdomen, and atop its head were a pair of dark and eerie antennae.

Velvet worm.

"Alright then, non-human, hello, can you speak?"

Below the velvet worm's antennae, another pair of antennae extended out, short and transparent, secreting mucus from there.

"Ah!"

"Change, change, change!"

The velvet worm disappeared, and Xiao Yue was sprayed all over with mucus, which quickly solidified and fixed her to the chair.

"No more playing, it's not fun at all! Waaaah, next please!" Xiao Yue cried out loudly.

The fourth guest.

"Wow, it's a beautiful miss. Hello there, miss, fancy a date? I can be a perpetual motion machine, a pillow princess—no problem!"

"Ah, right, you don't mind how I look now, do you? This stuff is pretty solid." Xiao Yue, in a rather unfortunate position, fixed on the chair, said.

In the studio, Li Qianxia sat trembling in the guest seat.

Dove... bro, save, save, save, save me!

She had always been lucky since she was a child.