Chapter 237 - Pink House

Wang GuiYing pinched his nose as he immediately commented with an unhappy tone, "The stench is too much." 

For him, the smell of the place seemed to be a big deal, but for the others, the smell was the least of their worries. 

"Mastermo, any guesses?" Zhou Xinyi questioned. 

Previously, it was Zhihao who had guessed all the games and their rules so of course, the other players would once again turn to get answers from the man who seemed to know the most about this final level testing competitions. 

Zhihao gulped as he shook his head and responded, "I have nothing." 

Zhihao couldn't remember any game that needed to be played in a dark alley.

By looking at the surrounding, the only thing that he could think up of was one of those mafia role-play games that he had heard about but never played. 

Li Ying frowned as she followed closely behind, "I think I know this place.." 

Everyone suddenly snapped their heads and looked at the girl in shock. 

"What?!" Li Ling was the one with the biggest reaction as he looked at his sister as if she had said something that he couldn't believe, "How?" 

Li Ying shrugged her shoulder as she answered, "At first, I heard about it from one of my cosplay friends." 

Li Ling's eyes narrowed down on the girl as he mentally thought that he should go and meet this so-called cosplay friend. 

Zhihao's eyes lit up as he stepped closer to the girl and questioned, "What is this place?" 

"If I'm guessing right, the game probably wants us to enter the pink house." 

"Pink house?" Zhihao frowned as he remembered hearing this name somewhere but could not recall exactly what it was about or who it was that had mentioned such a place. 

Li Ying smiled a bit mischievously as she added, "The pink house is where all the fun is." 

Wang GuiYing clicked his tongue as he commented, "You make it sound as if it's some kind of illegal crime association." 

Li Ying nodded her head as she confirmed, "That's exactly what it is. How did you know?" 

"..." 

Wang GuiYing gulped as he stepped closer to Zhou Xinyi and clutched onto the man's jacket. 

This game was really planning on locking them all behind bars... 

Li Ling's eyebrows furrowed together as he interrogated his sister, "What is it for? Have you been here before?" 

"I've been there once with my friends. We didn't really stay for too long but from my short stay, I collected a lot of information about the place." 

"Should I be concerned for you?" Li Ling muttered as he suddenly couldn't understand if he was supposed to scold her for going to such a place or if he was supposed to consider this as a plus point since she could provide information for them at this moment. 

Li Ying suddenly chuckled as she saw the worry in her brother's eyes, "Big bro, you don't need to worry about me. I'm smart enough to know the dangers. Actually, the reason why I came here in the first place was kinda related to business."

"You had business in an illegal crime association?" Wang GuiYing cut in between and questioned as he cautiously took another step away from the girl. 

Li Ying chuckled as she shook her head, "I think you are understanding it wrong. Although it was illegal, it was probably not the type of illegal that you are currently thinking about."

"What was it for?" It was Liang Feng who had questioned as he seriously looked at Li Ying. 

"The pink house is actually an underground building that is pretty famous with youngsters and some adults. Nobody knows who owns the building but it's free to use for everyone that can find its location," Li Ying moved forward and headed deeper into the ally as she continued speaking, "It's supposed to be around here. It's actually a fun place for hackers and gamers." 

Zhihao frowned as he heard this, "Then why did you say it was illegal?" 

"Because most hackers are working illegally here and so are the gamers." 

"I don't understand," Zhihao responded honestly since he really had a hard time understanding what this pink house was about. 

"Now that I think about it... Since the whole city is empty, this place should also be empty for the first time, shouldn't it? You guys are quite lucky." Li Ying smiled at the thought as she crouched down and tried to pull up a sewer lid. 

"What are you trying to do?" Li Ling stepped forward and looked to be concerned as he tried to stop her. 

Li Ying simply smiled as she spoke up, "Don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing." 

Li Ling was about to say something more but before any words could roll out of his mouth, Li Ying removed the sewer lid and they all suddenly heard a familiar notification sound. 

[Ding~] 

[Congratulations on finding your fourth competition arena!~] 

"I knew it!" Li Ying exclaimed enthusiastically as she jumped down the sewer without any hesitation. 

Zhihao blinked as he wondered if he was supposed to follow her or not but in the very next second, faint pink light started coming out from the sewer, along with which, came the voice of Li Ying who was already down there, "Jump down the rabbit hole if you want to enter wonderland~" 

Zhihao gulped as he looked at Li Ling and Li Ling also turned to look back at him. The two shared a nod as they decided to follow down after Li Ying. 

Zhihao was the first to muster up the courage to jump down while Li Ling jumped down after him. 

While Zhihao landed on his feet, Li Ling landed in Zhihao's arms since the man was waiting for Li Ling with arms wide open. 

Li Ling was a bit surprised but he simply smiled as he looked at Zhihao. 

Zhihao put the man down and the two followed after Li Ying while the other players also jumped down one by one. 

Zhihao gulped and his eyes widened in surprise as he looked around at the place that was not at all what he would have expected a sewer to look like. 

[Welcome to the pink house!] 

It was the voice of the system. 

[Congratulations to all eight players who have made it on time!]

[Jiangshi]

[Yingli]

[Mastermo]

[Devilmagiclover]

[BBtrash]

[Hulk0_0]

[Kaze17]

[T-Rex101]

[Richlord] 

[Here in T.I.A.D. we value your intelligence and your hard work and hence we provide you a platform where you can show us your capabilities and earn rewards for them as well!] 

[Your next competition shall be a competition of intelligence.] 

[The one who gets it, wins it.]

[There are nine computers prepared for all of you. Each of you may sit in front of a computer and turn it on. Once the computer starts running, it shows you your individual missions which you'll have to clear.] 

[You cannot clear a mission that belongs to someone else. If you do then both you and the player who was the original owner of the mission would be eliminated.]

[You cannot stand up from your chair unless you complete your mission. If you do then you'll be eliminated.] 

[You have ten minutes to complete your mission.] 

[Failure to complete the mission in the time given would lead to an instant elimination.] 

[The use of your smartphones is not allowed for this competition.] 

[Your ten minutes begin now.] 

[All the best to all the players!] 

[May your intelligence shine and may the smart player win!] 

Tian Xifeng took a sharp breath in as she commented, "Why do I feel like this system is mocking us?" 

"You're the only one who thinks that," Liang Feng rolled his eyes as he responded coldly. 

Zhihao tried to turn on his phone even though the system had already warned them not to use it. The reason why he took this risk was simply because although the system had warned them not to use the phones, it hadn't said anything about being eliminated in case they do use it. 

Just as he had expected, there was only a ticking timer visible on the screen and nothing else on the phone worked. 

Zhihao sighed as he kept his phone in his pocket and turned to look at Li Ying who was gesturing for the others to follow her. 

"Li Ying, what is this place?" Zhihao questioned as he obediently followed after the girl. 

Li Ying chuckled as she answered, "Brother Zhihao, have you ever heard about gamers that play in a group for money? They work for a company that hires them to play in order to either win a game or to destroy the game internally." 

Zhihao nodded his head as he spoke, "I've heard about them." 

Because of the immense popularity of T.I.A.D. such gamers who were hired by companies also joined in to compete for the prize, however, they were not successful because of T.I.A.D's anti-cheating policies.