"Listen to me!"
Deadpool suddenly shouted, "Alright, enough bickering! It's my turn now, so pipe down, all of you!"
Butcher rolled his eyes.
"Oh please, what are you even looking forward to? First place gets gold, second gets purple, third gets blue. What's left for you? White. Always white."
"No, no, no! I'm definitely getting something better!" Deadpool looked over to Thor, full of anticipation. "Right, Thor?"
Thor chuckled.
"Well, if we go by the usual pattern of the Quiz Game, only first place is guaranteed a high-tier reward—purple or above. The rest? Totally random. I've seen players near the bottom get rare items too. But Wade… personally? I'm cursing you to get a white-tier reward."
Sure enough, just as Thor finished, the game announced Deadpool's prize:
[Congratulations, player Wade Wilson. You've received:
Two Free Mystery Boxes]
Yup—white-tier.
Deadpool looked like he'd just been personally insulted by the universe. He grumbled,
"Thor! I curse you to only ever get white-tier rewards for the rest of your life!"
"I curse you to not even get that much. Bottom place, every single game!"
"I reflect your curse!"
"I reflect your reflection!"
"I reflect your reflection of my reflection!"
...
The mighty prince of Asgard and the merc with a mouth were now locked in a juvenile back-and-forth of curse reversals, like squabbling kids on a playground.
Everyone else rolled their eyes. Annie muttered,
"We should be careful around Wade. Can't you see? His ridiculousness is contagious."
Thor had started off fairly dignified—offering guidance, acting like a seasoned veteran of the game. But now? Look at him.
Butcher raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just surprised you only noticed that now."
Right then, the familiar mechanical voice echoed from above:
[Player Billy Butcher and Player Thor Odinson have been eliminated. All points deducted.
Both must now participate in a redemption mission. Failure to complete the mission will result in permanent erasure]
"Redemption mission?" Thor immediately sobered. That wasn't new—he remembered failed players in previous rounds receiving punishment missions too.
Butcher frowned.
"I thought you said losers just got a power taken away? When did it become a life-or-death quest?"
Thor shrugged.
"Don't look at me. Final interpretation rights belong to the Quiz Game. But hey, look at it this way—this is better than losing a random ability. All we have to do is complete the mission."
Hughie looked worried.
"But what if you fail? 'Erased' sounds a lot like… well, dead."
Thor shook his head grimly.
"Erasure is worse than death. It doesn't just kill you—it wipes you from the entire multiverse.
Every version of you in every reality will cease to exist. No one will remember you. Not your friends, not your family—no one."
The color drained from Butcher's face. Hughie and Annie both looked horrified.
Deadpool, naturally, covered his mouth and whispered dramatically, "Oh noooo, I'm so scared!"
Thor smirked.
"Relax, Butcher. I've got a feeling you'll be fine. You're not the type to give up, right?"
Butcher cracked his knuckles with a sharp snap.
"Let's see what kind of fun this so-called mission's got in store."
At that moment, something finally changed with Stephen Strange. The golden cocoon encasing him began to crack—like an egg ready to hatch. Brilliant light seeped through the fractures.
The shell shattered completely, but the golden glow didn't vanish.
Instead, under the pull of some mysterious force, it gathered at his forehead, forming a glowing rhomboid sigil between his eyebrows before slowly fading.
As Strange opened his eyes, Deadpool practically pounced.
"Hey, buddy! C'mon, spill it! What kind of cool prize did you get? Let the rest of us plebs live vicariously through you!"
Everyone else perked up, clearly just as curious.
Stephen broke into a genuine smile.
"My Christine… and my world… they're saved.
Screw the Watcher—we don't need a passive bystander anymore!"
His declaration only piqued everyone's interest. But when pressed for more, Strange just gave a cryptic smile.
"I can't do anything yet. Not until I've mastered magic."
Clearly, he was far more experienced than Hughie—he wasn't about to reveal his secrets and make himself a target.
Thor clicked his tongue.
"That's pretty shady of you, mate. We're all friends here. You've gotta admit, we helped you get that first-place reward, didn't we?"
He wasn't wrong. Although the Quiz Game was technically competitive, most of them had cooperated during the quiz rounds. Even Thor, the veteran, hadn't used any underhanded tricks. If he'd wanted to sabotage the newbies, he could've easily led them astray.
Strange sighed.
"It's not that I don't trust you, but think about it—this game is still being broadcast live, right?
If I spill everything, it won't just be you who hears it. It'll be the Watcher… or worse, some 'greater being' in my world. I'd rather not have them ruining things before I even begin."
Hughie jolted.
"Wait. The game is still streaming? People can hear us right now?!"
"Yup," Thor said with a devilish grin.
"After every Quiz round, they stream the reward results live to everyone. Which means, Hughie, your whole world probably just found out you turned into a new Translucent. Maybe they even heard your weaknesses too."
He shrugged.
"Or maybe not. Depends on the camera angle. I imagine the audience would rather stare at Annie than you."
Hughie groaned in defeat, while Butcher stifled a laugh.
"Lesson learned, Hughie. Keep your mouth shut next time."
And with that, all the players had either received their rewards or were preparing to face their consequences.
Just then, the voice above rang out once more:
[This round of the Quiz Game has ended.
The Points Store is now open with a limited-time discount. Take advantage while you can. We look forward to seeing our players again next time]
_____
T/N:
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