After finishing the tutorial, Zack and the others officially entered the game.
On the main screen, they could already see lots of other players chatting in the lobby—
Clearly other attendees from the expo.
The five demo PCs were set up for private matches by default.
They weren't placed side-by-side, so there was no way to sneak a look at someone else's screen and figure out their role.
Only the Ruler's identity was visible; all others were hidden.
Zack got assigned as the Ruler and chose Liu Bei as his general.
Partly for the immersion—since Liu Bei is the leader of Shu in the story—
And partly because he was already familiar with him, having used him during the tutorial.
His ability was simple: give cards to teammates and heal.
The others: Hannah was a Rebel and picked Zhao Yun.
Ben was a Loyalist and chose Zhuge Liang.
Wells ended up as the Spy and went with Sun Shangxiang.
And the last player, Joey, picked Zhen Ji.
Everyone was carefully reading their character's skill descriptions.
Since they'd just finished the tutorial, they only knew the basics and didn't really understand their general's abilities yet.
Once everyone had picked, the game officially started.
As the Ruler, Zack looked at his hand, equipped a Serpent Spear and a defense horse,
Then immediately played "Barbarian Invasion," dealing 1 damage to Sun Shangxiang.
The others all had Attack cards, so they didn't lose any HP.
Since it was still the early game and no one's role was obvious yet, Zack decided to play it safe and passed his turn without acting further.
Next was Hannah. She said nothing and equipped a Stone Axe right away.
She didn't draw any Attack cards, but she did have three Dodge cards.
Using Zhao Yun's skill, she turned a Dodge card into an Attack and launched it at Zack.
"With flexibility comes true power!"
As Zhao Yun's voice line played, an attack effect showed on screen.
"Dodge!" Zack calmly played a Dodge card.
Then Hannah threw out two more Dodge cards to trigger her weapon's skill, forcing a hit and taking 1 HP from Zack.
"Zilong, oh Zilong! So it was you all along, Rebel!" Zack laughed, acting like he was in a play as Hannah boldly revealed her role.
Even though he lost one HP, he didn't panic at all.
After all, his character was Liu Bei—and Liu Bei can heal.
Once he figured out who was loyal, he could send out two cards right away.
That's what you call generous!
"Pfft! Just wait, I'm gonna take down your useless ruler soon enough!" Hannah scoffed, then ended her turn.
After Hannah, the turn passed clockwise to Joey.
As a rebel, she immediately activated the skill "Goddess Luo."
"Her beauty, like the clouds veiling the moon; her grace, like snow dancing in the wind."
She got super lucky—three successful judgments in a row, pulling a Plum A Zhuge Crossbow and a Spade 6 "Forgetfulness."
The third judgment was a Diamond Dodge, which failed.
After glancing at her cards, Joey didn't hesitate and immediately revealed her rebel status to Zack.
She threw out a "Forgetfulness" card right away.
And then Joey hit a wall.
"Wait, why can't I attack Zack!?" Joey held her "Strike" card, only to find that she could only attack Zhao Yun and Sun Shangxiang beside her.
Hearing that, Wells couldn't help but roast her:
"Didn't the beginner tutorial explain the rules? You need a +1 horse or a weapon with range greater than one to attack someone farther away. Your Zhuge Crossbow doesn't reach!"
"Go study the tutorial again. See? Now you're stuck—your role's exposed, and you can't even do anything."
But before he could finish, the in-game Zhen Ji slashed his Sun Shangxiang with a "Strike" card.
"That's what you get for talking too much!"
She couldn't hit the ruler, and now her rebel role was completely exposed.
From a game standpoint, that Sun Shangxiang—whether loyalist or spy—was clearly not on her side, so taking her out made sense. And besides, that's the only person she could hit.
And personally? That guy just talked too much.
"What the hell, you're just using the game to get revenge!" Wells's eyes widened.
What did he even do to deserve this?
The worst part was—he didn't even have a "Dodge" card.
He had one "Draw Two," one "Steal," and two +1 horses.
On one hand, it was like a god-tier starting hand.
On the other, it was a straight-up hell-mode opening.
With despair in his eyes, he took a second "Strike" to the face.
That, combined with the one HP he lost earlier from the "Barbarian Invasion," made him the first to be eliminated from the game.
"Holy crap, that character is insane! If she keeps drawing black cards, isn't she basically invincible?" Zack's eyes went wide too.
Thank god someone else took the hit for him—Zack only had one "Dodge" in hand.
Compared to that, he now thought his Liu Bei was totally useless.
What's the point of handing out cards to others?
Isn't that just making it fun for everyone else?
It's like going to a spa with your buddies and playing the role of the rich guy:
"Have fun, everyone! It's on me tonight!"
But come on, at least join the fun yourself!
"Why are you all targeting me!?"
As the game's bow-wielding princess let out that pitiful line—"No... I can't die yet..." Wells was completely speechless.
Was his very first game of Legends of the Three Kingdoms seriously ending like this?
And the worst part? He didn't even get to play a single card!
"Friendly reminder: we're not all targeting you. Only Wells is!" Hannah chuckled.
"Tsk tsk, rough! Lucky for me I'm sitting next to you," Ben said with a relieved grin.
There were five people on stage… no wait, actually only four were really into it.
And even the players who were just watching on the big screen, not playing themselves, were cracking up at what was happening.
It was just so unlucky.
But at the same time, a lot of viewers got a clear idea of what this game was about.
Basically, besides strategy, Legends of the Three Kingdoms also relied heavily on luck.
You might even end up with one of those crazy perfect hands people talk about.
Like if Zhen Ji had the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow, and she could attack the ruler, and then she drew a bunch of black "Strike" cards—she could wipe the ruler out in a single turn.
You need to think, yes—but luck matters just as much.
Some experienced players immediately picked up on the core design of Legends of the Three Kingdoms.
As for regular players, they weren't thinking that deep.
They just thought the game looked fun and not too hard to follow.
The match was still going, but the field had reached a bit of a stalemate. Zack and Ben were playing as Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei.
Which actually fit their roles—one as the ruler, the other as the strategist.
But to be honest, their skills didn't really go well together.
And their seating order made things even worse.
"Zack! I don't know how Zhuge Liang died in history, but I do know one thing: this Zhuge Liang is 100% getting killed because of you!"
Ben looked down at his hand—just one "Borrow Sword to Kill" and one "Strike"—and was about ready to curse.
He had emptied his hand last turn, and now suddenly he had two new cards.
And if you're gonna draw, at least give me a "Dodge" card!
Seriously, his Empty City ability hadn't triggered even once!
Luckily, he had used his Stargazing skill earlier and picked up a "Dismantle" to get rid of Zhen Ji's Repeating Crossbow. Otherwise, he'd have been dead ten times over.
"No choice. I'm low on health here. Just hang in there." Zack, who had just healed back up to 3 HP, gave a weak little cough.
What could he do? He was struggling too.
Compared to Zhao Yun and Zhen Ji, who were both rebels, their generals were fine on their own—
But together, in this order, they were just a mess.
"Just give up already!"
"Yeah, might as well surrender."
Hannah and Joy were fully loaded—weapons, armor, attack and defense horses—they had everything. The only problem was their health, both down to 2 HP.
"Hmph, surrender? No way! It's comeback time!" Ben's eyes lit up as he drew a new card.
"Don't panic, my lord. Zhuge has a plan!" he shouted in full character.
Then Zhuge Liang's in-game voice line played.
"Lightning!"
A bolt of lightning flashed, and a lightning icon appeared over Zhuge Liang's head.
"Brilliant! Your plan is amazing, Chancellor! With your Stargazing skill, those rebels won't stand a chance!"
Seeing the lightning mark appear over Ben's character, Zack instantly got what he was trying to do.
Even though this was their first match, after getting through the early confusion, everyone had basically figured out how the game worked.
They were unstoppable now!
"Ahh! No Dismantle or Steal cards!"
"Same here!"
It was Hannah and Joey's turn. Neither of them had "Dismantle" or "Steal" cards.
They tried to take down Zhuge Liang by force, but he still had a "Peach" card and healed right back up.
"It's okay, Joy. We've still got a chance. As long as that lightning doesn't hit us, and we make it to our next turn, we can finish him off." Hannah said.
"Hmph, don't get your hopes up! It's comeback time! Witness the power of the Han Dynasty's Chancellor!" Zack was full of confidence.
But before he could finish, the in-game Zhuge Liang said a line:
"Create Something from Nothing!"
????
"Wait, what are you doing, Ben?" Zack's eyes went wide.
Ben, who had just played his turn and realized what he'd done, looked a bit awkward too.
At first, he really did remember to use Observe the Stars to place the Lightning card.
But here's the key part.
Among the four cards he saw, one of them was "Create Something from Nothing," and he couldn't resist bumping it up to second.
And when he actually drew it, he couldn't help himself.
Drawing two cards — how can you say no to that?
Anyone would've given in!
And then he noticed the fourth card — the upcoming judgment card — was Eight Trigrams.
Zhuge Liang's exclusive!
"It's fine, it should be okay. Lord Liu is blessed with good fortune—" but he stopped mid-sentence.
Because the judgment card appeared in the middle of the screen.
A Spade 7 Kill card.
Lightning triggers if the judgment is Spade 2 through Spade 9 — so, it went off.
In an instant, a dark cloud appeared above Liu Bei in the game, thunder roared, and a lightning bolt struck him right on the head.
"Is… this the Peach Garden…?"
As Liu Bei's final words played, Zack's face was blank, while Wells, who had been eliminated early, was holding back laughter.
Ben was totally lost.
Hannah and Joey high-fived in celebration.
"So, Chancellor… care to explain?" Zack gave Ben a sideways glance.
"Cough cough, let's play some *Fall Guys* instead! Looks like Lucas wasn't lying this time — it's actually pretty fun!"
To avoid the awkward scene, Ben quickly changed the subject after noticing the crowd and noise coming from the Fall Guysbooth.
(End of the chapter)
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