As the game introduction ended, all five people let out pained groans at almost the same time.
"Hiss..."
Wang Yongxin looked at the source of the stinging pain on his wrist, where a needle seemed to have emerged from the inside of the black visa bracelet, quickly piercing his skin and injecting some substance into his body.
A strange numbing sensation spread from the needle prick on his wrist.
"A slow-acting poison... it will be fatal in 2 hours..."
Wang Yongxin's expression turned a little grim.
2 hours, this was a relatively long game time.
The previous game, 'Blood Poker', had a time limit of one and a half hours, and even then, many players had nothing to do and wasted some time.
But this time, the situation was completely different.
Faced with a life-and-death crisis, 2 hours would only feel too short.
"Where are Lawyer Lin and Officer Cao?
"They should have also entered this game, but they're not in the passage."
Wang Yongxin looked around, the long passage ahead was actually divided into five different paths.
Wang Yongxin, Ding Wenqiang, and Cai Zhiyuan were each on a different path, and there were also two complete strangers on two other, more distant paths.
The paths were separated by glass curtain walls several meters high, which could not be broken or climbed over.
There was only one thing they could do right now.
Directly in front of them was a special apparatus, about 1.6 meters high and 1.2 meters wide, a kind of special frame structure.
According to the game rules, these people had to lift the apparatus in front of them and pass through the passage within the time limit.
The design of this apparatus was not complicated, it somewhat resembled a carrying pole with heavy weights, or perhaps a device specifically for a shoulder-carry farmer's walk.
There were specific places for shoulder-carrying and hand-gripping, which were easy to identify.
In addition, there were a large number of irregular iron blocks on the apparatus for counterweight.
According to the game rules, each person's apparatus was twice their own body weight, meaning the heavier the person, the heavier the apparatus they had to carry.
"Hey!"
Someone exclaimed, and when Wang Yongxin looked up, he saw that Ding Wenqiang had already lifted the apparatus and was walking forward.
Wang Yongxin then looked above his own path, where there was a special timer sign at regular intervals.
The sign showed a 60-second countdown, and 5 seconds had already passed.
"Fuck!"
Wang Yongxin realized he had suffered from overthinking, he had been contemplating the game rules and observing the game area, and had wasted time without realizing it.
He hurried to his apparatus and ducked inside.
Then, Wang Yongxin gripped the vertical handles on both sides and pushed up with all his might.
"Get up for me..."
Just this one move made Wang Yongxin feel his blood rush, his heart pound, and beads of sweat roll down.
Although the design of the apparatus was relatively user-friendly, with special leather soft pads at the shoulder-carrying points so it wouldn't be excruciatingly painful from the steel frame and completely immobile, it was still a solid twice his own body weight.
Wang Yongxin struggled to move his steps forward.
As someone who wasn't short on money, Wang Yongxin had of course been to the gym and had even done similar farmer's walk training, but unfortunately, as he got older, he had less and less time and became lazier, so he had long since given up the habit of working out.
The only good news was that in order to maintain his image as a business elite and leave a better impression on investors, he had been controlling his diet, so his figure was still in pretty good shape.
If he had been twenty pounds heavier, he would probably be facing a dead end right now.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
After just a few steps, Wang Yongxin felt his breathing become more and more rapid, he couldn't catch his breath even while gasping for air, and his heart felt like it was about to explode.
_The farmer's walk is an exercise that demands high overall body strength, requiring not only powerful lower limbs but also a strong core and good balance.
So after walking a few meters, Wang Yongxin was so tired he could barely breathe, and with just a slight slump of his body, the apparatus fell back to the ground.
When Wang Yongxin looked up again, he found that Ding Wenqiang had left everyone far behind, leading the pack.
"...This game is so fucking unfair."
Wang Yongxin only had time to complain, but after a glance at the countdown, he could only grit his teeth and lift the apparatus to move forward again.
Of course, he also quickly realized that his complaint sounded a bit like sour grapes, because the Gallery had never specified that the games had to be of a certain type.
In a game like 'Blood Poker' that encouraged speculation and studying the rules, Wang Yongxin had a clear advantage, so now that they encountered a game that emphasized physical fitness, it wasn't unreasonable for Ding Wenqiang to have the upper hand.
As an experienced manual laborer, Ding Wenqiang not only had physical fitness far superior to the average person, but also an incredible level of endurance.
This challenge was practically tailor-made for him.
...
Through the monitor screen, Lin Sizhi could clearly see everyone's situation.
The current ranking was: Ding Wenqiang, Zhang Peng, Gao Zhankui, Wang Yongxin, Cai Zhiyuan.
Zhang Peng was the unemployed young man with yellow hair, although he was relatively thin, his physical fitness should be better than that of an average office worker.
And since each person's apparatus was calculated at twice their own body weight, people with low body fat still had a certain advantage even if they were thin.
Gao Zhankui was a middle-aged man with a fleshy face, although he looked very strong, he was held back by his weight and was a few body lengths behind Zhang Peng.
Of course, he also seemed to have done some manual labor, and his physical fitness was much better than Wang Yongxin's and Cai Zhiyuan's.
Cai Zhiyuan was the most miserable of the lot, although he had lifted the apparatus and started walking at the very beginning, as a programmer, he didn't exercise much, was in a sub-healthy state, and had neglected his figure.
With the combination of many unfavorable factors, he had already fallen to the last place.
The entire passage was divided into three stages, the first stage was 20 meters with a 60-second countdown.
According to the game rules, if it couldn't be completed within 60 seconds, spikes would extend from the apparatus, using severe pain to urge the player to continue forward.
If another 60 seconds passed and it still wasn't completed, they would suffer an instant death penalty.
Fortunately, from the current situation, even Cai Zhiyuan, who was in last place, should be able to complete it.
Just then, Lin Sizhi heard another system broadcast that only the audience could hear.
Because the broadcast for all players in the venue and the broadcast for only the audience were played through different speakers, with obvious differences in timbre and volume, it was easy to distinguish between them.
[Audience No. 9 has bet on the 'Prisoners'.]
Before the identities of the King and Prisoners were finalized, someone had placed an early bet again.
Only this time, the bet was on the Prisoner side.
Lin Sizhi thought for a moment: "Audience No. 9... could it be Officer Cao?
"Betting on the Prisoners now, the only reason I can think of is that among the five people below, there is more than one acquaintance, so as an audience member, one's position naturally sides with the acquaintances, hoping they all survive.
"And from Community 17, only Officer Cao and I successfully entered this game as audience members."
Lin Sizhi silently made a mental note of it.
...
Ding Wenqiang was the first to reach the end of the first stage.
Across the finish line was a rest area about one meter long, Ding Wenqiang immediately put the apparatus on the ground, panting heavily.
But after reaching the rest area, the one-minute countdown did not stop immediately.
Ding Wenqiang looked around in confusion and found a special button on the wall of the rest area, with a few conspicuous large characters next to it: [Press to stop the countdown.]
Ding Wenqiang immediately went to press the button, and the countdown for his path froze at 22 seconds.
Not long after, the other four people also arrived at the rest area.
Cai Zhiyuan arrived almost at the last second of the countdown, the last few steps looked as if he had completely exhausted himself, he wanted to lie down on the spot as soon as he put the apparatus down.
It was only through sheer willpower that he managed to slap the button on the wall.
Although Ding Wenqiang's physical fitness was much better than Cai Zhiyuan's, this section was very short, only 20 meters, so it was difficult to create a large gap.
Cai Zhiyuan leaned against the wall and dry-heaved.
However, the game rules clearly left him no room to breathe, the second he pressed the button, the signs on everyone's paths changed.
From the remaining time after each person finished, it became a new, unified countdown.
38 seconds.