Hearts ' Guardian is a hot, mature woman. Xiao Lou thought Diamonds ' Guardian would be similar, but as soon as he finished speaking, a clear and pleasant child's voice rang in his ears: "Hello, I am Diamond A. Congratulations on successfully completing the Diamond Secret Room!"
Xiao Lou turned her head and saw a little girl sitting on the sofa. She was wearing a red knee-length dress, white stockings, and red leather shoes with bows. The girl had two pigtails, a bright smile on her chubby face, her eyes were curved, and there was a cute dimple on the left corner of her mouth.
She looked only seven or eight years old, and her fair and tender face could easily soften the hearts of adults.
However, upon realizing that this was the Guardian of the Diamond Secret Room … Xiao Lou quickly suppressed her affection for children and got straight to the point: "I've completed the game perfectly, so can I enter the prize draw?"
Little Girl said, "Of course, try your luck!"
A treasure chest appeared before him, gleaming with gold. Xiao Lou strode over, reached into the chest, and randomly pulled out a card.
—Congratulations on obtaining an S-rank card [ tool card: Compass ]!
Since perfectly completing Red Heart 2: Secret Room and drawing the summon card [ Tao Yuanming ], Xiao Lou had gained a basic understanding of how bizarre this Card World was. Drawing [ Compass ] wasn't surprising; he picked up the card and examined it closely—
tool card; Compass
Rarity: S
Description: A common mathematical tool in real life, but extremely rare in Card World. It has a very low probability of being obtained through a limited-time card pool after perfectly clearing the escape room.
Additional skill 1: Drawing circles.
How to use: Use the Compass tool to draw a circle anywhere. After 10 seconds, the circle will transform into a metal ring of the same size. You can make the ring float in the air and use it as a weapon to attack enemies. The power of the ring depends on how you use it; please figure it out for yourself.
Note: At growth level 1, the drawn circle will take 10 seconds to solidify. For each growth level increase, the time for the drawn circle to solidify is reduced by 1 second, down to 0.5 seconds at the maximum level.
Additional skill 2: Unlocked when growth reaches level 10.
After reading the description, Xiao Lou immediately activated the tool card, wanting to try it out in actual use.
After the card was activated, a silver Compass appeared in his palm, very similar to the Compass he used in junior high school math class, except that this Compass had a knob on its two legs that could be adjusted in length.
He first drew a circle on the ground with a diameter of 1 centimeter using standard dimensions. Then, he adjusted the length of the Compass legs to their maximum and drew a circle with a diameter of 100 centimeters. Ten seconds later, two silver-white metal rings, the same size as the circles he had just drawn, appeared in the same spot. The rings were thin, felt like silver wire, and were of moderate weight. He slightly raised his hand, and the rings floated into the air with his movement.
Xiao Lou was overjoyed and tried to control Ring to fly around in Personal Space.
The two rings, one large and one small, actually floated in the air as he pointed, without falling down.
This anti-gravity phenomenon, similar to "magic," was hard for Xiao Lou to adapt to at first. But then he thought that he was in Card World and could even summon Tao Yuanming... so creating a floating ring didn't require any scientific basis.
The world itself is not scientific.
Xiao Lou put Ring down and quickly figured out how to use the " Compass " S-level tool card.
The size of the circle drawn by Compass can be freely adjusted within a diameter of 1. From small earrings and rings to large hula hoops for adults—the size of the drawn circle determines the size of the resulting metal ring.
The power of this card lies in its versatility. Draw a ring the size of a bracelet, and you can use it as a hidden weapon to ambush others; draw a large ring, and you can use it as a trap to ensnare enemies; if necessary, you can even use a thin metal ring to strangle someone's neck.
In theory, with Compass at his disposal, he would have no shortage of circular weapons, and he could draw and use them on the spot without being restricted by the environment.
It truly lives up to its S-class reputation as a tool brand.
Xiao Lou happily put the new card into the card holder and rearranged the order of the cards in her bag.
The story card " Rose Funeral " was still placed in the last slot. He also placed the two tool cards " Four-Way Arrow " and " Folding Paper " that he had just obtained in the Square Block 2 Escape Room in the back slot—he didn't need these two cards for the time being, and would take them out if needed later.
Next, Xiao Lou moved the " Compass " card to the second slot for easy access.
After tidying up, Xiao Lou checked the position of each card again—" Tao Yuanming " was still in the first slot, " Compass " was in the second slot, and the third slot contained four usable special effect cards and tool cards: " Nine Palaces Grid, " " Mathematical Equation," " Fruit Knife, " and " Rose Perfume." Following that were a dozen or so empty card slots, and finally, the temporarily unused " Rose Funeral," " Four-Way Arrow, " and " Folding Paper."
He currently has a total of nine cards, two of which are S cards.
Xiao Lou discovered that S-rank cards are all cards that can be upgraded, have the highest versatility, and have no usage limit. Tao Yuanming can be summoned at any time and uses " The Peach Blossom Spring " once a day; Compass can continuously draw circles without being damaged.
A-rank cards are slightly weaker than S-rank cards. For example, " Folding Paper " can only be used once; " Four-Way Arrow " has no limit on the number of uses, but it only serves as a "guide" card. It is a god-tier card in dungeons, but not very useful outside of dungeons.
Cards below Grade A are even worse, like the utility card " Fruit Knife ".
The " Rose Perfume " can only be used a maximum of 10 times before it breaks down; the " Nine Palaces Grid " can only be used 9 times; and the " Mathematical Equation " can only be used 2 times.
Based on the cards obtained so far, there is no "level fraud" in the card rarity classification.
In other words, S-rarity cards are the most powerful; A-rarity cards are surprisingly effective in some secret rooms, but have more limitations; B and C-rarity cards are relatively easy to obtain, and it is estimated that everyone has one, and the usage count of low-rarity cards is also easy to run out.
If he wants to clear higher-level secret rooms later on, he should ideally have more S-cards and A-cards.
In Card World, the cards you draw will increase your combat power. So Xiao Lou will try his best to complete the next secret room perfectly, even if it means using up a lot of low-level cards he has obtained so far, in order to draw higher-level S cards.
Xiao Lou put the card holder away, looked up at Little Girl on the sofa and asked, "I've finished the game, can I rest for 15 minutes?"
Little Girl rested her chin on her chubby hand and said with a smile, " There's no break time in the Diamond Secret Room. You need to draw the card for the next level as quickly as possible within one minute." With a casual wave of her hand, four cards suddenly flew to Xiao Lou and hovered in front of him.
Xiao Lou frowned—it seemed the rules were different for each type of escape room. The Heart Room allowed a 15-minute break, but the Diamond Secret Room didn't; he had to move on to the next level.
Currently, Xiao Lou can choose from the following escape rooms: Heart 3, Diamond 3, Spade 2, and Plum Blossom 2.
He was confident he could perfectly complete either Heart 3 or Diamond 3. But he could n't keep avoiding Spade Secret Room and Plum Blossom Secret Chamber forever—having decided to familiarize himself with various escape rooms, Xiao Lou simply drew Spade 2 in order.
This was the first time he had drawn a black card.
The unknown, locked room, and the black light emanating from the card, made Xiao Lou feel uneasy.
But before he could think further, his body was forcibly sucked into the world of Spade 2 by a familiar, strange force—
***
This is a desolate town.
The gray sky cast a gloomy shadow over the entire town.
Most of the shops were closed, and the streets were deserted with no pedestrians. There were many abandoned vehicles parked on both sides of the street, none of which had any living people inside, and some of the vehicles were rusty.
There was a trash can not far ahead, and the garbage inside had obviously not been emptied for a long time, emitting a foul stench.
A gust of wind blew by, and the plastic bags in the trash can rattled loudly.
A withered tree nearby had snapped in the wind and crashed to the ground with a loud creak, startling a flock of crows that flew away with a piercing cawing. Several rats near the trash can, disturbed by the crows' calls, scurried about. One particularly large rat even stopped and glanced at Xiao Lou as it passed by.
Xiao Lou immediately became alert.
This environment is unusual. What kind of strange place has he come to?
Just then, the familiar text prompt finally appeared in the floating box above his head.
Welcome to Spades 2 Secret Chamber [ Zombie Town ].
This is a remote town that was once a popular tourist destination in Card World because of its beautiful scenery.
Six months ago, a family of three came here for a trip. They were caught in a downpour, and the eight-year-old boy developed a high fever after getting soaked. He was taken to the hospital. At first, everyone thought he just had a cold and fever, but the doctors tried everything they could to bring down his temperature. The boy died despite their efforts to save him and was placed in the morgue, where he was to be buried after the rain.
However, late that night, the little boy suddenly crawled out of the morgue.
When Nurse, the nurse on duty, found him biting his mother's neck, he screamed and dialed the security office. The little boy attacked those around him like a rabid dog, but fortunately, the hospital security guards quickly subdued him and locked him up.
However, so many people were bitten by him that some have already left the hospital.
The virus began to spread rapidly.
Infected people frantically bite their fellow human beings.
The once picturesque town was transformed into a terrifying hell on earth overnight!
— Spades 2 Secret Chamber Survival Objective: Avoid zombie attacks and reach the Hospital in the town center. Someone will come to rescue you from the rooftop of the Hospital outpatient building.
—The time limit for passing the level is 60 minutes. If you exceed the time limit, you will fail the level.
— D-Class Secret Room's friendly reminder: Zombies are extremely powerful, but relatively slow-moving. If you are scratched by them, you will immediately be infected with the virus, become a zombie, and remain here forever.
Unlike Hearts and Diamonds, which offer simple walkthrough hints, Spade Secret Room provides more detailed background information.
Xiao Lou is currently in a world infected by the Zombie Virus.
The last line of text sent chills down Xiao Lou's spine.
In other words, if you are accidentally scratched by a zombie in this secret chamber, you will be infected with the virus and remain there forever in zombie form. Perhaps many of the zombies he encounters in the Spades 2 Secret Chamber will be Challengers like himself.
Living in this Card World as a zombie is worse than just dying a quick death!
Xiao Lou clenched his fist tightly, his nails digging into his palms, the sharp pain helping him quickly regain his composure.
Hearing a rustling sound behind him, Xiao Lou turned around and looked—
Several zombies, smelling the scent of a living person, slowly surrounded him.
Some zombies have facial features
Twisted and twisted, some missing arms and legs, some with large holes in their stomachs, and a female student in a school uniform, whose body was intact but whose eyes were cloudy and whose expressionless gaze was staring at him, with drool constantly dripping from her mouth.
The distance between him and the female zombie was no more than five meters.
The moment he turned around, his gaze met the female zombie's lifeless eyes.
"..."
Xiao Lou's back stiffened, and without hesitation, he turned and ran!