Volume Two, The Devil's Game Chapter Ten: Ways to Obtain Extra Rewards

Lu Yi had just dodged pursuit and escaped from the warden’s grasp, naturally attracting a considerable audience. After all, compared to other contestants who were either captured without resistance or endlessly fleeing, Lu Yi could at least claim to have confronted his pursuer head-on, though, admittedly, the outcome brought him little gain.

He removed the rope launcher from his arm. This single-use item was spent; if he wanted another, he would have to search for it in a new box. Glancing at the time, he confirmed the warden should have teleported away by now, and promptly lay down on the grass.

After a brief rest, he frowned, weighing his options. There were two paths before him: one, he could stay in the park and set up more barriers, preparing to run circles around the warden again—a shortsighted strategy. Their previous confrontation had already proven that only the most ingenious traps could restrain the warden, and the park’s open grounds made setting up obstacles no easy feat.

The second option was to retrace his steps and seek out others. Outside the park, he had already placed barriers, and making use of them would certainly be easier and less exhausting than starting anew inside. Moreover, it was necessary to learn about the others’ situations—what useful items he might have missed, everyone’s whereabouts, and most importantly, the status of the sealing pillars.

“Let’s head back, then.” Lu Yi stood and murmured to himself. Just then, a breeze carried a familiar floral scent, sending a chill down his spine. What was this? Shouldn’t it be at least ten minutes before the warden came for him again? Was the chase going to be relentless?

He hurriedly looked around, but saw no sign of the warden nearby.

“What’s the streamer doing? He looks so anxious and fearful,” Sweetheart Yiyi commented in the live chat.

“No idea. Judging by his expression, he’s acting like he’s facing some dire threat,” Black Phosphorus responded with a puzzled emoji.

“Haha, maybe he’s lost his mind,” the warm-hearted man said slyly.

“If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re dead,” Black Phosphorus retorted with disgust.

Lu Yi scanned his surroundings, confirming there was no trace of the warden. Suspicion clouded his face—could the warden be chasing someone else nearby, and that was why the floral scent lingered?

Lu Yi, experienced and bold from being chased twice before, decided to follow the scent, trusting his instincts. The fragrance grew stronger as he walked, and when he rounded a corner, he stopped abruptly. Before him lay a flowerbed; the flowers were identical to those the warden used as projectiles.

“Wow, that’s beautiful,” the viewers in the live chat exclaimed.

“Huh, those look like the same flowers. Maybe Lu Yi got nervous because he smelled them earlier,” Black Phosphorus noted, catching the same detail as Lu Yi.

The sickly fairy commented, “That’s possible. But the streamer’s pretty daring, following the scent right to the source.”

Lu Yi was stunned at first, then gathered his courage and stepped into the flowerbed. He examined the vivid blooms and glanced at the small house behind them. After a moment’s thought, he chose to approach the house.

To his surprise, the door was shut. He tried pushing it, only to find it locked tight.

Lu Yi smiled. Every other building and shop outside the park had open doors; only this small house was closed. And, as luck would have it, the flowers at the entrance matched those in the warden’s hands exactly. He was certain there was some hidden secret here.

This brought to mind a question Lu Yi had been pondering: how does one truly profit from this task? The mission seemed simple—survive until the end or seal enough stone pillars. But just doing so would net the basic thousand reward points. If he wanted more, what would he need to do?

Setting aside the confirmed rewards from streaming, Lu Yi had speculated, based on similar games, that successfully embedding sealing stones, distracting or engaging the warden, and rescuing other contestants might all yield additional points.

Yet this raised another issue: the world only offered reward points, and they were limited. For example, there were forty slots for sealing stones, but filling them all was impossible. As for restraining the warden, it was clearly no easy feat, and maximizing rewards meant limiting his use of talisman papers—a conflicting requirement.

Was it possible that the only rewards here were points, or, at best, some rare chance to awaken his innate abilities? Lu Yi had been perplexed, but now, seeing this house, the puzzle was solved.

There must be a secret hidden within this house connected to the warden, perhaps even an unexpected prize.

Lu Yi stepped back and circled the house, scrutinizing for another entrance. After a lap, he stood again at the front, frowning. There was no other way in. He clenched his fists—should he force his way?

He shook his head, activating his magical eye to examine the area carefully. Suddenly, he noticed an anomaly—the flowers in the bed seemed freshly tended, neat and orderly, but a small patch grew shorter than the rest.

Could something be concealed there? Lu Yi hurried over and dug into the spot, soon uncovering a box. Inside, he found some old notebooks and toys, but none of them triggered any notifications.

A time capsule? Lu Yi frowned, flipping through one of the notebooks. The writing seemed deliberately obscured, utterly unintelligible to him. After turning a few pages, the City finally provided a prompt.

“Obtained Warden’s Cradle Diary 3. Collect all four diaries to receive a special reward from the Cradle.”

Delighted by the message, Lu Yi’s face lit up.

Here it was—benefits beyond the reward points. But then he frowned again. “Four diaries in total? Where could the others be?”

Moreover, he glanced at his watch. Over forty minutes had passed since the mission began. With only five minutes reserved for the final berserk phase, this meant the Warden’s Cradle could remain for at most an hour and ten minutes.

“Finding the other three diaries and locating the warden in time will be tight,” Lu Yi muttered, carefully checking the box’s contents again. Inside a doll’s belly, he unexpectedly found a key.

Using it to unlock the tightly shut door, Lu Yi entered the house. His gaze immediately settled on a picture frame; the person in the photograph was the warden.

“Looks like I’ve come to the right place,” Lu Yi smiled slightly.