Chapter 289: You Should Know, the Lifespan of a Lucky Fool Is Extremely Short!
If any other Chosen One had accidentally caused the death of the gravelly-voiced old man, the audience in that country could have already started preparing for the funeral banquet.
But the Chosen One from Dragon Country didn’t seem to need any backing at all. As long as you let him know the target, he would basically just take them out in one go.
According to statistics, so far, no anomaly has been able to withstand a single move from Dragon Country’s Celestial Master.
Other Chosen Ones, back when the difficulty was lower, could still manage to kill some anomalies. But now, they dodge and hide whenever they can.
Only Dragon Country’s Celestial Master still looks completely at ease.
This has led many spectators—who just love watching the world burn—to strongly demand that the Horror Tale World increase the difficulty. They really want to know where the Celestial Master’s limits lie.
This, of course, has infuriated the expert teams of various countries. Their argument is: just because Dragon Country’s Chosen One can clear it doesn’t mean their country can. Right now, many nations are losing far more than they’re winning.
And you guys still have the nerve to ask for higher difficulty at a time like this?
If you’re so capable, why don’t you do it yourselves!
Actually, Zhang Yangqing could have made his move and left tonight.
Other Chosen Ones need to make thorough preparations for their killing and arson—covering their tracks and all that. But Zhang Yangqing could even set things on fire in broad daylight if he wanted.
However, the little girl had thrown a sarcastic remark at him during the day, so he decided to have some fun with her first.
As night fell, a knock on the door came right on time.
It wasn’t even midnight yet, so Zhang Yangqing hadn’t locked the door. He had his guide dog pull the handle, and the door swung open.
The little girl, who had been wrestling with her conscience all afternoon, now had a look of determination in her eyes.
Before she could even speak, Zhang Yangqing’s voice drifted over from the sofa.
“Go ahead. Tell me what you’ve chosen.”
He sounded like a god listening to a mortal’s plea.
This choice wasn’t just about her judgment of what justice meant.
It was also a matter of life and death for the little girl.
Given Zhang Yangqing’s personality, if she chose to refuse the contract and insisted on destroying the Key Demon, then she would likely disappear from this villa tonight.
Zhang Yangqing was not a soft-hearted person. There was no way he’d leave such a menace by his side.
After a fierce inner struggle, the little girl seemed to have come to some realization. She felt that Zhang Yangqing was right—fighting fire with fire might just be the only way to restore order to this world.
Simply trying to persuade people would only bring her frustration, because no one ever listened to her anyway. In the real world, she had always hit a wall.
All her justice had been nothing but wishful thinking on her part. But if she had power and strength, she could do whatever she wanted.
The little girl now felt that she was the only person in this world who was truly right. So she needed to fix this world her own way!
Hearing her say this, Zhang Yangqing was quite pleased. Looks like she took the bait. No need for me to waste my own lifespan.
Among all the Chosen Ones in this Horror Tale, these ones got the short end of the stick—they had to trade their own lifespans for combat power.
If the final settlement didn’t give any lifespan bonuses, they’d be crying their eyes out from the loss.
So many Chosen Ones started getting crafty. They wondered if they should encourage the natives to sign the contract instead.
But there was a huge drawback to that: what if, after signing the contract, the native’s first move was to kill them as a sacrifice? Wouldn’t that be incredibly stupid?
Not every Chosen One had Zhang Yangqing’s ability to keep a potential partner from turning on them.
Once betrayed, they’d have no way out.
And all of Zhang Yangqing’s partners knew one thing clearly—if they ever betrayed him, the only outcome was death.
Take the one-eyed kid from last round. He never even considered going solo. Betraying Zhang Yangqing? He’d rather slit his own throat.
Why would you abandon such a solid thigh to latch onto? Going solo when you’ve got that kind of backing—that’s just crazy, right?
Inside Zhang Yangqing’s room, the little girl and the Key Demon were in the middle of signing the contract.
Wondering how Zhang Yangqing knew that summoning a demon cost lifespan?
Just look at the bruises on the Key Demon.
Whenever he felt the Key Demon was hiding something, he’d just beat it until it told the truth.
“The contract is signed. What should I do now?”
For once, the little girl actually showed a shred of sense. She didn’t rush off with the Key Demon, which made Zhang Yangqing sigh in satisfaction.
If you’d been this cooperative from the start, would I have needed to set a trap for you?
Because the little girl didn’t think Zhang Yangqing would actually hand the Key Demon over to her, she asked outright.
And of course, Zhang Yangqing had no intention of giving it to her. He was afraid she might have some bright idea one night and just kill the Key Demon outright—then the joke would be on him.
In Zhang Yangqing’s eyes, the little girl was just a tool. And tools don’t get to make demands.
If you listen to reason, I’ll carry you through this. If you don’t… well, I’ll carry you through it right now, if you know what I mean.
“After the banquet tomorrow, come with me to take care of someone. You can try using your lifespan to summon a demon and see what quality you get. Then late at night, we’ll head out.”
Zhang Yangqing briefly outlined his plan without hiding too much.
Based on his judgment, most Chosen Ones did their killing and arson late at night; daytime was just too troublesome.
From this, you could tell that most Chosen Ones were rushing to speed up their progress, eager to get out as soon as possible.
Only Zhang Yangqing was deliberately slowing down, afraid that going too fast might cause him to miss some important plot points.
Because there were still three meals tomorrow, and he could pick up more information from the conversations between the guests and the host.
Tonight, Chosen Ones like Sidney were busy as hell. If they didn’t make their move soon, it would be too late.
For them, every day recently had been a slaughter.
From tomorrow morning till night, everything was meticulously planned—not a single step could go wrong.
To that end, the Chosen Ones had prepared for a long time after killing the raspy-voiced middle-aged man before finally getting some sleep.
Zhang Yangqing didn’t have all that drama. After sending the little girl off, he just rested on the sofa.
He thought to himself that this Horror Tale wasn’t bad—there were sofas and beds to sleep on, and the food was pretty tasty too.
Hope the next one’s like this!
He was the only one in the Horror Tale World who still had the leisure to enjoy life.
It also showed just how composed the strong could be.
And the best toy in this Horror Tale was undoubtedly the little girl. Zhang Yangqing was going to watch her fall into the abyss step by step.
Power and strength—those are the most intoxicating things.
Once you have them, it’s awfully hard to turn back.
Nothing blinds people more than power and strength.
The next morning, before the bells even rang, many Chosen Ones naturally woke up on their own.
It was as if they’d already formed some kind of habit.
Without a moment’s hesitation, they got straight out of bed.
Today’s details and tasks were heavy; they needed to take things seriously.
Argentina’s Chosen One, Ramirez, after finishing breakfast, took his guide dog and entered the gallery.
He didn’t follow the gravelly-voiced old man away, also to avoid drawing anyone’s hatred.
This morning, as he entered the gallery, the gravelly-voiced old man greeted him first.
After several days of brown-nosing, the old man had finally come to acknowledge this guest.
During their chat, Ramirez casually mentioned that he seemed to have discovered that the villa’s owner had been replaced. This made the old man’s face turn serious.
“Is what you’re saying true?”
“I’m blind. I’ve only heard rumors about such a thing. But here, I have a mirror. You can take a look for yourself. If you don’t trust me, you can find one on your own and see for yourself.”
Ramirez was deliberately instigating the gravelly-voiced old man to make a move against the villa’s owner.
Because everyone wanted the Key Demon, and killing the owner was undoubtedly the best option.
Otherwise, even if they got the Key Demon, the owner would just kill them anyway.
That was an unspoken understanding among everyone.
Now that there was a pretext, the old man naturally felt more justified in taking action.
But the problem was, the old man now had a motive—just not a very strong one.
He was still hesitating, and that’s where Ramirez needed to keep stirring the pot.
Of course, not by provoking the old man further—he’d already said enough to him. Pushing more would seem too deliberate.
So Ramirez said that his hearing was excellent, and he’d once overheard the fake villa owner planning to make a move against everyone, probably sometime tomorrow or the day after.
With that, Ramirez took his leave.
In the afternoon, he secretly found the fake villa owner and told him that he seemed to have discovered that others had already gotten their hands on the Key Demon, and that they might try to escape after tonight.
The fake villa owner was naturally furious upon hearing this. No wonder I’ve been seeing so little progress every day—so that’s what’s been going on.
Still, the fake owner couldn’t fully trust Ramirez’s words either. He decided to interrogate everyone at tonight’s banquet.
As soon as he did that, the gravelly-voiced old man would mistakenly think that the fake owner was getting anxious and about to strike.
With his back against the wall, wouldn’t that be motive enough?
The old man would then think: if I just sit here and wait to die, and someone else beats me to it, won’t I be screwed?
So tonight, Ramirez could successfully goad the gravelly-voiced old man into taking down the fake villa owner.
And it wasn’t just Ramirez—other Chosen Ones were hard at work too.
Except for one, who seemed to be genuinely relaxing and enjoying the daily routine.
Come evening, just as Zhang Yangqing had anticipated, the plot he wanted unfolded.
The fake villa owner mentioned that more people would be coming to the villa soon, and that they needed to speed up their progress.
Those people were of high status—not something they could afford to offend.
After dinner, the killing officially began.
A typical Chosen One, like Ramirez, would use the excuse of “finding a way out” to lure the head chef into his room.
With the help of corruption, he successfully used his guide dog to kill the head chef.
There was one crucial detail: the guide dog had to be hidden first so the head chef wouldn’t spot it. Otherwise, he’d become wary and might even try to flee.
Ramirez was even more meticulous this time. Learning from his last mistake, he didn’t lock the guide dog in the room—he had it hide behind the sofa, waiting for his signal.
When its neck was pierced, the head chef clutched his throat with one hand, staring at Ramirez in utter shock. He hadn’t done anything to offend this guest—so why had he been schemed against?
That mixture of resentment and hatred filled his eyes, as if casting a curse of death. If a Chosen One could see it, it would indeed send chills down their spine.
But Chosen Ones were all blind, so they couldn’t witness that sight.
This was actually the rule hinting at the Chosen Ones’ strategy. Those with Zhang Yangqing’s level of skill could choose not to follow it.
Most of this Horror Tale’s Chosen Ones were veterans. Even if their judgment wasn’t as fast as Zhang Yangqing’s, they could still gather intel and figure out how to clear the stage. The timing might differ, but the general approach was pretty much the same.
This kill happened before midnight, because they were planning to set the fire and escape at night anyway, so they weren’t worried about the fake villa owner getting suspicious. After all, he was their next target anyway.
Now came the thrilling part. With a corpse in the room, they could finally summon a demon.
The feeling was like saving up for a long-awaited guaranteed pull and finally getting to roll the gacha.
Hopefully, they’d summon a powerful demon—otherwise, this corpse would be wasted.
Getting a corpse in the Horror Tale World was already hard enough, and that didn’t even include the cost of your own lifespan.
Ramirez might be a tough guy, but he valued his life too.
Letting out a long breath, he had the Key Demon begin the summoning while he hid behind his guide dog, just in case something went wrong.
After the Key Demon recited the summoning incantation, the air in the room suddenly grew cold and heavy.
A powerful dark energy surged from the walls, as if it were about to swallow the entire room whole.
The black mist seemed to find its target and madly rushed into the corpse.
A special magical mark appeared on the head chef’s body.
Then, a terrifying shadow enveloped the corpse, accompanied by a nauseating stench of decay.
The sound of flesh merging echoed continuously—just like when the Key Demon was summoned last time.
But this demon was far stronger, far more overwhelming.
Before long, a powerful demon appeared in the room, even making the guide dog feel pressured.
And this was still daytime. At night, it would be even more terrifying.
The demon servant’s appearance was horrifying—it had a pair of curved horns, a body covered in pitch-black scales, and a tail tipped with a sharp venomous stinger.
Its fingers were like razor-sharp blades, as if they could easily tear through anyone’s skin.
The moment the demon appeared, Ramirez felt a sharp, violent pain in his chest. Even though it lasted only an instant, it instantly drained him of strength.
It felt as if some monster had taken a bite out of his heart.
So this was what it meant to trade lifespan for a gacha pull. Absolutely terrifying.
“Congratulations, master. You’ve summoned an A-rank demon,” the Key Demon said in its emotionless voice, like nothing more than a cold, mechanical tool.
Even if its body were torn apart, it wouldn’t resist.
This so-called A-rank demon was basically the beginner’s guaranteed pull.
Ramirez figured that the Horror Tale World wouldn’t give him anything too overpowered on his first summon, nor anything too weak.
This demon was decent enough for this world. Used properly, it could help him clear the stage.
But to be safer, he could sacrifice more lifespan to summon something even stronger.
However, the next summon would be completely random. Getting an A-rank or above would be a huge win; getting anything below A would be a massive loss.
Meanwhile, the audience outside, loving the chaos, started egging the Chosen Ones on—urging them to grab more corpses and do a ten-pull to see if they could hit a gold!
If the Chosen Ones inside could hear them, they’d definitely curse back: “You’ve got so much lifespan—you come do it!”
You should know—the lifespan of a lucky fool is extremely short!
If there were no consequences, the Chosen Ones would love to do a hundred pulls, snag a few S-ranks, or even SS-ranks, and then stroll out.
But their lifespans wouldn’t allow it.
They had no idea how many years this single summon had already cost them. And what if S-rank or higher demons required even more lifespan?
It was still early, so the Chosen Ones began training their demons.
First off, demons had two forms. The first was a human form, much like the maids—cold skin, weird texture.
But in this creepy world, that was what normal people looked like.
The second form was the demon form—the combat form.
At night, the demon’s combat ability would skyrocket.
According to the Key Demon, the demon Ramirez had summoned was far stronger than the maids outside—roughly on par with the head maid and such.
But against the gravelly-voiced old man and the fake villa owner? It wouldn’t be enough.
If he summoned an S-rank demon, this stage would be a breeze.
If he summoned an SS-rank demon, he could even challenge some of the stronger beings.
As for anything beyond that, the Key Demon plainly stated that those were boss-level demons—and no one had ever summoned one before.
After hearing all this, Ramirez started analyzing. Aside from the opening guaranteed pull, everything afterward was random.
The Key Demon also mentioned that even if you summoned a demon a hundred times, you might get one S-rank—and note the word might.
It’s like a gacha with a 1% rate written on it—doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed one in a hundred pulls.
Besides, which Chosen One would be crazy enough to pull a hundred times? That’s not gacha—that’s suicide!
No guaranteed pity system? Who’d dare to pull?
Even if there was a ten-pull guarantee for at least an A-rank, the Chosen Ones still weren’t bold enough to try.
Ramirez figured he’d summon at most two or three demons for protection and then figure things out later.
Other Chosen Ones also summoned A-rank demons one after another. Some of the bolder ones even went for a second pull.
This time, Iron Tower Country’s Chosen One, Black, used his position again to lure an ordinary cook into his room.
After the kill, he went for his second summon. If he pulled an A-rank or above, he’d hit the jackpot.
That would be a great start, even if it cost a bit of lifespan.
In the Horror Tale World, losing some lifespan was still better than dying, right?
Seeing someone go for another pull, a flood of viewers swarmed Iron Tower Country’s screen.
Under the eager anticipation of millions, Black lived up to the hype—by summoning a D-rank demon.
When the Key Demon introduced the new arrival as a D-rank demon, Black was stunned speechless.
The D-rank demon’s aura was so weak that even Black himself felt like it probably couldn’t beat him.
What the hell am I supposed to do with you?
Black ranted internally.
But this pull also proved just how pure his bloodline really was.
Just when viewers thought everyone was topping out at A-rank, Dragon Country’s screen erupted with an intense burst of black light.
That overwhelming black energy was so powerful that even those watching the screen felt a chill run down their spines.
This was… the sign of a gold pull!
Viewers were confused. Wasn’t the first summon supposed to be a guaranteed A-rank for everyone?
Was Dragon Country’s Celestial Master not only incredibly strong but also insanely lucky?
Actually, they were overthinking it. Zhang Yangqing’s luck was pretty average. The only reason he survived in the Horror Tale World was pure skill.
But this time, it wasn’t him pulling. And even he hadn’t expected that this girl would be insanely lucky!
You see, pulling an A-rank or above cost a hefty chunk of lifespan.
But Zhang Yangqing didn’t care one bit—after all, it wasn’t his lifespan.
