They wanted to make a trashy game, but how come it sold like hotcakes again?

Chapter 5: Everyone's a Rebel

Because the game has just launched, the matchmaking speed is very fast.

Hao Zhenggang clicked the match button, and an accept button popped up in front of him.

Hao Zheng clicked the accept button and entered the game, but this game was not what he had imagined.

The tutorial just now clearly showed a five-player game, but this match is actually an eight-player game.

"Huh? This game has an eight-player mode? I thought it only had five-player modes. Eight-player mode, let me see... Where's the description?"

"Hmm, four rebels, two loyalists, one lord, and one traitor. This situation clearly favors the rebels. If only we were the rebels! Wow, they're loyalists? This is going to be tough."

With Hao Zheng's words, the lord had finished selecting generals, and it was now his turn to select his own.

During the first seven days after the launch of the Three Kingdoms Kill game, all generals can be experienced for a limited time.

This was of course Tang She's suggestion, since even if the game really had something to offer, most players would get tired of it after seven days.

Even if a small percentage of players manage to stick with it, the seven-day free trial will shorten their window of opportunity to spend money. The seemingly 30-day sales period was quietly shortened by Tang She to twenty-three days.

However, this also meant that Hao Zheng never saw the three selectable generals in the beginner's tutorial.

Xu Sheng, Liu Yan, and Cao Pi.

"I've never heard of the first two generals before, and this Cao Pi must be Cao Cao's son, right? Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi? Let me see his skills first."

Hao Zheng moved the mouse over Cao Pi's card, and two semi-transparent frames appeared. The larger frame displayed Cao Pi's basic skills.

【Wounded Death: When a character dies, you gain all of their cards.】

Exile: When you take damage, you may flip another character face down, and that character draws x cards. (x is the amount of health you have lost)

Then, Hao Zheng looked at the small, semi-transparent frame, which contained an explanation of how to flip the item.

[Flip over: When a character card is face down, flip it back to face up before the start of the character's turn and skip the entire turn. This state does not affect the character's survival status; they can still take damage or lose health.]

The screen was instantly flooded with comments after seeing this skill.

"Let's choose this one. Isn't this much better than that Martial Saint skill that treats red cards as kills?"

"I don't understand this game, but I do know that there's a control/selection system."

Hao Zheng's thoughts were similar to those of the viewers, and since he didn't have enough time left to look at the skills of other heroes, he directly chose Cao Pi.

Soon, the others had also chosen their generals, and Hao Zheng entered the game screen. The eight positions were: Li Jue, Cao Pi, Sun Shangxiang, Deng Ai, Gongsun Zan, Cheng Yu, Fan Chou, and Ma Liang.

"I don't recognize any of them. Did you know there were so many famous generals during the Three Kingdoms period?"

Come, let me see these people's skills.

Hao Zheng first hovered the mouse over the Lord's card.

[Also counted: Once per turn during your play phase, when the trick card you use enters the discard pile, you can reduce your maximum health by 1 point and obtain it from the discard pile.]

Wolf Attack: During the preparation phase, you can deal 0-2 points of random damage to another character whose health is less than or equal to yours.

While Hao Zheng was still reading the skill descriptions, the lord immediately took action.

"Huh? Why did Ma Liang suddenly bleed?"

Before Hao Zheng could finish speaking, Lord Li Jue used three more "Steal" cards on Ma Liang, who was in position eight, leaving him with only one card.

"No, how did he just steal it? He's in position 8, do you even know his identity? Shouldn't the first round be about observing each other's identities? What if Ma Liang is a loyal subject..."

Before Hao Zheng could finish speaking, the lord used a wine card, increasing the damage of the next "Kill" card this turn by one point. He then used "Kill" to hit Ma Liang.

With only one card left, Ma Liang didn't dodge. Including the inexplicable damage at the start of the game, he took a total of three points of damage. With only three points of health, Ma Liang couldn't hold on and was on the verge of death, hoping someone would use a peach to save him.

Hao Zheng instinctively wanted to save him, because if the lord killed a loyal minister, he would lose all his cards, and he didn't know Ma Liang's identity.

But Hao Zheng had no peaches in his hand, so he couldn't do anything.

"Sigh, this lord is a reckless fool; he doesn't know how to play at all."

"666, playing Tang Dynasty games with sugar figurines is all about having fun, no brains required."

The comments kept scrolling by, and Hao Zheng didn't know what to say. But the good news was that Ma Liang was a traitor.

Hao Zheng skipped the verbal attack and began to explain his actions.

"This lord previously copied a 'Steal' card, which reduced his maximum health slightly. He now has 6 health remaining."

He currently has 6 cards in his hand, 6 health points, and an extra horse in his equipment inventory. One of the rebels has already died, so we currently have the advantage.

"And I'm currently in position 2, and I don't know who the others are. If I rashly reveal myself as a loyalist, I'll definitely get focused down and killed by the rebels behind me. After all, the lord has 6 health points, while I only have 3. They might not be able to kill the lord, but killing me would be very easy. So I'm pretending to be a rebel for now. Sigh, that's the true essence of this game, okay."

"Old Hao is indeed a game streamer; his reactions are incredibly fast."

"If I hadn't known you were injured and could still subdue people, I would have believed you."

Hao Zheng used a card called "Creating Something from Nothing," then reduced his equipment by one horse, closing the distance with his lord, and then used a kill card to kill his lord.

The lord chose to take the 1 point of damage head-on.

"Huh? No, why isn't he flashing? He didn't flash with 6 cards? That might be a bit dangerous, there are still 3 rebels behind him."

Don't rush, let me see Sun Shangxiang's skills first.

Marry: Once per turn, you may discard two cards to restore 1 point of health to yourself and an injured male character.

"It can restore health, that's not bad. If this Sun Shangxiang were a loyalist, she would definitely choose to restore health to her lord."

Sun Shangxiang then equipped a Bagua Mirror, discarded two cards, and ended the turn.

"Hey, did you see that? This Sun Shangxiang is definitely not a loyal subject. I did the right thing. If I hadn't slashed my lord, I would be the one being slashed by Sun Shangxiang now."

Flip over? The situation on the field is unclear, what if you flip over to your teammate? Don't worry, just watch me do it.

Next was Deng Ai's turn. Deng Ai hesitated for a moment, then linked the iron chains around Gongsun Zan and his lord.

"Chained chains? What's that?"

Hao Zheng found the battle log and moved the mouse over the Iron Chain Link.

This card can inflict a chain effect on a target by placing their general card horizontally, or it can reset an already horizontally placed target to a neutralized state. When a character in a chain effect receives fire or lightning damage, the damage will be transferred to other chained characters based on the same source, value, and attribute. After the transfer, all related characters' general cards will be reset.

"Alright, you see, I'm loyal, Sun Shangxiang is a rebel, and this Deng Ai is also a rebel. Counting the dead Ma Liang, there are now three rebels. I've figured out their identities pretty much. If I hadn't pretended to be a rebel at the beginning, I wouldn't have such a clear view."

Gongsun Zan dodged Deng Ai's lightning attack, and then it was his turn. He used the "Enjoying Life in Shu" card on Li Jue's head.

"Alright, this guy who gave the lord the 'Enjoying Life in Shu' card is also a traitor. Now all four traitors have come out: Ma Liang, Sun Shangxiang, Deng Ai, and Gongsun Zan. Okay? Then there's Cheng Yu and this Fan Chou, one a loyal minister, the other a spy. But let's ignore him for now and kill these three traitors first, okay?"

Next was Cheng Yu's turn. Cheng Yu immediately threw a "Steal" card at Fan Chou behind him, and then used "Demolish the Bridge" and "Fire Attack" to deal 1 point of damage to Fan Chou.

Then he equipped himself with the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow and played two Kill cards on Fan Chou, dealing 2 points of damage.

"Is Cheng Yu even playing this game? Four rebels have already come out, and he's still attacking the back. Why are you even bothering with the one on your side in the back?"

Oh, I get it. This Cheng Yu is definitely a traitor. He feels the situation is unfavorable, so he's pretending to be stupid and attacking loyal subjects to pave the way for his own independent victory later.

Fan Chou's turn began. He equipped a weapon, then played a "Kill" card against the lord. The lord used a "Dodge" card, then discarded two cards, ending his turn.

"666, everyone's a villain."

"My lord: What kind of idiotic PVP game requires me to take on 7 opponents at once?"

"I'm the lord, I'm resigning. The game has a bug; there are no loyal subjects, only traitors."