The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 869: 5v5

Then, another Gao Yang materialized there.

The pain subsided, leaving him alive but diminished. Through heavy breaths, he understood: the domain had forcibly created his double to serve as the fifth teammate.

Five versus five. Perfectly "fair."

"May the match begin." Clear Mirror\'s proclamation sent tremors through the void.

Rumble.

The ten scales sank into the white expanse, gray ripples spreading as if they\'d plunged into a pale sea. Chains unwound themselves. Gao Yang dropped, landing steadily on his feet. His "companions" and enemies did the same, each touching down where their scales had been.

Hum.

Gray circular patterns, each about five meters in diameter, materialized beneath their feet—even the parrot\'s. Movement range, Gao Yang realized.

The two teams faced each other in parallel lines. A translucent gray barrier descended between them, maintaining visibility while blocking sound.

Hiss.

Above his head, two bars appeared—one red, one gold. HP and Energy. Identical bars floated above everyone else, their lengths exactly matching his.

Based on the games he had played, Gao Yang guessed that they would die once their HP was depleted, and once they ran out of Energy, they would most likely be unable to use Talents or even move at all.

While everyone’s HP and Energy looked the same, their actual stats must have been wildly different. Take Dr. Jia as an example. His HP could hit bottom after getting one punch, but Gao Yang’s HP wouldn’t be so easily depleted.

Their displayed abilities were converted proportionally from their actual abilities, only put under the restrictions of the same rules. That was the reason for them getting initialized on the scales.

New information flooded his mind, crystallizing into clear rules:

[5v5 Turn-based Match]

[Each player has only one move every turn.]

[Attacking, charging, defending, guarding, healing, using an item, and supporting an ally all count as one move each.]

[Before the start of a turn is a 180-second thinking time for all players.]

[The order of turns depends on the mobility of each player and may change according to their conditions.]

[The skills usable in the match depend on each player’s Talents, the items they have, and other factors.]

[Every move will cost a varying amount of energy.]

[Once a player’s energy is depleted, they will be unable to move and be forced to rest for a turn to recover a small amount of energy.]

[Inflicting different forms of damage on an enemy will decrease a varying amount of their HP.]

[Items, healing, and resurrection skills will heal a varying amount of HP.]

[Once a player’s HP is depleted, they will die.]

[Once one side is completely wiped out, the match will end.]

...

"Fuck!" Dr. Jia processed the rules faster than anyone else and threw his hands up. "This is literally a goddamn turn-based RPG from the stone age!"

He whirled to face Gao Yang, desperation in his eyes. "You can handle those five yourself, right? I\'m a scientist, not a street fighter!"

"Do you have any items? Weapons?" Gao Yang\'s voice remained steady.

"Let me check..." Dr. Jia patted his bathrobe, then froze. Bathrobe meant no pocket. His face fell. "Oh. Right."

Gao Yang suppressed a sigh. That’s minus one.

"What about your parrot? Any special abilities?"

"Special abilities?" Dr. Jia\'s laugh held an edge of hysteria. "It excels at two things: making noise and creating messes."

Wonderful. That’s minus two.

Gao Yang turned to Nico, who sat cross-legged on the ground, smiling like he was watching street theater. A numbness crept across Gao Yang\'s scalp.

Minus three.

Finally, he met his double\'s gaze. They exchanged a single nod of perfect understanding.

If you want something done right...