SWBG - Chapter 18

The [Happy Board Games] app on the phone recorded every game and corresponding achievement experienced by the participants. After additionally receiving the invitation for [It’s Fruit Harvesting Season Again], Gu Jing Sheng unlocked three new titles: [Beginner’s Road], [High Luck (Beginner)], and [Leader Kill (Beginner)].

The first one is easy to understand. The second probably relates to her having [Detective’s Friend] active throughout, completely avoiding He Suo Wen’s death flags. The third is likely a bonus for taking down Old Ivan.

After clearing the instance, the draws for both lottery pools were reset. Notably, perhaps because Gu Jing Sheng didn’t leave the instance immediately after clearing the normal difficulty and additionally achieved the advanced difficulty ending, the [Free is the Most Expensive] lottery pool was reset with 30 draws, while [Spending Money Doesn’t Guarantee Strength] accumulated 5 draws.

Skillfully performing three 10-draws, Gu Jing Sheng’s emotional fluctuations perfectly illustrated going from anticipation to anxiety, from anxiety to calm, and then from calm to... huh?

[72-Hour Resurrection Voucher: Though you can’t truly resurrect yet, you can preview a resurrected life! Its only flaw is that it lasts just 4,320 minutes. Users may choose to return to the game space early. "No matter what, please do not break the game rules." 

Item Rating: ★★★ Note: This is a single-use item that can be combined with similar items.] ×3

The newly drawn item’s duration is worthy of its star rating, but it’s still just a trial voucher and can’t fully resolve the participant’s current predicament.

Aside from the three-star resurrection vouchers, Gu Jing Sheng drew 7 packs of [Old Sanna’s Instant Coffee], 6 bottles of [Forest Clinic’s Special Sale Blood Vials], 8 rolls of [Elderberry Brand Bandages], 5 [One-Hour Resurrection Vouchers], and 3 daily-use gifts from [The Never-Closing Frog Supermarket]. The only fresh item was—

[Madam Egret’s Pocket Candy Pack: Madam Egret is the kindest caretaker. She always provides free, friendly service to newborns when no one is looking. Every child-loving lady carries ample candy. "Those swallowed run in the garden; those unswallowed sleep in the cradle." 

Item Rating: ★★★ Note: 1. Madam Egret is a generous and kind lady; please do not regift her offerings. 2. The candy will become inedible 30 minutes after drawing.]

...So this thing really is meant to be eaten?

Having experienced the chestnut trap, Gu Jing Sheng was wary of food items drawn from the lottery pool, suspecting she might end up eating gutter oil-fried rat meat. But according to the note, she didn’t have much time to hesitate—only 30 minutes at most.

After hesitating briefly, Gu Jing Sheng adopted a "how much worse could it get" mindset, opened the candy pack, and poured out a blue oval object about the size of a red date.

Neither the candy’s appearance nor its smell exceeded her understanding of common sweet snacks—it seemed utterly ordinary. It showed no signs of mold or spoilage, nor did it possess any specially tempting quality that might weaken one’s will. She tried taking a bite—

"Tch."

Gu Jing Sheng clutched her cheek, shedding tears of regret. She had thought the black bread from the farm was the pinnacle of food hardness, but right after clearing the instance, this new candy surpassed it.

Since gradual consumption proved unworkable, Gu Jing Sheng could only choose to swallow the candy whole. Fortunately, it didn’t resist melting entirely and soon dissolved into a refreshing sweetness.

Gu Jing Sheng noticed a subtle change: the moment she finished the candy, her entire body was filled with an endless surge of energy, and the fatigue from days of labor instantly vanished—

At this thought, Gu Jing Sheng’s racing mind slammed on the brakes. She belatedly realized that the moment she returned to Room 08321, her physical fatigue had completely disappeared. The remaining weariness, hardship, and reluctance to move were all mental.

After eating the candy, even her mental lethargy was swept away. Not only that, but her strength and agility had also increased. Gu Jing Sheng did some simple self-testing in the room, and the results mostly met expectations—the most direct proof was that the room’s length and width could no longer match her suddenly enhanced lower-body explosive power. Without even a running start, she could easily leap from one diagonal end to the other.

If not for keeping in mind the five chances to prove her luck in the [Spending Money Doesn’t Guarantee Strength] pool, Gu Jing Sheng could have continued bouncing around a while longer.

The draws continued—

[Automatic Bottled Swamp: The beautiful and kind Princess Ella brought back a swamp from the deep forest, hoping to decorate her castle more beautifully. The wise Mr. Marshall Herring believed that the princess’s godmother enchanted the glass bottle containing the swamp, allowing this delicate little bottle to hold enough dark green mud to cover nearly half a garden. "First the boots on the feet, then the whip on the waist—gurgle, gurgle—the bubbles bring the final farewell!" 

Item Rating: ★★★★★ Note: Every 24 hours, the poured-out swamp will return to the bottle.]

[Used Movie Ticket Stub: Tickets for the "Twelve Gray Birds" cinema are always in high demand. Satisfied customers casually discard used stubs on the ground when leaving. The timid ▇▇ just watched a brilliant horror movie; the thrilling feeling lingers long in their heart. ▇▇ fears darkness and certain places—under the bed, the doorway, the bathroom mirror. "Relax, who’s to say your worries are unnecessary?" 

Item Rating: ★★★ Note: 1. The magic fails when people realize this stub secretly placed in their pocket isn’t theirs. 2. You certainly wouldn’t think a ticket stub can be reused; its proper place is the trash with old lampshades and perforated couch cushions.]

[Newton’s Wrath: An ancient coffin long buried underground suddenly erupts with a terrifying roar. Wizards and witches have always revered the famous scientist—after all, his research could nullify their magic entirely. "All actions defying natural laws will face scientific judgment!" 

Item Rating: ★★★★★★★★ Note: Part of the [Scientist] series. Please do not frequently disturb Mr. Isaac’s rest; he does not wish to be awakened repeatedly by the same person within at least three days.]

[Extra Two Card Slots: No explanation needed—you definitely understand this item’s use. Nearly all top participants share the same frustration: they get more and more items from the lottery pool, but card slots are always insufficient. "Now you can store one extra card, or even two." 

Item Rating: ★★★★★★ Note: Such rare luck!]

["I Love Studying" Auto-Reply: ▇▇▇ only cares about studying, but people always invite him to games, so he was forced to change his auto-reply. Excessive gaming inevitably feels empty; now only studying brings ▇▇▇ joy. "Maybe I’ll join later, but not this time." 

Item Rating: ★★★★★ Note: You can refuse once, twice, or three times without worry of extra punishment—after all, studying is what matters most :).]

Items from the [Spending Money Doesn’t Guarantee Strength] lottery pool are always so varied and... Hard to explain in a few words.

Gu Jing Sheng was now glad that she had eaten the all-attribute-boosting candy before the lottery draw, or else she would’ve easily been overwhelmed by the desire to roast things halfway through reading comprehension.

[Automatic Bottled Swamp] can reclaim its contents every 24 hours. As for what else the swamp does beyond decoration, experience must be gained through practice. [Used Movie Ticket Stub] can inflict a mental debuff on opponents, but it’s a single-use. Had she drawn [Newton’s Wrath] earlier, Gu Jing Sheng could have shown He Suowen the power of science when he turned into a werewolf—but it’s hard to say, as this AoE skill doesn’t exempt allies and could easily cause unintentional harm to temporary allies. ["I Love Studying" Auto-Reply] counters items like board game invitations, but it’s unknown if it works on mandatory tasks.

As for the [Extra Two Card Slots], they merged with her rabbit card slot pouch immediately after drawing. She now had 13 slots in total—

"..."

Gu Jing Sheng confirmed it was indeed 13 slots. Ruling out the unlikely possibility that arithmetic works differently in [Happy Board Games], the only explanation was that her card slot pouch had grown sturdily alongside its owner after enduring the instance’s trials.

Aside from the [Lottery Pool], the [Mailbox] icon—which seemed like it would remain idle until the game shut down—also showed new mail. Gu Jing Sheng had no issue with the first two items, [Little Fool’s Bee Friend] and [Water-Stained Brush], which met conditions to be taken out of the instance, but the third—

[Axe with Dark Red Stains: This axe was originally hung in the farmhouse dining room as decoration until ▇▇▇ took it down and dealt its former owner a fatal blow. Mr. Sam took the murder weapon when collecting Old Ivan’s body. "What a delightful game—until the very end, you never know who was the targeted prey all along." 

Item Rating: ★★ Note: This axe is sturdy and sharp; ▇▇▇ will gradually discover it works very well on the game’s natives :).]

Enjoy Reading!