Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Two pillars of golden light descended from the sky, materializing in front of the five surviving players Inside each pillar. ghostly squares flickered into view, the items within them cycling rapidly.

Lina clenched her fists until her knuckles went white. She knew exactly how much these rewards mattered.

Ursaria’s player Lydia-a striking woman of about five foot seven-flicked her hair back, her gaze drifung between the two pillars.

Teutonia’s Lucas and Belsoria’s Sergei just stood there in silence, eyes locked on one specific pillar.

[Attention, players. There are two reward pools. Rewards are graded into five tiers: S, A, B, C, and D.}

[East pool: rewards tied to the real world.]

[Includes food supplies, water reserves, Wraith purges, crop-yield boosts, or reclamation of lost districts.]

In the Draconia command center, Lana kept her eyes glued to the screen.

Voices were already buzzing all around her.

“What’s she going to pick? Who knows what she’ll roll?”

A Wraith purge for a whole district would be the best value, wouldn’t it?”

‘But food matters too. Plenty of regions can’t even guarantee one packet of nutrient goo per person a day anymore.”

The chat exploded.

momo: [Pick the real-world pool.]

LyrasNumberOneFan: [Pick the personal pool!]

BornToCuss: [Lyra. Roll us food. We’re starving down here.]

AnotherDayAlive: [Nope, clearing a district of Wraiths is the long-term play.]

NeverAteVeggies: [What’s the point of clearing Wraiths if we starve to death anyway?)

LuckyKoi. [Whatever she picks, whatever she rolls, we already won.]

NeverAteFruit: [Exactly We kept our land AND we get a reward on top That’s already a win

GoDraconia: [Right Whatever Lyra picks is right. We don’t get to backseat.]

LyraMyldol: [Yeah. Anyone running their mouth right now is just an ungrateful brat |

Lina squeezed her eyes shut, pressed her palms together, and whispered a prayer “Clean Clear one district My country country Please, let it be a district cleared of Wraiths, let us reclaim our land. Please

In the Southern Reach command center, every face was bent in silent prayer The chat was nothing but pleas

GoLina: [Praying Lina wins us one district]

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31 am

Chripte

naTheHero Hit has to be a district Southern Reach really does only have one left.]

GoSouthernReach: Lina, you’re qui only hope.]

The mechanical voice continued. [West pool: rewards tied to the individual.] [Includes evolution serums, strength potions, speed potions, weapon mastery, or various game items…]

Lyra heard that and pursed her lips. “None of that fills a stomach.” She patted her belly. “Total rip-off.”

Lydia, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate. She locked onto the personal pool. “Strength potion. Please, give me a strength potion.” Her eyes burned. She needed more raw power of her own.

The Ursaria chat was solidly behind her.

LongLive Ursaria: [Lydia, you need that strength.]

VictoryVictory: [We’ve still got thirty-eight districts left. Plenty of room to live. As long as our players keep getting stronger. we keep winning.]

GoLydia: [Lydia is our champion.]

Lyra glanced back at the real-world pool. Her eyes kept drifting toward the food. She patted her flat stomach and her lips moved on their own. “I’m starving. I want something good to eat. Not that gross nutrient goo.”

The mechanical voice spoke again. [Players, please make your selection.]

Lydia went first. “Ursaria player Lydia, selecting the West pool. I want a strength potion.”

The words were barely out before she stepped into the pillar of light. A flash of gold swept over her, and when Lydia emerged, the vial in her hand gave off a faint glow.

[Congratulations to Ursaria player Lydia. B-tier reward drawn. Speed Potion.]

Lydia didn’t think twice. She popped the cap and downed if in one go. A speed potion wasn’t bad either. The corner of her mouth lifted into a small smile.

Lana drew a long breath. “I choose… the East pool. The real-world rewards.”

‘I want one district cleared… I want the Wraiths gone!” she shouted it like she was wringing the words out of her bones, then strode straight into the pillar of light.

The Southern Reach chat boiled over.

GoSouthernReach: [That’s the one. Clear the Wraiths.]

NoMore Exile [Lina, you’re our savior.]

Sap: [Give us back our home ]

[Congratulations to Southern Reach player Lina A-tier reward drawn one hundred tons of wheat)

Γ

Lina froze. She repeated the words. “Wheat one hundred tons? Her eyes were blank. “Nor not clearing the Wraiths she murmured to herself.

The Southern Reach chat went dead for a heartbeat Then every emotion came flooding out at once

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931 m

Sighton No Washita Wraith purge)

NoMoreFxile [So disappointed L

Golma Disappointed about what? Thats a hundred tons of wheat ]

GoSouthernReach [Right Maybe a litle at even makes it down to us One last loaf of bread before the country falls I’ll take it |

What DoesFood Taste (The ten thousand or so of us left should each get a share

LanaThe Best II na you did good |

The disappointment on Lana’s face slowly melted into wonder She looked at I yra We we have food’ The tears came again, only this time they were happy ones

I vra watched her, a httle envious A hundred tons of wheat. That’s gotta last a long time

After Lina. Lucas and Serger both chose the East pool too. Their countries weren’t down to a single district like Southern Reach, but neither had even ten districts left. They needed land back

Congratulations to Teutoma player Lucas D-tier reward drawn fifty tons of clean water |

Congratulations to Belsona player Sergei C-tier reward drawn eighty tons of wheat flour]

That left only Lyra. Lana leaned forward, eyes fixed on the screen, not daring to blink in case she missed a single detail

The Dracoma chat fell right back into arguing.

NeverAteVeggies: [What’s she going to pick?]

yraMyldol: (Lyra is already insane. Personal pool is better. The stronger she gets, the more shots we have.]

yraOurOnlyGod. (We’re down to twelve districts. If real-world rolls a district, that’s huge too.]

NeverAte Fruit: [What if it’s just a few pieces of fruit, or some pitiful little stash of food? Personal’s the safer bet.]

GoDraconia. [Pick real-world If she rolls a Wraith purge for a whole district, the dream is real.]

BornToCuss. [Stop backseating Whatever Lyra picks is right.]

I want the East pool too. I want wheat. Better yet, I want fresh bread” Lyra finished cheerfully and sipped straight into the East pillar of light Every pair of eyes locked onto her.

Congratulations to Draconia player Lyra Vance. S-tier reward drawn one random district of Draconia territory restored to afe status, with crop yield boosted by 100%]

When the voice cut off, every single person was stunned. Then the Draconia command center exploded with cheers

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