Deceitful Game

Chapter 12 Lin Ya's Murder

At this point, the black cat looked meaningfully at the raccoon through the glasses hanging around its neck.

The raccoon realized something and turned pale.

Without the mask to conceal her expression, it was immediately exposed to the others.

Given her identity and cause of death, her crimes are essentially self-evident.

"...I see, so the earlier the crime is committed, the less serious it is."

The fox quickly realized, "Then it seems that old bear really didn't kill anyone..."

"Hmph hmph hmph..."

The mouth hanging around the black cat's neck chuckled merrily: "Be glad you met me. Other hosts don't talk as much as I do... But I've never liked being a riddle teller. As long as a newcomer can spot something illogical in the game and ask me a question, I'll try my best to answer."

"I understand," the fox murmured, "because the seating arrangement is actually determined before the game even begins, so it's not part of the game's rules, but rather an unspoken rule of the entire 'Deceitful Game'..."

At this point, the fox suddenly froze.

He suddenly raised his head and looked at the wolf.

If...

The further back the seat is, the more serious the crime. So what about wolves who don't even have a seat...?

"According to my original plan, I wasn't going to give you this game; I was supposed to give you 'Escape from the Sheepfold.' Unfortunately, one person died before the game even started... so we didn't have enough people."

The black cat sighed, speaking slowly and deliberately, but with a mocking smirk at the corner of its mouth: "Instead, be thankful."

"The 'wolves' were originally your enemies. If it weren't for someone's suicidal tendencies and accidental death before the game was even confirmed, plus the rabbit's invitation..."

"Judging from your personalities and level of unity, if the game had proceeded normally, I'm afraid that at most two of the 'sheep' would have been able to escape the 'wolf's' hunt, and they might even have been wiped out."

...Are wolves our enemies?

The rabbit, the fox, and the raccoon were taken aback when they heard this.

Because, according to the host, the game is "fair".

If we follow these underlying rules...

In other words, the strength of one wolf is roughly equal to that of twelve of them!

Among their twelve members, there were intelligent individuals like the fox and the fish, second-time players like the bear and the butterfly who brought back intelligence, and a physically powerful warrior like the dog. And all of them combined were only judged by the host to be on par with wolves?

It is precisely because the wolf is too strong that he chose this game, which has little room for strategy and relies heavily on luck, to hinder his performance and balance his strength?

The rabbit suddenly held its breath.

Her mind went blank, and the lingering fear and dread that welled up inside her made her gasp for breath like she had asthma.

She suddenly realized something—

Why did she see the person on the ground covered in blood when she went out, but "Mr. Ai" only had a few drops of blood on the tip of his left shoe?

He showed no signs of struggle and was not carrying any weapons. Yet the wounds on that person's body were exaggerated, like those of a dog that had escaped execution by a giant sword but whose body was torn apart.

unless……

If you are attacked by a wolf even once, you will die!

This game lobby has no other decorations, but it has a door without a handle that can only be exited but not entered, just like the "door to the sheepfold".

If they can leave this place once they complete the game, they don't actually need this door.

But the rabbit could see very clearly that outside the door was a gray world without color or sound.

It is known that this game should normally have thirteen people, with twelve giant swords hanging above their heads that would execute them if they fell, and a ranking system based on "crimes," with each subsequent position being more disadvantageous than the last...

So what should the original mechanics and rules of this game be?

Lin Ya vaguely guessed the truth.

It's probably going to be either something like hide-and-seek, or something like the escape from the hunt in Identity V.

They will likely have to leave in order, or they will be executed by the giant sword if certain conditions are not met...

Lin Ya felt her heart pounding uncontrollably, so much so that she could clearly feel the pumping in her neck.

—Will the fox participate in such a cruel and dangerous game a second time?

If it were her, she would never dare to participate in such a cruel game again.

All she wanted was to come back to life.

Lin Ya had no idea why she was dying.

All she remembered was feeling breathless and disoriented, her body so heavy that she couldn't move at all. Her eyelids felt like they were sealed with cement, and she couldn't move an inch.

That must be the effect of some kind of sleeping pill.

Worst of all, her death could easily be ruled a suicide.

Just the day before, she had written her suicide note in a fit of emotion.

But actually, she felt much better after writing it down. It's like a weight loss plan; just listing it out makes it feel like you've already exercised.

After that, she invited a few close friends over to her home for a hot pot meal and drank quite a bit of alcohol.

The reason Lin Ya was cyberbullied is very simple.

That day, during her live stream, as usual, she connected with a seemingly infatuated young boy for evaluation.

He's a vocational high school student, and his girlfriend is his childhood sweetheart from elementary school. They live in the same city but attend different schools. Not long ago, a friend told him that he'd discovered his girlfriend was working as a hostess at a nightclub. The hot-headed young man immediately got into a huge argument with his friend, even coming to blows and causing his friend to be hospitalized.

He then went to the location himself and found that what his friend had said was true. Then he and his girlfriend had another argument in public, and the girl became emotional, burst into tears, and asked the security guards to throw the young man out.

Then he consulted Lin Ya, asking her if she thought the relationship was worth continuing.

Lin Ya felt that there was no need for that.

Therefore, when the other person consulted her, she said very confidently that "the other person doesn't like you" and "she should respect your opinion more," and repeatedly emphasized advising the other person to break up as soon as possible.

Although she could sense that the other person's tone was off, as he was sobbing and his words were becoming incoherent.

But there were a lot of people on the same call at the time, and she felt that this story could become a hit if it were made into a short video. So instead of comforting the other party, she kept emphasizing that the young man should call the other party immediately to make things clear and asked the other party not to hang up the call. When she saw that the young man was unwilling, she even said, "She can come and question the other party."

Lin Ya never expected that... the young man would jump off the building without even confronting, arguing, or breaking up with the other party.

Although he did not die on the spot, he was left paralyzed, in a vegetative state, and disabled for life.

His mother came from the countryside, holding a banner, making a scene, crying loudly, and threatening to sue him and demand compensation.

This matter caused quite a stir.

Although Lin Ya consulted a lawyer and confirmed that she should not bear any legal responsibility, at least not criminal responsibility, netizens believe that she should at least bear indirect responsibility—because if she had not been so assertive, less emotional, or had tried to mediate or calm the other party down, things would not have escalated to this point.

Lin Ya felt extremely wronged.

Because live streaming is all about intense emotions!

Since she was connecting with a livestream host, she was already prepared for it to become part of the show's entertainment value and a segment of the program. The voice changer she provided for the person connecting was specifically designed to be used in the video without infringing on their privacy.

Lin Ya believes she neither incited the other person to commit suicide, nor lied; she even advised them to break up with their boyfriend and live a good life. However, the other person didn't listen and chose to jump off the building. What does that have to do with Lin Ya?

Does encountering a genius mean you're destined to be unlucky?

So Lin Ya got into a big argument with netizens.

As a result, her past extreme remarks were immediately exposed and used to attack her.

She can no longer broadcast normally. Although her account has not been banned, whenever she starts broadcasting, either people come "because of her reputation" or they come to vent their malice.

Although she believed she was right, and many people online actually thought she was right, at least in terms of public opinion, it was almost a 50/50 split... However, Lin Ya's own mother did not think so.

She also believed that Lin Ya was at fault, and even planned to sell the house to pay for the damages.

Thus, the pressure from her family became the final straw that broke her back.

Lin Ya wrote her suicide note while crying.

Part of it stemmed from her feeling of being completely innocent and wronged; the other part was a kind of hatred that wanted to make her mother regret it.

She fantasized about what it would be like if she really died, and her mother, upon seeing her suicide note, felt immense remorse, finding pleasure and carrying out a "revenge known only to herself" through this act...

So by the time she finished writing, she had almost calmed down. It was really just a little tantrum.

—But after that, she died inexplicably.

When she woke up again, she was already standing by the round table.

Who killed him?

Was it my roommate? Or other friends who came to drink that day? Or perhaps someone else came in?

Neither of these approaches is reasonable.

Because she had a good relationship with her roommates and friends, Lin Ya was certain that none of them had any motive to kill her.

However, her death came too coincidentally. It happened right after she wrote her suicide note... but she hadn't told anyone about it, and no one had seen her suicide note.

What a coincidence.

just like……

...It's as if someone who knew this information came back from the future and killed her.

Lin Ya had no clue about this matter until she heard about the role of the "time chip," and an idea suddenly popped into her head—

Could it be that someone used the power of time to travel back in time and changed a future she is currently unaware of by killing her?

That was... a murder that existed only in the cracks of time.

Lin Ya was terrified just by realizing that the person who wanted to kill her was in this game.

It's like coming home and opening the door, only to hear the sounds of a thief ransacking your room when you're the only one living there.

Perhaps some people are brave enough to angrily go in and stop the other person, or even beat them up. But Lin Ya is the type who will immediately lock the door, run far away, and then call the police.

but……

Looking at the raccoon and the fox, Lin Ya felt a strong sense of unease.

Different from oneself.

Both the raccoon and the fox clearly need to participate in the next round of the game.

According to Lin Ya's analysis, the wolf is likely a thrill-seeker, perhaps even addicted to thrills. It may even possess some degree of high-functioning antisocial personality traits.

Judging from his reaction after surviving the last round, high-risk behaviors have already triggered his neural reward mechanism.

Not to mention, he was originally chosen by the host as the "murderer".

Just as the host said... he has this kind of "talent".

He will definitely continue to participate in this deceptive game!

...So, under these circumstances, can she still gain the wolf's friendship?

Would he abandon two other teammates who could ally with him to cooperate with someone like himself who wins and runs away?

Or, to put it another way, did they really have "friendship" from the very beginning?

"The fourth narrative phase has ended; we now move on to the discussion phase."

Just then, the host's announcement ended.

Everyone instinctively turned their gaze toward the wolf.

The fox, the rabbit, the raccoon... these three are clearly the "majority" who can decide the life and death of the wolf, yet they have become the wolf's puppets without anyone knowing when.

It was as if any one of them, except for the wolf, could die.

This is clearly contrary to the rules of the game, but everyone thinks it is perfectly reasonable.

Suddenly, the wolf turned around and looked at Lin Ya.

Do you believe me?

He asked, "Can you trust me under all circumstances?"

"...I can!"

Lin Ya hesitated for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

Then the wolf looked at the raccoon and asked the same question.

"I can! I definitely can!"

The raccoon said without hesitation.

"Then, let's make one thing clear first."

Mingpo held up one finger and said politely, "This round will be the last time anyone dies in this game."

"So, if the raccoon survives to the next round, then no matter who dies in this round, we shouldn't kill her in the next round, okay?"

Seeing that no one objected, Mingpo removed her mask.

Mingpo then broke his mask in half and wrote different instructions on each half, stained with blood.

"In this final round, let's skip the gambling and kidnapping stuff; that's so boring. Let's go back to psychological warfare... just like we started."

Mingpo smiled, her gaze deep: "Anyone can die now, isn't that interesting?"

Lin Ya stared blankly at Ming Po.

When he removed his mask, some blood stained his face.

This gave his handsome face a chillingly sinister look.

In that instant, Lin Ya felt as if she were seeing the little policewoman from Hannibal Lecter.

Immediately afterwards, Mingpo handed the mask, which had been split in two, to the raccoon and the rabbit.

The raccoon nervously opened the mask, revealing a sentence written on it:

"The rabbit will vote blue, I'll vote red, you decide our fate."

The rabbit carefully lifted the mask, revealing the following sentence:

"The raccoon will vote blue, I'll vote red, you decide our fate."

"——Shh."

Mingbo held up a finger, making a shushing gesture.

He smiled and slowly and clearly pressed the button on his right hand.

A deep, magnetic voice rang out: "Don't say it out loud."

"Let's vote directly, you two."