Chapter 4: I Have a Sure-Win Method |
With Ming Po's words, the atmosphere around the table instantly shifted!
No one questioned Ming Po's statement; even the old man "Bear" maintained his silence.
However, it was as if everyone suddenly realized something, and they began sizing each other up with growing unease.
"Or rather..."
Ming Po drawled, "I assume everyone sitting here isn't exactly clean."
"Bullshit!"
Dog was suddenly enraged. He abruptly stood up, looking as though he wanted to beat Ming Po to a pulp. "I have never killed anyone!"
His tall and burly frame exuded an immense, oppressive presence just by standing up.
He was at least one meter ninety-five, and the bulging muscles of his arms stretched the cuffs of his short sleeves to their absolute limits.
"It might not necessarily be murder," Ming Po simply smiled. "It could be some other kind of mistake..."
"But I imagine... it must at least be a grave error that requires obtaining Time Chips to rewrite the past in order to make amends."
As his words fell, the atmosphere around the round table grew even heavier and deadlier.
Even Dog, who had stood up, merely clenched his fists in silence for a moment before slowly sitting back down.
At the eight o'clock position, Penguin stared at Ming Po in utter shock.
How could he possibly guess that much?!
Clearly, Bear was the only one who had told a story so far, and only a handful of people had participated in the discussion. Penguin himself hadn't even said a single word yet!
Was this mind-reading?
Or some kind of superpower?
In an instant, Penguin's wariness toward "Wolf" transformed into sheer dread.
"I actually thought you were going to come over and hit me," Ming Po said, mocking Dog. "I was really looking forward to seeing if you'd be crushed to death the moment you left your seat. Of course, you are welcome to try... Who knows? Maybe you only get executed when you are confirmed to be actively disrupting the game."
As he said this, Dog's expression changed drastically.
Even through the mask, the terror and lingering fear in his eyes were unmistakable.
Because he had a compelling reason to obtain those "Chips," he had zero intention of running away. And because he was so accustomed to resorting to violence, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all.
Therefore, he hadn't even realized his behavior might be violating the rules.
"You little punk..."
Dog's gaze turned vicious. "Got a lot of nerve, huh? It'll be your turn soon..."
Fox frowned, glancing at Ming Po and then at the evidently violence-prone Dog, but ultimately remained silent.
He had realized something—Ming Po was trying to provoke Dog, and perhaps it wasn't just to test whether "violence leads to execution." Because if he truly wanted to test that, he would have continued provoking Dog until the man actually crossed the line... He absolutely wouldn't have stated his intentions so openly.
By doing so, didn't that guarantee Dog wouldn't dare to make a move?
Yet Dog possessed obvious aggression and was undoubtedly a loose cannon in this game. Since there was a way to eliminate him right from the sidelines, why would Ming Po...
...Unless Wolf actually wasn't sure if violent behavior would lead to execution!
Because the Host had stated, "There are no additional rules in this game."
Which meant... if violence was viable, they could potentially just make it so the others "could not vote"!
An empty fort strategy... was that it?
Meanwhile, hearing the vicious threat from Dog, Ming Po couldn't even be bothered to glance at him.
He looked at the elderly Bear and continued, "I believe the reason you told such an ambiguous story, old man... was to secure the 'right of interpretation'."
This 'right of interpretation' could be understood as the 'final say.'
For any scripture, doctrine, or even historical text and legal code... the moment they are published and discovered, their actual content is fixed.
However, for such fixed content, there can be multiple interpretations; even the exact same sentence can carry entirely different meanings.
"This ambiguous story that Bear told..."
Ming Po said slowly, "...was designed so that it could be interpreted in different ways."
"So that's why he asked the Host that question!"
Raccoon suddenly saw the light.
Bear's question had been: "Do I have to answer?"
What Bear was actually confirming was, "Can I lie?"
And the answer was, naturally, yes—because the rules clearly stated to "narrate your prompt," not "narrate your story," and certainly not "narrate a true story"!
In other words, the story could be true, or it could be false.
The bear in the story could be a person, making him a murderer; the bear could genuinely be an animal, or the bear could even be him, the player "Bear"!
"Then... which version of the story will he ultimately choose?"
Rabbit turned around and asked Ming Po.
"Depends on the situation."
Ming Po leaned back slightly. "He needs to listen to the discussion first to see... how we, the uncontrollable elements with our own minds, will vote and what kind of thoughts we harbor.
"And then, right before the time limit is up, he'll deliver a tailored version of the story, invalidating our viewpoints and attempting to turn us into the 'minority'."
"How is that possible?"
Sparrow said in disbelief.
She couldn't believe it—how could this seemingly gentle, easy-going old man possess such a meticulous, calculating mind?
To deliberately eliminate innocent people through lies...
That was straight-up murder!
"You old bastard!"
Hearing Ming Po's words, Dog abruptly lifted his head and barked fiercely at Bear, who was sitting beside him. "Playing dirty like that, I'll kill you!"
Yet, despite his shouting, he never once left his seat to actually use violence against the silent old man sitting mere inches away.
Clearly, Ming Po's earlier words had successfully frightened him, making him too terrified to leave his chair.
However, right at that moment, Dog suddenly spoke up, proposing a ruthless scheme.
It was the exact plan he had been turning over in his head for quite some time:
"This old geezer can't be trusted; his schemes are too deep! If we want to survive, we all need to get rid of him!"
He shouted, "Listen up, I have a sure-win method!"
Although Dog wasn't very smart, he had intuitively grasped the core gameplay of this game.
Which was to band together and ostracize others.
"Everyone, vote Red with me!"
Dog declared firmly. "As long as we all choose the same answer, even the minority won't dare object because they'll be terrified of becoming the 'minority'!
And as long as we all pick the same answer, no one besides the narrator can possibly die!
"Even if one or two people flip their votes, it won't matter in the slightest!"
Under the threat of death, people would remain silent.
This wasn't some schoolyard bullying that could be endured with a bit of courage and resistance—once executed, you were dead.
Once dead, every single opportunity was gone!
Forget about getting the chips to resurrect... even this final chance would be snuffed out!
Dog forcefully slammed his right hand onto his button. "Everyone pick Red! Choose it now! I'm watching you!"
Even in the details, Dog had his own petty calculations.
Why choose Red?
Because initially, everyone had agreed with Bear's story, leaning toward Blue. Now that Bear had been exposed as a deeply scheming and cunning old man, they would naturally lean toward the opposite choice.
Moreover, Dog saw very clearly that the equally troublesome Wolf had selected 'Blue'.
This meant Wolf either had to bend to Dog's call and change his decision, or directly oppose him.
Contrary to his reckless appearance, Dog was actually thinking one layer deeper.
Even though people detested violence, the fact that he currently didn't 'dare to leave his seat' meant his actual threat level was quite low.
Furthermore, he didn't look very smart, appearing to believe whatever others told him.
No matter how you looked at it, he was a weakling in this 'game of brains'.
Compared to the blatantly clever and equally aggressive Wolf, Dog was actually the one in the weaker position!
When a group of people is mixed together, there will always be more weaklings than strongmen, more fools than geniuses. The strong eliminate the less strong, and the smart ostracize the less smart. Whether in brawn or brains, only a tiny fraction remains... That is the law of the jungle.
But this game was called the Death of the Minority.
Which meant this was a game where 'the weak execute the uncooperative strong'!
In the outside world, the strong had resources or supernatural talent. But here, regardless of whether you were strong or weak, you only had 'one vote'.
If Wolf truly decided to step into the ring with him, Dog was absolutely confident he wouldn't lose!
But the result was completely unexpected...
Ming Po lazily raised his right hand. "I think Dog is right."
His abnormal behavior drew everyone's gaze.
"For this round... let's just go with Red."
He casually rested his left arm on the armrest and, under the watchful eyes of the group, brought his raised right hand down at a painfully slow speed, lightly tapping the button on the right armrest, making sure everyone saw it clearly.
Just like that, he openly displayed an attitude that he could switch his vote at any second.
As he spoke, he looked around, shrugged, and said with feigned helplessness, "Bear only killed someone in a story, and even that story might not be true. But I feel... Dog here might actually commit murder.
After all, we still don't know for sure whether leaving our seats or attacking others will actually lead to execution.
If killing someone gets you executed, what about tying them up? Or simply breaking their arms and legs so they can't vote?
If you don't vote, does that count as Blue or Red? Or... will you be considered the true minority?
"Haha, just kidding. Anyway, Dog and I have already picked Red, so the rest of you do whatever you want."
At this point, Ming Po laughed heartily and pulled his left arm back.
He added meaningfully, "Speaking of which... how long has it been? There's no clock on this table, so who knows if the five minutes are up yet..."
Before his voice even faded, Sparrow hastily followed their lead and slammed the Red button.
Lin Ya and Lawyer Chen seemed to realize something, exchanging a glance past Ming Po.
At the nine o'clock position, Butterfly merely sneered, maintaining her posture with her arms crossed, completely motionless.
Dog threw her a glance, simply assuming she had already chosen Red—he had been entirely focused on Fox and Wolf earlier and hadn't paid attention to the people on his side. But with the general trend established, who would dare be a mantis trying to stop a chariot?
Bear watched it all coldly, not saying a word. It was impossible to tell what expression hid beneath his mask.
It was as if he weren't the one about to be executed... He was exceptionally calm.
The others mirrored Ming Po's earlier posture, resting their left hands on the left armrest while gently reaching out to tap the right button.
And so, less than ten seconds after Ming Po reminded everyone that "time is almost up," everyone had finished voting.
Lawyer Chen, acting as "Fox," was the last to cast his vote.
His sense of time was remarkably accurate—he was certain the forced termination mark hadn't been reached yet. He had deliberately held off voting just to control the exact moment the voting phase ended.
He looked around the table and did not choose Red.
Instead, he chuckled softly and brazenly slammed the Blue button.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Seeing this, Dog instantly slammed his hands on the table and stood up.
Putting up a fierce front but trembling inside, he bellowed, "Vote Red! Are you asking for death?!"
Just then, the Host's cold voice echoed, cutting off their argument:
"Round one has concluded."
Regardless of what happened, the votes had all been cast.
Dog felt incredibly uneasy, but he still glared at "Fox," hoping to hear the news of his elimination...
However, the next second.
The Host's words sent a chill through his entire body—
The minority is: Sparrow, Dog, Penguin.
"Execution will now commence."