Chapter 47: The Enduring Gambler |
...An exam?
Is this another player roleplaying as a student? Or perhaps...
Ming Po looked at the isolated girl with great interest, narrowing his eyes slightly as he offered a gentle smile.
"Yeah."
He pushed up his glasses, rested his hands on his knees, and leaned forward slightly to speak in a soft voice. "We seem to be lost... You look unwell. Are you feeling sick?"
Ming Po's expression was sincere, his eyes clear.
When he leaned down, his gaze was almost level with hers.
The genuine worry and care displayed on his face made his dangerous aura vanish like a phantom. He looked just like a gentle, grounded, and quiet senior.
'...Boss, your way of striking up a conversation is a bit... cliché.'
'This game is bizarre and dangerous. Whether the other party is a player or an NPC... can such deliberate flattery really put someone at ease?'
'Wouldn't it just make her suspicious and put her on guard?'
'Since she hasn't taken the initiative to explain or ask for help, they should obviously travel together for a while after exchanging identities. Once she repeatedly shows signs of discomfort, he could naturally ask...'
'By then, they would have walked together for a bit and talked a few times. Her guard would mostly be down, and only then would it be possible to get the truth out of her...'
But unexpectedly, the girl's reaction was the complete opposite of what Lawyer Chen predicted.
"H-Hello, Senior...!"
The girl immediately stood up straight, replying nervously.
At this distance, she could even hear Ming Po's long, steady breaths.
Her cheeks flushed red, and her voice softened.
But she had only just stood up... Perhaps feeling she was too close to Ming Po, or perhaps feeling shy about puffing out her chest, she subconsciously slumped her shoulders and hunched her back once again.
"My stomach... hurts a bit..."
She whispered, "I came out to use the restroom... but I couldn't find Room 2048 when I came back."
Lawyer Chen widened his eyes in disbelief.
'Is this reasonable?'
'Can you just do whatever you want just because you're handsome?'
"You aren't a student of this school?"
Under Lawyer Chen's fearful gaze, Ming Po completely skipped the pleasantries and relationship-building once again, directly asking for the most crucial information.
And she actually answered, "Yeah, I just transferred here..."
"A transfer student? At this time of year?"
"Yeah... there was a slight problem... at my previous school..."
The girl spoke vaguely.
"Oh, right! My name is Zhang Leyao!"
Suddenly remembering she hadn't introduced herself, she quickly turned around and said, "Senior, you can just call me Leyao! Or Yaoyao, all my friends call me Yaoyao!"
"Hello, Yaoyao."
Ming Po smiled. "I am Xiao Ke."
"I am Gao Xiaofan."
Gao Fan quickly chimed in, pinching his throat to produce a much younger voice. "You can call me Xiaofan—"
The pressure immediately fell onto Lawyer Chen.
When the other three turned their gazes toward him, he hesitated for a fraction of a second.
And in that very moment...
Chen Bingwen suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as the surrounding world seemed to dim. The other three staring at him appeared to turn into stone statues, enveloped in a shadowy black filter...
"I-I am Chen Bingwen!"
Lawyer Chen was drenched in sweat. "Old Xiao and I are in the same class!"
He was never the type to gamble with his life. With visible death steadily approaching, he didn't dare wager whether the names the other two gave were real or fake. He could only offer his real name to save his own skin for now.
After Lawyer Chen finished his introduction, he felt the surroundings brighten once again.
Looking at the others' reactions, it was obvious none of them had realized what had just happened to him.
'It's fine, it's fine...'
'Since those two answered so quickly, it means they either gave fake names or they're newbies who don't understand the significance of a real name.'
'If it's the former, they'll assume the name I just blurted out is also a freshly concocted fake; if it's the latter, they won't pay any attention to this name for the time being... probably.'
Chen Bingwen consoled himself.
He was undeniably a smart person.
—And smart people always loved to deceive themselves.
Gao Fan had clearly recognized Chen Bingwen's identity.
His memory wasn't that great, nor did he possess a knack for remembering faces. At most, he just felt Chen Bingwen looked somewhat familiar... But now that the other party had announced this name, he instantly recalled the appearance of that major streamer in his memories.
Comparing them in his mind—'Hey, they really do look identical!'
...Of course, he definitely wouldn't take the initiative to confirm it with the man.
Even without this rule of "must maintain a student identity", Gao Fan would never boldly confront someone about it.
This was his survival experience as an orphan, having barely managed to protect his family's enterprise from greedy relatives.
Many times, playing dumb and feigning ignorance was the key to staying alive. Knowing too much brought no benefits.
Just like his reaction when he first met "Big Brother Xiao."
At that time, Gao Fan realized a few things:
First, the name given by this "Big Brother Xiao" from the Domain of Force was definitely fake, which meant he knew the consequences of revealing his real name. In other words, he knew that Deceivers of the World could slaughter each other.
Second, his familiarity with the Game of Deception was clearly lacking. He didn't even know that chips could be traded offline, which proved he hadn't been exploited by a team, and might not even have one.
Third, although his mental state seemed a bit questionable, he detested betrayal. Moreover, he knew Chang Ning, so he probably wasn't a bad person.
At the same time, he possessed immense strength, outstanding supernatural talent, and extreme self-confidence—under these circumstances, Gao Fan judged that the man could never accept a team model like a "farming squad."
That was why Gao Fan deliberately asked him to return with him to meet his teammates. He naturally knew that his two teammates had no desire to add a new member... because once it became a two-on-two situation, their advantage over Gao Fan would be gone.
Gao Fan's abilities were incredibly useful. They could rent him out to make money at any time, and his base was also the largest among them. The others' bases either lacked food or didn't have as many home appliances... In the dull, monotonous afterlife with nearly infinite time, abundant entertainment options were a very precious resource.
He had always wanted to rid himself of those two bastards.
But he had never found the opportunity—he had considered taking advantage of being rented out to defect, but the teams that rented teammates weren't very reliable either.
He didn't even know if "Wen Yu" was that woman's real name, nor did he know if her surname was actually Wen or if she had another surname before it. If he had the chance to do it all over again, he definitely wouldn't surrender his base to anyone else.
—Rather than being bled dry until death, he might as well gamble!
He would wager everything on Big Brother Xiao being a trustworthy person—or at least better than his current teammates!
Clearly, he had won the bet.
Right up until he grasped that kitchen knife, not a single trace of malice could be seen on Gao Fan's face.
This ability to hide his true thoughts at all times and exist harmlessly within any team was exactly his supernatural talent... Not a superpower granted by a Title, but something he inherently possessed.
'However... why is Big Brother Xiao treating this guy so well?'
Gao Fan narrowed his eyes and looked at Lawyer Chen.
'He looks just like a newbie who understands nothing, plain and unremarkable.'
'His acting skills are terrible, and he lacks courage. He doesn't seem to know Big Brother Xiao either... Or perhaps, Big Brother Xiao knows him one-sidedly?'
'Or could it be that this guy also has some particularly useful ability?'
Right at that moment.
A sudden surge of terror welled up in Gao Fan's heart.
He hallucinated being crushed into mincemeat by some unseen force—only then did he realize the surrounding lights had started flickering.
—They had lingered here for a bit too long!
Gao Fan immediately realized that this was the instance's mechanism driving them forward.
"Let's hurry up and go."
He urged promptly, "We still have an exam, don't we?"
"Oh... okay!"
The girl snapped back to reality and hastily agreed.
Immediately after, she looked up at Ming Po.
She clearly wanted to follow him.
"Let's walk first, we can talk on the way."
Without a second thought, Ming Po started walking forward.
He had absolutely no idea where he was going, but moving was the priority...
He believed that Gao Fan saying this out of the blue definitely had a reason.
As an extreme sports enthusiast, Ming Po had a good habit that almost everyone knew but few actually followed—trusting the Guide.
This was incredibly important.
Those who stubbornly refused to listen most likely ended up six feet under.