Chapter 26: Major Disadvantage
The second day quickly came to an end. Now, three prime suspects had emerged: Fatty, Glasses, and Catwoman.
Su Xiao considered fighting the three to force Alice to reveal herself, but this method wasn't practical. There was no trust among the eight participants.
If Su Xiao attacked one of the three, the other two wouldn't sit idly by. Furthermore, Alice could choose not to expose herself. It was important to remember that there was only one way to end the game: identifying which one was Alice's clone, not killing it. If you couldn't identify who was Alice's clone, killing it was useless. Unless you could kill it during the night, in which case Alice couldn't show her face during the following day. You would only need to question who hadn't appeared during the day.
The situation was different during the day. If Alice's clone chose to remain hidden, even if Su Xiao killed the disguised Alice, the game wouldn't end. It would only become more troublesome. If he killed the wrong person, he would lose one of his questioning rights. Each person had one questioning right, and the dead couldn't use theirs. This was obvious. The troublesome part was that Alice's clone also had a questioning right.
Fatty, Glasses, and Catwoman wouldn't sacrifice themselves for others' benefit, especially if it might backfire.
Therefore, killing during the day was useless and would have the opposite effect. There was only one way to end the game: finding out who was Alice's clone. No other method existed.
Initially, Su Xiao thought this game was similar to Werewolf. After a preliminary understanding, he found that Werewolf was far too simple compared to this game.
The game rules were designed to favor Alice. There was no fairness. Alice would basically never show a flaw. Moreover, once the seven game days passed, Alice would win. This was the contractors' biggest weakness.
The contractors were indeed at a major disadvantage. However, after the first night, this disadvantage disappeared because Alice chose to attack Su Xiao. She failed to kill him, putting herself at a disadvantage.
What Su Xiao didn't know was that Alice's actions were indeed personal. She had once nearly been hanged on the Void Platform by a Law Destroyer Shadow.
Su Xiao knew he wasn't Alice. Therefore, the remaining suspects were only Fatty, Glasses, Catwoman, National Football Brother One, and National Football Brother Two.
Among these five, Fatty, Glasses, and Catwoman were the most suspicious. And among these three, Fatty and Catwoman were more likely to be Alice.
Tomorrow, Su Xiao would question one of the two, Fatty or Catwoman. As for going along with the crowd and questioning himself, he had no intention of doing that. If others wanted to suspect him, let them. It had nothing to do with him. Ultimately, the reason the eight could calmly discuss who was Alice was because of the game rules. Victory was the key.
Returning to his room, Su Xiao waited for nightfall.
[Night is about to fall.]
[3... 2... 1... Night falls!]
The room became dim again. Bubu Wang lay lazily on the bed. It could guess that Alice wouldn't come tonight. Unless Alice was playing passively, she wouldn't attack Su Xiao tonight.
In the dark corridor, a door opened silently. A figure stepped out of the room. The figure's footsteps were silent. As it moved forward, its form changed into Alice's clone, wrapped in black mist.
Alice's clone wasn't in a hurry to choose a room. She first walked down the stairs and sat on the sofa, looking up at rooms 1 through 8.
"I can't deal with him for now. With that being's protection, aside from the legitimate means within the game, I can't use other methods to kill him, nor can I break the game's rules."
Alice's clone sighed, dismissing the thought of attacking Su Xiao again.
"It's time to enjoy the game. That little girl is very clever. Alice likes this kind of player the most, especially the expression on her face when she breaks down..."
Alice stood up and walked towards room 1.
...
Su Xiao sat cross-legged in his room, listening to the sound of high heels clicking on the floor. Suddenly, a scream rang out.
"Ya... Ya|Mei|Die!!"
A loud shout came from the next room. Su Xiao's eyes snapped open.
"Wait, what are you going to do? Ugh~"
The sound from room 1 next door disappeared.
"Fell victim, huh? Unexpected. Alice actually attacked her."
Alice's move puzzled Su Xiao. Under normal circumstances, she shouldn't have attacked the little detective girl. There was only one reason: Alice wasn't trying to win; she was just enjoying the game. Thinking about it this way, the little detective girl's reasoning ability would undoubtedly increase the game's fun.
In Su Xiao's view, the little detective girl was very likely to survive until the end. But now, it seemed otherwise.
After the sound from next door disappeared, the surroundings were deathly silent. This silence lasted for two hours.
[Prompt: The third day begins.]
[Prompt: The information provided by the lucky survivor has been placed in the hall.]
[Prompt: Last night, Game Participant No. 5 died (Catwoman).]
[Prompt: Last night, Game Participant No. 3 violated game rules (Fatty). Unable to leave assigned room during the third day.]
[Prompt: Last night, Game Participant No. 4 violated game rules (Gold-Rimmed Glasses Man). Unable to leave assigned room during the third day.]
[Prompt: Last night, Game Participant No. 6 violated game rules (National Football Brother One). Unable to leave assigned room during the third day.]
[Prompt: Last night, Game Participant No. 7 violated game rules (National Football Brother Two). Unable to leave assigned room during the third day.]
...
Upon receiving this series of prompts, Su Xiao's pupils contracted. Catwoman was dead. Fatty, Glasses Man, National Football Brother One, and Brother Two had all violated the game rules and could only stay in their rooms during the third day.
In just one night, the situation had gone from an advantage to a major disadvantage. Now, only Su Xiao, the little detective girl, and National Football Brother Three could move freely. It was somewhat surprising that the little detective girl had survived the attack.
National Football Brother Three was too straightforward, so his role in this game was limited. This meant that only Su Xiao and the little detective girl could expose Alice.
The situation had taken a dramatic turn. Alice, who was at a disadvantage, had turned it into a major advantage in just one night. As for how Fatty, Glasses Man, National Football Brother One, and Brother Two had violated the rules, there was no need to guess. It must have been caused by Alice's clone.
It wasn't all bad news. The lucky game participant had provided a small amount of information, which was crucial.
In Su Xiao's view, that contractor's experience wasn't lucky at all. He couldn't directly participate in the game, and his life or death depended entirely on the performance of the other seven. This wasn't luck; it was misfortune.
Su Xiao walked out of his room and happened to meet National Football Brother Three. The two didn't speak, just went downstairs and sat on the sofa.
Only three people could move freely. Only Su Xiao had a questioning right left. It wasn't that Alice's clone had deliberately left Su Xiao to make the game more challenging. Rather, after their fight on the first night, Alice's clone knew she couldn't deal with him. That was why she hadn't come looking for him last night.
Su Xiao could retain this only usable questioning right not because he was lucky, but because he was strong enough. This reminded him of the blood-red text he had seen on the ceiling earlier, which read: 'On the third floor, strength is the only truth. Alice's clone is not invincible.'