Chapter 846: Racing Against Time
"I think you're insane."
Shar Pei completely ignored Zhang Qiang and me, directly picking a fight with Baiyang.
"Baiyang, do you have any idea what this place is? This is the 'Train'!" Shar Pei said. "We're not far from those upper-levels... what you're doing is way too risky!"
"It doesn't matter," Baiyang said. "I don't need you to understand. I just don't want to be stuck here forever, so I'm going to do something about it."
Mianyang pondered for a moment, then asked, "If we insist on stopping you, what would you do?"
Baiyang glanced sideways at the clock on the table and said in a low voice, "It's twelve-oh-one now. Let's take four minutes to vote among ourselves. Everyone present has the right to vote, and you can vote for anyone, including yourself. I'm betting with the two of you—by twelve-oh-five, whoever gets the most votes dies."
Shar Pei thought for a few seconds after hearing this, and anger gradually filled his eyes. "Explain to me—what do you mean by 'whoever gets the most votes dies'?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Baiyang said. "Everyone takes the bet and accepts the loss. The loser can either commit suicide or have someone else do it, as long as the goal is achieved. We're no different from the 'participants'—no exceptions."
"Have you lost your mind?" Shar Pei asked. "Committing 'suicide' or being 'killed' over a game decided on a whim... This isn't even within the contract. If we die, we die for good—we can't revive!"
"So what?" Baiyang asked. "Even if only one 'Zodiac' is left here... it wouldn't matter."
"So what...?" Shar Pei looked furious. "Every room needs three 'Zodiacs' to preside—no room is an exception! If one of the three of us dies... how are you going to continue?!"
"That's hard to say," Baiyang shook his head. "I feel the two of you are useless. I made sure 'that person' assigned me the strongest teammates, but your performance has disappointed me."
"What?"
Baiyang turned to face Shar Pei. "Dog, your game 'Bamboo Shoots After Rain'—the concept is good, but the hint is 'one hundred.' You were going to use just those two characters to make the participants figure out 'turn the table a hundred times to the right'? Isn't that too far-fetched?"
"What would you suggest, then?" Shar Pei asked.
"A game tests human nature. Why not embed the clue 'turn right a hundred times' into each person's life experience or the stroke count of their surname?" Baiyang said seriously. "That way, some will still lie, and some still won't trust each other, creating the possibility of a second death. Even if no casualties occur, it will still drive them to despair. Wouldn't that be better?"
"How could it be that easy..." Shar Pei said weakly. "My game is already hard enough... doing that would make the game..."
"But I'm right before you," Baiyang said. "If a 'participant' can rally the remaining eight and crack my game, there's no way they can't crack yours."
After that, he turned to Mianyang.
"And you," Baiyang continued. "Mianyang, if someone really gets through me and Dog's games—how could they possibly lose to your 'Death From Above'? Does making the floor collapse actually kill people?"
Mianyang paused slightly, then asked, "How do you know I was going to make the 'floor collapse'? I never told you about my game, did I? Every time my game runs, you should have died long ago. Even Dog doesn't know what my game is..."
"I guessed," Baiyang said. "This room has no doors now. If you need to leave a path for the 'participants' to reach the corridor, you either break through the ceiling or shatter the floor. But breaking the ceiling makes it hard to cause casualties, so I guessed you shattered the floor, making the 'participants' fall to the next floor. That way, they could 'die from the fall,' but you—being enhanced—wouldn't."
"You..." Mianyang didn't choose to argue with Baiyang but instead fell into a state of disbelief.
"Let me guess again," Baiyang continued. "When you presided over the game, you were afraid everyone would die at the last hurdle and ruin all the effort, so you told them to stay in the center of the room as much as possible, waiting for a chance to survive. This game might be dramatic, but it leaves plenty of room to survive—as long as they follow your instructions, they won't be in danger."
Mianyang nodded after hearing this. "Yes. What would you suggest instead...?"
"What I suggest is to make everyone stay away from the center in the rules. I would tell them that deadly mechanisms are still falling in the center, so please stay close to the walls," Baiyang said softly. "Don't forget—we are 'Sheep.' 'Sheep' are allowed to lie in the rules."
"But how can that work... There are too few smart people in this world..." Mianyang said uneasily. "If the most important rule is a lie... they'll follow the rules and die here."
"Then it means they can only go this far," Baiyang interrupted. "After all, our room is a bit different from others. Our 'Beginning' and 'End' are both 'Sheep.' They can deduce the characteristic of 'the rules are lies' from my game, thereby solving yours."
Hearing Baiyang's few words, Mianyang fell into deep thought.
Seeing that he had convinced Mianyang, Baiyang asked, "You don't think sending these 'participants' out is enough to complete the mission, do you? Do you intend to die in vain every single cycle?"
Shar Pei still wanted to argue, but Mianyang stopped him.
"Baiyang... what exactly do you want?" Mianyang asked.
"I want to pave my own path," Baiyang said. "I plan to maximize the strength of the 'participants' in this room, sending them into 'Peach Blossom Spring' in their strongest form and with the most desperate mindset. Only then can we trigger everyone's 'Echo.' And once these people retain their memories, they will gradually step into more dangerous games. Only then can we be promoted to 'Earth-level' in the shortest time."
At the mention of 'promotion to Earth-level,' the expressions of Shar Pei and Mianyang changed.
"Isn't it fast enough...?" Mianyang asked. "Among all the interview rooms, our room already has the fastest rate of 'participant' elimination... What more do you want...?"
"Not fast enough..." Baiyang said. "My time is limited—I can't afford to delay."