Chapter 847: Like-Minded People
"White Goat..." Sheep called out in a low voice. "I heard you only became a 'Zodiac' a day or two ago, and your teacher immediately sponsored you to come here, right...?"
"Yes." White Goat nodded. "That's not a secret."
Sheep's tone had already become noticeably more respectful than before. "What exactly are you racing against time with...?"
"I'm racing time with time," White Goat said. "This isn't what we need to discuss right now. I suggest we talk about the upcoming cooperation."
When it came to "cooperation," Sheep's eyes clearly wavered. He turned his head and said nothing, staring fixedly at Shar-Pei.
"Cooperation..." Shar-Pei was still somewhat dissatisfied. He turned to Sheep and said, "Sheep, did you hear that? This guy just said that even if the two of us weren't in the room... he could still host three games by himself. Are you really willing to cooperate with someone like that?"
After hearing this, Sheep lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said, "Dogman, whether you admit it or not... White Goat is a very powerful 'Zodiac.' His promotion speed has been incredibly fast so far. Not only did he become an interviewer right after becoming 'Human level,' but now we're just one step away from becoming 'Earth level,' thanks to him."
"'Thanks to him'...?" Shar-Pei let out a cold laugh. "What kind of talk is that?! There are three games here—are you saying the two of us didn't contribute anything?"
While Sheep and Dogman were arguing endlessly, Zhang Qiang and I exchanged glances. These "Zodiacs" seemed to treat us like we were invisible, blurting out everything they should and shouldn't have said.
We both knew the situation was dire. In times like this, the most likely outcome was that we'd be silenced.
Then Zhang Qiang and I looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.
A few seconds later, a distant bell chimed. We adjusted our state of mind and seized the initiative to preserve our "memories."
Neither of us could move; we were completely at their mercy. But since we had preserved our "memories," even if we were going to be killed next, it wouldn't matter.
Yet the imagined slaughter never came. At that moment, I remembered that Clause 2.4 of the "Zodiac Ascension Gambling Contract" stated:
Party B promises to establish a correct worldview for participants and guarantees the ability to properly guide participants to actively, willingly, and calmly walk toward death. During this period, Party B must not kill innocents indiscriminately or seek personal revenge through official means.
So, they had said all this themselves. Did that mean Zhang Qiang and I counted as innocents...?
Seeing that they couldn't reach a conclusion, I turned my head to look at White Goat again.
Strangely, he hadn't interfered in the conversation between Sheep and Dogman at all. Instead, he kept staring at the mantel clock on the table.
It seemed exactly as he had said... he was in a hurry. The time had already passed twelve-fifteen, slowly creeping toward twelve-thirty.
Right now, it looked like Sheep was on White Goat's side, but Shar-Pei seemed unwilling to give in, constantly finding reasons to argue.
Listening to their voices, White Goat pondered for a moment, then sighed helplessly and interrupted: "I didn't expect that whether they're 'Zodiacs' or 'participants,' there are fools everywhere."
"What...?" Shar-Pei was furious at this. He stopped arguing with Sheep and turned to White Goat. "Don't talk like it's so easy. We all spent a long time getting to the interview room. We're nothing like you, who climbed to this position through connections... We value our lives more than you do. There's no way we're going to follow you recklessly. Just because you don't cherish your current situation doesn't mean we don't."
"Value your lives..." White Goat shook his head. "Dogman, blindly following the rules here isn't called 'valuing your lives.' It's called 'merely surviving.'"
After saying this, White Goat checked the time again. Too much time had been wasted; it was now close to twelve-thirty.
"How frustrating..." White Goat sighed, then looked up at Shar-Pei. "I'll make it brief. Dogman, the core issue you're hung up on—is it that 'rule-breakers die and can't come back'?"
"Exactly." Shar-Pei nodded. "That reason alone means I can't take risks with you. No matter how persuasively you talk, it's useless."
Hearing this, White Goat directly pulled an old pistol from the pocket on his chest. This was the same pistol he had used to shoot himself after the previous game ended.
Then came a scene I never expected. White Goat raised the pistol and slowly aimed it at his own temple.
"I really am pressed for time," White Goat said seriously, pressing the gun against his own head. "Since I can't convince you this time, I'll just have to hope for next time."
"Wh—" Shar-Pei's eyes widened beneath his mask. "What are you doing? Your game hasn't even started..."
"I'll demonstrate for you whether dying by breaking the rules allows you to come back. You don't need to worry about what I'm doing. Just carry on with your own games as usual."
He cocked the pistol. Zhang Qiang and I held our breath. Everything that had happened in this cycle was beyond our expectations. Who exactly was this White Goat?
"Everyone, the 'Liar' game is over."
With a declarative ending, a gunshot reverberated through the cramped room. The "Zodiac" I had considered the strongest shot himself in an inexplicable way.
According to the rules, he had no reason to commit suicide. But he fell straight down, the bullet piercing his temple. His brains splattered everywhere, flesh and blood flying, as he became a corpse without a single sound right before my eyes.
Although Zhang Qiang and I regained our ability to move, we still didn't dare act rashly. We couldn't fight any of the "Zodiacs" in the room. That was the difference between "participants" and "Zodiacs."
We remained silent in the room for a long time. We truly didn't understand the "Zodiacs" much, nor did we know what they were thinking.
In the end, it was Shar-Pei who spoke first. He explained the rules of "Bamboo Shoots After Rain," and then Zhang Qiang, who had already "reverberated," was the only one who could spin the table rapidly.
As fewer and fewer people remained in the room, I needed to thank Zhang Qiang. Without his "brute strength," in theory, I would have had to control the "Zodiacs" in the room to help me spin the table, which would have made my situation even more dangerous.
For those of us who retained our memories, as long as we cleared the games once, we could clear them again and again. So once more, we found ourselves on this patch of crimson earth.
Just as Zhang Qiang was about to turn and leave the street, I called out to stop him.
"Brother Qiang," I called. If I remembered correctly, this was the first time I had spoken to him voluntarily. "You... where do you usually go?"
Zhang Qiang glanced at me and said in a low voice, "It's a long day. I go find something to eat, then find something to drink."
"Oh..." I nodded.
He seemed to sense the awkwardness of the atmosphere, so he asked in return, "What about you?"
"I'll find something to eat too, and then something to drink."