Chapter 6 : This Damn Matchmaking System

Hearing Rabbit’s words, everyone’s expressions turned strange.

After all, the person who had just been shouting that he had a guaranteed winning method was now scattered everywhere within a fifty-meter radius.

Facing their doubt, Rabbit did not waver. “First of all, I hope everyone understands

The narrator’s story has no meaning whatsoever. Even the act of ‘asking a question’ itself has no meaning. Because whether I say ‘does one plus one equal two,’ or ‘should pasta be mixed with Number 42 concrete’… everyone’s vote absolutely won’t be decided based on whether the answer to the question is correct.

When everyone says ‘one plus one does not equal two,’ the person telling the truth will still be executed. Even if everyone gives the same answer, the narrator will die. Under normal circumstances, this is a game where at least half the people will die… and even the smartest person…”

At this point, she subconsciously glanced at Ming Po. “May not necessarily be able to… accurately guess everyone’s thoughts without fail. No matter how high the chance of victory is, in the end, it still depends on ‘gambling.’”

Hearing this, Ming Po’s brows and eyes curved as he nodded repeatedly, seeming to agree with her quite a bit.

It was just that the corners of his mouth were raised somewhat mockingly… but Rabbit could not see the expression beneath the mask at all.

“—By common logic, that is how it should be.”

And after receiving Ming Po’s approval, Rabbit’s voice suddenly grew louder. “But the current situation is different!

I really do have a guaranteed winning method that can let everyone survive!”

Seeing her so resolute, everyone raised their heads and looked seriously at this narrator of the second round.

Looking at one blood-splattered animal mask after another, Lin Ya also felt somewhat afraid inside.

But her thoughts were becoming clearer and clearer…

“Actually, just now, we already had an optimal solution! Because of Cat’s accidental death, we were left with only eleven people.

Removing Bear, who was the narrator, there were a total of ten people left.

This means that from the very beginning, we could have voted to a tie!

In this way, we would have been able to trigger the game’s third rule!”

[3. If the answers given are different, and the numbers on both sides are equal (that is, A = B), then no one will be executed.]

After Lin Ya said this, she panted hard a few times and looked at Ming Po once more.

She had felt earlier that the action of “Wolf” raising his head was extremely strange. “Cat’s” accidental death might very well have come from “Wolf’s” psychological guidance.

Earlier, Lin Ya had thought that this might have been because “Wolf” was testing the rules and boundaries of the game.

But looking at it now

“Wolf” seemed to have had another layer of purpose!

As long as one person was killed first, then the voters would have the foundation needed to create a tied vote!

As long as everyone maintained a five-to-five tie, then from this point onward, they might not need to lose a single person!

He had done this so that the largest number of people could survive!

But why had “Mr. Ai” not brought this up during the discussion phase

Thinking this, Lin Ya decided to directly announce what she had discovered.

“If the number of voters is even, then we use the voter as the dividing line. The half on the left all choose blue, and the half on the right all choose red. Then when it becomes the next voter’s turn, we continue doing the same thing. If we keep cycling like this until the final round, not a single person will have to die!

In that case, this game isn’t one where ‘at least half the people must die’ at most, eleven people can survive!”

At this point, Lin Ya looked around, and her heart could not help surging.

Everyone was listening to her words and expressing approval of her viewpoint.

This feeling… was truly wonderful.

Lin Ya took a deep breath and made her boldest proposal. “Then the problem now is… we need to make the total number of people odd again.

Of course, the method that allows the most people to survive would be to vote me out. I know that, but I do not recommend that you choose to do so…”

Seizing the initiative, Lin Ya said aloud in advance the malicious suggestion people might make. “Because up until now, although our faces have been stained with blood, I believe… our hands are still ‘clean.’

We have only gone through one round of voting, and the purpose of that round was self-preservation. It was not an act where we deliberately wanted to exile someone and kill another person among us. The only one who wanted to attack us, ‘Dog,’ is already dead.

But if you truly vote me out, that means you have already betrayed someone once… and you would be betraying the proposer of ‘peace’!

If that happens, how can we ensure that everyone else can still trust one another!”

At this point, Lin Ya coughed a few times.

Whenever her emotions became even slightly agitated, she felt her breathing begin to turn painful.

Here, she deliberately concealed the fact that “Wolf had intentionally caused Cat’s death.” It was not only because of her secret alliance with Wolf, but also because she hoped not to destroy the atmosphere of mutual trust.

Lin Ya took several deep breaths, then continued, “So I have a proposal:

All of us press the buttons on our left and right at the same time, without telling anyone else what we voted for.

Hand the decision of life and death over to luck. Those who die should not resent those who survive, and those who survive should not feel that they killed anyone else… the thing that caused their deaths was only luck!

We’ll randomly eliminate others like this until there is an odd number of survivors left!

At the same time, in order to prevent betrayal.”

Rabbit added, “I hope everyone can understand that this is the best decision to let everyone survive… Once trust is broken even once, rebuilding it is almost impossible. So we only have this one chance.

After we reach the ‘peaceful number,’ if someone changes their vote and turns traitor, then the people who survive that round must jointly sanction the [traitor]!

For someone who betrays trust and destroys unity like that, I hope everyone can exile them together! With this kind of promise, I believe any traitor would not dare act recklessly!

At that time, we will follow my earlier proposal and remain peaceful all the way until the end. Everyone will survive together!

My speech is finished. Thank you, everyone!”

Lin Ya finished explaining her plan almost exactly at the five-minute threshold.

“The narration phase of the second round has ended. Entering the discussion phase.”

The host announced.

As the host’s voice landed, the authority to speak was opened once more.

“—I call.”

Ming Po did not hesitate and immediately spoke.

Without thinking, he extended both hands and slapped the armrests on his left and right at the same time, using this to show support for Rabbit’s proposal.

After casting his vote, Ming Po withdrew both hands from the armrests without even looking.

He raised both hands as if surrendering, signaling that he would no longer vote.

No one knew which vote he had cast, so there was no way to follow his vote, and no way to vote against it either.

Lin Ya’s words did indeed make sense.

If they voted according to her method, they could indeed create tied votes until the end and let everyone survive.

But the first half of her proposal was so very dangerous.

The meaning of “fairness” also meant “randomness.”

Layer upon layer of strategy completely lost its meaning at this moment, turning into a horrifyingly cruel game like Russian roulette.

“What’s wrong, everyone?”

Seeing that the others were slow to vote, Ming Po raised his voice. “Not voting?”

At this moment, Ming Po’s face was filled with an especially delighted smile, and even his voice had become cheerful and relaxed.

But no one else could see…

That was not the relief of “I can finally survive.”

It was more like the delight one felt when watching those unlucky accident videos.

The gloating of watching someone unknowingly walk toward a prank trap.

Ming Po knew that choosing this way was purely gambling with his life. He would lose his advantage and compete equally with the others for the chance to survive.

But… so what?

Ming Po did not even know how he had died, nor did he have any resentment or obsession in his heart. There was even less of a reason why he absolutely had to survive.

For some unknown reason, from the very beginning, Ming Po had not felt any fear of death.

Or to put it more accurately… he did not have much fear at all.

Compared with choosing a steady strategy to “survive,” the thrill of walking on the edge between life and death excited him more instead.

“I also think this is a very good idea! Let heaven decide who gets to survive!”

Amid the silence, Raccoon hurriedly spoke as well, then pressed both armrests at the same time.

She had already been unable to wait for such a proposal.

Whether it was “Dog” and “Wolf,” who looked oppressive and aggressive at first glance, or “Fox,” who was obviously an extremely intelligent social elite, or “Bear,” who had lied right away to try to kill people and might have killed someone in reality, or even this “Rabbit,” who spoke clearly and logically and did not get nervous even in this kind of round… all of these people were far stronger than her, a university student who had only just started her second year.

This damned game’s matchmaking system was even more ridiculous than Honor of Kings.

Raccoon grumbled silently in her heart.

She was just a mere mortal who had failed advanced mathematics even after giving it her all. Why on earth had she been matched together with these gods?!

Raccoon was very clear that if everyone relied on their own abilities, she had no chance of winning at all.

And she was Number Ten, the last person

Even if Raccoon was not smart, she still knew the simplest fact… the later one’s speaking order was in this game, the greater the disadvantage.

Under these circumstances, being able to skip speeches and mind games… and directly leave peacefully after gambling on luck just once, actually increased her odds quite a bit!

Ordinary people like us are just mice hiding in the corner.

This little mouse doesn’t want to play life-and-death mind games. This little mouse just wants to survive!

If the chips had not already been forged into masks, she would even have wanted to give all her chips to someone else to bribe them into letting her off… after all, clearing the game would give at least one chip anyway.

As long as she obtained one chip, she and her boyfriend could both come back to life!

When that time came

She would definitely sell that damned 600cc sportbike and never touch motorcycles again in her life!

“Is this really fine?”

But at that moment, Fish, who had never spoken before, suddenly opened his mouth. “Do you people actually have brains?”

(End of Chapter)