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Chapter 54: Maybe he is a gambler
There were only five chances left.
Listening to the sounds of his comrades being tortured, An Wujiu couldn’t maintain absolute calm. For a moment, he even wished he could be in his other state, one where he could use his indifference and malice to come up with a plan and rescue them sooner.
But he knew it was impossible; this game wasn’t his alone.
It was similar to the prisoner’s dilemma ①. Each person trapped in it couldn’t receive information from others and couldn’t come up with a so-called plan, and making mistakes in decision-making was the norm.
He comforted himself; at least Yang Erci came out.
The opportunity for all three to make the same choice had to be utilized in the first instance; otherwise, as time passed, their mental state would only worsen, and the time available would become shorter. Trying to achieve the same result in the subsequent rounds would be more challenging.
To secure the ultimate victory, there had to be another opportunity.
“Well, your selfless comrades once again exchanged their sacrifice and dedication for time. Indeed, it confirms the human saying that time is life.”
Upon hearing the rabbit’s voice, An Wujiu’s eyes turned cold.
Humans…
Could it be that, as one of the masterminds, it wasn’t one of their kind?
“Let me see how much time you gained this round.” The rabbit paused. “Oh! 44 seconds! A pretty good number.”
“For the third answer, tell me what choice you will make.”
An Wujiu stared coldly at the box in front of him. The exposed wire seemed to connect to the metal walls, perhaps even to more things he didn’t know about.
The black and white buttons on top seemed distorted, turning into two bottomless pits, absorbing all the screams, cries, and roars around him like a vortex with no end.
In the last round, there were three “eliminations” because they all thought on the same level.
After experiencing a round of “eliminations,” Shen Ti and Yang Erci would surely be worried. Psychologically, they would tend to choose No, similar to a punishment-reward scenario. A child who has been punished once will not take the same path again.
But they weren’t simple-minded people; they would doubt this choice, especially Yang Erci. After two repetitions, she wouldn’t want to waste another opportunity on unlocking herself.
In terms of wavering hearts, she was the heaviest. She would want everyone to lean toward choosing ‘No’ in this round. Compared to others, Yang Erci was most likely to choose ‘Yes’.
But for An Wujiu, this time he had to choose “No” no matter what.
He couldn’t overthink it, or else everyone’s thoughts would be too unanimous, and the result would be unfavorable. This time, he had to actively lower his thinking level.
At least in this round, An Wujiu had to let the “not eliminate” option dominate, even if he couldn’t get out in the end. He couldn’t harm the people outside who sacrificed for them.
Without much hesitation, An Wujiu pressed the white button and chose No.
He bet the possibility of success on the other two, especially Yang Erci.
It would be best if it was NNY…
An Wujiu didn’t take much time to think this time. He pressed the white button when there were still 30 seconds left on the countdown.
He believed in Yang Erci and Shen Ti.
As the countdown ended, the rabbit’s voice appeared, seemingly deliberately provoking him, saying, “Very decisive; you are the first to make a decision.”
An Wujiu didn’t want to pay attention to him, finding it ridiculous. “Are you so happy watching others suffer?”
The rabbit’s laughter paused, then, in a seemingly natural and extremely innocent tone, it asked him, “Don’t you find it joyful? These are such precious sacrifices and nourishment.”
An Wujiu found it absurd. The next moment, he heard the rabbit say, “In the last game, you watched the fight from a distance, and three people died under your hands. Weren’t you satisfied with victory back then?”
“How did you know?” An Wujiu was puzzled. Wasn’t it an NPC in this game?
“Of course, I know. Don’t forget, I even know you have a sister.” The rabbit’s laughter was full of irony. “All the people you directly or indirectly killed in the holy altar, you probably forgot them yourself.”
“An Wujiu, I’ll remember it for you.”
An Wujiu felt a chill throughout his body, as if he had been dissected cleanly by this rabbit, like a corpse he had personally killed.
It was joyfully dissecting its spoils, savoring this clear-cut victory.
The rabbit laughed and said, “An Wujiu, you need to step up. I love your utterly unforgivable look, not sparing even your friends. Why are you so weak now, struggling for the sake of unrelated people?”
It gave An Wujiu great confusion and self-doubt, then abruptly stopped, pretending no longer to continue. “Ah, I seem to have said too much, for each one of you.”
“Let’s announce the results—will it make you happy or more sorrowful?”
A new message appeared on the LED screen of the box in front of them, and the cheerful celebration music surrounded the metal tomb that was almost burying the three of them.
[NNN]
“Happy, aren’t you? The final decision not to eliminate has progressed again!”
[Player Yang Erci’s door lock has been unlocked!]
Impossible.
An Wujiu couldn’t believe the reality before him.
“What did they choose?”
“How could I possibly tell you that?” The rabbit laughed sharply, its laughter like a soft knife, cutting through his heart. “Truly a spiritual leader, it seems everyone followed your decision.”
Why did no one waver?
An Wujiu carefully reflected on his calculations. Could it be that he was too arrogant, and in reality, he couldn’t guess the thoughts of others at all?
He couldn’t save anyone; he couldn’t be the damn savior.
“Don’t be disheartened. At least you didn’t get three Yes. That’s something to congratulate.”
Although this choice wasn’t random and couldn’t be strictly calculated based on probabilities, the consecutive occurrence of the same result three times, especially after he made a strategic change, seemed a bit suspicious.
This was the game of the holy altar; it wouldn’t cheat by manipulating player results, and such a method was quite crude. Players who had their results manipulated would be well aware of it.
But by truly letting players form the prisoner’s dilemma, when the number of people increased to three, it became challenging to achieve cooperation through repeated games. Two people could repeatedly test each other, seeking trust through trial cooperation.
However, with three people, it was practically impossible. There’s an additional variable; it’s no longer a one-on-one situation. Unlike the two-person prisoner’s dilemma, it was not a matter of “you or me,” and cooperation wasn’t just cooperation; it could also be betrayal.
With three people, they didn’t even know what choices the other two had made. Each person thought they might be the ones making a different choice, but no one could be certain about their own decision.
It was unsolvable.
Rely on luck? Or was there really a problem with the game?
For the first time, suspicion crept into An Wujiu’s mind.
Once suspicion arises, it’s challenging to suppress.
An Wujiu thought that even if a player knows they’ve been tampered with, having chosen Y but displaying NNN, they can’t speak up. The other two players will forever remain oblivious.
But what was the point of such a despicable rule-breaking? Did the game still have any meaning?
“Your comrades are really strong. Three rounds have passed, yet not one of them has pressed the stop button. They’re still desperately holding on for you.”
The rabbit chuckled and said, “Now… do you really want to get out? Want to press that button for them?”
He couldn’t let it influence him any longer.
What it wanted most now was for everyone to lose their rationality and descend into madness.
That would be its victory.
An Wujiu sneered, looking up at those nonexistent prying eyes.
This scene almost made the rabbit, hidden behind, suspect if he had another sudden personality change.
But in reality, An Wujiu didn’t. He merely stood on the extreme point of brightness and took a step toward the center.
“If you expect to see me break down, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”
An Wujiu remained composed, accepting his own peculiarities with calmness. “I have a dark side and a bright side, just like all humans. My bright side even includes a calmness and composure that others don’t possess. You can’t easily shatter me.”
“I will figure out your tricks.”
The rabbit fell silent for a moment, and in this rare quietness, the cries became even more piercing.
Its once insane voice suddenly became indifferent, downright cruel, as if declaring an established fact. “You may not believe it, but someday, you will be shattered.”
“This is your destiny; do you understand?”
Despite his amnesia, An Wujiu didn’t believe in so-called fate.
Perhaps it was true, but he couldn’t accept it until the result of being shattered arrived.
The rabbit’s ruthlessness didn’t last too long; it quickly reverted to that insane tone. “Well, let’s start the fourth round of choices.”
“This time, the poor souls are biting their teeth, fighting for you for a whole 30 seconds.”
“Carefully think about it, whether to eliminate or not. Within thirty seconds, I want to hear your answer.”
“Come on, little beauty.”
The countdown of thirty seconds began quickly.
An Wujiu didn’t think; he didn’t think at all; instead, he reached into his pocket.
Observing everything, the rabbit couldn’t help but squint its eyes.
What is this guy doing?
He pulled out a fragment shimmering with golden light. Quite randomly, the key fragment was inscribed with “hoax,” one of the rewards he obtained when unlocking the water tank game.
He pinched a corner of the fragment between his fingers, and with a flick of his thumb, the golden fragment soared into the air, tracing a colorful parabola. It was caught by his palm and pressed between his palm and the back of his hand, settling the dust.
The side with writing said ‘Yes’, the blank side said No.
He made his decision and then moved his palm away.
The side facing up unmistakably read “hoax.”
[Hoax]
Although this wasn’t the result he wanted, he still took a gamble.
Quickly, An Wujiu pressed the button, thinking in his mind.
Perhaps he was a gambler.
Knowing that opportunities were precious, the multitude of doubts surging in his mind forced him to make this bet.
An Wujiu was determined to use this capricious randomness to gamble on the information he needed.
He wanted to verify his speculation.
“I didn’t expect you to be so reckless.” The rabbit saw him press the button, choosing ‘Yes’, and mockingly felt incredulous. “Have you given up?”
An Wujiu raised his head and, for the first time, retorted, “What do you think?”
The rabbit sneered.
“I have a question I’m curious about. Don’t worry; it’s not about what choices the others made. I don’t want to break the rules.” Saying this, An Wujiu threw out a second question. “Was I the first one to make a choice?”
This time, the rabbit didn’t immediately react, not even with a smile.
It unusually became silent—a silence that was frightening.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” An Wujiu put away the fragment with “hoax” written on it, lowering his head and inspecting his fingertips, where many calluses had worn out.
“Do you know? When a person is extremely excited, they talk more, and along with that, the information in their words increases.” An Wujiu calmly raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know if you’re human or not, but you made a mistake.”
“I’ve been thinking about how to break the dilemma for the three of us, but it ended up in a stalemate, almost impossible to get out of. But you set up this game to make us realize it. It’s just that you hoped we would discover it a bit later. By the time irreversible regret strikes, the game effect will be optimal.”
“Otherwise, you wouldn’t keep playing smart, trying to leak a bit of information to make the game more enjoyable.”
The rabbit laughed.
“You’re mad; do you know what you’re talking about?”
The results were in, and celebration music surrounded them. An Wujiu stared at the LED screen in front of him, his face devoid of any surprise.
[YYY]
[Player Yang Erci’s door lock has been unlocked!]
An Wujiu paid no attention, walking over to the box. He tugged at the exposed wire, just as he suspected—with a slight pull, the other end came loose.
Seemingly not thorough enough.
An Wujiu opened the panel, searching within the collection threshold.
The next moment, a gun appeared in his hand. Without hesitation, he aimed and fired, shattering the choice box on the metal wall.
“You’re truly insane!” the rabbit screamed.
In the smoke, An Wujiu stared at the completely destroyed display screen, his heart calming down.
“Stop pretending.”
“This box is just an illusion.”
“It was intentionally made so rudimentary that it was easy to break with a pull. Yet you confidently believed no one would dare touch it, let alone destroy it.”
An Wujiu placed one end of the gun against the ground. “Your method of psychologically pressuring players with long segments of mockery and provocation—is it always so effective? Previous players either collapsed under your brainwashing or got stuck in the whirlpool of thought, unable to escape this unsolvable problem.”
An Wujiu’s mouth remained flat, exuding an indifferent demeanor. “Everyone overlooked the fact that, from the first round, you’ve been saying ‘tell me your choice’ every time. In this round, you even boldly declared, ‘I want to hear your choice.'”
He directly exposed the truth.
“The appearance of this box is meant to confuse the respondents. In reality, the answer must be spoken out loud. Am I wrong?”
The rabbit listened quietly and, unexpectedly, and laughed. “So, you randomly chose an answer just now and asked me if I was the first one, just to find out what this box is for?”
“Yes, I don’t believe that the same decision would occur four times in a row. None of us are idiots.”
“If it’s not cheating, then the problem lies with the props. You were too arrogant, thinking no one could see through this scam. So, in the third round, you directly revealed the order of answers, explicitly told me I was the first one, even referred to me as the spiritual leader, and everyone followed my answer.”
An Wujiu’s gaze was clear and sharp. “The term ‘follow’ here is the truth that slipped from your lips.”
“The first person to press the button in the box and make a choice directly assimilates the choices of the three people. No matter how you think or decide, the final answer is the same.”
To some extent, the rabbit found it exciting.
This An Wujiu could actually gain clues from its brutal rhetoric and psychological pressure, even using gambling to obtain the information he needed.
Extreme composure was a form of madness.
What a terrifying individual!
“Brilliant, ordinary people wouldn’t have held on until this point.” The rabbit exclaimed, even applauding and casually predicting the fates of the other players.
“If it weren’t for being overwhelmed by the crying outside or being tortured by this information-sealed choice, they would either go crazy.”
“You and that guy next door with green eyes are the only two players who could perceive the clues halfway through the game.”
“Should I say you two are naturally a good match, or should I say you’re both monsters of the same kind with extreme stress resistance?”
Hearing Shen Ti’s name, An Wujiu’s Adam’s apple rolled.
This was not beyond his expectations; Shen Ti was even more unconstrained than himself, with no attachments or constraints.
Fortunately, he had also discovered it, knowing that he would find it too.
“But what can you do about it? You’ve just lifted the illusion.”
“Now, what’s left is the real game, isn’t it?”
“An Wujiu,” the rabbit smiled cryptically, “is the information you gambled for enough?”
Author’s note:
① The Prisoner’s Dilemma is a special kind of psychological game. I originally wanted to write a bit about it, but I didn’t have time, so I’ll just copy and paste an introduction. However, in the context of the story, it’s not exactly a true Prisoner’s Dilemma because there are three people involved, making the situation quite different. It’s almost impossible to achieve cooperation among three individuals, especially when they know each other. If they didn’t know each other, it would be even more challenging.
Here is the copied introduction: “The story of the prisoner’s dilemma is about two suspects who, after committing a crime, are captured by the police and held in separate rooms for interrogation.
The police know both are guilty but lack sufficient evidence. The police tell each person: if both deny the crime, each will be sentenced to one year; if both confess, each will be sentenced to eight years; if one confesses while the other denies, the one who confesses will be released, and the one who denies will be sentenced to ten years.
So, each prisoner faces two choices: to confess or to deny.
However, regardless of what the accomplice chooses, the optimal choice for each prisoner is to confess. If the accomplice denies and one confesses, the one who confesses is released, and if both confess, each is sentenced to eight years, which is better than ten years for denying.”
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For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
this rabbit is too sus