Dreadful Radio Game

When Chu Zhao saw Su Bai surreptitiously return to his own room, he revealed a suspicious gaze and laughed. “Acting scared, acting like a psycho. Meaningful.”

Su Bai sat on a chair when he returned to his room; he started to empty his mind. Based on the previous clues, Su Bai considered himself to be clear about the specifics of the voting game.

The voting game was still the voting game, and it was divided into two game circles. Every circle had ten men and ten women, but based on the words the host of Dreadful Radio:

“Twenty youths aged between twenty and thirty years old. Ten men and ten women, it’s very balanced, isn’t it?

“At this moment, they are lying on their own beds getting ready to sleep, but suddenly, their bedrooms no longer looked the same.

A game reeking of blood based on order and choice,

Has commenced…”

The host of Dreadful Radio mentioned twenty youths. Were these twenty youths part of the same game circle?

No.

It should be both the game circles!

It was impossible for any deception since the beginning. If even the information that the host of Dreadful Radio gave was a lie, it would pull down Dreadful Radio’s ability to act almighty.

After doing some backward reasoning, assuming Dreadful Radio’s information about the ten men and ten women was correct, this meant that regardless of how many game circles there were, the total was still twenty people!

Now there were two game circles, each side had twenty people which resulted in forty people in total. Based on the previous hypothesis, out of these forty people, only half of them were real audiences.

As for the remaining half, which was twenty people…

They were…

Ghosts!

These types of ghosts were not the type where they were souls of the deceased, they were more like AI[1] players in a game. For example, a battle game which required 5 vs 5 but there were only four players, they could divide into two actual players and the AI players on each side.

It was possible for the regulations of the story world to use this method. There were only twenty audiences, only two of the true players can shuttle between both game circles. This would cause a huge waste, when the other audiences or other players were not qualified, could it be they could only helplessly die?

Of course not!

If it were so, the interest of the game as well as its unfair principle would be thoroughly destroyed. That is why the regulations of the story world created these ghosts, just like AI players who accompanied the prince to study[2]. They themselves did not know they were AI players. They didn’t know they were fake and were ghosts. They treated themselves as true audiences, thinking that they were one of the participants in the story as well as having the desire to survive and were impetuous.

However, because they were created by the regulations of the story, the regulations of the story reserved the rights of final interpretation. The regulations of the story were able to change, amend, accommodate to some of their actions, the meaning of their existence, whether they could continue living. These ghosts were not able to do it themselves and had no idea about it.

Su Bai had always been confused with one question before this. When people were able to shuttle between both game circles, how was the head count calculated? The number of voters, the rules of voting and other places would have many loopholes and bugs due to the additional person who appeared. From the look of things right now, Dreadful Radio had settled all these loopholes and bugs. The method was simple, you have to know Dreadful Radio had placed ten of its ghost in each game circle and rigged the head count and votes. It was not something easy to arrange such a back door.

When Su Bai entered this game circle, would one of the ghost disappear? The total number of voters wouldn’t change right?

This type of logic perfectly solved all the problems. There was still a huge benefit with the story regulations; other people who did not recognize the person who could shuttle back and forth would feel they had always been there but just very low profile.

With this scary ability to modify the memories of others along with twenty ghosts to solve the loophole in logic, the complicated voting game could be operated perfectly.

Only Dreadful Radio was able to organize this type of game.

Su Bai rubbed his temples. He found the game very stifling. It did not have the atmosphere like in games; it instead increased the level to scheme and fight.

There were two people who could shuttle freely in every circle, their pressure was much higher than normal audiences. They were like two people chosen by both game circles and forcefully sent into the battlefield. If they won, they would complete the task and be sent back into the real world. If they died, they would forever be stuck here accompanying the dead souls.

Qin Yang was chosen by that game circle. After he had entered Su Bai’s game circle, he had always been observing and searching, searching for that person who had the same ability as him to shuttle between both game circles.

In the end, he found it.

It was Chen Yixin.

What caught Qin Yang unprepared was that Chen Yixin had high exposure rate due to that psycho, Su Bai, and in the end, she surprisingly died due to getting the highest number of votes. Qin Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry by completing his task this way.

He had left after succeeding soon after. The regulations of the story world then started to handle the traces he left behind. For example, dying in front of the gazes of others as the game continued on.

“Hisss…”

Su Bai continuously took in deep breaths. Now he wanted to understand something: what was the meaning behind the actions of Zhao Zhen and Qian Lan?

There was a thorn that had been in Su Bai’s heart. When he first entered the story world, he encountered Zhao Zhen who was opposite him when he opened his room door, he had purposely faked an attack posture, Zhao Zhen was tricked and stabbed Su Bai’s thigh. Zhao Zhen then strutted around like there was nothing wrong after that, shouldn’t he be injured too?

There should have been an injury on him at that time. Even a fool was able to tell, but he kept on acting totally brainless right until he was voted to death.

Now it seemed it was actually very simple. Zhao Zhen was actually a ghost. His mission set by the regulations of the story world was to attract everyone’s attention during the first round seeking death and then become the first person to be voted, to set as an example to let everyone familiarize with the rules, becoming a prime example.

Zhao Zhen might not know this, but his fate had been sealed since the beginning. Even if Su Bai wasn’t there, he would challenge someone else or purposely start something up.

From the fairness perspective of the game, it wouldn’t be fair if an audience died as an example. It was the best method if a ghost was used as an example. As for Qian Lan, Su Bai wasn’t sure if she was a ghost or not and he had no way of analyzing it. But Zhao Zhen was definitely a ghost!

Su Bai entered the bathroom. He rinsed his face with cold water. Many worrisome thoughts appeared in his mind continuously surging his consciousness. He is clear that he had quickly straighten things out. He had to figure out the rules because he did not have much time left.

Two audiences would be chosen to battle it out every round. To which extend would this battle be carried out?

To create billows at the other party’s side and then vote them to death?

Purposely fan up the flames?

Purposely sow dissension?

Su Bai placed a wet towel on his face.

No.

Impossible.

It shouldn’t be like this. If it was so, it would be too complicated, so complicated that it was too hard for others to believe. It couldn’t be completed in a short period of one voting time. It couldn’t even be completed in five or six rounds.

If this was arranged by the regulations of the story world, the difficulty level would jump from primary school level maths to university level maths. If both sides used so much time to shuttle between both game circles to sow dissension to vote the other part to death, what are the others people going to do? The others are only here to buy soy sauce[3]?

There should be… a more direct method.

Chen Yixin was voted to death; Qin Yang was considered to accomplish his task. It was alright as long as one of the shuttler… died.

Including,

Directly using your own method to kill them in the hotel or scenario!

If Qin Yang killed Chen Yixin in the scenario, he would also die but Chen Yixin faced true death; he was liberated and accomplished his task. Because Chen Yixin was voted to death, Qin Yang had to die too as a process of Dreadful Radio.

“Hu… Hu… Hu….”

Su Bai continuously took in deep breaths. His train of thoughts were now cleared up. The question now was:

Qin Yang had just completed his task and left the story world.

Who was the next shuttler in this game circle?

How was he able to find him?

…

“Here, your coffee.” Chu Zhao placed a cup of coffee on Aroma’s table.

There was a piece of paper on Aroma’s table, there were many drawing on it as well as analysis and annotations.

“How is it? Have you figured it out?” Chu Zhao sat on a bed very unnaturally.

“I had figured out many of the rules on the surface but there is something I cannot figure out. It feels like it’s lacking something. The environment we are facing is much more complicated than Cube[4]. This environment and this world is definitely not created by human powers.”

“You mean that we have met a God and got pulled into this place?” Chu Zhao stood up. “Oh yea, Aroma, come over here a while. I’m a little itchy here.”

Aroma stood up, she walked over to Chu Zhao, “What’s up?”

“Help me scratch, it’s a little itchy.”

Aroma placed her hand on Chu Zhao’s neck and started scratching. A piece of skin was torn out.