Chapter 798: Simple Logic

Answer... me...!

His body trembling, Li Shouyi gripped the pocket watch in his hand tightly, veins bulging.

"Smart people" are different from ordinary people.

Ordinary people won't collapse due to a logical error; at most they worry for a day, then forget it.

But for him,

Wrong logic equals death, meaning the overthrow of ingrained thinking.

And Lin An's victory was no less than trampling his prideful confidence underfoot like trash.

Like a madman, the young woman beside him pulled the young man, her complexion complex, fearing he would act impulsively.

He ignored it.

Lin An simply walked up to Fiona and gave a gentle smile:

"What's there to fear..."

Toward familiar people, his temper has always been good.

They locked eyes in silence.

Fiona listened to Lin An's gentle voice, and her body, previously tense from excessive nervousness, instantly relaxed.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say so much, but couldn't get the words out.

To be honest, she didn't know why her emotions were stirred by Lin An; this had already surpassed her kind nature.

Perhaps, she felt indebted?

A girl's thoughts are always complicated.

"Lin An... sir."

"Lin An..."

Everyone saw that Lin An seemed unwilling to engage with them, so they steeled themselves and asked together.

"Could you... tell us exactly how to win?"

"Yeah, Lin An bro, just tell us!"

"What did you throw last?!"

The crowd's eyes burned hot; even those who hadn't spoken stared fixedly at his back.

Lin An survived, which means Li Shouyi's logic was wrong.

Having endured torment, they waited.

Nobody wanted to become a corpse on the ground.

After a series of faulty deductions, Lin An became the only one they could rely on.

Amidst the pleas, a cold, clear voice sounded:

"It's very simple."

The voice came from Lin An.

Seeing his mysterious mask, everyone, upon seeing him willing to answer, couldn't help but show joy.

They held their breath carefully, afraid to miss a single word.

Turning his body, Lin An ignored the panting teenager still frantically thinking where he went wrong, and spoke slowly:

"In the final round, I threw rock.."

？！？！

Rock?!

The air seemed to solidify; this answer was beyond everyone's expectation.

"You're lying!"

"Rock! That's not a tie, is it?!"

As the words fell, the high-pitched voice of the big-headed dwarf instantly raised his head to question.

Just like him, the crowd also froze; only a few eyes flickered as they scolded him:

"Shut up!"

"Let Lord Lin An finish speaking!"

Since Lin An is willing to speak, there's no need to deceive them.

Without joy or sorrow, Lin An glanced at the dwarf man, showing no strong emotion;

"I said, this mission is actually very simple."

"Actually, whenever it's the third round, the storeroom lights instantly go out."

"At that moment, the gesture the ghost granny shouts with her mouth differs completely from what she actually throws."

"She merely, or rather the system merely, used the safety of the first two rounds to mislead us into thinking the ghost granny would really act as she said."

"And when the ghost granny shouts rock in the third round, she actually throws scissors."

He extended a hand and slowly clenched his fist.

Lin An smiled:

"So... just throw a punch at the end."

Simple to the point of being hair-raising.

After hearing Lin An's explanation, everyone stood dumbstruck. Among them, the skinny man who had initially been discussed and despised suddenly shouted excitedly:

"I said it! I said this point!"

"I noticed the storeroom lights at the start! But you looked down on me, interrupting my train of thought! I had also suspected this!"

Emotions ran out of control.

The gaunt man's face was full of resentment; although his thoughts weren't that clear, he really did notice that lamp.

The answer is simple; they were just led astray by the blond-haired man, overthinking it!

No wonder Lin An said Li Shouyi's logic is all nonsense.

They're the ones who made the logic complicated! All this and that, just being clever for their own sake!

In the crowd, the few people nearest the door felt their hearts jump.

They also remembered that lamp, but everyone's train of thought had been thrown into disarray.

The solution has already been presented, and Lin An is there to confirm it.

Then...

Just as before, the Awakened Ones nearest the door hesitated not and were about to rush into the storeroom.

But at the same moment, a hoarse, unwilling voice sounded.

「Not right! 」

The youth stiffened his neck, shaking off the young woman's supporting hand.

「If you say the ghost granny didn't throw what she said in the third round, how do you know what she threw! 」

The speaker was none other than Li Shouyi.

His face was flushed, veins bulging, as if he were about to expose Lin An's lie.

「You said that in the third round, the ghost granny shouted 'rock' but threw 'scissors'. 」

「That point is completely unfounded! 」

「She said rock, but she could totally choose to throw scissors or cloth! If in the last round she throws not scissors but cloth, then you're doomed! 」

The few people rushing to seize the storeroom suddenly stopped.

Pairs of wary eyes turned toward them.

Yeah, in the excitement, they almost forgot about this.

Lin An, how could he possibly know that the ghost granny would pick one of two options, and which one she'd pick?

Lin An, he concealed crucial information, intending to kill them!?

The atmosphere froze.

The back-and-forth reversals nearly squeezed their nerves to the limit.

In the silence, Lin An merely tilted his head slightly, his gaze looking at Li Shouyi as if with pity:

「Simple. 」

「Chain of suspicion. 」

「Since the ghost granny wants us dead, she shouts 'rock'; if we want to win we would throw 'cloth', so she would naturally throw 'scissors' to kill us. 」

「Once you think of that, just throw rock. 」

While speaking, Lin An no longer looked at the youth; the other obviously could no longer stay rational, to the point of asking such a childish question.

He looked toward the crowd.

A flicker of weariness flashed in Lin An's eyes:

「Don't go in yet, everyone. 」

「The idea for clearing the task came from me; the points you earn afterward, I'll take half. 」

Having said that, he gently pushed Fiona toward the storeroom, indicating she should go in second.

There are still tasks afterward; if these Awakened Ones keep their word, Lin An doesn't mind lending them a hand.

After all, they're all humans.

As a member of humanity, the only kindness he has in his heart can only go this far.

Take half!?

The crowd hesitated, torn.

「I agree! 」

「Lord Lin An, I'll follow you! 」

The silence was broken.

Aga Xi, standing behind Lin An, chose agreement without hesitation; after successive reversals, he no longer dared to think.

He was quite aware that his thinking ability wasn't strong to begin with; he'd be better off clinging to a strong thigh.

Look at the dead blond-haired man, and that little brat who just farted— they both seem pretty formidable.

They're good with words—one claims to solve memes, the other claims to solve ghosts.

Compared to Lin An, they're each worse than the last...

If you listen to them, you won't even leave a corpse.

With a leader.

Voices of willing or reluctant agreement rang out, everyone looking at Lin An with complex expressions.

But, two Awakened Ones near the storeroom, after struggling inwardly, silently suddenly rushed toward the storeroom.

With their actions, they rejected Lin An.

Unwilling.

All the riddles have clearly been solved; why should we still have to split the points?

「Lin An! I didn't even ask you to speak! 」

「Don't think you're all that! 」

「The second-place points go to whoever grabs them! 」

「Start the mission! 」

Survival of the fittest, morality and all that is just bullshit.

Using their physical advantage, an Awakened One who looked like they were from the Asian subordinate war zone roared, then kicked another person out with one foot.

Creak—

Guipo rose, a kind smile appearing on her face.

Good child..

Lord Lin An!!

Lin An...

Ajiaxi, after making sure to hold tightly onto Lin An's thigh, loyally projected himself into it.

Seeing that Awakened One so shameless, he couldn't help but shout angrily.

Feiouna, who had originally planned to enter, also showed a wry smile on her face.

Why, there always are people like this...

With a bang as the door shut, the atmosphere instantly turned a bit awkward.

Many people secretly glanced at Lin An's expression, only to helplessly find they couldn't see it at all.

Lin An, I'll give you all the points later...

Feiouna raised her head apologetically, looking at him; she should have immediately taken over the storage room after Lin An finished explaining his idea.

But after locking eyes with Lin An, she actually read a cold meaning from it.

It seemed as if the person inside the door was merely a corpse.

A chill ran up their spine despite no cold.

She suddenly realized.

Even if that person inside the door copied Lin An's train of thought, they would... die!?

Grandma thought of... scissors..

The sound was transmitted.

Hoarse, like an old man exhaling his last breath on the brink of death.