Chapter 104: The Logical Paradox of the NPC Ghost Whisperer

The Elevator ascended to the 32nd floor.

The Elevator ascended to the 33rd floor.

The next floor would be the 34th, but this building only had 33 floors. Geng Hao knew exactly what was about to happen. He immediately lay on his side inside the Elevator, wrapping his arms around his head and curling his legs.

The Elevator plummeted rapidly before coming to a sudden halt. Once the five minutes passed, the Elevator began to accelerate upwards, faster and faster. Geng Hao felt that this ascent was much quicker than any before it, taking less than five seconds...

The Elevator smashed into the roof. The carriage deformed, and the tremendous inertia launched Geng Hao high into the air.

If he had been standing upright, his head would have violently collided with the Elevator ceiling. His skull would have been crushed, his spine snapped.

However, because he was lying on his side, it was the side of his body that struck the ceiling.

At the same time, because he had protected his head and spine, the impact only left one side of his body numb and devoid of sensation.

'I am not dead?'

A straight drop to the very bottom!

Falling along with the Elevator was the shattered roof, crashing all the way down to the basement level.

The carriage was twisted into a grotesque shape, and inside, Geng Hao had been reduced to a puddle of mangled flesh.

...

The 18th Floor Mezzanine.

Chen Ran looked up at the blasted-open ceiling above, not rushing to climb up.

He waited for ten minutes. Seeing that the Elevator was no longer ascending, he finally tossed away his Cigarette butt.

Tying himself to the Elevator guide rails, he gripped the steel tracks tightly with both his hands and legs, inching his way up slowly.

Whenever he got tired, he rested and smoked a Cigarette. With the rope securing his body, he would not fall.

And so he climbed, on and on.

He did not know how long he climbed, but the opening in the shaft, torn open by the Elevator, grew closer and closer...

The moment he climbed through the exit, Chen Ran's consciousness returned to his body, having successfully cleared the Escape Room Game.

...

The Third Secret Room.

The information displayed on the door of the Escape Room Game read:

[Chen Ran: 2 hours 17 minutes.]

[Geng Hao: Dead.]

Chen Ran dragged Geng Hao's corpse out and removed the Chest Plate from the body.

The other three had varying expressions. Qiu Yinong frowned. In her mind, as long as Chen Ran and Geng Hao reached a truce, it would have been difficult not to clear this Instance.

However, doing that would require tricking Geng Hao into telling a lie.

She had not expected Chen Ran to directly orchestrate Geng Hao's death within the Escape Room Game.

Qiu Yinong took a deep look at Lin Jiabao.

'Could it be...'

'Did Chen Ran manage to flip Lin Jiabao?'

Similarly shocked was the Young Heiress, Lin Jiabei.

'Among this batch of Players, Chen Ran is undeniably the smartest. There is no way he could not foresee the situation that would unfold once Geng Hao died.'

The Dice spun across the long table.

This time, the number rolled was...

2!

The colors on the Chest Plates worn by Chen Ran and Lin Jiabao constantly shifted, while the difficulty displayed on the secret room door also rapidly changed.

Finally.

Red Faction: Chen Ran.

Blue Faction: Lin Jiabao.

Difficulty: [Normal]

Since the rules still stated that the bet could not exceed eight Poker Chips.

Seeing this, Qiu Yinong hesitated no longer. With a single push of her hand, she shoved her remaining three Poker Chips to the center of the long table and drew her Liar-Slayer.

If Lin Jiabei dared to retract her Skill, she would activate the Wheel of Time.

By this point, how could Lin Jiabei not realize that her dear brother had decided to collude with Chen Ran to trap and kill her?

"You!" She stood up, angrily pointing at Lin Jiabao. It took her a long time to steady her racing mind.

"Why?"

Facing her interrogation, Lin Jiabao did not spout a bunch of grand principles or words of resentment.

Perhaps he knew this was one of the few opportunities he had to kill this nightmare, and opening his mouth might trick him into telling a lie.

"Let us go."

Lin Jiabao and Chen Ran walked into the Escape Room Game together.

[Normal] difficulty was almost too easy for the two of them.

Moreover, neither of them had any lingering worries. In the Escape Room Game, they no longer needed to painstakingly scheme to kill their opponent.

Therefore, their speed was incredibly fast.

In less than five minutes.

On the door of the secret room:

[Chen Ran: 4 minutes 42 seconds.]

[Lin Jiabao: 4 minutes 27 seconds.]

Lin Jiabao won.

Lin Jiabao was in the Blue Faction, which meant Qiu Yinong won this round.

On the long table, the Dice spun once again.

This time, the number rolled was: 1.

Only the colors of Chen Ran and Lin Jiabao's Chest Plates constantly changed.

Finally.

Red Faction: Lin Jiabao.

Blue Faction: Chen Ran.

Qiu Yinong chose to go all-in once more, shoving six Poker Chips to the center of the long table.

Lin Jiabei's face turned ugly, only to hear Chen Ran leisurely drawl, "As expected, your Fishing in Murky Waters cannot alter fixed parameters."

"With only one member left in both factions, no matter how the Chest Plate colors change, the final result will always be one member per faction. It is impossible for a situation to arise where both members are in the same faction."

"Oh right, there should be one other possibility, and that is..."

"If Lin Jiabao or I lost the Escape Room Game and had our Chest Plate taken, and the remaining Chest Plates matched our own color, only then could a scenario occur where two members are placed in the same faction."

"But do you really think Lin Jiabao and I would make such a rookie mistake?"

As he spoke, he pointed at the Chest Plates on himself and Lin Jiabao.

Chen Ran: Two Blue.

Lin Jiabao: Two Red, One Blue.

At this moment, Chen Ran was wearing Blue.

Lin Jiabao, meanwhile, was wearing Red.

Qiu Yinong had to keep winning, so it was Chen Ran's turn to win this round. By winning, Chen Ran would seize Geng Hao's Red Chest Plate.

When that happened:

Chen Ran: One Red, Two Blue.

Lin Jiabao: One Red, One Blue.

Furthermore, after Qiu Yinong won this round, her Poker Chips would reach 12.

Lin Jiabei would be left with only 6.

If the Dice did not roll a 4 or higher in the next round, Qiu Yinong could bet 6 Poker Chips.

Lin Jiabei would lose all her Poker Chips.

Lin Jiabei was on the brink of absolute fury. She glared viciously at Lin Jiabao. "Your cowardly nature is the very reason I was born! I am your protective persona; I will always stand by your side and protect you! I truly do not understand why you would help them kill me!"

"Do you think that old man actually loved you? Are you joking?! You killed the primary persona of his adopted son. How could he possibly treat you like his own biological grandson?"

"He taught you how to read and write, taught you how to behave—it was all just to use you!"

"He could not bear to destroy his adopted son's body with his own hands, so he deliberately provoked me! I had no choice but to torture him to death!"

"His death made you resent me, so he could use you to kill me."

"But there is no way you could defeat me, so he wanted to use my hands to kill you. Why can you not even understand something this simple?!"

"Did we not work together perfectly in the past? As long as you let me step into the Escape Room Game, Chen Ran, Qiu Yinong—none of them are my match!"

Hearing this, a cold glint flashed through Qiu Yinong's eyes as she instinctively reached for her Liar-Slayer.

'Deceiver's Tongue!'

'She voluntarily spoke the negation of the Deceiver's Tongue.'

'No!'

'Between her and Lin Jiabao, from the very beginning, they never claimed they were the primary persona.'

'Her words seemed like they were meant for Lin Jiabao, but in reality, she was tricking Chen Ran and me into negating their Deceiver's Tongue.'

Realizing this, Qiu Yinong withdrew the hand touching her Liar-Slayer.

This was the terrifying aspect of an NPC Ghost Whisperer. If it were a Player Ghost Whisperer, they had to voice the Deceiver's Tongue themselves and make the other Players believe it.

But an NPC Ghost Whisperer could utilize the Instance to make the Players speak their meticulously laid Deceiver's Tongue. Yet, because Players were merely deducing the Instance, they were not technically lying.

Therefore, even if a Player voiced the Deceiver's Tongue arranged by the NPC Ghost Whisperer, they had not told a lie.

This created a logical paradox.

The Player spoke the Deceiver's Tongue, but did not lie.

The NPC Ghost Whisperer successfully forged the Deceiver's Tongue without ever speaking it themselves.

In other words, no one could use the negation of the Deceiver's Tongue to pass Judgment on each other.

Lin Jiabei was using exactly this point, trying to trick Chen Ran and Qiu Yinong into negating the Deceiver's Tongue, thereby coaxing a lie out of them.

However, with victory right before their eyes, both of their nerves were strung tightly. How could they possibly fall for such a trap?