Chapter 119: The Final Circle

'Personality?'

'So that was it. Old Man and the fat otaku beat them at their own game. Based on the layout of the two police officers, they deduced that the female officer's identity was a Deceiver's Tongue.'

'Thereby making everyone overlook the true Deceiver's Tongue in the entire Small Hotel.'

'Old Man is the owner.'

'This is the true Deceiver's Tongue. Once someone states who among the eight is a primary or secondary personality of so-and-so, it is equivalent to denying the identities of all eight people. This naturally includes Old Man, which is tantamount to denying Old Man's Deceiver's Tongue!'

'Denying a Deceiver's Tongue requires denying a unique link in the chain.'

'However, the fact that the eight people are the personalities of Chen Ran and Lin Jiabei is something we reasoned out. It lacks uniqueness because, from an objective standpoint, there is no substantive evidence.'

'Therefore, whoever speaks with certainty about who is a primary or secondary personality is lying.'

From an omniscient perspective.

When Old Man went upstairs and asked if the fat otaku was Chen Ran's primary personality, his true intention was to trick the fat otaku into denying the Deceiver's Tongue.

Extremely sinister.

First, he put on a self-righteous front, then secretly advanced his true agenda. If the fat otaku hadn't been so cautious, he would have been eliminated long ago.

On the other hand, the female officer failed to unravel the underlying logic. Stating that the two police officers were righteous personalities was a denial of the Deceiver's Tongue. Denying it from the angle of personalities naturally led to failure. Thus, the female officer lied.

...

After sorting through the logic behind all this, Lin Jiabei broke out in a cold sweat.

'The fat otaku and Old Man are definitely massive pitfalls. Each is better at pretending than the other.'

'But for Old Man to trick the female officer into lying, he had to make her drop her guard. Because of this, there is a high probability that Old Man said he was not someone's primary or secondary personality.'

'Which means, as long as his identity as the owner is denied, he becomes a liar.'

'Ghost Whisperers can essentially manifest physical objects and use them to make others affirm the Ghost Whisperer's identity or words, thereby establishing a Deceiver's Tongue and turning lies into truth.'

'Therefore, the conditions for forming a Deceiver's Tongue require definitive physical evidence and subjective affirmation from everyone present.'

'Once a Deceiver's Tongue is formed, trying to deny it requires an objective denial, and this objectivity must possess uniqueness.'

Upon reaching this realization.

Lin Jiabei bypassed Old Man, rushed down the corridor and downstairs, and sprinted to the front desk, rummaging through boxes and cabinets in search of something.

Old Man walked downstairs and was met with the fat otaku's suspicious gaze, which seemed to ask: "She actually wasn't killed by you?"

Like performing a magic trick, the two of them pulled another loose cigarette from their pockets, lit up, and sat on the sofa, quietly watching Lin Jiabei search for things.

Anyone with half a brain would know that the item capable of proving Old Man wasn't the owner was highly likely on his person.

Eventually, the three of them sat on the sofa.

However, they sat quite far apart, mentally on guard against one another.

Simply because...

They clearly knew that two of the three were the primary personalities of Chen Ran and Lin Jiabei. The third person should be...

Someone's secondary personality.

For a secondary personality to somehow make it to the final circle was truly astonishing.

That was exactly where the problem lay. Due to the Deceiver's Tongue surrounding Old Man's identity, coupled with their respective disguises, no one could be certain of who was who.

Take Old Man for example. He seemed very much like the chain-smoking Chen Ran, but he could also be a disguise crafted by Lin Jiabei's personality.

The current situation was this: if the sole remaining secondary personality was eliminated, the Escape Room Game would end.

But Chen Ran and Lin Jiabei both wanted to kill each other. They wouldn't let the other kill the surviving secondary personality; they had to eliminate the primary personality first.

Consequently, all three remained silent.

Instead, they were deep in thought, trying to deduce exactly who that secondary personality was, and then consider teaming up with them to eliminate their opponent's primary personality.

First was Old Man.

'Earlier in Room 208, when Lin Jiabei heard me say she wasn't a primary personality, her first reaction was to draw her gun.'

'This proves that she knows her own identity. She is highly likely someone's primary personality.'

Lin Jiabei seemed to see right through Old Man's thoughts. The corners of her lips curled into a smile. Under their shocked gazes, she declared, "I am not Chen Ran's primary personality, nor am I the true Lin Jiabei's primary personality."

Having said that, she reached toward her waist, her entire being in a state of extreme hyper-focus.

The fat otaku frowned and sighed. "Fine, I'm not Chen Ran's primary personality either, and I am certainly not Lin Jiabei's primary personality."

With that said, the fat otaku also pressed his hand against the Pistol at his waist, narrowing his eyes as his entire body tensed up.

The pressure shifted to Old Man. He slowly reached toward his trouser pocket. Seeing this scene, the fat otaku and Lin Jiabei felt their hearts leap into their throats.

This was a massive gamble.

The logic was simple: all three of them had stated that they were not the primary personalities of Chen Ran and Lin Jiabei.

If, at this moment, Old Man pulled out an item proving he was not the owner, then the Deceiver's Tongue surrounding him would be broken.

Chen Ran's primary personality lied.

Lin Jiabei's primary personality lied.

Their secondary personalities would win.

At the same time, Lin Jiabei dared to take the initiative and be the first to state that she was not the primary personality of either person.

Which indicated that she was highly likely a secondary personality.

By the same logic.

If Old Man was a primary personality, with the intellect of either Chen Ran or Lin Jiabei, he would absolutely realize the trap hidden within.

Therefore, if Old Man truly dared to take out the proof and break the Deceiver's Tongue, it would prove that he was actually the secondary personality.

'Lunatic!'

Seeming to see right through their thoughts, Lin Jiabei sneered, "A one-in-three chance. I refuse to believe my luck is that rotten."

The fat otaku was speechless. To be honest, he really hated compulsive gamblers.

Old Man slowly pulled the item from his pocket.

It was... a pack of cigarettes.

He tore open the packaging, pulled one out, and tossed it to the fat otaku, noting how they were both sweating profusely.

He smiled without saying a word.

The three fell back into silence, but at this moment, everyone's face was wearing a...

Mask of Agony!

First was Lin Jiabei's deduction:

'Old Man is definitely not a secondary personality!'

'If he were a secondary personality, he would definitely take out the proof, break the Deceiver's Tongue, and shoot the fat otaku and me dead.'

'In that case, I can pinpoint exactly what kind of existence the fat otaku is.'

Next was the fat otaku's deduction:

'Old Man is a primary personality.'

'I know who I am, so I can deduce exactly what kind of existence Lin Jiabei is.'

Finally, there was Old Man:

'This massive gamble seems to have a Wallfacer attribute to it. Once they know my identity, they can deduce each other's identities.'

'And I know my identity... Damn it, I already knew my own identity from the start.'

'Because of this, I can't deduce their identities at all.'

'This is trouble!'

Old Man quickly lit another cigarette to calm his nerves.

However, while reaching for the Cigarette Case, an ID Card slipped out of his pocket.

The breathing of all three hitched. As if struck by a paralysis spell, they froze in place, staring fixedly at the ID Card on the floor.

However, with the national emblem facing up, none of the three could see the front side of the ID Card.

And yet...

Old Man's next move sent their heart rates skyrocketing. He placed the ID Card face down on the coffee table and covered it with a towel.

"This... is the ID Card of the Small Hotel's owner."

Old Man pointed to the wall behind the counter. "The Business License contains the owner's information."

"It holds uniqueness."

"If a Deceiver's Tongue exists, the ID Card and the Business License can break it."

"However, if you want me to leave this here indefinitely, the three of us must preemptively speak a Future Lie: for an infinite amount of time going forward, none of us will take the initiative to look at the information on this ID Card."