Chapter 12: The Good Show Begins!

"Let's use the process of elimination."

"First scenario: If the Husband chose to collude with the Human Trafficker, and he could instruct his accomplices to abduct the Child taken by his Wife, why wouldn't he have them abduct the Child he took as well?"

Baili Qiangsheng's reasoning was truly difficult to find convincing.

Unsurprisingly, Lin Feng immediately voiced his rebuttal.

"Your hypothesis is hard to justify. The Daughter was raised by the Husband, so naturally, they share an inseparable familial bond. Abducting the Child the Wife took, but not the one he took, makes perfect sense from a logical standpoint."

Baili Qiangsheng sneered. "Have you ever considered which of the two children is older?"

Lin Feng paused, slightly stunned.

'In the first Secret Room, the half-torn photo on the desk showed that the Daughter who stayed with the Husband was about two years old.'

'If the Daughter was the older of the two children, then the Child who went with the Wife...'

'Would still be an infant!'

'According to our previous deductions, the Child who stayed with the Wife was abducted. Logically speaking, since the Child was an infant, the Wife should have been holding it at all times. It would be impossible for the Child to be abducted without the Wife also being taken.'

'Therefore, the Child who stayed with the Wife must be... older than the Daughter who stayed with the Husband!'

'The divorce must have occurred after the Daughter was born. Even if they divorced immediately after her birth, the two of them would have jointly raised the first Child for at least a year. The Husband would have developed affection for the first Child as well.'

'If the Husband was truly heartless and decided to collude with the Human Trafficker, both children would have been abducted. But since only one Child was taken, it proves there is no possibility the Husband could collude with the Human Trafficker.'

'Baili Qiangsheng's hypothesis was correct.'

Seeing that Lin Feng no longer argued, he continued his analysis. "Since the first possibility has been eliminated, let's look at the second: the Husband simply couldn't save his Wife."

"Everyone, did you notice that there are two clocks hanging on the wall above the blackboard?"

Both clocks had stopped ticking.

Left: all three hands were stopped at six o'clock.

Right: all three hands were stopped at twelve o'clock.

"Six o'clock and twelve o'clock, a difference of six hours. What does that mean?" the Pockmarked Woman Player asked in confusion.

"The two clocks are six hours apart. Could it mean that a six-hour story played out in this Classroom?" the Seductive Woman Player also voiced her doubts.

Chen Ran, Cheng Si, Lin Feng, and Zhang Yuan's pupils constricted as they took a deep look at Baili Qiangsheng.

Baili Qiangsheng smiled. "Do not be surprised by my insight. According to the clock effect, when there is only one clock, people can rely on it to determine the time. When there are two clocks showing different times, it becomes impossible to determine the exact time."

"We can draw this conclusion: temporally speaking, this Classroom does not exist."

"Since the time does not exist, it indicates that it is formed by a Time Superposition of multiple timelines."

"This explains why Chen Ran, who symbolizes the sole surviving Husband and logically shouldn't be here, is present."

This conclusion undoubtedly overturned the understanding of many players present.

The gazes they directed at Baili Qiangsheng were filled with dread. As expected, a player possessing a Liar-Slayer skill was by no means ordinary.

Baili Qiangsheng crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back in his chair, and calmly said, "Here is the question: under what circumstances would a Time Superposition occur?"

The crowd could only look at each other in dismay.

Seeing their inability to answer, Chen Ran simply spoke up. "In psychology, the Time Superposition Effect refers to multiple pieces of information mutually inhibiting and interfering with each other in one's memory."

"Oh? You actually know about this?" Baili Qiangsheng cast a surprised glance at Chen Ran.

"I know a little," Chen Ran shrugged.

He ignored Chen Ran and enunciated every word to the crowd, "The final conclusion is this: someone is reviewing what happened in this Classroom, and we are currently inside that person's review."

"Who would review it?"

"The Husband is in the review, the Human Trafficker is in the review, and the seven couples along with the lone Wife are also in the review. All of these people can be ruled out."

"Connecting this to the Classroom catching on fire, there is only one final answer..."

At this point, he paused and looked at the solemn-faced Chen Ran.

Both men had their fingers resting on the triggers of their guns, seemingly engaged in some sort of psychological warfare.

Suddenly.

Baili Qiangsheng revealed a sinister smile. "Rookies, the game begins now!"

Chen Ran's pupils contracted. Just as he was about to draw his gun, all the light in the Classroom vanished entirely, including the raging flames.

The Classroom plunged into pitch darkness.

"You lied."

The voice belonged to Chen Ran, yet two gunshots rang out in the Classroom. From within the darkness, they also heard the sound of footsteps.

Soon after.

The Classroom regained its light. The blazing flames, too, reappeared before everyone's eyes.

Cheng Si immediately counted the number of people present.

'Just now, there were two gunshots, but only one person spoke the Judgment Command.'

'That means: Chen Ran fired to pass Judgment, and Baili Qiangsheng activated his Liar-Slayer skill.'

'According to their previous statements, Baili Qiangsheng's Liar-Slayer can create Phantom Images.'

Cheng Si counted heads.

Including Chen Ran, there were exactly fifteen players present—no more, no less.

'Previously, when the Youth was shot and killed by Chen Ran, the Masked Man tossed his corpse into the fire.'

'Those footsteps in the darkness just now must have been the Masked Man returning to throw the corpse of the player Chen Ran had Judged to death into the flames.'

'Well, this is problematic. With the corpse disposed of by the Masked Man, it is even more impossible to determine whose Phantom Image Baili Qiangsheng's Liar-Slayer skill created!'

'Among the players present, only Chen Ran knows who he killed. Whoever Chen Ran killed, Baili Qiangsheng must have created a Phantom Image of them!'

'Who lied just now?'

'The Pockmarked Woman Player and the Seductive Woman Player. They committed a Common Sense Lie.'

'The clock's hands pointing at six could mean 6:00 AM or 6:00 PM, yet they spoke with certainty that it was a six-hour difference from twelve o'clock. That was the first lie.'

'Furthermore, all three hands pointing at six is absolutely impossible on a real clock. When the minute hand points to six, indicating the half-hour mark, the hour hand would be halfway between six and seven.'

'Therefore, the Pockmarked Woman Player and the Seductive Woman Player managed to tell two Common Sense Lies in a single sentence. What absolute geniuses.'

'Chen Ran only fired one shot just now, which means only one of these two women was Judged and killed.'

'Conclusion: Between the Pockmarked Woman and the Seductive Woman, one is a real player, and the other is a Phantom Image created by Baili Qiangsheng's Liar-Slayer skill.'

'How do we determine who is who?'

'That's it, the Examination Papers!'

'When the Masked Man disposes of a corpse, he burns the Examination Paper on their desk along with them.'

Thinking up to this point.

Cheng Si immediately looked toward the two women, only to see that there was still an Examination Paper on both of their desks.

On the contrary...

The Examination Paper on Zhang Yuan's desk had vanished.

Could it be that Baili Qiangsheng had stolen Zhang Yuan's Examination Paper in the darkness?