Chapter 411: Breaking Out in a Cold Sweat (1)

'Strange!'

'Shu Renjun went easy on this stage.'

'And it's very obvious he went easy.'

'This is the most typical Three Gods Riddle. Back when I was alive, a casual search online would bring up many versions of the Three Gods Riddle, but the logic of the questions asked was fixed.'

'To put it bluntly, this kind of logic puzzle is just used by some people to show off.'

As a novel author, Chen Ran hardly even thought about it just now. He merely organized his wording in his mind and determined the identities of the three through three questions.

Here, it could be that Shu Renjun was out of ideas and casually designed a simple stage.

But, it was also possible that it was an anti-Personal Common Sense trap, the purpose being to make Chen Ran deduce incorrectly and make the wrong choice.

'According to Rule 3, no matter who you choose, there will be no certain-death plots.'

'One: No certain-death plots appearing does not mean the plot won't be interrupted.'

'Two: Not certain death does not mean definitely won't die.'

'At the same time, as long as I make a choice, there will be no certain-death plot.'

'But, there is a problem here.'

'The homeroom teacher asked me to call the Principal, so I must take the Principal back with me.'

'According to Rule 2: Inside the campus, there are only two Principals, and neither is human.'

'Therefore, the 【Human】 is not a Principal.'

'If I choose wrong and take the 【Human】 back instead of taking a Principal back, I will definitely die.'

'This contradicts Rule 3, which states no matter who you choose, there will be no certain-death plot.'

'Unless...'

'Certain death can be evaded.'

'Choosing wrong means the plot is interrupted by me. Going to the classroom means death, returning to the teachers' office means death. If these two places can't be gone to, and the infirmary requires a classmate to fetch the Diagnostic Report which makes it even more impossible to go to... if all these places can't be gone to, then it's even more impossible to go to the Laboratory Building.'

'White shoes?'

'Rule 6 of the classroom states: There is one and only one person wearing white shoes on this campus. If you find a second person wearing white shoes, please ignore his/her commands.'

'My previous reasoning seems to have a flaw.'

'【Finding a second person wearing white shoes】 means the two people wearing white shoes must be together, one in front and one behind.'

'In other words, choosing the 【Human】 allows one to evade certain death by obtaining white shoes.'

Chen Ran looked at the three Principals.

Then he looked at his own physique.

'Then the question comes again.'

'With my physique, I can't even beat the 【Human】 Principal, let alone the other two.'

'How am I supposed to snatch the white shoes?'

Chen Ran glanced at the countdown timer. There were still seven minutes left, and he rubbed the center of his brows.

'Wait!'

'Since choosing wrong won't lead to certain death.'

'And choosing right also won't lead to certain death.'

'That is to say, as long as I make a choice, choosing wrong definitely yields white shoes, and choosing right might yield a pair of white shoes.'

'Choosing right uses 【might】 simply because I don't know the subsequent plot. Assuming there is no certain-death plot later on, it wouldn't matter whether I have white shoes or not. As for going to the Laboratory Building to obtain the rules, perhaps a pair of white shoes can be obtained through other means to go to the Laboratory Building. Therefore, I can't be 100% sure that choosing right yields white shoes here.'

'What I can be 100% sure of is that as long as I choose wrong, I can get white shoes.'

'This means, if I choose wrong, one of the three will lose their white shoes.'

'The three Principals are: human, cyborg, and robot.'

'The homeroom teacher only asked me to call the Principal over. Both the cyborg and the robot are Principals. Theoretically, choosing either one is the right choice. It's just that according to Rule 2, different choices will lead to different subsequent plots.'

'Then the question is.'

'If I choose the 【Human】—meaning I choose wrong—why am I guaranteed to obtain a pair of white shoes?'

'Wait!'

Chen Ran suddenly looked up at the three identical Principals.

'There is a 【Human】 among them...'

'Why didn't the 【Human】 die?'

'Unless...'

'They don't know who the 【Human】 is!'

'And, after I finished asking the three questions, they still haven't started killing each other!'

'This means, after I finished asking the questions, they still don't know who the 【Human】 is!'

'The three of them don't know who the 【Human】 is, but I came to call the Principal, and my identity has been confirmed without a doubt as not a human, so my choice must be a Principal!'

'This Principal can be the cyborg or the robot!'

'In short, I must choose a Principal!'

'And not choose the human.'

'Assuming I choose the cyborg, then only two people will be left on the second floor. The robot will know that the opposite one is the 【Human】, and it will strike to kill that 【Human】 opposite it!'

'Similarly, if I choose the robot, the cyborg will also know that the remaining one is the 【Human】.'

'If I choose the 【Human】, the robot and cyborg will start killing each other.'

'In all three choices, under ideal circumstances, I can obtain a pair of white shoes.'

'Why under ideal circumstances?'

'Simply because...'

'Picking up shoes is inconsistent with my current identity, and the robot will kill me!'

'There might be some doubt here: the robot killing me for picking up shoes contradicts Rule 3, which says no matter who I choose, I won't face certain death.'

'It must be made clear here that the choice in Rule 3 is about which of the three Principals to choose, not about courting death by deliberately picking up shoes.'

'If the robot will kill me, then will the cyborg kill me?'

'Logically speaking, the math teacher leaking the exam questions proves she has human emotions, so she should be a cyborg.'

'This point can be proven from the questions of the two doctors in the infirmary.'

'The second doctor asked me: "Where are you feeling uncomfortable?" Feeling uncomfortable is a sensation, and in the plot, I could only choose him. Choosing the first infirmary meant certain death. Therefore, my setting in this Rule-based Weird Tale is: a cyborg with feelings.'

'In contrast, the first infirmary asked "what is wrong with you," indicating that robots have no feelings.'

'Conclusion: The math teacher leaking the questions indicates she had feelings, making her a cyborg.'

'The math teacher is a cyborg, and she would rather violate the rules to leak the exam questions to the students in class. Therefore, I am not sure if the cyborg Principal would violate the rules and let me pick up the white shoes from the floor.'

'The 【Human】 is not a Principal. If I want to choose right, it's impossible to choose the 【Human】.'

'So, I have to satisfy two conditions to guarantee getting the white shoes.'

'One: I cannot choose the 【Human】.'

'Two: The robot must die.'

'Therefore, the final answer is...'

Chen Ran approached the robot, which was the tea-drinking Principal: "Principal, the Director is looking for you for something!"

He chose the robot!

Judging from the deduction, choosing either the robot or the cyborg is the correct choice.

Secondly, if he wants the robot to die, he must make the robot unable to judge...

Who is the 【Human】!

If it can't judge, it won't strike.

Finally, Chen Ran was gambling—gambling that the cyborg would violate the rules and attack the robot.

This gamble here carried no risk.

After all, choosing the robot is also correct, won't interrupt the plot, and has no certain-death subsequent plot. It would merely lead to a different plot direction, which Chen Ran could accept.