CHAPTER 11: CONFRONTATION

The second day, 6:00. The 9 surviving players received last night’s news of death. The deceased was player No. 6, Song Yue.

9:00, gaming lounge. With three players less, the atmosphere was even more stifling and tense.

The silver floating number in front of No. 5 Sun Jieqing turned green, and Sun Jieqing began his speech.

“Er, No. 6 was killed yesterday… then maybe No. 6 was a police officer? I don’t know, I’m really a civilian with no ability.” Sun Jieqing was a little uneasy. “Even though I verbally attacked her yesterday, if I was really a killer that planned to kill her, how could I still call her out? Wouldn’t that be seeking trouble? I’m really just a civilian, I feel like she had an identity, and that her teammates helped control the flow of the discussion, otherwise how could no one doubt her?”

Sun Jieqing helplessly said: “I really don’t want my speculation to be correct right now. I originally thought she was a killer, but now that she’s dead, she can’t be a killer. If she has a teammate, then she can only be a police officer. I would rather that she was just a citizen. Ai, I’ll just pass, I hope that the police will explain the situation later.”

No. 5 Sun Jieqing finished his speech, No. 4 Yang Ge spoke.

“Everybody, because of the situation yesterday, I had no choice but to conceal my identity. However, today, I found important information, and I must jump out to lead the team.” Yang Ge said extremely solemnly, “My identity is one of the police.”

Everyone present was quiet, and Yang Ge continued, “The person we checked on the first day was No. 11, Li Xuesong. I originally wanted to check Huiru, but my teammate, Li Fengmei, wanted to confirm her brother’s identity. Li Xuesong’s identity was a good person. That is also why I continued to believe he was a good person yesterday when Li Xuesong suspected me for being one of the killers.” Yang Ge nodded at Li Xuesong.

“Li Fengmei being killed on the first night made us afraid to act blindly without thinking. On top of that, we didn’t find a killer, so I didn’t jump out to reveal my identity yesterday, in the hope that I could live for another day. Song Yue isn’t my teammate. A killer comitting suicide doesn’t exist in this version, so Song Yue is a civilian who blocked the knife. Based on No. 12’s speech, he should’ve been a killer who was eliminated, so there are still two killers left. I have already found them.” As soon as Yang Ge said this, the atmosphere suddenly changed.

Yang Ge’s gaze was solemn: “Yesterday, I originally really wanted to check Huiru, but when I was leaving the scene, I noticed a person.” Yang Ge pointed to the uninvolved No. 8. Seeing everyone’s gaze suddenly fall on him, No. 8 was even more muddled.

“No. 8 was very sleepy during the meeting yesterday. Other people being very sleepy I can understand. It is normal for everyone not to sleep well under this kind of circumstances, but No. 8 knows nothing about our situation, only wanting to eat and sleep. He doesn’t have the problem of being unable to sleep, so why was he so sleepy that early in the morning? My guess is that No. 8 had to do something at night. He isn’t a police officer, so he can only be a killer.” Seeing everyone listening intently, Yang Ge changed the topic, “But the one that I checked last night was not No. 8. No. 8 cannot complete the voting by himself, someone must help him.”

Yang Ge suddenly turned towards Shen Mu, the speed of his speech suddenly increased: “The person that I checked yesterday was No. 3, Shen Mu. He is a killer! Why I suspected No. 3, it’s very clear, because he isn’t simple. Moreover, at a time like this where it’s hard for everyone to even protect themselves, don’t you think that Shen Mu has overly taken care of No. 8? I can understand being sympathetic for No. 8, but staying together every day isn’t normal. The biggest possibility is that they are already teammates. Shen Mu is afraid that No. 8 will have an accident, and it would be even more difficult for the killer team!”

Yang Ge didn’t have much time left to speak. He quickly said: “Shen Mu spoke yesterday. I originally thought he was a good person, but I was a bit worried because the more trust the killer receives from everyone, the scarier they are! But even then, I originally planned to check Huiru who wasn’t good at speaking until I saw No. 8’s situation. It wasn’t until then that I decided that I definitely needed to ascertain this card of Shen Mu’s! If he’s a good person, then his analysis could also be trusted, otherwise this card that is submerged to the end will become more and more dangerous!”

Finally, Yang Ge said sincerely, “Everyone think again. Shen Mu and Song Yue were both equally high profile, so why was it Song Yue who folded? Because Shen Mu himself was a killer, of course he wouldn’t fold. The other killer must be No. 8! If you don’t believe me, you can verify tonight. After Shen Mu is eliminated, no one will fold again in the evening!”

Yang Ge’s time for his speech was up, and everyone’s stare turned to Shen Mu. Even Li Huiru put away her usual disgust, wanting to see what reaction Shen Mu would have after being declared a killer.

No. 3 Shen Mu’s speech time.

“In the morning, when I saw that the one who’d been eliminated was Song Yue, I knew that someone in front of me would definitely jump out. Sure enough, that person was you, Yang Ge.” Shen Mu intently stared back without hesitation, then turned, speaking profoundly to everyone, “I’m a police officer, Yang Ge is a killer who jumped out in a confrontation with me. Song Yue was my teammate, and she was eliminated last night. Yesterday, we checked Song Yue’s target of suspicion, player No. 2 Jiang Shuyi. Her identity was a good person.”

Jiang Shuyi abruptly became the focus, and suddenly she was slightly at a loss.

Shen Mu lowered his voice to say: “The person that we checked on the first day was No. 7 Li Fengmei. My original intention was to check Yang Ge on the first day, but Song Yue insisted on checking Li Fengmei and Li Fengmei’s identity was naturally good. Yesterday, I have to say that Yang Ge’s speech really deeply moved us, and even I somewhat trusted him. Of course, the reason that Yang Ge wasn’t checked last night wasn’t because his speech aroused emotions, but because he said he had a high probability of being killed, and I didn’t want to check two corpses.”

“Yang Ge’s previous speech now suddenly makes sense, and it had in fact already exposed his mentality as a killer! Talking about yesterday’s speech, I helped everyone analyze the rules and also justified the suspicions on No. 1, while Yang Ge not only cleared the identities of himself and No. 1, he also voted out No. 12 whose identity was unclear. Putting aside the fact that he said the police can check his identity at night, in this kind of case, isn’t he the most likely to be killed at night? Song Yue died instead, and he has mentioned the reason already. Because Yang Ge, who was meant to be killed, was a killer himself, how could he die?”. Shen Mu said with agitated emotions, “During the voting phase yesterday, I voted out No. 12. At that time, I was more inclined to think that No. 4 was innocent and I only believed his reasoning because I thought he’d be killed. Now the matter is very clear; No. 4 wanted No. 12 to die, so No. 12 mustn’t have been a killer, and No. 1 is the killer teammate of No. 4. Think about it, No. 1’s speech was full of holes and Li Fengmei who died on the first day had a conflict with her. Not knowing how to play cannot be used as an excuse! Little sister No. 10 also doesn’t know how to play but she didn’t crazily suspect other people. No. 1 is a killer, it isn’t as simple as not knowing how to play!”

“If you still don’t understand, then think about the order of today’s speeches. Yang Ge took the lead to jump out as a police officer, saying that he checked me and found I was on the killer team. If I was a civilian, even if the police came out to tell the truth, they wouldn’t seem as trustworthy as Yang Ge and would’ve also been labelled as my so-called teammates through his hidden teammates’ logical analysis. I am a police officer, and jumping out after him inevitably puts me in a disadvantageous position, which is more in line with Yang Ge’s arrangements. Last night, Song Yue was killed, eliminating an outstanding player who the killers thought could also be one of the police, and also receiving an advantageous speaking position, killing two birds with one stone!” Speaking to this point, Shen Mu seemed to be bathed in a halo, and hurriedly continued to say, “I also guessed who the last killer is. How could No. 4 arrange this tactic without being afraid that No. 5 is a policeman and can reverse the situation? It’s because No. 5 is his killer teammate!”

After Shen Mu finished, Sun Jieqing looked the same as usual, but his hands on the table gave a nearly imperceptible tremble.

There was less than a minute left. Shen Mu took a deep breath: “Think about it again, if I was a killer, why should I issue a good identity to No. 2? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for me to directly say that No. 1 Lin Huiru is a killer? I checked No. 2. I am a policeman and I must give everyone the information that I’ve obtained. The reason that I take care of No. 8 is very simple; no matter what identity he has, it’s already very miserable for him to participate in a game like this. At the very least, I don’t want him to die off-field due to not having anyone’s care and accidentally breaking the rules, or maybe even falling down the stairs. Isn’t that too pitiful? Please believe me. Vote out No. 4 today, then following that, vote out No. 1 and No. 5. Currently, not a single killer has been voted out. Our situation is very critical!”

Shen Mu had spoken for 3 minutes, it was time for No. 2 Jiang Shuyi to speak.

“This… I…” Jiang Shuyi was evidently not prepared, “I’m an innocent! When I heard No. 4 Yang Ge’s speech, I had already believed him…but No. 3’s speech, I think it also makes sense…if he was a killer who jumped out with a false identity, couldn’t he directly claim No. 1, No. 4 or No. 5 have a killer identity to gain the trust of everyone? I think No. 3 is one of the police. I, I want to vote out No. 4.”

Saying this Jiang Shuyi quickly ended her speech, it was No. 1 Lin Huiru’s turn.

Lin Huiru was nearly exploding with rage: “How could I be a killer! If I was a killer, I’d kill Shen Mu first! Saying something about not wanting to let No. 8 die off-field, I think you just fell for his face! What are you guys thinking, didn’t Yang Ge say it clearly? Shen Mu and No. 8 are both killers! If you don’t believe it, vote out Shen Mu today, then won’t you know it’s true if there is a peaceful night tonight? Vote out Shen Mu! You idiots! If it isn’t a peaceful night, you can then vote out…vote…anyway, vote out Shen Mu today!”

Lin Huiru started stuttering, and could only end her speech in a fluster.

No. 11 Li Xuesong started his speech. Li Xuesong was clearly pondering, speaking relatively slowly: “Logically speaking, both No. 3 and No. 4 could possibly be one of the police, but there are pros and cons to the logic. It’s not like we’re doing math problems.” He gave a slight pause and finally made a decision. “When Yang Ge spoke yesterday, I believed that he wasn’t a killer straight away. Today, I think there were no problems with his speech. I believe what he said is true, so I will vote out No. 3 Shen Mu. At this time, it’s meaningless to waive your vote. The only chance for our good side, is to vote out a killer every day. If we’re searching for the perfect solution, choosing to waive our vote due to a small possibility means we’ll definitely lose. So I hope that every innocent won’t give up their voting opportunity today, regardless if your choice is the same as mine, voting is our only opportunity!”

No. 10 Kexin spoke. The little girl creased her brows, a little baffled and at a loss: “I believe Brother No. 11 is innocent, but I don’t understand why Brother Li believes in No. 4? He forcefully voted out No. 12, the fried chicken brother yesterday, and he didn’t even consider that the fried chicken brother could’ve been innocent, but just doesn’t speak well? Yet he used the same reason to stop us from voting out No. 1. I feel like this is a contradiction…instead, No. 3, if he was a killer then why did he help us analyze the rules yesterday? Then he also said that Sister No. 2 was a good person today. I think that if he was a killer, this is too strange!” Kexin’s voice gradually became resolute.

“Also, if what Brother No. 3 said is true, currently all three killers are still alive, we have no room for error! I will vote out No. 4 today!”

Kexin finished her speech, and it was No. 9 Liu Bo’s turn. Liu Bo looked at No. 8 who didn’t understand anything, and solemnly said: “I’m also counted as being in one of the last positions!”

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