While Shen Mu was pondering over this, No. 12 Tang Youchen began his speech.
“Um, first of all, I’m not part of the Couple. Although I believed No. 2 earlier, um….. of course, I still believe that he is the Seer. But No. 2’s partner is really not me, because I can’t be a Wolf, let alone a Wolf that is connected to the third party. Otherwise, why would I make myself into a focal point? Am I mentally handicapped? I’m such a light-hearted person, of course, I have to be a Civilian!” Tang Youchen’s tone was still slightly cheerful, as though the solemn atmosphere had no significant influence on him.
“Since I’m a Civilian, it is naturally impossible for me to be the Seer’s partner.” Tang Youchen addressed Shen Mu helplessly, “Brother, it’s not that I don’t believe you, I believe that you are the real Seer! But look at the present scene. The Couple and the Cupid haven’t yet come out, hence you must have been linked to the third party. Other than you and No. 7, who else could be the Couple? If other people were the Couple, it would be impossible for them to not kill you, after all, this Couple has to contain a Wolf! Ai, don’t be too pessimistic, you can just start again, and one year later there will be one more hero!*”
*T/N: a saying from ancient China, implying that after ‘death’, the person would be reincarnated to once again become a hero but in the original saying it was ‘eighteen years later’ instead of ‘one year later’. In Shen Mu’s case, Tang Youchen is implying that he will have another chance after being put to sleep for losing the game.
“But why didn’t the Wolf kill you? Even if the Couple was eliminated, you would definitely be suspected if you weren’t killed… unless the Cupid has already been eliminated? If the Cupid is still alive… oh, that’s not right. In fact, Couples can’t even commit suicide. If the Seer is really linked in the third party, this will be a difficult game … But if Cupid hasn’t been eliminated yet, then the third party is really quite impressive. After all, the Wolf team has been completely eliminated, but not a single member of your third party has been eliminated. Ai, I can’t actually blame you. To be honest, playing the role of the third party is really difficult, and the difficulty is unmatched. The Wolf team only needs to kill off one party, but you guys have to kill everyone to win. The Couple is also such a big target, how can they be hidden? You, a good Seer, suddenly became linked in the couple. What an unexpected disaster.” While speaking, Tang Youchen really began to feel upset for Shen Mu.
Shen Mu felt both touched and soft-hearted for a moment.
If only there was a way to keep everyone alive.
But at the moment…
The light in front of No. 2 lit up and Shen Mu, who was in the final position, began to speak.
There were three options to choose from.
Plan A: Claim that he checked Du Xiulin and frame him as the last Wolf. Based on how questionable Du Xiulin appeared, if he spoke towards each person individually, between Zhao Xu, Su Yingxing and Tang Youchen, he should be able to get at least one person’s vote. It would be fine to vote out Du Xiulin… but…
Although Du Xiulin had never said that he was the Hunter, Yan Yuze hadn’t taken someone down with him, hence Shen Mu was unable to rest easy. Du Xiulin also specifically explained the situation in which Yan Yuze had overslept. Although it was reasonable, but… he always felt that he had said it intentionally——as though it was a deliberate explanation designed to deter suspicion regarding the Hunter’s elimination. If he insisted on gaining some votes and voted out Du Xiulin, what was likely waiting for him was elimination from being shot by the Hunter.
If he was shot, it wouldn’t really matter. He could just leave the Sheriff badge to his junior sister, and they could kill another person at night. With 2.5 votes vs 2 votes tomorrow, they would still be able to win. However, while speaking today, his junior sister’s attitude had been exceptionally firm when announcing that she would vote him out, and it was the same with his sister. As a result, if they suddenly changed their votes, with Du Xiulin’s ability, it would be impossible to miss this clue and his shot may well land on his sister or junior sister. And if he took someone with him, he would naturally be able to prove his identity, hence Shen Mu’s own identity as the “Seer” would also be exposed. From there, his true identity of the Cupid would no longer be difficult to guess. No matter who he killed at night, he would have 1.5 votes fighting against 2 votes tomorrow. He would not have the power to sway the situation.
Plan A’s possibility of winning lay in the fact that it would be relatively simple to persuade others to vote for Du Xiulin in comparison to convincing them to vote out someone else.
There was also the possibility that Du Xiulin really was just a foolish Civilian, and he would not be able to take someone down with him.
……
Plan B was simply to label Du Xiulin as the Hunter and leave him for last so that he could not take anyone down with him. When making his speech today, he would tell others to vote out Zhao Xu and persuade a vote from either Su Yingxing or Tang Youchen. In fact, he could also choose to vote out either Su Yingxing or Tang Youchen, and sway Zhao Xu’s vote. This operation would be relatively simple because Zhao Xu was easy to persuade.
But now, he was not sure who the Idiot was between Su Yingxing and Tang Youchen. If Tang Youchen was the Idiot and Su Yingxing was actually a Civilian and he (Shen Mu) said that he had checked Su Yingxing and found him to be a Wolf and firmly persuaded Tang Youchen to change his vote to keep him from being cheated, the task shouldn’t be difficult. However, if Su Yingxing was the real Idiot, and he still said to Civilian Tang Youchen: ‘I know you are the Idiot, I checked Su Yingxing to be Wolf, don’t be fooled by him and vote with me” wouldn’t he have backed himself into a dead end? Although their speeches had ended, it would be easy to tell whether they agreed or disagreed with his speech based on their expressions.
Between Su Yingxing and Tang Youchen, it was impossible for him to judge who the Idiot was for the time being, which made it impossible to decide whom to target when speaking. Alternatively, it was relatively safe to start with Zhao Xu because he must be a Civilian, but the question was how could he sway someone to vote out Zhao Xu?
In comparison to plan A, this plan had the same disadvantage, that was, if Zhao Xu was not voted out, his sister and junior sister would be exposed. However, there was less risk involved in this strategy than in plan A because Zhao Xu couldn’t be the Hunter. After he was out, it would be impossible for him to take the Couple down with him. Although the changed vote might result in his younger sister and junior sister’s Couple falling under increased suspicion, but as long as they weren’t taken away by the Hunter, and there was a chance for his junior sister to speak, there would still be room to counter-attack. If he failed to sway anyone’s vote today, he would be eliminated and the badge would end up being left for his junior sister. When they get up tomorrow, there would be 2.5 votes against 3. However, when he speaks today, he would have a good conversation with his “golden water”, junior sister. His junior sister could still make a moving speech regarding her thought process tomorrow, and after washing herself clean, it wouldn’t be impossible to get another vote.
Plan C’s relative risk was the lowest, no, to be precise, the relative pressure was the lowest. Plan C was for him to make a sentimental speech about how, as a Seer who had devoted himself to thinking for the good people, the Wolf had poured dirty water on him, causing him to lose hope and become discouraged. The recognition would bring him despair since he did not have a partner. Before he was voted out, he would be able to transfer the suspicion of being the Couple onto other people——when he went out as a single-player today, the suspicion would naturally fall onto the person he will name tomorrow.
But this way… although he could relax after he was voted out of the game, it was tantamount to transferring all the pressure of achieving victory onto his junior sister.
Moreover, if it could be resolved today, why should it be dragged out until tomorrow? If it produced a guaranteed result it would certainly be worth the wait, but there was still a relatively small chance that there could possibly be some new changes tomorrow.
OK… Shen Mu closed his eyes, and the three plans flashed through his mind. He had made a decision.
At last, it was Shen Mu’s turn to speak, and his restlessness seemed to calm down at this moment. Showing a wry smile, he said: “I really hoped that there would be a mechanism that allowed the Sheriff to control the speaking order like in the outside world. Listening to you guys speak so much from the beginning to the end, it’s really…” The bitter smile on Shen Mu’s face deepened. “The last Wolf, who I checked yesterday night, was No. 7.”
“I originally didn’t plan to check No. 7. The person on my list for the second day was No. 8, and I was going to check her as planned. You may not believe it when I say this.” Shen Mu himself even laughed, but that smile contained both bitterness and self-deprecation. “When I checked people last night, I was too nervous——I thought it was me who had died. My hands shook, and I accidentally clicked on No. 7 next to her. I didn’t expect that he would be a Wolf.”
“It doesn’t matter if you guys want to vote me out today. Anyway, I will vote for No. 7 and wait for when I go out as a single person. After you know that I am the real Seer, you will naturally believe me tomorrow and vote out No. 7.” Shen Mu deliberately paused a little and continued, “Although this is what I really want to say, it won’t work.” At this point, Shen Mu’s helpless voice changed back to the calmness of his previous speech and a sharpness reignited within his bitter smile, carrying the aura of a Seer who was here to lead the team.
“Now that the third-party Couple is still present, and we also don’t know whether Cupid has been eliminated or not, we are in uncertain times. If Cupid has been eliminated, then it will be OK. But there is a high chance that Cupid hasn’t been eliminated——after I go out today, and they kill someone at night, when we get up tomorrow, they can directly overwhelm us with the number of votes. So today,” Shen Mu hardened his voice, “we must first vote out the Wolf No. 7 who is a member of the Couple.”
“Today, Cupid will definitely vote to cast me out, so who is Cupid? This issue has not been discussed in depths before, and now I have found him.” With that said, Shen Mu stared directly at Du Xiulin. Although the other person’s expression was still calm without a trace of surprise, it held a smile that was not quite a smile, as though he had expected Shen Mu to say this. This expression made others a little confused, but Shen Mu was not affected by him at all, saying without hesitation: “No. 4 is the Cupid, and he is also the only person present who can afford to have the Cupid card.”
“You guys can think about it, starting from the election, what has No. 4 done? First of all, he said that he was a skilled Civilian, but he wants the Sheriff badge. I would like to ask the Civilians, do you guys want the Sheriff badge?! There is only one reason behind No. 4’s desire for the badge, and that is his identity as the third-party’s Cupid. He wants the badge in the hands of the third party! But he also does not dare to casually claim a God’s identity, so he made up the excuse of having trouble during the preliminary round. Seeing that he had no hope of gaining the badge, No. 4’s attitude immediately changed. Think about it everyone! Didn’t No. 4 fight strongly for the badge during the election? Then after the election, he seemed to be earnestly analysing the game in his every speech, but in fact, he was slowly pulling himself out of the centre of suspicion, so that everyone would not notice him. This is completely inconsistent with his performance during the election. If he really was a Civilian, why would this contradiction in his behaviour exist? Of course, he would instead be helping the good guys find all the Wolves and members of the third party as soon as possible! No. 4 is not a Civilian, he is the Cupid, and only this can explain the difference between his two separate attitudes.”
Slowly, Shen Mu took a deep breath.
Releases are on Sundays!
If a chapter is late and we haven’t informed you in advance, please check our SLG Reader Announcements page here. This page shows any changes to our schedule, including estimates for the release of delayed chapters.
If you notice any typos, mistakes or broken links, please put that in the comments or drop us a message on discord. We’ll fix it as fast as possible. Stay safe!
Timeless Translations 
Leave a comment