Chapter 177: Chapter 165: Dice Game Part 2 Chapter 177: Chapter 165: Dice Game Part 2 Hmm… regarding the rules of this competition, let me give you an analogy.

Imagine there are two “companies” engaged in a huge business battle. Each company has four employees, and the employees need to invest in their own company because the company that invests less will go bankrupt. If it goes bankrupt, naturally, the employees will lose their jobs.

But at the same time, both companies are laying off staff. Out of the four, only one person can stay; the rest must leave! So, what are the rules for layoffs?… It’s whoever has more money gets to stay… Isn’t that how companies operate? After employees help them through tough times, they’re instantly disowned.

Well… never mind whether this analogy holds up in reality. The point is, it’s just like that—a blend of “class struggle” and “internal strife.” The enemy must be taken down at all costs~ And meanwhile, you need to find the time to take down your allies too.

…

…

At this moment, 10 seconds had passed since the electronic voice announced “The competition begins,” but…no one had chosen to throw their dice, and moreover, no one had spoken.

Just then, the “short man” from the black team was the first to break the silence.

“Something’s off…” he said, “do all of your screens have this ‘chip’ thing?”

Upon hearing this, although nobody said anything, their looks clearly conveyed “Yes!”

The short man continued, “Yes, and it seems that this chip represents the remaining time from the last puzzle.” Having said this, he paused, glanced around at everyone, and after seeing that everyone had turned their attention to him… he spoke with a questioning tone, “But why didn’t the rules explain the purpose of the ‘chip’?”

The others nodded thoughtfully… indeed, the rules only mentioned that the “chips” would ultimately belong to one person, but they said nothing about what the “chips” were for.

“Just say what you want to say, no need for heavy breathing!” The gorilla clearly disliked the roundabout way of talking and muttered gruffly.

The short man wasn’t upset and directly added, “…I think the rules aren’t complete… so I suggest that in this round, everyone should choose ‘1 point,’ which means each team totals 4 points, a tie… because after the points are tallied, there might be an additional rule revealed. It’s not impossible for such a rotten trick…”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a member of the white team, “Weak-Kidney Guy,” joined the conversation.

“Aren’t you being a bit too obvious… How do you know there will be ‘additional rules’ after this round ends? Obviously, you just want everyone to pick ‘1 point’ and then you throw ‘two points’ yourself to win the round…”

“Shorty,” after hearing this, just shrugged and spread his hands, “I’m just making a suggestion… think what you will. Besides, how could I possibly ask my teammates to all throw ‘one point,’ while I alone throw ‘two points’? That would only move me further from advancing, wouldn’t it?”

“Hmm…” Weak-Kidney Guy hesitated for a moment but had to nod his head. Indeed, even if he claimed to possess such a self-sacrificing virtue, it was unlikely anyone would believe it.

At that point… someone else spoke up…

“I think we can give it a try; after all, choosing ‘one point’ isn’t too much of a loss.”

The speaker was Chen Xiao. Before he even finished his sentence, he made a gesture of tapping on the screen, then tilted his screen down, placed his phone on the table, and leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head, as if to say, “I’ve made my choice for this round; play however you want…”

The short man saw that someone supported his suggestion and quickly tapped on his phone, then also placed it on the table, indicating, “I’ve chosen! Whatever will be, will be.”

This left the remaining six people with a dilemma… Since they couldn’t see each other’s phone screens, no one knew how many points these two had actually thrown; perhaps they both threw ‘two points’ to mislead the others; or maybe they just tapped on an empty spot on the screen, effectively forfeiting without actually investing any points…feigning activity to trap their teammates.

The possibilities were endless.

However, time was only 3 minutes, and the previous conversation had already taken up most of that time, leaving the others with very little time to ponder.

With no other choice, the remaining people had to follow their own guesses and each selected and threw a point.

Right after, when the three minutes were up, the system prompt sounded.

——————————————

“The first round has ended, the total points of each team are now announced.

White Team: 3 points

Black Team: 4 points

The Black Team wins this round.

In one minute, the second round will begin.”

——————————————

“What the heck!!!”

After hearing the prompt, Gorilla still had a look of disbelief. He glanced at the game results on his phone again, then slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

“What the heck! I contributed two points! And it’s only three points in total??? Which damn scumbag dared to abstain?….Wait… no, which two damn scumbags abstained???”

He yelled, his voice so loud that the table jumped up from the ground. If the quality had been any shoddier, that slap would have shattered it.

For a moment, everyone in the room was stunned by his voice, and nobody spoke.

About two seconds later…

“Pfft————” Disheartened Bro, also from White Team, exhaled a puff of smoke: “Hehe… that’s strange… I also contributed two points~, can’t the program even do basic addition and subtraction under ten?” he said sleepily…

“What are you talking about??” Gorilla was taken aback.

Then, “Weakling Kid” took over the conversation: “Hmm… it is indeed strange, I was the first in our team to roll the dice, I contributed ‘one point’, so really… who’s lying here?”

Gorilla turned his surprised face toward “Weakling Kid” and roared, “Are you saying I’m lying!”

“All right, stop putting on that pretense, acting all naïve because you’re big. Are you going to say next that you wanted to choose ‘Strength Contest’ but because your fingers are too thick, you pressed the wrong thing…?” Disheartened Bro provocatively added, “Even deliberately injuring your fingers. Are you trying to prove you’re a pangolin, digging out the first round with your hands?”

Disheartened Bro looked at Gorilla with his perpetually half-closed eyes, his words dripping with cheap mischief. Coupled with his “manual laborer aura,” his simple words made one feel like they couldn’t swallow their dinner without giving him a beating.

Gorilla was furious the moment he heard that. His large eyes stared straight, looking as if he was about to throw punches any second now.

“Enough!”

Just at this moment, which seemed ready to erupt, “Fragile Auntie” quickly spoke up to stop the farce.

“Stop quarreling here, the Black Team is watching and laughing at us…” Her voice was soft, but after she spoke, the rest really did quiet down, even “Gorilla” went back to his seat, his face transforming like magic, the anger disappearing completely.

Thus, the first round ended with the “Black Team” winning. And it seemed like the members of the “White Team” all harbored varying agendas, the atmosphere of infighting already spreading. How to say, this should probably be considered a good start for the “Black Team.”

But… Chen Xiao, a member of the “Black Team,” was slightly frowning, as if hesitating about something…