Chapter 182: Chapter 170 Dice Game Seven Chapter 182: Chapter 170 Dice Game Seven “Ah… indeed, each round involves casting three votes… that means there’s always one person abstaining each round!” The slouchy guy suddenly took a deep drag of his cigarette, “If we think about it to extremes, what if the abstainer is the same person every time? What then?”

Kidney-deficient lad cast a sidelong glance at Gorilla… “Yeah, if someone really does abstain in every round, there’s only one possibility… it’s that this person simply doesn’t care whether their team wins or loses, right…”

He spoke faintly, his tone as though he was unraveling some mystery.

“Heh heh…” Gorilla, seeing his teammate point the finger at him, laughed wryly: “Fine, fine, if you really believe the word of this liar, then I want to ask, what proof do you have?”

“Proof?”

Suddenly, the “short-haired man,” who had been silent since the end of the second round, as if he was outside of the game, spoke up again.

“We aren’t solving a case where we need to follow legal procedures and find evidence. We just need to guess a possible outcome—that’s enough. As for the other processes, guesses, or tactics, they are all irrelevant!” His tone was very calm, because according to what he had said earlier, he had already cast four points. Even if the Black Team won, he had no chance of advancing. So when he spoke, others would listen, “Do you still remember the fourth round? The ‘White Team’, when everyone else should have abstained, one person cast one point! At that time, I was puzzled, why would anyone cast points without being sure of advancing… Now I understand, because, someone hadn’t cast any points at all before that!”

As he spoke, he directly turned his gaze toward Gorilla: “Actually… you’re not afraid to lose! You… are cheating!”

…

At this moment, everyone’s gazes drifted back and forth between the “last girl to come in” and Gorilla, the silent atmosphere feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

“Heh~”

A supremely disdainful voice sounded, one that could conjure the image of those sly, scheming gazes from palace dramas.

“So what if you’ve guessed right?” The girl’s voice was soft but carried an unmistakable sneer: “Since you’ve decided that he and I are cheating together, then within these four rounds, you’ve cast at least two points already… which means, you no longer have any hope of advancing. I can tell everyone clearly, from now on, I will always abstain. Of course… he will too!” saying that, the girl from the Black Team glanced at Gorilla from the White Team: “No matter which side wins the three victories first, the one who will advance will be one of us. The game is over.”

The girl spoke, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, like a victor waiting for the results to be announced.

…Indeed, this had become a boring game with an unchangeable conclusion. The victor would be either the girl or Gorilla… there was no other possibility, everyone was out of options.

…

…

But…

“Ha~” The frail old lady looked at the girl and chuckled lightly: “Kids these days really can’t keep their cool…”

The downbeat guy also took a final drag on his cigarette and spoke lightly. “Huff————Yeah, a game… isn’t just about winning or losing, right?”

“Next round… I abstain!”

“I abstain too.”

“Seeing that I have no chance of advancing anyway, but allowing these two to win just doesn’t sit right with me, I’ll abstain too…”

“Hehehe… Abstain.”

Suddenly, everyone except Gorilla and the girl came to a mutual understanding—”Abstain!”

“You… what are you doing?” the girl screamed!

“You’re just delaying time… We absolutely won’t cast even a single point!” Gorilla also said, frowning, but it was clear his words lacked the confidence they held before.

Because, he had come to a most… vexing conclusion.

Indeed!

“Hehe, that’s fine! How does that saying go?” Kidney-deficient lad spread his hands and said: “Oh, to obtain a certain reward, one must pay a corresponding price. From now on, we will keep abstaining! If you can’t take it… just quit the game.”

“Yeah, if you count five minutes per round, you can draw at least 280 times in one day. Who will break first? One day? Two days? Or a week? No food, no water? Abandon those containment tasks? Oh oh, right, even so, someone will always get ‘assigned tasks’! If you refuse, you’d be penalized by the organization! How much are you willing to sacrifice for a single elite contest?” The slouchy guy said with a laugh, his eyes half-closed as if he hadn’t slept, as though he was saying, “I can fall asleep anywhere, if it’s a battle of endurance, I’m not afraid of anyone!”

Ugh…

As much as it was hard to accept, a game of wits had been turned into… whatever this was.

…

Alright, after saying so much, surely three minutes have passed by now.

Let’s proceed with our story quickly!

Just like everyone decided… this round, it seems no one is going to cast any points again…

The synthesized electronic voice finally rang out.

——————————————

The fifth round of “Dice Game” has ended. Now reporting the results of the match.

The White Team scored a total of: 0 points!

The Black Team scored a total of: 4 points!

…

“What!!! Impossible!!!” Before the announcement could finish, the Gorilla stood up abruptly!

…

The electronic voice continued,

…

This round… the Black Team has won!

The total score is 2 to 3!

“Dice Game” Black Team comes out on top!

Later, we’ll tally up the total points thrown by the members of the Black Team, with the one scoring the least advancing!

——————————————

…

…

…

Silence

Everyone seemed to scarcely believe their own ears.

After a long while,

“What… what’s going on?” Kidney Deficiency stammered, looking around, then noticed that the others also seemed bewildered.

Typically, at such times, there’s always one victor who lets loose a very appropriate laugh.

“Hehehe—hahahahaha—you… you’ve all been fooled!”

The person laughing…

…was the “Short-haired Man” who, from the second round, had claimed he “threw three points” and then went silent.

People immediately looked at him in astonishment,

“You… what’s happening?” The question came from the frangible lady of the White Team, “Weren’t you supposed to have thrown 4 points?”

“Right, he should have thrown 1 point in the first round, and three in the second… right! Hehehehe!” Chiming in now was not the Short-haired Man but the sharp-faced, small-framed man from the Black Team!

The young girl blinked in confusion… but then seemed to realize something, “Could it be…”

Before she could finish,

“Yes, don’t think that just the two of you had an understanding…” the Short-haired Man said with a smile, “We were two people as well! Hahahahaha—!!!”

He laughed unrestrainedly, and he deserved to laugh a little, for victors always have certain privileges.

“You all are too naive, thinking you hid your tricks perfectly?” he said disdainfully as he swept his gaze over everyone present.

“You!” He pointed at the Gorilla from the White Team, “You were forced to throw just one point in the second round! You hadn’t lost yet at that point, but in your rush to win during the fourth round, you threw another point. Sure, your teammates had indeed thrown three, but did you ever consider that someone had seen through your strategy? Haha!”

“And you!” His gaze then shifted to his own teammate, the young girl, “You are just too hypocritical, putting on such an innocent, sweet face, which practically screamed for suspicion! And how you lack patience! You didn’t trust your partner, did you, so you hoped to win a round in the fourth turn? Haha, little did you think your partner felt the same, huh!”

After finishing, he barely glanced at anyone’s reactions before he slightly lifted his chin, “Ahhh~~ Only by daring to entrust everything to a teammate can you truly achieve victory, that’s the lesson the Foundation wants to teach you! Just like me… I never threw a single point from the first round until now. All my points… were thrown by him!” he said, pointing to the small-framed man, “In the first round, he threw an extra point, and I immediately understood his intent. He was signaling me to inflate the points in the next round, to confuse all of you. Then, when it reached 2 to 2… you all thought I had lost all hope, haha, but at that time, I hadn’t thrown a single point yet!! In the end! I threw this crucial point… eh, but it doesn’t matter. Even if I hadn’t thrown it, my partner would have thrown three to ensure my victory! And all of you here are…”

He was still talking… but the synthesized electronic voice cut him off.