Chapter 326: Invasion of the Brain Cells (26)
Chapter 326: Invasion of the Brain Cells (26)
Time, back to the present.
Ji Chang flipped the card over and held it up to his eyes. The front of his Implication card depicted a tangled mass of black yarn.
"Are you planning to wrap me up like a ball of thread?" Ji Chang remarked after glancing at the image.
Before his words faded, Hong Hu, Qiu Feng, and Feng Bu Jue had already shifted their gazes toward him—something was off.
"What—" Ji Chang began to ask what was wrong, but before he could finish, he too was stunned by what was happening.
From an observer's perspective, Ji Chang's hair suddenly swelled like rising dough, rapidly transforming into a massive, fluffy afro. Then, this "hair cloud" began "raining", though the droplets weren't water but cascading strands of hair.
After about thirty seconds, the process finally stopped.
Ji Chang's once-neat crew cut had morphed into a giant mushroom, its cap drooping with willow-like tresses. If he stood up, no one would see his body—just a black, fuzzy blob resembling a giant jellyfish.
"When You Think You've Gained What You Want, You've Already Lost More", Ji Chang muttered, brushing aside the curtain of hair to reveal his face. "Sure, I’ve been considering changing my crew cut in the game—Dream Corporation’s official site did announce a Hairstyle Adjustment Service patch for Terrifying Paradise—but definitely not like this..."
"When you think you’ve claimed the throne of ‘wash-cut-blow,’ you’ve already lost dignity and taste", Feng Bu Jue quipped coldly.
"Hahahah—" Qiu Feng burst into laughter, but seconds later, blood seeped again from the wound in his chest. "Cough… Don’t make me laugh… or I won’t last an hour…"
Hong Hu remained calm, threading his fingers through the iron bars in front of his face as he adjusted his glasses habitually. "Compared to us, you’re still better off."
"I’d rather wear a cage on my head", Ji Chang grumbled, sweeping the hair from his face and tossing it behind his shoulders to see clearly.
"Let’s continue", Professor Moriarty interjected. "Mr. Yu, you’ve arrived just in time. Before you appeared, your three companions each completed their turns." His tone remained unruffled. "Now, I believe you’ve all seen how this game works."
"We’ve seen the card effects, but what about the rules?" Feng Bu Jue countered. "We can’t keep playing under your instructions."
Professor Moriarty exchanged glances with Sherlock Holmes before addressing the players. "Language is power", he said, raising an arm in a sweeping gesture. "Remember this, for it is the foundation of this space—or rather, the Round Table Game."
He tapped the cards on the table. "The basic rule is that every player must use all four cards: Implication, Inquiry, Speculation, and Deduction." His gaze swept across the players. "But here’s the catch—only Professor Moriarty and Mr. Sherlock Holmes know the ‘truth.’ As uninformed players, you have no reason to choose Implication."
"So you’re forcing us to use Implication to start?" Hong Hu asked.
"Precisely", Professor Moriarty confirmed. "We left those phrases with the ‘Implication’ attribute scattered around, so you could witness their effects on other characters in this space as you climbed the tower."
"Can I interpret this as… In this world, ‘language’ is power, and ‘Implication’ is a technique with a negative attribute?" Qiu Feng ventured.
"Not quite", Sherlock Holmes interjected. "But close."
"There’s no ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ here. The premise for determining a card’s effect is whether the spoken words hold value", Professor Moriarty explained. "It’s my turn now. Let me demonstrate an Implication." He paused, then declared, "Implication—There is no lie in this world."
As he spoke, an Implication card slid toward him. Professor Moriarty flipped it over, revealing a blank face. "See? No penalty."
About five seconds later, Feng Bu Jue let out a derisive laugh through his bloodied cheek. "Got it. You’re a ‘knowledgeable player.’ Your words help us approach the ‘truth,’ so your Implication holds value." He twirled his knife lazily. "But for us uninformed players, we’re just reciting the phrases you prearranged. Though the words are Implication, they’re meaningless here."
"Correct. You’re catching on", Professor Moriarty replied with a smile.
Ji Chang pondered, then summarized, "So in this game, for uninformed players, choosing Implication always triggers punishment because the knowledgeable players don’t need our implications.
"And for the knowledgeable players, Deduction is off-limits since you already know the truth from the start—there’s nothing left to deduce."
"But here’s the problem", Hong Hu interrupted, fixing Professor Moriarty with a sharp stare. "Didn’t you say every player must use all four cards?"
"Of course", Professor Moriarty replied smoothly. "Rest assured, neither Mr. Holmes nor I are cheaters."
Sherlock Holmes added, "As uninformed players, your first move defaults to Implication." He exhaled a puff of smoke. "Knowledgeable players have no such restriction—we can start with any card." He flicked ash from his cigarette. "However… whether you’re informed or not, you cannot repeat cards in the first four rounds."
"So every player must cycle through all four cards in the first four rounds", Hong Hu confirmed, then asked, "Does that mean from the fifth round onward, we can reuse the same card repeatedly?"
Professor Moriarty smirked. "Yes. From round five, you could even use Inquiry every turn if you wished." He pierced Hong Hu’s unspoken intent with a single sentence.
(End of Chapter)
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