Chapter 361: Real Death Game

"Just an ordinary fruit candy. Smells normal, looks normal." The Underworld Live Show wouldn't set a lethal trap for me before the broadcast even officially began. To complete the task, I carefully picked a piece of candy from the plate and put it in my mouth.

"Tastes fine, just..." My vision suddenly blurred. It felt as if my soul was being ripped away, and I crashed heavily to the floor.

Right before my consciousness faded completely, I only had time to glance at the bed. Another piece of candy still sat on the plate.

"Crap."

...

The back of my head throbbed as if struck by a heavy object, and my entire body ached. I seemed to have been lying on the ground for a long time; my joints were stiff.

My mind slowly cleared. Instead of rushing to get up, I kept my eyes narrowed to slits and used Judging Eye to scan my surroundings.

'This isn't Room 2o6 of the Anxin Hotel. Someone moved me while I was unconscious.' Remaining sprawled on the floor to fake unconsciousness, I secretly observed the room. 'A single bed, a desk, a desk lamp, a broken wooden bucket... Is this a sealed prison cell? Why would they bring me here? Who is the culprit? A psychotic serial killer? The Underworld Live Show? Or the Two-Faced Buddha?'

There was no one around, and my limbs weren't bound. It seemed whoever it was merely wanted to bring me here.

Climbing off the floor, I rolled my wrists. All my belongings were still on me; I hadn't lost anything.

I pulled out my own phone. The time was 11:20 PM, but there was no signal or internet connection.

'Either this place is deep underground, or there's a signal jammer nearby,' I thought, sitting on the single bed and propping my chin in my hands. 'I can't figure out this opening at all.'

I walked over to the desk. A piece of white paper was taped to the center, bearing a few lines of bold black text.

"The eleven of you are the most cunning, vicious, and ruthless criminals in this city! Every one of you has one or more lives on your hands. Your hands are stained with blood; you are demons wearing human skin! You are greedy, you are deceitful. You stripped away the lives of others for your own selfish desires. You disguised yourselves with morality and kindness, fooling the police and the law, but you cannot fool me!"

"Tonight, I will play the most thrilling game with you. I swear upon my life: I will make you repent!"

"Game Rules: Do you remember the candy you ate before passing out? The candies come in three colors. Green represents the prisoner, Blue Candy represents the police, and red represents the killer."

"After midnight, following the numerical order of the rooms, one person will be selected every half hour to confess. There is an Electric Chair in the main hall outside. The penitent must sit in the Electric Chair and detail their murder process. The chair is equipped with a lie detector—you are welcome to test the consequences of lying."

"Once the confession is complete, everyone will vote on forgiveness. Each person has only one vote. You may abstain, but you cannot vote for yourself."

"The candy you consumed contained a slow-acting neurotoxin. After the eleven confessions conclude, the five people with the highest votes will be spared from death, and I will give you the antidote. For the remaining six, I have prepared a special method of punishment."

"Do not attempt to provoke the rules. I am right among you, and I can make you die at any moment!"

"The one who ate the Blue Candy holds the identity of the police, responsible for maintaining order until the final confession phase. If no one dies, you receive a five-million bonus! For every death, one million is deducted from the bonus. Once the bonus is depleted, your body organs will be used as substitutes!"

"The one who ate the red candy holds the identity of the killer. I imagine this is your favorite profession. When the number of survivors on the scene drops to six, the killer will earn a one-million bonus for every subsequent death. If everyone except the killer dies, the killer is declared the victor, and I will give the killer a special reward!"

"The police and the prisoners have an opportunity to make an accusation every two hours. Once the killer is executed, everyone will receive the antidote!"

"Alright, now go meet your companions, you damned demons!"

After reading the game rules on the white paper, I remembered the candy I had eaten. 'This game isn't fair. There are many ways to solve it, but every single one is full of variables.'

My gaze landed on the opening sentence of the paper. 'Eleven of the most cunning, vicious, and ruthless murderers in the city... Did they gather us together just to repent?'

A few basic points could be gleaned from the rules. First, everyone participating in the game had killed someone and escaped legal punishment; they were extremely deceitful bastards.

Second, the mastermind behind the scenes was also among these eleven people. He had to be incredibly confident.

Third, a lot of people were definitely going to die tonight.

The game was scheduled to start at midnight, according to the paper. I wasn't in a hurry to leave the cell. First, I pressed my ear against the wall to listen for sounds next door, then walked to the door and gently twisted the lock, pulling it open a crack.

The hallway was very dark, though faint silhouettes could be seen.

I closed the door and thought for a moment. Pulling out the Underworld Live Show Phone strapped to my calf, I decisively plugged in the Portable Encoding Stick and prepared to broadcast.

'Once I go out there, I'll have to face those vicious, cunning murderers. Any unnecessary movement could make them suspicious. I definitely can't stream out in the open.' I took out the Underworld Live Show Brooch, flipped the switch, and pinned it to my chest.

"Acquiring image..."

"Connecting to chat..."

"Data stable. Start live broadcast?"

"Yes."

"Welcome Teletubbies Died of Murder to the live broadcast room, welcome Master Tieling Biao to the live broadcast room, welcome..."

The stream stabilized. I glanced at the phone, which displayed a third-person view captured by the pinhole camera.

Master Tieling Biao tipped the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room 1 Yuanbao: "Today, Lord Biao will claim first blood!"

"How come the stream started but we still can't see the Streamer?"

"It's over. If I can't see the Streamer's adorably ugly face, I definitely won't be able to sleep tonight."

Popularity skyrocketed as comments flew across the screen. I didn't know if it was because of that female streamer's recommendation earlier or for some other reason, but in just two or three minutes, the concurrent viewer count surpassed six thousand.

"You're all loyal fans!" I sighed in amazement. Pulling the Brooch off, I aimed the camera. "Welcome everyone to the Super Thriller Live Broadcast Room. Before kicking off today's stream, I must tell you that I'm about to participate in a Real Death Game. If..."

Halfway through my sentence, a knock suddenly sounded on the door behind me. I instinctively shoved the Underworld Live Show Phone into my pocket and turned to look at the door, my voice turning cold. "Who's out there?"

"Excuse me for interrupting. I heard a voice inside and wanted to invite you out to discuss a few things."

The voice belonged to a man. He sounded refined and spoke at a measured pace. I pinned the Brooch back on and reached out to open the door.

A cold draft from the hallway blew into the room. Outside stood a well-proportioned man about 1.75 meters tall. He wore oversized pajamas, his hair was messy, and his beard looked like it hadn't been trimmed in ages.

As I sized him up, he was also observing me, his eyes occasionally darting around the rest of the cell. "If it's convenient, could we step out to chat? I mean, chat about a way to escape this place."

He spoke cautiously. Judging solely by his appearance, one could never tell that this man was a bloodstained murderer who had eluded justice.

"Let's go." I walked side-by-side with him down the corridor. There were twelve rooms in total on both sides, and the number of the room I had been in was exactly "12".

The long corridor was fitted with only two light bulbs, making it appear very dim.

At the end of the hallway was an eighty-square-meter hall. A massive round table sat in the center of the hall, surrounded by eleven numbered chairs. At that moment, ten of the chairs were occupied.

"The last one has been brought over. The game can start soon." After leading me to the hall, the pajama-clad man sat straight down in chair number 1. Now, all eleven chairs were occupied, and the eyes of those eleven people fell entirely on me.

Their stares made my scalp tingle, and I felt quite perplexed. 'Eleven chairs, corresponding to the eleven participants in this game. But right now, counting me, there are twelve people in the hall! How did an extra person appear?!'