Chapter 233: Are They Teammates? (9)

【Bullet Screen: "Hey, hey, hey! Did you all forget that they're not allowed to reveal their camps?! He Yu has no way to explain his third camp at all!"]

【Bullet Screen: "They have Verification Cards, and since He Shen wants them to know, I don't think it'll be difficult."】

【Bullet Screen: "Right. If anyone can pull it off, it's He Yu. Leave one person in the last camp, let everyone tie, and get the perfect full-score [N O V E L I G H T] ending!"】

Before He Yu could answer, Ling Buchen shook his head.

"I'm afraid that won't work."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Ling Buchen said, "Have you forgotten the instance Cheng Zhao and He Yu went through? A draw... the system might leave all of us trapped here forever, or—"

Wanrenzhan frowned and cut him off.

"Impossible. If everyone dies in the first half of the semifinals, the outside world will go completely insane."

In the previous tournament, even after interrupting the livestream, they had still produced him as the "Top Talent." There was no way this tournament would simply wipe out everyone halfway through the semifinals. The consequences would be far too severe.

If all one hundred contestants obviously died together, how would that be any different from the system erasing them outright and terminating the competition?

The situation in He Yu and Cheng Zhao's instance had been different. That had only been one instance, with just the two of them. A draw meant both of them died, but the overall competition continued.

Hearing that, Ling Buchen's expression remained unchanged as he calmly finished the rest of his thought.

"...Or only allow those still alive to advance."

For example, suppose they deliberately left two people alive until the end and forced a draw. What if the system simply ruled that only those two had won?

Eliminating the other ninety-eight contestants wasn't impossible.

Everyone's breathing stopped for a moment.

Tang Ke shook their head.

"The system wouldn't judge it that way. The rules can be modified, but they can't contradict previous rules. Earlier it clearly stated that dying inside an instance isn't true death—it depends on the final outcome. It can't suddenly change into a contradictory rule afterward. That would be unfair to everyone before."

Ling Buchen replied, "I'm only raising another possibility for us to consider."

Zhen Xing took a deep breath, his eyes icy.

"Don't gamble on the conscience of the system or whoever is behind it."

If they were going to fight against the rules themselves, they had to consider every possible angle.

Eugene was frowning as well, lost in thought. Without noticing, he stepped into the water, splashing it everywhere. Several droplets landed directly on He Yu's face.

Wanrenzhan snapped angrily.

"What are you doing?!"

Zhen Xing frowned too, obvious displeasure flashing through his eyes.

He Yu calmly removed his glasses and quietly wiped the water off the lenses.

His silver hair soaked, Eugene awkwardly poked his head out.

"Sorry! My fault! I really didn't mean to!"

Then he looked toward He Yu.

"But I just thought of another idea."

"What idea?"

Eugene grinned.

"We all stay alive. Since we have Verification Cards, we can identify everyone's camp, calculate the points, distribute the points properly, make sure all of us survive until every mission is completed, and keep every camp's score perfectly tied."

Duan Yuchen nodded in agreement.

"Exactly. If we leave absolutely no loopholes, won't everything be fine?"

Everyone fell into deep thought, carefully considering whether the proposal was actually feasible.

There were thirteen of them here. They could either recruit one more person or redistribute the points so that, by the very end, Camps One and Two had identical scores while everyone remained alive.

No matter how advancement was ultimately determined, none of them could be pushed out of the top fifty.

Gedai curled the corner of his mouth.

"We can go even further. Let's accumulate points like crazy and make sure all of our individual scores stay near the top as well..."

If they managed that, then no matter how the system judged the results, all of them would survive and advance.

Unless—

The system simply declared them all dead.

But that seemed even less likely.

Even Ling Buchen nodded this time.

"Mm. That doesn't seem to have any obvious problems. The first two conditions are manageable. As for the third... we can only do our best."

After all, during the short time they'd spent washing up, two more missions had already been completed.

Six missions had now been finished in total, and they had only completed one themselves.

From here on, they had to kill people while completing missions. Ensuring that all of their scores remained among the leaders would require exhausting every possible effort.

【Bullet Screen: "What do you think of this method?"】

【Bullet Screen: "What about He Yu? He hasn't said a single word. I feel like this plan won't work."】

【Bullet Screen: "Ahhh! Why isn't He Yu saying anything?!"】

Outside the Royal Palace.

Qiao's expression changed.

"This plan won't work. He Yu is in danger."

His friend frowned.

"He Yu didn't object, so there must be a flaw in the plan... but I can't see what it is."

Larry was watching the livestream as well. Hearing that, he explained grimly,

"The first two conditions might actually be achievable, but the third is extremely difficult. He Yu is the only member of his camp, yet his score has to match the combined scores of the other two camps. That's incredibly difficult.

"Unless Zhen Xing and the others deliberately give up part of their own points until He Yu catches up. But if they do that, their own scores will become too low.

"They have to complete missions while killing people, but everyone else is still frantically completing missions for points. If advancement is ultimately determined by score, their totals might not be enough."

He Yu could not die.

If he died, Camp Three would be eliminated entirely—which meant true death.

That was precisely what the system wanted.

So He Yu had to survive until the very end.

But Camp Three consisted of only himself, while the other two camps still had multiple survivors.

His score had to equal the scores of the other two surviving camps.

In other words—

He Yu's score had to equal the combined score of everyone still alive in Camp One led by Zhen Xing...

...and also equal the combined score of everyone still alive in Camp Two led by Eugene.

He Yu needed an unbelievably high score.

At the same time, everyone else's scores couldn't be low either. They also had to remain near the top—or at least within the top fifty.

Yet they still had to kill people while completing randomly assigned missions.

Those already "dead" could also possess extremely high scores.

There was no way to stop everyone else from continuing to earn points.

—After all, points could only be reset to zero. They couldn't be transferred.

The third condition was incredibly difficult to guarantee.

And if they couldn't guarantee it, then given how determined the mastermind was to kill He Yu, the advancement rules really might be decided according to that third condition.

Qiao's face darkened.

"If they can't account for every possible situation, then this plan simply isn't workable."

Taking a deep breath, he gritted his teeth.

"And this plan has one fatal flaw."

—

The livestream audience had already spotted the problem.

After all, onlookers had the advantage.

Unlike Zhen Xing and the others, they already knew He Yu belonged to the third camp.

That's why the flaw was obvious to them.

As for that fatal flaw...

Someone else finally voiced it.

Bo Jingshan, who rarely spoke in discussions like this, suddenly said,

"You keep saying the system won't directly kill all one hundred of us. But what if, when the final draw happens, the system does what it did in the <Money Game> instance?"

Everyone looked at him.

"What if it gives us the choice... and lets us decide whether to advance or let everyone die?"

Everyone's breathing stopped.

That was entirely possible.

The system could simply set a time limit, forcing them to determine a winner.

Otherwise—

Everyone dies.

If they still insisted on a draw...

Then everyone dies.

Logically...

There was nothing contradictory about that.

—After all, it would be their own choice.

Wanrenzhan frowned deeply but still shook his head.

"I don't believe the semifinals will end with everyone dead. The impact would be far too great. At least from what we've seen so far, the system hasn't completely sealed off every path."

Even in the previous instance, hidden rules had existed...

...but there had still been one difficult road left open.

The mastermind didn't want to openly become the enemy of the entire Federation.

Everything they had done had remained hidden beneath the surface.

Anyone paying attention could see through it—

—but there was always still a thin veil covering it.

After thinking for a while, Zhen Xing spoke calmly.

"Actually, that doesn't really matter. If we're forced to decide the winner at the very end... how is that any different from deciding now?"

Duan Yuchen smiled bitterly.

"Yeah. If it really comes to that, we'll settle it then."

In fact, if it happened then, it would actually be fairer than doing it now.

At least the other contestants wouldn't interfere anymore.

Victory or defeat would depend solely on themselves.

That was essentially the plan many contestants already followed—

First form an alliance.

Kill everyone else.

Then the alliance members determine the winner among themselves.

Zhen Xing was right.

There really wasn't any difference.

Tang Ke summarized,

"Alright. So we basically have two plans now.

"The first is to eliminate everyone else. Even if we eventually have to determine a winner, it'll be decided among ourselves.

"Of course, that's our worst-case option.

"Our priority should still be the second plan—keep Camps One and Two tied while ensuring all of our personal scores remain near the top."

Achieving the second plan would naturally be ideal.

If that proved impossible...

Then they would have no choice but to fall back on the first.

—Which was no different from the current situation.

Duan Yuchen looked toward him.

"He Yu, what do you think?"

He Yu was still quietly wiping his glasses.

His head remained lowered, his eyelashes casting shadows that concealed every trace of emotion in his eyes.

Only after a long silence did he finally raise his head.

Without the glasses covering part of his face, the tear mole beneath the corner of his eye appeared especially striking.

Slowly putting the glasses back on, he smiled.

"Alright."

"We'll do exactly that."

【Bullet Screen: "???"】

【Bullet Screen: "Holy shit! What does He Yu mean by that?!"】

【Bullet Screen: "Ahhh! Is he planning to sacrifice himself so everyone else can survive?!"】

【Bullet Screen: "No. First, He Yu isn't that kind of person. Second, he couldn't hide it anyway. The moment they use a Verification Card, he'll be identified as the enemy camp... What exactly is He Yu thinking?!"】

【Bullet Screen: "I don't understand He Yu's move... but I also know if he agreed, he definitely has another plan."】

【Bullet Screen: "Ahhh... I wish I could keep up with He Yu's brain. I'm crying."】

【Bullet Screen: "...Maybe even he doesn't know what to do anymore. Maybe he's just taking it one step at a time?"】

With the plan approved, they had finally established a clear strategy for clearing this instance.

Although there was still no guarantee that everyone could advance, at least they now had a definite direction.

Duan Yuchen shrugged.

"I hope all of us make it through. If that happens, it'll be the greatest miracle in the history of the <Top Talent Show>. A legend unlike anything that's ever existed."

—Even though every one of them believed the first ending was still more likely.

Still...

They had to at least try the second plan first.

Ever since being manipulated by the system's rules, none of them could calmly accept giving up without resisting.

And the more they learned about the <Top Talent Show>...

...the more interference they witnessed...

...the more they understood who the Blue Eyes really were...

...the heavier the burden pressing on their hearts became.

That suffocating pressure made them unwilling to simply obey the rules.

—It was infuriating.

Li Zhan...

He had been their god.

Their idol.

Eugene climbed back onto shore and walked over beside He Yu.

His gaze swept across everyone else.

"Should we work out the detailed execution now?"

Wanrenzhan shrugged.

"I trust He Yu. You guys make the plan—I just carry it out."

Ling Buchen had been watching He Yu the entire time.

He Yu was someone whose emotions were almost impossible to read.

Yet Ling Buchen shared an unusual understanding with him.

For some reason...

He couldn't shake the feeling that something about He Yu's reaction wasn't quite right.

His expression.

His micro-expressions.

His eyes.

Everything appeared perfectly normal.

Nothing looked out of place.

And yet...

Ling Buchen instinctively felt that something was wrong.

He had never been the type to ignore his instincts simply because he couldn't identify the reason.

After thinking for a moment, he suggested,

"He Yu is our captain. From now on, let him arrange everything. He should be able to calculate all the scores. We should also let him handle every Verification Card. What do you all think?"

Zhen Xing answered without the slightest hesitation.

"No problem."

Wanrenzhan nodded.

"Of course there's no problem. I doubt my brain could keep track of all those calculations anyway. Leave it to He Yu. He'll definitely plan everything properly."

—That was absolute, unconditional trust.

Bo Jingshan simply nodded.

"Agreed."

Zhen Xing, Ling Buchen, Wanrenzhan, and Bo Jingshan—

The four of them had always followed He Yu's arrangements without question.

This time was no different.

After agreeing immediately, they all turned toward everyone else.

In the past, they had entrusted their lives to He Yu because there had been no other choice.

But now...

They weren't standing at the edge of absolute despair yet.

Would the others still be willing to place their lives in He Yu's hands?

After all...

If He Yu harbored even the slightest selfish motive, he could quietly manipulate the allocation process so that his own camp emerged victorious.

By the time the truth became apparent...

The opposing camps would have no chance to resist.

Under those circumstances...

Would everyone else still be willing to trust He Yu?