After explaining the rules, Twenty Faces folded her hands in front of her and looked at them with a smile.
She even considerately left them ti to process and understand the rules.
It had to be said... different hosts certainly had their own distinct styles.
However...
Ming Po took a deep breath, a dim yellow light flickering in the depths of his eyes.
Defeat ant death.
The rules of this ga were completely different from "Passing the Flower Drum," the Confrontation ga he had participated in with Lin Ya. It was even harsher than his very first ga, "Death of the Minority," where only three people had survived.
It was a bloody ga where the rules themselves dictated that "at least one side must entirely perish" before it could end.
Even if a teammate died halfway through, defeating Gao Song, the Palace Master, in the end wouldn't bring the dead back to life.
...So that was how it worked.
Was it because the Palace Master would die upon failing the ga anyway, so he simply established these rules?
As the saying went, those with nothing to lose fear not those with sothing to lose... Doing this would at least apply pressure to the opposition. It avoided a situation where one side could lose without dying while the other faced certain death upon defeat.
The rule established by Gao Song actually dragged the match into a relatively fair state.
Ming Po still rembered that a Ga of Deception could only be established when the rules were "fair." The only difference was that Ming Po and Gao Fan needed to brainstorm on the spot and get used to this logic... whereas their opponent had played it many, many tis. At the sa ti, waiting in leisure for exhausted challengers, Gao Song's understanding of the rules would be much deeper, and he could co up with more obscure words that were difficult to guess.
In other words... even though the rules were fair, he had left himself a considerable amount of room to maneuver.
...This guy was not simple.
Thinking this, Ming Po raised his head and looked earnestly at Gao Song.
Although he was rely a Zhou's Azure Lead rank Deceiver of the World, he seed quite familiar with the underlying logic of the Ga of Deception.
And on top of that... the rules specifically stated that Title abilities were permitted. That ant his Title or Treasure definitely provided an advantage in this ga.
Ming Po also noticed a specific detail—why would he purposely create a ga rule that pitted one against many?
He rembered that the prototype for this, "Twenty Questions," was a one-on-one ga.
One person would ask questions and the other would answer; if the answer wasn't guessed after twenty questions, it was a loss. Moreover, the lights wouldn't only shine for "yes" and "yes and no," but clear answers like "yes," "no," and "uncertain" had to be provided.
There was a web browser version of this ga, a "magical genie that could guess what you were thinking," and its accuracy was exceptionally high... This ant that a mature one-on-one version of the ga already existed.
But as the rule-maker and ga designer, Gao Song had intentionally modified the rules to create a one-versus-many mode...
Ming Po frowned, his mind racing.
Gao Fan, on the other hand, had been silent for a long ti.
Right now, he looked incredibly nervous and sowhat hesitant. Although Gao Fan claid to have "saved his family's company through struggle," seemingly having crossed paths with his uncle Gao Song before, looking at it now... the pressure Gao Song placed on Little Fan was massive.
"Everyone, the break is over."
Twenty Faces spoke up. "Now, please pick up your cards."
The three of them looked at each other once more and picked up the black cards in front of them.
"Please visualize an object and silently recite its na in Mandarin Chinese. Please note, the card can hold a maximum of five characters. Once the card heats up, it confirms that the word selection is successful and cannot be withdrawn. You must imdiately place the card face down on the table. Please carefully choose your answers."
...So it has to be five characters or less?
Thinking this, Ming Po decided to test the ga rules first.
—Ai Shiping.
He naturally thought of this na first.
The card in his hand did not heat up; there was no reaction whatsoever.
—Aiwass.
This was an important story character he had personally designed for a ga he wrote. The character was extrely popular and was also Ming Po's absolute favorite.
Clearly, Mr. Gao Song did not play video gas. He didn't know this na either.
At that mont, Gao Song had already finalized his word.
He calmly placed his card face down on the table, interlaced his fingers, leaned back in his chair, and looked at them with a smile.
Even Ming Po felt the pressure... let alone Gao Fan.
In this ga, as soon as your word was guessed, you would die instantly. And since there was only one round... the necessity of making a choice that "absolutely wouldn't be guessed" would naturally make a person paranoid and anxious.
If only I had a television.
Ming Po thought to himself.
That way, he could observe Gao Song's playstyle and figure out how to evade it.
But today, they hadn't entered the ga through the "main doors." Instead, they had been dragged directly into a personal ga by the Palace Master, completely nullifying Ming Po's information advantage.
However...
A sudden flash of inspiration struck Ming Po.
He knew exactly what word to use.
Bacchus Shrine.
Ming Po silently recited the na.
He felt the card vibrate slightly—much like a phone set to vibrate—followed by a comforting warmth like a heating pad. On the pure black card, golden text surfaced spelling out the word [Bacchus Shrine].
Ming Po placed his card face down on the table and leaned back to signal he was ready.
Only Gao Fan was still preparing.
Gao Song wasn't in a rush at all.
He simply leaned back in his chair with a smile, staring at Gao Fan without moving a muscle.
Sweat was already seeping from Gao Fan's forehead, and his face was redder than usual.
...This state wasn't right.
He seed far too terrified... Was it because he was so used to running away, and now there was absolutely no escape?
"Don't be nervous."
Ming Po comforted him softly.
But even he didn't have many options in the face of these ga rules.
Once Gao Fan's word was guessed, Ming Po wouldn't be able to help him. Perhaps Ming Po could take the lead on the offensive, but everyone was solely responsible for their own defensive strategy.
Hearing Ming Po's words, Gao Fan took a few deep breaths and finally managed to calm down.
At last, he finalized his word and solemnly placed his card face down on the table.
"The ga is about to begin."
The host, Twenty Faces, announced: "We will start with the Escapee, followed by the Madman, then Mistletoe, and after that, it will loop back to the Escapee.
"Once the ga begins, I will not provide any further prompts unless there is a tiout, a rule violation, or a death.
"First round, preparation ti is ten seconds—
"Begin now!"
"Is it a living creature?"
Almost instantly, Gao Fan asked his first question.
None of the three cards emitted any light.
—This ant the answer was no.
"...Is it a building or a natural landscape?"
Ming Po stayed silent for a mont before asking.
This was a test—he wanted to see if he could incorporate multiple elents into a single question.
Although this might make the question a bit vague, it would help determine the general direction much faster.
Since their combined total was only twenty questions, if they couldn't narrow down a relatively precise scope... then once all twenty questions were used up, they would be forced to start guessing.
And since the ga started from the "challengers" side... that ant if all twenty questions were used up and no one was certain of anyone else's answer, then after three rounds of "guessing" ended, the challengers would definitely be the first to die.
However.
After Ming Po's question dropped, there was still no light.
This ant it was still a no.
Not a living creature, nor a building, nor a natural landscape...
With just two questions, the scope of possibilities had already been narrowed down by more than half.
"Is it... fictional?"
Gao Song asked slowly, a teasing smile quite similar to Twenty Faces' hanging on his lips.
There was still no light on the table.
This ant that it wasn't anything fictional either.
Ming Po's heart suddenly sank.
He had just realized a problem...
A very serious problem.
It seed like they were "teaming up" against Gao Song, but since they didn't know each other's answers, that ant... the questions they asked could potentially cause "friendly fire" on each other!
Because the questions they posed took effect on all cards simultaneously. That ant they were also effective on their teammate's card. This ant they might actually be unable to use overly broad defining terms!
Sure enough.
Gao Fan's next question caused Ming Po's expression to drastically change.
Even Gao Fan himself suddenly widened his eyes.
Because what he asked was:
—"Does it have anything to do with the Ga of Deception?"
And so...
Only the black card in front of Ming Po suddenly turned white.
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