Game of Deception Chapter 47: The Enduring Gambler

...An exam?

Is this another player roleplaying as a student? Or perhaps...

Ming Po looked at the isolated girl with great interest, narrowing his eyes slightly as he offered a gentle smile.

"Yeah."

He pushed up his glasses, rested his hands on his knees, and leaned forward slightly to speak in a soft voice. "We seem to be lost... You look unwell. Are you feeling sick?"

Ming Po's expression was sincere, his eyes clear.

When he leaned down, his gaze was almost level with hers.

The genuine worry and care displayed on his face made his dangerous aura vanish like a phantom. He looked just like a gentle, grounded, and quiet senior.

'...Boss, your way of striking up a conversation is a bit... cliché.'

Beside him, Chen Bingwen silently bared his teeth.

'This ga is bizarre and dangerous. Whether the other party is a player or an NPC... can such deliberate flattery really put soone at ease?'

'Wouldn't it just make her suspicious and put her on guard?'

'Since she hasn't taken the initiative to explain or ask for help, they should obviously travel together for a while after exchanging identities. Once she repeatedly shows signs of discomfort, he could naturally ask...'

'By then, they would have walked together for a bit and talked a few tis. Her guard would mostly be down, and only then would it be possible to get the truth out of her...'

But unexpectedly, the girl's reaction was the complete opposite of what Lawyer Chen predicted.

"H-Hello, Senior...!"

The girl imdiately stood up straight, replying nervously.

At this distance, she could even hear Ming Po's long, steady breaths.

Her cheeks flushed red, and her voice softened.

But she had only just stood up... Perhaps feeling she was too close to Ming Po, or perhaps feeling shy about puffing out her chest, she subconsciously slumped her shoulders and hunched her back once again.

"My stomach... hurts a bit..."

She whispered, "I ca out to use the restroom... but I couldn't find Room 2048 when I ca back."

Lawyer Chen widened his eyes in disbelief.

'Is this reasonable?'

'Can you just do whatever you want just because you're handso?'

"You aren't a student of this school?"

Under Lawyer Chen's fearful gaze, Ming Po completely skipped the pleasantries and relationship-building once again, directly asking for the most crucial information.

And she actually answered, "Yeah, I just transferred here..."

"A transfer student? At this ti of year?"

"Yeah... there was a slight problem... at my previous school..."

The girl spoke vaguely.

"Oh, right! My na is Zhang Leyao!"

Suddenly rembering she hadn't introduced herself, she quickly turned around and said, "Senior, you can just call Leyao! Or Yaoyao, all my friends call Yaoyao!"

"Hello, Yaoyao."

Ming Po smiled. "I am Xiao Ke."

"I am Gao Xiaofan."

Gao Fan quickly chid in, pinching his throat to produce a much younger voice. "You can call Xiaofan—"

The pressure imdiately fell onto Lawyer Chen.

When the other three turned their gazes toward him, he hesitated for a fraction of a second.

And in that very mont...

Chen Bingwen suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as the surrounding world seed to dim. The other three staring at him appeared to turn into stone statues, enveloped in a shadowy black filter...

"I-I am Chen Bingwen!"

Lawyer Chen was drenched in sweat. "Old Xiao and I are in the sa class!"

He was never the type to gamble with his life. With visible death steadily approaching, he didn't dare wager whether the nas the other two gave were real or fake. He could only offer his real na to save his own skin for now.

After Lawyer Chen finished his introduction, he felt the surroundings brighten once again.

Looking at the others' reactions, it was obvious none of them had realized what had just happened to him.

'It's fine, it's fine...'

'Since those two answered so quickly, it ans they either gave fake nas or they're newbies who don't understand the significance of a real na.'

'If it's the forr, they'll assu the na I just blurted out is also a freshly concocted fake; if it's the latter, they won't pay any attention to this na for the ti being... probably.'

Chen Bingwen consoled himself.

He was undeniably a smart person.

—And smart people always loved to deceive themselves.

Gao Fan had clearly recognized Chen Bingwen's identity.

His mory wasn't that great, nor did he possess a knack for rembering faces. At most, he just felt Chen Bingwen looked sowhat familiar... But now that the other party had announced this na, he instantly recalled the appearance of that major strear in his mories.

Comparing them in his mind—'Hey, they really do look identical!'

...Of course, he definitely wouldn't take the initiative to confirm it with the man.

Even without this rule of "must maintain a student identity", Gao Fan would never boldly confront soone about it.

This was his survival experience as an orphan, having barely managed to protect his family's enterprise from greedy relatives.

Many tis, playing dumb and feigning ignorance was the key to staying alive. Knowing too much brought no benefits.

Just like his reaction when he first t "Big Brother Xiao."

At that ti, Gao Fan realized a few things:

First, the na given by this "Big Brother Xiao" from the Domain of Force was definitely fake, which ant he knew the consequences of revealing his real na. In other words, he knew that Deceivers of the World could slaughter each other.

Second, his familiarity with the Ga of Deception was clearly lacking. He didn't even know that chips could be traded offline, which proved he hadn't been exploited by a team, and might not even have one.

Third, although his ntal state seed a bit questionable, he detested betrayal. Moreover, he knew Chang Ning, so he probably wasn't a bad person.

At the sa ti, he possessed imnse strength, outstanding supernatural talent, and extre self-confidence—under these circumstances, Gao Fan judged that the man could never accept a team model like a "farming squad."

That was why Gao Fan deliberately asked him to return with him to et his teammates. He naturally knew that his two teammates had no desire to add a new mber... because once it beca a two-on-two situation, their advantage over Gao Fan would be gone.

Gao Fan's abilities were incredibly useful. They could rent him out to make money at any ti, and his base was also the largest among them. The others' bases either lacked food or didn't have as many ho appliances... In the dull, monotonous afterlife with nearly infinite ti, abundant entertainnt options were a very precious resource.

He had always wanted to rid himself of those two bastards.

But he had never found the opportunity—he had considered taking advantage of being rented out to defect, but the teams that rented teammates weren't very reliable either.

He didn't even know if "Wen Yu" was that woman's real na, nor did he know if her surna was actually Wen or if she had another surna before it. If he had the chance to do it all over again, he definitely wouldn't surrender his base to anyone else.

—Rather than being bled dry until death, he might as well gamble!

He would wager everything on Big Brother Xiao being a trustworthy person—or at least better than his current teammates!

Clearly, he had won the bet.

Right up until he grasped that kitchen knife, not a single trace of malice could be seen on Gao Fan's face.

This ability to hide his true thoughts at all tis and exist harmlessly within any team was exactly his supernatural talent... Not a superpower granted by a Title, but sothing he inherently possessed.

'However... why is Big Brother Xiao treating this guy so well?'

Gao Fan narrowed his eyes and looked at Lawyer Chen.

'He looks just like a newbie who understands nothing, plain and unremarkable.'

'His acting skills are terrible, and he lacks courage. He doesn't seem to know Big Brother Xiao either... Or perhaps, Big Brother Xiao knows him one-sidedly?'

'Or could it be that this guy also has so particularly useful ability?'

Right at that mont.

A sudden surge of terror welled up in Gao Fan's heart.

He hallucinated being crushed into minceat by so unseen force—only then did he realize the surrounding lights had started flickering.

—They had lingered here for a bit too long!

Gao Fan imdiately realized that this was the instance's chanism driving them forward.

"Let's hurry up and go."

He urged promptly, "We still have an exam, don't we?"

"Oh... okay!"

The girl snapped back to reality and hastily agreed.

Imdiately after, she looked up at Ming Po.

She clearly wanted to follow him.

"Let's walk first, we can talk on the way."

Without a second thought, Ming Po started walking forward.

He had absolutely no idea where he was going, but moving was the priority...

He believed that Gao Fan saying this out of the blue definitely had a reason.

As an extre sports enthusiast, Ming Po had a good habit that almost everyone knew but few actually followed—trusting the Guide.

This was incredibly important.

Those who stubbornly refused to listen most likely ended up six feet under.