"The third narrative phase has concluded. We are now entering the discussion phase."
Following the host's announcent, the atmosphere among the four grew tense.
"Um, maybe..."
Rabbit began hesitantly,
"should we just stick to random voting?"
Even though Rabbit herself had proposed the split-vote-for-peace strategy, even she could no longer trust it. Before, she could comfort herself with the thought that perhaps everyone would be reluctant to kill, allowing them to maintain a surface-level peace.
But now, after the bear, the wolf, and the fish had torn away that illusion one after another, everyone knew the truth in their hearts. Anyone who still believed they could peacefully engineer a tie was clearly begging to be eliminated.
And it was glaringly obvious that Fox and Fish were both highly intelligent. Whether in terms of age, intellect, or education, she and Raccoon were outmatched.
If they chose to play mind gas head-on, they stood absolutely no chance of winning. Under these circumstances, random voting actually offered a way out.
"I think that works!"
Raccoon eagerly chid in. Earlier, there were too many people for her to keep track.
But now that only four remained, calculating the odds was much simpler. While she couldn't pinpoint the exact probabilities like Fish could, the current situation was clear enough.
If the four of them voted on one side, Wolf would die. If they split their votes evenly, it would be a tie.
If three people voted on one side, the solitary voter on the other side would be eliminated. Raccoon had no paper or pen, and her mind was a ss.
Relying entirely on her intuition, she did a rough calculation and realized that the chances of surviving by going completely random were actually quite high! If it were purely random, her odds of being eliminated this round should be less than twenty-five percent!
It would require a 3:1 vote distribution, and she would only be knocked out if she happened to be that single, isolated vote. Even if it wasn't exact, it had to be close.
As for the subsequent rounds, she could no longer process them. If she factored in the later probabilities, her brain felt like it would overheat.
"I advise you youngsters not to do anything reckless," Fish spoke up at that mont.
He said without the slightest hesitation,
"It is still best to vote out Wolf. "Aren't you afraid I'll change my vote? Then how about the four of us cast the exact sa vote? That way, if I change my vote, wouldn't I be the one killed by you all?"
"Still playing that trick?"
Raccoon frowned deeply.
"Do you honestly think we will ever trust you again?"
Her face beneath the mask twisted in anger. If she had to rank the people she despised most in this ga, Fish would easily make the top three.
He might even be competing for the top spot. There was the old man Bear who sneakily lied to harm others, the terrifyingly violent Dog, and now this incredibly arrogant, self-righteous Fish.
The first two were already dead, leaving only this Fish behind. Perhaps because her first impression of Wolf had been favorable, or because Fish was so thoroughly unpleasant; perhaps because Wolf had patiently explained the old man Bear's malicious plot to her, her goodwill and trust toward Wolf far exceeded anything she felt for Fish.
Even though Wolf claid he only did it for the sake of the show's entertainnt value... in terms of actual results, he had helped her and was the one who treated her with the most respect.
Therefore, when Wolf and Fish pitted themselves against each other, she naturally sided with Wolf. Of course, the most critical reason...
Was likely that she had been holding a grudge ever since Fish insulted her by calling her an 'idiot'. At the ti, Raccoon had kept quiet because she was truly intimidated by Fish, even questioning whether she had genuinely miscalculated.
But when Fish's sche was quickly exposed shortly after, she finally realized that he was nothing more than a bluff. That massive pile of probabilities, calculations, and percentages she didn't understand was just a parlor trick to deceive people!
Now, Fish had been dragged down to her level... and she even had the chance to kill him.
That mixture of fear and loathing transford into a fierce wave of resistance. It was so fierce that it carried a trace of murderous intent.
"Your vote-switching stunt has already killed three people! If it weren't for you, they might not have died!"
Raccoon's voice grew shrill.
"You dragged them along to kill Wolf, and then you switched your vote to kill them instead! Now you're trying to drag us to kill Wolf again. Only an absolute fool would believe you!"
"You are the absolute fucking fool!"
Sensing Raccoon's hostility, Fish's eyes widened as he barked back in a loud, furious voice,
"You don't even realize you're at death's door! "Now that Dog is dead, you are the final narrator of the last round! "No matter what you do, when it cos to your turn, the survivors will absolutely vote you out! Even putting aside betrayal and vote-switching, eliminating one more person ans a larger share of the reward! "You're nothing more than a corpse-in-waiting! What the hell are you barking for, fuck!" Hearing this, Raccoon froze, her face turning pale.
She suddenly realized the problem—if three people advanced to the final round of voting, they would most likely vote for her to avoid facing that one-third chance of death themselves. Even if only two people made it to the final round, it seed like a tie could save her...
but for the sake of the reward, they would highly likely team up to kill her anyway! In reality, no matter how she voted, she was already dead.
Then what point was there left in this ga for her?
"Furious because your secrets were laid bare, are we?" At that mont, Fox finally spoke up, his tone slow and deliberate. "Earlier, you ordered Raccoon around because you wanted to secretly lock down her vote. After all, if Raccoon is eliminated, you will face the exact sa predicant when you beco the narrator. "Only if Raccoon stays alive by the ti you beco the narrator... will you have a chance to survive. "What's wrong? Flipping the table now... did you finally realize you can't pull it off? "Am I right, President Mo?"
"...President Mo?"
Hearing this, Rabbit suddenly looked up at Fish. She murmured softly under her breath, finally rembering who this person was.
"Are you Mo Qian from Qiancheng Technology?"
She finally understood why the na sounded so familiar. Rabbit had indeed heard of this person because he was quite a prominent online celebrity...
at least, far more famous than she was. Mo Qian was an internet celebrity who made a na for himself on a certain Q&A platform.
He didn't possess an impressive educational background. Years ago, he studied finance abroad, but before he could even graduate, he ended up slinking back to the country because he was ostracized by his peers.
After returning, he started a company at a very young age—of course, his initial startup capital ca from his family's support. Nevertheless, as a young and capable CEO, he naturally accumulated a considerable following on the internet.
And perhaps because he managed to ride the wave of the right trends, his career could be described as smooth sailing. His company, Qiancheng Technology, initially focused on input thods, which was where the na 'Qiancheng Input thod' originated.
Its adoption rate was remarkably high... among the nurous input thod brands competing at the ti, it was one of the very few that opened a skin store, allowing users to create, upload, and sell or use custom skins.
Combined with their swift adaptation to mobile devices and their expansion into mobile thes, they made a fortune. Later, on the eve of the rise of Artificial Intelligence, Qiancheng Technology transitioned into a big data service company.
A specialized big data algorithm they developed could precisely analyze user interests. Eventually, an e-comrce giant purchased their algorithm...
and later simply bought out their entire company. Even after becoming imnsely wealthy, Mo Qian did not keep a low profile.
He still appeared frequently on that Q&A platform, remaining one of the few high-profile figures whom ordinary people in that community could interact with and receive responses from. He often shared 'life lessons' or topics he was currently researching.
Generally, his insights were superficial, but he was undeniably energetic. Furthermore, he possessed a strong urge to actively voice his opinions on various current affairs.
On nurous occasions, he would passionately deliver a seemingly reasonable comntary before a situation had settled, only to be struck down by a taphorical boorang later on... As instances like this piled up, coupled with his fanatical fanbase, he beca a controversial figure on the internet, notorious for a mix of fa and infamy.
To be precise, his infamy far outweighed his fa. The reason Rabbit and Raccoon hadn't recognized him imdiately was solely because they hadn't rembered the na 'Mo Qian'.
Compared to his birth na, 'President Mo'—a title mixing respect with a hint of irony—was how Fish was more commonly addressed.
"And from what I know,"
Fox sneered,
"your company was never clean to begin with."
"...Who exactly are you?"
Fish's brow furrowed tightly as he finally began to take Fox seriously.
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