"I..."
The middle-aged man in a white coat appeared calmer than the others, not even fazed by the corpse on the table.
"My name is Zhao Haibo. I'm a doctor. You can probably tell from what I'm wearing."
He reached out and tugged at his filthy white coat, continuing, "Before I came here, I was performing surgery on a lady. She had an intraventricular tumor that was growing rapidly. It had been enlarging for the past half-year and had already caused mild hydrocephalus.
If we didn't perform a craniotomy soon, her life would be in danger."
"I chose a surgical approach through the frontal lobe, using CT guidance to puncture directly into the ventricle. To be honest, this type of surgery carries a significant risk every time it's performed, but that lady chose to take the risk in order to spend more time with her young son."
"Normally, to ensure a stable environment in the operating room, not even a slight breeze is allowed. But no one expected something fiercer than the wind to arrive."
"When the earthquake hit, I had just removed the lady's skullcap and was cutting the dura mater. If anything went wrong at this step, it could easily cause a cerebral contusion, leaving her with devastating after-effects."
"I made a snap decision to terminate the surgery and temporarily place the lady's skullcap back on. Otherwise, with dust flying everywhere, the lady's life would have been in grave danger."
"But I never thought this step would be harder than I imagined. I couldn't even stand steadily, so how could I possibly place a piece of skull back with precision?"
"The nurses beside me were bumping into me, and no one could keep their balance. In the chaos, all I could do was first cover the lady's head with a sterile sheet, then immediately turn to organize an evacuation. But just then, a medical cart hit my leg, and I fell to the ground."
"Before I could get back up, the ceiling of the operating room cracked open, and I immediately lost consciousness."
After hearing the doctor's account, everyone's expression was a bit unnatural. He had used a lot of medical jargon in his story. If even one of those terms was made up, no one would be able to tell.
"Doctor Zhao, where are you from?" the sturdy young man in a black T-shirt asked nonchalantly.
"I don't feel obligated to answer your question," Doctor Zhao replied.
"My story is finished."
The sturdy man opened his mouth but said nothing.
"Is... is it my turn?" a young man with glasses asked, his eyes darting around for a moment.
"My name is Han Yimo, and I'm a..."
"Wait," the goat-head man suddenly spoke, interrupting Han Yimo's speech.
This startled Han Yimo, who turned his head in confusion.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"It's 'intermission' time," the goat-head man said with a smirk.
"We will now have a ten-minute break."
Everyone was at a loss. There was an 'intermission' at a time like this? Qi Xia glanced at the clock in the center of the table.
Half an hour had passed since he woke up. It was now ten-thirty.
"So this 'break' is mandatory," Qi Xia thought to himself.
"When it's ten-thirty, no matter who is speaking, there will be a compulsory ten-minute break..."
But the game had only been going for thirty minutes. How could there be a ten-minute break? Qi Xia frowned.
He knew this wasn't something he needed to ponder. The organizer of this game was clearly a madman; there was no point in using a sane person's logic to analyze it. So he could only repeat the words in his mind, brainwashing himself over and over.
"My name is Li Ming, I'm from Shandong."
Only by drilling this line into his head countless times could he say it without thinking when it was his turn to speak. Everyone waited quietly, their faces showing their distress. It was called an 'intermission', but the atmosphere had only grown more oppressive.
"Excuse me... are we allowed to talk?" the sturdy man asked the goat-head man.
"Oh, of course. This is your free time. I have no right to interfere."
The sturdy man nodded, then turned back to Doctor Zhao.
"Doctor Zhao, where are you really from?"
Doctor Zhao's expression darkened.
"I say, you seem to have had a problem with me from the very beginning. Why must I tell you where I'm from?"
"Don't misunderstand, I mean no harm," the sturdy man said in a steady voice.
"The more you say, the more believable your story becomes. Since everyone else has stated their hometown, there's no need for you to hide it, is there?"
"The more you say, the more believable it becomes?"
The doctor shook his head noncommittally.
"All I know is that 'the more you talk, the more you err'. If the rules are absolute, then my account as it stands has no issues. Besides, I don't trust any of you."
"That's a bit of a biased statement," the sturdy man said.
"There are nine participants here in total, and only one is the enemy. If you're willing to cooperate with everyone, we can work together to find that Liar. The more you hide, the more suspicious you seem. This is the fourth time I've asked you. Are you still going to hide it?"
The sturdy man seemed very skilled at interrogation. With just a few sentences, he had backed Doctor Zhao into a logical dead end. His meaning was clear.
Only The Liar had no need to trust others, since he already knew his own identity. If the doctor continued to conceal information, he would become the target of everyone's suspicion. But how could a man who had become a brain surgeon be an ordinary person?
He just gave a cold snort and asked, "Then you answer me first. Who are you? What do you do?"
"Me?"
The sturdy man didn't expect the doctor to suddenly turn the tables on him, and his expression became a bit unnatural.
"That's right. Since you're pestering me with questions after my turn, then I can also ask you some questions before your turn," Doctor Zhao said with a slight smile.
"Fair enough, right?"
The sturdy man thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "You're right. I have nothing to hide. My name is Li Shangwu, and I'm a detective."
As soon as he said that, everyone turned to look at him. At this moment, the word 'detective' gave everyone an unimaginable sense of security.
"You're a police officer?!" the doctor exclaimed, stunned for a moment.
No wonder this man seemed to be probing for information from the start. He was also the first to propose that 'everyone must survive'. Maybe he really did want to save everyone.
The doctor's attitude clearly changed for the better.
"If that's the case, then I apologize for my earlier attitude. I'm from Jiangsu."
At this moment, the tattooed man, Qiao Jiajin, had a sour look on his face.
"Hey, Doctor Zhao, are you really going to trust this Officer Li?"
"Hm?"
Doctor Zhao looked at Qiao Jiajin, confused.
"What are you trying to say?"
Qiao Jiajin tapped his fingers on the table and said faintly, "This isn't 'narration time'. In other words... anyone can lie right now."