"If everyone understands the rules, please take your positions. For the next instructions, please listen to the broadcast in your rooms."
Earth Dog arranged everyone, then went to the front desk alone. In the two hallways, everyone was in position. The Senders were all seated in the first room of the hallway.
Standing in the hallway was the Spy sent by the opposing team, while the last room held the Receiver and the Hostage. The rules of this game seemed very simple. The Sender would pass the secret message to the Spy, the Spy would pass it to the Receiver, and the Receiver would check the message and finally open the door.
But these rules, which could be explained in just a few words, left everyone feeling uneasy. After all, the most crucial part of this game was in the hands of the opposing team.
"Everyone."
Earth Dog said, holding a microphone at the front desk. At that moment, his voice came through the broadcasts in every room and hallway.
"The game will begin in ten minutes. For now, will the Spies please make contact with the Senders."
In her room, Lin Qin looked at the various props, her mind constantly turning, searching for a strategy. Box, lock, key, letter. Of the four items, three could be destroyed by the shredder.
To avoid the shredder, the letter had to be placed in the box, and then locked. This way, the entire box couldn't be thrown into the shredder, and the Spy would have no choice but to deliver it to the other side. But the problem was, what about the key?
Although she didn't know what tools Qi Xia had, based on the game's setup, he surely wouldn't have a matching key or any lock-picking tools. So how would he open the box after receiving it?
"Knock, knock, knock—" A faint knocking sound came, and the female Spy opened the door from the outside.
"Are you ready?" she asked, her face devoid of expression.
Lin Qin looked at the girl and asked, "What's your name?"
"Jiang Ruoxue. Are you ready?"
"Ruoxue, do you want to join us?"
Lin Qin asked, getting straight to the point. The girl named Jiang Ruoxue thought for a moment and said, "Joining you is too risky. I can't take that gamble."
"Risk?"
"That's right."
Jiang Ruoxue nodded.
"If I help you win the game, and you choose not to accept me at the last moment, I'll die all the same."
Her expression was very serious, as if she had already thought this over long ago.
"Your concern is not without reason."
Lin Qin nodded and began using her most skilled conversational tactic.
"But let's make an assumption. Based on your understanding, if your team wants to win this game, what method would they use?"
Jiang Ruoxue frowned slightly and said, "You mean... they would also cooperate with the Spy?"
"Mm, that's what I mean."
Lin Qin said, "It's like an interview. Right now, it's a two-way choice. The same goes for you.
You shouldn't be considering whether we'll abandon you, but whether your original team will abandon you."
"They won't." Jiang Ruoxue said firmly.
"To abandon me for some wretched old man, no matter how you look at it, it's impossible."
"They aren't doing it 'for some wretched old man,' they're doing it 'to survive'."
Lin Qin slowed her tone as much as possible, which would continuously lower the other person's mental guard.
"Normally, people would want to keep their lives in their own hands, not in someone else's, right?"
This time, Jiang Ruoxue was clearly hesitant. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but remained silent.
"And for me to cooperate with you, it is also just to survive."
"Then what about the Spy you sent out?"
Jiang Ruoxue said.
"He's clearly your teammate, yet you can just give up on him like that?"
"I've known him for no more than four hours. It's impossible for me to gamble my own life on an acquaintance of four hours."
Lin Qin said with a serious face.
"And how long have you known your own teammates? Would they choose to take a risk for you?"
Jiang Ruoxue was stunned for a moment. After thinking it over and over, she still did not agree to Lin Qin's request.
"I can't trust you. Hurry up and prepare the letter. I suggest you make it sturdy. I will do everything I can to destroy the letter inside."
Jiang Ruoxue shook her head and said, "Don't say anything else."
"Can I ask what the reason is for your persistence?"
Lin Qin asked finally.
"A'mu is my boyfriend. Do I need any other reason?"
As a psychologist, Lin Qin knew that it was nearly impossible to break down a person's psychological defenses in a few minutes. That was a plot that only appeared in science fiction novels. A normal person's guard against strangers is extremely high, especially in a life-or-death situation like this.
Every word spoken by either side could lead to the other's death, so they would only be more careful than usual. Lin Qin wasted no more time and instead focused her attention on the box before her. If cooperating with the Spy was completely off the table, was there any way to get the letter to Qi Xia?
On the other side, A'mu, sitting in the Sender's room, also met the Spy, Old Lu.
"I say, young fellow, hurry up and give me the thing," Old Lu said very impatiently, one hand resting on the doorframe.
A'mu scratched his emerald green hair and cast a contemptuous gaze at Old Lu. He didn't look at the items on the table, but instead pondered for a moment and said, "Old man, ten Dao to buy your companion's life. How about it?"
"What the...?"
Old Lu was taken aback.
"Ten Dao?"
"You don't look like a stupid person. You naturally know the law of survival here, right?"
Old Lu thought for a long time before slowly speaking, "What foolish things are you saying, young fellow? How could I betray a teammate for ten Dao? Besides, I'm the one who paid for their ticket..."
"Fifteen."
A'mu continued, "Besides the reward you're supposed to get from this game, I will give you an extra fifteen Dao." Old Lu's gaze slowly shifted to the floor, his face covered with hesitation.
"Stop thinking about it, old man. You should know how to one hundred percent survive."
A'mu's fingers tapped on the table, his voice full of warning.
"We will accept you, let you live, and after we leave, we'll go our separate ways."
Old Lu asked cautiously, "Giving me fifteen Dao... wouldn't you guys get nothing?"
"It's fine."
A'mu shook his head nonchalantly.
"If we take the other side's lives, we can get the spoils from their bodies. So you can't say we'd get nothing."
"What about that woman?"
Old Lu asked again.
"Isn't she your girlfriend?"
"Women are nothing!"
A'mu leaned forward, glaring fiercely at Old Lu.
"If a woman dies, I can just find another one. But if I die, the situation would be a bit awful..."
Old Lu felt that this man before him had an indescribable air of danger. But thinking about it carefully, Qi Xia and the others couldn't possibly scrape together fifteen Dao from all their pockets combined. If he agreed to the other party's request here, he would make a huge profit.
"I want a deposit," Old Lu said.
"Give me five Dao right now."
"What...?"
"This way, you won't be able to kill me."
Old Lu revealed a smile as nervous sweat trickled down his face.
"Killing a person to seize their Dao isn't allowed, right?"