Back when he still wanted to live, Qi Si had fantasized about his own death countless times.
Perhaps it would be a fall from a cliff a thousand meters high, plunging into unconsciousness amidst the dizzying freefall, only to be torn asunder.
Perhaps it would be sinking to the bottom of a boundless ocean, sealed by the pressure in some deep-water layer, left to rot as he drifted.
Later, he came to a realization. What he had longed for back then was simply a form of uncertainty.
As long as a person had not appeared in the form of a corpse, no one could prove they were dead, and no one could prove they were still alive.
Thus, he would be declared "missing"—a euphemism for death to the spectators, but a synonym for life to those caught in the drama.
At that point, someone would need to find his body—be it fragments or severed limbs—and, using the methods of a taxidermist, piece together a complete human form. They would place it on a slab and announce his death to all who passed by.
Yes, death needed to be displayed. Or rather—it needed to be *observed*.
After the "Dialectical Game" instance, Qi Si had seriously contemplated the manner of his death. But after "Double Happiness Town," he came to the stark realization that he would likely die inside one of the Weird Game's instances.
Survival was no easy feat. Tens of thousands were struggling to stay alive; what made him think he would be the exception?
His journey had been too easy, too flippant, too lucky.
He was like a war machine that, once on stage, could never take a bow. He had to keep winning. If he lost a single battle, he would be shattered to pieces.
Even as Qi Si calmly analyzed the crisis he faced, he was uncontrollably swept up in the euphoria built from his victories. At the same time, he frequently envisioned his own end, both in the game and in reality.
He felt that his death needed to be witnessed.
Just like now.
“Congratulations to Player 1 on being sentenced to death! And now, for the moment our audience has been waiting for—the execution!” Charlie announced with theatrical enthusiasm. He then took an exaggerated bow and, raising a hand, snapped his fingers.
At the same moment, Qi Si felt a blade pierce the back of his head, slowly slicing forward along the midline of his skull, peeling his skin away like the rind of a fruit.
Agonizing pain exploded from the incision, radiating outwards in every direction. Warm blood streamed down from the crown of his head, flowed into his eyes, and soon covered his entire face.
Qi Si hissed softly and struggled to lift his gaze.
Through a pale red haze, he couldn't see any blade above him, only a gruesome flap of his own skin hanging down like a ragged cloth.
He leaned back in the high-backed chair, staring silently into the void. The drooping skin veiled his vision like a thin gauze. The blood gradually soaked through his clothes, its warmth quickly fading until he felt as though he had just been pulled from ice-cold water.
The pain reached its zenith and, paradoxically, became less distinct. Qi Si lowered his gaze to the chips on the table, idly wondering if he now resembled an onion, being peeled away layer by layer, from the outside in.
It was a horrifying scene, yet he felt an unstoppable surge of excitement, his heart pounding in his chest.
Just as the entirety of his skin sloughed off like a coat and pooled around his ankles, he noticed that one of the three chips laid out before him had abruptly dissolved into a pool of blood. It scattered into fine crimson droplets that seeped into the tabletop.
In an instant, the blood and flayed skin vanished as if they had been a hallucination. His shirt was pristine white again. Qi Si raised a hand to his face; his skin and the mask were right where they should be.
The pain, however, remained. He slumped against the back of the chair, his breathing slightly ragged, as if he were terrified by the agony.
The other players, having witnessed the gruesome spectacle, were as pale as Qi Si, assaulted by the thick stench of blood and their own horrific imaginings.
Watching Qi Si die and return to life, Dong Xiwen was completely stunned.
He was still mired in the guilt of having identified Qi Si and indirectly causing his death. Now, seeing the object of his remorse alive again, he felt a knot of emotions caught in his throat.
But as he calmed down, the surprise faded.
How could a cunning bastard like "Zhou Ke" ever leave the choice of his life or death in someone else's hands? If he was willing to reveal his identity, he must have discovered something and been absolutely certain of the outcome.
Cynthia, too, belatedly arrived at the same conclusion.
Her conversation with Qi Si replayed in her mind, and she immediately understood the key.
The game was fair. The chips were the tickets to the game, but they were also the players' lives... Being killed in the game didn't mean true death. In this act, each player had three lives!
Even so, Cynthia refused to give up, her voice sharp with accusation. "Mr. Charlie, you said before that the tiger could choose to kill the fox. I wanted to kill Player 1, so why is he still alive? I believe there's a problem with the rules of this game."
“First, let's congratulate Player 1 on consuming one chip and returning to center stage!” Charlie chirped, offering a round of applause before turning his masked face to Cynthia. “There is no problem with the rules! It's just a little game. If dying in the game meant true death, now *that* would be the greatest unfairness of all!”
With no room left to argue, Cynthia exhaled a long breath, realizing she was about to face an even more severe problem:
Her earlier betrayal had undoubtedly eroded the other players' trust. In any future vote, she would surely replace Qi Si as the first target for elimination...
Slumped in his chair, Qi Si spoke with a faint smile. "You've all probably figured it out. This 'Catch the Fox' game, viewed as a single round, can never be 'fair.' And the simplest, most direct way to make an unfair game fair is to increase the number of rounds, swapping identities each time. The game only becomes fair once every player has played every role."
“Three chips mean there are three rounds in total, which is still not enough for every player to play all four roles. To achieve relative fairness, one identity must be fixed, leaving only three in rotation.”
His voice was faint, but his words were sharp and clear. "The tiger has a clear advantage with no risk, while the wolfhound and fox have clear risks with no advantage. They're unbalanced. The rabbit, however, has both risks and advantages, making it a relatively balanced card. Therefore, I guessed that the 'Rabbit' identity is fixed. For the next two rounds, He Hui will remain the 'Rabbit'."
A thought struck Cynthia, and the wrinkles around her eyes twitched.
Qi Si no longer looked at her. He turned his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over He Hui and Dong Xiwen. "You both saw it. Ms. Cynthia firmly believes in the principle of a zero-sum game. Even in a game with a surefire winning strategy, her first instinct was to harm someone. Shouldn't we eliminate such an unstable element sooner rather than later?"
“In the next two rounds, her identity will be either 'Wolfhound' or 'Fox.' If she's the wolfhound, we'll announce our roles randomly; she'll have a two-thirds chance of losing. If she's the fox, it's even simpler. We just execute her directly. What do you think?”
Dong Xiwen looked confused. "But she still has three chips. Even if she loses twice in a row, her chips won't be depleted." Cynthia saw a glimmer of hope and regained her composure. "You all saw it. Even if I lose twice, I'll still have one chip left, which won't affect the final outcome. You're not like 'Zhou Ke.' I know what you all look like. Even if I die in this instance, I can use my last moments to influence the real world. 'Zhou Ke' is just trying to force you to pick a side. You don't need to risk offending me by letting him use you."
“Your calculations are wrong,” Qi Si said coolly. “If you are the wolfhound and you accuse the wrong person, and then the rabbit makes the correct accusation, the rabbit wins. Each of us will have to give the rabbit one chip. And after you're executed, you'll lose another chip. In other words, in that one round, you will lose a total of two chips.”
Cynthia quickly did the math, and her face turned grim.
If things really went according to "Zhou Ke's" plan, she would run out of chips at the exact moment the third round ended.
No one knew what would happen when the chips ran out, but common sense suggested it would be a true and final death...
Cynthia stared directly at Qi Si, her voice softening. "Zhou Ke, choosing to execute you was a mistake in my judgment. I understand your anger, but I hope you can consider the bigger picture and not act on emotion. You said you wanted to decode the worldview, which requires clues from every room. If I die, you may very well be unable to enter Room 1. You won't survive the third act."
Qi Si laughed. "You also said that decoding the worldview is too risky. To risk everyone's energy on a guess that may or may not be correct, all for the sake of a sinner's life... now that would be very unwise, wouldn't it?"
He mimicked Cynthia's tone, his voice dripping with mock pity. "We never had a choice. Didn't Charlie say it? The game ends once a death occurs. We need a dead person."
Cynthia shook her head slightly. "Charlie also said the game can end if the rabbit achieves three draws or wins. You're inciting them against me, disregarding the greater good just to settle a personal score."
"You could say that. But let me ask you, why should we keep you around?" Qi Si tilted his head, looking at her with genuine curiosity. "To let you stab us in the back when you get another chance? Or to deal with us in the real world after this is over?"
"I can give you my word," Cynthia said, raising her right hand, palm out. "After I leave this instance, I will not do anything to harm you in any way, and I promise to do everything in my power to work for the good of humanity."
"Empty promises aren't very convincing without some kind of enforcement," Qi Si said, snapping his fingers.
Dots of red light coalesced into a blood-red scroll, which hovered ethereally before him. Gilded patterns outlined the character for "Qi"—Contract—which shimmered with a golden light as they looked at it.
He gazed at Cynthia, his lips curving into an arc that matched the one on his clown mask. "How about you sign a contract with me? Put all those promises down on paper."
Cynthia stared at the long scroll floating slowly toward her, the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes twisting into knots. "All that talk... it was all to force me into signing this, wasn't it? This is your skill. I have no way of knowing what other consequences signing it might have. This isn't fair to me."
Qi Si's eyes narrowed into a smile. "You have no other choice."
At that, Cynthia knew she had truly been defeated.
Blinded by a seemingly obvious advantage, she had failed to see the hidden risks and had walked straight into the trap Qi Si had woven for her...
She gave a bitter, weary smile and picked up the golden quill that had condensed from the void. On the blood-red parchment, she signed her name.
[Contract signed. This contract is guaranteed by the rules of the world. No entity may defy it.]
Because this contract concerned everyone present, each player heard the system notification.
Dong Xiwen's gaze toward Qi Si deepened. He recalled the organization he had joined; it, too, seemed to have intricate ties to the concept of "contracts"...
"Second round, begin!"
Charlie snapped his fingers cheerfully, and a new card appeared before each player.
They quickly announced their identities. Cynthia was the wolfhound, Qi Si was the tiger, and Dong Xiwen was the fox.
Cynthia and He Hui simultaneously pointed at Dong Xiwen. Qi Si chose to pass.
Third round. Cynthia was the fox, Qi Si was the wolfhound, and Dong Xiwen was the tiger.
Qi Si and He Hui simultaneously pointed at Cynthia. Dong Xiwen chose to pass.
The game ended. No one died.
"A brilliant, brilliant game!" Charlie clapped his hands three times, slow and deliberate. His words dripped with sarcasm. "The game of 'Catch the Fox' is over. Next up, Crazy Blackjack!"
The players stared at each other in disbelief.
Dong Xiwen was the first to speak. "Isn't the game over? Why is there another one? Is this never going to end?"
Charlie chuckled. "The game only truly ends when a death occurs!"
A death must occur...
Did that mean this act, just like the first, required one player to be sacrificed to pass?
After the recent turn of events, the choice of sacrifice was not hard to determine.
Cynthia had been the first to betray them. It seemed only fitting that she should pay the price here...
"Mr. Charlie, are you a sinner?"
Qi Si's voice cut through the air, cold and sudden.
Everyone froze. He continued, "'We are all sinners,' you said. So tell me, does that 'we' include you, the one who's been standing center stage all along?"
..................
[Note]The Book of Romans is a chapter of the New Testament and one of the sources for the doctrine of "original sin."