"I need you all to make a Future Lie: any lie I tell before Chen Ran dies cannot be used as a basis for you to Judge or activate your Skills."
The one speaking was Zhou Chen. Naturally, he had to secure an escape route for himself in advance.
Zhang ili, Cao Xiu, and Li Zhitong agreed without hesitation.
The three Three-Star Players said nothing, rely watching Zhou Chen in silence.
Zhou Chen smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Alright, I'll add another condition. If Chen Ran doesn't die this ti, you can Judge at any mont."
His previous Future Lie was essentially betting on both sides. The other six people would be restricted by it, unable to use his lies to Judge him or activate their Skills.
But if Chen Ran survived, Zhou Chen's subsequent lies would beco a battery of sorts for him. The number of lies Zhou Chen told would equal the number of tis Chen Ran could use his Skill. Therefore, Chen Ran wouldn't kill him imdiately; he would save him for last.
However, this little trick failed to deceive the three Three-Star Players.
Hence the newly added Future Lie—if Chen Ran survived, the others could Judge Zhou Chen, effectively severing his escape route.
Seeing this, the Three-Star Players finally agreed. All six of them voiced their Future Lies.
Having ford a united front, the seven of them imdiately shifted their gazes to a gloomy-faced Chen Ran and an icy-eyed Qiu Yinong.
"For two One-Star Players to push us this far, you certainly live up to your titles as possessors of Superego and True Self Skills."
"But, this is where it ends."
"I just lied!"
The mont Zhou Chen's words fell, a highly focused Li Zhitong instantly drew her gun, ready to activate her Skill. But suddenly, she froze.
To her shock, Chen Ran had also drawn his gun, and in an instant, he was caught by the Death Gaze.
The very next mont, as if losing control of his own body, Chen Ran began inching toward the edge of the floor. The Death Gaze had taken effect!
'He plans to sacrifice himself to save Qiu Yinong.'
Realizing this, Zhang ili cursed inwardly. If Chen Ran died like this, Li Zhitong would likely refrain from using her ntal attack again. After all, Qiu Yinong's value was too high. A ntal attack would turn her into a vegetable—a scenario the three Three-Star Players definitely didn't want to see.
But if Qiu Yinong survived, Zhang ili and Zhou Chen were unequivocally dead.
Li Zhitong, however, could not care less whether those two lived or died.
"Li Zhitong, what are you hesitating for? Hurry up and use your Skill!" Zhang ili urged.
Yet, a mocking smirk curled Li Zhitong's lips. For Chen Ran to sacrifice himself to save Qiu Yinong was the absolute best outco.
As for the fates of Zhang ili and Zhou Chen, she didn't give a damn.
By now, Chen Ran's body had involuntarily slid to the very edge of the floor. Despite his desperate struggles, he couldn't break free from the Death Gaze's control.
An instant later, his foot stepped into thin air. He plumted from the suspended floor, falling straight into the bottomless, pitch-black abyss.
'He's finally dead!'
But just as everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief...
...they suddenly heard a whisper, like the muttering of a demon from the abyss.
"Liar-Slayer: Eternal Kingdom!"
The Secret Room plunged into darkness. The smiles on everyone's faces froze. Zhang ili, Zhou Chen, and Cao Xiu felt a bone-deep chill surge into their hearts before sweeping through their entire bodies.
'He didn't die even after that?!'
'I don't understand!!!'
They roared in their minds as imnse terror swallowed their reason.
"I don't believe it!!!"
"In this kind of Secret Room, falling down ans instant death! That scene just now must have been an illusion! Who is using a Skill?!"
"Zhou Chen, is it you?!"
"Yes, it has to be you! Are you trying to use an illusion to trick us into telling a lie?!"
Cao Xiu's ntal state collapsed entirely. He didn't dare to imagine what consequences they would face now that their Skill had been broken.
Shortly after, the light returned.
"You lied."
"You lied."
"You lied."
Without any hesitation, Qiu Yinong raised her gun and fired three rapid shots. Three bullets shot out consecutively, screaming toward Zhang ili, Cao Xiu, and Zhou Chen.
They struck dead center in their foreheads!
Right before they died, the trio stared fixedly at Chen Ran's position. Their expressions blanked in shock for a split second, followed by a look of sudden realization.
A rope had one end tied around Chen Ran's ankle, and the other end secured to a computer desk leg. And that computer desk leg was welded directly to the floor.
Chen Ran was simply dangling in mid-air; he had never fallen into the abyss...
Seeing everyone staring his way, Chen Ran slowly raised his right arm and flashed a victorious Scissors gesture with his fingers.
Then, he grabbed the rope with both hands and slowly hauled himself up bit by bit. Finally, catching the edge of the floor, he pulled himself back up to sit in front of the computer once more.
He lit a cigarette, took a deeply satisfying drag, and looked at the dumbfounded crowd. Flashing two rows of pristine white teeth, he laughed, "How is it? Are you surprised? Did I catch you off guard?"
This scene violently struck everyone's nerves. By the ti they regained their senses, the floor sections beneath Zhang ili, Cao Xiu, and Zhou Chen had completely vanished, plunging their corpses into the abyss.
Cold sweat soaked Li Zhitong's back.
'Was he gambling?'
'Was he bluffing?'
'Zhang ili dared to use her Skill just now, and she even set the stage before doing so.'
'This implies that prior to this, Chen Ran had absolutely no idea what Zhang ili's Skill was.'
'However, when the Secret Room went dark as Zhang ili activated her Skill, he used the words Teacher and Death Gaze to...'
'...deduce the general effect of her Skill. Yet, he still didn't use Eternal Kingdom.'
'Instead, under the cover of darkness, he pulled a rope from his backpack, tied one end to his foot, and the other to the computer desk leg.'
'His purpose in doing this...'
'His purpose in doing this...'
'If he had used his Skill imdiately, he could have Judged and killed Zhang ili and Cao Xiu at most.'
'But with this maneuver, if we wanted to kill him, soone had to provide a lie so I could activate my Skill.'
'In other words, by intentionally holding back Eternal Kingdom in the dark, he created the perfect opportunity to bait out a third person's lie.'
'Allowing him to Judge a maximum of three people!'
'Lunatic!'
'Lunatic!'
'Lunatic!'
'Chen Ran is an absolute lunatic!'
'He only deduced the rough effects of Zhang ili's Skill, yet he dared to take such a gamble?'
'Wasn't he afraid that her Skill might forcibly drop him into the abyss?'
'Then again, if it were a forced drop, Zhang ili's Skill would be far too absurd. It would be even more overpowered than my ntal attack.'
'I've been put on a wanted list, but Zhang ili hasn't. That proves her Skill isn't quite so ga-breaking.'
'But all of that was just deduction! How did Chen Ran have the guts?! Setting up such a trap based purely on deduction, without a shred of concrete proof!'
'And how on earth did he notice that the computer desk's leg was welded to the floor? A normal person would never pay attention to such trivial details!'
'Audacity, ticulousness, acting skills—if he had lacked even one of these traits, his setup would have completely failed.'
'Is he a genius, or a madman?'
Regardless, at this exact mont, Li Zhitong felt incredibly fortunate—fortunate that she was still alive...
Conversely, the Three-Star Players who had been watching coldly from the sidelines finally wore a Mask of Agony on their faces for the very first ti.
Simply because...
...this Chen Ran was way too difficult to kill!
From the very first Secret Room until now, not only had he dismantled nurous traps, but he had also turned the tables to kill his ambushers. And as if counter-killing wasn't enough, he actively gambled to maximize his body count in the process.
'Perhaps this is the terrifying strength of the School of Military Montum. Close-quarters combat and swift clashes are what these people excel at the most.'
'And the nature of an Instance is basically close-quarters intellectual warfare anyway. Nobody has the ti for long-term scheming.'
'However, followers of the School of Military Montum are essentially wise n in thought, but reckless brutes in action.'
'This is the fatal flaw of Players who practice the School of Military Montum. The mont there's an error in their judgnt, they are usually the fastest to die.'
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