HM Chapter 25

The fountain pen smoothly flowed ink onto the paper, leaving behind a string of beautiful characters.

The observing players were momentarily taken aback, thinking that even though Captain was a seasoned player, team leader, and highly skilled, he couldn't possibly discern the boss's favorite color so quickly, could he?

But soon, they realized something.

Yuan Yuxue also picked up his pen. He lowered his eyes, slightly rolled up his sleeves to reveal a pale yet strong wrist, and began writing his answer with the fountain pen.

Due to the rules, they couldn't share their conclusions, but the actions of Captain and Yuan Yuxue were already a hint. Skirt only hesitated for a few seconds before picking up her pen and quickly writing on her paper.

Their speed of writing was the best hint.

For such a simple question, the answer could be written in two or three seconds, as it was just a color, not a complex phrase. The only way they could write a paragraph was if—

When the 100 seconds were up, the three players handed in their answers. Upon unfolding the papers, there were several lines written on each.

First, they listed the basic twelve colors: red, orange, yellow, green, and so on to black, white, and brown, extending to various common shades, and finally even wrote "no favorite color."

Andre lazily began to review their answers. He didn't mind the wordiness and slowly went through each one, finally pausing on Yuan Yuxue's paper.

The handwriting was very neat and beautiful, not a famous calligrapher's work, but pleasing to the eye. Andre's finger lightly brushed over the text, stopping at a segment, and he smiled meaningfully, "Congratulations, everyone answered correctly. As expected of my good friends, you know me well."

The players: "..."

It was hard to tell if the boss was being sarcastic.

Regardless, they had successfully passed the round.

The other players grasped how to answer the questions.

This method exploited a loophole but still adhered to the rules and wasn’t cheating. Andre's game rules stated that those who failed to provide the correct answer would be eliminated, but it never specified that only one answer could be written. In other words, even if they wrote down a thousand wrong answers, as long as one was correct, Andre would have to accept it under the rules.

Of course, judging by Andre's expression, he didn’t seem too bothered and could still mock them with a smile, hinting he might have more tricks up his sleeve.

The first round of questions ended, and the cards were collected, shuffled by a machine, and a new round began.

This time, Curly drew first, glanced at his card, and saw the Ace of Spades.

No luck.

Still, it was better for the Joker to end up in a player's hand than Andre's. This time, the players had some luck—when it was Blackie's turn, he looked at his card, and his expression briefly showed surprise and disbelief, making it easy to guess.

Sure enough, after Andre took the last card, Blackie (1) revealed his card.

This round's Joker was him.

The right to ask questions shifted to Blackie. After a brief consideration, he cautiously named three cards.

"Spade Two, Spade Three, Spade Four."

To avoid "tailored questions," Blackie had to turn away and couldn’t see who the three cards belonged to before asking his question.

Having already thought of the question, Blackie quickly posed it.

It was a classic advanced math problem.

As a proud student at a top-tier university, Blackie hadn’t considered that there could be peers who didn’t know advanced math. But given Andre's inhuman identity and the fact that he was a foreign ghost, the odds of him having relevant education were slim, and such an answer couldn’t be guessed.

The others: "..."

Are you the boss trying to eliminate us? Compared to this, Andre’s question was almost a self-imposed punishment.

Blackie was lucky; Andre was the Spade Four, chosen to answer.

The other two were Rabbit and Glasses.

Rabbit and Glasses remained calm, apparently not stumped by Blackie’s math question, and quietly calculated the answer.

Andre initially rested his chin on his hand, seemingly daydreaming, causing Blackie to feel a surge of joy, seeing the light of victory ahead. Just before the time was up, Andre suddenly picked up his pen and wrote down his answer with a flourish, the sharp nib almost tearing through the paper.

When time was up, the answers were collected. Blackie first glanced at Andre’s paper, seeing the neat answer: cosx=t 1  f(t)=(t 1)?, leaving him bewildered.

Your ghostly realm’s education standards are shockingly modern.

Though they couldn’t eliminate Andre, Rabbit and Glasses’ answers were also correct, making this round a draw.

The cards were shuffled again, and Curly, sitting not far from Blackie, hissed a warning, “Can you avoid such questions? Do you want to get me...or the teammates who don’t know math, killed? Are we to be eliminated for not knowing math?”

Blackie, still slightly dazed, nodded, “No more questions like that. It seems they can’t stump him.”

Curly, still apprehensive, withdrew his gaze.

In the third round, Gold drew the Joker. She quickly picked three cards, and once again, Andre was among them.

This time, the ones to answer were Andre, Skirt, and Blackie.

Gold thought for a moment and asked, "Imperial jade liquid wine—what's the next line?" (2)

Yuan Yuxue: "??"

Luckily, Yuan Yuxue wasn’t chosen this time. As a war robot, his data bank was vast, but not detailed to such an extent.

However, the other two players had memorized the phrase, quickly writing down the answer.

Andre, as before, didn’t rush, waiting until the last moment to write his response—in Chinese, no less, awkward and crooked, but legible.

"One hundred and eight per cup."

Gold: "..."

Her expression was almost one of admiration. Andre seemed too knowledgeable. Were the requirements for being a (horror) boss this high now?

After another couple of rounds, where Andre was neither the Joker nor among the chosen cards, the players managed to draw without harm.

Until Rabbit drew the Joker, and once again, Andre was among the chosen.

The ones to answer were Yuan Yuxue, Skirt, and Andre.

Oddly, Rabbit hesitated before speaking. She took a deep breath, composing herself under the immense pressure from the rules, and finally asked:

"What was the first descriptive text I saw when I entered the villa?"

This question was cleverly framed.

—What question’s answer is something only players would know but not NPCs?

Of course, it was about the Infinite World, system space, and player rules.

But given the restrictions, even if the boss vaguely knew players were special, they couldn’t reveal too much about the Infinite World in front of an NPC.

So Rabbit had to ask something only players knew.

The first descriptive text she saw was, of course, the task description from the system panel!

And all players saw the same content.

Yuan Yuxue rolled up his sleeve again and neatly wrote the line on his paper.

"Instance activated: Prank Game."

To ensure the answer’s correctness, Skirt added another line:

"…April 1st is your mutual friend Andre’s birthday."

That’s what Rabbit meant to convey.

Andre smiled slightly.

Logically, he couldn’t know the players’ shared secret, but disturbingly, Andre lazily picked up his pen and wrote something on his paper.

Was he guessing the answer?

The players thought so.

They couldn’t think of any other explanation.

But when the answers were collected and Andre's paper was shown, some players turned pale, furrowing their brows in confusion.

The paper was formatted perfectly:

"Instance activated: Prank Game.

April 1st is your mutual friend Andre’s birthday."

It was a textbook-perfect answer!

But how could he know—

Andre even tilted his head slightly, staring at the two lines and laughing, "What does this mean? Are you going to wish me a happy birthday?"

Rabbit was taken aback.

She wasn’t one to struggle with failure, but Andre’s seamless answer was perplexing. What had gone wrong?

After a moment of hesitation, Rabbit said slowly, "Congratulations, correct answer."

How did Andre know the answer?

When Rabbit handed the Joker back to the butler, she had an epiphany. It wasn’t that Andre knew the answer; it was like he copied it from somewhere. Even Andre himself seemed unsure why it was the correct answer.

He cheated.

Andre used some unknown method to see the others’ answers. It was likely this cheating was a natural ability granted by the rules.

Watching a few more rounds, Rabbit noticed that when faced with obscure questions, Andre’s answers often matched someone else's exactly, confirming her conclusion.

To eliminate Andre, they had to eliminate at least two teammates.

And with bad luck, they might harm more players.

This was the dilemma the game rules presented.

Rabbit closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and rubbed her forehead.

Her subtle struggle was hard to notice.

But sitting across from her, Yuan Yuxue, while reaching for his card, paused and observed Rabbit's expression for a moment, then glanced at Andre.

Yuan Yuxue’s expression remained cold, but his slightly pursed lips showed his displeasure—

Andre had silently set a trap.

(1)     Previously hei pi (lit. black skin)

(2)     A famous scene in journey to the west, a classic Chinese tv show