Everyone hurried to their respective voting machines to check.
On this machine were animal avatars of all 40 players in the venue. Originally, they were all in a lit state, but now 5 avatars had "Eliminated" stamps on them.
They were ‘Gorilla,’ ‘Crocodile,’ ‘Tiger,’ ‘Cheetah,’ and ‘Red-crowned Crane.’
In addition, three players’ avatars also showed ‘Exit’ stamps. These should be people who voluntarily submitted chips to clear their debts.
The hall became agitated again. Many people looked toward these eliminated players.
Some players were quite frustrated, while others were relatively relieved.
According to the game rules, "eliminated players" went through two rounds of screening: first screening out the 50% of players with the largest deviations from the standard answer number, then eliminating the 5 with the fewest chips from among these players.
Therefore, those eliminated at this time all had relatively few chips but among them, there were still people who felt frustrated, because they had fantasized that they could continue to guess the numbers correctly, enter the final voting stage, and be exempted from all debts.
Those players who were relatively relieved clearly knew they absolutely couldn’t persist until the end. Being eliminated now meant their debt wouldn’t increase, which could be considered settling everything once and for all.
As long as they cleared their debts before the game ended, it would be fine but those players who weren’t eliminated couldn’t be happy either, because the vast majority of them also hadn’t guessed this number correctly. They simply weren’t eliminated because they had more chips.
If elimination continued at this speed, their turn would come quickly. At that time, they would instead carry even more debt.
For a moment, the hall became filled with anxiety. An obvious mood of unease pervaded.
Everyone returned to their respective lounges one after another.
According to the game rules, after the second stage of the game began, there would be no rest time, but at the end of each round, players definitely had to return to their lounges once.
Because the card decks in the game would refresh inside the lounges. Only after returning to the lounge could they get the new card deck for this round.
When returning to the lounge, they had to destroy the remaining cards from the previous round’s deck at the machine by the door.
When leaving the lounge, they also had to take the card deck.
Otherwise, both would trigger rule violations.
Soon, everyone returned from their lounges one after another.
In the cylindrical glass container in the center of the venue, quite a few more chips had been added.
‘Gray Wolf’ He Xiaojun and other players quickly gathered together. Although they all wore masks, excitement could clearly be felt.
Because the result of the previous round’s ‘Guess the Number’ was very close to the standard answer.
This also greatly increased their trust in ‘Owl.’
According to the ‘Guess the Number’ game rules, if they could guess the number every time, they could even be eliminated later than those Sages with more chips.
"’Owl’ big brother, what do we do next?" ‘Gray Wolf’ He Xiaojun asked.
‘Owl’ said, "Same as the last round. Keep the ‘Fool Cards’ and then wait."
‘Gray Wolf’ asked, "Wait for you to give us the number?"
‘Owl’ shook his head, "Wait for others to come give us money."
‘Gray Wolf’ thought for a moment, "Should we consume the ’Paper’ and ’Scissors’ first?"
‘Owl’ looked at another small group organized by ‘Sika Deer’ and said to the others, "Don’t consume them this round.
"Scatter separately. Keep all the cards in your hands. Don’t do anything. Wait for me to come back.
"If ‘Sage Players’ want to buy you off, come notify me."
‘Owl’ came before ‘Sika Deer.’
"I roughly guessed who you are. You can return the ’ransom’ you owed me last time."
‘Sika Deer’ was startled, then looked him up and down and said, "Last time I didn’t owe you any ’ransom.’"
‘Owl’ nodded, "Mm, then that’s right. Did you get the ’Fool Deck’ or the ’Sage Deck’?"
‘Sika Deer’ thought for a moment, "Let’s show each other together."
After speaking, the two each took out their card decks and showed the fronts to each other.
Both were ‘Fool Decks.’
Both were startled. Obviously, both felt this result was unexpected.
However, ‘Owl’ said, "If we both have Fool Decks, it’s actually easier to establish cooperation. For the final prize pool, what’s your ideal price?"
‘Sika Deer’ thought briefly, "Hard to say yet. I noticed the ‘Sage Players’ over there have already formed a small group. I need to spend some time roughly determining who the real core figures are.
"If there are two core players, we need at least 15 Contract Vouchers from each of these two people, totaling about 30 vouchers.
"Subsequently, we’ll decide whether to add more based on the situation."
‘Owl’ nodded, "Mm, I’m inclined to think it will be ’Rabbit’ and ’Sheep,’ but we can’t confirm specifically who yet.
"However, 15 vouchers is too few. I think it can be 35 from one person and 20 from another."
‘Sika Deer’ was startled, "That many? The other side may not be willing to give so many. There’s a risk of negotiations breaking down.
"If we only want 35 from a single player, it’s possible, but in that case, there will be other risks."
‘Owl’ said, "Start with an exorbitant demand, then negotiate down.
"The more we ask for, the greater the pressure we give, and the more certain the opponent’s strategy becomes. If we ask for less instead, the opponent’s strategy has more room, and uncertainty will increase."
‘Sika Deer’ thought for a moment, "That’s true. Then let’s each firmly stick to the baseline of 35 Contract Vouchers first and see how the other side makes their move.
"But you also need to think carefully about how to ensure the other side doesn’t change their mind. Otherwise, I may not necessarily cooperate with you to the end."
‘Owl’ laughed unconcernedly, "You’d better not have that kind of dangerous thought."
He was about to leave when ‘Sika Deer’ asked again, "By the way, how did you recognize me?"
‘Owl’ looked at her, "You organized your small group too quickly. Abnormally quickly. Moreover, many players gathered toward you at the first opportunity.
"So I guessed these are all players from the same community as you.
"Within the community, you should have arranged in advance ’special elements for mutual recognition in anonymous games,’ telling other players in advance your favorite color, animal, clothing, or other things that can distinguish identities.
"For example, ’Deer’ very much matches your surname.
"And in terms of dress selection, ladies’ dresses are mainly various styles of long skirts, but you specifically wore pants of a special color.
"With other players understanding you sufficiently, they can roughly guess your choice. Read full story at novel·fiɾe·net
"Combining two to three factors, even without exchanging code phrases, they can recognize you from the crowd at the first opportunity.
"Am I guessing correctly?"
‘Sika Deer’ was silent for a moment, "People who are too smart won’t have friends."