Redemption Roulette

"Beep—"

The piercing buzz echoed through the cramped space, waking Wei Xinjian from his stupor.

He jolted awake, then immediately realized he had been firmly restrained. Special iron restraints locked his wrists, ankles, and waist, while the iron chair itself had been welded directly to the floor.

Even his mouth had been tightly wrapped with cloth, leaving him able to make only muffled noises.

The fog in his mind gradually cleared, and his aching eyes began to adjust.

He looked around.

This appeared to be an abandoned underground warehouse. No light came in from outside; only a dim old incandescent bulb hung alone from a rusted steel framework.

The air reeked of damp mildew, mixed with a faint stench of decay.

On the wall to his right hung an old CRT television, its screen filled only with hissing static.

At the center of the warehouse stood a weathered, heavy square wooden table. A silver revolver lay on top of it.

Across the wooden table sat a young man, still unconscious.

Like Wei Xinjian, the young man was firmly locked into an iron chair, with cloth wrapped around his mouth.

But Wei Xinjian soon noticed two obvious differences between them: his right hand could move freely, and there was a peculiar mechanism on either side of his head.

It resembled an enormous clamp, connected to a crude and complex system of gears. Two heavy iron blocks stood on either side of his head, aimed at his temples.

"Mm! Mmmmmm..."

Wei Xinjian immediately began thrashing violently, struggling to make a sound.

But in this dark underground warehouse, there was no response at all.

Wei Xinjian grabbed the restraint around his left wrist with his movable right hand and pulled hard, trying to open it.

After failing, he turned to the restraint around his waist, but it would not budge either.

Just then, an emotionless electronic voice came from the CRT television, which had been hissing with static.

As the voice spoke, an image appeared on the screen.

It was not a person, but an explanation of the game's rules.

[Hello, Wei Xinjian.]

[You will now face judgment in a game called "Redemption Roulette."]

[The rules are as follows:]

[As you can see, there is an innocent person, a revolver, and one live round in this sealed space.]

[The revolver's cylinder has six chambers. The other five empty chambers are randomly distributed throughout the cylinder.]

[The special mechanism on either side of your head has a total gap of 6 cm between both sides and your head—an average of 3 cm per side.]

[You have only two choices: shoot yourself in the forehead, or shoot the innocent person across from you.]

[If you fire an empty chamber at yourself, nothing will happen.]

[If you fire an empty chamber at the innocent person, the mechanisms on either side of your head will move inward by 1.29 cm each.]

[When the mechanism moves for the third time, it will injure you.]

[If you are hit by the live round, you will die on the spot.]

[After the revolver has been fired six times, the game will end and all mechanisms will unlock.]

[You have five minutes to complete this game. Any violation or failure to finish in time will result in Instant Death Punishment—the iron blocks will crush your head directly.]

[I want to know whether, after committing unforgivable sins, you have ever felt even the slightest remorse.]

[Are you willing to place the life of an innocent person above your sinful life?]

[The game begins now. Good luck!]

The image on the television vanished, returning to a screen full of static.

At the same time, an old-fashioned LED electronic timer popped out of the square table with a snap, its bright red digits beginning to count down.

05:00

04:59

"Mm! Mmmmmm..."

Wei Xinjian struggled even more fiercely. His eyes were bloodshot from congestion, but the restraints around his body remained solid, leaving no possibility of escape.

After a brief hesitation, he extended his only movable right hand and gripped the silver revolver on the table.

Then Wei Xinjian brought the gun close to his eyes, trying to inspect the cylinder and determine the bullet's position.

—The rules said there was only one live round.

If the empty rounds and the live round looked different, then as long as he identified the position of the sole live round, he could shoot himself with empty chambers and shoot the other person with the live round, ensuring his survival.

However, the instant he made that move, blue electricity suddenly surged through his chair with a crackle of current!

"Ahhhhh—"

Wei Xinjian screamed as the shock coursed through him. His eyes rolled upward uncontrollably, his whole body convulsed, and he nearly dropped the gun.

[Warning: one violation. Commit any further violation, and you will receive Instant Death Punishment.]

Wei Xinjian's eyes were bloodshot, his entire body soaked in sweat as he gasped for air.

The revolver had an unusual design. He could not determine the live round's position merely by looking at it.

Wei Xinjian did not dare risk any further attempts. That might bring Instant Death Punishment upon him.

He looked at the unconscious innocent person locked in the iron chair opposite him. Then he swallowed, his face twisting as he raised the gun.

He did not know the young man across from him, but he had already made his choice.

The revolver could hold six rounds, and only one was live. That meant the chance of dying from a shot was one in six.

If Wei Xinjian shot himself and got an empty chamber, it would be a happy ending for everyone. Nothing would happen.

But there was also a one-in-six chance that he would die immediately.

At that moment, the iron blocks on either side of Wei Xinjian's head had not yet pressed close to him. According to the rules, there was a total gap of 6 cm.

That meant the first two movements would not harm him at all.

His fear of bullets and desire to survive drove him toward the obvious choice.

Wei Xinjian gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger!

"Click."

It was an empty chamber.

Grind, grind, grind—

A dull mechanical sound rang out as metal gears scraped against one another. The iron blocks on either side of Wei Xinjian's head moved inward, the cold metal now pressing against his ears.

"Mm! Mmmph!"

Wei Xinjian slapped the iron chair in frustration, but that shot could no longer be taken back.

The icy iron blocks pressed near his ears, sending a bone-chilling cold through him and stirring up another kind of fear.

The second shot.

Wei Xinjian shakily turned the muzzle toward himself.

But he quickly changed his mind and aimed the gun at Lin Sizhi again.

If the odds of being hit had been one in six just now, then they had now risen to one in five.

Wei Xinjian did not dare gamble.

What if the creator of this game had anticipated that mindset and placed the live round in the second shot?

After breathing heavily for a while, Wei Xinjian still decided to make the other person bear that risk.