Card Rules and Small Talk

Inside the cabin, the wooden door creaked shut, blocking out the cold Furnace Fire flickered, illuminating the room and dispelling some of the chill.

Lin Yu pulled out a chair, sat down, and looked at the other person.

The Ghost-faced Man leisurely shuffled the cards and asked, "What's your name?"

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow. "You pulled me into a dream, but you don't know who I am?"

"I know your code name, but I'd like to know more... what you'd like me to call you."

The Ghost-faced Man said calmly.

Lin Yu placed his hands on the table, clasped together. "Then let's just use the code names... What about you?"

The Ghost-faced Man smiled and said, "Just call me 'Advisor,' Mr. May May."

As he spoke, he flipped over the gold cards one by one and laid them out on the table.

The cards don't have numbers on them; instead, they have pictures of rock, paper, scissors.

"A rock-paper-scissors card Game...?"

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes.

But...

Because there are a total of ten cards, the number of rock, paper, and scissors is not balanced.

There are four rocks, four scissors, and two paper on the table.

Regarding this difference in quantity alone, Lin Yu had already come up with countless possibilities for the game.

"If these cards are dealt equally, it means that each of us will have two rock, two scissors, and one paper."

"In that situation... the timing of playing paper becomes very important—so from the perspective of the optimal solution in a two-player game, only playing scissors on the first turn is a fixed high-yield strategy; the rest depends on luck."

"However, that's based on the premise of an equal Rule. This shouldn't be just a Game of luck... there must be other Rule involved."

Sure enough, the Ghost-faced Man spoke after spreading the cards out on the table.

"As you can see, this is a ' Rock Paper Scissors Card..."

"Although I believe you must know the Rule of rock-paper-scissors, I'll explain them anyway."

"Of these three cards, rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock."

"At the start of the game, we will each draw three cards from these ten cards, and then we will compete against each other. After all three cards have been played, the person with the most wins will win the round."

"If a tie occurs after all three cards have been played, the deck is reshuffled and two cards are drawn. If the tie continues, the deck is reshuffled and two cards are drawn again—until someone is the first to win a round."

"And after each round, we reshuffle the cards and draw three new ones."

"After each round of victory... the winning side can ask the losing side a question. The losing side can choose not to answer, but must answer truthfully."

"The first person to win three rounds wins the final victory—the final winner can ask the losing side two additional questions... These two questions, along with the bonus question for winning the last round, make a total of three, and they cannot be refused answers."

"How about that? It's pretty simple, isn't it?"

After finishing speaking, the Ghost-faced Man put away the golden cards and began shuffling.

Lin Yu understood.

"Drawing three cards... that seems to increase the randomness even more."

Therefore, Lin Yu subconsciously asked the question.

"This shouldn't be all the Rule, right?"

Of course.

The Ghost-faced Man smiled and handed the golden card to Lin Yu.

"I'm done washing... can you wash up?"

"Just in case you don't trust me, and also to give me time to add the remaining Rule."

Since there were ten cards, the thickness of the deck was fixed, so Lin Yu didn't need any fancy shuffling techniques and could only honestly cut the cards back and forth.

Aren't you afraid I'll cheat?

The Ghost-faced Man laughed, "To cheat in front of me... I'm afraid even a 'Magician' couldn't do it."

Upon hearing the word "Magician" mentioned by the other party, Lin Yu calmly continued shuffling the cards, saying, "You're quite confident... Anyway, hurry up and explain the Rule."

However, Lin Yu knew very well that the "Magician" the other party mentioned was probably referring specifically to Qianhuan from the "Freedom Alliance".

The other party knows Qianhuan and may have even dealt with her before.

Is this a test of myself?

Lin Yu thought quickly.

The Ghost-faced Man, who claimed to be an advisor, then pulled out ten more silver cards from his cloak.

"Alright, friend—these are 'Support Card'."

As he spoke, the Ghost-faced Man flipped over the "Support Card" one by one and laid them out on the table.

The silver cards are divided into five types.

Two drawings depicting a pair of open eyes.

"The effect of this 'eye' is to view two of the 'Rock Paper Scissors Card' that were not drawn in this round."

Both drawings depict a left hand.

"The effect of this 'Left Hand' card is to choose to draw another Rock Paper Scissors Card, then discard one Rock Paper Scissors Card from your hand and reveal it to your opponent."

Both drawings depict a Right Hand.

"The effect of this 'Right Hand' card is to choose one Rock Paper Scissors Card for yourself and one for your opponent, and then discard them. The card discarded by your opponent must be revealed to you, but the card you discard does not need to be revealed."

Two pictures depicting the same mouth.

"The effect of this 'mouth' is to force your opponent to reveal the Rock Paper Scissors Card that they have the fewest of in their hand."

Both drawings depict a single ear.

"The effect of this 'ear' card is to let your opponent know that the Rock Paper Scissors Card they are about to play is definitely not one of those cards."

After the Ghost-faced Man advisor finished speaking, he also began shuffling the silver cards.

"Each person will receive three 'Support Card' initially, but... after someone wins each round, if the other player refuses to answer a question posed by the winning player, the winning player can take one 'Support Card'."

"However, if the other party chooses to answer truthfully, the party who loses the question can take away a 'Support Card'."

After explaining the Rule, the Ghost-faced Man looked at Lin Yu.

"Any further questions, guest?"

"Have."

Lin Yu immediately spoke.

The Ghost-faced Man advisor paused noticeably, clearly not expecting Lin Yu to have a problem.

In his view, his Rule were flawless, his explanations clear and logical, and the Player opposite him was also intelligent enough not to have any questions, right?

But the Ghost-faced Man spoke earnestly.

"Uh, do you have any questions?"

"During the Q&A session with the winner of each round, is it possible to ask the opponent a question that they absolutely cannot answer?"

"For example, questions like 'Please prove the Riemann Hypothesis'."

The Ghost-faced Man consultant remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "You're the first person to think of this and ask it..."

"Don't you want to ask me about my identity or something? Besides, I've already told you that I have the 'clues' you're looking for in the case!"

Lin Yu smiled sheepishly, "I can investigate the case myself, and so can your identity."

The consultant looked Lin Yu up and down. "You really are... unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"Thank you for the compliment. May I ask what you're asking?"

"Of course not," the consultant sighed. "Questions that the other party has absolutely no clue about are meaningless; we need to ask them again."

Lin Yu nodded. "So, how do you determine if the other party has any leads? Is that your job to judge?"

"No, it's the dream itself that matters."

The Ghost-faced Man advisor finished speaking instinctively, then placed his hands on the table for support.

"Wait a minute... are you trying to trick me?"

Lin Yu admitted it directly.

"Yes, at least now I know that although you created this dream, you are not its manipulator..."

He spoke calmly, tapping the table.

"Alright, let's begin the Game."