Third: Drawing Lots

A certain kind of "reality" is like a spider's thread; if you touch one node, you may very well pull out the entire web.

Then he was imprisoned, and his death was imminent.

Just as Yu Xing became aware of these things, his Spiritual Sense began to scream, and his heart started to itch—a feeling he had never experienced before. This gave him a premonition that if he thought about it any deeper, something terrible would happen.

He might just crack open and splatter his brains, giving his teammates a real neck-blowing performance right there and then.

He couldn't think any further. These things were beyond his current level of understanding. There was a deeply hidden restriction preventing him... and also preventing the thinking of the other strategists.

Yu Xing's gaze darkened. If he previously only disliked the system because of its targeting of him a few times, now he felt utter disgust. Based on what he had just thought of, if the deducers became monsters and became the core of each deduction instance, wouldn't that mean the deduction system needed to mutate, needed "monsters" to function?

He should have thought of that sooner.

Everything has its own rules, and systems are no exception. For a system to function, it needs a driving force; its existence must have a reason and meaning. So why did this Absurdity System create such a complex program, guiding the chosen strategist into different simulation scenarios time and time again?

Besides death, those who perform the deductions can gain power, authority, and wealth that they cannot obtain in reality, but these gains belong to the deducers, not to the system itself.

But now Yu Xing decides to look at all of this from a different perspective.

The system transformed the deducer's personality alienation from a trivial mental illness in reality into a tangible physical alienation, turning the abstract into the concrete, thus creating one monster after another that should never have appeared in this world.

It then sends its chosen people to fight these monsters; those who succeed await the next battle, while those who fail become its nourishment and new monsters...

That makes sense now, right?

The deducers are an indispensable "nutrient" for the Absurdity System. Only with this continuous influx of deducers can the system sustain its consumption over so many years.

As for the surviving deducers, perhaps they are merely "high-grade food" stored up by the system?

This line of thinking might be too extreme. After all, Yu Xing only sensed that something was wrong, but he had no evidence or further proof. However, he could clearly feel that his thoughts and mind were being affected by an emotion, making him somewhat agitated and reckless, and not quite clear-headed.

"Yu Xing, what's wrong?" Carlos reached out and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him. "Did I say something terrible? Why are you so stunned?"

He had just said something like "It seems like I've been set up," when Yu Xing stopped talking and stood there stunned for a long time, his eyes gradually turning fierce, which completely baffled Carlos.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something and my mind wandered." Yu Xing came back to his senses, and the oppressive chaos in his mind gradually faded away. His thoughts returned to clarity, so he could better feel how absurd this sudden confusion was.

Given that these topics seemed dangerous, he planned to study them more after he became stronger, and then tell his companions the results. Otherwise, he thought that it wouldn't matter if these things exploded in the head, as they could grow back. Among his teammates, only Qu Xuanqing's body could be patched up with ghost energy; the others couldn't.

Zhao Mou thoughtfully shifted his gaze, then returned to the sofa in the hall and sat down. His voice possessed a strange, reassuring power, especially when it was pointed. Yu Xing understood the unspoken meaning in his words: "Alright, then we'll choose Dead Silent Island. There are many things you can't think about right now, but on Dead Silent Island, perhaps... you won't feel this suppressed anymore."

"After all, that's a neutral zone that the Absurdity System and the Experiencer System deliberately chose."

Yu Xing immediately realized that Zhao Mou had probably also experienced such a time. It was because of the system, which sometimes seemed "omnipresent," that he had not been able to explore it in depth, and he would also be careful not to mention those taboo topics in his daily conversations.

But Dead Silent Island is different. It is a neutral zone specially selected by the two systems for fair competition. The control of the systems over such places becomes very weak. That will be the best time to break down the wall that has been shrouding our minds for who knows how long.

"That's settled then. We'll meet with Yu Fengchen's group after we go in. If we can all get along peacefully, that would be great. If not... well, then we'll have to rely on our own abilities." Yu Xing quickly banished the negative energy from her body, returning to her usual appearance, which was harmless but exuded a somewhat dangerous aura.

"The top guilds have started registering!" Carlos had been watching the registration list closely. As the top members began to register, some smaller teams followed suit one after another. The official roster, which was empty just a moment ago, was now filled with a dense array of titles.

"Write now?" Qu Xuanqing also pulled up the registration list and watched as titles appeared one by one. The fastest was Town of No Light. Almost as soon as the big guilds made a move, the others followed suit. It seems that most of the strategists still prefer to stay with Righteous Path forces like the Research Institute.

Coincidentally, the two major guilds in Town of No Light are the two most popular guilds in the deduction system. It's not that their strength makes many people flock to them, but rather that whenever it comes to who they hope to cooperate with, most deducers will answer the Research Institute.

If you were to ask which major guild members you feel most comfortable with, the answer would most likely be the LSP Foundation.

The fact that the LSP Foundation has researchers from all three routes doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. However, in regular interactions, Foundation members volunteer to act as the atmosphere-maker, as they excel at using lighthearted topics to engage people's minds.

If you encounter a cheerful member, even during simulations, you'll feel much more relaxed. If you're working with a Foundation member who's equally lecherous, you might even be able to vent your frustrations when you're safe to do so.

In comparison, City of Madness and Dead Silent Island were the two places with the fewest applicants. The former, needless to say, not only sounded dangerous, but also required working with two terrifying forces, one large and one small, namely Single Prism and Desire Rose. Many people were afraid that they would be killed by these two forces before they even started fighting with the experience testers.

The description of Dead Silent Island itself seems rather sinister, lacking any clear bias, making it difficult to prepare. Moreover, it is led by the fifth and sixth guilds, whose strength is far too mediocre compared to the other four events.

Those with average skills or who lack confidence in themselves would not choose this place as their first choice.

"Don't worry, I've already investigated. None of the first ten people to walk out the door are from Single Prism, so there's a 99% chance that no idiot will drag us to another session just for fun after we choose a session. Single Prism is actually quite well-behaved this time; I wonder if he's been given some other orders." Zhao Mou announced his name, and the words "Tian Ji" instantly appeared under the list of Dead Silent Island.

Following that, "Magician", "Cold Wine" and "Uh" appeared. Yu Xing looked at the distribution of the list. There were no familiar faces on Dead Silent Island for the time being, and the people from Single Prism had been confirmed to be in City of Madness.

He added his name, and now many people know that "Xing" is Yu Xing, the dark horse who tied for first place in the preliminary event and was promoted to a star predictor just over half a month ago.

"There are really few people on Dead Silent Island. We've all signed up, and there are only 15 of us." Carlos rested his chin on his hand, sinking into the soft sofa. "I hope we don't end up with a bunch of cowards who couldn't get seats in other sessions and had to choose Dead Silence Island over City of Madness Dead Silent Island."

Qu Xuanqing said calmly, "Who among those who can enter the top 100 would be a coward? They're just seeking advantage and avoiding harm. If you want to think that way, you can also speculate the other way around. Apart from us, the people from the Hourglass, and the Mysterious Eye, the other three are all strong individuals who are very confident in their abilities."

The Breakthrough Team has five openly recognized spots, while the Hourglass and Mysterious Eye have a total of seven spots.

"Wow, if these people knew that Qu Xuanqing called them strong, they'd probably start to wonder if they're hiding some talent they haven't even discovered themselves." Carlos whistled, becoming increasingly unserious.

The problem is, not only was he being cheeky on his own, but he also insisted on dragging Zhao Yijiu, who seemed to be the closest to him in strength, into the group. "Don't you think so, big brother? Qu Xuanqing has never praised us."

Zhao Yijiu: "..."

He didn't really want to talk.

Zhao Mou clicked his tongue, his eyes behind his glasses revealing a knowing certainty. "While the combined strength of Hourglass and Mysterious Eye may be relatively weak among the major guilds in the five rounds, that's just a comparison. Don't you understand what it means to be ranked fifth or sixth in the Absurdity System? Whether you actively or passively chose Dead Silent Island, it doesn't prove anything. Perhaps some people just want the major guilds to be slightly weaker to make their actions easier."

He almost couldn't resist pressing the blue-haired guy, who was making his presence known, under the sofa. "Sometimes I really suspect you're pretending to be stupid. Is it because you're used to pretending all the time that you have to maintain a certain persona in the team?"

Although Yu Xing hadn't specifically mentioned Carlos's problem to Zhao Mou himself had long since noticed something was amiss.

Carlos, exposed by Zhao Mou, innocently wiggled his fingers and said, "What did you say? I didn't hear you."

"People with hearing problems can't be Magician, they should change careers." Zhao Mou casually deflected Carlos's words. He just didn't want to see Carlos deliberately acting silly in the team, so he gave Carlos a reminder.

As for delving deeper, he didn't have that idea. After all, everyone has secrets, and even within a team, it's not something you can just open up to anyone at will.

Yu Xing let out a gloating laugh.

Carlos was silent for two seconds, then glared at Yu Xing: "Alright, alright, I'll pay attention next time. It's just a habit I haven't been able to break yet. It's not my fault, you know, we're full."

Then he added, with a questioning tone, "Hmm?", "That doesn't seem right."

"Let me see." Yu Xing opened the announcement again, and this time he saw a familiar face on the list of Dead Silent Island.

Both the Huang Bai and the locust tree are there.

After the Alice's Park instance ended, they kept in touch privately and had a good relationship. Yu Xing had reason to suspect that the two people chose to follow after seeing "Xing".

Having someone you know at this kind of event makes you feel more at ease.

However, this does not mean that there are no aspects of this list that raise Yu Xing's questions.

Like Carlos, he frowned when his gaze fell on the last name.

Gambler.

How did Zeng Lai end up on Dead Silent Island?

Just moments ago Zeng Lai's name was on the list of Town of No Light selected by the Research Institute, along with Ren Yi's. But by the end, his name had been moved to another location.

Qu Xuanqing asked suspiciously, "Did someone bring Zeng Lai to Dead Silent Island?"

"Impossible. Zeng Lai was among the first ten to graduate; he's not on the list of those who can be taken away." Zhao Mou adjusted his glasses, a smirk playing on his lips. "But we can exchange him."

Zhao Yijiu was also in the top ten. After the results were announced, the system sent Zhao Yijiu a notification, which stated that the top ten would not be taken away by others, but could exchange positions with others if both parties agreed.

"Did Zeng Lai negotiate with someone and voluntarily exchange positions?" Yu Xing opened the list of Town of No Light with great interest. Town of No Light was full even earlier, which meant that the extra person on the list was the one who exchanged positions with Zeng Lai.

If Zeng Lai agreed, it basically means that Ren Yi also agreed, and to extend that further, it means that the Research Institute agreed.

I know this person very well.

Zhao Ruru.

"Ha, I wonder what this girl is up to this time." Zhao Mou had very quickly checked Zhao Ruru's information the day before, which was completely inconsistent with her exam scores and personality, and successfully discovered the discrepancy.

But when he continued to investigate along the clues, he found that the information line had been cut off, which was enough to prove that Zhao Ruru had indeed been hiding her true abilities all along. He wondered what her motives were in doing this.

In the short time they were talking, the City of Madness, which had six empty seats, suddenly became full. It must have been the system that forcibly assigned seats to those who hadn't registered.

The final list was then determined.

There were only ten minutes left before the simulation Yugi officially began.

Yu Xing suddenly turned her head and said, "Little Ququ, can you get me a bottle of water? I'm thirsty~"

"... Don't you have legs yourself?" Zhao Mou retorted.

"That's just how he is; once he sits on something soft, he doesn't want to move." Qu Xuanqing's expression suddenly softened, she smiled, and got up to get some water.

Zhao Mou stared at her retreating figure, then pressed his tongue against his cheek, lost in thought.

But then, the sudden darkness interrupted everyone's actions. After a moment of confusion, Yu Xing regained his senses. His teammates were still there, but the environment had changed from his home to a place that looked like a conference room.

The meeting room was only a few square meters in size. Excluding the simple incandescent light bulb overhead, the only two pieces of furniture were a round table and five chairs.

Five people, dressed in their real-world clothes, sat around a round table, spaced very evenly apart. In front of each of them was a fortune-telling tube, much like those used for drawing lots in temples.

And in the very center of the table, there was a small radio.

This familiar spatial shift made all five people present realize that the simulation had arrived prematurely, even though it hadn't been ten minutes yet.

The system has even learned to use surprise attacks?

Unable to get a drink of water, Yu Xing was extremely annoyed. "... Tch."

The small radio on the table emitted a system notification. This time, it wasn't a prompt appearing in my mind, but a radio broadcast that couldn't be saved at all.

There is a lottery box in front of you.

Although the format is different, the system's voice remains as businesslike as ever, just like a smart assistant on a mobile phone.

"Now pick it up and shake it until three slips fall out."