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Once they chose that outcome, they would truly have lost.

If the instance of the case failed to uncover the truth, it would keep restarting. Almost every time the participants played through to the ending, they would be burned to death in the villa. Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao would repeat the same mistakes every single time. What was the point of that? Humans really were hard to understand.

[Because they

lost their memories

. They were always the versions of themselves from that moment, so of course they would make the same choices. There was no such thing as a momentary difference in thought.]

[So, was the murderer Second-generation Zhao or Basketball Qiao?]

[No idea. I've watched this instance so many times. I've seen every character's perspective at least twice, and it feels like everyone is suspicious. But the crucial evidence has never been found. It's really strange.]

[Sigh, I can't bear to watch anymore. I don't want to see my beautiful Zhen burned to death, QAQ.]

[Maybe this time there's hope? Basketball Qiao has already tested Zhen Liu several times. It isn't just Zhen Liu's attitude—I think Basketball Qiao can be won over too.]

But what could not be said aloud was that the condition for a truly perfect clear was to make Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao believe the truth provided by the players. Otherwise, even if they really voted out the true culprit, the Class Reunion instance would continue.

It was not as though no one had resisted Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao's temptations before, but they could only force a majority vote. They could not persuade the stubborn undead.

Yet even that kind of majority-vote victory was already considered a rare, excellent clear.

How would Zhen Liu, participating for the first time, choose?

Naturally, he refused.

Just as Zhen Liu had told Basketball Qiao time and again, "Your proposal is good, but I still want to choose the truth." Winning the game was certainly important, and so was the enormous prize money, but finding the truth was equally important to Zhen Liu. Even if the final conclusion might very well point to himself, "This feeling of giving it everything I have, yet still not necessarily winning or finding the key evidence—it truly fascinates me."

Second-generation Zhao was beside himself with rage. He had not expected Doctor Zhen to be someone so impossible to reason with. "Did you misunderstand and think we were deceiving you? I can swear to heaven that there are no other conditions. We truly don't care about winning."

He only wanted the lawyer dead!

Just as he had chosen the first time, he knew Lawyer Jin was Jin Zhuang, a player, not the lawyer he had known. So he had not truly killed him in the game. He only wanted to prove that his decision back then had not been wrong. No matter how many people came, or what kind of people they were, they would make the same choice— the lawyer deserved to die!

Zhen Liu also admitted, "I believe you. You truly don't care about winning or losing, and I really can't figure out what you want to do."

This was one of the rare situations Zhen Liu, practically a willful lie detector, had encountered in his life. He could clearly tell that the other party was telling the truth, yet he still could not understand their purpose.

The only explanation was that there was an information imbalance between them. There had to be some secret or rule hidden behind this that Zhen Liu did not know.

But those things could be investigated gradually afterward. They had nothing to do with the truth of this game.

"As long as my brother and I vote together, you can't win. Understand?" Second-generation Zhao glared viciously at Zhen Liu, hoping he would bow to reality. Once the brothers entered a case game that belonged to them, they would recover their memories from before death and naturally become bound together. The remaining players were truly strangers. Even if they had known each other before, because of their positions, they could not possibly trust one another completely. What did the players have to fight them with?

But Zhen Liu smiled and shook his head at Second-generation Zhao. "You aren't the only ones who can vote together."

Lucien understood Zhen Liu's meaning in seconds and stepped to his side. Honestly, Lucien's insistence on playing a love-struck fool had once troubled Zhen Liu somewhat, but at this moment, it became his salvation.

"The doctor and the professor are too." As long as the person playing the professor could persist in what the character truly felt and genuinely dare to be brave for love once, then the doctor and professor would also form a natural alliance of interests.

This game's mechanics were truly well-balanced.

So the real key had always been Lawyer Jin's vote. The Orphan Card, which everyone had disliked from the very beginning, had finally welcomed a different dawn.

And Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao had already thoroughly offended Jin Zhuang.

"The one who can't see the situation clearly isn't me. It's you. If we wanted to win, we could force a victory." This was also the outcome players who achieved an excellent ending generally chose.

Second-generation Zhao suddenly felt a wave of emptiness, as though he had experienced this scene countless times before, even though he clearly had no memory of it. He was merely someone who had played a few instances, luckily recovered his memories, and begun solving his own case. He had to prove he was right in order to clear the stage—at least, that was what he believed.

If he had been wrong, wouldn't that mean he had not only failed to protect his mother, but had also caused his brother's death years later? That brother who trusted him, supported him, and always stood behind him no matter what choice he made?

"But I don't want to choose that either." Zhen Liu did not have any competitive desire to convince the other party. He merely wanted to find the truth. "Because our condition for winning is to hand the murderer over to the police, not Brother Hao." At that moment, Zhen Liu finally understood the restriction written into the quest line.

Second-generation Zhao was completely stunned. "What difference does that make?"

"The difference is huge. Let me put it this way: I reasonably suspect that no matter who we hand over, Brother Hao will burn us all to death in the end."

Although Zhen Liu was merely making a bold conjecture, Second-generation Zhao seemed to be nailed completely in place.

[!!! Fuck, that's right. Every single time, no matter who gets handed over, the ending is everyone getting burned to death together.]

[I thought this instance just had a barbecue ending.]

[Playing word games, how hateful.]

[No, no, no. The game is only a reenactment of what really happened. I think "go to the police when you're in trouble" is the lifeline given above. No wonder it's a beginner instance—the answer is right there in the riddle.]