Pei Yanchuan might have known the answer the moment the rules were announced. Whether they belonged to the werewolf faction or the good faction, their best chance of staying alive was to keep as many "smart people" around as possible.
The moment No. 3 first tried to leave the cabin, he had already made Pei Yanchuan's kill list. But Pei Yanchuan hadn't chosen to kill him on the first night.
If he killed No. 3 on the first night, the Witch would very likely use her potion to revive him. No one in this game suspected that a werewolf would target himself, so that would effectively confirm No. 3 as good in the Witch's eyes.
To prevent that, Pei Yanchuan had chosen to target himself on the first night.
He really was a lunatic.
Then, during the day, he had worked with his teammate to get No. 3 voted out, before killing the illogical No. 6 that night.
He had never believed that more people meant more help. To him, unnecessary people were dead weight, and he would do everything he could to eliminate them-even betray his own teammate.
Ye Chu kept thinking. What was Pei Yanchuan thinking now? Who would he want to kill next?
He probably really couldn't read the situation, just as he had said. He didn't know who the Witch or the Hunter was, or whether there were more Villagers or special roles left.
Probably No. 1. Not because No. 1 was useless, but because he was the Seer. Keeping him alive for two rounds was already the limit. Any longer would directly hurt the werewolf team.
[The second round of speeches has concluded. All players, please cast your votes on the interface before the countdown ends.]
This time, Ye Chu didn't hesitate. He selected No. 4 immediately.
[The voting results will now be announced. Player No. 4 voted for No. 1. All other players voted for No. 4. Player No. 4 will now be eliminated.]
Yang Shu shot to her feet, staring wide-eyed at No. 8's seat in disbelief. She hadn't expected her teammate to actually vote for her.
With difficulty, she raised a finger as though she wanted to point at someone, opening her mouth as though she wanted to say something. But before she could point or speak, her body began to swell, growing more and more bloated. Her expression twisted, and the sound of blood vessels rupturing came from her throat...
With a bang, her body exploded.
Red and white mingled in a nauseating smear across the floor. The system's cold voice sounded in their ears again:
[The game continues. When night falls, close your eyes...]
The foul smell reached Ye Chu's nose, and he sighed helplessly. Whatever. This would be the last time.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the familiar little forest. Finding No. 5 was his most important objective tonight. He had to find No. 5.
Just because Pei Yanchuan couldn't read the situation didn't mean Ye Chu couldn't. Su Fengzi was the Seer, he himself was the Witch, and there was still a Hunter... Lu Rui.
Pei Yanchuan was still young, after all. His speech in the last round had betrayed his impatience and panic. He had overlooked the fact that the Hunter could only be No. 5 or No. 9, because the Hunter could shoot and take someone down with them.
Ye Chu still remembered the initial rules. The werewolves had to kill the good players with their own hands. In other words, they probably had some sort of weapon to help them do it.
The thrill of killing was so overwhelming that they had forgotten the rule about the Hunter being able to shoot someone. After all, once they had killed someone with their own hands, who would remember that the dead could come back to drag someone else down with them?
Lu Rui's speech had been right. The way Xie Fei spoke suggested she was a Villager without any inside information. If she were the Hunter, she shouldn't have been so timid. When people targeted her, she could simply have declared that she would take down whoever voted for her. In Real Werewolf, that threat would definitely work.
Ye Chu quickened his pace. He had to find Xie Fei before Pei Yanchuan found Su Fengzi.
He hurried along and almost collided with someone as he rounded a bend. He looked up. It was Su Fengzi.
Someone else was following behind Su Fengzi: Xie Fei.
"Ye Chu, perfect timing. Let's stick together and hold the werewolves off until dawn. Then a werewolf will randomly..."
Hiding behind Su Fengzi, Xie Fei nodded repeatedly.
Sorry, Ye Chu said inwardly.
"Pei Yanchuan?" Su Fengzi's voice interrupted Ye Chu's thoughts. He turned and saw Pei Yanchuan leaning against a tree. Even with all three of them staring at him with hostility, he showed no trace of panic. He even smiled at them, a Little Tiger Tooth lending his grin an insolent edge.
"Ye Chu," he began, like a grim reaper holding a list of the doomed, "which side are you on? Villagers or special roles?"
"Does it matter?" Ye Chu met his gaze. The shadows of the trees hid his eyes, making his emotions impossible to read.
"Of course." Pei Yanchuan smiled brightly, looking like an innocent child, but his words sent a chill down their spines. "If you're a special role, I'll wipe out the Villagers. If you're a Villager, I'll wipe out the special roles."
He had just brazenly announced his identity to everyone. What was he doing? Ye Chu was puzzled. Was he really that confident he could end the game tonight?
[What is No. 8 doing? Doesn't this guarantee the werewolves will lose?]
[It's over. No. 8 won't survive this round. He won't make it back to take his college entrance exams.]
[No. 8 is seriously reckless. Poor No. 2.]
"Aren't you afraid everyone will gang up on you during the day?"
"They won't." He had said they wouldn't, not that he wasn't afraid.
Ye Chu smiled. "Then let me end this game. Witch, activate skill..."
[You have one poison potion. Would you like to use it?]
Pei Yanchuan pressed his lips together, his thoughts unreadable. He shifted one foot backward and lowered his body slightly, like a wolf poised to strike.
If No. 7 poisoned him, he would immediately lunge forward and bite through his throat.
If I have to die, we'll die together, he thought viciously.
"Poison No. 8, then vote No. 2 out during the day, and we win!"
Ye Chu said, "Use the poison on No. 5."
Su Fengzi froze. "What?"
Murmuring the word, he slowly turned around. He saw Xie Fei collapse limply to the ground, shock still written across her face.
Her corpse slowly sank into the soil until it disappeared completely.
Before long, a sapling sprouted from the spot where her body had sunk. It grew at an astonishing speed, becoming a full-sized tree in moments. Its branches were slick and limp. From a distance, it looked like a person screaming.
At last, the players knew what these trees were...
[The number of remaining Villagers is now 0. The werewolves win. Game over.]
[??? Why did the Witch hand the werewolves the win?]
[The game's over? Holy shit? They weren't trying to win from the start-they were trying to keep people alive?]
[You can play like this? No wonder No. 8 was acting so weird. Had they planned this all along?]
[No. 7 was so damn cool! He switched sides at the end and finished the game outright! Without that poison, at least two more people would have died.]
The moment the system finished speaking, Ye Chu felt a wave of dizziness. At least there wasn't that awful smell this time, he thought.
When he opened his eyes, they were no longer in the dilapidated cabin, but in a cozy-looking living room. The hard chairs had become soft sofas, and the coffee table was covered with delicious, tempting food.
[Congratulations to the five players who cleared "Real Werewolf." This was our preliminary test for you, and you performed brilliantly!]
Not one of the five people on the sofas responded to the system. Their expressions were solemn as they mentally reviewed the game they had just played.
[Hey, hey, hey! Listen to me first! You can review the game later!]
Only after it said that did the five reluctantly raise their heads.
[Ahem. We are a livestreamed variety show called "No One Survives." Your every move is broadcast live to outside viewers, who can send tips during your streams.]
"Are those tips useful for anything?" Su Fengzi asked.
[Tips are basically useless inside the games, but outside them-for example, in the space you're in now-they can be used as money. Once you clear every scenario and return to reality, these tips can also be converted into your currency. But clearing the scenarios isn't that easy...]
No kidding, Ye Chu thought. Half of them had died in the very first scenario. It wasn't hard to imagine how difficult clearing them all would be.
[This show has run for 248 seasons. Players have achieved a complete clear in fewer than twenty of them.]
The room fell quiet, with only the sound of their breathing.
The system continued,
[Your rest period begins now. You will enter the next scenario in two days. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me anytime. Oh, right-viewers cannot watch what you do in the rest house, so you don't need to worry about having no privacy. Remember our motto-entertainment to death!!!]
Before you continue