A wager they couldn't refuse

"I haven't found any concrete evidence."

Lin Yan looked at Leorio and said slowly, his voice calm, "But I can sense that this is a trap.

"He's trying to lure us into betting."

"A sense?" Leorio froze, then looked torn between laughing and crying. "Come on, Lin Yan, you're not joking, are you? This is a contest with fifty hours at stake, and you're telling me to go by a 'sense'?"

He admitted that the keen perception Lin Yan had shown in the wetlands was amazing, but in this situation, simply saying "I sense a trap" was hardly convincing.

"I know it sounds vague." Lin Yan's expression was serious. "But my instincts aren't wrong. Everything about this man gives off a deeply unsettling aura. Every word he says is baiting us into making a mistake."

He was already doing his best to explain it in terms the others could understand.

He couldn't exactly say, "I know the plot, and this guy's a con artist. Besides, I've opened my heavenly eye and can see the aura around him," could he?

"An unsettling aura?" Leorio was even more confused. He looked the refined prisoner up and down. "I think he's pretty polite. Much better than those vicious-looking guys before him."

"Leorio, I think Lin Yan has a point," Kurapika spoke up beside them, his expression grave. "In the Hunter Exam, the simpler an option looks, the more dangerous it often is.

"If he dares to wager fifty hours, he must be certain he can win. We shouldn't take this risk."

After what had just happened, Kurapika had developed a measure of trust in Lin Yan's words.

Moreover, his own logical analysis told him that the risks and rewards of this wager were wildly disproportionate.

"I don't think we should bet either," Killua agreed lazily. "Too much trouble. Why not just fight? A win's a win, and a loss is a loss. What's the point of all these fancy tricks? It's obviously fishy."

As an assassin who had grown up surrounded by deception and intrigue, Killua also sensed that there was more to this wager than met the eye.

There was no such thing as a free lunch, especially in a place like this.

"But... but have you thought about this?" Leorio grew agitated. Pointing at the prisoner across from them, he raised his voice. "If we win, that's fifty hours! We'll have a hundred and twenty-one hours left! That's practically a guaranteed pass! Why would we give up such a great chance?"

Excitement glittered in his eyes. The flames of greed had already begun burning away his reason.

Becoming a Hunter and making a fortune had always been his dream, and now a shortcut that could take him straight to the top lay right before him.

"And if we lose? We'll only have twenty-one hours left!" Kurapika countered. "With that little time, we might not be able to afford even one more defeat! The risk is too great!"

"We won't lose!" Leorio declared confidently. "I've figured it out! This is a reverse-thinking trap!"

"Reverse thinking?" Gon asked curiously.

"Exactly!" Leorio clapped his hands and launched into a lengthy explanation. "Think about it. When a normal person sees two candles, one long and one short, their first reaction is that the short one will burn out first, right?

"But the person setting the challenge is exploiting that habitual thinking! If he dares to offer this wager, that means the answer can't possibly be that simple!

"So the truth must be the opposite-the long one will burn out first!"

"Why?" Killua folded his arms, his expression saying, Let's see what else you can make up.

"The reason is simple!" Leorio grew more excited as he spoke, as though he could already see victory on the horizon. "Maybe the long candle has a thicker wick, or it's made of something that burns more easily!

"Anyway, there must be some detail we haven't noticed! This isn't testing common sense. It's testing our powers of observation and our ability to think in reverse!"

Listening to Leorio's seemingly reasonable analysis, Gon and Kurapika both fell into thought.

That... does seem to make some sense.

But Lin Yan could only shake his head inwardly.

That's it. This guy's backed himself into a logical dead end, and now he can't get out.

All of Leorio's reasoning rested on one false premise: that his opponent would follow the rules and had merely set a mental trap within them.

It had never occurred to him that the other man might never have intended to follow any rules at all.

A con artist's real trick wasn't twisting logic, but overturning the entire game.

"Leorio, calm down." Lin Yan spoke again, trying to pull him back. "Have you considered that he might have tampered with the candles themselves?"

"For instance, the short one could be hollow, or soaked in oil."

"Impossible!" Leorio dismissed the idea without a second thought. "This is an exam run by the Hunter Association! They're prisoners, but they're also part of the examining team!"

"They can set the rules, but they'd never dare openly cheat with the props! That would be a challenge to the Hunter Association! They don't have the guts!"

Leorio's argument made even Kurapika and Killua waver.

Indeed, from a rational standpoint, openly cheating right under the Hunter Association's nose would be far too risky.

"Heh heh heh..."

Just then, the refined prisoner across from them gave a soft chuckle.

Watching their endless argument, he said unhurriedly, "Everyone, there's no need to worry. I can guarantee that these are both perfectly ordinary, commercially available candles. Their material and wicks are exactly the same. There's nothing special about them whatsoever. You may even inspect them yourselves before the wager begins."

As he spoke, he gestured for them to go ahead.

"We really can inspect them?" Leorio's eyes lit up.

"Of course." The refined prisoner's smile grew even more amiable.

Leorio immediately strode forward, picked up both candles, and turned them over and over as he examined them closely.

He hefted them in his hands, sniffed them, and even scraped off a little wax with his fingernail and put it in his mouth to taste.

"Well? Is anything wrong?" Kurapika asked anxiously.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Having finished his inspection, Leorio walked back with absolute certainty written on his face. "They're perfectly ordinary candles! The material, hardness, and smell are all exactly the same! That guy wasn't lying!"

Now even Kurapika and Killua could find no reason to object.

If there was nothing wrong with the candles, didn't that bring them back to their original logical judgment?

"So my judgment was right!" Leorio waved his hand triumphantly.

"This is nothing more than a battle of wits!

"Now that we've ruled out tampering with the props, the only remaining answer is reverse thinking!"

He looked at the others, his eyes full of anticipation. "Well? Shall we take the bet? Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Win this one, and we'll have it easy!"

Gon looked at Leorio, then at Lin Yan, clearly torn. He instinctively trusted Lin Yan, but Leorio's analysis sounded very reasonable too.

Kurapika fell silent, his brows tightly furrowed. Logically, he could no longer find a flaw.

Killua pursed his lips. He still didn't like it, but he couldn't say exactly what was wrong.

Watching Leorio, who had become completely carried away, Lin Yan sighed inwardly.

Taoism taught seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity, but some tribulations were brought on by people's own hearts. There was no stopping them.

"My answer hasn't changed. We can't take this bet." Lin Yan made one last effort. "Even if everything you say is right, this is still an enormous gamble."

"And there's no need for us to put our fate in the hands of luck."

"This isn't luck! It's intelligence!" Leorio retorted loudly. "Lin Yan, I know you're cautious, but sometimes an opportunity disappears in the blink of an eye! Hesitating over every little thing will only make us miss our chance!"

"Well, everyone, have you decided?" the refined prisoner across from them urged with a smile. "My time is valuable too."

"Will you bet or not? Or do you intend to send someone out to fight me fair and square, like you did in the last round?"

Those words became the final straw.

"Fight you?" Leorio sneered. "Who knows what freakish ability you have? Why use our fists when we can solve this with our brains?"

He turned, staring intently at the others. "I've decided! I'll take this round! I'll bet!"

He never stopped to consider why his opponent had volunteered the option of a fight.

In a con artist's world, every apparent choice was really designed to usher you more quickly into the one trap he had prepared for you.

"Leorio!" Kurapika tried to persuade him again.

"Enough!" Leorio waved him off, his face set with an all-or-nothing resolve. "If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility! It has nothing to do with you!"

With that, he strode forward.

"I'll bet! I'm betting that the long one will burn out first!"

A smile of triumph flickered across the refined prisoner's face, then quickly vanished.

"Very good. You've got courage." He nodded approvingly. "Then please have your companions come forward as witnesses as well."

Lin Yan, Gon, Killua, and Kurapika walked to the center of the arena, along with Tonpa, who had been hiding in the back and enjoying the show.

The two candles were placed in specially made holders, one on the left and one on the right.

The refined prisoner took out a box of matches, struck one, and then lit both candlewicks at the same time.

"The wager has officially begun."

Two tiny flames danced softly in the dim stone chamber.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on those two flames.

And so the curtain rose on a high-stakes gamble with fifty hours on the line.