The chubby boy leaned back in his seat, grinning at Lin Jie:
"Well?"
Lin Jie did not answer directly. "Zhu Lun, you're a veteran Werewolf player."
"Veterans generally have more experience than new players."
"But in certain situations, past experience can also hurt you."
Zhu Lun could not make any sense of what Lin Jie was saying.
"Are you saying veteran Werewolf players are bolder and more likely to fake-claim Seer?"
"Lin Jie, I'll freely admit it."
"I have played Werewolf before. But that doesn't mean I'm a fake Seer."
"What you're saying makes no sense at all."
The chubby boy still had not grasped his situation and was still bluffing.
Lin Jie shook his head. "You still don't understand what I mean."
"You just said you checked my role and found that I was a werewolf, right?"
"Could you repeat what happened at night in more detail?"
The chubby boy curled his lip. "I wasn't lying anyway, so I don't mind repeating it as many times as you want."
"Listen carefully."
"I signaled 'nine' to God."
"And God gave me a thumbs-down."
"That gesture means your role is a werewolf!"
"Is anything still unclear?"
The corners of Lin Jie's mouth lifted, and he said with a smile, "Was this the gesture you meant?"
As he spoke, he emphatically gave the chubby boy a thumbs-down.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" The chubby boy was clearly displeased by Lin Jie's gesture.
"I don't mean anything else. I just want you to confirm whether God's gesture looked like this."
"I couldn't have been clearer. A thumbs-down, exactly that gesture. What's the problem?"
Lin Jie leaned against the backrest, interlaced his fingers, and looked at the chubby boy:
"Remember what I just said about how past experience might hurt you?"
"You've probably played a lot of Werewolf in the real world, haven't you?"
"Under classic Werewolf rules, God's thumbs-up means a good player, and a thumbs-down means a werewolf."
"That's the established convention."
"But-"
Lin Jie suddenly paused and turned to God:
"I've forgotten some of the rules. God, could you repeat the gestures used for the Seer's checks?"
God nodded. "Of course."
"The Seer needs to signal the exact number of the player they wish to check."
"When I receive the number, I will give the corresponding gesture according to that person's role."
"The gesture for a good player is a thumbs-up."
As he spoke, God extended his hand and demonstrated: his thumb pointed upward, with his other fingers curled into a fist.
"The gesture for a werewolf is-"
God bent his middle three fingers, pointing his thumb and little finger downward to form a "claw."
"A wolf claw."
Everyone caught on. "That's right! I remember too. God said at night that the gesture for a werewolf was a wolf claw!"
Lin Jie turned to the chubby boy:
"See? The gesture for a werewolf isn't a thumbs-down at all!"
"You outed yourself!"
After seeing God's gesture, the chubby boy turned ashen.
"H-how could this happen? How could I make such a basic mistake?"
Lin Jie was still smiling:
"That's perfectly normal."
"No new Werewolf player would make this mistake."
"Because a new player wouldn't have preconceived notions."
"But you've played countless rounds of Werewolf. The idea that a thumbs-down means a werewolf is already deeply ingrained in your mind."
"So even if today's rules changed, you'd take things for granted and overlook it."
"You couldn't help assuming that the werewolf gesture was still a thumbs-down."
"That's why I said it was your past Werewolf experience that hurt you."
"Listen carefully to the rules before you fake-claim Seer next time."
Lin Jie lightly stroked his forehead, looking at the chubby boy with a mocking expression.
The people around them were also staring warily at Zhu Lun.
In everyone's eyes, at that very moment, Zhu Lun had gone from a Seer to a werewolf.
But the chubby boy still did not seem to have given up. His face darkened, and he said nothing, apparently still thinking.
"What, do you have anything else to say?" Director Zheng asked in a low voice. "You and Li Xin are both wolves. That's a fact everyone can see."
"After Li Xin's Seer claim failed, you, as her teammate, chose to make another claim, hoping to salvage the situation,"
"And you even turned the accusation against Lin Jie, a good player who'd identified a werewolf. What else do you have to say?"
Everyone could see clearly.
Who was good and who was a werewolf was perfectly clear now.
Any defense at this point would only seem feeble.
Finally, the chubby boy sighed and stopped struggling.
"I lost."
"Lin Jie, you really are impressive. Losing to you is no disgrace."
"To think I was just laughing at Li Xin in my head, only to immediately make the same mistake."
"All I can say is that relying on experience really screwed me over."
Driver Chen caught on too. "So you're admitting you're fake?"
"Fuck, I got fooled twice!"
At that moment, God suddenly spoke up with a reminder. "Attention, everyone. There are less than five minutes left before the daytime discussion ends."
"Players, please hurry and decide whom to ＜execute＞."
Everyone looked at one another, exchanging knowing glances.
They already had two candidates in mind.
Director Zheng spoke. "You two, although I'm very sorry, these are the rules of the game."
"We have to execute the werewolves."
Chen Li was even more direct. "Why waste words on werewolves? Execute one today, then have the Witch poison the other tonight. Take them both out!"
He had been fooled twice in a row by two people and was in a foul mood.
Everyone nodded. "Exactly. Hurry up and execute them. If we don't execute the werewolves, we'll be the ones dying tonight!"
Lin Jie was not taking part in the discussion.
He had been thinking about one question all along.
It was already certain that Li Xin and Zhu Lun were both wolves.
Then what about the third wolf?
He looked around. Everyone was deeply hostile toward those two, all drawing a clear line between themselves and the pair.
Not one of them acted like their teammate.
Lin Jie's role was blank, though he did not know exactly what role that was.
But based on the chubby boy's earlier hostility toward him, Lin Jie was certain he could not belong to the werewolf faction.
So there had to be a third wolf, hidden very well.
Lin Jie had caught two werewolves alive on the first day of the game, an outstanding performance in any round of Werewolf.
But he was not satisfied.
He wanted to find all the werewolves on the very first day!
What could he do to find the third wolf easily?
After a moment's thought, Lin Jie came up with a "vicious" method.
This third wolf was an excellent actor. Perhaps only their werewolf teammates knew exactly who they were.
So why not get the answer out of the exposed werewolves?
Everyone was still discussing it. "There are two wolves now, but we can only execute one person a day. Who do we vote out first today?"
Lin Jie suddenly cleared his throat twice:
"You two, I have something else to say."
"Neither of you can escape death. Once you're dead, you'll only have one teammate left, with virtually no chance of turning things around."
"Besides, this isn't a faction battle. Even if that person survives, it has nothing to do with you."
"What you need to fight for now is every extra day you can stay alive."
"Since today's execution will be one of you two,"
"Why don't we make a deal?"
"Listen carefully..."
The two looked up at Lin Jie with watery eyes, unsure what he was going to do this time.
Lin Jie's voice rose:
"Whoever names the third werewolf first-"
"Will be spared execution today!"