The one who interrupted was the tall, thin man, Yu Ze:
"Your game has a loophole!"
White Rabbit shot him a displeased glare. "Every game has been tested in practice. There can't possibly be any loopholes."
But Yu Ze persisted. "You said all of us need to put talisman papers of the same color into the bonfire for the ritual to have any chance of succeeding."
"Yes. What's the problem?"
Yu Ze pointed at the bonfire again. "And this is the bonfire we put them in, right?"
"That's right. What about it?" A hint of impatience crept into White Rabbit's voice.
"Then that's a huge problem! The bonfire is out in the open, with nothing blocking the view!"
"That means anyone can clearly see what color talisman paper the person before them put in!"
"As long as a human puts in a talisman paper different from the previous person's, wouldn't that make completing the ritual impossible?"
"And the moment the imp puts in anything unusual, wouldn't his identity be exposed?"
"Doesn't that mean the imp can't possibly win?"
White Rabbit's tone was serious. "You're right about that. The bonfire is out in the open. All voting is conducted openly, too."
"Based on our past experience, the imp does indeed have a very low chance of winning this game."
"In fact, it's been a long time since an imp last won."
"This is a green-tier game. It's considerably more difficult than a white-tier game. Some unfairness is inevitable."
"Still, in theory, it isn't impossible for the imp to win."
"Besides, I haven't finished explaining the rules."
As she spoke, White Rabbit suddenly clenched her hand hard in Yu Ze's direction.
Zhao Tian's expression suddenly changed, and he collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony.
"Ah!! I was wrong! I'll shut up!"
White Rabbit withdrew her hand, and Yu Ze recovered as well, gasping for breath.
"Next time someone interrupts my explanation of the rules, the punishment won't be so simple."
White Rabbit paused, then continued explaining the rules. "As I just said, the process of putting in talisman papers is completely open and transparent."
"In other words, everyone can see exactly what color talisman paper you put in."
"However, it isn't impossible for the imp to win."
As she spoke, she showed everyone the talisman papers again.
"These three types of talisman papers are blue, red, and multicolored."
"Blue and red are ordinary talisman papers."
"The multicolored ones are wildcard talisman papers."
"Multicolored can represent any color."
"So putting multicolored talisman papers into the bonfire will only help the summoning ritual along."
Lin Jie was also constantly analyzing the rules in his mind.
Six talisman papers of the same color would complete the summoning. Multicolored ones were wildcards.
Blue, blue, blue, blue, multicolored, multicolored. A combination like that counted as entirely blue, all the same color, and could complete the summoning.
Blue, blue, blue, red, red, multicolored. With both blue and red talisman papers present, the summoning couldn't be completed.
Since multicolored talisman papers were wildcards and theoretically wouldn't hinder the summoning ritual, humans shouldn't put in multicolored talisman papers.
So far, the rules were fairly simple.
White Rabbit continued:
"Multicolored talisman papers advance the summoning ritual, so humans who put in multicolored talisman papers demonstrate courage. Therefore,"
"Every time you put in a multicolored talisman paper, you'll receive an additional reward of one million yuan in real-world money."
"Not only that, once the game ends, if the human faction wins, the human with the highest accumulated cash reward will become the human hero and receive double the lifespan reward."
"If the imp wins, the imp alone will receive double the lifespan reward, plus a prize of ten million yuan."
"All the humans' previous cash rewards will be forfeited, and their souls will be scattered, killing them completely."
"However, although the human who previously accumulated the most cash will have their rewards reclaimed, they will become the imp's helper for having contributed the most to summoning the demon. The helper will be spared the death penalty."
What?
Lin Jie frowned. They had actually established a rule like this to encourage humans to put in multicolored talisman papers.
"At this point, I'll give a final summary of how the game's results are settled:"
"After nine rounds of summoning, if the summoning fails, the humans win."
"All humans will be rewarded with lifespan, and the human hero can receive double the lifespan. Only the imp will have their soul scattered and die completely."
"If the summoning succeeds, the imp wins alone."
"The imp alone receives double the lifespan reward. In addition, the imp will receive an extra reward of ten million yuan."
"The human with the highest accumulated cash prize is the helper and is spared death. All the other humans will have their souls scattered and vanish completely."
"That concludes the explanation of all the game rules. You have five minutes to discuss."
"After that, you'll draw your roles."
After listening, Yu Ze muttered under his breath, unconvinced, "This game does have a loophole."
"Even with the multicolored talisman paper rule, the imp still can't win, can they?"
"Because the whole process is openly visible. As soon as the humans notice things going wrong, they can immediately put in a different-colored talisman paper to stop the summoning."
At this point, Lin Jie had to admit that he was essentially right.
This game was far too unfair to the imp.
Drawing the imp role meant fighting one against five. Moreover, the voting process was completely transparent, leaving the imp absolutely no room to maneuver.
And Lin Jie didn't want to draw the imp, either.
Because his younger sister was here. Becoming the imp would mean being enemies with his own sister.
He would rather draw a human role, belong to the same faction as his sister, and achieve a human victory.
Lin Jie looked around. The two veteran players were whispering to each other, discussing who knew what.
Chen Li, the driver, sat there with a twig, idly scribbling on the ground while muttering:
"Blue, multicolored, red, multicolored, blue, blue... Does that mean the summoning succeeds or fails again?"
Beside him, Xia Qu patiently explained, "Sir, that counts as mixed colors, so the summoning should fail. It's a human victory."
It seemed they were still working hard to analyze the rules.
"Big brother, I don't want to draw the imp role."
Lin Zhi spoke quietly beside him.
It seemed Lin Zhi was thinking the same thing he was.
Lin Zhi was still in high school, and her grades were excellent, too.
Lin Jie had never worried about his sister's intelligence.
She could surely see as well that the humans had an enormous advantage in this game.
Lin Jie encouraged her. "Don't worry. We'll both draw human roles."
Lin Zhi nodded uncertainly, though a faint trace of worry remained in her eyes.
"Time's up. Everyone, please draw your roles."
White Rabbit opened her hand, and six black role cards gleamed.
"I'll go!" Chen Li stepped forward first and took a role card.
"Yes!" He happily clenched his fist on the spot.
From that reaction, everyone could tell at a glance that he had drawn a human.
Xia Qu silently reached out and drew one as well.
After glancing at it, she patted her chest in relief.
It looked very much as though she had drawn a human, too.
The two veterans then stepped forward as well, each taking a card.
These two, however, were clearly experienced.
They glanced at their role cards, then quickly covered them.
Their faces remained expressionless throughout, making it impossible to tell what they had drawn.
Lin Zhi was next.
Her hands trembled slightly as she carefully accepted a role card.
After glancing at it, her expression relaxed a little.
Lin Jie and his sister had lived together for over a decade. They already knew each other as well as they possibly could.
Lin Jie could read every expression on Lin Zhi's face.
That reaction meant Lin Zhi had drawn a human card, too.
Only one card remained.
Lin Jie stepped forward and accepted his role card.
He kept silently repeating to himself:
Not the imp. Not the imp.
The black ring on his hand flashed eerily.
Lin Jie gently turned over the card.
Two large characters were starkly written on it-
Imp.