After receiving the tavern owner’s assurance, the Adventurers quickly calmed down.
It was as if they had won a victory against a tyrannical landlord; they sat down in a spot with their heads held high and chests puffed out.
They planned to spend all the happy coins in their hands.
Then, they would leave here and go to the next Dungeon.
But before that.
They still adopted a serious attitude; after all, since they were already here, they might as well earn a little and understand how this peculiar Dungeon worked.
However, as their understanding gradually increased, they didn't realize they were slowly becoming engrossed in the game's content.
The tavern owner introduced, “In our tavern, there are many ways to play. If I were to recommend one, it would be the highly brain-teasing 【Werewolf】, which you can also call ‘Night Falls, Please Close Your Eyes.’ ”
“Now we begin the beginner’s guide…”
The tavern's environment suddenly changed.
The sky abruptly darkened.
When it brightened again, six Adventurers found that only they were sitting at this table; the other ninety-four people had disappeared.
The tavern owner walked back and forth beside them, his footsteps echoing.
“Now, put your happy coins on the table and take your hands off the chip area. Each round requires one hundred happy coins, and players are divided into two factions. The surviving winners can split the chips of the other faction.”
“However, you certainly don’t understand the value of happy coins, so we’ll skip that for now and directly explain the core gameplay of Werewolf.”
The tavern owner’s smoky voice was particularly clear amidst the dark footsteps, “Actually, Werewolf only requires three things… that is, brains, acting skills, and courage.”
Six Adventurers sat around an oak round table, candlelight flickering in their eyes.
The owner dramatically plunged a stack of cards into the center of the table with a dagger, making a “cha” sound:
“Originally, it should be a twelve-person standard game, but explaining that is too troublesome. So now we've simplified it to a six-person beginner’s tutorial. There are currently three basic roles: Werewolf, Seer, and Villager.”
He fanned out six gilded cards.
The fangs on the Werewolf card seemed to seep blood in the candlelight.
“These three basic roles represent the Werewolf and Good Guy factions, which are the 【targets】 you need to defeat each other.”
The owner’s knuckles tapped the cards. “The Werewolves’ goal is to kill all the Villagers, and the Good Guys’ goal is to banish all the Werewolves. The night phase, when you close your eyes, is when you act. During the day, it’s time for open discussion.”
He suddenly pushed the candlestick towards Adventurer Number One, “Suppose you are the Werewolf…”
The candlelight extinguished with a “poof.”
There was the sound of leather rubbing in the darkness.
“Now, who do you want to kill?” The tavern owner then lowered his voice and said, “Don’t worry, they can’t hear.”
Adventurer Number One was startled by this scene, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his fingertips lightly brushing past Adventurer Number Two.
The tavern owner snapped his fingers, and Adventurer Number Two’s head suddenly exploded.
“This is the night action.”
When the candlelight reignited, the owner was comfortably lighting a cigar.
“Remember, Werewolves must collectively kill one person every night. Now, Adventurer Number Two is dead.”
Cigar ash fell onto the happy coins serving as chips, and smoke rings were exhaled.
“By day, you must do this…”
He suddenly grabbed Adventurer Number Three by the collar:
“Number One just spoke; he said he was the Seer and had already verified you were the Werewolf yesterday, so you were the one who knifed Number Two last night, right?”
Number Three was startled and tried his best to explain, “No, I didn’t know what happened at all last night. When it got dark, I just sat here unable to move.”
The tavern owner didn’t listen to his explanation but turned to Adventurer Number Four: “He says he didn’t knife anyone. What do you think?”
Adventurer Number Four was stunned for a moment, unsure how to answer.
The hourglass in the corner of the tavern began to flow.
“Each person is limited to two minutes for speaking, followed by a vote to banish.”
The owner released Adventurer Number Three.
Then, he pulled out an identity card from the “dead” Adventurer Number Two, revealing the Seer’s crescent moon emblem.
“The Good Guy faction has a Seer, who can check one person’s identity each night. But unfortunately, the Seer was the one who died yesterday.”
At this moment, Adventurer Number Six suddenly raised his hand: “What if the Seer didn’t die on the first night and found the Werewolf?”
“That’s the fun of this board game.”
The owner exhaled a long smoke ring and said with a smile:
“You have to try to convince others to believe you, instead of being framed by the Werewolf. Remember, in this game…”
All the candles extinguished simultaneously, and the howl of a Werewolf echoed in the darkness.
“It’s not just claws that can kill; truth and lies are both weapons.”
When light returned, the tavern was back to its original appearance.
The six people were astonished to find that the other ninety-four Adventurers had been observing from the side all along.
The tavern owner wiped his dagger, chuckling, “This is my beginner’s tutorial. How about it, want to play a round now?”
Truth and lies are both weapons!
The hundred Adventurers exchanged glances. From the beginner’s tutorial just now, they vaguely sensed the fun of this Dungeon.
“It seems a bit interesting. I understand why it’s called the Deceitful Tavern. In this Dungeon, you have to rely on all sorts of lies and acting skills to play!”
“It feels a bit like… I also watched the beginner’s tutorial just now and generally understood the purpose of all the identity cards.”
“Why don’t we just go for a round? Anyway, these happy coins need to be spent, but what’s amazing is… you can actually earn them back.”
“In a twelve-person setup, there are four Werewolves, which means if the Werewolf faction wins, they can get 800 happy coins from the Good Guy faction?”
“Wrong, it’s the remaining Werewolves who split 800 happy coins,” someone corrected.
“But that’s a lot of earnings, one hundred happy coins. If all your teammates die in the end, couldn’t you just monopolize eight hundred happy coins?”
This Adventurer hit on the key point.
In fact, this last point was the most interesting aspect of the Deceitful Tavern created by Chen Yu.
These Adventurers, forcibly pulled from all corners of the world to participate in the evaluation, had no concept of the value of happy coins.
But Tidal Town and Deep Sea Town were different.
Chen Yu believed that after the selection ended, when this Dungeon went online in these two towns…
It would definitely cultivate a bunch of backstabbers.
When victory was within grasp, these backstabbers would specifically betray their teammates to earn more happy coins.
This would greatly increase the fun of the game.