After saying that, Professor Moriarty paused for about two seconds before he continued. “Oh, regarding the question you asked.”
His face showed a crooked smile as he turned to look at Ambitionist. “Obviously, we are not going to answer that.”
When he made that announcement, one of the question cards sitting on the table turned itself over and moved to stop before Ambitionist. The front of the card had the word ’exemption’. After that, it was Autumn Zither’s turn.
“Hmm… let me think about this,” Autumn Zither said and fall deep in thought.
Weighty Words reminded him from the other end of the table. “For this round, I think it is best that we all choose ’question’ so that we can draw an exemption card for insurance first.”
Ambitionist agreed with Weighty Words’ point of view, so he added, “He’s right. Currently, we know too little information about the game. It is way too dangerous for us to go for conjecture, and selecting assumption will have a high chance of triggering the punishment.”
It was at that same moment that Professor Moriarty chose to speak. “At this point, I feel like I have the obligation to explain something. In terms of lethality, the punishment for hints is set between light and medium, while the damage of the punishment for question and conjecture will be between medium and serious, but the punishment for assumption will be between serious and fatal.”
“According to the normal set of tactics for this game,” Holmes added, “after the participants who do not know the truth join the game, they normally spend the second round choosing questions so that they can get the chance fight for the exemption cards. And finally, in the third round, they will try for the assumption. That way even if they are wrong with the assumption, they can use the exemption card that they collected from second round to nullify the punishment.”
He took another puff of smoke. “Huff… Of course, if you gentlemen here have enough confidence in your critical analysis skills, you can also choose to go directly for a conjecture in the third round, but if your conjecture has nothing to do with the real truth, the exemption card will be wasted for no reason… And finally, when the fourth round arrives, you will have no choice but to conduct an assumption without any security measures to provide the extra layer of safety for yourself.”
“Hmm… That is a very effective tactic for this game… Wait a sec!” Autumn Zither was simulating the scenarios on the basis of what Mr. Holmes had said, but then he suddenly realized something. “Hey… aren’t we supposed to be enemies? What is the meaning of this? Are the two of you so kind to help us analyze so many things? That does not appear to be beneficial for you.”
“Haha… I just want to make the game more interesting. Moreover, what I was briefing you on was just the simplest of tactics.” There was the faintest trace of a smile on Holmes’ face. “I do believe that any of you here will have come to the same arrangement to deal with the first four rounds and select a hint, question, assumption, and conjecture in this order for the first four rounds after some simple analysis.”
“But if you feel like the kind reminder that Mr. Holmes and I have given to you are a kind of misdirection, feel free to ignore it. You do have the freedom to not follow our advice.” Professor Moriarty pause for few seconds with that confident smile on his face. “It is your choice to do so.”
“They are not wrong.” Weighty Words turned to Autumn Zither after some thinking on what Mr. Holmes had told them. “My main goal is to live and survive until the fifth round. And for all the tactics I can think off, the tactic provided by Mr. Holmes is the safest and most accurate.”
“They merely gave us the tactic that we could have come up with on our own and will most likely put into practice. It’s not really significant help that they have given us.” Ambitionist pushed on his glasses. “But if you rebel against their advice due to a fear of reverse psychology, it is sad to say you will have officially fallen into their trap.”
After Autumn Zither heard both sides of the argument and gave it some thought, he said, “Question.”
He looked the professor and Mr. Holmes. “Other than the death of all the non-knowers and unlocking the rules of this dimension, is there another way of ending this game?”
The two bosses shared a look, and this time, they chose to answer.
“Yes, there is. You can try to kill the professor,” Holmes answered with a smile.
“But if you can kill me, then this game and all within this room will disappear,” Moriarty added.
Their answer was over. After a moment of silence, a question card on the surface of the table moved to stop before Autumn Zither. Autumn Zither took a deep breath to calm his uneasy breathing and then turned the card over. The front of the card was blank. The look on Autumn Zither’s face was as if a heavy load had been removed from his shoulders.
“Haha … You should have more confidence in yourself, young man.” Professor Moriarty praised him. “That was not a bad question you asked.”
Autumn Zither gave a long sigh after hearing what Professor Moriarty had said. “Looking at how at ease and confident both of you are, I was naturally apprehensive…”
He looked at Professor Moriarty and Mr. Holmes, and then he turned his gaze to his teammates and pondered for few seconds.
“It is obvious that with our ability, we are definitely unable to harm much less kill the professor. But let’s assume that we can figure out the rule monitoring this space, then we will have the chance to do that…” Ambitionist picked up where he left off. “But… if we have already figured out the rules of this dimension, there is no need for us to take the risk of conducting a battle anymore. Hence, we could win the game directly through the method of ’assumption’ and saying the rules out loud.”
“That does not preclude the possibility that… of the four of us, some of us refuse to make the assumption even though we already know the truth and insist on killing the professor,” Feng Bujue suddenly said. At that moment, his other three teammates tossed him a shocking but meaningful look.
Feng Bujue leaned against the back of the chair and opened both of his arms to ask, “What? Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Brother Feng, I just think that only you would do something like that,” Weighty Words said. Both Autumn Zither and Ambitionist also nodded, showing that they agreed with what Weighty Words said.
“Then let’s stop this stupid game and let me try out some killing methods.” As Feng Bujue spoke, he took out something from his inventory.
“What!” When the other three saw Feng Bujue reached his hand into his inventory, they were all shocked because their inventories had become sealed again when they entered this room. Theoretically speaking, they were all players, so Feng Bujue should not have been exempted from this limitation. But they saw, with their own eyes, Feng Bujue raise the anti-gravity gun and used the Nokia phone that he had taken out from his pocket as the bullet, aiming it right at Professor Moriarty. “Any last words? Professor.”
“Hahaha…” Holmes guffawed next to the professor. He even put down his pipe and gave Feng Bujue a round of applause.
Moriarty was still unfazed and collected. He sat at the table unmoved and calmly replied, “Incredible… It is only halfway through the second round, but you have already completed the analysis.”
“Adversaries who are too weak or too strong will deprive the game of its joy, wouldn’t you agree?” Feng Bujue smiled.
“What is really going on?” Ambitionist said. “Brother Feng… How did you…”
“The rule governing this dimension is…” Feng Bujue said in a very confident tone. “If you believe it is true, then it will be true.”
“What the… How did you even come up with something like that?” This time, Autumn Zither could not even follow Brother Jue’s train of thought. Feng Bujue put down the gun temporarily and explained, “First, think back to the most basic hint. Language is a kind of power.”
He tapped his temple lightly with his finger twice. “Do you still remember the five messages?”
Without waiting for the response from his teammates, Feng Bujue said, “These messages are not comments on the aftermath of the incident but the reason behind the occurrence of the incidents.”
“In other words… the messages that we saw during the process of climbing the building…” Ambitionist was the first to catch up.
And Weighty Words continued his sentence. “… were left there first before the tragedy actually happened.”
“When we leaped into the waterfall at the top of the sixth floor, those five sentences became a part of our ’memory’,” Feng Bujue said. “Therefore, the experience that we faced in our memory space in part corresponded to the messages that we’d seen.”
Brother Jue’s eyes scanned the rest of his teammates.
“If I am not mistaken, the items that we all carried, the match, the witch hat, the broom, and the apple, they were all used in the memory space to either solve the puzzle or push the scenario forward, yes?”
The three of them nodded slightly. It was true that they had all used up the plot items in their own separate memory spaces.
“There are two similarities across all these items. First, we obtained all of them within the ’experiment zone’; secondly, due to various reasons, they were all expended or used before we entered this room. Haha… With that, I could not help but come to a hypothesis. Is there someone who doesn’t want us to bring these things into the room?” Feng Bujue said as he pointed at the phone that floated before the firing device. “Look, the phone, folding knife, and notebook that I gained outside the experiment zone… I’ve managed to bring all of them in here with me.”
“This is the final room. Isn’t it totally normal for the ’plot items’ to be exhausted before we arrive here?” Weighty Words said. “And Brother Feng, the items that you have like the knife and notebook, they are tools or equipment that can be taken out from the scenario and not plot items that are necessary to proceed with the plot.”
“Yes, that explanation might make some kind of sense, but…” Feng Bujue smirked coldly. “But the one sentence that professor told me earlier has been stuck in my mind. He said… ’This is not a world inside my brain, but a space constructed by a collective consciousness.’ Combined with the situation that is happening before us and the interlude of the events inside the memory space, I understand that the main reason for that is for us to exhaust the items that we should not have brought in here with us.”
“But why?” Autumn Zither asked.
“Because those few items are the ’creation’ of other consciousnesses, and their appearance here will have an impact on the professor,” Ambitionist said with a slower tone. He believed that he had finally caught up to Brother Jue’s train of thought.
“Professor, you are not going to deny that, are you?” Feng Bujue said with a smile.
“You’re right. Those items can indeed pose a certain threat to me. Of course, the premise is you need to know how to use them,” the professor admitted generously.
“Humph… Since the items are already used, it does not matter anymore, right?” Autumn Zither scoffed.
“Then, we shall talk about the situation that occurs after the start of this round table game,” Feng Bujue explained. “The four of us entered the game according to the rules, and we were all injured to various degrees by the power of ’language’. There is nothing to be said about that. But during the professor’s turn, he has instantly revealed a flaw.”
“What are you talking about?” Moriarty shifted slightly with a frown.
“No, no, no, what I am talking about is not that important. The key is what you have said,” Feng Bujue repeated. “Hint, there is no lie in this world.”
When Feng Bujue said that, Holmes’ hand that held the smoking pipe shivered slightly. He said darkly, “Hmm… looks like the professor’s hint was too obvious.”
“Don’t tell me you managed to guess the truth after hearing a sentence like that,” Moriarty said.
“I merely came to a hypothesis, but I have not confirmed it.” Feng Bujue shrugged and sighed. “Sigh… Your hint did not lead to any punishment, so that means that your hint has a certain meaning to it. Since you gave me a meaningful and useful hint, I had to dig something out from it to not disappoint you, professor.”
“To see the truth is to believe what is true,” Autumn Zither said. “In other words… as long as you perceive something as real in your mind, it will become the truth.”
“So, the hint ’there is no lie in this world’ has a chance to be valid,” Weighty Words added.
Combined with the conclusion that was given by Feng Bujue, these two naturally understood the process of the analysis as well.
“It was Mr. Holmes’ assumption that helped me move one step closer to the truth,” Feng Bujue said with a smile. “He said… ’Professor Moriarty is an idiot’. I tried to analyze that statement from another angle… As someone in the know, during the assumption process, they naturally cannot say anything that has any relation to the real truth because that will be no different from an admission of defeat. Therefore, Mr. Holmes came up with an assumption that did have nothing to do with the truth. Actually, at the time, he could have given us a statement that was completely meaningless like ’the sky is blue’ or ’snow is white’ and then just accept the punishment, but he did not… Just like you said, professor, Mr. Holmes is extremely conceited, casual, and lives above the rules. Therefore, he came up with the statement, Professor Moriarty is an idiot.
“Haha… Now that is where this gets interesting. Why didn’t he say something preposterous like ’a giraffe can breathe fire’ or ’pigs are flying in the sky’? Because he knows that… if he said something like that, there is a chance of that becoming a part of the truth.”
Feng Bujue extended one of his fingers and pointed around him.
“The two of you are very familiar with the rules within this place and have already gotten used to manipulating the rules. You only need to convince your own brain into believing certain statements as the truth, and those statements will turn into reality. Just like earlier, as long as Mr. Holmes can convince himself that the bomb will not cause any damage to him, he will be able to survive the ordeal unscathed.
“This kind of self-hypnosis can be trained until one can master it, and that should not be that difficult for two brilliant minds like you.” Brother Jue titled his head and told the professor, “And ’Professor Moriarty is an idiot’ is a statement that Mr. Holmes cannot bring himself to believe no matter what, so he said it in a tone of mockery.
“After that, the statement that you gave, the ’nice try’, and Mr. Holmes’ ’it does not cost anything to try’ brought me straight to the truth. His attempt was to try to use the power of the language to turn into an idiot, and after he failed, the two of you shared this inside joke half-jokingly. And with that, I basically confirmed the truth.”
“Then, why didn’t you choose the assumption card during your turn?” Moriarty card.
“Because it was not the safest choice,” Feng Bujue replied, wagging his finger. “What if my assumption was wrong? So, at that moment, what I needed was more time to confirm and test out my hypothesis, so I first chose the question card and asked a question that was safe no matter what.”
“When you gave the question, I had not even given you the full rules of the question card. The fact that you could ask a question like that has proven that you are more brilliant than most,” Moriarty commented.
“Thank you for the compliment,” Feng Bujue replied. “In conclusion… to test out my conclusion, it was necessary for me to wait for my turn in this round table game. I could complete it while sitting at my seat.”
Ambitionist used a practically bulging eyes to look at Feng Bujue. “How did you manage to master how to use ’language’ to control the rules within this dimension within this short period of time?”
“That poses its own level of difficulty, but it is not impossible,” Feng Bujue said. “I have been silently trying to convince myself that… I have two tongues.”
“Huh?” Including Moriarty, the expression of everyone who was seated at the table had changed drastically.
“And I succeeded,” Feng Bujue said as he opened his mouth. From underneath his original tongue stretched out another tongue that was a complete replica of the original one. “And just like that, I managed to understand the whole truth. As long as I can convince myself that something is the ’truth’, then it will be the truth.”
“Er… I have to ask…” Autumn Zither paused. “Why didn’t you test out your hypothesis with statement like ’the wounds on my face will heal’?”
“Then wouldn’t that expose what I am trying to do directly?” Feng Bujue tossed the question back.
“Ha…” Moriarty grinned wickedly. “Therefore, after confirming that you can end this game by killing us, you have decided to kill us instead, huh? Hehe… Forgive me for being so straight forward, but isn’t that a bit too unwise?”
He glanced at Weighty Words next to him. “To have your partner speak out the truth through the use of an assumption, wouldn’t that be the safer way for you all to win this game?”
“Huff.” Holmes puffed out a smoke ring before saying, “It is praiseworthy that you managed to pull out the item from your second dimension pocket, but are you sure you want to get into battle with us?”
His tone was still as even as ever.
“For us, correcting the reality here using ’thought’ and ’language’ has become second nature to us. We only need a few seconds for me to convince myself that ’Feng Bujue is a rock’ or ’Feng Bujue will crumble into meat paste’.” He pointed at Brother Jue. “And you will have needed quite some time to convince yourself that your ’second dimension pocket can be used again’, right? How can you be sure that you can beat us in a battle?”
“Brother Feng… they seem to be giving us a way out,” Weighty Words said.
“They are just trying to act calm. Humph… As long as I have a firm belief that ’Feng Bujue will never die’, nothing will happen.” Feng Bujue chuckled. “When the ’truth’ that other people believe comes into conflict with the ’truth’ that I believe, this will turn into a simple match of one’s determination and belief.”
“Brother Feng… But why would you…” Ambitionist did not get it either. At this point, Weighty Words only needed to point out the truth in the assumption, and they would win the game. Why did Feng Bujue insist on fighting these two bosses?
“You still do not understand it, do you?” Feng Bujue interrupted him. “This place is just a psychological world, so the power of thought and language will be so immensely powerful here. It even has the power to overturn the rule itself.”
His wounds on his cheeks healed at the moment, and his tongue joined back into one. “In real life, our bodies are most likely inside the ’Detective Club’, but our consciousnesses are trapped inside this so-called ’experiment zone’.”
What Feng Bujue said next could not be heard by the bosses. “I only have one question for all of you… Do you wish to end this scenario as soon as possible or follow me to see the truth behind this scenario?”
Ambitionist, Autumn Zither, and Weighty Words looked at one another. As professional players, sometimes, they needed to balance and pick between efficiency and fun. For the three of them, they all had something similar to Brother Jue in their bones, and that was a curiosity that bordered on sickness…
“Okay, we’ll follow your plan,” Ambitionist said.
Weighty Words added, “I guess I will lay down my life to follow this maddening trip to the end.”
Autumn Zither was still leaning back in the chair. “I am still trying to convince myself that ’my chest is not wounded’, so I have no spare energy left to stop you.”
“Hahaha…” Feng Bujue laughed. He raised thee anti-gravity gun again and aimed the Nokia phone bullet at Moriarty. “Professor, it is with regret that I have to tell you, no matter what dimension it is, no matter what physical rules are in place, no matter what biological creature is present… being hit by this thing will lead to certain death!”
Pew!
The phone howled through the wind after it was launched from the firing device. Professor Moriarty watched with consternation as the black shadow fired toward his face.
Almost the moment the attack made contact, the system announcements came one after another.
“Current quest completed. Main quest has been updated.
“World-building has been unlocked. Player Feng Bujue has gained 2,700 Skill Points as a reward. The team can read about the scenario’s world-building by expanding the quest tab in the game menu.
“Currently entering the plot of the hidden scenario.”
In the quest tab, “Defeat Moriarty and Holmes at the round table” had been crossed out, and a new quest appeared in its place. “Defeat the real boss or escape from the Detective Club.”