Chapter 10
Chapter 10
“Hey, don’t be stupid!” the heavily built man told the tall student. “A one-in-twenty chance is terrible. Don’t waste a Mastermind vote at random!”
“I never said I wanted to start a vote now. I was only asking about the possibility,” the student replied.
Chen Nuo silently took out his own phone and performed a few quick calculations. He drew a sharp breath.
The scenario the college student had described was an extreme one: finding the Mastermind that very day. Naturally, that was highly unlikely and existed only in theory.
Yet even then, each person would receive three and a half million yuan. That was no small sum. So what if the game ended ten days later?
After ten days, eleven of the twenty-one contestants would remain. Ten cash-filled wall blocks would have turned around, bringing the prize pool to one hundred million dollars.
Split among eleven people, that came to more than nine million dollars each, or over sixty-four million yuan.
And what about the most extreme outcome of all?
The exact opposite of identifying the Mastermind on the first day: finding the Mastermind only on the final day.
By then, only one person would remain.
That person would claim two hundred million dollars alone. Converted into yuan… 1.4 billion.
The outcome was purely theoretical, but the number alone made Chen Nuo’s body burn and his blood race.
“Hey, how do we know you aren’t lying to us?” The heavily built man pointed at the cash-filled wall block and addressed Tina. “The money is sealed in a glass case. Who knows whether it’s real? And even if we identify the Mastermind, will you actually keep your promise, let us divide the money, and return home safely?”
Tina planted her hands on her hips, visibly annoyed. “I told you before, Tina never lies! The K Organization always honors its promises. Otherwise, why would it offer prize money at all? You already have bombs inside your bodies. The organization could simply threaten you into competing, couldn’t it?”
She had a point. None of them had any choice to begin with. The big man fell silent.
“If we win, will you remove the bombs from our bodies?” one of the twin sisters asked.
“Mm-hmm, of course we will, miss. You’ll go home safely with the prize money. Don’t worry!”
Some people still looked doubtful, so Tina continued.
“You’re all ordinary people. You probably think a hundred million dollars is an enormous sum and that the K Organization would never hand it over so readily, right? In that case, I’ll tell you the truth. The K Organization is guaranteed to make money from this game!
“In the end, it will earn far more than it pays out in prizes. The money is there to motivate you to give every contest everything you have, making each one as exciting as possible!”
The surgeon frowned in confusion. “How is that possible? No matter when the game ends, the K Organization will only pay money out. I don’t see how it can possibly make any.”
Before Tina could answer, Chen Nuo spoke.
“I know why.”
Everyone turned toward him in astonishment. The surgeon stared. “You know?”
“Yes. If my guess is correct, hidden cameras throughout the hotel are recording our every move and streaming the footage to the dark web.
“The dark-web audience around the world is watching this game and placing bets on us. The first thing they bet on, for example, was who would be the first person to leave the hotel.
“Every day from now on, they’ll bet on who will win that day’s contest. The Featured Player will probably have shorter odds, while the odds on everyone else will be longer.
“As the bookmaker, the K Organization is guaranteed to profit. And even without the gambling, there’s no telling how much money the viewership for this game alone could bring in.
“In other words, we’re performing in a massive reality show. At the same time, we’re like horses at a racetrack, with the dark-web audience all over the world betting on us.”
Chen Nuo looked at Tina. “Am I right?”
“Bingo! You’re so smart, Chen Nuo. You’ve only been here for a few hours, and you’ve already figured it out. I’m impressed!”
“Hey, how the hell do you know all this?” the heavily built man asked Chen Nuo suspiciously.
“Because when I was in the theater, I saw a lot of people on the screen betting on something. I didn’t understand what was happening at the time. I thought it was simply the plot of the movie.
“Then I heard screams outside when Song Xue’s husband’s head exploded at the hotel entrance. Before I ran out of the theater, I saw a foreign man on the screen shouting that his bet had won and that he’d made ten million dollars.
“That was when I began to suspect I hadn’t been watching a movie at all. I was watching people on the dark web betting on us like racehorses.
“The people outside can see everything that happens in the hotel through the live stream. And through the hotel’s televisions and movie screens, we can see the people outside who are gambling on us.”
Everyone was dumbfounded. After a long moment, the surgeon asked Tina, “Is he telling the truth? They can see us, and we can see them?”
“That’s right!” Tina replied.
“But… why let us see the dark-web audience?” the surgeon asked.
“It isn’t strange. Horses at a racetrack can see the people betting on them too, can’t they?” Tina said.
“You… think we’re animals?” the surgeon said through gritted teeth.
“No, don’t be angry. It was only an analogy. If you think about it carefully, being able to see the people outside isn’t necessarily a bad thing, is it?” Tina’s tone was suggestive.
The surgeon paused. His eyes shifted as if he had understood something, but he said no more.
Being able to see the people outside isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
What did she mean by that?
Could the contestants use the dark-web audience’s betting patterns, or perhaps interact with the spectators, to uncover useful information and improve their chances of winning?
Or did someone among the dark-web audience know one of the contestants?
If that was the case…
“That concludes the rules,” Tina announced. “You’re now free to move around the hotel. Contestant 1, remember to tell me your chosen event before six this evening!” She looked at Lv Chao.
As everyone prepared to disperse, the mother from the family of three asked, “Wait. If we want to initiate a vote, how do we do it?”