Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Number Two, Liang Chen, was pacing back and forth in his room, his mind in turmoil and his nerves making it impossible to sit still.

Tomorrow’s contest was his home round. He had to tell Tina which event he wanted before six that afternoon. In fact, he had been thinking about it since yesterday, yet he still had not come up with a game that suited him.

Liang Chen was thirty-six years old, single, and unmarried. He was an ordinary employee at a public institution, doing an unremarkable job. He had no outstanding talents or professional skills whatsoever. The first three decades of his life had been equally uneventful.

In short, he was one of society’s countless ordinary, mediocre people.

Now he had to identify the one thing he did best and compete against nineteen other people. It might as well have been an impossible task.

Liang Chen carefully reviewed his life.

At school, his grades had always been average. He had never excelled in any subject. He had never been elected to the class committee or even served as a subject representative.

The same was true of sports. He had barely passed his physical education exams. He could not claim any skill at ball games; at best, he was a complete amateur.

At the institution, he performed work that anyone of normal intelligence could do. It required no special skills at all…

Ah! All I wanted was to join a tour and travel abroad so my colleagues would stop saying, “What? You’re already in your thirties and you’ve never left the country?” How did I end up in a mess like this? They’re trying to kill me! I’m doomed!

In his panic, Liang Chen clawed at his hair until it resembled a tangled bird’s nest.

He had hoped the first game that morning would offer him some inspiration. Instead, its outcome left him more terrified than ever. Number One, Lv Chao, was strong, resourceful, and courageous, and he had his wife helping him. Even then, he had barely won the contest, and his wife, Lu Qian, had paid for it with her life.

By contrast, Liang Chen had no advantage in strength or intelligence. He had come on the tour alone and had no one to help him. How could he possibly defeat nineteen people and win under those circumstances?

Being allowed to choose the event himself should have been a blessing. But for someone mediocre in every respect, it was only another impossible problem.

Liang Chen went over the few things he was relatively good at once again. To his dismay, there was not a single one he felt certain about.

Was there truly no solution? He searched desperately for one glimmer of light in the abyss.

At last, around four that afternoon, he thought of the only factor working in his favor.

Compared with the other contestants, he had far more time to think and prepare.

That meant certain games he would not normally feel confident about might give him an advantage, provided he could spend a long time considering the problem in advance.

Come to think of it, that game I used to play with my colleagues… I’ve played it many times, and I was fairly good at it. That counts as a kind of talent, doesn’t it?

Should he choose it for his event? He hesitated. The crucial question was whether the other nineteen people had played it too.

After giving the matter prolonged thought, Liang Chen decided they probably had not. The game required a certain amount of skill and experience. If most of them were playing it for the first time while the person setting the challenge had spent hours planning ahead, his odds of winning would be excellent.

Liang Chen was cautious by nature. He spent another half hour thinking it through with great care before reaching his final conclusion: whatever else might be true, this was the only event in which he stood any chance of beating the others.

He had no alternatives. He could only gamble on it.

His decision made, Liang Chen took a deep breath and left his room.

He found Tina in the cafe off the lobby. When she saw him, she asked excitedly, “Mr. Liang Chen, have you decided on tomorrow’s event?”
“Yes. Can we discuss it somewhere private?” Liang Chen asked.

“Of course. You’re staying alone, aren’t you? Let’s go to your room.”

Liang Chen nodded. He and Tina took an elevator to his room on the eighth floor. Once there, he told her which event he had chosen.

“Oh, what an interesting game! I’ll inform the organizers and have them prepare your home round!”

“Miss Tina, the event won’t be announced until tomorrow, correct?” Liang Chen asked.

“That’s right! Don’t worry. No one will be able to prepare ahead of time. Since each round’s Featured Player has to face so many people, we do our best to make the contest favorable to them!”

“Good.” Liang Chen gave a small nod.

“Rest well today, and make sure you’re in top form for your home round tomorrow! Ganbatte, Mr. Liang Chen!”

“Th-thank you.”

Tina skipped out of Liang Chen’s room. He sat on the sofa, lost in thought.

At dinnertime, Liang Chen went to the buffet restaurant. The dishes were as plentiful and exquisitely prepared as they had been at breakfast and lunch, with a different selection at each meal. It was like a food festival that ran twenty-four hours a day.

Unfortunately, the thought of facing nineteen people alone tomorrow killed his appetite. He took a few items at random, sat alone at a table, and began eating. He barely registered what he put in his mouth. Every delicacy tasted like cardboard.

As he ate, Liang Chen noticed many people casting glances at him, some openly and others when they thought he would not see.

They must all be wondering what kind of event I’ve chosen, he thought.

Sure enough, the round-faced college student could not contain his curiosity. He sat down across from Liang Chen and asked quietly, “Mr. Liang Chen, have you settled on tomorrow’s event?”

“Mm…” Liang Chen gave a noncommittal response.

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“Surely I can’t. Tomorrow, you and I will be opponents.” Liang Chen frowned.

“I know, but even if we found out a little early, we probably couldn’t do much to prepare.”

Liang Chen fell silent. Without finishing the food on his plate, he rose and left the restaurant.

Rebuffed, the round-faced student stuck out his tongue and returned to his companions’ table. The curly-haired student mocked him. “Are you stupid? Ask him that directly and of course he won’t tell you!”

“I honestly didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious. After all, if someone is truly good at something, no one else can catch up with one night of practice, can they? Take what I’m good at, for example…”

“Don’t say it!” The tall, thin student glared at him, his expression wary.

The round-faced student paused. Realizing something, he lowered his head and focused on his meal.

Chen Nuo, seated at the next table, happened to witness the exchange.

It seemed someone else had already identified his greatest strength, just as Chen Nuo had, and believed he had a strong chance of winning.

In that case, those people probably did not want the game to end too quickly. After all, the longer it continued, the more money the survivors would divide, assuming they ultimately identified the Mastermind and won.

Was that “witch,” Saisi, thinking the same way?

Did she truly not know who the Mastermind was, or was she simply unwilling to tell him?

Either way, if she refused to speak, he could not force her.

Clearly, he could not rely too heavily on the witch. He needed another way to find the Mastermind. But which of the people hiding in plain sight could it be?

Chen Nuo surveyed the diners around him and shook his head without realizing it.

At present, he truly could not tell at all.