The night meeting was far from over.
“You continue. You only mentioned No. 1 earlier.” Ragnar steered the conversation back.
“There are two ways to get us killers out.
The first is self-defense, the second is voting.
But to use voting to eliminate us, you need to earn others’ trust first.
And there are several ways to get others to vote for us killers.
The first is no-reason voting—meaning everyone appears innocent, so they randomly pick someone to eliminate.
Suppose the police know one of us is a killer but don’t want to reveal themselves; this no-reason voting could come in handy.
Pretending everyone is innocent and stirring up the civilians to randomly vote someone out, but it’s actually targeted, and we killers get eliminated.
The second is gaining others’ trust.
For example, if they know a player’s civilian identity, they can approach them secretly, reveal themselves as police, and build trust, thereby securing a vote.
That would gradually corner us killers.
The third is like No. 1, Zhou Wei—gathering a group to band together, seizing influence, and then using the vote the next day to oust whoever is found to be a killer that night.
Of course, there are many other methods, but I won’t list them all.”
She finished speaking, then swept the room with a proud look, as if to say: a bunch of ordinary mortals.
(Yue dialect) “So you said all that but didn’t get to the point. Who do you suspect? Why all this rambling?” No. 12, Xukesi, grunted impatiently.
“Can’t you understand? My meaning is clear. Nos. 1, 3, and 10 all hold a certain number of votes. That’s why they resemble the police. Once it’s confirmed who the killer is, the next day they can use those votes to very likely eliminate the killer.” Huaru had to explain again.
Her words were similar to No. 7 Ragnar’s thoughts, except Ragnar believed No. 1 was controlling the bigger picture, easily guiding players’ group activities, while No. 3, as a detective, could work with the corpses to gain leverage.
(Yue dialect) “Just say who to kill.” Xukesi sounded a bit impatient.
Who to kill?
That was a real problem.
Should they really kill No. 1, No. 3, or No. 10?
No. Huaru’s idea was to first deal with the higher-threat targets, or select based on potential gains.
“No. 2’s identity is currently unknown, plus No. 10 has targeted No. 2. If we deal with No. 2 tonight, No. 10’s suspicion will increase further.
So if nothing unexpected happens during the day, it’s like handling two targets at once.”
It didn’t matter if only a few people could see the truth; what mattered was what the majority thought.
Huaru didn’t fully explain the twists and turns but continued her previous point: “Then there’s No. 15. No doubt, they seem to be the strongest fighter here. If we don’t handle them early, using the self-defense rule will make them harder to deal with later.
And as for No. 1, I have to point this out.
Before the game rules were announced, No. 1 was actively recruiting people, trying to become an organizer and leader.
But after the rules came out, he spoke less, or seemed like he was trying to hide himself.
That’s why I find No. 1 quite suspicious, though it could be a deliberate ploy.
Also, we can use No. 1’s group—they’re currently the strongest.
If we use this to deliberately take out No. 15, No. 1’s team will grow stronger, becoming a target for everyone.”
(Yue dialect) “So, who exactly should we kill?” No. 12 Xukesi still hadn’t grasped Huaru’s real target, probably overwhelmed by the amount of information.
“Are you saying we should pick between No. 15 and No. 2?” No. 7 Ragnar asked uncertainly, clearly impressed by Huaru’s intense analysis.
“Yes.”
“You suspect No. 1 the most, but killing No. 1 wouldn’t bring much benefit, so you want to pick someone between No. 2 and No. 15, right?” Ragnar confirmed again.
“Yes.” Huaru nodded and explained, “No. 15 involves two points. First, their attack power looks the strongest on the surface. The longer we delay, the worse it is for us. Second, they’re an ally of No. 3, Qian Min. Taking them out makes No. 1 harder to handle, which could lead to No. 3 and No. 10 teaming up against No. 1.”
“And what about No. 2? Why not kill the more suspicious No. 1 and instead go after No. 2?” Ragnar already understood her logic but asked again to make sure.
“No. 2’s identity is unclear, and No. 10 clearly has hostility toward her. If we kill No. 2, others might think No. 2 was police, and suspicion on No. 10 as the killer will increase. Then during the day, we vote No. 10 out, completing a double kill under our control.
Otherwise, if I were No. 2, I’d lie and claim to be police during the day, exposing No. 10 as the killer, which could revive my chances.
We wouldn’t bother her then, knowing she’s just lying to survive.
The police might even manipulate her to drag us out at a critical moment, which would put us at a serious disadvantage.
Handling No. 2 stabilizes the situation by dealing with two people at once, making the next day safer. Keeping No. 2 could trigger uncontrollable chaos.
As for No. 1, though I suspect him a lot, killing him has no value.
Even if he is police, taking out just him won’t secure victory.
On the contrary, without his leadership, his small team’s strength will drop, and then we won’t know how the daytime vote will go.”
Everyone in the room was silent except for Yelena, who looked confused; the two men were deep in thought.
There was still plenty of time; no need to rush.
“So who do you recommend we kill?” Ragnar still couldn’t make up his mind.
“No. 15.” Huaru said decisively, watching the men’s reactions closely.
She had a personal stake in this target.
She believed she was hiding well and had a good chance of surviving to the end.
So No. 15 absolutely couldn’t be left alive; otherwise, no one could possibly stand against that guy head-on.
The terrifying combat power of the bald man from her first entry into the dark world still haunted her nerves.
With her current body, she had no chance against someone like that in a straight fight.
So she wanted to use her numbers advantage to first take out this muscle-bound threat who would only grow stronger later.
Originally, she didn’t want to act so soon—she was still planning to see if they could remove this muscle man by voting.
But he and Nos. 3 and 12 had formed a three-person team, which they could take advantage of.
And it was good to eliminate this threat early.
If teammates disagreed with killing No. 15, they could try voting him out instead.
“But there’s one problem: what if we get wounds?” Ragnar asked a tricky question. If they ended the fight with injuries, it would be hard to explain the next day. His tone suggested he was already accepting the idea of killing No. 15 tonight.
(Yue dialect) “Strip down. We only have one set of clothes, and blood stains would be a problem.
If we get hurt on the body, clothes can cover it.
But if it’s the face or exposed parts, then we can only act out a fall in the morning.” Xukesi shrugged helplessly. No wonder he had stripped down to just his underwear earlier—to avoid blood staining his clothes.
Now that they knew self-defense was possible, he had to worry about injuries.
Mentally, he didn’t want to fight No. 15. But after Huaru’s elaborate analysis, Xukesi’s inner thought could be summed up in one sentence: “I don’t fully understand what she’s saying, but it sounds impressive.”
He hadn’t entirely caught all of Huaru’s points, just had a vague feeling that killing No. 15 was presented as a perfectly reasonable move.