Chapter 588
It seems we're both very lucky.
A minute to think is fleeting.
The beautiful woman on the round table quickly pointed her head at the two of them and spoke.
[Please begin speaking]
Upon hearing this, the white fox youth remained firmly seated.
He slowly opened his mouth and said calmly, "I have freely chosen to speak at this moment, under the predetermined arrangement of fate."
Upon hearing his words, a look of confusion flashed across the faces of the other players around him.
Why does that sound so convoluted?
Only Wu Wang, who was sitting cross-legged on the round table in front of the white fox youth, smiled slightly and nodded to himself.
That's brilliant... that's a brilliant statement.
The choice of what to say at this moment is indeed the freedom of the young man from White Fox, a truth that holds true both objectively and subjectively.
However, the predetermined nature of fate is an objective event that cannot be verified.
Because fate itself is a very vague and ethereal concept.
You can say it exists, or you can say it doesn't exist.
However, it is impossible to verify this by relying solely on the past and present.
It will take time to prove whether this is a done deal.
But now is not the future.
The future has not yet arrived, so from an objective point of view, this is a false proposition.
It can be considered an objective error or a false statement.
It is contradictory yet self-consistent.
After speaking, the white fox youth smiled and looked at Wu Wang in front of him.
A hint of provocation flashed in his eyes, a provocation that hadn't appeared throughout the entire game.
Wu Wang laughed.
I'll prove it to you, is that it? Then please take a look.
He opened his mouth and said, word by word:
The statement "Nothing in the world is absolute" is the most absolute statement.
The eliminated group was still pondering the young man with the white fox's words when they heard an even more convoluted sentence.
It completely shut down their brains.
Tiger, who wasn't very good at thinking to begin with, had an even more subtle look of idiocy on his face.
Only the white fox youth sitting in the chair gradually revealed a hint of approval in his smile.
He raised his hand and couldn't help but clap.
"good very good."
"You've won this game."
The people around him were even more bewildered by the young man from the white fox's sudden surrender.
Miss Deer couldn't help but ask, "How come he won? What's the difference between these two sentences? Shouldn't they both meet the requirements for speaking?"
She managed to figure out from what angles their statements met the requirements.
I just don't know how to judge which of these two sentences is better.
In response, the young man with the white fox glanced at the eliminated players.
A hint of helpless pity flashed across his face as he said to Wu Wang, "See? This is the happiness that ignorance brings. If you were like them, wouldn't you have already won and left? Why bother arguing with me here? In any case, the final result won't change."
Having said that, he did not wait for Wu Wang to reply.
Instead, he explained to the bewildered players:
"My statement contains half objective truth and half objective falsehood; in essence, it is just two parts stitched together into one sentence."
"His remarks are a mixture of objective truth and falsehood, and overall they appear to be more elegant in their language."
"This is a classic example of the 'self-reference paradox'."
Tiger Brother scratched his head, puzzled: "I don't understand, what is a self-reference paradox?"
Despite the fool's confusion, the young white fox, though he had previously shown helplessness, showed no signs of impatience.
He felt that this kind of stupidity had a kind of endearing foolishness.
Perhaps it stems from the fact that he was once a scholar dedicated to the study of psychology.
Therefore, he always patiently answers questions posed by people who are ignorant.
"A self-referential paradox is a proposition that refers to itself within its own context, thus causing a logical contradiction."
"For example, the statement 'Nothing in the world is absolute'. If this statement were true, then it would also be part of 'things in the world,' and therefore it should not be absolute. However, objectively speaking, the fact that it is true proves that it interprets the whole statement with an absolute definition."
"Truth and falsehood are an integral whole."
After saying that, the white fox youth looked at Wu Wang.
He slowly rose and sighed:
"You truly deserve the reputation that has been making headlines on the forum recently. Alexander also spoke highly of you in the think tank."
"Yan Shuangying, you are really good."
The moment the name came out of his mouth, the other players were stunned for a moment, and then immediately showed a surprised expression.
Yan Shuangying! Mr. Black Crow is Yan Shuangying?!
Even if none of them had actually seen Yan Shuangying.
But at least I've heard of this name.
Miss Sika Deer and Miss Cuckoo both showed a hint of relief on their faces.
So that's why they lost to such a master.
That's understandable, and there's nothing shameful about it.
The beautiful woman's head in the center of the round table was also judged at the opportune moment—
Congratulations to Mr. Black Crow for winning the game!
[Please leave the venue within ten minutes.]
As soon as she finished speaking, the beautiful woman slowly retracted her head into the round table.
A door slowly opened in the darkness behind each person.
This is clearly the gateway to the next game.
They also found that the pressure of binding themselves to the chair had disappeared.
But no one got up and left.
Now that things have come to this, they also want to know why the young man from White Fox deliberately lost the game.
"Speak, Tower Master."
"What are you waiting for in this game? You can't be camping out to me, can you?"
Wu Wang asked the other party with a grin.
In any case, no one can use the abilities of the Necromancer players right now.
He was absolutely confident that he could beat everyone in the room by himself if he were unarmed.
Besides, since they've already seen through my identity, there's nothing left to hide.
Upon hearing the words "Tower Master," the others were taken aback.
It was only then that I realized what those two words meant.
Within the player organizations of the entire Necropolis game.
Aside from the fact that the Ash Witch is called "Guild Master," a title common to most organizations,
The other two titles are "Bureau Chief" and "Tower Master".
The term "Qinglong" is generally considered to refer specifically to the director of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs.
And the tower master of the Tower of Order—the Martyr.
In other words, in today's game, they are not only facing a rising star in the world of Necropolis players, but also confronting the leader of the Order Tower, one of the well-established three major factions.
For a moment, everyone felt a little dizzy.
No wonder they were under so much pressure when they played.
They even said that two incredibly intelligent monsters suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
So there were clues to follow all of this!
Click—
The white-skinned youth adjusted his monocle.
He said calmly, "I'm not waiting for anyone."
"I'm just subduing the [Thousand Machine Trial]."
"In a few days, this will be the exclusive dungeon for the Tower of Order."
To utter the most arrogant words in the most indifferent tone.
Apart from Miss Sika Deer and Wu Wang, who had just arrived, the others had all played several games here.
Of course I know the special nature of the [Thousand Machine Trial] semi-secret dungeon.
It has been around for almost ten years.
Basically, players are treating it as a one-time public resource for lotteries.
After all, each person can only randomly obtain one item from it.
Even so, when they heard that it was about to be subdued and made into an exclusive instance of the Tower of Order, an expression of disbelief still flashed across their faces.
"How is this possible!?" "The [Thousand Machine Trial] dungeon can actually be subdued?"
"I've never heard of this dungeon having any core items!"
The core item refers to a special item similar to the [Swallowing Thief] in Wu Wang's possession.
The secret realm dungeon that can be opened by the [Thief Devourer] can only be entered by players who possess weapons of the same series, and there is also the possibility of gaining complete ownership of the dungeon within it.
This normal dungeon is like a treasure trove; whoever can get all the keys to open the treasure can keep the entire treasure for themselves.
However, the [Thousand Machine Trial] has never had a similar core item.
It's more like a vast lake.
Everyone can only fish on the lake, and what kind of fish they catch depends entirely on luck.
What kind of switch key can catch all the fish in a lake with one click?
But this white fox youth... oh no, I should say the tower master.
He simply said, "Every dungeon has a strategy; if you haven't found it, that's your problem, not the dungeon's problem."
"In fact, it's quite simple to subdue the [Thousand Machine Trial]."
"All you need to do is play all the games without being eliminated early."
"In the Trial of a Thousand Machines, such people are the challengers of the dungeon."
The "elimination" mentioned by the tower master refers to someone like the old man from the mammoth, who lost the game before it was even over.
Wu Wang squinted and shook his head, saying, "It's more than that. There must be other difficulties. Otherwise, why would you be acting like you're giving it your all?"
Upon hearing Wu Wang's question, the tower master nodded.
He continued, "Yes, as you play more and more games, the dungeon's judgment system will become increasingly biased towards that person. This is also a clever trick the dungeon uses to prevent being controlled, because if the challenger wins a game, it means all the previous efforts have been wasted."
"Under these conditions, if a challenger deliberately ignores the advantages offered by the instance, they will also be judged as having failed the challenge."
"I have to accept the advantages of the dungeon game while also finding a way to prevent myself from actually winning the game."
"So, I'm not trying to make myself lose, I'm trying to make you win."
Upon hearing these words, apart from Wu Wang, the others showed a hint of embarrassment on their faces.
It turns out that they had been going to great lengths to ensure their team won the game.
Suddenly, the old mammoth asked in a deep voice, "Then... what about lifespan?"
This also made everyone realize the crux of the problem—
In the [Thousand Machine Trial], each game lost will deduct a certain amount of lifespan.
Even if you successfully played through all the games and conquered this instance.
I'm afraid my own lifespan isn't much longer.
The tower master remained calm and said, "Lifespan in this instance is merely a quantifiable entity. In reality, losing the game only means storing a portion of your lifespan in the instance. The real settlement and deduction will only occur when you win the game and leave, and it will be used as fuel for the instance's operation."
"Once the dungeon is conquered, the challenger's temporarily stored lifespan will return when the final game is completed."
For a moment, everyone's expressions became increasingly complicated.
That's what they say, but just like what the tower master said earlier...
If you accidentally win a game during this process, besides getting a random item, the lifespan you lost in the previous game will really be gone.
Holy crap! Isn't this still gambling with your life?
Looking at the tower master's handsome, elegant, and noble face, they were speechless.
What a ruthless person...
"If you reveal the method for subduing the [Thousand Machine Trial] now, aren't you afraid that those who are still in the instance will try to take it from you?"
Wu Wang joked with great interest.
Faced with such teasing, the tower master said without any hesitation, "Do you think they have the guts, or the ability, to compete with me?"
"Moreover, even if they start doing this now, it will be too late; they will only be wasting their lifespans."
"I've almost played all the games."
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
Indeed, it's impossible to keep losing all games when the game itself is becoming increasingly biased.
This is like trying to get a zero on every exam paper even when you're giving it your all.
In fact, being able to do this means that the person was already confident of getting a perfect score.
Are we confident that we can control the overall situation in every game?
Just like Yan Shuangying or the Tower Master just now.
That's obviously unlikely.
While most players of the Necropolis are very confident in themselves, they are also quite self-aware.
It's too difficult to master the game in this kind of game that purely tests intelligence.
Suddenly, Wu Wang thought of something.
He grinned and said, "So, you used this condition to acquire those chips in the trading room just now, right?"
After saying that, he looked at the old man with the mammoth.
Only then did everyone realize that something was wrong.
Yes! If we recalculate the chips from before...
It is easy to conclude that during the transaction, the Mammoth Old Man unconditionally gave away his only truth chip and one lie chip to the Tower Master.
Moreover, his lack of remorse, even after being eliminated by the tower master, is a testament to this.
This is definitely not a deceptive deal like that between Brother Tiger and Miss Cuckoo.
It was simply an act of voluntary contribution by the old mammoth.
But since everyone didn't know each other before the game, why did he treat the tower master with such a fawning attitude?
The tower master nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right, I briefly mentioned the challenger's situation in the trading room."
"And I promised the old man that I would play the next game with him and help him become the winner and leave the instance."
"This is one of the small privileges of challengers; I can choose which game to participate in next."
Wu Wang nodded upon hearing this.
At least for now, all his doubts have been resolved.
But a trace of that strange sense of incongruity still lingers.
He couldn't find the source.
It can only be attributed to intuition.
As the group talked, the surrounding doors began to flash with light, reminding them that it was almost time to leave.
Wu Wang got up and walked to the door that belonged to him as the victor.
He smiled at the tower master and said, "You're lucky. I have a lot of things to do and don't have time to play with you in the Thousand Machine Trial. Otherwise, all your efforts these past few days might have been in vain."
Under normal circumstances, Wu Wang would definitely intentionally lose the game and stay in the instance to play with this guy until the very end.
Unfortunately, what he lacks most right now is time.
I must grab what I want as soon as possible and leave to find the wicked penguin.
Let's save that vague sense of unease for when we have the chance to find the answer in the future.
After all, once he leaves the real world, he'll probably never encounter this tower master again.
The tower master gently adjusted his monocle and responded:
"You're lucky too. Staying here would only waste more of your lifespan, and in the end you'd only witness me conquering the dungeon. It would be a loss for you."
He is also a person who is full of confidence in his own abilities.
He certainly doesn't think he will lose to Yan Shuangying.
The two smiled at each other.
They said in unison, "Looks like we're both very lucky. Goodbye."
Having said that, they each stepped through the doorway.
One left, one stayed.
The round table area returned to its deathly silence, now completely empty.
We await the next round of players to join the game.
However, not long after.
A person slowly emerges from the dark shadows of the surrounding environment.
They stood in front of the door where the tower master had just left, looking him up and down.
A moment later, he walked back to Wu Wang's original seat and sat down.
He raised his hand and gently tapped his temple with his index finger, as if he was thinking about something.
In the dim light after the player left, you could vaguely see that the person was wearing a trench coat and even a deerstalker hat, looking exactly like a British detective.
However, there were no specific biological characteristics under the clothes and hat.
It only appears as a black humanoid shape, with no facial features, making it extremely eerie.
If Wu Wang hadn't left, he probably would have been recognized at a glance.
This is from the recollections of the eldest sister, Wu Qing—
One of the Venerable One's descendants who once besieged her!
She was also the only one whose identity was not recognized by Qinglong.
It sat there, slowly disappearing from the chair as the light dimmed... (End of Chapter)