Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Lin Yu knew very clearly that in unfamiliar environments, gaining ”control” was an important thing.

Being pulled into an unfamiliar dream realm, he was undoubtedly passive as a ”guest.”

But just now, Lin Yu had finally found an opportunity to seize back control.

The Masked Man, the Consultant, also clearly understood Lin Yu’s intention.

Looking at the golden Rock-Paper-Scissors Cards Lin Yu placed on the table, the Masked Man silently drew a card.

The two drew cards alternately until each held three cards in hand, then each drew three more from the shuffled silver Assist Cards.

Only then did the Masked Man speak again.

”Respected guest, let’s decide the turn order.”

Hearing the Masked Man’s words, Lin Yu raised an eyebrow.

”Does rock-paper-scissors have a turn order?”

The Masked Man nodded. ”Of course... while using the ’Rock-Paper-Scissors Cards’ doesn’t have a turn order, the Assist Cards do.”

”Placing a Rock-Paper-Scissors Card face down on the table counts as deciding your play.”

”After both have played their cards, we need to reveal them simultaneously—when one side has ’played a card’ and the other hasn’t yet ’played a card,’ neither side may use ’Assist Cards.’”

”Therefore correspondingly, after each card reveal and before playing the next card, we must also decide whether to use Assist Cards.”

”Thus, who decides first each round whether to use Assist Cards is the so-called turn order.”

Lin Yu nodded. ”Understood. Since you asked... I’ll take the first turn.”

He then checked his hand.

The three golden Rock-Paper-Scissors Cards were Rock, Rock, Scissors.

This was a good opening. Since ”Paper” was scarce, having more ”Rocks” was good for Lin Yu.

The three silver Assist Cards were ”Eyes,” ”Eyes,” and ”Left Hand.”

Lin Yu pursed his lips.

Both Eyes cards were in his hand, meaning the Masked Man had no Eyes.

His Assist Cards could only be among the remaining four types.

Thinking this, Lin Yu formed a plan.

He displayed one silver card, ”Eyes.”

”This round, I choose to use one Assist Card.”

Saying this, Lin Yu discarded ”Eyes” onto the table.

The Masked Man was surprised. ”Quite an aggressive playstyle, using an Assist Card right from the start.”

Lin Yu ignored him, simply drawing two cards from the four that hadn’t been drawn.

He saw ”Paper” and ”Rock.”

Lin Yu’s mind raced with calculations.

”None of the three Rocks are in his hand. In other words, he has at most one Rock...”

”And one Paper has also appeared, so he has at most one Paper in hand.”

”So, the possible combinations of cards in his hand now are four.”

”Situation One: One Rock, one Scissors, one Paper each.”

”Situation Two: One Rock, two Scissors.”

”Situation Three: One Paper, two Scissors.”

”And the extreme Situation Four: Three Scissors—that’s the best outcome, I could win directly.”

”If it’s Situation Two or Three, the worst outcome for me this round would be one win, one draw, one loss... I couldn’t lose directly.”

”But if it’s Situation One, I have much more to consider—I could very likely lose directly.”

”Of course... this is just the most basic current situation.”

”More information depends on what cards he uses.”

While Lin Yu was thinking, he heard the Masked Man speak calmly.

”This round, I won’t use any Assist Cards.”

Simultaneously, he directly drew a golden card and placed it face down on the table.

Lin Yu exhaled.

What would this card be?

Should he choose Scissors or Rock?

Although Lin Yu already understood most of the field information, he still found it somewhat difficult to decide.

The reason was simple... his opponent hadn’t used any Assist Cards.

If considering that the Masked Man was using the optimal ”game strategy,” he definitely didn’t have three Scissors—because that was an extreme situation where you could only win by betting your opponent had two Papers.

Unless he was unlucky enough that his Assist Cards also happened to have no ”Left Hand” or ”Right Hand,” he should have used one immediately!

So...

After thinking, Lin Yu placed a Rock face down on the table.

”It seems you’ve decided. Then... let’s reveal.”

Saying this, the Masked Man very calmly flipped over his card.

Lin Yu, hearing his words, flipped his card simultaneously, and then...

The patterns on both cards were ”Rock.”

The Masked Man raised his eyebrows in surprise. ”Oh, it seems... a draw.”

Lin Yu also exhaled.

Having Rock in hand meant it definitely wasn’t Situation Three or Four.

So his opponent likely still had two Scissors left, or one Scissors and one Paper.

With the first round ”Rock” ending in a draw, Lin Yu suddenly realized...

In the remaining two-card showdown, he had actually gained a significant advantage.

If his opponent only had two ”Scissors” left, he would definitely win.

If his opponent had one Scissors and one Paper left... he still had a fifty percent chance to win.

But after some thought, Lin Yu decided to play it safer.

”I choose to use the Assist Card ’Left Hand.’”

Lin Yu drew an Assist Card and displayed it on the table.

The Masked Man made a ”please” gesture.

Since Lin Yu had already seen two of the cards earlier, and they weren’t shuffled after being returned—and the Masked Man didn’t object, naturally meaning this was within the rules—Lin Yu naturally drew one of the two he hadn’t seen earlier this time.

Then...

He drew another ”Scissors.”

Lin Yu exhaled.

”As long as my opponent doesn’t use a card, I’ve practically won.”

Lin Yu inwardly breathed a long sigh of relief.

From the moment he chose to use an ”Assist Card”... he was almost guaranteed to win this game.

If he had drawn ”Paper” again, that would mean his opponent had no ”Paper” in hand.

And if he drew ”Scissors”...

Lin Yu could discard ”Rock,” leaving him with two Scissors in hand.

So what Lin Yu needed to consider now was, what if his opponent used ”Left Hand” or ”Right Hand” to swap cards again?

Therefore, after thinking, Lin Yu came up with another method.

He deliberately pursed his lips, then discarded a ”Scissors.”

Next, Lin Yu looked at the Masked Man sitting across the table.

”What about you? Will you use a card?”

The Masked Man looked at Lin Yu and shook his head again.

”No, I won’t use a card.”

Then, he placed a golden card face down on the table.

A smile appeared on Lin Yu’s face.

”Ha, fell for it.”

Then, he placed a ”Scissors” face down on the table.

Both flipped their cards.

Lin Yu’s ”Scissors” faced the Masked Man’s ”Paper.”

This round...

Lin Yu won!