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

Chapter 49: The Trap of the Second Question! A Dilemma!

Lin Yu basically agreed with Unforgottenʼs reasoning. 

Although the Crow-Man had indeed played word games and set a ”trap” in the first question.

However.

This couldnʼt be used as proof that this question must contain wordplay.

In a sense, this was also a form of ”fraudulent behavior.”

So after putting himself in the otherʼs shoes, Lin Yu the ʼFraudsterʼ easily reached a conclusion...

If it were him, Lin Yu would definitely mix truth with falsehood too.

After brief consideration, Lin Yu picked up where Unforgotten left off.

”Then letʼs temporarily treat this ʼproblemʼ as a regular elementary school math question.”

”If we discover the possibility of ʼwordplay trapsʼ while solving it... we can consider that aspect then.”
Lin Yu said quietly.

Since Lin Yu had almost single-handedly solved the first question earlier.

Despite being the ”newest” member in terms of experience, he had become the groupʼs backbone.

Naturally, the other four players had no objections to Lin Yuʼs current suggestion.

Number Eight quickly began calculating.

”There are five of us, but these ʼtasksʼ require a total of six people!”

Number Eight looked at the ”Crow-Man,” as if realizing something.

”Examiner, must we strictly adhere to this number? Could we possibly do it with one more or less person, even if it affects completion time?”

Number Eight asked.

The Crow-Man shook its head: ”Caw caw, each task must be completed with exactly the required number!”

After hearing this, Number Eight scratched his head sheepishly.

”So thatʼs how it is. I thought the ʼtrapʼ might be hidden here!”

Then he began mental calculations.

”If we strictly treat this as a math problem...”

”With this calculation method, the fastest would take 25 minutes,” Unforgotten said beside them. ”One person cracks the code, three search for keys, one stands by—then the code-cracker immediately joins the standby person to turn the switch.”

”25 minutes,” Iron Uncle pondered. ”At that time, it seems quite likely someone among us would die.”

After all, in the most optimistic scenario, this room would be completely flooded in about 15 minutes.

Even considering breath-holding duration, someone would undoubtedly drown.

April also frowned: ”So the answer... inevitably involves someone dying?”

”No, thatʼs the conclusion from treating it purely as a ʼmath problem,ʼ” Unforgotten shook her head. ”We havenʼt considered the possibility of ʼwordplay trapsʼ yet—did you notice the Crow-Manʼs exact wording: ʼCan you guarantee no one will drown before the hatch closes?ʼ”

”He didnʼt specify that we must complete all three tasks.”

”In other words, if we prioritize completing the most time-consuming task of closing the switch, then after 15 minutes—the hatch would close, stopping the water flow.”

”Considering breath-holding time in that scenario, we might not lose anyone.”

As Unforgotten spoke, Iron Uncle and Number Eight were convinced.

”That makes sense, this seems to be the ʼwordplay trapʼ!”

Only April remained frowning.

”I feel somethingʼs off... but I canʼt pinpoint it.”

Lin Yu also felt something was wrong.

The water level had now risen to his chest, and the shorter Unforgotten had to tread water to speak.

April wasnʼt tall either, so she stood on tiptoe in the water.

Number Eight grew anxious: ”Right or wrong, at least Unforgottenʼs analysis sounds reasonable...”

”Letʼs just answer based on this—after all, answering too slowly also incurs ʼpenaltiesʼ!”

Number Eightʼs words swayed April too.

But just as April was about to endorse Unforgottenʼs analysis.

Lin Yu spoke up.

”No—what Unforgotten deduced is actually the biggest ʼtrapʼ!”

Even though Lin Yu had suggested temporarily ignoring ”wordplay traps,” everyone still couldnʼt truly disregard that possibility.

Itʼs hard to overcome preconceived notions in oneʼs subconscious.

Having experienced deception in the first round, Lin Yu knew well that successful fraud often exploits peopleʼs ”subconscious” assumptions.

”So this questionʼs ʼtrapʼ isnʼt in the wording... but on the wall.”

Lin Yu looked at the safe projection on the wall.

It was an old-fashioned safe projection with a combination dial lock.

”Whether itʼs 25 minutes or 15 minutes, the timing is too ʼambiguousʼ—both scenarios could either result in deaths or not... so the answer canʼt be such an uncertain timeframe.”

”And Iʼm curious—why must you present these as ʼhypotheticalʼ tasks rather than having us actually perform them?”

The Crow-Man shrugged: ”After all, this game is called ʼDeadly Quizʼ!”

Lin Yu shook his head.

”No, thereʼs more to it.”

”That safe on the wall is probably the ʼillustrationʼ for the first task,” Lin Yu looked at the Crow-Man. ”Then where are the ʼillustrationsʼ for the next two tasks...”

Hearing Lin Yuʼs question, the Crow-Man floating on the water burst into laughter, slapping the water surface with its wings.

”Caw caw, youʼve found the key point again!”

The Crow-Man waved, and projections illustrating the other two ”tasks” appeared sequentially.

First was a narrow hole too small for a hand to reach into, containing a metal key.

This was likely the illustration for the second ”find the key” task.

Next, an old-fashioned rotary switch projection appeared on the wall—wrapped with fist-thick chains—ending in a massive padlock.

This illustrated the third ”turn the switch” task.

The padlockʼs design perfectly matched the metal key.

Seeing these three illustrations, the remaining four players realized something.

Lin Yu looked at the Crow-Man and said quietly: ”Let me confirm this—Examiner, these three tasks must be completed sequentially, correct?”

The Crow-Man laughed: ”Caw caw, yes—the safe contains a magnet and thin wire, the key unlocks the switchʼs padlock, youʼre too clever!”

Lin Yu exhaled.

”So the actual time needed to close the overhead hatch is 10 plus 12 plus 15, a full 37 minutes—at that point, forget about possible deaths, none of us might survive.”

”Therefore, my answer is... we cannot guarantee no one will die.”

The Crow-Man looked at the other four players.

Before it could ask, the remaining four hurriedly spoke up.

”We all agree with Lin Yuʼs answer!”

The water level had risen further, now forcing even the three taller men to stand on tiptoe.

The Crow-Man then announced the answer.

”Caw caw, congratulations... youʼve correctly answered the second ʼreward-punishment questionʼ!”

”Your reward is—in the next roomʼs ʼdilemma question,ʼ after your first answer, Iʼll open the door you didnʼt choose in this room and give you one chance to change your selection!”