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

Chapter 131: Gains and Investigations into the Psychological Society

After bidding farewell to Almond, Lin Yu deactivated the effects of [False Face] and returned to his original appearance. At a street corner in Jiangchengʼs urban area, Lin Yu retrieved a black plastic bag from a red bucket outside a closed milk tea shop. Inside was a notebook containing an anonymous cryptocurrency account provided by the [Huntersʼ Association].

Lin Yu sold the cryptocurrency from that account and transferred out 1.04 million yuan as payment. Next, he went to a food delivery locker outside an upscale residential complex. Entering the pickup code from the [Huntersʼ Association] backend system, he retrieved what appeared to be a food delivery bag - but inside were four gold bars worth 120,000 yuan in total.

The 1.04 million belonged to Zhu Ming, while the 120,000 was Old Yaoʼs share. With the heavy gold bars in hand and his bank balance updated, Lin Yu genuinely felt for the first time... ”A loss may turn out to be a gain.” Perhaps the [Death Game] wasnʼt so bad after all—at least it truly could make money.

The series of performances starting from Zheng City werenʼt just Lin Yu indulging his theatrical impulses. There were real, tangible benefits involved. But... Lin Yu wasnʼt solely motivated by money or equipment. While wealth was undoubtedly important, Lin Yu understood clearly...

Even a sum like one million yuan—an ”astronomical figure” to ordinary people—wasnʼt worth the tremendous risks heʼd taken. If money were truly his only goal, he could have simply lured those people to Jiangcheng under the identity of [Heavenly Artisan] and killed them. There would have been no need to make separate impressions on Tycoon and A Nian.

Ever since learning he was being watched by both the [Psychological Society] and [Free Alliance], Lin Yu had maintained a strong sense of crisis. Therefore, to quickly enhance his strength and gather more information, Lin Yu chose to join as many organizations as possible while creating different false identities.

But Lin Yu didnʼt plan to just lurk quietly with each identity. So... whether it was [Old Yao], [Zhu Ming], [May May], or even the now-established [Heavenly Artisan] persona, Lin Yu intended to further elevate their visibility. Admittedly, this somewhat increased the risk of exposure... but the potential rewards were equally high.

As time passed with him maintaining the [Fraudster] Unique Class, Lin Yu gradually discerned the patterns behind [Manifestation]. This ability required [Belief] to activate [Manifestation]—and [Belief] could disappear not just through lies being exposed. Beyond [Exposure], there was also [Forgetting].

This explained why most [Manifestations] had time limits. Because [Belief] wasnʼt permanent—he had deceived Li Nian and Tycoon into believing his class was [Soldier], but these two wouldnʼt constantly remember ”Lin Yu is a Soldier.” They needed to see him again and be ”reminded” to recall it.

This was something Lin Yu discovered after selling counterfeit equipment. Because Lin Yu could sense that the [Belief] about those fake props heʼd sold never completely disappeared. Whenever the players who purchased those items used them, they would see the ”fake equipment,” effectively continuously maintaining belief in Lin Yuʼs lies.
From this, Lin Yu developed a hypothesis about the [Fraudster] ability: When a lie was frequently recalled by many people and became akin to [Truth], could he then obtain a permanently effective [Manifestation]? Based on this, Lin Yu formed a fundamental understanding regarding his ”false identities.”

He needed to make many useful false identities ”widely renowned.” By leaving deep impressions on everyone who encountered them, whenever he used those identities, he could still access their class abilities even when alone. And the best way to leave lasting impressions on organizations and other players... was through performances.

A spectacular performance that connected all his current false identities. Now, it wasnʼt just Li Nian remembering Zhu Ming, Almond gaining deeper understanding of Heavenly Artisan, Tycoon developing more trust in Old Yao, or [Order] taking slight notice of May. Beyond their direct interactions with specific false identities, these people now had impressions of Lin Yuʼs other personas too.

Take Li Nian—she had now met Lin Yuʼs version of Heavenly Artisan and knew about both the Old Yao and May identities. Tycoon had also learned about Zhu Ming and May, forming preliminary impressions. As for Almond, while developing deeper connections with Heavenly Artisan, she probably wouldnʼt forget Zhu Ming either.

When these people recounted events from their respective perspectives to members of their organizations... The distinctive traits Lin Yu performed through these identities would leave memory imprints in those membersʼ minds. After future cross-referencing... Even those who hadnʼt witnessed Lin Yuʼs performances firsthand would likely become utterly convinced of these fictional or deceased ”playersʼ” existence!

Moreover, Lin Yu had deliberately revealed that his various identities had ”connections” with each other. This way, if anyone noticed similarities between his personas, they would be guided toward these pre-established ”facts.” ”You mean Zhu Ming and Old Yao? Oh, I heard they actually knew each other! Even collaborated once!” Though no one had actually witnessed their collaboration, once such ”facts” circulated repeatedly in rumors, everyone would develop an impression that ”they definitely appeared together before.”

This was another layer of insurance Lin Yu created for himself—making it nearly impossible for anyone to uncover his false identities. Even if one was exposed, the others would remain secure. ”Whatʼs next is accumulating strength... and...” ”Attempting to investigate the [Psychological Society].”

Carrying the gold bars, Lin Yu returned home. It was already late at night. Lin Zhao had gone to sleep—sheʼd recently started getting somewhat accustomed to Lin Yu frequently not coming home. Lin Yu had provided reasonably convincing excuses: ”The advertising business has been picking up lately.” Though Lin Zhao was his elder sister, her mentality in certain aspects mirrored that of typical Chinese parents.

While normally insisting on curfews, once ”career” or ”studies” were involved, overnight absences became acceptable. Especially after Lin Yu handed over part of his earnings, prompting Lin Zhao to remark ”Little Yu has really grown up” without further questioning. After some thought, Lin Yu quietly left another 20,000 yuan in cash on the dining table for his sleeping sister.

Then he retreated to his bedroom, opened the phone registered to May, and sent a private message through the [forum] backend to user ID [Furbollo]: ”I heard you were previously investigating the [Psychological Society]?”