TEFSCBSS Chapter 49

Chapter 49: The Turmoil of the Finals (Part 2)

“Healer, close your eyes. Seer, open your eyes.”

Zhao Wen opened his eyes and pointed at Yunyang. She was the only person he knew here, so verifying her identity first was a safe move—no need to let internal conflicts arise by mistake. He had mastered social tactics, a skill passed down from his father: when dealing with authority, always show courtesy first. Then, once solid evidence is in hand, strike fast and hard, catching them off guard with no chance to retaliate.

Seeing Su Li confirm Yunyang as a “villain,” Zhao Wen nodded and mentally stroked an imaginary beard. Sorry, Yunyang. Even though you’re a princess, my father’s bamboo cane is far more terrifying. Since you’re a werewolf, I have no choice but to expose you.

“It’s morning, please open your eyes. Unfortunately, we lost a player on the first night—Wu Fei.”

Wu Fei remained expressionless, having expected this outcome the moment he received the Hunter role. He had a feeling that mere ranking points wouldn’t be enough to secure his spot in the new script.

“Amitabha.” His gaze swept over the others. Not bad—all seasoned players, keeping their expressions neutral. So…

“I am the Hunter.”

“To be honest, I didn’t hear anything unusual last night. If I randomly take someone down with me, that would be unfair to them. So I choose not to use my ability. I’ll leave quietly, just as I came.”

Hmph. You all wanted to eliminate me in the first round? If I fire my shot, I’d just be helping speed up the game. Well, I refuse. You’ll have to slog through this yourselves!

Surprisingly, the audience began to see Wu Fei in a new light.

“Man, Wu Fei is something else. Always so methodical and precise. Not like that Liu the Butcher—he just shoots whoever annoys him the most.”

“Exactly!”

Liu the Butcher: …Why are you trashing me while praising him?

Wang Qingmu snickered. Serves you right. That’s what you get for constantly making enemies.

With that, Wu Fei exited the game quietly. Next up was Zhao Wen, who wasted no time outing Yunyang as a werewolf. As expected, the group voted her out in the first round.

Seeing Yunyang’s aggrieved expression, Wang Bokao, watching from a private booth on the second floor, was overjoyed. Well, well, who would’ve thought? That mutt Zhao just did me a huge favor. Guess I should return it!

He grudgingly fished out a few copper coins and handed them to Er Tong. “Go mingle in the crowd. When it’s time for the audience to vote, help Zhao Wen get some support.”

“He helped me, so I can’t just let him fail and go home to get beaten by his father.”

Patting himself on the back for being so righteous and loyal, Wang Bokao turned his attention back to the game.

“Night falls. Close your eyes. Werewolf, open your eyes.”

Li Tiechui opened his eyes. He was none other than the mentor of Li Tiezhu, who had previously participated in The Tragedy of Huai Village. That day, Li Tiezhu had returned with silver and a jar of hand cream, raving about the script store. His words had been brief, lacking detail, but with Li Tiechui’s experience, he could tell—this script store was a goldmine.

If he could get into the new script and play a round, he’d know whether the shopkeeper needed his craftsmanship. Maybe he could help build sets and props in exchange for some advertising. With that, his family’s carpentry business would thrive.

Honestly, though, his apprentice was too damn slow. If not, why would a man in his fifties have to come out here drumming up business himself?

He scanned the remaining players before settling his gaze on Zhao Wen.

After all these games, he knew one thing for sure—Seers were the natural enemies of werewolves. If he could take out the Seer now and get just one more person voted off, victory would be his.

Su Li clicked her tongue. Damn, these players are on another level today. Everyone’s playing deep strategy.

“Werewolf, close your eyes. Healer, open your eyes.”

Wan Niang opened her eyes and saw that Zhao Wen was the target. After a brief consideration, she decided to save him.

In a way, she was like a half-seer herself. As long as she knew who had died, she could eliminate one suspect from the werewolf pool each night.

“Healer, close your eyes. Seer, open your eyes.”

Zhao Wen had no idea he’d just dodged death. He scanned the group. Hmm… I don’t know most of these people. But that Fatty Dahai—I’ve met him a few times. He was pretty respectful when selling servants to my family. I’ll verify him.

No choice—this was just how networking worked.

Su Li gave the “good guy” signal, and everyone opened their eyes.

At this point, the situation was crystal clear.

Wan Niang was the Healer, confirming Zhao Wen’s identity as the Seer. Zhao Wen had verified Fatty Dahai as innocent. With Wu Fei, the Hunter, already out, that left only one civilian and one werewolf.

Li Tiechui and Wang Wu exchanged a silent glance. The atmosphere turned awkward.

How did things flip so fast?

A moment ago, victory had seemed certain. Now, he was practically dead already.

If they voted him out immediately, the werewolves would lose.

If they didn’t, the game would continue—but that would just confirm that a werewolf was still alive. Since the three of them were already somewhat aligned, it would be obvious that he was the last werewolf.

No, I have to find a way to break them apart!

A seasoned veteran, Li Tiechui immediately found a loophole in the game rules.

“Maybe we shouldn’t vote just yet,” he suggested.

“I believe the Seer. Yunyang was a werewolf. That means there’s only one left! If we hold off on voting for now, we’ll still have four good guys. Then, when the werewolf kills again tonight, we’ll have more clues to confirm their identity.”

The group pondered. True, the rules never said we had to vote, just that we could. That sounded reasonable.

So, no one voted that round.

“Night falls. Close your eyes. Werewolf, open your eyes.”

Li Tiechui opened his eyes again, his expression serious. He was going all-in.

Earlier, Wan Niang had mentioned that she saw who died and used that to verify the Seer’s identity. If I kill myself this round, will she assume I’m innocent and save me?

If she did, they would vote out Wang Wu instead. That would leave only three players—and a slim chance of victory.

Even better, if the Seer checked him and discovered he was a werewolf, that would put his testimony in direct conflict with the Healer’s, sowing doubt among the others. If that happened, their alliance could break, and he might survive.

Yes. This was it.

Li Tiechui took a deep breath and signaled that he was “killing” himself.

The audience and Su Li: “…WTF?”

What kind of strategy was this?

One werewolf left… and he suicide?