Free Web NovelChapter 206: Chapter 10: The Corpse Island Puzzle and the Masked Strange Person
After Bai Wu, it was number six.
He realized that this game actually tested memory quite a bit, because there were no written records, everyone sounded the same, and looked the same; after one round, with seventeen people recounting, not mixing them up was a skill in itself.
Of course, this was just one possibility, he still considered the Evil Fallen as the standard configuration of the Investigation Corps—photographic memory.
"In March 2126, in Baichuan City, at an amusement park, I saw a clown who told me that life doesn’t need to be taken too seriously," he said.
Although everyone’s voice was the same, the tone of number six was lifeless.
During the judge segment, number six didn’t speak.
Bai Wu wondered if the amusement park mentioned by number six was the one next to the zoo.
From the footnotes, the death of number six might not have been entirely due to suicide.
[We all hoped that 2128 would be a unified doomsday for the world; people would laugh and talk before that day, and lament and mourn after. But reality often progressed swiftly and gradually; doomsday didn’t arrive in one day. Normal people and abnormal people would live together, and he met an abnormal person, a little madman, which drove him to abnormality too. Indeed, he died by suicide, but he had never wished to end his life.]
Without giving it much thought, soon everyone’s gaze fell on number seven. Number seven didn’t mention a significant event, but it mentioned a piece of information known to many on this island.
"In December 2126, on this island, I met someone who, no matter what, wanted to survive. It was as if he stumbled into our midst by mistake," it said.
The year was the one in which everyone died, and December was the last month of the year; number seven didn’t use the normal sequence, but spoke in reverse order instead.
Being able to mention things about this island may have proven to many present that it was not human.
Different from Werewolf, making the wrong accusation in a board game has no consequences. But in the Death Puzzle game, a wrong accusation leads directly to death.
And in some sense, everyone was a knife.
So everyone was also very cautious.
However, Bai Wu noticed something: thus far, even though they had encountered each other without knowing the sequence, they should all know who each other was. After living together for seven hundred years, theoretically, if they participated in this game for about a hundred years, they should know the reasons for each other’s deaths.
But it seemed... these people were familiar with their own past, but strangers to each other’s.
Maybe it was because the Island Master didn’t give them all their memories, likely to ensure the fairness of the game. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
The answers from numbers seven and eight were strikingly similar:
"In October 2126, on this island, there was a person who was fervently persuading others not to give up hope of survival," eight said.
In the footnotes, number seven seemed unremarkable because it came to the island after its son, an Evil Fallen who died in the apocalypse, drove it to despair. Eventually, wanting to see its son, it chose euthanasia with the assistance of an executor.
Number eight had escaped from a prison and, after witnessing too much inversion and distortion there, became desperate about life and finally chose to purify himself with fire, just like a certain god. Ironically, the prison was indeed not lacking in devotees.
This was a lying game, at least for the initial few rounds, where people, although skilled at lying, based all their lies on their own perception.
Bai Wu speculated that the person from 2126 mentioned by these two disheartened individuals was the same one.
This person came to the island for some reason, but he wasn’t here to relieve his boredom; he wanted to awaken in people the desire to survive.
Bai Wu vaguely felt that this person was not simple.
But a remark from Number Nine made Bai Wu realize that he had been mistaken.
"Hmph, since you mentioned this person, I might as well talk about him. In January 2127, he entered the forbidden area, and I saw with my own eyes how he walked into the Island Master’s office."
Number Nine seemed quite ruthless, not like someone who would commit suicide, but his remarks were equally strange. The notes about Number Nine depicted extreme cowardice:
[He once fantasized that he was the protagonist of a novel, who, after being bullied, accidentally awakened his fighting spirit and set foot on the path to dominate the underworld. He also dreamed that he was a genius whose talent was suppressed for some reason, waiting for a reversal of fate in thirty years. But his life never reached that reversal. He was bullied in school when he was young,
timid at work in middle age. In his old age, his son despised him as a burden, and he wanted to say, do not scorn the poor when they are old.
Only when he discovered death... did he find it the only way to attain dignity. So he chose to commit suicide by jumping into the sea. No one collected his body, and at that time, there were still sharks in the sea. The sharks said human flesh was crunchy.
To sum up his life—do not scorn the young for being poor, do not scorn the middle-aged for being poor, do not scorn the elderly for being poor, the deceased are supreme.]
Such a stifled life, this was actually an old man. Bai Wu thought about it; he had encountered very few old people. Excluding some who were over seven hundred years old...
It seemed that after death, this old man’s personality was no longer so cowardly.
Still, no one entered the judge segment.
Number Ten unexpectedly continued on:
"In November 2126, indeed, a child regained hope with that person’s help, but what pained that person was that the child still died the next day."
Number Ten was playing a big game...
Originally thinking it was just recounting a regretful occurrence, but the instant Number Ten’s note appeared, Bai Wu suddenly felt—Number Ten might be one of the very few who didn’t want to win—
[As someone who had once been redeemed and had ignited hope for life again, he bore resentment towards his own death. After all, he was just a child. The whole island was full of those seeking death. After being persuaded to find the courage to live again, he faced everyone’s exclusion, so he... to prove he wasn’t a coward, chose to hang himself the next day.]
Seven hundred years had passed, and of course, the child was no longer a child.
Bai Wu suddenly felt that this child was actually filled with guilt, having let down someone’s expectations, as well as himself.
No judge segment ensued.
Number Eleven finally didn’t continue the chain, but still mentioned:
"That person never did fit in with this island, for here are all those who do not want to live on. Yet he insisted on coming here to persuade everyone to live."
After a pause of two seconds, Number Eleven said:
"In August 2125, in Shudu, I encountered a strange person wearing a mask who asked me how to get to Baichuan City."
Number Eleven did not opt for a significant event and didn’t continue with the madman on that island.
He merely recounted something only he knew. After all, he wasn’t alive, so he wasn’t afraid of being accused of lying.
But the information given to Bai Wu by their eyes left Bai Wu quite astonished:
[Who in hell is that bastard wearing a mask, clad in a black cloak, roaming the world to capture Evil Fallen? I am someone earnestly seeking death, and you’re asking me how to get to Baichuan City? I’m about to commit suicide, and you’re still asking me how to get to Baichuan City? You’re too cold-hearted, too selfish, too merciless, too unreasonable. Then I have no choice but to send you in the opposite direction of Baichuan City. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
The person who ultimately chose to commit suicide by taking poison on the island did so simply because no one in his life paid him any attention; he felt so miserable, so lonely. But he didn’t die in vain, as his death caused someone to be late. Being late meant wasting time, and because of the delay, when he got to Baichuan City, the doctor he was looking for happened to have left—this was a man already short on time. Thus a tragedy of seven hundred years was brewed.
There was so much information that Bai Wu didn’t even know how to begin commenting.
So the Masked Strange Person didn’t know how to get to Baichuan City?
Did this mean that the Masked Strange Person was actually not very familiar with the world seven hundred years ago?
Bai Wu was certain that the Masked Strange Person heading to Baichuan City was the one Jiang Yimi had encountered.
He quickly sorted out the timelines in his mind—
"The first Masked Strange Person I encountered was in Dandelion’s diary, in September of 2123 when the Masked Strange Person had become Cain’s adversary. That is to say, the Masked Strange Person was quite active in 2123."
"But then the Masked Strange Person strangely disappeared. He didn’t reappear until the summer of 2126, and eventually due to the premature onset of the fusion disease, he must have traveled to a special space-time. Since the mirror was still present, he didn’t die."
"Afterward, the mask stayed in Baichuan City, picked up by a member of the Investigation Corps during a mission, and then it came into my possession."
"So there were two Masked Strange Persons?"
Bai Wu felt that some mystery was about to be unveiled.
"I met Lin Rui in 2127, and by then, apart from Lin Rui, almost no one in Food City believed in the existence of the Masked Strange Person anymore. This indicates that the Masked Strange Person had not appeared again between 2123 and 2127."
"Which means, before Masked Strange Person A disappeared, he was active in various cities to the extent that people considered him a hero! He must have disappeared one day in 2123."
"From then until 2127, in Food City, Shudu, no one saw the Masked Strange Person again; as disasters became more severe, people thought of the Masked Strange Person as just a feigned existence."
"But in August of 2125, a Masked Strange Person B appeared. Masked Strange Person B had the same mask as A, but while A was familiar with various cities, B didn’t even know the way to Baichuan City."
"So much so that when Masked Strange Person B arrived in Baichuan City, Jiang Yimi had already become the source of a curse, believing she had caused the deaths of three very important people."
"Although the timeline shows A appeared before B... the Masked Strange Person B Jiang Yimi came into contact with always gave me a very mature impression, as if he was more like the first generation of Masked Strange Persons. And he seemed like an outsider.
And the Masked Strange Person A, active in various cities, seemed more like a backup, someone who actually lived seven hundred years ago."
All this was just Bai Wu’s intuition, but his intuition had always been accurate.
"Two Masked Strange Persons, if you count me... that makes three."
Bai Wu suddenly found it interesting; just how many generations’ efforts were borne by this mask? Could it be that there were major events still unknown to him?
The advocate phase began with number twelve, who was silent for a full thirty seconds before he began to speak:
"On December 9th, 2128, I met a woman who told me that if I wanted to come back to life some day in the future, I had to believe in someone with strange opinions during the following phases."
Ah, this...
Because number twelve was Evil Fallen, so he couldn’t possibly be lying; Bai Wu was sure that some woman had indeed said these things to number twelve.
"Number twelve, you know, is a lucky number, an amulet. He was originally planning to commit suicide by swallowing sleeping pills, but he accidentally bought blue pills at the underground market. Just then, his wife wanted a divorce, but after a tumultuous string of events, she decided not to leave. Later, he went to buy a rope to hang himself, the rope didn’t break during the attempt, and the hanging point broke instead—he failed to die yet again. Finally, he decided to climb to the surface to attract Evil Fallen."
A giant Evil Fallen charged at us, and guess what happened? The area rule was just born in December, and that Evil Fallen crossed the boundary and got sliced in two by the rule.
But this old buddy eventually died, true to his principles, and died on this island using sleeping pills. His cause of death was believing that he would see a new world after being reborn. A new world without Evil Fallen.]
Wow, quite a lucky fella...
Even in death, he encountered Jing Liu before he passed away. Despite it being 2128 and Jing Liu’s body was full of holes, the guidance he gave this man persisted.
Perhaps it was just a woman’s impulsive act for good luck? Or maybe this game was actually very important to Jing Liu?
The only one Bai Wu could think of who could give that guidance was Jing Liu. Jing Liu indeed paved the way nicely, and although Bai Wu already had a strategy, with this help, the judgment that was approaching in the next round could proceed more smoothly.
All these game participants, each has quite a story.
Number Thirteen’s statement was quite mundane:
"In September 2127, I found this flyer in a trash can on Goldware Street in Xuanhui City and contacted the number to access the island."
At least we know that in the post-apocalyptic world, the island seems to have some unique ability to receive signals from all over the world?
The so-called access to the island is actually actively facilitated by the island’s inhabitants. The Island Master’s power is not small.
If it were an Evil Fallen, it would also surely be a formidable entity.
Number Fourteen, Yin Shuang, of course, made up her answer, for during the years around 212x, she simply did not exist.
"In September 2125, I met a middle-aged man in a white lab coat. He was very clean but also very evil, torturing a child."
Bai Wu’s mood turned sour in an instant. Big sis, can’t you stop fixating on my dad?
But Yin Shuang couldn’t be blamed, she was also very nervous, and subconsciously thought of past events. The experience in the phone booth gave her the feeling that it happened centuries ago.
Strangely enough, after going through the phone booth experience, she would occasionally recall Mr. Bai’s kind face, as well as his utterly perverted methods.
Numbers Fifteen, Sixteen, and Seventeen all spoke of things that happened on the island and were known by many. They also all died by suicide—one was rejected when boarding a boat, one was abandoned, and one lost all their property in an instant.
After all, their deaths were unnecessary.
The second round of the game began, just as Lin Wurou and Yin Shuang felt the game would last at least five rounds, after Number One finished speaking, Bai Wu started operating in the judge’s segment.
He took out his own card—[Seize another’s turn and speak for them.]
The real effect of this card was, the person would normally speak on their turn, but the content of the speech would be owned by the cardholder.
After the game had gone a full round, this Number One player, when everyone thought that the judgment phase would only start in the fifth round... began to be eliminated.
Bai Wu’s frenzied killing spree was about to commence.
Number One originally planned to wait silently for the time to end, but in the dimly lit room, his voice did not stop:
"Don’t waste time anymore, this boring game should end now. Number Twelve, didn’t you say you wanted to believe in some strange assertions? Well, you better remember now, starting from now, I will announce the manner of death and reasons for seeking death for ten people."
