Free Web NovelChapter 6: Chapter 6: Idiot
First round.
Gao Tian, paper.
The ghost, paper.
First round, a draw.
The second round was about to begin.
’People are more likely to change their move than to stick with it. After a draw, the opponent will probably switch to scissors or paper.’
’In that case, I need to throw scissors. That will at least get me a draw.’
Second round.
Gao Tian, scissors.
The ghost, scissors.
Second round, a draw. Null and void again.
After a two-round stalemate, Gao Tian was growing impatient. He decided to change his strategy for the next round: he would stick with scissors.
’Paper has already been used. If my opponent changes his move, it will be to rock.’
But Gao Tian guessed wrong.
Third round.
Gao Tian, scissors.
The ghost, rock.
Third round, the ghost won. The score was one to zero.
If the ghost scored one more point, he would be robbed of even the right to die.
Yet, it was in moments like this that Gao Tian became his calmest.
’Logically, the winner is more likely to stick with the same move in the next round.’
But this ghost’s moves were hard to predict. Gao Tian decided to take a gamble that it would change its move.
’If I rule out rock, that leaves only paper and scissors.’
Fourth round.
Gao Tian, scissors.
The ghost, paper.
Fourth round, Gao Tian won. He’d tied the score at one to one.
’My luck’s not half bad. It seems I’m not fated to die just yet.’ freewebnoveℓ.com
The final round would decide both their fates.
Just as Gao Tian was deeply contemplating the winning move for the final round, the red-eyed "Gao Tian" suddenly shot out its hand like lightning, grabbed his right hand, and snapped two of his fingers without warning.
CRACK. CRACK.
The doppelgänger’s speed was incredible, so fast it was just a blur that the naked eye couldn’t possibly track. It wasn’t until Gao Tian looked down and saw his own index and middle fingers lying limp like cotton that the realization began to sink in. A tidal wave of excruciating pain crashed over his entire body, and it felt like a century before he could fully process it: the ghost had broken his fingers.
The pain from the fingers travels straight to the heart.
An agony that pierced straight to his soul.
The pain overwhelmed Gao Tian, nearly shutting down his ability to think. He instantly curled into a ball, back arched, clutching his mangled right hand as he writhed on the floor like a maggot. The agony was so extreme that, for some reason, he couldn’t even scream.
At that same moment, a giant black spear materialized from thin air, pierced the doppelgänger’s heart, and pinned it to the spot! It was rendered immobile, unable to continue its assault on Gao Tian.
Clearly, it had overstepped its bounds. This was the cinerary casket imposing an additional restriction on it.
The tidal wave of pain receded just enough for Gao Tian to slowly regain some awareness. He was soaked through with a cold sweat, but the game was still on.
"It cheated..."
"This ghost... it’s not playing fair."
Gao Tian stared at his deformed right hand, at the two fingers he could no longer straighten, blood still dripping from them. He knew this hand was crippled; it could never make the "scissors" sign again.
’So that was the ghost’s goal.’
But no matter how much Gao Tian groaned in agony, the cinerary casket placed between the man and the ghost remained perfectly still.
’That’s right. The instructions had only said the ghost’s usual method of killing would be temporarily disabled. It never guaranteed the ghost wouldn’t harm a human.’
It had harmed Gao Tian, and the cinerary casket had already dealt it a small punishment. The game had to go on.
’What a joke...’
’It snaps two of my fingers and *that’s* the only punishment it gets? Goddammit...’
’It’s a ghost. Being hacked to pieces means nothing to it...’
’How is this game supposed to be fair to humans...?’
In the air, the white powder dancing in the space between them began to spin faster and faster, as if growing displeased with Gao Tian’s delay in starting the next round.
It seemed that if Gao Tian continued to lie on the ground and refuse to play, he would be the next one to be punished.
He understood the situation perfectly. Clenching his still-bleeding right hand, he gritted his teeth, forced himself to his feet, and prepared to continue the game with the ghost.
At the same time, a new realization began to take shape in his mind:
’Why did the ghost break my middle and index fingers? Because with them broken, I can’t throw scissors in the next round.’
’The ghost doesn’t want me to throw scissors.’
’The ghost is going to throw paper next.’
’Ha...’
’What an idiot.’ freёweɓnovel.com
’A ghost is still a ghost, after all. Maybe it’s been dead so long that the brains under its skull have rotted away, leaving it completely incapable of critical thought—’
’What’s the point of crushing one of my hands? I still have another one.’
’The ghost’s supposedly clever move just exposed its plan to throw paper.’
’So, in the next round, all I have to do is choose scissors to clinch the victory and lock this malevolent spirit away in Hell.’
Gao Tian’s gaze met the crimson eyes of his doppelgänger. Although it wore his exact same face, for some reason, its expression always had a faintly artificial quality. No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like a living person.
The final round of rock-paper-scissors was about to begin. The ghost had already raised its arm.
Gao Tian deliberately and slowly raised his crippled right hand, letting the doppelgänger see that he was still using it for the game.
Just as they were about to bring their hands down, a strange thought suddenly surfaced in Gao Tian’s mind.
’Is the ghost really so stupid it couldn’t think of something that simple?’
’Its real goal is to use my own logic against me, to bait me into throwing scissors.’
’What it’s really going to throw is rock. Rock is the move that will decide the game.’
’What a vicious bastard. Wrapping one trick inside another, all just to win this game.’
Gao Tian and the red-eyed ghost brought their raised arms down at the same time.
Even though the pain in his right hand was so intense it was nearly numb, Gao Tian slowly opened his fist, flattening his palm into the "paper" sign.
When he saw the ghost’s move, Gao Tian felt his own heart stop for a second.
Gao Tian, paper.
The ghost, rock.
Fifth round, Gao Tian won. The score was two to one.
Seeing the outcome, the doppelgänger’s blank, death-mask face finally broke. Within its blood-filled sockets, two crimson pinpoints of light darted about frantically, flicking from Gao Tian’s crippled right hand to his left shoulder.
It was as if it couldn’t believe that Gao Tian had actually used his injured hand for the final showdown. He hadn’t switched hands at the very end.
Regardless, it was all over.
The effect of the supernatural item, the [Cinerary Casket], was absolute. Even a ghost, once it participated in the game, had to abide by its rules.
The doppelgänger suddenly went berserk, violently shaking the spear in its chest. It wanted to pull the spear out and escape.
But it was too late. Countless white particles surged from the cinerary casket, swarming around the doppelgänger’s body. An instant later, it spontaneously burst into flames. For the first time, its terrifying expression warped, its features twisting together in agony as its mouth gaped open in a silent scream at the ceiling.
Its clothes burned away in an instant, revealing stark white bones and the putrid, rotten organs beneath its skin. The cinerary casket gave it no quarter. The supernatural fire quickly reduced the doppelgänger to a charred skeleton. Then, the fragments of flesh, slivers of bone, and dust all flew back into the casket.
With a THUD, after absorbing the doppelgänger’s remains, the cinerary casket slammed shut, sealing it within.
Watching this, Gao Tian knew one thing clearly. The malevolent spirit wasn’t dead, merely imprisoned within the cinerary casket.
The Jialan Society chat group had said it: ghosts don’t die. And the instruction manual had warned that if the cinerary casket were ever opened again, the malevolent spirit imprisoned within would escape.
In any case, the curse unleashed by that bizarre chat group was, for now, dealt with. The abominable, filthy thing wouldn’t be able to cause any more trouble for a long, long time.
Just then, Gao Tian noticed something in the spot where the doppelgänger had stood. After it had been burned to a pile of blackness, something seemed to remain within the ashes.
