“Hey~ Hey~ Mr. Raven Mask.” Just as the man in the suit was getting money for Brother Jue, the man in the white opera mask, who had spoken to the host earlier, walked over to him and said, “A hundred thousand dollars isn't a small amount, is it? Borrowing the maximum amount without even thinking about it, is that really okay?”

“Heh…” Feng Bujue laughed upon hearing this. “Is this a question of ‘okay’ or not?”

The other party was stunned by his question and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Seeing this, Brother Jue chuckled again and continued, “Although I don't know the specifics of the upcoming games, one thing is for sure… ‘Chips’ are like ‘lives’ in the game.”

His analogy instantly enlightened many people around him.

“Since the host is so ‘kind’ as to provide us with this interest-free loan,” Feng Bujue paused for two seconds and then said, “then why should I be timid and restrict myself?”

He was right… The amount of this loan directly determined the degree of freedom that players could obtain in the subsequent games, so naturally, they should borrow as much as possible.

“This…” The man in the opera mask stood there and thought for a few seconds before replying, “Hmph… you would say that because you chose to accept the host's protection after failing, right? So you don't care about the extra hundred thousand in debt.”

“No, I chose to get off the boat.” As Feng Bujue said this, the man in the suit had already prepared the cash. While accepting the plastic-sealed bag full of dollars, Brother Jue continued, “Choosing to ‘accept protection’ is like betting your entire life here; in comparison… choosing to get off the boat at least gives you a month to figure things out.”

With that, he took the money bag and walked towards a sofa by the wall of the main hall.

“Of course… all of the above is just my personal understanding.” Before leaving, Feng Bujue specifically left a sentence for the man in the opera mask, “You are welcome to borrow the minimum amount in a gamble that may involve the rest of your life; maybe that's the right thing to do.”

His tone was full of sarcasm, and even though his face couldn't be seen, the other party could feel the strong power of ridicule…

“Tch…” Although the man in the opera mask was a little unhappy, he also understood that the guy with the raven mask was actually helping him, so he didn't say anything more. He just stepped forward, picked up a "getting off the boat after failure" contract, filled in the amount of one hundred thousand, and signed his name.

…………

Long story short…

In less than fifteen minutes, all the guests in this main hall had filled out their contracts.

Due to Feng Bujue's previous performance, more than 60% of the people eventually borrowed one hundred thousand dollars, the upper limit of the loan amount.

However, there were still many people who chose a more moderate amount; most of them borrowed seventy or eighty thousand, but the least was no less than fifty thousand.

After all… everyone has their own ideas; whether it's unreasonable stubbornness or rational analysis, not everyone will agree with Brother Jue's views based on those few words.

And beyond the amount, on the choice of "where to go after failure," even fewer people agreed with Feng Bujue…

Obviously, these desperate and all-in guests today were more inclined to the host's "luck" and "hope" than the so-called "spend another month to figure things out."

This is also normal, because… if they had a solution, they would have figured it out already.

Another ten minutes passed.

After confirming that all the magnetic cards and contracts had been recovered, the men in suits and sunglasses left the main hall together, pushing the carts.

About two minutes later, the host appeared again by the railing on the second floor.

This time, he didn't even say hello, and went straight to the point: "Now that everyone has completed the loan, let's get to the point quickly."

Feng Bujue could feel that the host couldn't wait any longer.

And Brother Jue himself… was essentially also looking forward to what was about to happen.

"Excluding those who have lost their qualifications before boarding the ship… at this moment, there are two hundred and thirty-seven guests in this main hall." After a slight pause, the host began to explain, "The 'first game' I have prepared for you is—Guess the Number."

…………

Guess the Number, also known as Bulls and Cows, is an ancient code-breaking game.

It is usually suitable for two or more people to play together.

Taking a two-player game as an example: one side first sets a number, and the other side guesses.

The person setting the number must think of a four-digit decimal number without repeating digits (that is, four digits, ten numbers, without repeating digits), and must not let the guesser know. Then, the guesser can start "guessing the number."

Each time the guesser guesses a number, the setter will respond with "xA yB" based on the number guessed by the other party; where the number in front of A indicates the number of digits in the correct position, and the number in front of B indicates the number of digits that are correct but in the wrong position.

For example—if the correct answer set by the setter is 2358, and the guesser guesses 2485, then the situation is 1A2B; where the first 2 is the correct number and position, recorded as 1A, and the numbers 5 and 8 are correct, but the positions are wrong, so recorded as 2B.

Similarly—if the correct answer set by the setter is 1234, and the guesser guesses 4321, then the result is 0A4B, all numbers are correct, but all positions are wrong.

And so on…

After guessing a round, the guesser can continue to deduce based on the "xA yB" situation obtained during the previous guess until the correct answer is guessed (that is, 4A0B).

…………

This is not a particularly complicated game, but it involves many factors such as memory, reasoning, calculation, and luck. Playing it… is not that simple.

Therefore, when the host said the three words "Guess the Number," the people below started to calculate in their minds.

And their reactions were naturally within the host's expectations…

The host didn't pause for too long before continuing, "Of course, it can't be ordinary Guess the Number, because that's too easy… whether it's using standard rules (four digits, ten numbers, without repeating digits) or mastermind rules (four digits, six numbers, with repeating digits), as long as you master the correct solution, you can definitely guess it in about seven times, and if you're lucky, you can do it in five times…" He paused, "So… I slightly increased the difficulty and changed it to—six digits, ten numbers, with repeating digits."

As soon as he said this, many people downstairs started to get a headache…

Interestingly… it wasn't the people who were bad at math who had a headache, but the people who were extremely good at math.

As the host said, both the standard rules and mastermind rules of Guess the Number have solutions. Even people who don't know the solutions, as long as they have enough reasoning ability and a little bit of luck, can completely guess the answer within ten times (Feng Bujue belongs to this situation, he can complete it within eight times).

And for ordinary people, even if their reasoning ability is relatively poor… they can basically guess it within twenty times.

However, if the number of digits in Guess the Number is increased to six digits, and the premise of "repeatable" is added, then… its difficulty will increase exponentially…

"Okay, I don't want to waste too much of your time…"

As the host said this, a large group of men in suits and sunglasses poured in from the various entrances of the main hall on the first floor again; this time, there were as many as a hundred, and each one was pushing a relatively small cart.

This kind of cart is different from the one that previously contained the mountain of banknotes. The length and width of the top are only about 100*50 centimeters, so it can't hold too many things, but the height of this cart is quite high, about one meter and two.

"What you are seeing now is the 'table' for your 'duel'." While the host was explaining this, the men in suits had already pushed the carts to various parts of the main hall, fixed them, and arranged them. "Your duels will be conducted under the notarization of the staff, who will be responsible for recording and implementing the results of your duels, and for supervising cheating behavior."

"Wait!" At this time, a slightly obese woman wearing a raccoon mask on the first floor said loudly to the host, "What if you don't understand the rules of 'Guess the Number'? Isn't that very unfair?"

"Heh…" The host laughed at the time, "Hehehe… Hahahaha…" His laughter was full of contempt.

"What? Is it strange not to know this game?" The woman was a little annoyed, and she asked loudly again.

"Hehe… sorry, I think you misunderstood." The host laughed, "I'm not laughing at the first half of your sentence, but the second half…" He shook his head, "Fair? Fair… Fair! Hahahahahaha…"

He repeated the two words repeatedly in three different tones, and then laughed again.

At this moment, many people in the venue also laughed—some sneered, some mocked, and some smiled bitterly…

In those laughs, the woman's body trembled slightly, and finally… she lowered her head sadly and stopped speaking.

Although the host did not directly answer her question, the answer to this question had been conveyed to everyone here.

"Okok… let me continue." After laughing for a while, the host finally stopped and continued, "Regarding the fact that some guests may not understand the rules of the 'Guess the Number' game, I did consider it, so…" He raised an arm and gestured towards the men in suits, "On each 'table', in addition to the paper and pens necessary for the game, I also printed two copies of the detailed rules of 'Guess the Number' with pictures and texts; whether you know the rules or not, you can pick them up and take a look to confirm again."

At this point, the host paused for a few seconds, and then said again: "I won't explain the details one by one, but there are a few key rules that I think it's better for me to tell everyone in person…" He cleared his throat and continued, "Ahem… First, everyone must have a Guess the Number duel with at least four different opponents each. Of course, those who cannot duel due to running out of chips are an exception.

"Second, in the duel, the amount called by the 'caller' each time must not be less than 1% of the total amount of money they hold at the beginning of the round. If, during the duel, one party has no chips left to call during their calling round, it is considered a failure. But if it is the opponent's calling round, and you don't have enough money to follow, you can still use all the current amount to complete the current round with the opponent.

"Third, in order to avoid the situation where someone deliberately avoids the duel, all players must accept the 'challenge' from others in the 'first two times', no matter who the opponent is. Only those who have already had two duels can refuse other people's challenges.

"Fourth, at the end of this game, that is, at twelve o'clock midnight… except for the sixty-four people with the most chips, everyone else, whether they are penniless, or have tens or hundreds of thousands left… will all be considered losers."

When he finished these four rules, two particularly tall men in suits and sunglasses carried a sofa chair that looked extremely expensive, and came behind him.

The host glanced back, nodded, and then the two burly men put the sofa chair down.

"Well… that's all for now, you can read the other details yourself."

As the host said, he sat down leisurely.

He leaned his back against the back of the chair, placed his hands on the two armrests, and crossed his legs in a posture that was so elegant it could be called flirtatious…

Before long, the two men in suits and sunglasses brought over a small round table that looked like it was made of diamonds (if it was really made of diamonds, it might be more expensive than today's eight prizes) from somewhere. On the table were several plates of melons, fruits, snacks, truffles (that's right, this is not a random addition, he ate the finest truffles with the other snacks), and chicken feet.

Looking at his behavior, it was like he was using a textbook method to show what it means to "sit back and watch the show."

"Young master, this is the red wine cooked sweet sauce with wasabi you wanted…" After the host was seated, one of the two men in suits and sunglasses went to get a drink that didn't look very good color-wise, placed it on a tray, and handed it to the former, "The head chef said that this is made with Lafite from '82, Lao Gan Die's exquisite sauce, and Japanese…"

"The umbrella?" The host interrupted the other party with a somewhat inexplicable question before he could finish speaking.

"Eh?" The big man was stunned, "Umbrella… umbrella?" It seemed he didn't understand what the "young master" meant.

"Didn't I say it?" The host shrugged, "After you make it, put it in a goblet, put a little umbrella on it, and then bring it up."

"Y-yes sir! I understand!" The big man replied very seriously in the face of this nonsensical request, "I'll go pour it out now and have them redo it!"

"Ah~ forget it, forget it." The host stopped the big man, took the bizarre drink, and held it in his hand… then, he recited in a melancholy tone, "Regret is also a kind of beauty sometimes~"