Chapter 12 Back to the Present

Time returned to the present.

Ji Chang flipped the card over and held it in front of his eyes. On the front of his [Suggestion] card was printed a ball of black yarn.

"Are you planning to wrap me up with thread?" Ji Chang said after looking at the pattern.

Before the words were even out of his mouth, Honghu, Qiufeng, and Feng Bujue's expressions changed as they looked at him.

"What..." Ji Chang wanted to ask what was wrong, but before he could even ask, he was stunned by what was happening.

At this moment, from an outsider's perspective, Ji Chang's hair seemed to expand like dough, quickly turning into a huge, fluffy afro. Then, this "giant hair" began to "rain" like a dark cloud, except instead of rain, a waterfall of long hair fell down.

After about thirty seconds, the process finally stopped.

Ji Chang's original buzz cut seemed to have turned into a large mushroom, with long, willow-like hair hanging down from the mushroom's cap. If he stood up, others wouldn't be able to see his body at all. From a distance, he looked like a black, fluffy giant jellyfish.

"When you think you've gotten what you want, you've actually lost more," Ji Chang repeated, using his hands to lift the curtain of long hair and reveal his face. "Although I've been considering changing my buzz cut in the game to a different hairstyle recently (the Dream Company website has announced a new update for Thriller Paradise, one of which is the upcoming hair adjustment service), it's definitely not like this..."

"When you think you've attained the status of King of Hairdressers, you've lost your dignity and taste," Feng Bujue mocked coldly.

"Hahahaha..." Qiufeng burst out laughing. But a few seconds later, some blood seeped out again from the place where the sword was inserted in his chest. "Cough... I can't... don't make me laugh, or I won't last another hour."

Honghu said calmly, "Compared to us, you're still doing pretty well." As he spoke, he reached a finger through the iron bars in front of his face and habitually adjusted his glasses.

"I'd rather wear a cage on my head." Ji Chang pushed the long hair in front of his face aside and tossed it over his shoulders; otherwise, he couldn't see anything.

"Everyone, let's continue," Moriarty said at this moment. "Mr. Yu, your arrival is timely. Before you appeared, your three companions each completed their turn." His tone was still calm. "At this moment, I believe you have all seen how this game is played."

"We've seen the card effects, but what about the game rules?" Feng Bujue said. "We can't just keep playing under your command, can we?"

Moriarty turned to look at Holmes and exchanged a glance, then said to the players, "Language is a power." He raised an arm and gestured in introduction, "Please remember this, because in this space, or rather, in this Round Table Game, it is the most basic element."

He pointed to the cards on the table. "In the basic rules of this game, each player must use all four types of cards: [Suggestion], [Inquiry], [Speculation], and [Presumption]." His gaze swept across the players' faces. "But there's a problem. Only Mr. Holmes and I know the 'truth' at this table. So, as uninformed parties, you obviously have no reason to choose Suggestion."

"So you're requiring us to use Suggestion to enter the game?" Honghu interjected.

"Yes," Moriarty replied. "We left those sentences with the 'Suggestion' attribute in various places, so that you could personally witness the impact of these 'languages' on other characters in the space during your ascent."

"Can I understand it this way... in this world, 'language' is a power, and 'Suggestion' is a kind of move with negative attributes," Qiufeng said.

"Not exactly," Holmes interjected. "But close."

"On this table, there's no such thing as positive or negative. The prerequisite for judging the effect of a card is whether the language spoken has value," Moriarty continued. "It's my turn now. I'll give a Suggestion to demonstrate." He paused for a moment and said loudly, "Suggestion—[There are no lies in this world.]"

As soon as he finished speaking, a [Suggestion] card moved to the Professor's side by itself.

Moriarty flipped open the card and showed it to everyone. The front of the card was blank. "See, no penalty."

After about five seconds, Feng Bujue let out a cold laugh from his drafty cheeks. "Hmph... I understand." He was still playing with the small knife in his hand, looking relaxed. "You are the 'informed party,' and what you just said can help us get closer to the 'truth,' so your 'Suggestion' has value." He paused for a second and then said, "We uninformed parties just spoke the 'languages' you left for us. Although the nature of the words is indeed 'Suggestion,' they are meaningless on this table."

"Not bad, it seems you're getting the hang of it," Moriarty replied with a smile.

Ji Chang pondered for a while and concluded, "So... in this game, choosing [Suggestion] is bound to be punished for the uninformed, because the informed don't need our Suggestions.

And for the informed, [Presumption] is something you can't touch, because you know the truth from the beginning, there's nothing to presume."

"But the problem is..." Honghu interrupted, "Each player must use all four types of cards, right?" He cast a sharp glance at Moriarty.

"Yes," Moriarty replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Don't worry, Mr. Holmes and I are not the kind of people who would cheat."

Holmes added, "As the uninformed, your first sentence entering the game is defaulted to Suggestion. Fuh—" He exhaled smoke. "And the informed don't have this restriction; they can start with any kind of card." He flicked the ashes off his cigarette. "But... whether you're informed or uninformed, in the first four rounds of the game, you can't choose the same card repeatedly."

"In other words... each player must choose all four cards in the first four rounds," Honghu replied, then asked, "Does that mean... from the fifth round onwards, we can repeatedly choose the same card?"

Moriarty sneered, "Yes, from the fifth round onwards, you can choose [Inquiry] every round if you want." He directly exposed what Honghu was thinking.