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Survivorship Bias - Chapter 67

Published at 5th of June 2024 07:07:16 AM


Chapter 67

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Chapter 67: He kind of wanted Shen Ti to see this scene


Drinking the hallucinogenic drink, Toudou Sakura’s cheeks quickly flushed with a faint cherry blossom hue, just like her name.

An Wujiu watched her, and seeing her limbs go weak and her body slump onto the sofa, he leaned over, intending to help her up.

“Are you alright?”

This move happened to be noticed by Wu You, who was nearby, and he sneered.

It was fortunate that Shen Ti wasn’t here, or else he’d go crazy if he saw this.

Toudou Sakura waved her hand, blushing, and struggled to sit up. Her elbows were resting on the table, and her head was drooping.

“This stuff is really strange… I just saw all of you all turn upside down.”

Is its effect really that strong?

Or is it just an act?

In any case, An Wujiu had two goals: first, to try to secure the top spot, which would give him at least half of the voting rights, and second, to try to avoid penalties as much as possible.

He didn’t know the effects of this drink, and the hallucinations each person experienced might vary.

Drinking a cup of this might affect the subsequent games.

“Let’s get started.” Toudou Sakura picked up the dice cup herself, casually shook it a few times, then looked up at the other two at the table. “Are you guys ready?”

An Wujiu withdrew his gaze, nodded gently, and lifted a corner of his dice cup, glanced inside, then gently placed it down.

2, 2, 2, 3, 5.

It wasn’t a very favorable distribution, and it wasn’t his turn to call at the beginning, so it was difficult to call 2 unless the number of dice was increased.

“I lost last round, so I’ll go first, followed by Mr. Zhou, then Mr. An.” Setting the order, Toudou Sakura rolled up her sleeves, pondered for a moment, and made a gesture, “Three 5s.”

Considering her straightforward style in the previous rounds and calling so conservatively this time, there probably won’t be too many of the same numbers, but there should be some 5s.

Zhou Yijue leaned back on the sofa, breathed a sigh of relief, and casually added, “Then let’s go with four 5s.”

After calling, Zhou Yijue’s gaze lingered on An Wujiu for a moment, but An Wujiu didn’t notice because he was busy checking his own dice.

After inspecting his dice, An Wujiu put down the cup cover. “Five 5s.”

As he lifted the cup cover, An Wujiu recalled a childhood game he used to play, quite similar to the current situation. Everyone would sit around, passing around a balloon that kept getting larger and more inflated. 

The more it passed around, the more dangerous it became. Eventually, it would burst over someone’s head.

Intentionally, he took an extra glance, playing the whole act.

The pressure shifted to Toudou Sakura.

She wore pink leather gloves on her hands, inevitably reminding An Wujiu of Shen Ti.

“Six 5s,” Toudou Sakura announced, tapping the tabletop with her fingertips.

Just as her voice trailed off, Zhou Yijue spoke up, “Six 6s.”

He said it so quickly that it almost overlapped with Toudou Sakura’s ending tone, so he smiled and said, “Sorry.”

This time, An Wujiu didn’t hesitate much and followed Zhou Yijue’s rhythm directly, “Seven 6s.”

Hesitation filled Toudou Sakura’s eyes. Zhou Yijue had directly changed his call to 6, indicating that he must have more 6s than 5s. While it was possible to bluff and let the next person take the bet, it was also easy to get caught in his own trap.

An Wujiu, who had been contemplating in the previous two rounds, was now decisive in calling 6 as well…

They both couldn’t have less than four 6s in their hands, and the probability of not having a 1 like himself should also be very small.

“Eight 6s,” Toudou Sakura finally added.

With her hands folded under her chin, she glanced at Zhou Yijue.

It was his turn.

Zhou Yijue was about to open his mouth when a voice suddenly interrupted him.

“Nine 6s.”

Both of them looked at An Wujiu, who made the mistake. They saw him slightly widen his distinct black-and-white eyes, his pupils flickering with a hint of confusion.

In a moment, he realized his mistake, furrowing his brow. “I’m sorry, I, I jumped in. It should be Mr. Zhou.”

“Sorry…” His voice was soft and pleasant, and his apology was sincere and graceful.

Zhou Yijue stared at his face, smiling gentlemanly on the surface, saying it was okay, but he harbored heavy suspicions in his heart.

The number of 6s had already been called up to eight. He knew very well that he had three sixes in his hand. To make up eight wouldn’t be too hard, but if Toudou Sakura had two and An Wujiu had three, him starting this round would likely lead to trouble.

Especially with this An Wujiu.

When he called 5, he hesitated and deliberately opened the cup cover to take another look, indicating that in his set of dice, 5 shouldn’t be the majority, probably around 0 to 2.

But this round, he even preempted and called nine 6s.

At first glance, with these moves, anyone knowledgeable would easily think that this person had more 6s and fewer 5s.

But what if An Wujiu was just acting?

What if he actually doesn’t have many 6s in his hand at all, intentionally creating the illusion of having many 6s, letting him continue to raise with him this round, and then getting called out by others?

In that case, he would lose.

Zhou Yijue’s mind was working fast, but as he thought, scenes from the end of the second round suddenly flashed before his eyes.

He said to An Wujiu, ‘I won once, and you won once.’

And that tilted smile from An Wujiu.

Was it possible that An Wujiu wasn’t even playing at this level?

An Wujiu had already acted out the clumsiness and awkwardness in the first two rounds  very well. It was completely unnecessary for him to make such a confident smile in the second round. He could have continued acting, deceiving one person after another.

An Wujiu did indeed act that way later, intentionally preempting.

So, was that smile intentional?

Like the false evidence deliberately left by the murderer in detective novels to mislead the investigators.

If that’s the case, An Wujiu deliberately allowed him to uncover the disguise, then made him distrust his subsequent performances. Naturally, because he couldn’t trust him, he would stop this round and not continue; just open eight 6s.

This way, he would lose to Toudou Sakura, and the three of them would level the playing field again.

Originally, Zhou Yijue thought this round would definitely produce a winner between him and An Wujiu.

In that case, his smile at that time probably meant it wouldn’t go as he wished.

If he cleverly thought he had exposed An Wujiu’s act this round, it might be the real trap he would fall into.

“Nine 6s,” Zhou Yijue made his decision.

“You took a long time to decide,” Toudou Sakura teased, holding her empty cup and waving her wrist.

It was An Wujiu’s turn.

He pondered for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly.

Zhou Yijue already had about sixty to seventy percent confidence in his heart.

But An Wujiu’s furrowed brow quickly relaxed, and he lifted his eyes casually.

“Open.”

Zhou Yijue was stunned.

Open?

Could he be mistaken?

Toudou Sakura lifted her cup cover and said, “I only have one six.”

An Wujiu also opened his cup cover, glancing at the dice of the other two.

Toudou Sakura had 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

While Zhou Yijue had 1, 1, 3, 4, 6.

And he had 2, 2, 2, 3, 5.

“Oh my! You didn’t have a six at all,” Toudou Sakura exclaimed in horror. “You guys were just randomly calling out numbers.”

“There are a total of four 6s.” An Wujiu’s lips curled slightly upward, showing not much joy between his eyebrows, but rather a natural calmness, as he looked toward Zhou Yijue.

“I won.”

From the very beginning of this round, he had been setting up Zhou Yijue’s trap. As soon as Zhou Yijue called out his six 6s, An Wujiu knew his chance had come.

He didn’t have a six at all, and this round was definitely meant for Zhou Yijue to eat the loss.

It wasn’t enough for him to take the lead; it would be best if he could force Toudou Sakura into a pincer attack with him. Once Toudou Sakura called out a result, he would preemptively act, forcing Zhou Yijue to open Toudou Sakura’s dice.

But for someone as cautious and thoughtful as him, he wouldn’t immediately fall for the trap; he would definitely think it through multiple times.

A person who trusts no one, only trusts themselves.

Only to be deceived by oneself.

Holy Voice announced the results of their table.

“Player An Wujiu has won two rounds of the game first, becoming the winner of this table.”

Resigned to his fate, Zhou Yijue picked up the second penalty drink, tilting his head back to down it all in one gulp.

This time, the effects of the punishment seemed even stronger.

Zhou Yijue shook his head, propping his elbows on the table to steady himself.

An Wujiu glanced over at the commotion on Wu You’s side. It seemed they were having a dispute. Maguire was pointing his finger at Wu You’s nose, not holding back his anger.

“What about the next table?” An Wujiu asked.

“The winner of the next table is Maguire,” Holy Voice replied, and the invisible barrier between the two tables immediately disappeared, and An Wujiu heard the argument from the next table.

“Cheating is cheating; just admit it,” Wu You said coldly.

“So what?” Maguire sneered. “Cheating in gambling is par for the course. Do you see them caring?”

The little girl caught between them looked a bit lost, her big eyes darting back and forth.

An Wujiu looked over and covered Wu You’s hand with his own, shaking his head gently when Wu You turned to him.

Only then did Wu You refrain from saying more, pretending as if that person didn’t exist.

Toudou Sakura crossed her arms and glanced at Maguire, chuckling lightly, “It seems the players at our table still have some manners.”

Facing the woman, Maguire continued to smirk coldly but said no more.

“Come on, who won at your table? Play with me.”

At the same time, the Holy Voice also issued instructions.

“Now, players An Wujiu and Maguire will compete. The rules of the game are the same as before, but this time the game consists of three fixed rounds. After three rounds, the player with the most wins in this group will be the winner and will receive voting rights.”

The extra dice cups on the table disappeared in an instant, leaving only the two of them.

“You may begin.”

Maguire quickly shook his dice cup, and An Wujiu finally raised his hand to shake the cup, his left wrist flexibly rotating, his technique much fancier than before.

After playing a few rounds with him, Toudou Sakura had already noticed that An Wujiu was not a simple player. She deliberately observed him more and found that his tactics this round were different from before.

Facing Maguire, he showed no signs of weakness.

An Wujiu casually lifted the cup cover for a glance, then closed it directly, gently pushing the dice cup away, and looked up at Maguire with a calm and composed demeanor.

His aura stimulated Maguire instead, making him reluctant to move the dice in the first round and just go with whatever he shook.

In fact, An Wujiu’s dice weren’t great at all: one 2, two 3s, one 4, and one 5.

The numbers were scattered, without any common numbers, making it difficult to call.

“Who goes first?” Maguire glanced up.

The Holy Voice spoke, “An Wujiu will take the lead in the first round.”

An Wujiu nodded gently, his expression gentle. “Two 2s.”

Maguire responded quickly, “Three 3s.”

An Wujiu remained calm and leaned back on the sofa, his eyes slightly curved. “Then let’s go with three 4s.”

He calculated that Maguire couldn’t possibly challenge him at this point because he didn’t have enough dice.

He changed the number to make Maguire rethink his own chips. Even if Maguire didn’t have a single 4, he would hesitate because of An Wujiu’s change.

[Perhaps An Wujiu has several 4s?]

Regardless of whether Maguire believed it or not, as long as he hesitated, there couldn’t be many 4s, and similarly, not many 1s.

Sure enough, Maguire hesitated for a moment and raised his eyebrows, “Four 4s.”

The moment he finished speaking, An Wujiu changed the number again, “Four 6s.”

Since Maguire didn’t call 2 at the beginning, it meant he didn’t have many 2s either.

If there weren’t many 2s, there weren’t many 1s or 4s left. There must be some remaining numbers.

He had already called 3, so there was at least one, and 5 hadn’t appeared.

By directly calling 6, he prevented Maguire from changing the number further and tested how many 6s he had left.

“We’re taking quite a long time to call the dice.” 

An Wujiu smiled and sent a friendly message to him, “We called for a few rounds before, and it ended all of a sudden. It’s not very interesting.”

This was the first time Wu You had seen An Wujiu speak like this without any change in his demeanor.

Somehow, he felt a little uneasy and even wanted to call Shen Ti to see…

Wu You felt like there was something wrong with his mind; he always wanted to call Shen Ti at the slightest disturbance.

An Wujiu’s smile looked quite tempting. Honestly, Maguire hadn’t encountered this level of beauty at the Holy Altar for a long time.

He thought about his own dice.

It wasn’t impossible.

“Yeah,” Maguire managed a smile, “Five 6s.”

The corners of An Wujiu’s mouth gradually relaxed, and the smile in his eyes faded. He opened his lips and uttered words that surprised Maguire.

“Open.”

He completely changed his demeanor, his fingers reaching towards his dice cup and his big eyes looking particularly innocent.

“Sorry, I don’t have a single 6. You… can’t all be 6s, right?”

Indeed, Maguire’s expression changed.

As his dice cup opened, there were one 1, two 3s, and two 6s.

A set of dice five times easier to call than An Wujiu’s.

The moment the dice cup opened, Wu You clenched his fists, and Toudou Sakura let out a whistle, looking like she was enjoying the show.

“So even the king of kings can make mistakes,” she laughed unabashedly, showing no intention of giving Maguire any face.

Zhou Yijue’s gaze remained on An Wujiu, observing his every move.

He found that the man in front of him wasn’t the type who excelled at lying, but his face alone was enough to captivate his opponents’ hearts and souls.

An Wujiu lifted a punishment drink and handed it to Maguire: “Please.”

Despite losing, An Wujiu’s demeanor ignited a sense of conquest in Maguire.

He must win back, and he must make the person in front of him completely submit to him.

Maguire took the cup from him, emptied its contents in one gulp, wiped the corners of his mouth with his hand, and picked up the dice cup, covering his five dice. With a flick of his wrist, the dice fell into the cup, and he shook it up and down.

With a press of his hand, the cup lid snapped onto the table, and the spinning dice came to a halt.

The two men lowered their heads to look at their dice.

Wu You glanced at An Wujiu’s dice: two 1s, one 2, one 3, and one 6.

It seemed neither good nor bad.

An Wujiu’s eyes were fixed on Maguire, who skillfully slid his pinky along the edge of the cup lid.

“The second round starts with the loser of the previous round,” the Holy Voice announced.

Maguire then called out, “Five 6s.”

An Wujiu’s expression remained unchanged, but he felt something was off.

Was this person trying to climb back from the setback of the previous round, or was he trying to trip him up?

If he followed along and the other party didn’t have 6s, he would surely be called out.

But to call out directly… what if the other party did have 6s?

As he was caught in a dilemma, a voice suddenly came from the ceiling—not the Holy Voice’s, but a clear voice.

An Wujiu found the voice familiar and didn’t expect it to introduce itself right away.

“Hey hey, can you hear me? I don’t know what time it is, anyway, good morning, good afternoon, good evening to everyone. My name is Shen Ti, and I’m also a player in your round.”

Shen Ti?

Even though he tried to restrain his expression, An Wujiu pursed his lips.

Wu You struggled to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

What is this lunatic up to?

Zhou Yijue, who had been leaning on the sofa, sat up straight.

Toudou Sakura raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s going on? Shen Ti…”

An Wujiu paid attention to her expression and noticed that she seemed to be recalling something.

Ignoring Shen Ti’s nonsense, the Holy Voice continued, “This is the winner from another room. He has already left the room. For some reason unknown to us, he spent some points to purchase one minute of broadcasting room rights.”

An Wujiu’s heart, which had been hanging, finally sank.

Interwoven with the Holy Voice’s words, they could hear Shen Ti’s voice.

“I’m in a hurry, so I’ll keep it short.”

“An Wujiu, are you there?”

All eyes turned to An Wujiu.

“If you’re there, listen carefully. I’m here too, and I’ve already left. Don’t worry.”

Another voice came through, seemingly reminding Shen Ti, “Oh, it seems there’s only 15 seconds left, Mr. Shen.”

Wu You knew immediately that it was the Taoist.

“I know, I know, right away.”

After dealing with Nan Shan, Shen Ti forcefully grabbed the microphone, his tone shifting from playful to serious, causing An Wujiu to involuntarily pay attention.

“Even though I said not to worry.”

“But if you never cared in the first place, then you better start caring about me now.”

Author’s Note:

Shen Ti: “Ten 6s!”

Other players: “Who would believe you have so many 6s! I’m opening!”

After opening,

Player: “Damn, why do you have so many 1s!”

Shen Ti (shrugging): “I’m just a 1, you know.”





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