Chapter 9: 'Answer'

Everyone looked closely, and the words "Liar" on the card stood out prominently.

After seeing these three words, the expressions on everyone's faces were somewhat stunned.

"I drew the 'Liar' card," Lucas said slowly, "but whether I reveal this card or not doesn't matter, because it's not important." 

He picked up the card and casually threw it onto the table in the center.

"If I'm not mistaken, each of you has a 'Liar' card in your hand."

The people didn't move after hearing this. 

After a while, Officer Brown spoke up, asking, "So... are you saying everyone lied in their stories?"

"That's right," Lucas nodded, "You all are smarter than I imagined. Each of you added a small lie to your stories, allowing them to stand completely logical in terms of plot."

Officer Brown pondered for a moment, seeming to realize something. 

"If what you say is true..." he sighed deeply, "Then the problem becomes even more complicated."

Everyone looked at Officer Brown, confused.

Officer Brown continued, " According to the rules, only if all of us select the liar can we all survive together, but in doing so, the liar loses. So, we..."

Escano, the doctor, was the first to understand Officer Brown's implication. "You mean... we can just vote randomly, and since everyone is lying, it becomes a 'must-win' game, and only the person who's voted for will die?"

"That's right," Officer Brown nodded. "Now, the best solution is to concentrate all the votes on one person to minimize losses. After all, the remaining people can survive..."

His words suppressed the atmosphere even further, while Snow Wolf remained motionless.

So... they were just voting to send one person to die?

Lucas sighed helplessly and looked at Officer Brown. "Officer, is interrupting people your hobby? Does it give you a sense of achievement?"

"What are you talking about?" Officer Brown frowned, "Aren't I just helping to strategize?"

"I don't need your help," Lucas said without hesitation. "Your ideas will kill everyone."

"What?" Officer Brown was taken aback. "How would my ideas kill everyone? Aren't I right? If everyone is lying, then shouldn't any vote be valid?"

"Officer Brown, Snow Wolf said, 'The rules are absolute,' 'There is only one liar,' do you remember?" 

"This..." Officer Brown hesitated for a moment, recalling that Snow Wolf did indeed say those two sentences.

"Let me summarize our situation," Lucas said coldly. "In this game, it seems like the 'liar' has a huge advantage, because everyone feels like they're about to win. But if we vote randomly, we'll all end up dead."

Jessy, sitting next to Lucas, rubbed his tattooed arm and murmured to himself, "Because we broke the 'rules'..."

"Yes," Lucas nodded. "But the interesting thing about this game is that we can't tell for sure if someone is lying. As Piotrowski said, we can only rely on whether our experiences are contradictory to deduce. But we're not from the same area, so even if our stories seem contradictory, we can't be completely sure the other person is lying."

Lucas looked at the pensive crowd and continued, "The 'host' specifically selected the nine of us to sit here, so there must be a purpose. That purpose is to make us find flaws in each other's seemingly interconnected stories."

"But is that really right? Do we have any assurance that the other person is definitely lying?" Lucas sneered, "In this game, the only 'liar' we can be 100% sure of from the known clues is this person. What he says is completely different from our current situation."

Lucas picked up the pen and wrote down the words "Werewolf" on the paper.

"I was curious before, why did Snow Wolf introduce us to the name 'Werewolf' at the beginning? It seemed like an unnecessary detail. Now I understand, it's also part of the game." 

The crowd slowly turned to look at "Werewolf," who remained motionless. 

Brown, the policeman, looked puzzled for a moment, then shook his head. "Hey, trickster, I have a question. Snow Wolf said the rule was that 'among all the storytellers, there's only one liar,' but he didn't tell a story himself, did he?" 

"No?" Lucas shrugged noncommittally. "I remember Snow Wolf clearly saying that he gathered us here to create a 'god.' Isn't that a strange story?" 

Brown silently lowered his head, feeling that Lucas's words made a lot of sense, but there was something off about them. 

"But..." Dr. Escano spoke up, "all your assumptions are based on the premise that 'everyone is a liar,' but why are you so sure that we are the liars? What if we flip the cards, and only you are the 'liar'? What then?" 

"You couldn't possibly have told the truth," Lucas sighed with a hint of despair. "I spent some time verifying this. I not only know that you're all lying, but I also know where you lied." 

He pushed his scribbled notes forward and glanced at Brittany beside him. "Brittany, were you really 'working' in the car, with your head sticking out, and did the fallen billboard actually hit the car, knocking you unconscious?" 

Brittany pursed her lips, unable to speak. 

"Jessy, did you really just 'lose consciousness' after falling from such a height onto the billboard?" 

Jessy remained silent. 

"Teacher Dulcie, did you and the child really manage to avoid the speeding car?" 

Dulcie's eyes darted away. 

"Dr. Escano, the operating room is built much sturdier than a regular room to maintain stability, but you said the ceiling collapsed. Were you really just knocked out?"

Escano turned his head away. 

"Walter, you claim to have no idea what happened, but as a writer, you're usually very focused and would be wary of disturbances. Do you really not know how you ended up here?" 

Walter let out a slight sigh. 

"Lawyer Piotrowski, your car was shoved into a crevice. How deep was that crevice?" 

Lawyer Piotrowski hugged herself, her face expressionless. 

"Officer Brown, what brand of car do you drive? Can it instantly recline the seats and break free from restraints behind you?" 

Officer Brown rubbed the red mark on his neck, hesitating to speak. 

"Apple, your ceiling collapsed too, but you said your studio is located on a high floor. If the upper floors start collapsing, the whole building wouldn't exist anymore, right?" 

Apple lowered her head deeply. 

Seeing the expressions of the others, Lucas tapped the table and said, "Admit it, everyone, including myself, we're all already dead."