by N. Heller
"The contestant from the White Team agreed after hearing her proposal and told her that he would call for three squares. However, the contestant from the White Team broke his promise and only called for 1 square while the contestant from the Red Team complied with their agreement and called for three squares. As a result, we got to see this discrepancy."
After Mr. Dot finished his explanation, Zhong Junkai’s face grew red with anger, he glared at the young man from the White Team and shouted, "Mr. Dot, isn’t there any sort of punishment for such an agreement violation?"
"Even though it is morally wrong, but that is not in the rules," both teams heard Mr. Dot’s reply loud and clear.
"What… But that’s cheating…" Zhong Junkai was about to rush over to protest, but his girlfriend held his hand. He turned and looked at the others, with some doubts. He noticed their darkened expressions.
Old Wang clicked his tongue as he commented softly, "That Miss Lin looks cold-blooded but she actually just a naive woman. That was a good suggestion but can’t she see that this is not the right occasion?!"
"That’s right," Chen Fan added, "she was just asking to be cheated! It would have been embarrassing if that bastard didn’t take the chance to backstab her."
Zhong Junkai’s eyes widened and was dumbfounded. After a few seconds, he turned to look at his girlfriend. "Please don’t confront Mr. Dot. What will I do if something happened to you…" Lara pleaded quietly. Her words were like a breeze which instantly extinguished the flames of Zhong Junkai’s fury. He looked at everyone for a moment and finally sighed, saying nothing. B.Rabbit was resting at a side with his eyes closed. He did open his eyes to take a glance but quickly closed them, as if he was falling asleep.
Mr. Dot spoke again as if he knew that their conversations ended, "The contestant from the White Team advanced three steps. He reached a lottery booth, bought a lottery ticket, and won a treasure c.h.e.s.t. White Team contestant, do you wish to open this c.h.e.s.t?" The young man replied gleefully, and everyone could tell that he said, "Yes."
"Congratulations, you’ve received +2 points! However, due to the Witch’s Curse, you’ve only received 1 point… And now your score is -1 point."
Even though he only received 1 point, it was already a great surprise to him — the young man did not expect that his choice would bring him this much luck. A broad smile immediately surfaced on his face, and his expression relaxed considerably.
"The contestant from the Red Team displayed extraordinary bravery on the public bus, she caught a pervert, a gangster, and a thief. The police awarded her with +3 points. Now, the Red Team’s score is 1 point."
The young man’s smile went rigid.
Red Team: 2 prizes, 1 point, a chance to "PA.S.S", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 8th square.
White Team: three prizes, -1 point, a chance to "Undo 1 move", bound by a -1 curse, 10th square.
"Haha! She’s quite lucky! In one turn, our score went up to 1 point!" Old Wang slapped his own t.h.i.g.h as he laughed, his wet round belly wobbled with his laughter. "If we think about it, the young chap is still 6 squares away from the finishing point. If he steps on a few skips, we might still have a winning chance..."
Chen Fan nodded his head in agreement and just as he said, "I hope so—" He saw Lin Sanjiu from the corner of his eyes and was flabbergasted. He was not the only one, everyone in the arena was a little shocked. This was because Lin Sanjiu repeated the same action. She called for Mr. Dot and said something. Then, she turned to the young man and talked to him for a long time after she got Mr. Dot’s approval.
As they could not hear what she said, the members of the Red Team could only stare hard at the young man’s face. They scrutinized every micro-expression and every detail, down to the water droplets which rolled down his face.
The young man looked as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He stood on the spot stunned for quite some time. He stared at Lin Sanjiu from head to toe a couple of times before he finally nodded his head again. Lara’s heart thumped anxiously, as she pulled her boyfriend’s sleeve, "Honey, she… she wouldn’t, right? How can there be such a stupid person?"
The members of the Red Team could only think of one possibility, and their faces turned pale.
Once again, Mr. Dot announced with his ever-enthusiastic tone, "Three steps forward for the White Team. One step forward for the Red Team."
If everyone could hear the contestant from the White Team, they would hear his loud, obnoxious laughter as he moved three steps forward in a hurry. He was already on the 13th square and was only three steps away from victory. Chen Fan stood up. Popped veins laced his forehead as he sprinted toward the contestants’ field. Unexpectedly, no one in his team went to stop him. But before he could reach Lin Sanjiu, a sudden flash of lightning came from within the white fog. It struck him directly, and a smell of burnt flesh pervaded the air.
"I am giving the Red Team a warning, if anyone tries to get close to the contestants again, the punishment will be death."
With that said, Lin Sanjiu knew that Chen Fan would definitely walk back to the team compliantly without even looking behind her.
"The contestant from the White Team found 1 point from his grandmother’s inheritance, +1 point for the White Team. The current score for the White Team is 0," Mr. Dot revealed the prizes and punishment for the current turn. "When the contestant from the Red Team went to the bank to deposit some money, she was the lucky 100th customer, so she won a treasure c.h.e.s.t. Do you wish to open this c.h.e.s.t?"
"Yes," Lin Sanjiu replied mildly as she looked at the square in front of her.
"Congratulations, the contestant from the Red Team won a prize!"
Despite the peculiar reactions from the others, Lin Sanjiu remained composed.
Current stats after 8 turns:
Red Team: 2 prizes, 1 point, a chance to "PA.S.S", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 8th square.
White Team: three prizes, -1 point, a chance to "Undo 1 move", bound by a -1 curse, 10th square.
Red Team: 2 prizes, 1 point, a chance to "PA.S.S", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 9th square. Contestant Lin Sanjiu received 1 individual prize.
White Team: 3 prizes, 0 points, a chance to "Undo 1 move", 13th square.
For the next 10th, 11th, and 12th turn, both teams moved only one square per turn.
From the looks of it, Lin Sanjiu already realized her mistake and didn’t give her opponent another chance to deceive her — unfortunately, there was already a four-square distance between them. The outcome of the game seemed fixed, and there was nothing they could do.
However, both parties got quite a few rewards in the three turns. They either got treasure c.h.e.s.ts or some advantage, so everyone was somewhat ecstatic.
Current stats after 12 turns:
Red Team: 2 prizes, 3 points, a chance to "PA.S.S", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", 12th square. Contestant Lin Sanjiu received 2 individual prizes.
White Team: 3 prizes, 2 points, a chance to "Undo 1 move", a chance to "get external assistance", 16th square, White Team Contestant received 1 individual prize.
The White Team was already on the 16th square, that meant that the game "Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku" would end in the next turn, with the White Team as the winner. None of the members of the Red Team looked fine. It was apparent to them that Lin Sanjiu lost on purpose to avoid death duel.
"For the 13th turn, White Team stays on the spot. One step forward for the Red Team."
[Huh?]
That announcement drew everyone’s attention, some of them even looked shocked. Didn’t Mr. Dot say that the contestants cannot call for 0?
"The contestant from the Red Team used the chance to ‘Pass’ and did not have to choose a number for this turn. Therefore, the contestant from the White Team will just have to remain on the spot," Mr. Dot cleared up the confusion kindly.
The young man was just one step away from the finishing
point, he looked at Lin Sanjiu with a frown. [This last struggle had no purpose other than delaying the inevitable, right?]
Lin Sanjiu averted his gaze and listened to Mr. Dot, "The contestant from the Red Team accidentally spilled some wine on an old man during a company dinner, so she got to know the third ric.h.e.s.t man in the world. In the end, they got married, so the contestant from the Red Team got a wedding gift of +1 point and a treasure c.h.e.s.t. Do you wish to open this c.h.e.s.t?"
"Yes."
"Congratulations! The contestant from the Red Team received one individual prize!"
The young man’s eyes widened, and he quickly said something to Mr. Dot in an agitated manner.
"Oh? The contestant from the White Team chose to use his chance to ‘undo 1 move’!" Everyone was taken aback when they heard Mr. Dot’s words: "Unfortunately, as your opponent determines your steps, you can only move backward if your opponent uses that chance to ‘undo 1 move’... If that is the case, do you still want to use it?
Chapter 76 - Your Fate Depends on Sugoroku (Revealed)
The situation suddenly became confusing.
"He can clearly win with the next step, so why would he want to go backward?" this question surfaced in the audience mind, and many of them couldn’t help furrowing their brows. They wondered if they missed anything. The rules were clear enough — the person who reached the finishing point first would get +1 point and the prizes offered by their opponent — and even though the Red Team only had two prizes left, it was a guaranteed reward… If he moved backward, there was a chance he might get bitten by a dog or some other new penalty.
If so, they wondered why the contestant from the White Team looked that regretful.
"For the 14th turn, one step forward for the Red Team and one step forward for the White Team!
[The game has ended,] this was the first thought which appeared in everybody’s mind. They would know very quickly what the outcome was for this weird game. Somehow, for this turn, Mr. Dot had changed the sequence of the announcement, but this was only noticed by Lin Sanjiu and the contestant from the White Team.
With heavy-laden steps and an ashen face, the young man walked onto the square which was labeled "Victory!" On the other hand, Lin Sanjiu took one step forward onto the 14th square. The question mark disappeared replaced by a picture of a wallet. "The Red Team contestant found a wallet, she opened it and received one individual prize! The White Team contestant reached the finishing point and received the final reward for the game!"
"The White Team gains +1 point, and the team receives the two remaining prizes offered by the Red Team. Congratulations to the White Team for winning the first game!"
Mr. Dot’s words accompanied by a celebratory trumpet tune and sounds of fireworks rang out muffled in the humid arena as if attempting to hype up the atmosphere. However, it was futile. No one from both teams looked happy, both teams gathered in their individual circles and started to discuss with agitated expressions.
When the five members of the Red Team saw Lin Sanjiu exercising her shoulders as she walked back to them, they stood up from their circle, each with different expressions. They approached her, unable to resist questioning her about the situation: "Miss Lin, what just happened?"
"If I had known that you would let the opponent win on purpose because you were afraid to die, I would have—"
"Hey, what’s with you? How could you let that chap bluff you twice! You have caused us all our prizes!"
While the others made a racket about the issue, Lin Sanjiu frowned and shoved Chen Fan’s finger away from her face before she asked coldly, "Are you all idiots?"
"Huh?" Everyone around her was stunned because they didn’t expect words like that from this loser.
Lara glared at her. "Miss Lin, how could you scold others whenever you like? And what do you mean by that?"
"Did all of you really fail to see something so obvious?" Lin Sanjiu chose intentionally to sound offensive. This drew their attention and made them shut their mouths. She laughed in a mocking tone, "Don’t tell me that all of you still think the goal of the game is to reach the finishing point?"
The others were shocked by her words. After a while, Lara muttered, "What did you just say… But didn’t the rules…"
"The rules and introduction to the game are just distractions!" Lin Sanjiu sneered and carried B.Rabbit onto her shoulder. "I realized midway that there were two crucial points in this game."
The four other members kept quiet as she explained. "First, the method of advancing is different from Monopoly. The biggest difference is that it is determined by one’s opponent. Therefore, it must be a key point." She paused and then slowly continued, "This must be what you have in mind, right?"
[Wasn’t this right?] Aside from the four members, B.Rabbit was also confounded by what she said. He tried recalling every detail in the game.
"If you think that way, you’ve been deceived. That rule where a contestant decides his or her opponent’s steps was made to cover-up a crucial element. That is, both players will move forward at the same time." Lin Sanjiu looked at the confused faces around her and said softly, "That means that when one of the contestants is just one step from winning, the other contestant will still be able to move one step forward — just like what happened at the end."
Just as described, Lin Sanjiu could still take a step forward when the contestant from the white team reached the finishing point. In a normal game of Monopoly, the Red Team would have stopped and admitted their loss once the White Team reached the finishing point…
"Even if that was the case, what does it impact?" Zhong Junkai couldn’t help asking as he seemed to finally have an inkling of what Lin Sanjiu was hinting at.
"This will lead to the second crucial point, the prizes and penalties in each square," Lin Sanjiu turned to look at the White Team as she said this. The young man was also surrounded by his teammates who were also trying to find out more about the situation. However, the young man did not look as collected as Lin Sanjiu; instead, he looked crestfallen.
"At first, we suffered seven consecutive losses with each step, so I began to find it strange. If both teams lost all the prizes and chances, chalking up a massive negative score, then the whole game would become pointless. Wouldn’t it be faster if the outcome was determined by an immediate duel?
"By logic, I deduced that there should be squares with rewards since there were squares with penalties… If the first half of the route were all ‘unlucky’ squares, it would naturally mean that there was a high chance that the squares in the second half of the route were all ‘lucky’ squares. Based on this deduction, I did a little experiment.
"I got permission from Mr. Dot to speak to the contestant and was ‘fooled’ by him once — as you’ve witnessed. But since we both received rewards for that turn, it confirmed my suspicion. The second half of the route was all squares with rewards.
"There was another reason why I let the other contestant move two squares ahead of me. I was afraid that he would also realize this secret and needed to distract him. What better way for me to do this than to raise his hopes that he was winning? As expected, the contestant from the White Team failed to see through the ruse.
"The first point I brought up was the reason why I didn’t want the other contestant to find out the secret about the route.
"The person who understood these two points first would gain the option to let their opponent take a few more steps and reach the finishing point first. There are no rewards at the finishing point, whereas, the contestant from the losing team could still get one more reward as they could step into a square within the route.
"Now, do you understand? The point of this game is to lose the game after gaining a slight advantage…
"On top of that, I think I was lucky because we still have a ‘PA.S.S’... When I made the second request, I already confirmed with Mr. Dot that the White Team will be stuck in the same square for the particular turn when I use it. He would gain no
thing for that turn, and I would get another reward when I moved forward. In addition to that, he couldn’t even use the same method against me.
"This leads to the current situation. Even though I lost the game, I received two more chances of getting a reward. You can look at the score."
End game stats:
Red Team: 0 prizes, 4 points, a chance to "PA.S.S", a chance to "Take a 5-minutes break mid-game", Contestant Lin Sanjiu received 4 individual prizes.
White Team: 5 prizes, 3 points, a chance to "Undo 1 move", a chance to "get external assistance", White Team Contestant received 1 individual prize.
"Oh, it’s true…" Zhong Junkai mumbled, "We lost the game, but our score is higher."
After hearing this complicated explanation, Chen Fan hesitated for a moment before he exchanged a glance with Old Wang. The latter nodded, so he immediately slapped his t.h.i.g.h and shouted, "What’s the use of having a higher score? That is intangible… We have lost all the five items that we offered for this game!"
"Who says so?" Lin Sanjiu smiled faintly, "Didn’t I get back four items?"
Old Wang’s eyes lit, but he quickly hid his expression and flashed her a shrewd smile, "Aren’t those four items your individual prizes? Even though they were our things, they now belong to yo—"
At that precise moment, Mr. Dot’s voice rang out loudly, interrupting Old Wang. "Could both contestants from each team come up to receive your individual prizes now!"
Under the sudden scathing gaze of the other four members, Lin Sanjiu turned and walked into the white fog calmly. The rabbit on her shoulder had been holding back his words, and now he finally found his chance. He asked quickly, "Hey, are you planning to return the prizes to them? Did you know that during the game, they…"