Chapter 194: Outsmarting a God, Seeing Through the Trap

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Outsmarting a God, Seeing Through the Trap

Despite his confusion, the god remained supremely confident.

’I just need to focus on the game itself,’ he thought, ’and put aside the strange nature of the Source Material.’

’The condition to play that card is far too demanding.’

’My opponent not only has to accurately judge whether my answer is a truth or a lie, but he also has to deduce whether the card I just returned to the deck is higher or lower than the face-down card on the table.’

’Without sufficient information, that’s simply impossible.’

Lance stared intently at the slightest changes in his opponent’s expression, his mind racing.

As a hardcore player, he knew full well that conventional thinking would get him nowhere in this game.

When he first chose to enter this instance, the system panel had already provided a clue: to date, the number of challengers who had managed to win two rounds was zero.

And that was his opponent’s greatest flaw!

’If this were merely a game of chance, a contest of luck...’

’...then surely, across the vast expanse of history, among all the geniuses who had received the invitation, wouldn’t at least one of them have been lucky enough to draw a high card?’

’Not one card higher than the two his opponent had drawn?’

’Not a single person had ever beaten the god in a best-of-three match.’

’Statistically, that was an absolute impossibility.’

A zero-percent win rate could only point to one cruel truth: the god was secretly manipulating the entire game, from start to finish.

And if the god wanted to completely eliminate luck as a factor, he had to control all the variables himself.

That meant rigging the draw to get both the [10] and the [9]—the two cards that could control the entire game.

As long as he held the 10, the only card that could beat a 9, returned it to the deck, and then set the 9 as his face-down card, Chaos would be invincible.

Besides, the god himself had said that the cards forged from Source Material were the only weapons that could be used against him.

The fact that the [Crimson Dragon Banner] had appeared in his hand indirectly supported his theory.

This was Lance’s analysis of the game!

’If this bold theory is wrong, then it’s just a game of chance, and I’ve been overthinking things. I’ll just have to figure out a way to win the next round.’

And besides, he currently had a way to confirm his theory with a single question.

Lance took a deep breath and posed his question, enunciating every word.

"Lord God, between these two independent statements—’The card you returned to the deck is higher than your face-down card’ and ’Your face-down card has a value from 1 to 5’—is at least one of them true?"

The moment this logically airtight question was asked, the smile on Chaos’s face froze.

Seeing his reaction, the smile on Lance’s face grew wider.

’Because this question was designed to do one thing: verify whether the dealer was completely controlling the game.’

’He would only answer "Yes" under the exact conditions that allowed the [Crimson Dragon Banner] to win!’

’In any other scenario, one not completely rigged, the forced reversal between truth and lies would compel Chaos to answer "No"!’

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Chaos lowered his head, glancing at the [Crimson Dragon Banner] that Lance had openly displayed on the table.

’To ask such a question while his own card is completely exposed...’

’Has this mortal already figured out that I’m controlling the entire game?’

’To think that a true sage would come to the Star Realm this time.’

"Yes."

After a brief silence, Chaos followed the rules and uttered the word.

’I’ve won!’

The light in Lance’s eyes blazed. Without hesitation, he reached out and tapped the card in front of him.

"I choose to use the [Crimson Dragon Banner], and I declare your answer to be the truth."

Without a shred of doubt, Lance had decisively won the first round.

However, after the round ended, Chaos’s innocent, childlike smile had vanished completely.

The revealed [9] from the table and the [2] Lance discarded were casually set aside.

The game reset, and the cards were redrawn.

Lance drew his second card from the deck. It was a [5].

The card’s name was Thousand-Eyed Wings.

The card’s face depicted an enormous white feather. On each of its fine barbs grew a golden, vertical pupil, weeping blood. The densely packed eyeballs stared intently at whoever held the card.

’A 5?’

It was certainly a very mediocre number.

But for Lance, this number made for a perfect complementary card.

’Looks like this round’s victory will be mine as well.’

He gazed silently at the bleeding eyes on the card, feeling as if the bizarre illustration was some kind of omen.

Across from Lance, Chaos now held the [10], Sun in a Cage, and the [8], Black-Crowned Eclipse.

’Yes, so what if he’d astutely uncovered the secret of my card manipulation?’

’For a god who held dominion over the rules, this was still a hunt he was guaranteed to win.’

Expressionless, Chaos returned the [10] to the deck, watching coldly as Lance placed his card face-down on the wooden table.

Seeing the relaxed smile playing on Lance’s lips, Chaos suddenly felt something was amiss, but he still gave the go-ahead.

"Lance, you may begin your questioning."

’He’s not even calling me "Big Brother" anymore?’

’Looks like this high and mighty god is a sore loser,’ Lance sneered inwardly.

The feeling was fleeting, however. Lance immediately refocused and posed his second question.

"Is the value of your face-down card between 1 and 10?"

This was Lance’s second gambit for breaking the trap of the word game: asking a question that was, by definition, a tautology.

With this question, if his opponent’s face-down card was from 6 to 10, he would have to answer "Yes" truthfully.

If it was from 1 to 5, he would be forced to lie and answer "No."

"Lance, you are indeed very clever."

Sitting on the tree stump, Chaos didn’t hesitate to praise the human’s intellect.

His voice, filled with divine authority, replied, "Yes."

"But even if you already know the full answer..."

Chaos’s words caught in his throat.

A look of stunned disbelief suddenly appeared on the child-god’s face.

For he saw Lance’s arm twitch beneath his gray-blue cloak.

Then, the mortal whom the god had deemed capable of winning only a single round slammed another, brand-new hole card firmly onto the wooden table.

’Lance had a Second Source Material?’