Having received the answer, the contestants left relieved, and the remaining people also showed faint smiles. Only Ren Yifei's heart sank deeper; he was certain that one person had died and the rest were imprisoned in the cabin.
It's unclear whether those in charge will use various hints to make the contestants believe that being imprisoned and kidnapped is part of the elimination punishment. Or perhaps they won't hide their malice, forcing eliminated contestants to fight for survival on the show.
All of this is unknown; he doesn't even know if anyone else will die in the future.
"Now that we've talked about those who failed to solve the case, we'll announce everyone's live stream popularity rankings, from highest to lowest, with the last person eliminated." At this moment, the voice announced another highlight of the evening: the popularity-based elimination system.
The players' hearts, which had just been at ease, were once again gripped with anxiety.
Ren Yifei twirled his medium-length sideburns with his fingers, calmly awaiting the final answer.
"First place, Zhang Ruixing."
The most popular actor is a young actor who was already somewhat famous before, which is not surprising at all.
The charm of these ordinary people hasn't been fully displayed yet. Their expertise in criminal investigation will gradually attract more viewers later, but this is just the beginning, and those who already have a fan base have an advantage.
The second, third, and fifth place winners were all celebrities with their own fan bases. It wasn't until the sixth place that a previously unknown ordinary person emerged. She was a girl with a sweet and sassy appearance, and she seemed very straightforward.Entertainment Center
After that, several more ordinary people emerged, until the thirteenth place, when the name 'He Zhaoming' appeared.
Ren Yifei looked up and smiled at everyone. Although he was sarcastic, he had a great sense of humor and could keep the audience engaged. Moreover, his looks and reasoning skills were not bad either.
The voice continued calling out names, and with each name called, a contestant breathed a sigh of relief, while the rest became even more tense. As if for some kind of perverse pleasure, the voice slowed down the pace of calling out names, and the contestants' tension intensified.
Finally, all thirty-eight names were reported, leaving only one.
The person's hands were clenched into fists, and their head was down, so their expression was not visible.
Finally, the voice announced his name, and a waiter came out, stood behind the man, and gestured for him to enter.
The contestant stood up, glanced at all the survivors, and said with a wry smile, "Before I came here, my mentor said that with my boring personality, even if I do a great job in my professional knowledge, I won't go far. What everyone wants to see is not a professional reasoning show, but an entertainment performance."
When it came to performances, he focused on several contestants from the entertainment industry, including Ren Yifei.
"I was too naive, thinking that I could pass the test based on my abilities."
After saying that, he turned and left, carrying with him a sense of desolation at not being appreciated by others.
"Please wait a moment."
He stopped the departing contestant, turned around, and saw Ren Yifei leaning back in his chair, one hand pressing the corner of his phone and turning it on the table.
He chuckled, then suddenly his expression turned forlorn, and his voice changed: "I was too naive, thinking I could pass based on my abilities. I'm so sorry, I did pass based on my abilities, and I'm sorry to have disappointed you."
The voice was exactly the same as the contestant who was about to be eliminated, making the whole conversation absurd.
The others couldn't help but laugh; at this point, it didn't matter whether they were from the entertainment industry or were ordinary people.
The event stated from the beginning that it needed to be both professional and entertaining; otherwise, why choose these young people who are reasonably good-looking? Aren't there many more talented people with stronger professional skills?
Since you already know the rules of the game, why say such sour things at a time like this? It would be more classy to just leave.
At the same time, people have gained a new understanding of Ren Yifei's fiery temper. With such a personality, he will confront anyone he's unhappy with without hesitation, and he's quick, ruthless, and accurate. No wonder he has always had a bad reputation.
This kind of personality would be considered "lacking in manners" or "lacking in emotional intelligence" in a regular workplace, let alone in the entertainment industry, which is full of top talents.Entertainment Center
The contestant's face turned bright red, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time.
He just wanted to salvage his reputation before leaving, to show that he wasn't incompetent, but rather lacked entertainment value. But less than a minute later, that fig leaf was torn away.
Of course, there was some bias in his words, but he's already been eliminated, so what's wrong with saying a few sarcastic remarks? It would be very ungentlemanly to argue with him at a time like this.
I never expected there would be such a lack of class, pursuing even a cornered enemy.
Ren Yifei said to them, "As long as I don't care about morality, morality can't hold me hostage."
"Your voice imitation is so perfect, did you learn it specifically?" The curly-haired girl, who had looked down on him on the first day, offered a friendly remark. "Such a useful skill, why didn't you show it before?"
"I've never had the chance to show off before." Ren Yifei wrinkled his nose, and even the small mole on his nose moved, making him look particularly youthful.
"Huh? How do you know I haven't shown this before?" Ren Yifei found it strange.
The curly-haired girl awkwardly scratched her head: "Uh, I used to be a hater of yours. But after actually getting to know you, well, being unrestrained in your words and actions isn't your persona, this is just who you are."
"You've become a fan?" He sat up straight in surprise.
"No!" the curly-haired girl shouted.
"Oh." Ren Yifei's straight posture slumped again, and he slumped unceremoniously against the back of the chair. Although it was both funny and exasperating, and occasionally made people grit their teeth, some people liked his straightforwardness and authenticity.
Four people were eliminated due to the case, and one person was eliminated due to popularity, leaving thirty-eight survivors.
"Um... Director." Just as the meeting was about to end, someone at the long table raised their hand, "Could we go for a walk after dinner?"
After a day of observation, the contestants also began to explore the ambiguities in the rules to see if they could take advantage of them.
"No," the voice replied. "The villa will be locked at 5:30, and everyone must be back in their room by 8:00. If you break the rules, you will bear the consequences."
"Is the rule that you must be back in your room by 8 PM, or is there another rule that you can't be outside the villa after dinner? I read the rules before, and it only says you have to be back in your room before 8 PM. Is not being allowed to leave the villa an unspoken rule? What happens if you break the unspoken rule? Are you eliminated immediately?" This contestant was still probing.
There was no reply from that voice; it was unclear whether it was tacit agreement or simply unwillingness to respond.
Seeing that he did not respond, the contestants stopped asking questions. They had found a small loophole in the rules: if they were to return to their rooms before eight o'clock, they could wander around and observe the situation inside the villa, or even outside the villa.
Even though the villa is locked at 5:30, there are other ways to get in besides going through the main gate.
After dinner, they dispersed again as they had the night before. However, the contestants were generally in good spirits tonight. When they met on the escalator platform, they even started talking about their plans to leave the villa and explore the detective town at night.
Ren Yifei thought about the patrol team with guns and felt that this loophole in the rules was not for the contestants, but for the 'hunting contestants'.
"Is He Zhaoming going out?" A contestant casually asked him as he passed by.
"I'll pass. I'm adjusting my biological clock lately, so I'll go to bed earlier." Ren Yifei yawned as he walked past the crowd.
However, as more people joined the discussion, the contestants, who disliked following others' lead and hated passively receiving information, found their strong desire to explore and their intense pursuit of truth to be one of the reasons for their talent in deduction and crime-solving.
Back in his room, Ren Yifei quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth, changed into his pajamas, and then lay down on the bed and closed his eyes: It was impossible to really sleep; he would transform into a butterfly and go to investigate.
Following yesterday's route, he quickly found the cruise ship anchored on the shore and the five people who had failed and been eliminated today.
All five people are still here, as are the fifty-six people from yesterday; there were no casualties today.
The expressions of the five of them were different from those of the other eliminated contestants around them. The latter had obvious fear and pain on their faces, while the former had an added sense of hope.
It seems they didn't tell the other survivors the crucial information about the 'resurrection match'; all five of them kept it a secret.
Moreover, the five men were more peaceful in their attitude toward the armed terrorists, and seemed to accept their situation and treatment quite easily.
"They must have misunderstood; they think being kidnapped is part of the elimination process," Ren Yifei thought to himself.
Seeing that the group of five was adapting well, Bai Die quietly left the cabin. He wanted to go somewhere else to see, preferably one with NPCs.
There was no one around the villa, and a patrol team walked by carrying guns. Ren Yifei went to the backyard and found that the balcony doors of several rooms were open, and some contestants had already gone down from the balconies.
Following the trail of footprints and other traces, the white butterfly flew into another residential area and was met by a group of seven players, with seven little flies buzzing overhead.
"Are there really NPCs here?" The contestants didn't notice the white butterfly that had landed on a tree branch.
"There definitely is. I found a residential area here, with people cooking, doing laundry, and preparing meals." The player carefully discerned the direction. The detective town at night was different from the daytime town; the dark alleyways seemed to be ready to pop out at any moment.
"But there's not much time left."
"Let's scout this out first, we can come back tomorrow for more details... Ah, this alley!" The candidate pointed to a sign made of three stacked stones in the corner of the wall. "I made this 'mark' because I was worried I'd forget it."
The white butterfly immediately flapped its wings.
Walking along the alley for about a hundred meters, a small residential area comes into view. Under the streetlights on both sides of the alley, there are many stalls displaying ordinary-looking fruits and vegetables. NPCs are haggling over prices at the stalls.
He also saw clothes hanging on the second floor, strung on the wire between the two second floors like an irregular row of colorful flags. The window was open, and an NPC was watching TV and laughing loudly.
Stripped of their NPC personas, they each have their own lives. The person in a three-piece suit hanging at the door could be a burly man in a vest picking his toes, and the person who is charming and glamorous during the day could be eating a watermelon without any regard for appearances.
He suddenly had a selfish thought and didn't really want the contestants to come in and disturb the time these people were truly living for themselves, but they still came in.
The small market fell silent.
"Toot—" An NPC blew a whistle, startling all the NPCs. The windows on the second floor were quickly closed, and the vendors on the curb on the first floor began to pack up their things.
"Don't be nervous, we're just here to ask a question." The contestants tried to stop them.
'Bang!' The armed patrol arrived and fired a shot into the air. 'Where is the intruder?'