Chapter 132: A Difficult Vote to Cast
The video call with Jiang Ting had left her physically exhausted, and on top of not getting proper rest in the apocalypse instance, Ji Ning slept all the way until only a little over ten minutes remained before entering the next instance. After replying to a few messages and tidying up slightly, she was whisked away to the round table in the blink of an eye.
【12-Player Blood Moon Demon Hunter Werewolf has begun. Drawing player identities.】
【Player No. 6 Ji Ning, your identity is Demon Hunter. Please use your ability to drive out all Werewolves.】
【Starting from the second night, you may choose one player to hunt each night. If that player is a werewolf, they will be eliminated the following day; if that player is a Town member, the Demon Hunter will be eliminated the following day. The Witch's poison has no effect on the Demon Hunter.】
Hearing the words Demon Hunter, Ji Ning remembered that the very first board she had encountered when entering this game was a Demon Hunter variant. Back then, she had drawn the Seer, and Brother Xing Ye had been the Blood Moon Apostle.
This time, she had drawn the Demon Hunter identity herself, and she immediately perked up, eager to give it a try.
This Power Role card was very strong. It operated at night and could directly hunt and kill werewolves. Moreover, as long as her judgment was correct and she kept her identity hidden, she could use the skill without limit.
Just imagine it—werewolves watching their companions fall one by one in the night, with no idea who the Demon Hunter was. A scene like that would certainly be very interesting.
But she couldn't celebrate too early, Ji Ning silently warned herself. If she hunted a Town member, the Demon Hunter would be the one to die.
So she absolutely had to focus intently on listening to the speeches.
On the first night, the Demon Hunter's skill was still sealed, so Ji Ning spent the night as a closed-eye player, only opening her eyes when dawn broke.
Out of habit, her first glance went toward the No. 12 position. She discovered that No. 12 was not Xing Ye, but No. 1 was Jiang Ting—the very person who had been tormenting her via video not long ago.
Jiang Ting was clearly very pleased to have run into Ji Ning. His smile was faint, but even the light in his eyes became animated.
After their eyes met, Ji Ning noticed his gaze linger on the opposite side for a glance, along with a nod of acknowledgment. She followed his line of sight to look over too.
The person Jiang Ting was looking at must have been the male player at No. 9.
Although Ji Ning had never met No. 9, his face was familiar. She had seen him on the leaderboard, though she'd forgotten his name, only remembering that his surname seemed to be Qin.
The reason Ji Ning could remember one unfamiliar face among so many people was entirely due to No. 9's appearance.
He was strikingly handsome, his features and brows as if drawn in rich ink, possessing a classical charm. At the outer corner of his left eye was a tiny teardrop mole. Paired with his exquisite brows and eyes, that mole could be called the finishing touch of a masterpiece.
Because the corners of his mouth didn't naturally turn up, his expressionless face made him seem very cold, like an unassailable, aloof flower on a high peak.
He was very pleasing to look at, very coldly proud, yet without a trace of effeminacy. Truly a rare sight.
Ji Ning saw No. 9 nod in acknowledgment back to Jiang Ting and guessed that their relationship must be quite good.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between Jiang Ting and No. 9. She felt that both of them looked like the type of person who was difficult to approach—Jiang Ting like a block of ice with sharp edges and corners, No. 9 like seamless, cold metal.
Time slipped away quietly amidst these covert observations, and soon it was time for the sheriff election phase.
Ji Ning chose not to run for sheriff, becoming one of the four players remaining off the ballot.
The other eight players all ran for sheriff: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 7, No. 9, No. 10, and No. 12.
Speeches were randomly determined to start from No. 2.
No. 2 spoke first, said he was not the Seer, and chose to coast through his turn.
When it was No. 3's turn to speak, the first information point of the round arrived.
"I am the Seer. No. 4 is a Wolf Check. My Badge Stream is first 1, then 6. I randomly checked a lower seat on Night One. I left No. 1 in my first Badge Stream slot without elaborating; I know he's formidable. Checking 6 is to pick someone off the ballot. Among the four off-ballot cards, there has to be at least one wolf, right? Checking 6 can also loosely define 5. There are so many people on the ballot this round; I suggest any Town members don't recklessly fake a role and interfere with other Town players' perspectives. No. 4 can't produce any role claim. He might counterclaim me, or his wolf teammates might come out to fish him out. Gifting me two wolves directly would be ideal. Speaking in an early position, that's all I'll say for now."
Next was the speech from the No. 4 card who had received the Wolf Check.
"No. 3 giving me a kill is trying to land a blind kill? Then there must be a lot of wolves opening up in the later ballot positions. But I regret to inform you, you've kicked an iron board. I am the Witch card. Silver Water is the No. 8 card. You're either a fake-role or a wolf, but since you've forced my identity out, you're not doing a good thing. Even if you withdraw now, I'll still play you as a wolf."
No. 3 had claimed Seer and handed a Wolf Check to No. 4. No. 4 claimed the Witch card, his speech very forceful. From the perspective of a closed-eye Town player, they would usually believe that No. 3 was a werewolf making a Hard Claim and had mistakenly thrown a Wolf Check onto the Witch card.
So when it was No. 7's turn to speak, he expressed willingness to trust the No. 4 card.
Then it was No. 9's turn to speak.
His tone of voice was as calm as he was, unhurried and measured, making it very easy for others to quiet down and listen to what he had to say.
"Anti-self-destruct Badge Stream: first 10, then 6. No. 1 is a Wolf Check. If No. 10 claims Seer, change the first Badge Stream slot to 12. No. 4 serves as a reverse Gold Water and is a Witch card. I checked 1 for out-of-game reasons. Analyzing from the basis that No. 1 is a checked wolf and No. 3 is a bluffing wolf, my viewpoint is actually already very clear. No. 3 leaving No. 1 in his first Badge Stream slot is to fabricate an identity for No. 1. If he truly minded No. 1, why didn't he check him at night? If the Blood Moon self-destructs, the Seer won't survive past the second night. So No. 3 reporting a Wolf Check on No. 4 looks more like daytime verification. Of course, it could also be a fake role, so I don't know if anyone else will claim later, and I've prepared alternative checks.
This is the Blood Moon board. The Blood Moon has two playstyles: one is to self-destruct immediately to seal skills and kill the Seer; the second is to become the last living wolf, gaining one extra night and one more kill opportunity even if voted out. So far, the Blood Moon hasn't self-destructed, most likely because two wolves are already exposed and self-destructing has little benefit. And looking at this point, the probability that No. 3 is a werewolf Hard Claim, and is not the Blood Moon, is very high."
Now the counterclaiming Seers were No. 3 and No. 9, and both had reported Wolf Checks on the Sheriff Ballot. The situation had become interesting.
Ji Ning recalled when No. 9 and Jiang Ting had looked at each other; both had acted as if they hadn't met at night, their acting skills quite on point.
But actually, this was also a tacit rule among players. Whether they had met at night or not, they had to pretend they hadn't, to avoid leaking information and breaking the game rules.
No. 10 and No. 12, speaking after No. 9, both said that No. 9 had the thought process of a Seer, spoke better than No. 3, and even had an anti-self-destruct Badge Stream, making him more like a true Seer than No. 3.
They also expressed that if no one else counterclaimed the Witch, they would believe No. 4 was the true Witch and side with No. 9.
When it was the turn of No. 1 Jiang Ting, who had received the Wolf Check, he spoke in an unhurried manner: "You all say that a werewolf claiming Witch has no benefit and risks being poisoned. Looking at it now, how is there no benefit? No. 4 gets a Wolf Check and claims Witch, and all of you immediately want to trust No. 9 as the true Seer. No. 3 spoke from an early position; you must have tolerance for him. No. 9 is a werewolf making a Hard Claim, having an open-eyed perspective and information from later positions to supplement his logic. Of course, he can speak better than No. 3. In this game, if I were a wolf, I would claim Witch—the benefit is infinitely large. But I can't disrupt Town's perspective. I'm just a Villager card. I ran for sheriff to evaluate the Seer, and ended up receiving a Wolf Check. No. 9's speech indeed has no flaws, but his behavior does. There are three directions to find wolves: first, analyzing speech; second, analyzing logic; third, analyzing benefits. Assuming both 3 and 9 have a wolf surface, since no one has self-destructed yet, the card with higher benefit is clearly No. 9. And with No. 4 claiming Witch first, No. 9 can't self-destruct either. To summarize, No. 9's wolf surface is higher than No. 3's."
Jiang Ting was the last person to speak on the Sheriff Ballot. After he finished, it was time for the voting phase.
The relationship that could now be formed was: No. 3 and No. 1 were in the same faction, while No. 4 and No. 9 were in the same faction. Although No. 4 had claimed Witch and carried role pressure, Jiang Ting's speech was equally inflammatory.
After hesitating repeatedly, Ji Ning cast her vote for No. 3.
Of the other three off-ballot cards, No. 5 voted for No. 3, while No. 8 and No. 11 voted for No. 9. Both Seer candidates received two votes each, resulting in a tie and a runoff speech. They would need to speak once more.
After their speeches ended, the voters would become the remaining ten players.
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