Chapter 167: The Room

Wu Hui, Number Two (the aloof woman), and Number Six (the middle-aged man) all closed their doors, showing no interest. However, Number Seven (the woman with dark circles under her eyes) and Number Five (the thin woman) looked thoughtful, seemingly considering the proposal a good idea.

Number One, on the other hand, frowned slightly. If everyone joined in, everyone would be back at the same starting line. Each person would expose part of their capabilities, and everyone risked injury or worse.

Now, however, three people had chosen to reject his proposal.

One or two would have been manageable; if he led the majority, he could always resort to a bit of tyranny later. But now, counting Number Four the fat man, the opposing side outnumbered his own. This was going to be troublesome.

He touched his bowtie, still pondering what to do, when he saw the fat man take a voluntary step back. "No need. Why rush into a fight? I don't want the room."

He had backed down voluntarily? Quite rational, actually. Hmm, let me think...

Before Number One could continue his train of thought, Number Four the fat man suddenly charged straight at him. Upon seeing this, Number Five and Number Seven had no intention whatsoever of helping Number One; they simply closed their doors, leaving the two of them to fight it out.

Crap!

Only then did Number One realize what was happening. The two women had previously been willing to team up with him because Number Four could potentially attack anyone.

But now, Number Four had already chosen his target.

Why on earth should the two of them get involved in a battle that had nothing to do with them?

Number Four's reaction had been truly swift, instantly grasping the core issue and avoiding a situation where he would be cornered. He had even used his words to make Number One briefly drop his guard.

Though Number One had been slightly faster in claiming a room, Number Four held the upper hand in this brief psychological game.

Following the psychological battle came the physical one.

Without knowing the opponent's strength, no one dared claim they would definitely win in a one-on-one fight, not even Wu Hui. Should he happen to encounter someone exceptionally strong among Tier Fives, his chances of winning weren't actually high.

Number One and Number Four had started fighting, while the others observed from the shadows.

Although the purpose of the rooms remained unknown, for various reasons, the two men had started brawling. Relatively speaking, both of them were losers.

While the battle unfolded, Wu Hui began observing the room.

A bed.

Ordinary decor and facilities.

The only thing worth noting was the painting on the wall, which concealed a line of small text.

*The envious shall become the object of their envy by killing them.* The meaning was obscure.

In the corner, a slip of paper was visible, looking quite old. Perhaps it had been left behind long ago.

Five characters were written on the paper: *Arrogance is male.*

Wu Hui wasn't sure if this clue was reliable. The Overlord wasn't new to tricking people with fake clues.

He kept it for now. The utility of the identities remained unclear for the time being, but the message on the wall might hint that the Envy identity had the ability to steal someone else's identity.

He would look for other clues later.

Perhaps every room contained a hint regarding the purpose of the identities.

The significance of this room was likely nothing more than a hint. It was hardly worth risking one's life over. Yet this subtle implication regarding the numbers had successfully made everyone rush to grab a room, successfully tricking two not-so-foolish men into fighting each other.

No, to be precise, it was precisely because they weren't stupid that they started fighting. Stupid people probably wouldn't have noticed the issue at all and would have remained at peace.

The Overlord's games were, in a sense, harder the smarter one was.

If everyone were just a bit more foolish and not so clever, none of these troubles would happen. The more one liked to ponder and analyze, the easier it was for things to go wrong.

In other words, the key to clearing the game was to not think. And everyone had to not think.

Truly an unsolvable dilemma.

Wu Hui could control himself, but he couldn't control others. It was just like the Prisoner's Dilemma: a good outcome required everyone to stop thinking, but the moment someone started overthinking, everyone else's restraint became a liability.

People with years of cooperation and long-term mutual interests might trust one another, but how could complete strangers trust each other?

In the end, it would probably still result in slaughtering everyone else... For now, his goal was to find information related to the Wrath identity. If necessary, he could trade with others.

There really wasn't much in the room. He had found a few more slips of paper, though.

The handwriting on each piece was slightly different.

*Sloth and Arrogance are friends. Lust and Gluttony are enemies. Chen Yunyun is Sloth.*

Whether these pieces of information were true or false remained to be verified. Moreover, the paper varied in age; some looked as though they had been left behind ages ago, while others seemed newly written.

Wu Hui found a notebook and a pen.

He tore off a page.

It was identical to those slips of paper. Wu Hui looked at the paper, turning various possibilities over in his mind.

Outside, the battle between Number Four and Number One was nearing its end.

Flames and frost gathered on Number Four's fists, swinging with formidable speed. Around Number One, numerous threads were shattered one by one. He held a book in his hands, from which radiance poured and scattered, making the remaining threads even sturdier.

Counting potential hidden trump cards, both of them possessed strength roughly equivalent to Tier Five, not overly powerful...

Wu Hui, observing the situation outside through the peephole, looked thoughtful.

Suddenly, Number Four's movements accelerated. His chubby body shuddered, and the ice and fire on his hands transformed into a blazing longsword and an ice shield, pressing forward against the barrage of threads.

Wu Hui vaguely suspected that Number One belonged to the Spider organization. Their operational styles matched, and this thread ability suited the Spider well.

Within the Spider organization, there were quite a few items and ability systems related to webs, venom, and threads. Of course, he couldn't be certain, as these weren't exclusively unique traits of the Spider organization.

If he truly was a member of the Spider, he would definitely hold back a trump card.

Even if he didn't prepare in advance for every scenario the way Wu Hui did, he would at least keep one card up his sleeve just in case.

Faced with Number Four's charge, Number One indeed made a move.

He pulled out a playing card.

Rewards for clearing stages in games were very often cards or chess pieces, mostly stemming from the power of the Demon God Card Player.

Yet this particular card was quite familiar to Wu Hui.

Because it was a Five Elements Card.

Six-Star Five Elements Card.

*Earth • Stone Suppresses the Mountain*

A small pebble fell from above Number Four's head.

Yet it seemed to carry the weight of an entire mountain, shattering his ice shield and extinguishing his flaming longsword.

Sharp threads instantly closed in.

As if intending to chop Number Four to pieces right here.

"I suggest you don't rush to kill. I've participated in an Overlord game before where clearing the level required other people to remain alive, or required you to protect a specific person."

The mature voice of Number Six the middle-aged man came from one of the rooms.

Hearing his words, Number One altered his actions, refraining from delivering a fatal blow. Instead, he slashed toward Number Four's limbs, intending to cripple his mobility first.

Just then, Number Four's eyes turned red. Frost and fire once again surged from his hands, transforming into long spears that thrust toward the suited man from both left and right.