Chapter 171: Confrontation

It is precisely because these clever individuals are prone to association upon seeing the slightest hint, and prone to overthinking upon discovering a minor issue, that the Overmaster provides them with clues, leaving them to deduce freely and wear themselves out against one another. Whose handwriting those words are has lost all meaning; the fundamental trap is their inability to unite.

Even someone as calm, bordering on apathetic, as Wu Hui felt a stifled frustration swelling in his chest.

This is not a matter of intelligence, but rather that the Demon Gods operate on too grand a scale and wield too overwhelmingly vast a power. In matters concerning life and death, no one dares to ignore those clues.

The smarter they are, the less they dare.

Wu Hui wrestled with these elements alone in his room, while the others argued outside.

The exchange of information was, of course, inevitable, yet no one dared to guarantee the truth or falsehood of what was traded. Naturally, regardless of whether the trading parties told the truth or not, in the mind of Wu Hui sitting in his room, all of this was absolute bullshit.

A group of clever people holding false clues and flawed deductions were backstabbing each other outside.

What a farcical masterpiece of a show.

What laughable humanity.

Wu Hui took a deep breath, then stepped outside. Gazing around, he unexpectedly found himself at a loss for what to do next.

Would they believe these realizations of his? And even if they did, what of it? The actions demanded by the Seven Deadly Sins might be false, but the identities assigned by the system prompts surely could not be fake, could they?

In the end, conflict among them remained inevitable. Furthermore, it was entirely impossible for him to unite them.

Or rather, the fact that he was currently the first to confirm these so-called missions were fake constituted a tremendous advantage for him, a massive information gap.

So why bother telling everyone? Or, even if he told them, what could it possibly change?

He pushed up his glasses to calm himself down.

By now, Wu Hui had basically deduced the way to keep the game going. He was waiting for nightfall before taking his next move.

"Got any food?" Uncle Number Six suddenly sat down beside Wu Hui.

Wu Hui: "……Yes, if you want it, we can make a trade."

"Hmm." Number Six stroked his chin. "What do you want?"

"Paintings," Wu Hui said. "Not for you to hand them over to me, but for us to collect them together and use them at a critical moment."

*What kind of clue has this guy discovered?* The uncle frowned.

Oil paintings were crucial props; he, like Wu Hui, had figured that out long ago. He had also considered what traps might be contained within the text above.

Yet he certainly never imagined that the whole thing was an utter and complete illusion.

Come to think of it, if one wanted to convey a mission, a single letter or a system prompt would indeed be far more effective than scribbling on an oil painting.

It was precisely through these inconspicuous little details, coupled with verifying the ink, that Wu Hui dared to assert the writing on the paintings—much like the little notes—was left behind by an unknown party simply to mislead them.

Having reached an agreement for cooperation with Number Six, Wu Hui began to quietly wait for dark. Not everyone carried food with them, but going hungry for a day or two was not an insurmountable challenge for them. Thus, the day passed in a semblance of peace.

Only the two corpses on the ground slowly began to reek.

Night fell.

Number Two walked out of her room.

Tonight, she was drawn yet again. Ah, *yet again*. Last night had been her as well.

Number Two was not surprised by this outcome. Because, just as Wu Hui had guessed, what was claimed to be random was actually the selection of the individual with the strongest motive to kill.

Last night, she had killed Gluttony. Therefore, none of the remaining individuals needed to launch an active attack for the time being, making it naturally her turn once more.

Yes, that's right, the skinny woman was Gluttony. The pattern Number Six and Wu Hui could discover, she could discover too. Inner nature aside, on the surface, everyone was actually unrelated to the cardinal sin they were marked with, or could even be said to be the exact opposite.

During the daytime yesterday, the thin woman had mentioned suffering from anorexia, a detail Number Two had firmly kept in mind.

To fabricate a false impression, she had casually taken the heart of the corpse, disguising the scene to make it look like Gluttony had committed all these acts.

Being able to figure this out clearly meant she, like Wu Hui, had used some method to peek at the paintings inside the rooms of the others, which was how she knew so much about the missions related to the cardinal sins.

Her planning and disguise were indeed quite decent.

Yet, considering the premise itself was a complete scam, all of everyone's calculations thus far appeared utterly ridiculous.

Who should she plan to kill tonight?

She was primarily weighing whether to kill the uncle or the fat man, as both had revealed attributes that were far from simple. In contrast, Wu Hui was very silent and inconspicuous. Additionally, if she were eventually forced to complete that mission, she certainly wouldn't want to do it alongside someone ugly.

Of course, if there truly were some family relationship between the two of them as Wu Hui had suspected, Number Two would only feel regret after using him to complete the mission. The Overmaster ought to thoroughly enjoy this kind of drama.

"Stop rushing to kill."

Wu Hui's voice echoed through the grand hall.

He was seated right in the spot originally occupied by Number One. Directly across from him on the wall hung an oil painting depicting the demon of pride, the fallen angel Lucifer.

On the floor rested another painting featuring the demon of envy, the sea monster Leviathan.

"How are you able to come outside?" Number Two frowned, yet she still walked into the grand hall to meet with Wu Hui.

"The others are not allowed into the corridors; they must stay in their rooms," Wu Hui said. "The grand hall is also a room. Therefore, I am allowed to sit here."

"Fine. So what do you want by calling me out?" Number Two seemed poised to strike, yet she still waited for Wu Hui to finish speaking.

"Look at this." Wu Hui produced a blood-red angel's wing from his pocket. "This is the reward obtained after placing a painting in its correct position. Once equipped, it grants the ability to fly along with a life-stealing effect."

"Why tell me such a secret?" Number Two frowned.

Wu Hui: "I want you to do two things. First, tell me if any of your relatives ever went missing in the past. Second, place the paintings into their corresponding positions."

Number Two was quite puzzled by the first question: "As far as I know, no. Why ask that? Besides, what constitutes the correct position?"

"Imagine the paintings as mirrors reflecting the person corresponding to them; that is the correct position," Wu Hui said. "As for why I asked the first question... you don't need to worry about it."

After some thought, Number Two decided that nothing seemed amiss with Wu Hui's words for the time being. Guessing that he had also deduced her identity, she went back to her room and retrieved the oil paintings of Lust and Greed. She hung Lust first, receiving a stack of unknown items in return.

In the grand hall, Greed and Envy lay upon the floor while a man and a woman stood in silent standoff.

Wu Hui gazed at the two properly hung paintings and fell into deep contemplation.

Number One corresponds to Pride, Number Two to Lust, myself to Wrath, Number Four is unknown, Number Five to Gluttony, Number Six is unknown, and Number Seven has a high probability of corresponding to Sloth.

Let's take a guess. Even if it's wrong, the penalty exists, but it isn't severe.

He had decent luck and correctly guessed that Number Four was Envy, receiving a card to summon the beast bearing the likeness of Leviathan.