The atmosphere turned heavy as the second public hearing began. The second leader, Jack Davis, had the right to speak first, and he erupted on the spot, "What's the meaning of this, you fuckers?"
His face was red, and a vein was bulging on his forehead.
"How can these Good pussies get the point?" he cast his glare over the table, stopping at Luca.
"It was you, fucker! This is the damn Good bitch. I will fucking beat the crap out of you!"
His knuckles cracked threateningly. His anger was overflowing, and his eyes were full of malice. In his life, this guy was probably used to getting his way by threats and violence. He looked just like a thug from a third-rate drama.
Under his screams, a few people shrank back, which was especially true for the bald man sitting right next to him. However, these were the game grounds, and the rules were clear. Violence was prohibited. Even if Jack Davis was not the brightest bulb, which was obvious, he still had that much common sense and didn't lift his hands. He just stared at Luca as if a predator had found its prey.
Luca wasn't really intimidated by this. On the contrary, he felt elated, smiling inwardly. As expected, Jack was the Prophet. Actually, the only thing Luca knew was that the Prophet and Duplicator chose him. Who was who, was not something he could guess. However, he expected one of them to be Jack. Why? Because he was the most uncomplicated person here. Therefore when both of them were chosen for the team, Luca expected this guy to act. Jack would definitely try his ability in the first round, and he would pick non-other than the indifferent youth that ignored him. The intervention of the Duplicator was out of his expectations, but this made things even better.
Thankfully his bluff paid off, and the lost point was not in vain; He got a lot of information. There was a 90% chance that this simpleton wasn't acting. He was indeed an Evil Prophet. The Prophet was a position that could indirectly influence the game by grasping facts. It was a double-sided knife. In the hands of the smart, it was a weapon. But in the hands of a muscle-head like Jack, it was a hot potato. Not only did he expose himself, he even helped to hide Luca's pathway.
"Even a pig teammate has some worth," thought Luca as he kept a straight unperturbed expression.
The hearing time was short, and next was the middle-aged man's turn. The last time, he broke down, and now he was scared silly by the bully. He was the most pitiful one of the six.
"I, I am Evil," he said as he looked scaredly at Jack.
"If this continues, we, we will lose. We, we should do something! We need to do something! I, I don't want to die. My child is still young. I want to send him to university. I need to care for my elder parents. I can't die like this. I..."
His voice was cut short as his speaking time ended. He was scared and anxious. Now that the Good faction had received the lead, his fear was even more apparent.
It was once again Luca's time, and he looked calmly at the other five players. He ignored Jack, who was staring daggers, and spoke with a neutral tone and expression, "Stop your slander. I am most definitely on the side of the Evil. This result could be related to the benefits one or more positions have. There is no lack of jobs that can influence the vote of others." With this, his hearing finished, and it was time for the anxious lady to speak.
Ivan Valentinovich looked at him with complicated eyes, a hint of wariness hidden inside. Jack obviously didn't pay much attention to the words. He was already imagining how he was going to beat him black and blue. Both the beautiful woman and the middle-aged man just looked at him, unsure what was true and false. They thought that Luca's words were logical, but the anxiety had already gotten the better out of them. They didn't know who they should believe in. The Asian girl glanced at him from the corner of her eyes without changing her expression. It was as if she was dreaming and was waiting to wake up and finish her homework. Was she the Duplicator? Or was it Ivan Vladimirovich?
Luca's plan was working. In the eyes of others, he was trying to use logic to deceive them. After all, Jack was way more believable than this indifferent youth. Unless one was an idiot, they would have already guessed both Jack's position and pathway. Therefore, Luca's vote was most likely Upright. Of course, this didn't guarantee he was Good, but it was enough to slightly tilt the scales.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The woman on his left sighed and spoke, "I am Evil as well. I don't know what is going on, but we are losing and..." her lips trembled.
"If we lose, we will die. The Evil faction has to come together and fight back, or we all will perish." Her hands were clenched, her eyes moist.
"A damsel in distress," was Luca's conclusion toward her appearance.
Motoe Yuna opened her lips and lifted her hand. Was she thinking that she was in class and asking for permission to answer a question?
"I think I know why the Good faction won."
Her words successfully attracted everyone's attention, as even the fuming Jack looked back at her. Because of all this anger, he had forgotten to lust after the girls.
She thought for a second and seriously tried to analyze the problem.
"My vote was Reversed and probably this man's," she pointed at Jack, "this man's vote was Reversed as well. I think that Luca's voice was Upright, and maybe the team leader's voice was Upright too. Then one of them used their privilege to influence mine or Jack's votes..."
Her words were very reasonable. Everyone had a thoughtful expression as they cast suspicious eyes at Luca and Ivan.
"This..." Luca thought of something as he peeked at Motoe Yuna. This female probably had done something. If so, there was a good chance she was the Duplicator. The previous glance she shot at him when he claimed to be Evil, and now her explanation. Although it was very subtle, Luca caught her looking at him with the corner of her eye. It could be just a normal reaction, as the atmosphere was like Luca was a public enemy in court, yet Luca's doubts were getting stronger. This Yuna girl probably had some basis and certainty in him being Good. Then what could be the reason? Wasn't it because she used her privilege and duplicated his vote? If his vote was Reversed and she doubled it, then the end result should have been Reversed. After all, Jack was most probably Evil. Unless Ivan used his own privilege to do something, they would have had at least 3 Reversed votes. Therefore she could deduct that Luca's Magician was Upright.
Finally, it was Ivan's turn to speak. He was just accused of being a liar by Motoe Yuna, and his expression wasn't too good. He coughed and looked at the challengers, "As I said before, I am not very good at playing games. However, I am not a liar." He looked at Yuna, and the girl shrank back as if being scolded by her teacher. "I voted for Evil, and Jack should have voted for Evil too. Then I will cast my doubt at Luca and Yuna. Everyone on the table has declared they are Evil. Obviously, there are people who try to deceive us. Anyway, the game has just begun, and we don't have enough information. It isn't late to turn the table."
The chime rang again as the second public hearing concluded.
[ The team leader Jack Davis has selected John Adams, Amy Hart, and Motoe Yuna as his temporary teammates. You have 1 minute to cast your vote.]
It wasn't surprising. Luca expected not to be selected as the brawny man was certain that he was Good. Then who would he choose? John, the bellied man, and Amy, the beautiful woman, weren't part of the previous game, and they looked genuinely anxious. It was reasonable to choose them. And for the third teammate, as Yuna and Ivan were both suspicious, Jack would obviously go for the female. It was time to wait and see what the results would be.
[The second voting has concluded. The winner is Reversed. One point to the Evil.
The third round's team leader is John Adams. The third public hearing will start in 15 seconds.]
Luca tried hard not to show emotions on his face, but inwardly he curved his lips. The Evil caught up to the Good. It was both a surprising and expected outcome. If Luca's guess was correct, Yuna definitely voted Reversed. The reason was that she expected to be observed. She, just like Jack, was part of the first selection, where the ending was Upright. Combined with her performance, Luca believed that this girl was acting. She wasn't as simple as she made herself to be. If so, wouldn't this smart girl know that Jack is Evil Prophet? In Jack's eyes, all Luca, Ivan, and Yuna were Good. However, there were no Luca and Ivan in the second selection. He could observe the vote of only one person, and the probability of him choosing Yuna was the greatest. Even if he didn't, the smart girl wouldn't dare gamble. The Good already won a point, so she could calmly vote Reversed to hide her traits.
Jack definitely would vote Reversed as well. Then what about the other two? It wasn't impossible, but Luca believed that the chance of them both being Good was small. Both people claimed to be Evil, and both people looked genuinely anxious. Their performance was so good that Luca couldn't find any flaws. Then, were both of them such splendid actors? It was possible, but not very likely. Taking into account that both Luca and Jack were Evil, at least one of these two was an actor. For now, it was hard to tell which one was Good, but there was a good enough possibility that one is Evil. Then in a situation where Evil was losing, an Evil anxious person would definitely play safe and vote Reversed. There was even a good possibility that the Good person would vote Reserved as well. Otherwise, there was still a chance for them to be exposed if Jack decided to observe them. The only variable was the use of privileges. What were their roles?
Currently, besides the Gambler, Prophet, and Duplicator, Luca didn't know which is which. There were Hypnotist, Restrictor, and Traitor. The Traitor was irrelevant as they couldn't influence the vote.
Thus the second selection would probably look like this:
|Jack, Prophet -> Reversed + Peeking at Yuna |
|Yuna, Duplicator -> Reversed + uncertain if she doublet someone's vote|
|Amy -> Reversed/Upright + uncertain if she used her privilege|
|John -> Upright/Reversed + uncertain if he used his privilege|
There would most likely be at least 3 Reversed votes, with a chance for all four players to vote Reversed.
The unaccounted positions were Traitor (can't change a vote), Hypnotist (can block a vote), Restrictor (can block a privilege). The result could only be a draw or a win for the Evil pathway. The par would occur if Yuna successfully duplicated the single upright vote (3:2) and the Hypnotist prevented one of the reversed votes (2:2). If the Hypnotist was not part of this team, one of the two abstained from using the privilege, or the Restrictor acted, the win was naturally going to be for the Evil.