TDU Chapter 310
Chapter 310 Triangle
Chen Junnan knew his position, {-1}, was dangerously close to the current recipient.
Only four people stood between them.
Which meant more than half of the remaining players would be swayed by the ripple of a single, well-placed question.
Wasn’t that, in itself, a fortunate turn?
If he and the recipient could cooperate, just this once, to eliminate the one at {3}, then Xu Qian would walk straight into his trap. She’d be forced to summon Terrestrial Snake, and from there, the next phase of his plan could finally begin.
A slow grin crept across his face.
"Things are finally about to get interesting…"
Before long, Yun Yao called again, but something was off. Her voice was taut.
"Chen Junnan…" she said quietly. "I think something’s gone wrong."
"What is it?"
"T-this round’s question is… strange."
"What do you mean, strange?"
There was a pause on the other end before Yun Yao finally said, "The question is: {Does a week have six days}?"
"What?"
Only then did Chen Junnan understand why Yun Yao sounded so uneasy.
That question, {Does a week have six days?}, wasn’t what it was supposed to be. According to all their previous deductions, this round's question should have been {Want it to fall down?}.
So why the sudden shift?
"Do you think we miscalculated... or did someone change the question again?"
Chen Junnan lowered his gaze, deep in thought. His brows knit tighter and tighter, but the logic refused to resolve.
The third and sixth questions had both been {Want it to fall down?}, and they had used those repetitions to identify a potential pattern—every third question repeating, perhaps preset.
Yet now, at the ninth… it had changed.
Had they misunderstood the pattern entirely?
"Wait a moment…" Chen Junnan’s eyes narrowed. "Back during the sixth question, everyone answered {False}, didn’t they? So we never actually proved whether the iron ball would’ve fallen or not."
"Ah…" Yun Yao’s voice sharpened with realization. "You mean… we were misled?"
"Possibly." Chen Junnan didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but everything they’d deduced so far was still just that—deduction. Nothing confirmed. Nothing absolute.
"Superstar… I’m going to trust my instincts on this one." He cut himself off before the doubt could spiral. Overanalyzing now would only cloud his judgment. "I still believe the real question is {Want it to fall down?}. But the person in danger… didn’t want to die. So they changed it."
Yun Yao nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. The question’s design practically compels the answer {False}. If the ball is above their head, it’s the safest choice. A calculated distortion to redirect the outcome."
"Exactly." Chen Junnan nodded. "Didn’t this young master say it before? All these little tricks don’t work on me. I’m the one who writes the rules now. I’m the master of question alteration."
"Ques–Question alteration?" Yun Yao froze. "Chen Junnan… don’t tell me you tampered with that last question?"
"Ahem, ahem, ahem…" Chen Junnan gave a couple of sheepish coughs. "How could I, Superstar? I simply refined it a bit. Tidied it up, let’s say."
Yun Yao exhaled slowly, somewhere between exasperation and resignation. "Fine… So, this time, you’ve really decided to go through with the killing?"
"That’s right." Chen Junnan smiled. "Everyone who ends up at {End Point} is living on borrowed time. Even if I don’t kill them, they’ll eventually die here. So I’ve long since stopped feeling guilty."
"…I see." Yun Yao’s voice faltered for just a breath, then steadied. "Got it." She paused, then quietly hung up.
Chen Junnan turned back to his screen and selected {True}, then leaned back in his chair, head lowered, eyes narrowed in thought.
How could he get the others to do the same?
It wasn’t enough for him alone to answer correctly, what would it take to herd the rest toward a single answer? What would make them all choose {True}?
He tapped his fingers lightly against the armrest, and after a few seconds of silence, a slow, cunning smile unfurled across his face.
He reached for the phone and pressed the dial button.
After over a dozen rings, Xu Qian finally picked up.
"Speak."
"Qian jie… this round’s question is quite the interesting one."
"Interesting?"
"Mhm." Chen Junnan chuckled. "The time has come for us to stand united."
"Wha–What’s the question?"
"The person before me passed along this one: {The final reward should be doubled}."
"Ah…?"
Xu Qian’s voice betrayed her surprise, but before she could articulate her doubts, Chen Junnan interjected smoothly.
"Qian jie, do you suspect this might be a trap?"
There was a brief pause on the other end, her tone faltering slightly. "What did you choose?"
"Of course, I chose {True}."
"You didn’t even know if anyone had changed the question, and you just chose {True}?"
"Yep, even though I don’t know if the question’s been altered, choosing {True} doesn’t cost me anything." Chen Junnan feigned a sigh. "We’re all here to earn {Dào}, aren’t we? Don’t you want to give it a shot?"
Xu Qian hesitated briefly, then yielded, acknowledging the soundness of Chen Junnan’s logic.
"You’re right... Even if it’s a trick, choosing {True} seems harmless enough."
A slow smile spread across Chen Junnan’s lips. Thankfully, the iron ball hadn’t dropped during the sixth round. Most participants remained shrouded in confusion, aware only that someone had perished in the third round over the question of {sit down}, with no clear pattern yet emerging.
"That’s exactly it, Qian jie," Chen Junnan affirmed. "We’ve all wagered our lives to play this game, if there’s a chance to gain a little extra, why not seize it?"
"Understood…" Xu Qian replied after a pause, then ended the call.
Chen Junnan sank back into his chair, bracing himself for the long wait ahead.
With the idle time, he pieced together a daring hypothesis.
Only four people separated him from the current recipient, and among them, one had altered the question.
It seemed improbable that Yun Yao would interfere; doing so offered her no advantage. That narrowed the suspect pool to three: the {anxious female} to Yun Yao’s right, the {taciturn male}, and the neighbor immediately to the {taciturn male}’s right.
Studying the map he had sketched, Chen Junnan marked a square above the {taciturn male}’s right-hand neighbor, the very spot where the iron ball now hovered. That person was the round’s ‘lucky’ target.
"One of these three is lying to us..."
However, just seconds later, realization struck; there was still another person.
Swiftly, he sketched a triangle to the right of the square and circled it.
"{Triangle}... you’re the {recipient} this round. Could it be that you altered the question the moment it reached you?"
At that instant, the screen brightened.
Chen Junnan’s eyes locked onto the words displayed.
"The verdict for this round—{True}."
{Boom—!!}
Before he could finish reading the verdict, a deafening explosion tore through the air.
Not far to Chen Junnan’s right, someone whose face he didn’t even know was dead.
This killing bore no face, no motive, no grudge.
Just the cold fact of death.
Chen Junnan’s lips curled into a slow, satisfied smile.
He had anticipated that one misstep would spiral into a chain of errors. Yet, against all odds, this move had been flawless.
Indeed, when clinging to life, one cannot afford endless caution; sometimes, trusting oneself is the only way forward.
"{Square}, go home early. We'll meet again next time."
Chen Junnan rose from his seat and walked deliberately toward the phone.
TL Note: Okay, the map is now updated with the corresponding shapes, labels, and indicates that turns are being taken counterclockwise.
