Doomsday Wonderland

At Lin Sanjiu's request, the group racked their brains until they could barely distinguish between memory and imagination before finally stopping. From the information pieced together, they managed to compile a reasonably confident list after discarding the more uncertain points:

1. If a winner is determined and the remaining number of people is insufficient to produce another winner, the winner and their believers leave the pocket dimension together.

2. If the number of people is reduced below the conditions for winning, they will remain trapped in the pocket dimension indefinitely.

3. If a winner emerges normally, it remains unknown whether those who neither win nor become believers will also remain trapped in the pocket dimension.

4. The reward for the winner is to avoid becoming a believer, effectively amounting to no other reward.

5. The rules do not specify any punishments for believers.

6. Within the pocket dimension, there is a 5% chance for believers to break free of their state; outside the pocket dimension, the outcome is unknown.

"This is no better than saying nothing," Hina grumbled, staring at the list Lin Sanjiu had written. "In the end, there's no new information."

The group frowned, lost in thought, until Jiang Tian broke the silence. "Actually, the fourth and fifth points are quite interesting."

"The winner's reward is simply not becoming a believer, and that's it. The 'reward' for the winner persists; it's a permanent state. If that's the case, the punishment for losing is just becoming a believer, and that's also a fixed state, right?" Jiang Tian explained.

"And then what?" Hina still didn't get it.

"No, she's right. This might be very important," Lin Sanjiu said thoughtfully. "Typically, the losers in pocket dimensions face severe consequences, such as death or permanent transformation into pocket dimension creatures. But look at the first point; in this pocket dimension, both winners and losers can leave together.

"If the only punishment for believers is becoming one, then the divide between winners and losers is relatively small. Even if believers remain believers after leaving, it likely won't affect their..." She paused, searching for the right word, before saying, "lives."

Of course, this assumed the winner refrained from further interference.

From this perspective, the Battle for Authority in Words was surprisingly lenient. Even without the hope of restoration, as long as the winner didn't meddle after leaving, believers could seemingly continue their lives as usual.

Ironically, the worst-case scenario for believers was regaining their clarity while still inside the pocket dimension, as it was a reset of all struggles and deceptions from the beginning.

For everyone present, this was their first experience in a pocket dimension, so they were left speechless, glancing at one another in shock. Ya Rong hesitated before asking, "Could it be that becoming a believer is actually one way to leave the pocket dimension?"

"Wait, how do you know that becoming a believer doesn't affect someone's life?" This question came from one of the believers, Muya. "I don't want to become a believer. Who knows what'll happen? Maybe you'd completely lose your ability to think for yourself..."

If only he knew he had already been two people's believer—he wouldn't believe it, no matter what.

Ya Rong and Jiang Tian looked at him as if they'd seen a ghost, stealing repeated glances his way.

Lin Sanjiu didn't respond, as if she hadn't heard Muya's question, and her silence left him momentarily stunned. He tilted his head, pondering, and somehow rationalized the situation for himself. Seemingly satisfied with his own logic, he quickly forgot about the question and didn't press further.

It was precisely this "completely unaware that anything is wrong" attitude that made Lin Sanjiu hesitant to even look at Muya. If he truly had turned into a mindless mouthpiece or a puppet, it might have been easier for her to accept than his current state.

Ya Rong seemed to share her sentiment. She cast Muya a glance filled with shock and suspicion, mumbling, "I... I don't want to become a believer."

It felt as though the rest of the sentence, "I don't want to be like him," was on the verge of slipping out.

At this moment, no one could think of the best solution to their predicament.

"This is so unlucky," Tenny Voltz muttered under his breath, breaking the silence. "If I'd known, I'd have never let go of that library..."

Lin Sanjiu's head snapped up. "What did you just say?"

Startled, Tenny Voltz stammered as everyone's gaze turned to him. "Uh, I-I didn't tell you? When I got swept into the river, my boat collided with someone else's. It only lasted for a moment before we got separated. But somehow, we both got pulled into an upstream pocket dimension..."

"This is your second pocket dimension?" Lin Sanjiu asked in disbelief.

"N-no, not exactly... We entered at the same time, but the pocket dimension only had one spot left," Tenny Voltz explained. "I was so confused back then. After hearing the introduction, I realized one of us was going to get kicked out. I reacted faster than the other guy and turned to run, so I ended up getting booted out. After that, for some reason, no other pocket dimension tried to grab me. I floated downriver until I ended up here in this game. Ugh, if I'd known, I wouldn't have run..."

It seemed his brief delay caused other pocket dimensions to fill up.

Lin Sanjiu relaxed slightly and casually asked, "What was the pocket dimension like?"

Tenny Voltz thought for a moment. "It was a library, a big one, with walls covered in bookshelves. The room was so tall you needed ladders to reach the upper shelves. The pocket dimension was designed for ten people. After we went in, an old man with glasses started explaining the rules. The victory goal was something like expanding your influence. After he finished, he realized there was an extra person."

Since entering this pocket dimension, Lin Sanjiu had been plagued by a vague discomfort, as though there was something she should know or had overlooked. This time, the feeling crystallized into a sharp tension that gnawed at her nerves. She asked, "What exactly were the rules? Can you describe them?"

With Lin Sanjiu's 3.36 credibility score and her status as a posthuman, Tenny Voltz answered without hesitation. Furrowing his brow, he recounted, "Everyone received a book to read in thirty minutes. Your task was to understand the book's hidden purpose, and each book had one. Then, among the ten players, you had to probe and find others with similar goals. You had to be cautious because some players' goals conflicted with yours. After that, you were supposed to destroy or seal off books that didn't align with your goals, leaving only those that matched your purpose. The more books aligned with your side, the greater your influence, which made it easier to deceive others. In the end, the side with the most influence won."

1

Lin Sanjiu sat frozen, the chill of the wind seeping into the cold sweat on her back, making it feel like shards of ice.

Though the rules seemed different on the surface, wasn't the essence strikingly similar?

Influence... wasn't that the equivalent of credibility in this game?

A question she had never considered before surfaced in her mind.

Where do ordinary people, who emerge victorious or defeated from pocket dimensions, carrying these influences and belief states, go after leaving?

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