novellk Chapter 1687 Final Chapter: Crossing the Shore [31] [Level 2: Prisoner's Game]
Chapter 1687 Final Chapter: Crossing the Shore [31] [Level 2: Prisoner's Game]
Chapter 1687 Final Chapter - The Shore Crossing [31] - [Second Trial: Prisoner's Game]
Su Ming'an stared at the two buttons, pondering the rules.
The optimal solution is obviously for both parties to choose "forgiveness," which is a win-win situation.
However, if I choose "forgiveness" while Nagasha chooses "betrayal," I will die, which is an absolutely unacceptable outcome.
If I choose "betrayal" and Nagasha chooses "forgiveness," I will kill her and seize her power; I don't know what other tricks she has up her sleeve. Judging from Lu's experience, his mental state deteriorated rapidly after he absorbed Nagasha.
If both parties betray each other, entering an extra level with an extremely high mortality rate... is probably not a good choice either.
From a purely rational perspective, "betrayal" is the most efficient choice. Regardless of the other party's choice, the outcome of choosing "betrayal" will not be worse than choosing "forgiveness."
But Su Ming'an knew that Nagasha would also think of this, so she would choose "betrayal".
“Looks like we’re in a classic deadlock.” Nagasha’s laughter rippled across the black water. “What do you want to choose, little Anan?”
Ignoring this outrageous title, Su Ming'an raised his eyes and asked, "What do you want to choose?"
"I asked first."
"Would you believe me if I said I would choose 'forgiveness'?"
“I don’t believe you.” Nagasha said without hesitation, “If you say that, then you’re definitely trying to trick me into choosing ‘Forgiveness’ so you can choose ‘Betrayal’ to kill me. Right?”
Su Ming'an was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "You just said that the previous challenge tested honesty."
"uh-huh."
“Your answer was strange, but you weren’t punished.” Su Ming’an stared at her. “Does that mean… that challenge wasn’t actually testing honesty, but rather cognition? Or, to put it another way, whether we believed our own answers?”
Nagasha's smile paused subtly for a moment.
Su Ming'an noticed this detail.
If the previous challenge was indeed a cognitive test, then Nagasha passed by giving what she believed to be the truth, even if it seemed bizarre to others. This suggests an important piece of information: she is likely someone with an extremely consistent self-perception. In other words, once she makes a judgment, she is very likely to put it into practice.
So, if we could make Him truly believe in a certain judgment...
He began the second layer of the game.
“Let’s make a deal,” Su Ming’an said.
"Oh?" Nagasha asked with interest.
"We both chose [Forgiveness]."
"Why should I?" He laughed. "How do I know you won't switch your mind and choose [betrayal] at the last minute?"
“Because I can give you insurance.” Su Ming’an raised his left hand, the silver star mark on his palm emitting a faint glow in the dim environment. “This is a special skill mark of mine. Before pressing the button, we can exchange states—I will temporarily store the projection of the silver star on you, and you will store the mark of one of your skills on me. In this way, no matter who betrays in the end, the other party can launch a counterattack instantly through this mark.”
He just noticed that Nagasha didn't have the Silver Star. This meant Nagasha's judgment was wrong—it wasn't that Nagasha had successfully passed the first test, but rather that there was no penalty for failing the first test.
The successful person receives a silver star, but Nagasha did not, which means she failed.
Su Ming'an could take advantage of this information gap.
Nagasha narrowed her eyes: "How exactly does it work?"
“It’s very simple. In your skill system, does it have an ability to automatically counterattack once a certain condition is triggered? For example, to reflect when you receive fatal damage, or to self-destruct when your ability is taken away?” Su Ming’an spoke steadily. “Similarly, I will also set one up. If you betray me, my Silver Star will detonate inside you. Although it won’t kill you, it will be enough to severely injure you so that you can’t attack me, making the benefits of betrayal offset by the cost.”
Nagasha didn't speak, but tapped her arm lightly with her fingers, making a soft tapping sound.
This plan sounds reasonable, but it has a fatal problem: How does He know that Su Ming'an's Silver Star really has that kind of function?
“Prove it to me,” Nagasha said. “Prove that your Silver Star can do what you say.”
Su Ming'an nodded. He stretched out his left hand, and the silver star floated in the air, transforming into a rotating star-shaped point of light.
“This is a state storage mode,” Su Ming’an said. “I can temporarily entrust it to another life form and set a trigger condition. When triggered, Silver Star will release the stored energy.”
He looked at Nagasha: "You can also display one of your skill markers, and we'll confirm it with each other."
From Nagasha's perspective, if Su Ming'an didn't possess similar skills, and Silver Star was merely a disguise, Su Ming'an would still be the one to suffer. After all, if both sides chose to betray, only Su Ming'an would be harmed.
Therefore, even if there are loopholes, Nagasha will not choose to question them, but rather choose to believe them. As long as Su Ming'an put forward the concept that "Silver Star can cause damage," it is equivalent to laying the foundation for cooperation, regardless of whether he actually possesses it.
Nagasha smiled, raised her right hand, and a mist of ever-changing colors appeared in her palm.
“My ‘Thousand-Eyed Curse’,” He said, “is imbued upon you. If you betray me, the curse will immediately erupt, depriving you of your sight and subjecting you to ten minutes of phantom pain, enough to render you unable to harm me.”
The two looked at each other.
The black water surged silently.
The third level of game theory.
Now, both sides have a guarantee of mutual destruction. Theoretically, cooperation becomes the only reasonable option. But Su Ming'an knows that someone like Nagasha likely has a backup plan. Could she possess some kind of "immunity to mutual destruction"? Or tamper with the entrusting mark?
“We do it simultaneously,” Su Ming’an said. “I’ll count to three, and we’ll push the markers toward each other together.”
“Okay,” Nagasha smiled.
Two minutes left in the countdown.
"one."
Silver Star slowly drifted toward Nagasha.
A colorful mist drifted toward Su Ming'an.
"two."
Silver Star approached Nagasha's chest.
The mist approached Su Ming'an's forehead.
"three!"
In that instant—
Nagasha's lips suddenly curled into a strange smile.
His mist suddenly accelerated, exploding into countless threads that wrapped around Su Ming'an's limbs!
However, at the same time, Su Ming'an's silver star did not fly towards Nagasha, but instead its eyes turned purple and its claws opened!
The two made the same choice at almost the same time—to pretend to cooperate while actually launching an attack!
"I knew it!" Nagasha laughed, her body suddenly becoming ethereal. "Little An'an, you never intended to cooperate!"
Su Ming'an dodged the silk threads by sidestepping.
But both of them stopped at the same time.
Because the black water suddenly boiled:
[WARNING: Armed conflict is prohibited during the discussion period.]
A hollow voice boomed.
The two quickly created distance between them.
One minute left in the countdown.
“It seems we don’t trust each other.” Nagasha wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her smile growing even more excited. “What should we do? Take a gamble? Guess what the other will choose at the last moment?”
Su Ming'an's brain was working at lightning speed.
The fourth level of game theory.
The situation is now clear: both sides have explicitly expressed "distrust" and have strong intentions to attack. So—
Nagasha will almost certainly choose "betrayal".
If you choose "forgiveness," you will die.
If I choose "betrayal", I will either betray Him twice to enter an extra level, or there is a possibility that He has chosen forgiveness in an extremely abnormal way, and I will kill Him and take away His power.
But there is another variable: could Nagasha have foreseen that he believed He would choose betrayal, and thus deliberately chose forgiveness to induce Su Ming'an to choose betrayal, while He prepared a contingency plan to "kill the betrayer"? Just as He did for Lu.
The four layers of speculation in game theory unfolded in Su Ming'an's mind.
There are only forty seconds left.
Darkness had descended between the two, preventing them from seeing each other's final choice; they could only hear each other's voices.
Su Ming'an closed his eyes.
He recalled Nagasha's earlier words about honesty, and the excited look in His eyes when He was imprisoned... He enjoyed the process of the game, not the result.
So--
Su Ming'an opened his eyes.
“Nagasha,” he said.
"Ok?"
"Let's play a game."
What game?
“In the last three seconds, we all say at the same time which button we are going to press,” Su Ming’an said. “But the rule is that we must tell the truth.”
Nagasha's eyes lit up: "The truth?"
“Yes.” Su Ming’an stared at her. “Don’t you like bizarre answers? In this life-or-death situation, do you dare to honestly face your answer?”
Twenty seconds left in the countdown.
Nagasha's smile widened little by little, until it almost tore her lips apart:
"Interesting...so interesting! Okay! Little An'an, I'll play! If all humans were as interesting as you, there wouldn't be so many idiots who can't tell right from wrong! She wouldn't have died, and I wouldn't have become this inhuman, ghostly mess!"
Five seconds.
On either side of the black curtain, the two men simultaneously hovered their fingers above the button.
Four seconds.
The black water was deathly still.
three seconds.
“Three,” Su Ming’an said.
“I’ll choose [Forgive],” Nagasha said almost simultaneously, her voice filled with a maniacal laugh. “Because—I want to see what kind of expression you’ll have when we pass through if you also choose forgiveness! That will definitely be more interesting than killing you!”
Su Ming'an's fingers paused slightly.
two seconds.
He said, "I will press [Betrayal]."
Based on his profile of Nagasha's character, Nagasha seeks thrills more than gains and enjoys the process of strategic maneuvering. If She says she will choose forgiveness, she truly will. Therefore, by choosing betrayal, one can kill Her and seize Her power.
This is a rational choice.
but--
one second.
In the last half second, Su Ming'an's finger moved away from the "Betrayal" button and pressed "Forgiveness".
He added an extra layer of thought at the last moment, which is also his unique way of thinking as a "player".
—If based on the logic of basic game theory, participants will do everything in their power to become the winner. Moreover, if the opponent is an enemy, participants will definitely want to be the winner who can kill the opponent.
However, here, beyond the logic of basic game theory, there exists another logic that cannot be ignored—
If Su Ming'an dies here, dies at this stage, Nagasha will have almost no chance of surviving the "Source Point".
The Holy Sword recognized Su Ming'an as its master, and the key was also essentially in Su Ming'an's hands. Most of the other participants were Su Ming'an's people, including the second-level god Lu Licarpos.
If Nagasha severely injures or even kills Su Ming'an, it's foreseeable that in future challenges requiring cooperation, she will face relentless targeting from the vast majority of others. She will also lose her most important purpose—to be remembered by the "protagonist."
Therefore, from the very beginning, the foundation of game theory is flawed—one of the two parties involved in the game absolutely cannot accept the combination of "self-betrayal + the other party's forgiveness," and can only accept "forgiveness + forgiveness," "betrayal + betrayal," or "self-forgiveness + the other party's betrayal." From the first level of the game to the fourth level, all of Nagasha's verbal manipulations need to be re-examined.
If He chooses "betrayal," then there are two possibilities: if Su Ming'an chooses "forgiveness," the situation will become an outcome that He absolutely cannot accept. If Su Ming'an chooses "betrayal," both sides will enter a life-or-death situation, which is a very large negative outcome.
If He chooses "forgiveness," then there are two possibilities: Su Ming'an chooses "forgiveness," achieving the best of both worlds; Su Ming'an chooses "betrayal," and He is severely injured or even killed by Su Ming'an.
Su Ming'an's reasoning was correct; He did indeed possess the ability to "enter someone's body after death," and Lu's situation was very clear.
In His eyes, there was a very high probability that Su Ming'an would choose to betray. If He chose to betray, this game would most likely be a perilous gamble for both of them.
The last second.
Both buttons were pressed at the same time.
A soft white light illuminated both buttons simultaneously.
Both parties agreed: forgiveness.
[Level cleared.]
The black water began to recede, revealing a portal leading to the next area.
Nagasha stood there, staring at Su Ming'an, the smile on her face vanishing.
“…You changed your vote,” she said.
“You’ve changed too,” Su Ming’an said calmly.
At the last moment, Nagasha's finger moved from [Betrayal] to [Forgiveness].
He realized that the benefits of choosing forgiveness far outweighed those of betrayal, and even if He suffered severe damage, He wouldn't lose too much. The only thing He couldn't accept was the combination of His own betrayal plus Su Ming'an's forgiveness.
Because of fear, Su Ming'an chose forgiveness... He chose forgiveness.
After multiple layers of psychological speculation, the two players arrived at the same conclusion.
Nagasha was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into a sharp laugh, laughing so hard she almost fell over:
"That's amazing...that's amazing! Su Ming'an! You're so funny! I like you more and more!"
He took a few steps forward.
Suddenly, He stopped and turned around.
Beautiful eyes stared silently at Su Ming'an for two seconds, then walked over and stood in front of him. He stopped, stretched out his hands, as if trying to test whether Su Ming'an's skin was human or some kind of thin substance, but he couldn't touch it. Su Ming'an took a step to the side.
Su Ming'an stared at Him warily, as if He were facing a dangerous monster.