From the very beginning of forming the team, Lin Yu had never trusted Xia Yue.
As he had just said, Xia Yue's "acting" was truly terrible.
The "naivety," "timidity," and "vivacity" she displayed when alone with him were all heavily laced with performative traces.
Such amateurish acting was something Lin Yu could see through at a glance.
Thus, Xia Yue was suspicious—after all, her "performance" was clearly hiding something.
But Xia Yue wasn't the only suspicious one!
From the first day of grouping, there were far too many suspicious people in this game.
Yu Longguo, who had urgently pushed for everyone to pair up, and the other six who hadn't objected to this proposal at all.
Then there were Bao Liu and Yao Zhengye, who had inexplicably strayed from their "assigned areas" during the mission, as well as Xu Xiumei and Chen Zhuo, who had suddenly changed their attitudes and clung tightly together...
Though Lin Yu's reasoning had sounded "logical" at the time, he himself knew full well that it was a flawed argument that couldn't withstand any scrutiny.
Weren't they afraid that he, the detective, would fail to report the inspection results and get killed today?!
Most crucially, when Lin Yu later proposed not voting, everyone had readily agreed again...
In fact, no one had even bothered to compare their schedules for the day—as if everyone had silently agreed not to bring it up.
At that moment, a wild thought had suddenly occurred to Lin Yu.
"Could it be that all of them are werewolves?"
If he treated all of them as werewolves, their behavior suddenly made sense.
Everyone had been eager to split up and had planned to muddle through the meeting without sharing any information.
But Lin Yu's first reaction had been, "How is that possible? The game rules can't be wrong."
Yet the moment this thought crossed his mind, Lin Yu had been struck with a chilling realization.
From start to finish, there had never been any game rule stating that "there are only two werewolves."
The so-called "game rules" were all conclusions they had drawn themselves during the game.
He immediately recalled all the details of the castle—Lin Yu's elective course in "stage design" had ranked first in his department, so he was extremely sensitive to such "environmental details."
The omnipresent "wolf" motifs on the candlesticks and paintings throughout the castle.
The human-like severed limbs in the kitchen and the clearly human head "offering" on the altar.
And—all the human "supplies" were piled in a manner completely out of place with the castle, as if they had been temporarily placed there by later arrivals.
Coupled with the warning in the initial "letter," Lin Yu suddenly realized a "misconception."
All seven participants had taken it for granted that the "werewolves" were the outsiders.
But...
Was the owner of this castle truly human?
Lin Yu adopted the perspective of "stage design"—if he were to create such a castle as a set, the inhabitants would...
Definitely not be human.
Thus, if he continued thinking along these lines—the bloody words they had seen on the wall at the beginning, "There are two outsiders among you," might not be referring to the werewolves...
But rather, to the humans?!
And even earlier than those bloody words, there was the title of this game they had seen before entering.
"Who Is the Outsider?"
It was almost like...
A hint.
And now, through Xia Yue's reaction, Lin Yu had finally confirmed his hypothesis.
"In this game, the humans are the outsiders!"
"Therefore, there are five werewolves and two humans—the reason the werewolves don't know each other's identities isn't some arbitrary game setting, but a necessary condition for the game to proceed!"
"Whether human or werewolf, whoever realizes the true meaning of 'outsider' first gains a tremendous advantage!"
Lin Yu exhaled, a smile appearing on his face.
Now, he held an overwhelming "advantage" in this game!
"Hey... Detective Bro, why are you still smiling?"
But then, Xia Yue's words brought Lin Yu back to reality.
The girl before him stood on the third step of the stairs, holding a dagger and smiling at him.
Even though he had uncovered the most crucial "truth" of the game, the immediate danger remained!
However, though Xia Yue had drawn her dagger, she still hadn't attacked.
This, too, was within Lin Yu's expectations.
So, looking at Xia Yue, he spoke confidently: "Of course, it's because I already know exactly who the two werewolves are—and this morning, I used my ability again and discovered who your other werewolf teammate is."
"Even if you kill me, I already know the 'truth.' In a sense, I've already won."
Lin Yu understood perfectly why Xia Yue hadn't struck yet.
She truly didn't know who her other werewolf teammate was.
Because everyone seemed so suspiciously like a werewolf, Xia Yue must be utterly confused!
She must want to use Lin Yu's "ability" to identify the other werewolf—or at least eliminate one possibility!
Thus, Lin Yu's words played right into her hands.
The "arrogant detective" persona he had carefully cultivated finally paid off.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Xia Yue's lips curled into a smile.
"Is that so, Detective Bro... But how did you figure out my other teammate? I'm completely clueless."
She was trying to coax information out of the "arrogant detective"!
But unfortunately, Lin Yu's persona was entirely an act.
And his acting was far superior to Xia Yue's.
Looking at the curious and excited Xia Yue, Lin Yu lowered his voice: "It's simple. Your teammate, though well-disguised, is..."
Mid-sentence, Lin Yu suddenly turned and bolted up the stairs!
Xia Yue reacted quickly, barely pausing for a second before charging after him.
She had been prepared for Lin Yu to run!
"I can't let him escape!"
She thought to herself.
After all, in Xia Yue's eyes, if her identity were exposed by Lin Yu... it would be over!
Even if she killed Lin Yu, the remaining "four humans" would vote her out!
With Lin Yu's "corpse," they wouldn't even need to wait until 7 PM—the humans could call an emergency meeting immediately!
But what Xia Yue didn't know was...
Lin Yu had never intended to run!
After just two steps, Lin Yu whirled around and kicked Xia Yue squarely in the abdomen!
"Thud!"
Xia Yue, sprinting at full speed, instantly lost her balance and was sent tumbling down the stairs!
"Oof!"
Xia Yue cried out in pain. Though she tried to adjust her landing...
The seven or eight steps still left her back and rear in excruciating pain, her vision swimming.
She struggled to get up, but a sudden, sharp pain shot through her right hand.
"Snap!"
"Ah—"
The crisp sound of bone breaking echoed, and Xia Yue screamed, her dagger clattering to the ground.
Then, her scream was abruptly cut off—the dagger had plunged into her chest.
She looked down to see blood gushing from the wound, staining her white coat red.
Her body instantly went limp.
With her remaining strength, Xia Yue desperately grabbed Lin Yu's left wrist with her uninjured hand, her eyes filled with unwillingness.
Trembling all over, Lin Yu looked at the life fading from Xia Yue's eyes and whispered,
"Sorry."
"This was the only way I could think of to win..."