"The reason for choosing to observe Player 11 is simple," Player 2 began. "Yesterday, after Player 9 was verified as a Lost Soul, it proved that all our previous deductions were deeply flawed."
"It is almost a hundred percent certain that there are still two Anomalies lurking among us."
He paused, his gaze shifting toward Zhang Qiuqiu, who was sitting in the corner. His eyes held a hint of scrutiny as he continued.
"Therefore, the most likely scenario is that Player 11's accusation against Player 12 on the first day was nothing but a frame-up."
"At that time, Player 12 had no chance to speak. He was directly accused of being an Anomaly by Player 11 and had no room to defend himself."
"In such a case, there's only one possibility: Player 11 herself is an Anomaly. She deliberately framed Player 12 to divert our attention and cover her own identity."
"That's why I chose to observe Player 11's every move last night, to see if she truly showed any signs of abnormality."
At this point, Player 2's tone softened slightly. "Looking at it now, the actions of the Locksmith and myself can be seen as covering two suspects."
"But..." Before he could finish, Player 2 suddenly stopped. A complex expression crossed his face, and he didn't continue immediately. Instead, he raised a hand and rubbed his temples for a moment.
After a while, Player 2 lowered his hand, his tone becoming hesitant, even carrying a trace of uncertainty.
"Everyone, please take note. What I'm saying is that Player 11 did not leave her room last night. She didn't even make any attempt to leave."
"In other words, she lay in bed all night, perfectly quiet. She didn't try to confirm if the Locksmith had locked her in, nor did she make any suspicious moves."
He paused and turned his gaze toward Ren Yi, adding, "Player 3 can confirm this as well. Yesterday, Player 3 watched the 'surveillance' with me."
"Logically speaking, this should almost certainly confirm that she is not an Anomaly."
Player 2 spoke slowly, the hesitation in his voice growing stronger, even carrying a hint of contradiction.
"If Player 11 were truly an Anomaly, she wouldn't be so well-behaved. She would have at least tried to check the situation outside to prepare for future actions, rather than lying in bed all night without doing a thing."
While his words suggested that Zhang Qiuqiu couldn't be an Anomaly, his tone remained filled with hesitation. The doubt in his eyes hadn't faded in the slightest; clearly, he couldn't fully convince himself.
He wasted a bit more of his speaking time, remaining silent for a moment before slowly uttering a single sentence.
However, it was this tentative, seemingly casual remark that made Ren Yi's heart tighten, sending a surge of shock through his mind.
"Do you think... that Anomalies might have some means of secret, remote communication?"
Has this Player 2 actually guessed the existence of the Anomaly Web?
Ren Yi was secretly alarmed, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.
This Player 2 had clearly been influenced by him and had fallen into the trap he had set. How could he still think of this?
Zhang Qiuqiu's eyes also flickered with a hint of vigilance. She cast a subtle glance at Ren Yi, and the two exchanged a look, both seeing a trace of gravity in each other's eyes.
Despite the silence rule, Player 2's words caused a stir among the others in the hall.
Player 2 ignored their reactions. Still rubbing his head, he analyzed slowly, the hesitation in his voice gradually fading and being replaced by a certain level of conviction.
"If the Anomalies truly have a means of remote communication, then everything that happened before can be explained."
"Namely, after Player 10 realized he was locked in by the Locksmith last night and couldn't leave, he immediately used a remote communication method to inform his partner, Player 11."
"Once Player 11 knew the situation, she realized she had no chance to kill that night. Even if she went out, it would be pointless and might even expose her identity."
"That's why she chose to maintain her disguise the whole time, lying quietly in bed and avoiding any abnormal behavior to lower our suspicions."
At this point, Player 2 gave a self-deprecating laugh, lowered his hand, and shook his head slightly with a hint of helplessness.
"No, being optimistic, the probability of this is actually quite low."
"Anomalies may be powerful, but they shouldn't be so powerful that they possess a means of remote communication. Besides, we haven't seen any signs before that they have such an ability."
Ultimately, he followed his inner inclination, choosing not to let his thoughts spiral toward a worse conclusion or dwell on the theory of remote communication.
He let out a deep sigh, his tone softening as he explained.
"I'm saying all this not because I still suspect Player 11."
"But rather to tell everyone that if the theory of remote communication doesn't hold, then Player 11 can actually be excluded from the range of major suspects."
He looked up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present as he said calmly.
"For now, my thoughts align with those of Player 1, the Locksmith."
"Player 10 is the most likely to be an Anomaly. As for the remaining three—Player 5, Player 6, and Player 11—their suspicion levels are equal and require further verification."
In the end, Player 2 abandoned that seemingly impossible guess.
What a pity.
Ren Yi listened quietly to Player 2's statement, rubbing his nose to hide the contemplative look in his eyes.
Ultimately, Player 2 had still pointed the finger at Player 10.
Even though he had briefly guessed the existence of the Anomaly Web, he was still influenced by 'optimism' in the end.
He hadn't considered at all that the Anomaly might simply be using interference abilities and choosing to skip the kill.
He hadn't guessed that last night, he had actually spent the entire night with an Anomaly.
You were so close to activating a cheat, little Player 2.
Is it a failure by just one move after all?
Wait, what am I doing thinking of lines like a villain celebrating halfway through? Stop that, stop that!
Unaware of Ren Yi's internal thoughts, Player 2 continued talking to himself.
"I know Player 1 was quite hostile toward me just now, constantly asking me to clear my name and prove that I'm not a fake Peeper or an accomplice to the Anomaly."
Player 2 turned his gaze toward Player 1, his tone calm and devoid of any resentment.
"Perhaps you are all curious why I wasn't in a hurry to defend myself or present evidence of my innocence immediately."
He paused, a faint smile touching his lips. A spark of confidence appeared in his eyes, and his previous fatigue seemed to dissipate slightly, as if he had finally found a breakthrough.
"But what I want to say is that I've already found the reason for the problem we encountered yesterday."
"Once I explain this theory, the suspicion against me will naturally crumble. There's no need for me to defend myself intentionally."
The moment he finished speaking, the commotion in the hall vanished instantly. Every eye was fixed on Player 2.
Ren Yi maintained his calm expression, quietly watching Player 2 and waiting for what came next.
Facing everyone's gaze, Player 2 spoke slowly, his voice firm and confident.
"The most important piece of information is the clue we just discovered: 'She is Within Her'."
As he said this, Player 2's brow smoothed out. The gravity and hesitation on his face completely vanished, and his entire posture relaxed significantly.
His eyes shimmered with light, and his tone became excited.
"I don't know if anyone else found this information strange, but to me, it's far too bizarre."
"If the rule was intended to tell us that there's an Anomaly among the three remaining female participants, wouldn't it have been enough to simply write 'She is an Anomaly' or 'There is an Anomaly among them'?"
"Even if the rule didn't want to be too direct, using the same sentence structure, writing 'The Anomaly is within them' would be much more reasonable than 'She is Within Her', wouldn't it?"
"Moreover, wouldn't it be more logical to use the non-gendered 'It' here?"
At this moment, Player 2 sounded like a grammar teacher scrutinizing every word.
"'She is Within Her'—why did the game rules insist on omitting the pluralizing 'them'?" He emphasized his point, highlighting this crucial detail.
"Regardless of whether the game rules follow human speech patterns, looking at this sentence structure alone, it is very strange."
"It seems to be intentionally emphasizing that the word 'She' appears twice, and that these two 'Shes' seem to have some kind of special connection."
Player 2 spoke slowly, his gaze sweeping over everyone to observe their reactions.
"Think about it carefully. Are the two 'Shes' mentioned here really referring to the same person?"
...It's over.
Player 2 is actually starting to cheat.
Rate on N.U.
