Chapter 25 Twenty-Five Rounds

"Twenty-five rounds."

The man in the suit and sunglasses had barely finished speaking when Feng Bujue completed his "round declaration." The number was undoubtedly one he had decided on long ago.

"This kid... he actually only bid twenty-five rounds." Mr. Jing thought to himself, "That's a bit too few rounds..."

Although Mr. Jing had seen the complete rules just like Jue-Ge, he hadn't done any detailed calculations of the surrender penalties for each round. He only knew roughly... that as long as he chose to surrender after the thirty-first round, he would definitely profit.

In addition, he had just pondered how many rounds it would take to guess the "six-digit number with ten possible digits, allowing repeats."

Unfortunately... guessing things out of thin air is very difficult. In games like number guessing, unless you have multiple personalities inside you (yes, I'm talking about Yugi Muto), it's impossible to play against yourself.

And given the nature of tonight's party, the guests wouldn't possibly help each other practice. So... Mr. Jing could only deduce from the "surrender penalty" that it would take at least "around thirty rounds" to guess the correct answer.

"One thousand US dollars." After hesitating for a few seconds, Mr. Jing still called the lowest amount.

"Hmph... I see..." The moment Feng Bujue heard the number, he chuckled softly, "Third-rate, huh..."

"What did you say?" Mr. Jing heard the obvious disdain and mockery in the other man's words, and he naturally couldn't remain silent under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

"I'll explain it to you later." Feng Bujue replied in a languid tone, "I don't want to waste too much time on third-rate people. Let's make this quick."

Having said that, he didn't give the other party a chance to refute, and immediately added, "First round, I bet 1000 US dollars. Do you match or surrender?"

After asking this question, he pressed the timer at hand.

Mr. Jing obviously couldn't surrender in the first round. He replied, "I match." Then he also raised his hand and pressed the timer button on his side.

In the same second, Feng Bujue had already bent down and started writing on the paper, and the first set of numbers he guessed was—six "0s".

After writing it, he handed the paper to Mr. Jing and pressed the timer. The latter took the paper, glanced at it, quickly wrote 0A0B as feedback below the line of numbers, and pressed the timer when handing the paper back.

The above is the standard procedure for one round.

"0A0B" means that Feng Bujue didn't guess a single number or position correctly. In other words... there wasn't a single "0" in the six numbers that Mr. Jing wrote. In a sense, this was a better start than guessing some numbers correctly, because it was like reducing the "ten digits" to "nine digits." Moreover, this "0" could be used as an "auxiliary number" for deduction in the future. For example, Jue-Ge could guess "000001." If the feedback at this time was 0A1B or 1A0B, then he could determine whether "1" existed in the answer. If he was lucky, he could directly determine the position of "1".

Of course, after such a standard procedure, Feng Bujue paid a price of 1000 US dollars...

"Hmm..." After Jue-Ge took back the paper, he just glanced at it and said, "Second round, I'll still bet 1000 US dollars."

(In the following text, most of the descriptions about pressing the timer will be omitted. Just know that they are pressing it.)

"I match." Mr. Jing matched very decisively this time.

Basically, for at least the first fifteen rounds, as long as the guesser's bid didn't change drastically, the questioner could follow without thinking.

Because in this game, there is no situation where "the guesser deliberately doesn't increase the bid in a round where they are sure to win." Even if they know that this behavior will cause the opponent to surrender, the surrender penalty is definitely more than the initial bet.

"Referee, I have a question I'd like to confirm here." Feng Bujue suddenly opened his mouth and started chatting with the man in the suit and sunglasses next to him while writing the second set of numbers.

"Please ask." The man in the suit also responded immediately.

"Regarding what you just said... 'If cheating is caught, the penalty is immediate loss'..." Then, Feng Bujue asked a surprising question in a calm tone, "Can I understand that as... 'cheating that isn't caught on the spot' is 'tacitly approved'?"

As soon as he said this, there was an uproar in the surrounding crowd, and the face under Mr. Jing's mask twitched on the spot.

On the other hand, the reaction of the man in the suit and sunglasses was fairly calm: "Yes, since 'it wasn't caught on the spot,' there is naturally no way to punish it."

Obviously, this wasn't the first time he'd answered a similar question. The organizers couldn't have missed the tricks regarding the "cheating" part, and the "referees" under him all knew this.

"What a joke!" However, the next second, Mr. Jing couldn't stand it anymore, "What's the point of having you referees if you can't guarantee fairness? Just standing guard?"

"Sir." The man in the suit's attitude didn't change, "Fairness' on the gambling table is relative to begin with. 'Cheating' is also part of the strength, and the risks and benefits are proportional... If you get caught cheating, tonight's trip will end early." He paused and added, "Besides... I didn't say that I 'don't guarantee the fairness of the duel.' I just said that I can't punish 'cheating that isn't caught on the spot.' Don't underestimate us 'guards' too much..." At this point, his gaze under the sunglasses quietly shifted to Jue-Ge, and his words also carried a hint of deterrence, "It's not that easy to cheat under my nose."

"Heh..." Feng Bujue didn't care about the other party's gaze and pressure. He handed Mr. Jing another piece of paper with six "1s" written on it and let out an unsettling laugh.

"Wait! What if there is a cheating method that... 'isn't caught on the spot' but is exposed after the duel? How does that count?" Mr. Jing was still struggling with the topic just now.

"Ha... hahahaha..." Before the man in the suit could answer, Feng Bujue laughed out loud, "Aren't you talking nonsense? Let's talk about soccer games, have you ever seen a game that was overturned after the fact?" As he said this, he took a sip of champagne through the straw inserted into his mask's eye socket, and then said, "If you can't expose cheating on the spot, then you can only say... 'the person who gets tricked is a fool.' If the results can be overturned 'afterward,' then what's the point of this 'victory or defeat'?"

"Yes..." The man in the suit also added, "That's right, the result of each duel is 'absolute.' We don't recognize the act of proving that the other party cheated after all the settlements have been completed."

"Tch..." Mr. Jing spat, but he didn't have time to get angry, because the feedback time limit was only thirty seconds. He could only write "0A0B" on the paper quickly in anger and hand it back to Jue-Ge.

"Heh... not bad luck." Feng Bujue was very happy to see that the second number he guessed was also completely excluded from the correct answer, "With this kind of start, I can probably solve the answer within twenty rounds..."

He pretended to be talking to himself and muttered the second half of the sentence in a voice that wasn't too loud, deliberately letting Mr. Jing hear it.

And after Mr. Jing heard it, he was also drumming in his heart: "Damn kid... what is he trying to do? What did he mean by asking the referee that question just now? Is he trying to do something... or is he just trying to disturb me?"

He guessed half of it right. One of Feng Bujue's purposes in communicating with the referee was indeed to disturb him...

In this game, there are actually very few ways to cheat. If you really want to "cheat," you should do it when the questioner writes the answer, or find a way to deal with the referee who keeps the answer.

Now that the game has started, even if the guesser wants to cheat, there are no effective means.

Therefore, Feng Bujue's words didn't mean he wanted to take action. He was just creating a psychological pressure for the other party that "I might really take action."

In addition, Jue-Ge's exchange with the referee had another purpose—to provide a "way of thinking" for the other guests.

He hoped that through this conversation, he could instill the idea that "cheating is okay as long as you don't get caught" into the minds of the surrounding people, laying the groundwork for the later "layout."

…………

In short, in the first nine rounds, Feng Bujue guessed each of the nine numbers in order from zero to eight (the last one didn't need to be guessed), losing a total of nine thousand dollars.

And then came the tenth round.

At this time, Feng Bujue could be sure that the six numbers written by Mr. Jing didn't include 0, 1, 4, 6, and 9.

In other words, the answer was composed of the five numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8. As a six-digit number containing five numbers, one of the numbers was naturally repeated, and this number had already been tried out in the first ten rounds. When guessing six "8s," the feedback given by Mr. Jing was 2A0B, that is, proof that the six-digit number contained two "8s."

Thus, from this round onwards, the core of guessing shifted from "guessing numbers" to "guessing positions." Anyway, the answer was definitely these six numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 8. Now it was just a matter of seeing how they were arranged.

"Heh... don't you suddenly think that it doesn't seem impossible to solve the problem within twenty-five rounds?" In this round, after calling the bet, Feng Bujue once again used verbal attacks to harass the other party.

At this moment, Mr. Jing's face had become very ugly, but fortunately, he had a mask to hide it, so he wouldn't lose face in front of everyone.

It's just... his short, fat body was full of oil and fat, making him very prone to sweating. The sweat flowing from his head and face all the way to his neck was shiny under the light, and it had already betrayed him...

"Hmph... So what if you successfully guess it within twenty-five rounds? I only bet a thousand on the initial bet of 'guessing rounds'." Mr. Jing's words were still unwilling to show weakness, "To take a step back, even if I'm forced to surrender, there's still my guessing round in the next round, heh..." He forced out two dry laughs and continued, "Speaking of which, I have to thank you for giving me a good guessing idea."

"Alas..." Feng Bujue shook his head when he heard this and let out a long sigh of compassion, "After all, you're third-rate..." He shrugged, "'I only lost so and so much,' 'There's still the next round'... It's very dangerous to have this kind of thinking on the gambling table." He paused for half a second, "When you come back to your senses... you've already retreated again and again under the scourge of this kind of thinking, standing on the edge of a cliff. At that time, when facing the pressure of 'one more step back is death,' you usually completely collapse or go to extremes and fight to the death in some inexplicable place... This kind of person..." He snorted coldly, "Hmph... is what we often call 'easy prey'."

"Enough nonsense!" Mr. Jing shouted impatiently, "I match! Start guessing! Tenth round!"

He couldn't give in here, but his increasingly tough attitude was actually just to cover up the fact that he had no confidence at all.

Let's not talk about the huge gap between Mr. Jing and Jue-Ge on the gambling level, but in terms of calculation alone... Mr. Jing was also quite terrible.

Not to mention the calculation for the number guessing game itself, he couldn't even completely calculate the chips and penalties... If this kind of person didn't lose, then it would be against all reason.

…………

Twelve minutes passed, and the game continued.

And it had already progressed to the twenty-first round.

The guessing in the previous ten or so rounds greatly increased Mr. Jing's confidence, because up to this round, the best result that Feng Bujue had guessed was only 2A4B...

"Ha! Hahaha..." Looking at Jue-Ge's increasingly solemn face, Mr. Jing couldn't help but laugh smugly, "What's wrong? Where's the arrogant energy from just now?" He raised his head and sneered, "Saying I'm third-rate? What about you? You talk a lot of shit, but you've been guessing for a long time... and you still seem to be far from the answer~"

At the same moment, next to the second-floor railing.

"Hmph... What an idiot." The organizer sneered softly, "He doesn't even know that he's done for..."

At this time, the two men in suits next to the organizer had already brought him a telescope and a tablet device that could connect to all the cameras in the main hall. The organizer could clearly see what the two of them were writing on the paper through the pictures sent back by the tablet.

"A waste who can't even detect the existence of the 'escape round' actually chose to 'accept protection'..." The organizer then muttered, "There's really no value to be exploited from this kind of person other than his organs."

"Young master." Suit B reminded him at this time, "I think this 'Mr. Yan' can only choose to 'accept protection' because what he's facing outside is not just debt, but imprisonment."

Suit A also added, "Mr. Yan's superior was a corrupt criminal who was recently investigated. As one of the people on 'that line,' he also made a lot of money. Now, he urgently needs a large sum of money to smooth things over and buy himself a 'transfer punishment.' Otherwise... he'll have to go to jail."

"I see... bureaucrats, huh." The organizer rested his chin on his hand and put down the tablet in his hand, "Not easy to handle..." His thoughts had already jumped to other places, "Looking at his appearance... his liver and stomach are probably not up to transplantation standards either. That's a six-figure loss..."

Let's not talk about the organizer's calculations above, let's look back at the gambling table.

Facing Mr. Jing's provocation, Feng Bujue was silent for a few seconds, and then said something that made the other party drop his jaw: "This round, I'll bet all the rest, eighty thousand."

At this moment, many people in the crowd gasped.

Mr. Jing's smug state instantly froze and turned into inexplicable embarrassment and... fear.

"Wha... what?" After two seconds, Mr. Jing reacted, "You've only guessed a maximum of 2A so far, and you're actually..."

"That's normal." Feng Bujue interrupted the other party, "Taking your number as an example, it's not too difficult to calculate how many permutations and combinations there are in total. (Note: Because subscripts can't be typed here, I can only type it like this) You can use the C16*A55-C26*A44 method or the A662 shortcut... anyway, the answer is 360 possibilities. The difficulty lies in... how to eliminate the 359 incorrect combinations. Under such a large base, even with the hints of 'a few As and a few Bs,' it's still a bit difficult to try out the correct answer in ten rounds. To put it bluntly... you still have to rely on a little bit of 'luck'."

He paused for a few seconds: "Of course, if you can understand my guessing ideas, then you should realize that... as early as three rounds ago, I was already very close to the answer. At this time, people who know enough about the 'rules'... or... people who see through the meaning of 'those few rounds' still have a chance to recover their losses. However... you're obviously not that kind of person."

"What are you talking about? What 'those few rounds'? Aren't the rules obvious?" Mr. Jing panicked. Even if his senses were dull, Feng Bujue's confident aura had already been strongly conveyed.

"When I bet on the rounds, I deliberately chose the number 'twenty-five rounds,' but your reaction shows that you don't know anything about the meaning of this round." Feng Bujue's words continued, "At this time... I've confirmed your level." He spread his hands and chuckled, "Generally speaking... you don't even know how to play this game. This... is also evident in your complete ignorance of the 'escape' opportunity in 'those few rounds' and your completely ignorant state of my guessing ideas."

Feng Bujue finished speaking here, drank all the champagne in his glass, paused, and then said, "Alright, stop being stunned. It's almost been a minute."

"Huh? Ah!" In a panic, Mr. Jing's decision time had reached the last five seconds.

When he looked at the timer, his mind was still a mess: "What is this kid talking about... I don't understand! Is he bluffing... If he's bluffing, then I can just grit my teeth and kill him directly, but what if..."

"Three... two..." On the other hand, Feng Bujue had already counted down loudly with a playful smile.

"I! I..." In the end, Mr. Jing closed his eyes and slammed the timer, while shouting angrily, "I surrender!"