Chapter 48: Problem

[Chapter 47 Comment]

[Adam_Balch_7324: Of course threats to your family must be eliminated]

…

"Hey, have you found anything yet?" Maya asked.

"I have checked the first person, but nothing can be found," Oliver shook his head helplessly.

"Then, is it the second person?"

"I don't know. I should be able to go through the night before the last day, so we might get the clue and get one last shot."

"Alright. Do it, then," Maya sighed.

During the past two days, they had attempted a few other plans, but as expected, they had failed every single time.

Just like them, the other groups also became frustrated, thinking that they had to find the spy first before making any progress.

"So, who is the spy?" Li Wei asked with a serious expression. "We haven't found a single clue about it."

"I have asked Haruka, Aurora, and the twins. None of them seemed to be lying, so they shouldn't be the spies," Serena replied while raising two fingers. "I think Mia or Maya should be suspected."

"Mia must be on the teacher's side, but she might not necessarily be the spy," Jayden shook his head. "Instead, I suspect that the spy is trying to make us believe that she is not a spy by taking active action during this time."

"!!!" Li Wei widened her eyes while Serena slammed her hand on the table and shouted, "Are you suspecting me?"

"I'm simply talking about possibilities. There is no need to be that agitated," Jayden looked at her suspiciously. "Maybe... I poked the right spot?"

"I could ask you the same. You come from the same world, so you must have some attachment to him, right?" Serena glared back. Since the other party slandered her first, she didn't mind fighting back.

"What did you say?" Jayden stood up.

"Stop it, both of you. If you're going to fight, do it later or until we break this group," Li Wei stopped them with a cold tone.

"..." Jayden and Serena turned around, having the same thought. "Maybe the spy is enjoying the sight of us breaking apart and not trusting each other."

"So, you're suspecting me now?" Li Wei asked with a poker face. As expected from Li Wei, he left no gaps to exploit by simply stating, "If you think so, then we can break this group and see whether your plans are discovered or not."

Unlike the two of them, Li Wei wasn't provoked and tried to de-escalate the situation, albeit the distrust had grown too strong for him to handle.

...

Just like them, the other groups suspected not only the other groups but also each other within their own group. Only Avalon, who didn't have a single teammate, was spared from this situation.

However, they continued with their attempt to catch Theo but failed every single time. The more frustrated they became, the harder it was for them to see through the truth.

Two days before the game ended, Theo went to class as usual.

"Alright. Let's move on to the next topic," Theo wanted to begin his class, but the students were actually glaring at each other instead of paying attention to him. "Hahaha."

The laugh caught everyone's attention as they ended up glaring at their own teacher because he was the one causing all this.

"This is what happened in real life," Theo raised two fingers. "If you want to destroy your enemies, you always have two options: do it from the outside or execute them from within. Haven't you seen the effectiveness of this game?"

When Theo specifically mentioned the game, everyone dropped their guard for a moment.

"Imagine this. You have a lot of enemies. While the enemies are weak or few in numbers compared to you, they can use plans like this to destroy you. Of course, there are times when the enemies overpower you, so you have to consider this situation as well."

"Teacher, my realm is a bit different," Li Wei raised his hand.

"Hoh? It's different?"

"Yeah, my world is quite predictable, to be honest. The reason why I don't leave any gaps to exploit is simply my way of adapting to the world's situation. There are a lot of arrogant people in my world, always taking small things too seriously."

"For example, I could be sitting in a restaurant, and if there are no empty seats left, a girl might come and sit with me to enjoy her food. Then, one of these arrogant people would come up to me, accusing me of daring to sit with 'his woman'... even though it's not my fault or she's not actually his woman."

"And then, whenever I try to defend myself and defeat them, their uncles would come to avenge them. If the uncles aren't strong enough, then the father will come. Since we have a pretty long lifespan, even their ancestors might come, and so on. It becomes a never-ending cycle unless you have a different background that scares them."

"While I know that not everyone is like that, I feel sick because of the repetitiveness. However, I'm quite thankful because they are so predictable," Li Wei sighed. "Oh, yes... there are two words that they always say, and they're the most annoying. 'Courting Death.' I wonder what goes through their minds."

Theo was quite speechless. "That's quite intriguing. So, what do you do when faced with such situations?"

"I rarely leave my sect, but when I encounter people like them, I usually boast about my own sect. They are people who fear the strong and oppress the weak, after all. So, it's easy to intimidate them. Besides, in my world, it's not uncommon for an entire family to be massacred by an even more powerful family. People should focus on more important things, like advancing technologies. If those long-lived ancestors had become scientists, we might have been able to go to space by now."

"Haha," Theo chuckled. "While it's annoying to go through that, why don't you enjoy it? For example, you could use Lumina to record their actions and project the video for everyone to see. And if that's not enough, you can do it on a larger scale."

"Huh? While I can get back at them, I don't think that would be enough."

"I mean, if you do it that way, their reputation will be destroyed. Their family's economy will crumble, and they will lose people's trust. And if you continue, the political situation will become chaotic... just like what's happening here," Theo pointed at the class.

The students seemed to understand something.

That was right. Theo was destroying them from within through the existence of that spy.

"As I said, no matter the circumstances, you can destroy your enemies from the outside or the inside. In Li Wei's case, you could even spread a rumor to further damage their reputation and make them suspect each other. And if that's not enough, instigate their enemies to take action against them. This way, you won't be the one being chased by them."

"That's right," Li Wei gasped. He had never thought of it that way. If someone else took the blame, the problem would be theirs, not his.

"Doesn't this situation seem extremely familiar?" Serena gasped and looked at Mia. "Don't tell me, Mia... you..."

Mia stuck out her tongue. "I'm not a spy, though. But I admit that I'm following his request to speak my mind, and it ended up causing this problem."

Just as Theo had intended, Mia had created a rumor that made them suspect each other.

So, Theo wanted to teach them this.

"I have given you the homework, and now... I'm curious to see how you're going to solve this," Theo smirked before pointing to the board behind him. "Alright. Let's begin our class."

The students felt like they had gained valuable insight. Theo's concept wasn't revolutionary or anything, but the way he combined and applied it was so unique that they had a hard time seeing through his plan.

However, after this lesson, they started working on their own plan to address the current problem.

Some of them tried to connect with each other to take advantage of the chaos and find the spy. Some took individual action by distancing themselves from the rest. Some remained skeptical about the situation. But only Haruka was advocating for working together to defeat Theo. Even if they couldn't win the game, they could gain bonus points through unity.

Unfortunately, this made Haruka even more suspicious. In the end, the class distanced themselves from her, and only Mia would talk to her during the game.

The atmosphere in the class became worse. They had considered the possibility that the spy was mere speculation, but Theo's actions and words indicated the spy's existence. They couldn't help but believe it.

Li Wei ended up teaming up with Aurora and the twins. The twins remained the same, but their movements were filled with doubt.

Serena, Jayden, and Lancelot went on their own. Maya and Oliver remained together, their group being the only one to stay intact, demonstrating the trust they had in each other.

However, there was one person who remained unaffected by the spy. That person was Avalon. He had been tackling the problem by himself, so there was no problem from within. And with his conduct and beliefs, there was no possibility of him being a spy.

Theo had an easier time, to the point where he could meet Victoria and Baold a few times to discuss his plan to catch the culprit. He even agreed with their comments and swore to eliminate those who planned to harm his family.

Baold was quite surprised, but after seeing the state of the class, he understood Theo's capabilities and accepted the offer. Victoria also didn't mind participating, considering all that Theo had done for his class. It was rare for students to make this much progress in just a month, so she expected more from Theo.

...

Finally, one week after the start of the game, Theo gathered the students again to announce the results.

Theo looked at the class, which had a tense atmosphere due to everyone suspecting each other. He couldn't help but smile as he teased them, "You guys sure have a strong bond of friendship."

Silence filled the room. They wanted to say something, but they couldn't because they acknowledged that everything that had happened was caused by their own actions.

Theo continued, "Alright, I won't tease you guys anymore. I know you're all curious. No one has caught me, which means no one has won the game. However, one person has indeed emerged as the winner of this battle."

The students knew that the spy was the most likely to win the game, but no one could figure out who the spy was.

"Who is it?" Maya thought, narrowing her eyes.

Li Wei crossed his arms, wondering who had managed to outsmart him. Serena clenched her fists, ready to learn from this mistake, especially from the spy.

All the students were eager to know the identity of the spy.

Theo smiled and opened his mouth, saying, "The winner is..."

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