Actually, just from the game's content, it would have been reasonable for Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin to go through another trial game.
After all, the game in their cell was relatively less dangerous, and undergoing two trials was still within the safe range.
But the "no" votes were increasing, and they were all from the heart. Why?
Because Lin Si-Zhi had exposed a critical issue: Ding Wenqiang could have entered a cell himself.
But he didn't.
Once this point is considered, no matter who Ding Wenqiang judged, it was unfair.
In Ding Wenqiang's view, he was the king, so it was perfectly reasonable for him not to face trial.
But in the audience's view, you are also a sinner, and the perpetrator who directly ran over and killed the delivery driver. On what grounds do you not face trial?
You should at least enter Cell 3. Even if you don't smash your fingers, you should still endure the punishment of having your visa time deducted, right?
Moreover, learning about others' voting results naturally creates a kind of herd mentality.
"Everyone thinks it's unfair, so it seems it really is a bit unfair, right?"
It was precisely because of this kind of thinking that, apart from Audience Member 7, who had always been harsh towards the prisoners and almost mindlessly voted "yes," most of the audience members changed their minds.
Although the five audience members who bet on the king wished for Ding Wenqiang to kill the other four as quickly as possible, under the game's lie-detection mechanism, they could only vote according to their true feelings to avoid losing ten thousand minutes of visa time for no reason.
Except for Audience Member 1, who had realized certain things.
Lin Si-Zhi stood up and looked at the scene again.
For the seventh vote, he had deliberately voted "yes." It was a vote against his conscience, so 10,000 minutes of visa time were deducted.
The reason he voted this way was that Lin Si-Zhi had intentionally voted incorrectly at the very beginning to test the lie-detection mechanism, which caused his fairness score to be docked an extra 20 points.
Now, by deliberately voting "yes," he was trying to make up for those 20 points.
And for the eighth vote, Lin Si-Zhi had actually realized that if he continued to vote "yes" incorrectly, he might be able to prevent something from happening.
But he thought about it until the last second and still followed his heart, casting a "no" vote.
Just as the rules said, this was someone else's trial, and he was just an audience member.
As an audience member, he believed he had fulfilled all his responsibilities.
Of course, looking back after the voting results came out, his one "yes" or "no" vote didn't seem to affect the final outcome of the game.
...
10 minutes were up, and the trial game in Cell 1 ended.
Cai Zhiyuan lay on the ground, panting, seemingly without the strength to even move a finger.
Fortunately, the trial game in Cell 1 was considered the least difficult; multiple rounds only increased the intensity of the electric shocks. And as long as Cai Zhiyuan didn't stop, there wouldn't be much danger.
Of course, as the number of games increased, the intensity of the electric shocks also rose.
If another round were to start, Cai Zhiyuan would likely be electrocuted to death by the high-voltage current if he stopped for even a second.
Wang Yongxin felt his vision growing darker and his mind becoming more and more muddled.
Initially, supported by his will to survive, he was thinking of a way out, but soon, his mind went blank, and he even started seeing his life flash before his eyes.
He instinctively straightened his body, grabbing the noose with both hands and pulling down hard, trying to give himself more breathing room, but the rapid loss of stamina made him give up quickly.
It felt like a long time had passed, yet it also felt like just a brief moment. Wang Yongxin suddenly felt the force on his neck loosen, and his whole body involuntarily went limp.
That nearly cost him his life, because the noose had only been lowered, not to the ground.
Under the force of gravity, the noose around Wang Yongxin's neck almost tightened further. Fueled by adrenaline, he could only muster his last bit of strength to struggle free from the noose.
Then, he lay on the ground, coughing violently.
Ding Wenqiang looked at Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin with a complicated expression.
They both survived. What a pity.
If one of them had died by accident, then Ding Wenqiang would have had an excuse. The last 2 games would be just enough to take out the remaining two people.
But now, he might be forced to make a two-out-of-three choice.
"Uncle Ding... let me live... don't kill me, I'm begging you...
"Next game, I'll find a way to lose all my remaining... visa time... to you...
"However much you want... is fine... I'll go... and slowly earn it... I'll work for you..."
Wang Yongxin's voice was so hoarse that his original tone was unrecognizable. He struggled to make a final attempt to save himself.
"Lawyer Lin... and... Officer Cao... are both in this game... as audience members. I can... have them be guarantors... be witnesses...
"No matter how much... those... audience members... offer... I'm... willing to offer... double..."
Ding Wenqiang looked at Cai Zhiyuan again.
t this moment, this calculating programmer was completely out of strategies, just sitting dejectedly by the mechanism, seemingly having completely accepted his fate.
These two people, who to choose?
Or... choose neither? And gamble on that 500,000 minutes of visa time?
There was still plenty of time in the game, but it was clear that time was useless for figuring out this problem.
Just then, a new broadcast sounded.
Ding Wenqiang looked up in a daze. Did another audience member add money?
Or did an audience member pay for me not to kill anyone?
However, the content of the broadcast was extremely unfamiliar to Ding Wenqiang, to the point where he couldn't understand what it meant at all.
[Through audience voting, the king's fairness score has been reduced to zero, triggering the "King's Trial" hidden rule.]
[Now, it is the prisoners' turn to judge the king.]
[On the mechanism inside each prisoner's cell, a special voting button has been unlocked.]
[You may cast an anonymous vote to decide whether the king continues to live or is executed.]
[Deceased prisoners will automatically cast an execution vote.]
[When the execution votes exceed one-half of the total number of prisoner votes, the king will be executed immediately.]
[Please note! This is the prisoners' only opportunity to judge the king in this game.]
[A 10-second countdown begins now. Please make your choice.]
[10]
[9]
[8]
...
The countdown went by quickly. Ding Wenqiang watched blankly as the three prisoners, who had been tormented to the point of near-death and exhaustion, each reached for the mechanism beside them, struggling to press the hidden button.
He couldn't see what buttons they were pressing at all, and he hadn't even figured out what their actions meant.
He futilely raised the scepter in his hand to try and stop them, but when he pressed the scepter, there was no reaction.
In a sudden wave of despair, Ding Wenqiang's mind went blank.
But he quickly grasped at a last straw: one-half, executing the king required more than one-half of the total prisoner votes!
Not reaching, but exceeding!
The deceased Zhang Peng would default to an execution vote, and Gao Zhankui would certainly cast an execution vote too.
But as long as Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin didn't vote for execution, and the total votes didn't exceed one-half, then nothing would happen.
Cai Zhiyuan probably wouldn't vote for it. What about Wang Yongxin?
Many possibilities flashed through Ding Wenqiang's mind in an instant, but before he had time to rank these possibilities by probability, the cold broadcast voice sounded again.
[Voting has ended.]
[The result of the anonymous vote is: The king is to be executed.]
Ding Wenqiang felt a sharp pain in his left wrist. Looking down, he saw that the visa bracelet seemed to have extended a needle into his radial artery, and a distinct black line was rapidly flowing along the blood vessel towards his heart.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only a large amount of black blood gushed from his throat.
Ding Wenqiang subconsciously covered his mouth with his hand, looking at the black blood in his palm with utter shock.
Then, he fell backward stiffly, and there was no more sound.
[The king has been executed. The "King's Trial" cannot continue.]
[An antidote has been injected into all sinners.]
[The audience members who bet on the prisoners' side have won. They will divide all the chips that the audience members who bet on the king's side have wagered and earned in the game.]
[Game over.]