God's Imitator

The last duel of the first stage.

This time, Han Mengying received the 'Fool's Card Set.' It's a disadvantageous deck, but if used skillfully, it can still win.

Upon entering the battle room, Han Mengying discovered that her opponent was a male player wearing an Owl mask.

Han Mengying tried hard to observe his actions, but unfortunately, the 'Owl' showed no unnecessary actions, simply placing his chips and preparing to start the game.

"Is he really skilled or just pretending?"

"Should I gamble on him playing paper with scissors?"

However, just as Han Mengying was considering seriously, an unexpected situation arose.

'Owl' separated the five cards in his hand, putting two into his chest pocket and holding the remaining three, shuffling them continuously.

Then, he came to the battle stage and slightly lifted his oxygen mask.

The oxygen mask had cutouts for the eyes, so lifting it meant his view would be blocked by the mask, essentially covering his eyes voluntarily.

'Owl' shuffled the three cards randomly before putting one on the table.

As for the other two cards, they remained in his chest pocket, never taken out.

Han Mengying felt a slight headache. Clearly, he was yet another 'Random Card' player.

The deck consisted of 5 cards, and those employing the 'Random Card' strategy often shuffled only three cards, ensuring equal probability for all three types.

But 'Owl' was different from the 'Random Card' players Han Mengying had encountered before in two ways.

Firstly, he directly used the oxygen mask to block his view, isolating himself better from 'psychological processing' effects.

Secondly, he chose to place the extra cards in his chest pocket.

The game suit had many pockets: on the chest, waist, and pants.

If a player placed cards in their waist or pants pockets, the black screen of the battle stage would block the view, making it hard for the opponent to notice even if the cards were taken out secretly.

But the chest pocket was different, not being obscured meant it was clear whether the cards were taken out or not.

It seemed this 'Owl' was a more extreme 'Random Card' player.

Han Mengying felt somewhat helpless and could only place a 'Fool (Rock)'.

Since Han Mengying currently held the 'Fool's Card Set', playing anything under a completely random context was the same.

That being the case, she chose the 'Fool (Rock)', the most abundant card in the set. This allowed her to preserve scissors and paper for adjusting strategies based on the opponent's play.

The battle stage had different sound effects based on the outcome, with recessed areas for placing cards. It automatically detected whether both sides' plays were valid, enabling players to finish the game even without looking.

The black panel opened, revealing the results.

'Owl's' 'Wise Man (Paper)' defeated Han Mengying's 'Fool (Rock)'.

A victorious sound emanated from 'Owl's' side of the stage.

Han Mengying paused in surprise.

"Hmm? Was it luck?"

She noticed 'Owl' hadn't lowered his oxygen mask nor retrieved the two cards from his chest pocket, just placing more chips and cards again.

This meant he had to have drawn another card from his original hand to place in the specified area.

Han Mengying frowned slightly; it seemed like an open-book test.

She watched closely, noting there had been no unnecessary movements, with the cards in 'Owl's' chest pocket remaining untouched, leaving no possibility for card switching.

If Han Mengying had the 'Wise Man Card Set' at the moment, with only one Rock in hand, there'd be no effective way to ensure a win regardless of choice.

'Owl' was picking one from three, having initially played paper, leaving either rock or scissors as options subsequently.

For Han Mengying, playing rock would guarantee a draw or victory, but paper or scissors was uncertain.

Luckily, with the 'Fool's Card Set', Han Mengying had two more rocks on hand.

She immediately placed another 'Fool (Rock)'.

After the prompt sound, the black panel opened again.

'Owl's' 'Wise Man (Paper)' once more defeated Han Mengying's 'Fool (Rock)'.

'Owl' proceeded to destroy all his remaining cards on the battle stage.

"I'm done playing."

...

Back in the resting room, Han Mengying felt a bit frustrated.

Checking her reflection in the mirror, she noticed the second oxygen tank was about to run out, prompting her to spend 2000 chips at the service desk for a refill.

From her current standpoint, Han Mengying needed to refill every thirty minutes or so, costing 2000 chips each time.

Thus, after three hours, she would have spent a total of 12000 chips on oxygen alone, a costly but essential expenditure.

This exceeded Han Mengying's initial expenditure estimation.

But it made sense given this wasn't a distribution game but a selection game, always leaving room for players to lose ample visa time or facing deadly risks.

'Fool's Game' offered an extra safety net with no rake; chips circulated among players without extra charges but required other recovery means.

Currently, the primary methods were 'Oxygen Replenishment' and 'Debt Repayment'.

This further convinced Han Mengying that 'this game was a trap targeting Fools.'

At this point, Han Mengying had figured out what occurred during her encounter with 'Owl.'

However, this realization only heightened her frustration.

She had fallen into the opponent's reverse trap!

Han Mengying had faced random card players before and was familiar with the strategy's rationale.

For less savvy players, random card play negates 'psychological processing', serving as a defensive strategy.

Compared to other 'Random Card' players, 'Owl' employed more fake actions, like purposefully raising his oxygen mask to cover his eyes, while continuously shuffling the three cards before the battle stage.

As such, Han Mengying mistakenly assumed 'Owl' as a more dedicated 'Random Card' player.

Under pure randomness, any play was equal, prompting Han Mengying to use her most abundant card: rock for 'Fool's Card Set' and paper for 'Wise Man Card Set'.

But in essence, 'Owl' wasn't randomly playing cards.

Among the three cards he pretended to shuffle, there weren't one rock, one paper, and one scissors, but at least two papers.

These two papers were the ones played first.

The cards were thick and embossed, allowing tactile identification even with covered eyes.