NOVEL NEXT Chapter 91
<91 - The Sin of Doing Too Well>
The professor’s trick was meticulous.
He stole sounds when locating the coin in the shell game and stole vision when finding it through patterns.
He even processed everything in an instant using ‘Acceleration’ without even being asked!
A truly fearsome skill befitting the world’s greatest rogue.
Honestly, I felt the wall.
“Just so you know, even if you can’t get the right answer, I’m willing to pass on the skill.”
“Really?”
“The technique shown by the Oknodie new student was interesting in many ways.”
“And the coin?”
“If you can’t find it, then I obviously have no reason to give it to you.”
“Hmph.”
“Feeling sorry for yourself won’t help. I’ve even taken a toy from a 3-year-old child before.”
As a rogue, you seem to be risking your identity, professor.
But who cares about anyone’s circumstances at this point?
“Annoyingly, the patterns are exactly the same.”
The larger cups covering the original cups bore the same patterns as before.
Perhaps because of that, doubts arose.
Could it be that these aren’t larger cups covering the original ones, but rather a [Transformation] of the existing cups?
As I applied a mana veil like colored lenses to my eyes, the mana composing all things in the world became visible.
“Can you also unfold Search Eye?”
“Of course.”
Search Eye.
A technique that overlays mana onto vision to detect mana.
“If you use it for too long, it can strain your eyes.”
I didn’t respond to the professor’s comment.
To be exact, I didn’t have the luxury to respond.
As she said, this technique has penalties.
The result came from a lack of proficiency.
While a veteran player knows all techniques, there is a disparity between frequently used techniques and those not used as much.
Search Eye fell into the latter category.
Mana Trap?
Mana Creatures?
What do I know in front of a 230cm muscle giant unleashing a ‘Serious Punch’?
Having done such conceptual plays, I was relatively disinterested in gameplay that resorted to cheap tricks.
I occasionally used the Prognosis Eye to precisely sense muscle movements to predict the opponent’s next move. But if we consider the proficiency of Prognosis Eye as 100, then Search Eye’s proficiency didn’t even reach 10.
Yet, most of that was theoretical knowledge.
“That alone is enough.”
All three cups had indeed been ‘Transformed’.
As expected of a professor teaching [Developing Insight].
She dug a trap to test my insight.
Is it an extension of last lecture?
But this method could not yield the true cup.
“Not just transformation.”
A cunning mana shield was spread out.
Thin layers of the mana shield wrapped around the cup’s surface as if coated.
The internal patterns of the cups couldn’t be read.
In other words, the patterns visible on the surface of the cups weren’t the true patterns of the original cups, but rather fake patterns disguised by magic.
The pattern of cup number one remained in its place, leading me to think that the coin was in cup number one, which turned out to be a trap.
It felt as if the very pattern I memorized was mocking me atop my head.
“Ugh. I don’t want to lose.”
I didn’t want to lose, but with the information increasing, my mind became cluttered.
My brain is overloaded, Ugh!
“Eh?”
At that moment, I spotted a dissonance in a corner of my view.
And with that, three seconds passed.
I immediately deactivated Search Eye.
Three seconds is the limit for keeping my sight intact.
I halted just at the threshold.
A smile crept across the professor’s lips.
“You found something.”
“I did, yes. The mark indicating ‘three challenges’ appeared on the opposite side.”
This guy not only performed all those procedures in an instant but even rotated the table 180 degrees.
How much leisure does he have?
It’s frustrating, but Professor Bronze is strong.
His speed is at a level I cannot consider!
“Can you find which cup is hiding the coin with that?”
“Not at all.”
“Oh dear. Didn’t you decipher the ‘pattern’?”
Is he teasing or giving me a hint?
I couldn’t figure it out at all.
I erased the words that only made my head more troubled.
I should not use uncertain information as a basis for judgment.
Judgment should be based on information I collect myself.
Not on someone else’s records or plausible words.
To assert my way through my own strength.
That’s the truth I know.
“Let’s think.”
If the concealed pattern on the cup matches the real one, then the coin is in cup number one.
However, uncertainty has arisen because of the mana shield.
There’s a possibility that the transformed cup’s pattern is a fake pattern created quickly through ‘Speed’ over the shield.
In this case, judgments based on patterns are all lies and tricks.
Thus, cup number one is the furthest from the answer.
“The real one must be between cup number two and three. Psychologically, that was the situational judgment.”
Until the mark indicating ‘three challenges’ appeared on the opposite side, that is.
That is not a mark forged by ‘mana shield’.
Silence.
Speed.
Transformation.
Shielding.
The evidence indicating that the action of ‘turning the table’ was added to these four actions.
A reliable basis for judgment.
The table was flipped 180 degrees.
Naturally, the positions of the cups also flipped 180 degrees.
I thought cup number one was in its original place, but it might have moved to the position of cup three and then returned to the position of cup one due to the 180-degree switch.
Whether the cups were mixed up first or the table was turned first, it’s possible that cups one and three are swapped.
In other words, cup number two has become the closest to the answer.
“The existence of the mana shield makes all these assumptions remain mere possibilities.”
It’s the most challenging conundrum.
A single layer of shielding.
In a layer thinner than a fingernail, all information and truths of the cups fell into a maze.
“Can I ask one question as a hint?”
“Go ahead.”
“Could you remove the mana shield?”
The professor didn’t respond.
“Professor?”
“What is it?”
“I asked a question.”
“And I answered, didn’t I?”
“…….”
Do you think this is some sort of counseling?
You should return the answer!
“Oh? Wait a second.”
This might mean that the absence of hints could indeed be a hint.
Based solely on what I’ve observed so far, Professor Bronze has a personality that hates to lose.
She blocks my technique immediately in the next turn and even counters my last move with my own tricks, a psychological counter-play!
She repays in kind.
She returns what she’s given.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” just like the principles of Lex Talionis found in the [Hammurabi Code]!
“The answer is cup number one.”
When I flipped the cup, indeed, there was the coin inside.
The coin was in the cup most distant from the answer.
“How did you think it was in there?”
“When the mark indicating ‘three challenges’ appeared on the opposite side, while the position of the letters was flipped, the order of the letters didn’t change.”
In short, if the letters were written in base order of 123, if the table rotated 180 degrees, the order should change to 321.
However, the numbers that appeared on the table remained in the original order of 123.
“There were no signs of a mana shield. This means I didn’t see things incorrectly or was not hallucinating… It indicates that thinking the table turned 180 degrees was an ‘intentional deception’.”
“If the essence of your technique is to confuse, then just do the opposite instead.”
“This allowed me to see cup number two as the one I want to exclude from the options.”
The professor refuted.
“You don’t know what lies beyond the shield. There is no proof to support your inference.”
“But I can draw conclusions based on tendencies.”
“Tendencies?”
“A swordsman confident in his thrusting will frequently use jabs, while a politician wanting to assert his influence will primarily engage with those who enhance that influence.”
This applies to Professor Bronze as well.
“You’ve consistently exhibited the principle of retribution in this wager. You mirrored my method even in the third response confidently.”
“Academics refer to this as confirmation bias. It’s a tendency to selectively accept desired information while ignoring unwanted information. Don’t you just want to observe that in the Oknodie new student?”
“Perhaps that’s true. But it worked, didn’t it?”
When you succeed, that’s all that matters!
From the viewpoint of someone who has faced defeat, this invincible leverage makes it impossible for the professor to disagree.
“Why did you narrow it down to number one and three?”
“Because the existence of the ‘mana shield’ made picking number one feel precarious. I perceived a possibility in the seemingly unfavorable number one.”
“How curious. Your body may be this young, yet the wisdom you wield is reminiscent of seasoned generals or warriors, embodying the insights of Jian Gu.”
“??”
“A single jagged corner can take down a mountain peak. This refers to the weakness of the tendency you mentioned.”
Reading others’ strengths, specialties, frequent habits, and thought processes to predict their moves.
This is a strategy learned inherently by veteran players through countless experiences.
I never expected such a grand name would be attached to a technique!
“Promise is a promise. That commemorative coin is now yours.”
Yay, I won the bet!
But why do I feel this way?
It feels like I’ve made a huge mistake.
[By using a shellgame to find a coin, you displayed the exceptional trait of ‘Tendency Strategy,’ which has brought great joy to Professor Bronze for the past year.]
[Psychological Prediction Experience Points +15]
[Action Prediction Experience Points +15]
[Finding Experience Points +10]
[Analytical Thinking Experience +10]
[Magic Detection Experience Points +10]
[Daring Experience Points +5]
[Social Life Experience Points +5]
[Juggling Experience Points +5]
“???”
What’s with this overwhelming banquet of experience points?
The growing sense of unease.
The professor’s gaze turning more friendly.
Then, the professor delivered the final blow.
“Oknodie new student, would you be interested in receiving personal training under me? I want to teach you more aside from the regular lectures.”
Now I understand.
This unease stems from the thought that the professor would want me to become a graduate student!