Straight to the Action There's Also a Show to Watch

Standing at a desperate crossroads where refusal would mean being besieged.

Lin Yu wasn’t entirely powerless—even if he could slightly inconvenience Du Ruxue, it would count as a major victory.

Moreover, did Lin Yu even care about winning or losing this game?

No!

What he truly cared about was preventing Du Ruxue from exploiting the game to disrupt his life.

Lin Yu knew the personalities of the original residents in the apartment well—they were easy to handle.

But Du Ruxue was the exception, entirely beyond his control.

No one could predict what she might do!

At the very least, reducing one round of the "punishment phase" would give Lin Yu some mental preparation.

He needed to see what tricks and schemes the punishments entailed.

As the Ming Gong (Lord of Insight), Lin Yu concluded his speech.

Ying'er stepped forward and reiterated the rules for daytime attacks:

During the day, after listening to the speeches of each faction’s "Ming Gong,"

the first round required factions to elect a "Great General" from among their members (excluding the Ming Gong).

This Great General would lead the charge during the day and also have time to speak.

Additionally, factions could engage in brief group discussions.

Alliances, trades, information exchanges—nothing was off-limits, and there were no restrictions on who could talk to whom.

This highly flexible rule set gave the game a vibe similar to scripted murder mysteries.

Lin Yu explained the situation to the three women in his group.

Under the pressure of the three major factions, he wanted everyone to have a decent experience.

So instead of mindlessly charging ahead, he left room for them to keep playing.

Lin Yu analyzed the options for them:

"Roughly speaking, we have three ways to play this…"

"First, all four of us could join one of the Wei, Shu, or Wu factions."

"In that case, the other two factions would likely form a temporary alliance, creating a 2v2 scenario."

"Second, we could split ourselves across all three factions—Wei, Shu, and Wu."

"That would maintain the three-way stalemate, with everyone relying on their skills to form alliances and fight."

"Third, we could divide our four members between two factions."

"Heh, that would leave one faction significantly weaker—a four-person group."

"The two six-person factions would definitely prioritize devouring them!"

Since this was a group activity, Lin Yu didn’t mind which approach they took.

It was better to respect everyone’s opinions before making a decision.

Shen Buyao: "This round should be manageable, right? Feels a bit brain-burning trying to process everything you all said."

Huang Feirong: "Buyao, besides just pressing up, down, left, right, and spacebar, playing games like this is good for your brain. This round, we don’t have to make any choices."

Ye Mengfu nodded: "We can… use skills, right?"

Lin Yu looked at little Fufu and said,

"Exactly, we can all activate our skills—just don’t attack them."

"Fufu, are you sure you want to use your skill?"

"If it feels too difficult, it’s fine not to."

[Ding!]

[Masterstroke move! The Saint excels at considering his partner’s perspective, making her feel utterly at ease!]

[Reward: 50 spirit stones.]

Ye Mengfu hesitated, glancing at Lin Yu.

Her active skill, [Songstress Who Doesn’t Sell Herself]: [Entertain the Masses]!

Once activated, whether the audience wanted to watch or not,

they had to pay a small fee in resources. This could be used once per round.

If it were just a verbal declaration, Lin Yu wouldn’t have specifically reminded her.

But [Entertain the Masses] explicitly required a "live, real performance."

In other words—

an introvert had been given an extrovert’s skill!

She had to perform in front of everyone, ensuring that "those with money contribute, and those without take out loans to contribute."

In the past,

singing in public?

Ye Mengfu wouldn’t have dared to imagine it—she’d rather die.

But recently,

she’d first sung in front of Lin Yu alone,

then in front of Ying'er and Maomao.

Now, the audience was larger, but most were familiar faces.

The deciding factor for her was…

perhaps in later rounds,

she might never be on the same team as Lin Yu again.

Next round, their team would disband.

This might be the only round she could do something for him while they were still together.

Whether it would help or make a difference, Ye Mengfu didn’t know.

When the time came to stand up, she might freeze in fear.

But at this moment,

her desire to do something for Lin Yu burned stronger than ever.

Ye Mengfu: "I… I’ll think about it a bit more…"

Shen Buyao slung an arm over Ye Mengfu’s shoulder: "Hey, just do what makes you happy—no pressure! Look at me, I’m about to… perform drunken boxing. What kind of introvert hell is this?!"

Huang Feirong: "You two should count yourselves lucky. At least your tasks are straightforward. I have to answer one question card from each of the three factions—who knows what they’ll ask? Please don’t let it be ‘how many partners have you dated?’ That’d be so embarrassing!"

Lin Yu: "…"

Honestly,

given Ying'er’s personality, it wouldn’t be surprising if she’d designed exactly that kind of question.

After their internal discussion,

the factions began negotiating among themselves.

Wei, Shu, and Wu seemed to have reached some unspoken agreement, completely sidelining Lin Yu’s neutral faction.

They chatted happily among themselves, leaving no room for communication with the outsiders.

The reason was simple:

until the second round forced a choice, the neutral faction remained outsiders.

Moreover, the speeches by the three faction leaders had effectively reduced Lin Yu’s group to "human resources."

For any faction to engage with them now would contradict their earlier stance.

Being ignored wasn’t entirely bad.

At the very least, Lin Yu knew one thing:

all three factions had accepted his proposal during the speech.

As it turned out,

Lin Yu’s move—made without full knowledge of the game’s reward and punishment system—had paid off, even helping him dodge a bullet.

Seeing them discuss for so long,

Lin Yu had assumed the first round would be a friendly affair,

with everyone focusing on growth rather than making themselves targets.

But when Ying'er finished tallying the factions’ actions and began announcing them one by one,

Lin Yu got a full taste of what it meant when they said…

hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

Ying'er (Game Master):

"Wei Faction actions:"

"Chang Xiaoxiao [Exiled Immortal General] launched an attack on the Wu faction, using the skill [Herbal Boost]. This round’s attack consumes no resources but costs 2,000 troops. Captures one Wu faction city."

"Mao Ruirui [Plague Mother] used the public skill [Recruit Conscripts], gaining 3,000 troops."

"Fang Xinran [Phantom Assassin] launched an attack on the Shu faction, using the skill [Shadow Capture]. Costs 5,000 resources and 2,000 troops. Captures one Shu faction city. Shu faction’s Ming Gong loses 1 HP."

"The two players who have activated their character-specific skills, Chang Xiaoxiao and Fang Xinran, please follow the skill prompts and present your performances for everyone."