The Endless Game: Olivia's Trials

Chapter1: First Judgment - A kiss?

Olivia protested: "You deliberately distracted me."

"All's fair in war," he replied.

His smile deepened, dark eyes seemingly filled with gentle warmth, radiating a refined grace from within.

He gave off the impression of warm water - just the right temperature, neither cold nor hot, harmless to anyone.

Even while holding someone at knifepoint, he couldn't appear threatening.

Olivia, feeling no real danger, tugged lightly at his shirt: "I'll team up, but first, I have a question."

She glanced at the nearby doors, signaling him to keep others from hearing.

Eric knew she must be plotting something, but curious about her intentions, he leaned in slightly while remaining cautious, ready for any counterattack.

However, he never expected -- she would suddenly tilt her head up and kiss him!

The soft, warm sensation caught him completely off guard, leaving him frozen in place.

Olivia seized the opportunity to reclaim the knife, once again pressing it to his throat.

She burst into delighted laughter, eyes gleaming with triumph: "Looks like I win after all."

Eric had barely recovered his senses, his face flushing red to his ears as he stared at her in shock: "You... you..."

He couldn't even form complete words.

Olivia grew more pleased, lightly l*****g her lips while openly flirting: "Not bad at all."

[Livestream Comments]: "OMG she dared to kiss my idol!"

[Livestream Comments]: "??? Isn't this s****l harassment?"

[Livestream Comments]: "They're criminals anyway - they've killed people, so what's this? Just don't copy this behavior, it's disgusting regardless of gender. You could get arrested for this outside"

Eric felt like he was losing his mind - he'd practically walked right into being bullied.

He sighed internally, stepping back from the knife and said somewhat dejectedly: "If you don't want to team up, forget I asked."

After all, he'd made the offer, and given her wild behavior, she probably didn't need teammates anyway.

Olivia watched his deflated manner with growing curiosity.

After all this teasing, he still wanted to team up? What was his real purpose?

And while her "killing" would certainly have been reported in the media, there were countless crime stories - why would he specifically remember hers?

Thinking this, she blinked and smiled: "Hey, it was just a kiss, are you going to cry? Fine, I'll take responsibility. You want to team up? Let's do it."

Eric: "...Alright."

After all, he had somewhat tricked her earlier. Since they'd met in the first trial, he might as well help as much as possible.

"Then it's settled. I'm going now."

He paused, then warned: "Don't get reckless just because you have a weapon. The mirrors in the rooms can be weapons too. And they're all desperate criminals - they're not fighting now only because the timing isn't right. They're like bombs - one spark and everything will explode. Also..."

He wiped his lips with his finger: "Don't do that kind of thing again. It's harassment."

Olivia had been leaning against the wall, appearing to listen seriously while he spoke.

Eric thought she'd taken it in, but as soon as he finished, she laughed: "You're so long-winded, like Tang Monk reciting sutras. Should I call you Brother Xuanzang?"

Eric: "..."

He had no idea how to respond to that.

[Livestream Comments]: "HAHAHA 'Brother Xuanzang' killed me!"

[Gift]: Received Clemency Vote x1

[Livestream Comments]: "Why does Eric insist on teaming up with her?! She's crazy! Run, my idol!"

[Livestream Comments]: "Disgusting, calling a murderer 'idol.' Where are your values? Reported."

Suddenly, a commotion arose from downstairs.

Then someone shouted: "Everyone come quick! Something's happened!"

Eric glanced at Olivia before rushing downstairs.

Olivia took her time, picking up her water bottle and casually knocking on the doors she passed.

When she got downstairs, she saw the scarred man lying motionless on the floor, with Eric crouched beside him checking.

The others stood nearby, and the man with glasses saw her approach, saying palely: "He's dead!"

His tone was heavy, seeming to imply it was her fault, though he didn't dare say it directly.

Olivia ignored him, walking around to examine the body.

The scarred man's death was horrific.

His face had turned blue, eyes bulging wide, both hands clutching his throat, tongue protruding - at first glance, it looked as if he had strangled himself to death.

But he had no reason to do that.

"There are water marks on his collar, face, and temples," Eric noted.

He turned back, asking gravely: "Who gave him water? Or was it from the bathroom?"

"It must have been bathroom water!" The man with glasses said urgently. "I saw him come out of the bathroom, and within a minute he collapsed, convulsing and clutching his throat!"

[Livestream Comments]: "Remember the dead cockroach by the sink?"

[Livestream Comments]: "So that was a clue... she did it on purpose?"

[Livestream Comments]: "Damn! That's why she smiled when flushing it away!"

Eric wiped his hands on the dead man's clothes and stood up, frowning. "Everyone needs to be careful. The rules told us that the box items are our only survival resources, so anything else must be unsafe to consume. Don't take unnecessary risks."

"But..."

A middle-aged man spoke up, and when everyone looked at him, he turned to stare at Olivia: "Don't forget, someone here is a ghost opposing us. She was the first one in the bathroom - maybe there were clues warning us about the water that she removed?"

Olivia blinked innocently, puffing her cheeks and shaking her head: "I did no such thing. How can you accuse me without evidence?"

"It's possible, isn't it?" the middle-aged man said. "I'm just making a reasonable deduction. If you didn't do it, why get defensive?"

Eric chuckled softly, moving to stand partially in front of Olivia, shielding her. He said gently, "Speaking of reasonable deductions... everyone knows the deceased threatened her first. If she wanted him dead, she could have killed him directly in self-defense. Why would she let him live only to go through the trouble of removing supposed clues in the bathroom?"

Watching his solid back, Olivia felt a brief three seconds of guilt for her teammate's trust and defense.

[Livestream Comments]: "His logic made me go back and watch the replay..."

[Livestream Comments]: "She's really cruel, isn't flushing the cockroach basically indirect murder?"

[Livestream Comments]: "Above poster is so smart, huh? The rules clearly stated only box items are safe to eat or drink. Others didn't see the cockroach either, why didn't they drink bathroom water? Can't blame others for his stupidity."

[Livestream Comments]: "Others didn't drink because they weren't injured! Everyone knows blood loss makes you thirstier!"

As the comments grew heated, the trial continued.

The middle-aged man, silenced by Eric's reasoning, temporarily fell quiet.

The man with glasses spoke up: "Um, shouldn't we discuss something else?"

His face remained pale, suggesting witnessing death had deeply affected him.

—This indicated he probably wasn't sentenced to death for violent crimes.

He continued: "Some of us got food, others got water. If we share, couldn't we solve the food problem? As for the ghost..."

"Are you kidding?" The tattooed man interrupted with a cold laugh. "That tiny bit of bread isn't enough to share with anyone. It wouldn't even fill my teeth! You want to trade that for precious water? You'd be better off just begging me for some - I might even agree if I feel sorry enough for you."

His appearance was rough, and the glasses-wearing man seemed afraid to provoke him, lowering his head and falling silent.

However, the mustached man who also had bread said darkly: "If they won't share willingly, we can always take it by force."

Olivia yawned boredly, uninterested in their pointless discussion. She gently tugged at Eric's sleeve: "I'm heading upstairs."

Eric turned: "Wait a moment."

He raised his voice and said: "Please listen, everyone. The rules never explicitly stated the ghost would kill. Perhaps this 'ghost' is just a mechanism in this trial, designed to divide us and make us kill each other. We should stay united and find a way to survive together."

The bald man rubbed his shiny head: "We noticed that too, but like you said, it's just 'perhaps.' The rules didn't explicitly say the ghost would kill, but they did mention one death quota per day. Who knows if that's implying the ghost can kill one person each night?"

"What's the point of discussing this now?"

The tattooed man said coldly: "Someone's already died today, so we're all safe. Instead of debating uncertainties, wouldn't it be better to find out who the ghost is and kill them tomorrow during the day? That would solve the problem at its root."

"No..." Eric sighed softly, "Finding the ghost is actually pointless."

Whether someone was the ghost or not, they would never admit it. But once someone was suspected, they would definitely be killed during the day.

Since someone had already died during the day, the ghost wouldn't appear at night. So how could anyone confirm if the person killed during the day was actually the ghost?

Once it started, there would be no end - the next day would just repeat what happened today.

"Ghost hunting" at most gave them an excuse to legitimately kill others, but eventually, it would be their turn.

"So what? Isn't this the only option we can try?" the middle-aged man said heavily. "We can't just wait to die, can we?"

Olivia found their discussion pointless and turned to leave.

As she reached the stairs, she heard Eric say: "I've said what I can, the rest is up to you. By the way, wait two days - if you're still alive then, I can share some water with you."

Olivia nearly missed a step.

Looking back, she saw her newly-made teammate smiling at the four people who had bread, his expression as warm and gentle as the March sun.

The ceiling light fell on him, seeming to wrap him in an unusually bright holy glow.

Olivia looked up and sighed - this must be the radiance of the holy monk Xuanzang.

Was it too late to regret teaming up? How did someone like this end up here on murder charges?

Deciding it was better not to watch, she quickly went upstairs to her room.