Four Lost Souls

【It's fine, Old Lu. Of course I won't blame you.】

Ren Yi replied.

【I'll just kill you!】

At the table, Zhang Qiuqiu shifted her pitying gaze away from Ren Yi and looked around the room.

"I believe that in this situation, it's more likely this gentleman is just talking nonsense."

"He could be an Anomaly, an Ordinary Human, or even another Special, but he simply cannot be the Lost Soul."

Zhang Qiuqiu dismissed Ren Yi in two sentences and turned her attention to Player 6.

"As for this sister, I get the feeling she doesn't actually want the Leader role."

"She was very aggressive from the start, pointing out everyone's suspicious points."

"But this is only the first round of the election. Wouldn't acting like that make it harder to get the Leader position?"

"I think she's a good person too..."

Just then, the candle flame before her flickered and dimmed slightly.

Her time was almost up.

Zhang Qiuqiu bit her lower lip. "In short, I hope everyone will accept me."

"Even if you doubt me, you can vote me out tomorrow. Once I prove my identity, I can pass the Leader role back to someone more capable. That should make the situation clearer."

With that, she gave a small bow and sat down.

Zhang Qiuqiu's speech was excellent, ending with a classic tactical retreat.

While such a suggestion would never be accepted by the Humans, people are ultimately emotional creatures. By exposing her own vulnerability, she made it easier to gain their trust.

Undoubtedly, as the Anomaly faction's true claim position, Zhang Qiuqiu's speech left no room for retreat.

She had no way to change her story now. Unlike Ren Yi, whose 'claim' was so messy that everyone thought he was just messing around, Zhang Qiuqiu was locked in.

From this moment on, if Zhang Qiuqiu wasn't the real Lost Soul, she could only be a real Anomaly.

Ren Yi figured that compared to himself and Player 6, the subsequent players would likely be more inclined to believe Zhang Qiuqiu.

As Ren Yi was thinking this, Player 8, Lu Zihan, stood up.

According to the original plan, Lu Zihan was supposed to either coast or side with the real Lost Soul to act like a good person.

But the situation was still a bit murky.

So, following Ren Yi's instructions, Lu Zihan started coasting.

"Uh, everyone, I'm not very good at this game..."

Lu Zihan scratched his head. Combined with his expression, he sounded exceptionally convincing.

"But for now, I'm inclined to believe the sister before me is the real Lost Soul..."

After repeating a few of the earlier conclusions, Lu Zihan sat back down.

He had effortlessly become the participant with the shortest speaking time.

However, given his sheepish expression, the remaining people didn't have much to say. Of course, they couldn't have spoken even if they wanted to.

Fine.

Ren Yi thought.

Old Lu should just stay his natural self.

Meanwhile, everyone's attention shifted to the next person, Player 9.

Player 9 was a somewhat balding middle-aged man. His expression was strange; he looked like he had been caught in a mental storm, his eyes turning red from the strain.

He stood up, and his first words were:

"The sky is falling, folks."

"Heaven have mercy, I am the real Lost Soul!"

Excellent.

First, this was a game of four Specials, four Ordinary Humans, and four Anomalies.

And now, four people had already stood up to claim the role of Lost Soul.

Everyone's expression collapsed into utter confusion.

Fortunately, Ren Yi was an Anomaly, so he could figure out what was going on.

Aside from himself, who was just causing trouble, and Zhang Qiuqiu, who had planned to claim the role from the start, if no other Lost Souls appeared later, then the real one was undoubtedly either Player 6 or Player 9.

Personally, Ren Yi agreed with Zhang Qiuqiu's analysis: "Player 6 didn't really want the role; she just wanted to stir things up."

In that case, in his eyes, Player 9 was the real Lost Soul.

It was no wonder the man was breaking down. Three other 'Lost Souls' had already appeared before him. What kind of mess was this?

Ren Yi chose to quietly watch the real Lost Soul's performance.

Player 9 was clearly flustered. In the past few minutes, he had probably cycled through every insane theory from 'everyone is an Anomaly' to 'no one is an Anomaly.'

He looked at Ren Yi, Player 6, and Zhang Qiuqiu, asking hopefully,

"Is... is anyone going to snuff their light?"

Silence. The three green candle flames in the distance mirrored the green flame before Player 9, all burning steadily.

"Alright, everyone..." Player 9 waited for a moment before speaking bitterly.

"In that case, things might be looking a bit grim."

"I know some will think I'm only speaking up because the Anomalies felt their previous claimants didn't do well enough and couldn't beat Player 7, so they sent me out to try again."

"But what I have to tell you is that Player 7 is an Anomaly!"

Zhang Qiuqiu shrank back fearfully behind Lu Zihan.

Lu Zihan felt a jolt of alarm as he noticed Zhang Qiuqiu's movement out of the corner of his eye.

【What are you doing?】 Lu Zihan asked in the group chat.

Lu Zihan replied trepidatiously.

【Nothing, class monitor. I'm just a bit cold.】

【Deal with it!】

【Yes, ma'am!】

On the other side, Player 9 began analyzing why Zhang Qiuqiu was an Anomaly.

But at this point, his reasoning was starting to sound a bit desperate.

"Just look at her... Have you ever read supernatural tales? Ghosts and monsters are best at disguising themselves as these pitiable little women!"

A pitiable... little woman?

Ren Yi slowly typed a question mark into the group chat.

Player 9's analysis continued.

"Everyone... I think there might have been two Anomalies earlier, or maybe they all were!"

The balding middle-aged man seemed to be gritting his teeth. "When Player 6 stood up, she only suspected Player 1 and Player 4. Even when she went against Player 3, she didn't blindly attack others!"

"But her? She came up and said Player 6, Player 3, and I are all Anomalies. It sounds fair, but she's actually trying to drag everyone who claimed the role down with her so the real Lost Soul can't gain a foothold!"

Zhang Qiuqiu's eyes grew even redder. She shrank further behind Lu Zihan, her fingers tightly clutching the hem of his shirt. Her look of profound grievance would have moved anyone who didn't know better to pity.

The first half of his first sentence was actually correct... but the second half? Why did it sound so strange?

He took a deep breath, trying to steady his emotions, and his gaze sharpened. "And then there's Player 3!"

He turned to look at Ren Yi, who was still slumped in his chair, fiddling with his multicolored hair. His voice was filled with helplessness.

"What exactly are you here for? One moment you say you are, the next you say you aren't. Your candle is jumping back and forth. If you're a human, could you please stop messing around?!"

Ren Yi flicked his eyelids up and grinned at him without a word, intentionally focusing his thoughts.

The candle flame before him instantly cycled through yellow and green several times, nearly causing Player 9 to choke on his own breath.