As Player 2 spoke, Ren Yi sighed inwardly, a trace of helplessness and regret flashing in his eyes.
For a brief moment, he even wondered if he should have taken a gamble last night.
He could have gambled on whether Zhang Qiuqiu still counted as an Anomaly, gambled that the rules wouldn't immediately eliminate him, and killed Player 2 at the cost of exposing himself.
If he had killed Player 2 last night, maybe he wouldn't be facing this trouble today. Without him, the others might have been misled and failed to notice the key detail in the clue.
In the end, this seemingly inconspicuous clue was still picked up by Player 2.
Moreover, he had found a flaw within it. By following that flaw step by step, he was drawing closer and closer to the truth.
Zhang Qiuqiu's expression finally changed slightly, a hint of gravity flashing in her eyes as she frowned.
Of course, her current expression blended in perfectly with the darkening faces of everyone else in the room, so it didn't stand out.
Player 2 didn't notice anything unusual about Ren Yi or Zhang Qiuqiu. Still immersed in his own reasoning, his tone grew increasingly excited.
"Everyone, we are facing Anomalies—existences that transcend common sense and are impossible to grasp."
"But don't you think that up until now, the abilities of these Anomalies haven't been very... 'anomalous'?"
He paused, his voice tinged with a bit of disdain and confusion.
"The Anomalies we've encountered are, at best, just humans who can turn into monsters."
"Aside from their terrifying appearance and great strength, they are merely humans with special abilities. That doesn't fit the definition of an 'Anomaly' at all."
"Therefore, I boldly speculate that the reason this phrase is 'She is Within Her' and not 'She is among them' is that the message's original meaning wasn't 'The Anomaly is among the female participants.'"
Player 2's voice rose sharply. His eyes burned as he looked at everyone present, enunciating every word clearly.
"Its true meaning is that the Anomaly switched identities midway, possessing another participant who was originally human!"
These words were like a clap of thunder exploding in the hall, leaving everyone stunned with expressions of pure disbelief.
Ren Yi smacked his lips.
Although he had long anticipated that Player 2 would guess it, Ren Yi still felt his heart sink when the words were finally spoken.
Seeing the shocked reactions, a smug smile appeared on Player 2's face as he continued, his tone firm and confident.
"Exactly, Possession! This is arguably the most common ability for creatures like 'ghosts and monsters.'"
"Only this can explain all our previous doubts. It explains why we could never find the Anomaly's trail, and it explains why Player 9 was a Lost Soul."
"This is why our previous deductions were clearly logical, yet kept turning out wrong!"
"Moreover, think about it carefully: after the Anomaly possessed a human, where did the original Anomaly masquerading as a participant go?"
Player 2 threw out a new question, his tone somewhat leading.
"It can't split its mind in two and conjure an AI out of thin air to control the original disguised body, can it?"
"There's only one answer: it died—or rather, it was believed by us to have died!"
His face gradually grew distorted, a flash of fear and anger in his eyes as he looked around at the now-sparse figures at the round table. His voice trembled slightly, yet it carried a hint of absolute certainty.
"And the clue also provided guidance for this dead 'thing'—that female 'She'."
"In the phrase 'She is Within Her', the first 'She' refers to the Anomaly's original identity, and the second 'She' refers to the Anomaly's current identity!"
"The situation is clear. Among the participants who have already died, there is only one identity that fits the female 'She'."
"That is the leader we originally chose—Player 7!"
"Everyone, we chose the wrong leader from the very beginning!" Player 2's voice rose sharply, booming like a great bell in everyone's ears.
"Player 9 was the true Lost Soul, and Player 7 was simply an Anomaly counter-claiming against Player 9!"
"We were fooled by them, played like puppets in their hands!"
"So, the one who died on the second night wasn't Player 7 at all!" His voice was full of resentment and anger.
"That was merely an internal act by the Anomalies, deliberately having a partner kill her to mislead me! A meticulously planned deception!"
"They wanted us to think Player 7 was a good person and believe there was one fewer Anomaly, so we'd let our guard down while they continued to lurk among us, waiting for the chance to kill!"
"We don't know who died that night." Player 2's gaze turned dark as he slowly scanned everyone present, as if trying to drag the possessed person out from the crowd.
"But I am certain that, strictly speaking, this 'person' who died on the second night is still 'alive' among us."
"She is among Players 5, 6, and 11 right now, sitting with us, ready to strike at any moment!"
Rate on N.U.
