The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 310: Sheriff

“The elected sheriff is effectively the opinion leader among the players, able to decide the order in which players make their statement, and the sheriff’s vote counts as 1.5 votes, giving them a bigger voice.”

“If the sheriff is on the good team, it’ll increase their chance of winning; conversely, it’ll be dangerous for a werewolf to become the sheriff. Please choose your side with care and don’t mess around.”

Who’s gonna mess around when our lives are at stake? Gao Yang grumbled inwardly.

“Alright. If you want to run for sheriff, please raise your hand.”

Gao Yang didn’t.

He looked around quietly and saw that four people had raised their hands: Vermilion Bird, Wu Dahai, Green Tea, and X.

Chen Ying nodded slightly. “A total of four candidates are running for sheriff. We’ll start from right to left. Vermilion Bird, you’re up first.”

Vermilion Bird often played Werewolf on her phone, and her statement was well thought out. “It isn’t too late for you to pull out of the election. I’m a special role who has information. I want to lead the good team to victory as the sheriff.”

As soon as she finished, Green Tea lowered his hand, pulling out of the election.

“Alright, next,” Chen Ying said. “Electric Mouse.”

“Everyone, I’m the seer. Last night, I checked Green Snake, and she’s a good one. I gave her gold water...”

Chen Ying hesitated before interrupting him, “Old players at the table, please refrain from using jargon so that the new players won’t be left out.”

“Fine.” Wu Dahai shrugged. “I’m the seer. I checked Qing Ling’s identity last night. Her role is on the good team. Listen to me and let me be the sheriff. I’ll give you accurate information. That’s it.”

Qing Ling, the one brought up, remained as impassive as ever. She didn’t even spare Wu Dahai a glance, making it impossible to read anything from her.

Wu Dahai lied.

Gao Yang knew that very well since he was the one the seer had checked last night.

Speaking of which, according to the original rules, the players who were killed, checked, and saved should’ve been kept in the dark about what happened, yet Sir Zuo had changed the rules, perhaps to make the game more exciting.

Anyhow, back to Wu Dahai. Although he lied, it didn’t necessarily mean that he was a wolf acting in support of the good team. There was too little information at the moment. It was better to wait and see.

Chen Ying nodded. As the moderator, she did her best to not let her stance show. “Okay, next, Mr. Cross...”

“Call me X.” The man interrupted her with a smile.

Chen Ying frowned slightly. What the hell was the man up to? Wasn’t he the one insisting on being called Cross?

“Now I feel like X is a cooler name that’ll increase my chance of survival.” X looked up and called out to the air, “Sir Zuo, that doesn’t count as talking about the game under the table, does it? I just want to change my name.”

Sir Zuo didn’t say anything. That didn’t constitute a violation of the rule, it seemed.

“Please make your case, Mr. X,” Chen Ying said instead.

Everyone’s gaze shifted to X, who looked as frivolous as ever with his legs crossed and his fingers tapping on the cold, hard stone table rhythmically. He gave Wu Dahai a look.

“Electric Mouse, is it? It’s not too late to pull out now. Stop messing around here. I’ll give you three seconds. If you insist on running for sheriff, I’ll consider you a wolf for certain.”

“I’m pulling out! I give up on running for sheriff!” Wu Dahai shouted, his survival instinct blaring in his head. “I was lying out of my rear end just to test the water.”

“Hmph!” Pleased, X turned right to look at Gao Yang with a smile. “This isn’t some high-level game, everyone, so I’ll be frank with you. I’m the seer. Last night, I checked this guy next to me...”

X thought for a good while, but couldn’t remember Gao Yang’s name.

“Seven Shadow,” Chen Ying reminded him.

“Right, Seven Shadow. He’s a member of the good team. I give him gold water.”

X stopped tapping on the stone table and rubbed at his lips. “As for why I chose him...well, he’s sitting right next to me, for one. I can’t rest easy until I know what he is. And he’s a clever one, evident in the way he defeated me in the volleyball match through schemes. I consider him a big threat, and so I checked his role.”

It was a reasonable explanation.

Still, Gao Yang secretly activated Lie Detection on X on the off chance that it might work, but it didn’t. It seemed that no Talents were allowed to break the rules of the game.

Fine, I’ll have to rely on myself.

According to the information he had at the moment, Gao Yang came to a tentative speculation.

X was the seer. He confirmed Gao Yang’s role and decided to lead the good team.

Vermilion Bird was the witch. She saved him and had gained quite some information. She wanted to lead the good team too.

Of course, both of them could be werewolves pretending to be special roles, but then where did the good guys go? Why didn’t any of them come out to go against the two?

Could it be that the newbies were the ones getting the good roles, and they didn’t know how to play the game? Or perhaps they were too scared of death to take a stand?

That was a possibility.

As for Green Tea and Wu Dahai, they were simply testing the water. There was no telling what their roles were yet.

“The two candidates have made their speech.” Chen Ying raised her voice slightly. “Now, let’s put it to a vote. Elect the sheriff between Vermilion Bird and X. You’re free to give up on your vote, too, and if everyone abstains from voting, there will be no sheriff.”

“Those who choose Vermilion Bird as the sheriff, please raise your hands.”

Gao Yang abstained. He observed the votes quietly.

Ronnie, Scarlet Fox, and Wu Dahai voted for Vermilion Bird. Vermilion Bird herself did as well, of course.

“Four for Vermilion Bird.” Chen Ying quickly made a note. “Those who choose X as the sheriff, please raise your hands.”

Gao Yang kept watching. Green Tea was the only one who voted X.

X clicked his tongue, displeased with the results. Due to the rules of the game, though, he couldn’t say anything now.

“For fairness, I’ll give the two candidates the last chance to speak up and ask for votes. This time, we’ll start with X.”

Chen Ying waved at him.

“I know that this is a table of inexperienced players, but I didn’t know you’d be such noobs!”

X shot them a look that said, ‘I can’t carry all of you losers.’

“Hello, this is a game, and you should play by the rules. You can’t vote for her just because she’s your leader, and I’ve only known you not long ago.”

“What if she’s a wolf? She’s gonna kill all of you.”

“I’m the one true seer in this game. How is the good team going to win if you don’t follow me?”

“Alright, I can’t turn this around. I’ll just make three points. If you want to live, think about it carefully.”

“First, other than Black Tea...”

“Green Tea,” Chen Ying corrected.

“Doesn’t matter.” X shrugged flippantly. “First, other than Black Tea, none other voted for me. That wouldn’t have happened if I were a wolf, would it? My fellow wolves would’ve given me more votes. They couldn’t have decided to let the good guys win at the cost of their lives, could they? Ha, do you think anyone at this table is noble enough to do that?”

“That should tell you that I’m not a wolf, and in that case, I can’t be a villager either. I have to have a death wish to claim the seer role to protect the real one. Thus, I must be the actual seer. That’s why I came out to run for sheriff.”

“Second, Vermilion Bird is likely a special role. There’s also the possibility that she’s a werewolf since they have more information too. Anyhow, it’s not that she can’t be the sheriff, but the risk will be higher than me being it.”

“Third, whoever becomes the sheriff, the werewolves are definitely going to target the seer, me, the coming night. I don’t know if the witch still has the healing potion, but if you do, don’t save me. Let the guard protect me tonight. Then I’ll be able to check the role of one more person and increase our chance of winning.”

“I’m done, moderator.”

X’s statement wasn’t exactly flawless in terms of logic, but there was no significant problem with it. Moreover, he seemed open, showing no signs of nervousness or guilt that would mark him as a liar.

The other players wavered, agonizing over their judgment of him. One one hand, X was likely to be the seer, but emotionally speaking, it was difficult for them to trust the man. After all, they wouldn’t be here if X hadn’t urged them to follow him to the Rune Cave.

“Please make your case, Vermilion Bird,” said Chen Ying.

Vermilion Bird glanced at X, trying to glean some insights from his expression.

Then she turned to the others, her tone more composed than X. “First, I’d like to thank you for trusting me. Regarding what X just said, I can’t spot anything wrong at the moment.”

“However, I don’t think X is necessarily the seer. There are quite a lot of newbies here, and this is a game of life and death.”

“Were I the seer, I might not have the courage to reveal it. After all, the seer is the prime target for the wolves. It makes sense that they would be too scared to take a stand considering human nature.”

“On the other hand, the werewolves don’t have such concerns. Thus, X could be a wolf spy. Essentially, a werewolf pretending to be a special role in order to run for sheriff. Of course, I’m only saying that there is a chance for that to be the case. You may make the judgment yourselves. Tonight, all of us have to live with our own decisions.”

Vermilion Bird’s eyes glinted. “Basically, the good team’s chance of winning will double if the true seer becomes the sheriff, but if the false seer becomes the sheriff, most of us will die.”

“Therefore, I believe you should choose me as the sheriff, which is the safest compromise. We’ll find the werewolves together and, even though it sounds cruel, if possible...”

Her voice grew icy. “I hope that we’ll walk out of the Rune Cave with only four members short.”

Everyone’s face darkened, and the air thickened with tension.

“That’s it for me.”

She meant that it was best to end the game with only the four werewolves sacrificed, minimizing the loss the group suffered.

However, that was nigh impossible. And there was always a chance that Vermilion Bird was a werewolf, and that she was pretending to be a good role.

Gao Yang shocked himself when the thought flashed through his mind.

Shit, I’m getting cold-blooded and starting to second-guess and suspect everyone at the table now, even though we’ve been companions only half an hour ago.

Human nature is not to be tested against survival. Is this what Sir Zuo wants to observe?

“Let’s start the final vote. Please make your decision carefully.” Chen Ying scanned the table.

This time, Ronnie, Scarlet Fox, and Wu Dahai still voted for Vermilion Bird, with the added vote from Can.

When it was X’s turn, no one voted. Even Green Tea, who was his only supporter, abstained from voting.

“I announce that Vermilion Bird is the sheriff.”

A badge suddenly appeared before Chen Ying. She picked it up and walked up to Vermilion Bird.

Vermilion Bird took it and put it on her chest.

“Please decide the order in which the players will give their statement, Sheriff.”

Vermilion Bird looked around. “Let’s start with my right.”