Zheng Jie asked, "What does ’facing a death threat’ mean?"

Lin Sizhi explained, "It’s literal.

"In the ’Simple Roulette’ game, it actually uses the ’Wheel of Redemption’ setup, so if I fire four or more shots at the dummy, there’s a risk of death from severe cranial trauma, which the existing medical conditions in the community can’t save.

"So as long as there’s a death risk in the game mechanics, it counts.

"We can’t say that if a player completes the game perfectly, the mechanics pose no threat.

"Of course, when I was drafting the rules related to ’Destined by Fate,’ I didn’t know exactly what special game Cai Zhiyuan would use against me, so I couldn’t foresee whether he would actually die because of this rule."

Zheng Jie thought for a moment, "But firing several shots at the dummy doesn’t seem likely, does it?"

Wei Yinzhang shook his head, "Not necessarily, it depends on the player’s choice during the first shot.

"Because players know that the imitator who designed this game has also studied the rules and concluded that ’the first shot is the safest,’ the imitator is most likely to place a real bullet in the first shot."

"In this way, the player might choose to fire the first shot at the dummy.

"But this falls into the same whirlpool again—after the first shot is a blank, one can’t help but think perhaps the real bullet is in the second shot.

"Because firing the first shot at the dummy would also fuel the player’s instinct for survival.

"The player will be overwhelmed by the survival instinct, and after multiple rounds of strategic thinking, the game returns to its initial state again.

"So this game still might present the worst situation:

"Firing several shots at the dummy, then dying to the mechanism."

Wei Yinzhang paused briefly, then added, "Of course, this only applies to other players. Players like Lawyer Lin certainly wouldn’t fire several shots at the dummy.

"Even if they decide to shoot the dummy, they’ll only fire at specific slots.

"But for Cai Zhiyuan, this possibility is like winning a lottery—though the odds are extremely low, it’s the result he most wants to see: simultaneously destroying Lawyer Lin both physically and mentally.

"So he might treat this chance as a trivial lottery win, knowing the odds are low and won’t impact the main strategy, but a little gamble wouldn’t hurt."

Zheng Jie raised a hand, "But that makes me more puzzled.

"Cai Zhiyuan surely knows the chance of Lawyer Lin firing four shots at the dummy is slim, so treating it as a gamble makes sense, but it surely can’t affect the main strategy.

"If he finally chooses to put the bullet in the dummy’s pocket, it means the gun must be empty. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Lawyer Lin can’t die from the mechanism, so isn’t Lawyer Lin guaranteed to survive this game?

"Either way, putting the bullet in the gun, whether it’s the first shot, the last, or any in between, would be the reasonable choice, right?"

Wei Yinzhang felt helpless, "You’re nesting dolls again."

Zheng Jie was momentarily taken aback, "Huh? Nesting dolls again?"

Wei Yinzhang explained, "What you say is indeed valid, but it’s based on the conclusion ’Lawyer Lin will certainly fire all six shots at himself’ and your deduction follows from that.

"What if Lawyer Lin thinks a step further and fires the last shot at the dummy?

"Then Cai Zhiyuan takes it another step and replaces the last shot with a blank?

"This is classic nesting dolls; thinking this way is pointless.

"Let’s return to the level where Lawyer Lin and Cai Zhiyuan are thinking:

"For players of their caliber, belief surpasses life and death, so the outcome of this game ultimately depends on whose belief prevails.

"Only then comes who lives and who dies.

"Let’s use the last shot scenario as an example:

"If Cai Zhiyuan places the bullet in the last shot, there are merely two situations:

"First, Lawyer Lin chooses the last shot to fire at the dummy, and the real bullet fires.

"So, is Lawyer Lin’s belief destroyed? You could adamantly argue it is, since firing at the dummy counts. But in reality, this doesn’t truly destroy his belief.

"—You place the real bullet in the last shot, Lawyer Lin predicts your action and fires the last shot at the dummy; how is this destroying belief?

"That equates to the game’s designer facing a complete loss on the level of belief and mechanics, which Cai Zhiyuan cannot accept.

"Second, Lawyer Lin chooses the last shot to fire at himself, dying in the game.

"But in that case, Lawyer Lin proves his philosophy with his life, and according to ’Hermit Judgment,’ Cai Zhiyuan still dies, and he utterly loses on the belief level.

"Of course, Cai Zhiyuan couldn’t know beforehand he’d confront such rules in ’Hermit Judgment,’ but even if Lawyer Lin didn’t launch ’Special Game’ against him, and if Cai Zhiyuan didn’t die, this outcome would still be unacceptable for him.

"Because he’d only kill Lin’s body, not destroy Lin’s belief, whereas his own belief crumbles.

"If using ’Godslayer’ as a metaphor, the act of ’Godslayer’ also divides into two:

"The first is exploiting the god’s divinity with all means, acknowledging oneself as a rat in the gutter just to achieve the result of ’Godslayer’;

"The second is openly pulling the god off the pedestal, shattering its divinity, and while not becoming a true god, proving there’s no god in this world, standing as the strongest without god.

"Cai Zhiyuan clearly belongs to the latter. He wants to slay the god but refuses to believe he’s a rat in the gutter."

Wei Yinzhang slightly paused, then continued:

"Placing the bullet in any of the shots can’t truly verify whose belief is superior.

"Because only making Lawyer Lin fire a blank at the dummy would truly destroy Lin’s belief;

"Conversely, only Lawyer Lin firing six shots at himself would truly destroy Cai Zhiyuan’s belief.

"Your thoughts, Zheng Jie, have two severe errors:

"Firstly, presetting the erroneous premise ’Lawyer Lin will definitely fire all six shots at himself,’ equating to solving the problem with the known answer;

"Secondly, prioritizing ’physical life and death’ over ’victory or defeat of belief,’ thinking that simply killing Lin physically suffices, without considering anything else.

"A player like you could never reach the step of challenging Lawyer Lin in ’Special Game.’

Lawyer Lin nodded, "Some might misinterpret, thinking I’d fire six shots at myself in any circumstance.

"That’s certainly not the case.

"Only in Cai Zhiyuan’s game would I do that.

"If another imitator designed the game, even with identical rules, I’d employ different strategies.

"And losing wouldn’t affect my belief.

"Because not everyone is qualified to interrogate mine."