Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1688 - 31: Prisoner’s Dilemma

Su Ming’an looked at the two buttons, pondering the rules.

Obviously, the optimal solution is for both parties to choose [Forgiveness], resulting in a win-win situation.

But if I choose [Forgiveness] and Najasha chooses [Betrayal], I will die, which is an absolutely unacceptable outcome.

If I choose [Betrayal] and Najasha chooses [Forgiveness], I will kill her and seize her ability, but who knows what backup plans she has. From Lu’s experience, Lu’s mental state declined rapidly after devouring Najasha.

If both choose [Betrayal], they enter an extremely high mortality rate extra stage... which probably isn’t a good choice either.

From a purely rational perspective, "Betrayal" is the most efficient choice. No matter what the opponent chooses, the result of choosing "Betrayal" is no worse than choosing "Forgiveness".

But Su Ming’an knew that Najasha would also think of this, so she would choose "Betrayal".

"Looks like we’ve reached a classic dead end." Najasha’s laughter rippled through the black water, "What do you want to choose, Little Anan?"

Su Ming’an ignored this outrageous title and looked up: "What do you want to choose?"

"I asked first, you know."

"If I said I would choose [Forgiveness], would you believe me?"

"No." Najasha replied without hesitation, "If you say so, then you’re definitely trying to trick me into choosing [Forgiveness] while you choose [Betrayal] to kill me. Right?"

Su Ming’an was silent for a few seconds, and then suddenly said: "You mentioned earlier that the last stage tested honesty."

"Mhm."

"Your answer was strange, but you weren’t punished." Su Ming’an stared at her, "Does that mean... that stage wasn’t actually testing honesty, but rather cognition? Or testing if we believe in our own answer?"

Najasha’s smile paused subtly for a moment.

Su Ming’an caught this detail.

If the last stage was indeed a cognition test, then Najasha passed by giving an answer she believed to be true, even if it seemed strange to others. This implied an important piece of information: she is likely a person with extremely consistent self-recognition. In other words, once she makes a judgment, she easily acts on it.

So, if I could make her truly believe a certain judgment...

He began the second layer of the game.

"Let’s make an agreement." Su Ming’an said.

"Oh?" Najasha was intrigued.

"We both choose [Forgiveness]."

"Why should I?" She laughed, "How do I know you won’t switch to [Betrayal] at the last moment?"

"Because I can give you insurance." Su Ming’an raised his left hand, the silver star mark in his palm emitting a faint glow in the dim environment, "This is one of my special skill marks. Before pressing the button, we can exchange states—I will temporarily lodge the projection of the Silver Star in you, and you will lodge one of your skill marks in me. This way, regardless of who betrays last, the other can use this mark to instantly counterattack."

He had just noticed Najasha didn’t have a Silver Star on her hand. This indicated that Najasha’s judgment was wrong—it wasn’t that Najasha successfully passed the first stage, but rather that the first stage’s failure carried no penalty.

Successful ones would get a Silver Star, and Najasha didn’t have one, which indicated she failed.

Su Ming’an could fully exploit this information gap.

Najasha narrowed her eyes: "How exactly does this work?"

"It’s simple. In your skill system, do you have any ability that automatically retaliates once certain conditions are triggered? Like rebounding when receiving deadly damage, or self-destructing when an ability is taken?" Su Ming’an spoke steadily, "Similarly, I will set one. If you betray me, my Silver Star will explode inside you, which, though not fatal, will severely injure you enough to prevent you from attacking me, nullifying the gains of betrayal with the cost."

Najasha remained silent, her fingers gently tapping her arm, producing a faint tapping sound.

This plan sounded reasonable, but had a fatal issue: how would she know that Su Ming’an’s Silver Star really had that function?

"Prove it to me." Najasha said, "Prove your Silver Star can do what you claimed."

Su Ming’an nodded. He extended his left hand, and the Silver Star floated in the air, morphing into a rotating star-shaped light.

"This is the state deposit mode." Su Ming’an said, "I can temporarily transfer it to another life form and set a trigger condition. When triggered, the Silver Star will release stored energy."

He looked at Najasha: "You can also display one of your skill marks, and we can confirm with each other."

From Najasha’s perspective, if Su Ming’an lacked a similar skill, the Silver Star was merely a disguise, and Su Ming’an would be the one at a disadvantage. After all, if both chose betrayal, only Su Ming’an would be harmed.

So, even if there was a flaw, Najasha wouldn’t choose to doubt, but choose to believe. As long as Su Ming’an proposed the concept that "the Silver Star can inflict damage," the basis for cooperation was established, regardless of whether he actually possessed it.

Najasha smiled, raising her right hand, revealing a constantly color-shifting mist in her palm.

"My ’Thousand Eyes Curse’." She said, "Once lodged in you, if you betray me, the curse will instantly burst, and you would be deprived of vision, simultaneously plunged into ten minutes of phantom pain, enough to incapacitate you against me."

The two of them stared at each other.

The black water silently surged.

The third layer of the game.

Now, both sides had guarantees of mutual destruction. Theoretically, cooperation became the only rational choice. But Su Ming’an knew that someone like Najasha probably had ulterior motives. Would she have some "immune to mutual destruction" ability? Or tamper with the marks during lodging?

"Let’s do it simultaneously." Su Ming’an said, "I’ll count to three, and we push the marks to each other at the same time."

"Sure." Najasha smiled.

Countdown: two minutes.

"One."

The Silver Star drifted towards Najasha.

The colorful mist drifted towards Su Ming’an.

"Two."

The Silver Star neared Najasha’s chest.

The mist neared Su Ming’an’s forehead.

"Three!"

At that moment—

Najasha’s lips suddenly curled into a sinister arc.

Her mist abruptly accelerated, exploding into countless threads, entangling Su Ming’an’s limbs!

But at the same time, Su Ming’an’s Silver Star didn’t fly towards Najasha; instead, his eyes turned purple, his claws opened!

Both made the same decision almost simultaneously—pretend to cooperate but actually launch an attack!

"I knew it!" Najasha laughed, her body suddenly turning ethereal, "Little Anan, you never intended to cooperate!"

Su Ming’an sidestepped to evade the threads.

But both froze simultaneously.

Because the black water suddenly began to boil:

[Warning: Physical conflict is prohibited during negotiation time.]

A void-like voice rumbled.

The two quickly distanced themselves.

Countdown: final minute.

"It seems we can’t trust each other." Najasha wiped blood from the corner of her mouth, her smile even more excited, "What now? Should we take a gamble? Guess what the other will choose at the last moment?"

Su Ming’an’s mind raced furiously.

Fourth-level game theory.

The situation is now clear. Both sides have clearly expressed "distrust," and both have a strong intent to attack. So—

Najasha is almost a hundred percent going to choose [Betrayal].

If I choose [Forgiveness], I will surely die.

If I choose [Betrayal], then either both sides betray and enter an extra level, or there’s a possibility she unusually chooses forgiveness, and I kill her to take her ability.

But there’s another variable: will Najasha predict that I think she will definitely choose betrayal, and thus deliberately choose forgiveness, to lure Su Ming’an into choosing betrayal, while she’s prepared a counter to "kill the betrayer"? Just as she did with Lu.

The four-layer speculation in game theory unfolded in Su Ming’an’s mind.

Only forty seconds remain.

The black screen has descended between the two, neither can see the other’s final choice, only hear the sound.

Su Ming’an closed his eyes.

He recalled what Najasha said about honesty earlier and her excited eyes even when she was just imprisoned... She enjoys the process of the game, not the result.

So—

Su Ming’an opened his eyes.

"Najasha," he said.

"Hmm?"

"Let’s play a game."

"What game?"

"In the last three seconds of the countdown, let’s say which button we are going to press at the same time," Su Ming’an said, "but the rule is, we must tell the truth."

Najasha’s eyes lit up: "The truth?"

"Yes." Su Ming’an stared at her, "Don’t you like bizarre answers? Facing your answer honestly at this life-and-death moment. Do you dare?"

The countdown reached twenty seconds.

Najasha’s smile grew larger, nearly tearing at the corners of her mouth:

"Interesting... so interesting! Alright! Little Anan, I’ll play! If all humans were as interesting as you are, there wouldn’t be so many idiots who can’t distinguish black from white! She wouldn’t die, and I wouldn’t have become this neither-human-nor-ghost figure!"

Five seconds.

On both sides of the black screen, the two simultaneously suspended their fingers above the buttons.

Four seconds.

The darkest silence.

Three seconds.

"Three," Su Ming’an said.

"I will press [Forgiveness]," Najasha said almost simultaneously, a manic laughter in her voice, "because—I want to see what expression you’d have if you also chose forgiveness as we pass through. That must be more interesting than killing you!"

Su Ming’an’s finger paused slightly.

Two seconds.

He said, "I will press [Betrayal]."

Based on his analysis of Najasha’s character, Najasha seeks excitement over benefit and enjoys the process of the game. She said she’d choose forgiveness, so she really will choose forgiveness. Then, choosing betrayal means he could kill her and seize her ability.

This is the rational choice.

But—

One second.

Su Ming’an’s finger, in the last half-second, moved away from the [Betrayal] button and pressed [Forgiveness].

He thought one extra layer at the last moment, a unique mindset as a "Player."

—If based on the fundamental logic of game theory, participants would do their utmost to become the winner. Moreover, if the other party is an enemy, a participant would certainly want to become the one who can kill the opponent and win.

However, here, beyond the fundamental logic of game theory, there exists another logic that cannot be ignored—

If Su Ming’an died here, in this level, Najasha has almost no chance to walk out of the "Source Point" alive.

The Holy Sword has acknowledged Su Ming’an as its master, and the Key is equivalent to being in Su Ming’an’s hands. More than half of the remaining participants are Su Ming’an’s people, including the Second-level God Lu Likalpos.

If Najasha severely injures or kills Su Ming’an, it is foreseeable that if there are similar levels in the future that require cooperation, most people will target her with deadly intent. She would also lose her most important goal—being remembered by the "Protagonist."

So, from the beginning, there was a deviation in the foundation of game theory—the game participants, one side absolutely cannot accept the combination of [Their Betrayal + Opponent’s Forgiveness], can only accept [Forgiveness + Forgiveness], [Betrayal + Betrayal], or [Their Forgiveness + Opponent’s Betrayal]. From the first layer of game theory to the fourth, all of Najasha’s verbal inducements need to be re-evaluated.

If she chooses [Betrayal], then there are two possibilities—if Su Ming’an chooses [Forgiveness], it will turn into an outcome she absolutely cannot accept. If Su Ming’an chooses [Betrayal], they both enter a nearly impossible survival level, resulting in a great negative outcome.

If she chooses [Forgiveness], then two possibilities exist—if Su Ming’an chooses [Forgiveness], it’s a win-win. If Su Ming’an chooses [Betrayal], she gets severely injured or even killed by Su Ming’an.

Su Ming’an was right in his deduction, she does have the ability to "enter someone’s body after death," as seen in Lu’s case.

In her eyes, there was a high possibility that Su Ming’an would choose [Betrayal], if she picked [Betrayal], this game would likely lead both into a near-death level.

The last second.

Both buttons were pressed simultaneously.

Soft white light shone from both buttons.

[Both parties made the same choice: Forgiveness.]

[Level cleared.]

The black water started to recede, and a doorway to the next area appeared ahead.

Najasha stood still, staring at Su Ming’an, her smile fading.

"...You changed your choice," she said.

"You changed too," Su Ming’an calmly replied.

At the last moment, Najasha’s finger also moved from [Betrayal] to [Forgiveness].

She realized that the benefits of choosing [Forgiveness] greatly outweighed [Betrayal], even if it resulted in severe injury, it wouldn’t be too much of a loss. The only combination she couldn’t accept was [Her Betrayal + Su Ming’an Forgiveness].

In fear that Su Ming’an would choose [Forgiveness]... she chose [Forgiveness].

After layers of nested psychological probing, the two players arrived at the same conclusion.

Najasha was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into sharp laughter, doubling over in mirth:

"Wonderful... wonderful! Su Ming’an! You are so interesting! I’m growing fonder of you by the second!"

She took a few steps forward.

Suddenly, she halted, turned around.

Her beautiful eyes quietly watched Su Ming’an, staring for two seconds, then she walked over, stood in front of Su Ming’an, paused, and extended her hands as if to test whether Su Ming’an had human skin or some thin material, but she didn’t touch him, as Su Ming’an stepped aside.

Su Ming’an looked at her warily, as if she were a dangerous monster before him.