"Thanks for the reminder, but next time, remind me of something I don't already know."

Xie Antong replied flatly, her words carrying a hint of a soft rebuke, a gentle pushback against Pleasure.

Actually, there was a piece of misdirection in this game from the very start—the mention of five rounds.

Five rounds easily make people think of a best-of-five, three wins to victory, but in reality, there was no such rule; it was a completely different matter.

This was a true gamble, purely based on chips alone!

After the five rounds of gambling concluded, the side with fewer chips would lose.

That is to say, you could absolutely lose four of the rounds, then win one big one, and still turn the tables completely.

Even considering the rule that thinking also consumed chips, you could theoretically lose all the gambling rounds; if the opponent overthought things and caused their hourglass to completely run out, you'd still win!

But the theoretical possibility of winning this way only existed on the side of the gods. For Xie Antong, it was already impossible...

And now, although only one round of the game had been played, in reality, Xie Antong had already been backed into a corner.

Because given the current chip count, if she lost just one more round, she would essentially have already lost.

Because if that happened, Pleasure would no longer need to play the game; he could simply fold and concede every hand from then on, and that alone would be enough to slowly bleed her dry!

After all, although the ante for each round was increasing, Xie Antong's own thinking would also make her existing chips dwindle further.

Therefore, she had to win this round!

Therefore, she had to understand right now what the actual matching rule of this game was.

Taking a deep breath, for the first time in this game, she took out her own medicine and injected it into herself.

Then, she slowly closed her eyes, placed one hand on the remaining cards on the table, and began to think quietly.

Seeing her finally start injecting herself with medicine, Pleasure's smile grew even more unrestrained.

[What, now you remember to take your drugs? Don't you think it's a bit too late?]

[At a time like this, rushing to find an answer, you'd better not end up failing to figure it out and pointlessly wasting your chips.]

[Or perhaps, are you still hoping that your 'world's strongest' might come out to save you again?]

As he spoke, Pleasure even tilted his head to look at the black box beside them.

Inside, Lu Ce's entire body was pierced by countless black needles, burning amidst raging flames.

That guy always seemed a bit off, constantly turning his head to look outside, the face on his mask seeming as if it could penetrate the black box.

He had been constantly affecting this little girl's state of mind, and this guy was using his creepy appearance to affect his state of mind, was he...

Not looking at him, Pleasure continued his mental pollution of Xie Antong.

[There were three special event triggers in total. Why don't you also consider whether that might affect the direction of the game~.]

[And your spectator friends, it's a really strange thing; the people here all seem quite supportive of you.]

[And that Arbitrator over there, according to 'Sin,' he's one of your people. Don't you plan to make use of him?]

...

Just as Pleasure himself had said, Xie Antong's performance had angered Him, so now, He was truly playing the game seriously, talking incessantly.

But the topics He brought up were all correct! Under normal circumstances, Xie Antong would definitely consider these matters.

But right now, this approach was purely to add more perspectives for Xie Antong, increase her cognitive load, and make her consume her resources faster!

Xie Antong had closed her eyes, shut down the All-Seeing Eye, and injected the medicine precisely to block out all external information, allowing herself to think.

But Pleasure wanted to tell her that whether there was interference or not wasn't up to her!

Don't think it was just simple talking; in just these few sentences, Pleasure had directly employed his own power, the power unique to Pleasure, the kind that disturbs people's hearts.

Never mind that she had closed her eyes, not wanting to be disturbed; even if she pierced her own eardrums or gouged out her own eyes, Pleasure's words would still invade her mind, disrupting her mental state.

The expression on Xie Antong's face didn't change in the slightest, but the sand in the leftmost hourglass was already flowing faster and faster, even producing a rustling sound like flowing water!

Tap, tap-tap...

One hand rested on the cards, while the index finger of her other hand unconsciously tapped lightly on the gambling table, emitting a rhythmic sound.

And within the unnoticed black box, Lu Ce, similarly, rested his right hand on the arm of the chair, his index finger pierced by black needles, tapping lightly!

...

At this moment, Xie Antong wasn't actually being disturbed at all; she was completely immersed in her own world, deconstructing that matching rule.

Ox, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Dog, Pig.

In the order of the twelve Zodiac Animals, they were 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 12.

One among them was fake, false information.

Her cards were numbers, from one to fifteen. Since the Arbitrator had said it wasn't about comparing sizes but about matching, then these serial numbers must have some characteristic.

That false information should still be relatively easy to eliminate...

It's just, although the cards in her hand perfectly covered every one of the opponent's numbers, each play had a requirement for the number of cards played.

She had already played two cards. For the remaining four rounds, she could only play one card, three cards, four cards, and five cards.

Matching... what could be considered a match? The hand she played last round was "3" and "8," which lost to the Dragon, which was "5."

How exactly were the numbers on her cards being calculated? The method of resolution here still needed to be guessed!

Pop!

Another hourglass exploded, and the chips before Xie Antong decreased by one again!

Even while trying her utmost to restrain the scope of her thinking, the various permutations, combinations, and possibilities of the numbers were causing the sand in the hourglass before her to flow away faster and faster!

At this rate, this hourglass might not even last two minutes! 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

[Oh? Holding up quite well, aren't you...]

Pleasure stared at Xie Antong, watching her rapidly depleting hourglass and the beads of sweat forming on her forehead, still sparing no effort in speaking.

Directly talking the opponent to death was still more interesting than simply winning the bet.

Pop!

Another hourglass exploded! The previously frugal Xie Antong now seemed to be spending extravagantly!

But with the explosion of this hourglass, Xie Antong suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Pleasure across from her.

The flow of sand in the hourglass instantly slowed down. Her finger, and Lu Ce's finger within the black box, simultaneously stopped tapping.

"Thank you for all the reminders. I think... I already understand the rules of the game now."

"At the very least, you are definitely not the Pig."