Chapter 9: The Unbearable Truth

The room was shrouded in silence as the weight of the revelation pressed down on everyone. Faces twisted with disbelief and shock at the three stark words that lay on the card in the middle of the table.

"I drew the 'Liar' card," Qi Xia stated calmly. His voice resonated through the air, cold and unflinching. "But whether I reveal this or not, it doesn't matter. Because it's not the key to solving this game."

He tossed the card onto the center of the table as if it were a meaningless token.

"If I'm correct," Qi Xia continued, his eyes scanning each tense face, "every single one of you has the 'Liar' card."

For a moment, no one moved. The weight of his words froze them in place until Officer Li finally found his voice. "So... you're saying that everyone lied in their stories?"

"Exactly." Qi Xia nodded. "You were all clever, more than I anticipated. Each of you inserted a subtle lie into your story, one that wouldn't disrupt the narrative yet ensured its plausibility."

Officer Li's brows furrowed in contemplation. The implications spun in his mind like gears clanking together. "If you're right about this..." he said, letting out a long, grave sigh, "then the situation is more complicated than we thought."

All eyes turned to him, puzzled. 

"The rules," Officer Li explained, his voice measured, "state that we all need to correctly identify the Liar for us to survive. But if we all lied, then any vote becomes arbitrary, leading to a game where someone must die for the rest to live."

Dr. Zhao's face paled, realization dawning on him. "So you mean... we just have to cast our votes at random? If everyone is lying, then any single vote condemns only one person?"

"Precisely." Officer Li's tone was clipped. "The optimal course of action is to focus all the votes on one person to minimize the loss. The rest would survive."

Tension surged through the room, the air thickening with dread. The Goat-Headed Figure stood unmoved, its eyes void of emotion.

Qi Xia sighed, casting a sharp look at Officer Li. "Interrupting with half-baked theories, Officer Li? Does it make you feel accomplished?" His sarcasm cut through the silence.

Officer Li's brows snapped together. "What kind of accusation is that? I was trying to help."

"I don't need your help," Qi Xia snapped back. "Your logic will get us all killed."

"What?" The officer's voice faltered, confusion rippling across his face. "How would my reasoning do that? If everyone has lied, any single vote should work, shouldn't it?"

"Think back to the Goat-Headed Figure's words," Qi Xia said, eyes narrowing. "The rules are 'absolute,' and 'there is only one Liar.' Do you remember?"

Officer Li paused, recalling the figure's words in detail. "Yes... it did say that."

"Let me piece it together for everyone," Qi Xia said, leaning forward. His gaze swept over the room, his voice as cold as a blade. "This game appears to favor the 'Liar' because everyone thinks they have a chance to win. But if we vote blindly, we will all die."

From across the room, Jo Jiajin, covered in tattoos, rubbed his arm thoughtfully. "Because we break the rules..." he muttered under his breath.

"Exactly," Qi Xia confirmed. "The paradox here is that we can't know if someone's story is a lie simply by comparing details. We're from different places, different lives. Even contradictions aren't enough to prove anything definitively."

He scanned the room, eyes catching each hesitant glance. "The 'host' selected us for a reason: to make us hunt for inconsistencies in stories that only seem interconnected."

"But is that really right?" His lips curled into a bitter smile. "Can we be sure someone else is lying just because their story sounds off?"

His question echoed in the stunned silence before Qi Xia took a pen and scribbled on a piece of paper, holding it up to reveal two characters: Ren-Yang (Human-Goat).

"I wondered why the Goat-Headed Figure introduced itself with that odd name. It seemed redundant, unnecessary. Now I see—it was part of the game."

The room turned as one to glance at the motionless figure.

Officer Li's mouth opened in disbelief. "Wait a minute. The rules state that only 'those telling stories' include a single Liar. The figure didn't tell a story."

"Didn't it?" Qi Xia shrugged. "It told us a story—how it gathered us to create a 'god.' Isn't that just as fantastical as the stories we told?"

Silence swallowed the room. Officer Li looked down, unable to refute the point but still sensing something was off.

"But…" Dr. Zhao interrupted, voice wavering, "your entire theory hinges on the assumption that we all lied. Why are you so sure of that? What if, when we reveal our cards, you're the only Liar?"

"You didn't tell the truth," Qi Xia said, his voice raw with desperation. He reached forward, pushing the scrawled notes into view. "I didn't just guess. I verified. And I know exactly where each of you lied."

He turned to Sweetie, sitting beside him. "Sweetie, you said you were working in a car when debris struck, making you lose consciousness. Was it true?"

Sweetie's eyes darted down, lips sealed shut.

"Jo Jiajin," Qi Xia's voice cut through the room, "you fell from a high place and landed on a signboard. Did you truly 'just' lose consciousness?"

Jo Jiajin's silence answered.

"Ms. Xiao Ran, you said you shielded a child from an oncoming car. Did you really manage to escape?"

Xiao Ran's gaze shifted uneasily.

"Dr. Zhao, you mentioned a ceiling collapsing in your underground operating room. What does that imply if ceilings deep underground cave in?"

Dr. Zhao averted his eyes, staring at the floor.

"Han Yimo," Qi Xia's attention shifted to the writer, "you claimed you didn't know how you ended up here. Writers hate distractions. Did you truly have no clue?"

Han Yimo sighed quietly, head dipping.

"Attorney Zhang, your car was pushed into a fissure. How deep was that fissure?"

Attorney Zhang crossed his arms, face stony and unreadable.

"And Officer Li, your car seat magically reclined to let you escape an attacker? What kind of model allows that?"

Officer Li touched the red marks on his neck but said nothing.

"And Lin Qín, you said your studio was on a high floor when the ceiling collapsed. If the ceiling of a high-rise falls, the whole building wouldn't just shake—it would crumble."

Lin Qín's head dropped, refusing to meet his eyes.

The realization hung heavy in the air. Qi Xia bit his lip, suppressing a shudder.

"Admit it," he whispered, voice hoarse. "Including me, we're already dead."