God's imitator

Chapter 443 Emperor
The player opposite, the "Emperor," wore a jeweled crown, had a long white beard on his mask, and was dressed in magnificent attire.

However, He Xiaojun noticed that the other person's movements also seemed a little stiff. Although he tried his best to remain still, he seemed to be showing some fear and lack of confidence.

"Could it be that the 'Magician' in the last game felt the same way about me?"

He Xiaojun sat down at the long table and greeted them, "Hello."

There was no response.

He Xiaojun then looked at the notice board beside the long table, which clearly stated: "The number of wealth vouchers in the wooden box forms an arithmetic sequence."

Seeing this, He Xiaojun breathed a slight sigh of relief. The other party was probably like him, most likely a relatively weak novice player.

This is mainly determined through cross-validation from three aspects:

First, the opponent chose a rather imposing "Emperor" outfit. Based on previous experience with the "Fool's Game," it's highly likely that beginners are more likely to choose this kind of clothing.

Secondly, the opponent deliberately reduced his movements, which made him appear somewhat stiff and rigid. If he were a strong opponent, he would be more at ease, like a magician.

Finally, the opponent's rule was "arithmetic sequence," which is a very basic and simple rule. Like He Xiaojun, they were probably just focused on ensuring that the wealth vouchers were placed in the wooden box in a way that conformed to the rules, and they didn't have time to think about more complex strategies.

Because arithmetic sequences are the simplest and easiest to calculate, they are less likely to cause errors when adding wealth vouchers and will not trigger penalties.

Moreover, under an arithmetic sequence, the difference between the box with the most wealth vouchers and the box with the fewest wealth vouchers will not be too large (compared to a geometric sequence or other sequences).

So even if you're unlucky and the wooden box containing a lot of wealth vouchers is stolen, it's relatively acceptable and the loss won't be too great.

Of course, these figures still need to be confirmed by checking the specific amount of wealth vouchers inside the wooden box.

"I need to sense the spirituality of these tarot cards and establish the necessary connection with them."

He Xiaojun was just learning on the spot. He had basically no understanding of tarot cards, but in such a mysterious setting, pretending to recite a few words could at least create some psychological pressure on the other party.

If he were to open the wooden box too decisively, the effect of creating mystery would be lost. So, like the "magician," he pretended to stroke the wooden box, as if he were sensing something inside.

After pretending to touch it for a while, He Xiaojun was completely confused.

"Strange, these boxes feel exactly the same, there is no difference at all. How does the 'magician' distinguish them?"
"The most urgent task now is to decide which specific strategy to adopt."

"If you can guess the size like the 'Magician,' then the second strategy is definitely better. But if you guess wrong, you won't be able to take the wealth vouchers from either box."

"In any case, in the first two or three operations, it's best to take the second strategy first. This way, we can see more information about the wealth vouchers in the box, and perhaps this information will be useful."

With time limited, He Xiaojun felt he needed to make a decision quickly, otherwise failing to use all 10 action opportunities would be a huge loss for the 'thief'.

"I will use the second strategy first."

“The Fool is the beginning and the end of everything, while the World symbolizes the end of the universe and the beginning of a new one.”

As He Xiaojun spoke, he first opened the wooden box containing "The Fool".

Inside the "Fool's" wooden box were 17000 wealth vouchers, but not a bundle of a few 100-point vouchers; instead, there were 17 1000-point vouchers.

"Is the 'Emperor' coin exchanged at a face value of 'One Thousand'?"

After seeing the face value, He Xiaojun made a rough judgment. Based on his previous experience, even for a novice, this amount of wealth vouchers was not much. "I guess there is more wealth in 'the world'."

Open the wooden box again, and this time there is a bundle of wealth coupons inside.

He Xiaojun's spirits lifted instantly, feeling that he must have guessed correctly!

However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that these wealth vouchers were not 1000 in value, but all were 100 in value.

This also means that the total value of these wealth vouchers is only 10900.

There are fewer wooden boxes than the one for "The Fool".

According to the rules, both boxes will be kept by the "Emperor".

The other person still didn't make any move and remained sitting very stiffly.

He Xiaojun felt somewhat embarrassed.

With a 50% chance of choosing the wrong answer, all his previous pretense and talk were in vain. Now the other party knows that he doesn't understand divination at all, and that everything he said was just a pretense.

But this start actually made He Xiaojun's brain start working at high speed, and he suddenly thought of the blind spot he had previously overlooked.

"As a sage player on the defending side, you can take two kinds of wealth vouchers!"
"That's right, I overlooked that although you can only choose between '100' or '1000' each time you withdraw, the game doesn't limit you to withdrawing only once. You can withdraw the 100 and 1000 wealth vouchers in two separate withdrawals."

"My mind was full of calculations at the time, and subconsciously, in order to save time, I withdrew all the wealth coupons at once, each worth 100."

"But this raises a new problem."

Why did the other party request the two denominations separately?
"These two denominations of wealth certificates differ only in color and design, but are exactly the same size and weight. If placed in a wooden box, there should be no essential difference..."

"Weight! The only difference is the weight!"
"Because a 1000-yuan wealth voucher is equivalent to 10 100-yuan wealth vouchers, the two will differ in weight."

"I noticed this when I was moving those wealth vouchers. They're somewhat like metal and have a certain thickness, so they're much heavier than paper money, especially bundles of wealth vouchers, which are quite heavy..."

"Could it be that……"

Suddenly, He Xiaojun thought of something, and he quickly and discreetly continued to explore the wooden boxes.

I first shook it gently, but there was no reaction. Because there were grooves on the table, all the wooden boxes were fitted into the grooves very tightly, so there was no shaking.

But He Xiaojun, who already had a plan, did not give up. He continued to try to hold the two sides of the wooden box and gently lift it up.

The first attempt failed, but the second time, when he pressed both sides of the wooden box and lifted it vertically upwards, the situation suddenly changed.

To his surprise, he discovered that the wooden box could actually be lifted a short distance!
This distance is very, very short because there are four thin chains around the wooden box that secure it to the table. These chains are not completely taut at first, but there is very little room left.

Just lift it up a little bit, and it will tighten and hold.

But it is precisely this tiny distance that allows He Xiaojun to actually suspend the wooden box in mid-air and feel its weight.

(End of this chapter)