Day of Imprisonment

Liu Mao continued to press the button to get hints.

"The second hint requires an investment of two [Memories]."

A pleasant female voice sounded.

Just like Ke Lan said, each time you get a hint, the cost will double from the previous time.

At this rate, no matter how many [Memories] you have, it won't be enough.

After investing two [Memories], Liu Mao received the second hint.

"At least one 'Trap Box' is in the first row of boxes."

Liu Mao noted this hint.

"There are four boxes in the first row. The hint says that there is at least one 'Trap Box' in the four boxes. At least one... Then it could also be two, three, or even four. This hint is too vague."

Liu Mao felt somewhat helpless.

He felt that if he were to guess randomly, he could guess that there might be a 'Trap Box' in the first row.

So he immediately chose to press the button to get a hint again.

This time, it required an investment of four [Memories].

Including the previous investment, without even finding which one was the 'Grand Prize Box', he had already invested six [Memories].

The design of this game was obviously quite ingenious.

It reminded Liu Mao of something.

Lotteries.

He remembered that for a period of time in the past, he really liked buying lotteries.

And he was once very obsessed, he had to buy every issue, if he missed buying one issue, he felt like he would miss the multi-million dollar grand prize.

Similarly, you have to study probabilities, and similarly, as long as you continue to invest, you can increase the probability of winning from a certain probability.

Even the stupidest fool wouldn't play like that.

Liu Mao had considered this issue in his heart, so he believed that three 'hints' were still acceptable, and the fourth one was a bit uneconomical.

The third hint was: There is at least one 'Empty Box' in the second row of boxes.

"I understand. All the hints are beating around the bush. It's impossible to tell me the location of the grand prize clearly. But that's normal. I can't continue to invest, because, barring accidents, even the fourth hint won't give any important hints, but too many [Memories] will be consumed."

Liu Mao thought carefully and found that the first three hints were actually helpful if analyzed together.

"The grand prize is not in the last row, so it can only be in the first two rows, and the first row has 4 boxes, and the second row has 3 boxes; the first row has at least one 'Trap Box', and the second row has at least one 'Empty Box'... Then if I want to try, I should start from the second row. The second row only has 3 boxes, and it can be determined that there is at least one 'Empty Box'. Then, according to the worst case, the grand prize is not in the second row, and the other two boxes are 'Trap Boxes', then the probability of me drawing an 'Empty Box' is also one-third. Conversely, as long as it is not the worst case, and even the grand prize box is in the second row, then the probability of me drawing a safe box is two-thirds."

Liu Mao took a deep breath.

He decided to try his luck.

He reached out to take a box, but after thinking about it, he retracted his hand.

"Wait a minute, I have to think about what happens after I take a box from the second row? Either I get the grand prize, or I'm unlucky and get a trap box, let's see what bad thing it is, or, I get an empty box. Actually, except for getting a trap box, the remaining two possibilities are very good. The grand prize goes without saying, I can clear the game directly. If it is an empty box, I might be able to use the 'Exclude Empty Box' button. Then the excluded empty box may appear in any of these three rows. The third row is my bad luck, the second row and the first row are valuable to me."

Liu Mao wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He felt that this game was more torturous than directly fighting with people. He preferred simpler games, for example, not guessing boxes, but moving boxes, moving hundreds of boxes would be more worry-free than this.

At least, it's not mentally exhausting.

Liu Mao didn't have the energy to think more.

"Let's follow this idea first." Liu Mao took a deep breath, looked at the three boxes in the middle, and completely relying on feeling, picked up the middle box.

The next moment, the box broke, revealing what was inside.

It was a note.

It said 'Empty Box'.

"Huff ~" Liu Mao breathed out, but the sweat on his forehead increased.

Then he pressed the 'Exclude Empty Box' button. Of course, to trigger this button, he also had to pay a [Memory].

The next moment, the box on the left in the third row directly shattered, and the note inside read 'Empty Box'.

Seeing this, Liu Mao couldn't help but curse.

He rarely swore, but this time he couldn't help it.

"What a waste!" Not only was his forehead sweating, but his heart rate also began to accelerate, and his palms were full of sweat.

To be honest, this felt even more stimulating than fighting a ghost.

Liu Mao reached out and wiped his body, drying the sweat from his palms, then wiped his forehead with his sleeve, and finally rubbed his face again.

"Let me think again. I've already used a lot of [Memory] cards. Besides confirming that the 'Jackpot Box' isn't in the third row, I've also confirmed two other things. The first row of four boxes has at least one 'Trap Box.' In the second row, I touched an 'Empty Box' and also eliminated one 'Empty Box' from the third row. This is equivalent to eliminating at least three boxes. Now, the probability of touching the jackpot is one in six... No, no, I should change my way of thinking. If it were Luo Xi, he would definitely change his way of thinking. He would definitely analyze the second and third rows separately, that is, make assumptions. Luo Xi loves to make assumptions."

Liu Mao's eyes were fixed on the remaining two boxes in the second row and the four boxes in the first row.

"Let me also assume that the jackpot is in the second row. Then, if I continue to touch the second row, the probability of getting the jackpot is one in two; conversely, the first row is one in four, and it is known that there is at least one Trap Box in the first row, and, among the existing Trap Boxes, there will definitely be a 'Death Box'... Hey, wait a minute..."

Liu Mao suddenly realized something.

"There is only one Death Box, too. In other words, the probability of touching the jackpot and touching death is the same. Then, my thinking should shift from staring at the 'Jackpot' to figuring out the location of the 'Death Box,' and then choosing the one with the lowest probability of containing the Death Box and the highest probability of containing the 'Jackpot Box.'"

Liu Mao didn't know if this idea was correct, but he didn't have any better ideas anyway.

The latest chapter is available at 69shu.

"Now, the possible locations of the Death Box are two out of two in the third row, two out of two in the second row, and one out of four in the first row; while the jackpot exists in two out of two in the second row and one out of four in the first row. That is to say, the probability of touching the jackpot and touching death in the second row is the same. Also, I only used 'Eliminate Empty Box' once. Using it a second time only requires two [Memory] cards."

Thinking of this, Liu Mao didn't hesitate. His eyes stared at the four boxes in the first row, and then he decisively reached out and picked up the first box in the first row.

Inside, the note read 'Severed Finger.'

It was a Trap Box.

But seeing this note, Liu Mao smiled. Even as one of his hands was grabbed by the machine, and then his little finger was cut off by a sharp electric saw, he just clenched his teeth and didn't make a sound.

"Good luck, it's not death." Liu Mao quickly wrapped the wound with the hemostatic cotton and bandage placed nearby.

He didn't care about losing a finger.

"In this way, the probability of selecting the jackpot box in the first row has increased again. So, I choose to 'Eliminate Empty Box' again." Liu Mao knew that these two [Memory] cards were the last time he would pay in this round.

He would no longer use the 'Get Hint' or 'Eliminate Empty Box' buttons.

Pa~

The third box in the first row shattered. It was an Empty Box.

This result was not what Liu Mao wanted to see, but there was nothing he could do. That was the situation, and he had to accept it, good or bad.

Moreover, he suspected that there were no Empty Boxes left now.

Of the remaining four boxes, there was one Jackpot Box, and the remaining three boxes were Trap Boxes. One of the Trap Boxes contained death, and the jackpot was either in the second row or the first row. The same was true for death.

Both were a fifty-fifty chance.

"No, in this case, the probability of touching the Jackpot Box is still one in four. I still need a hint to eliminate the second row or the first row..." Liu Mao carefully reviewed the situation at this time, and he discovered a real situation.

That was that he was wrong.

His thinking was wrong, and he had made wrong choices in many places throughout the process.

Because in the end, he didn't really increase the probability of selecting the jackpot, and at the same time, the price he paid was very high.

The more he thought about it, the more anxious and irritable he became, filled with anger at himself.

Liu Mao, who had originally planned to buy a hint again, simply smiled.

He didn't think anymore, didn't analyze anymore, because he found that he wasn't naturally suited for this kind of thing.

"Four boxes, I'll just choose randomly." Liu Mao didn't hesitate anymore and gave up thinking. He looked at the box on the left side of the second row and reached out to grab it.

The box broke open.

Revealing the note inside.

It read 'Jackpot.'

"? ? ?" Liu Mao was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "If I had known, I would have chosen randomly. What a waste."

"Congratulations on drawing the Jackpot Box. Now you can choose one reward from the five boxes. The reward cards and quantities in each box are different. Of course, you can also choose to spend 2 [Memory] cards to eliminate the box with the fewest cards."

"Go f*** yourself!" Liu Mao cursed and randomly grabbed one based on his feeling.

Bang!

The box shattered, immediately revealing a stack of cards. There were a total of five, besides two [Memory] cards, the remaining three were all functional cards. Most importantly, among these three functional cards, there was one [Undead] card.