"Beep—"
The piercing buzz echoed in the confined space, waking the drowsy Wei Xinjian.
He suddenly awoke, instantly realizing he was securely locked in place with specialized iron rings at his wrists, ankles, and waist, and the iron chair was welded directly to the ground.
Even his mouth was tightly bound with cloth, allowing only muffled sounds to escape.
The fog in his mind gradually cleared, and his sore eyes started to adapt.
He surveyed his surroundings.
The place looked like an abandoned underground warehouse, with no light entering, only a lone, dim, old incandescent bulb hanging from a rusted steel structure.
The air was filled with a damp, musty smell, mixed with a trace of decay.
On the wall to his right hung an old cathode-ray tube television, showing nothing but static snow.
In the center of the warehouse was a somewhat decayed heavy wooden square table, with a silver revolver placed atop.
Opposite Wei Xinjian was a young man, still unconscious.
Like Wei Xinjian, the young man was firmly locked in an iron chair, mouth bound with cloth.
But Wei Xinjian quickly noticed two distinct differences between himself and the young man: his right hand could move freely, and there was a special mechanism beside his head.
It was like a giant clamp, with a rugged and complex gear system, two heavy iron blocks positioned on either side of his head, aimed at his profile.
"Mmm! Mmm mmm mmm…"
Wei Xinjian immediately began to shake his body violently, trying to make a sound.
But there was no response whatsoever in the dark underground warehouse.
Wei Xinjian used his free right hand to grab the lock ring on his left wrist, trying to open it with force.
After this proved futile, he then tried to unlock the ring at his waist, with no success.
At that moment, the static-filled television emitted an emotionless electronic voice.
Accompanying the voice, the television displayed an image.
But it wasn't a person; it was an explanation of the game rules.
[Hello, Wei Xinjian.]
[You are now facing judgment, taking part in a game called 'Wheel of Redemption.']
[Here are the game rules:]
[As you can see, in this confined space, there is an innocent person, a revolver, and one live bullet.]
[The revolver's cylinder has 6 chambers, with five empty chambers randomly distributed.]
[On both sides of your head is a special mechanism, the total gap on each side of your head is 6cm, averaging 3cm per side.]
[You have only two choices: either shoot yourself in the forehead or shoot the innocent person opposite you.]
[If you fire a blank at yourself, nothing will happen.]
[If you fire a blank at the innocent person, the mechanism on both sides of your head will move inward, 1.29cm each side.]
[On the third movement of the mechanism, it will cause you harm.]
[If you are hit by a live bullet, you will die instantly.]
[After the revolver is fired 6 times, the game will end, and all mechanisms will unlock.]
[You have 5 minutes to complete this game, and any violation or timeout will result in instant death - the iron blocks will crush your head.]
[I want to know, after committing an unforgivable sin, have you ever felt a shred of remorse?]
[Are you willing to place the innocent person's life above your guilty one?]
[The game starts now, good luck!]
The image on the television disappeared, replaced again by static snow.
Meanwhile, with a "snap," an old-fashioned LED electronic timer popped up on the table, the bright red numbers beginning to count down.
05:00…
04:59…
"Mmm! Mmm mmm mmm…"
Wei Xinjian struggled even more violently, his bloodshot eyes filled with veins, but the locks on his entire body remained firm, with no chance of escape.
After a brief hesitation, he reached out with his only movable right hand and grabbed the silver revolver on the table.
Then, Wei Xinjian tried to bring the gun closer to his eyes, wanting to inspect the cylinder and determine the position of the bullet.
—The game rules said there was only one live bullet.
If there was a visual difference between the blanks and the live round, then by identifying the position of the only live bullet, he could fire blanks at himself and the live round at the other to survive.
However, as he performed this action, a string of blue electricity suddenly surged through the chair, along with a sizzling electric current sound!
"Ahhhh—"
Wei Xinjian screamed in agony, his eyes rolling uncontrollably upward, his body convulsing continuously, and nearly dropping the gun.
[Warning once, any further violation will result in instant death.]
Wei Xinjian's eyes were bloodshot, his entire body drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.
This revolver's design was peculiar, and it was impossible to determine the position of the live bullet by mere observation.
Wei Xinjian dared not attempt any further, the risk of instant death loomed.
He glanced at the innocent person still locked in an iron chair opposite, and then swallowed nervously, raising the gun with a grim expression.
He did not know the young man across, but he had made his choice.
The revolver's cylinder could hold six bullets, with only one being live, making the probability of immediate death upon firing 1/6.
If Wei Xinjian shot himself and encountered a blank, it would be a happy ending, nothing would happen.
But there remained a 1/6 chance of instant death.
At this moment, the iron blocks on either side of Wei Xinjian were not close to his head, maintaining the 6cm gap mentioned in the rules.
This meant the first two movements would not harm him.
Fear of the bullet and the will to survive drove him to an inevitable choice.
Wei Xinjian gritted his teeth and suddenly pulled the trigger!
"Click."
It was a blank.
Clunk, clunk, clunk—
The dull mechanism sounded; metal gears scraped against each other as the iron blocks on either side of Wei Xinjian's head moved inward, the cold iron already touching his ears.
"Mmm! Mmm mmm mmm!"
Wei Xinjian angrily pounded the iron chair, but the shot was already irreversible.
The cold iron blocks near his ears emitted a bone-chilling cold that sent another kind of fear surging through him.
The second shot.
Wei Xinjian quivered as he turned the gun on himself.
But soon, he reconsidered and aimed the gun back at Lin Sizhi.
If the probability of hitting the live round in the first shot was 1/6, it had now increased to 1/5.
Wei Xinjian dared not gamble.
What if the game's creator anticipated this mindset and placed the live round on the second shot?
After hyperventilating, Wei Xinjian decided to let the other bear the risk.