The wooden door of the small cottage creaked shut, blocking the cold wind from outside. The fireplace flared up, making the room brighter and dispelling some of the chill.

Lin Yu pulled out a chair and sat down, looking at the other person.

The masked man shuffled the cards leisurely and asked, "How should I address you?"

Lin Yu raised an eyebrow. "You pulled me into this dream, yet you don't know who I am?"

"I'm aware of your code name, but I'd prefer to know... how you'd like me to address you."

The masked man spoke calmly.

Lin Yu interlaced his fingers on the table. "Just use the code name then... and you?"

The masked man smiled. "You can call me 'Consultant,' Mr. May May."

As he spoke, he flipped the golden cards one by one, spreading them out on the table.

The cards showed no numbers, instead displaying rock, scissors, and paper symbols.

"A rock-paper-scissors card game..."

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes.

But...

Since there were ten cards total, the distribution of rock, scissors, and paper wasn't balanced.

There were four rocks, four scissors, and two papers on the table.

Just from this numerical difference, Lin Yu had already thought of countless strategic possibilities.

"If these cards were evenly distributed, that would mean each of us would have two rocks, two scissors, and one paper."

"In that scenario... the timing of playing paper would be crucial—so according to the optimal solution for both sides, only playing scissors first would be a fixed high-yield strategy, while the rest would depend on luck."

"But that's based on the assumption of equal distribution. This shouldn't be just a game of pure luck... there must be other rules."

Sure enough, after spreading the cards on the table, the masked man spoke.

"As you can see, this is a deck of 'rock-paper-scissors cards'..."

"Although I believe you probably know the rules of rock-paper-scissors, I'll explain them anyway."

"Among these three card types, rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock."

"At the start, we'll each draw three cards from these ten, then proceed with the match. After all three cards are played, the person with more wins will take that round."

"If it's a tie after three cards, we'll reshuffle and draw two new cards. If it's still a tie, we'll reshuffle and draw two more—continuing until someone gets one more win."

"After each mini-round, we'll reshuffle and redraw three cards."

"After winning a mini-round... the winner can ask the loser one question. The loser can choose not to answer, but if they do answer, they must tell the truth."

"The first person to win three rounds achieves final victory—the final winner can ask the loser two additional questions... these two questions plus the reward question from the last mini-round make three questions total that cannot be refused."

"How about it, simple enough?"

After speaking, the masked man collected the golden cards and began shuffling them.

Lin Yu understood.

"Drawing three cards... that seems to increase the randomness."

So Lin Yu instinctively asked, "This probably isn't all the rules, right?"

"Of course not."

The masked man smiled and handed the golden cards to Lin Yu.

"I'm done shuffling... your turn to shuffle."

"To ensure you trust me, and also to give me time to explain the remaining rules."

Since there were only ten cards with limited thickness, Lin Yu couldn't use any fancy shuffling techniques and could only honestly cut the deck back and forth.

"Aren't you afraid I might cheat?"

The masked man laughed. "Cheating in front of me... I'm afraid even the 'Magician' couldn't manage that."

Hearing the other mention "Magician," Lin Yu continued shuffling without showing any reaction. "Quite confident... anyway, hurry up and explain the rules."

But Lin Yu understood clearly that the "Magician" the other referred to specifically meant Phantom from the 'Free Alliance.'

The other knew Phantom and might have dealt with him before.

Was this testing him?

Lin Yu quickly pondered.

Meanwhile, the masked man who called himself Consultant pulled out ten silver cards from his cloak.

"Alright, friend—these are 'assist cards.'"

As he spoke, Consultant flipped open the "assist cards" one by one, spreading them on the table.

The silver cards were divided into five types.

Two showed a pair of open eyes.

"The effect of this 'Eyes' card is to view two of the 'rock-paper-scissors cards' that weren't drawn this round."

Two showed a left hand.

"The effect of this 'Left Hand' card is to choose to draw one more rock-paper-scissors card for yourself, then discard one rock-paper-scissors card from your hand and show it to your opponent."

Two showed a right hand.

"The effect of this 'Right Hand' card is to choose for both yourself and your opponent to draw one rock-paper-scissors card and discard one. The card your opponent discards must be shown to you, but the card you discard doesn't need to be shown."

Two showed a mouth.

"The effect of this 'Mouth' card is to make your opponent declare which type of rock-paper-scissors card they have the fewest of in their hand."

Two showed an ear.

"The effect of this 'Ear' card is to make your opponent tell you which type of rock-paper-scissors card they definitely won't play next."

After Consultant finished explaining, he began shuffling the silver cards too.

"Each person starts with three 'assist cards,' but... after someone wins a mini-round, if the winner asks a question and the other refuses to answer, the winner can take one 'assist card.'"

"But conversely, if the other chooses to answer truthfully, the losing side who answers the question can take one 'assist card.'"

After explaining the rules, Consultant looked at Lin Yu.

"Any other questions, guest?"

"Yes."

Lin Yu immediately said.

Consultant noticeably paused, clearly not expecting Lin Yu to actually have questions.

In his view, his rules were flawless and his explanation clear and logical, and the player opposite him had an intelligent mind, so there shouldn't be any questions, right?

But the masked man still spoke seriously.

"Uh, what are your questions?"

"During the questioning phase after winning a mini-round, can I ask questions that the other absolutely cannot answer?"

"Like 'Please prove the Riemann hypothesis' or similar questions."

Consultant remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking. "You're the first person to think of this point and actually ask about it..."

"Wouldn't you rather ask about my identity or something? Especially since I've already told you I have the case 'clues' you want!"

Lin Yu smiled apologetically. "I can investigate the case myself, and your identity too."

Consultant looked Lin Yu up and down. "You're really... unprecedented."

"Thanks for the compliment, so can I ask such questions?"

"Of course not," Consultant sighed. "Questions that the other has no clue about are meaningless and require re-asking."

Lin Yu nodded. "Then how is it determined whether the other has a clue? Do you decide?"

"No, this dream realm itself determines that."

Consultant instinctively said, then placed both hands on the table.

"Wait a minute... are you fishing for information from me?"

Lin Yu directly admitted it.

"Yes, at least now I know that although you created this dream, you're not its controller either..."

He said calmly, tapping the table.

"Alright, let's start the game."