Hell's Handbook

Chapter 158: Fact Or Fiction

“My game is very simple. Each of you will play it just once. I will make a statement and you shall decide if it’s fact or fiction. If you make the wrong decision, you will die!” The female voice sounded flirtatious again, but the word “die” still sent chills down everyone’s spine.

“Who wants to go first?” asked the female voice.

Everyone automatically turned to look at Su Jin and Xiang Nan. As the two strategists of the group, they concluded that they would be good at something like this.

“I’ll go first,” said Su Jin with a sigh. He didn’t think there was much point in observing the game first, because he had a feeling that she was going to ask questions that were pertinent to that particular owner.

“You look pretty average, but your luck with women is better than I had imagined. So…this woman here, Kano Mai, as well as another woman, Ye Yun, both truly love you. Do you think that’s fact? Or fiction?”

Su Jin’s eyes widened in shock while Chu Yi smirked as if he had sensed it all along. Su Jin was in a very awkward position now. He knew how Kano Mai felt about him, but he liked Ye Yun, so he wasn’t able to reciprocate Kano Mai’s feelings for him.

“You only have ten minutes to consider your answer. If you give me the wrong answer, you shall die here!” the female voice reminded Su Jin.

Su Jin frowned as he turned to look at Kano Mai. Kano Mai immediately looked at the floor. Having her feelings exposed like this made her feel really shy.

Do they love me? Su Jin began to wonder. Kano Mai was probably really in love with him, but what about Ye Yun? Based on the way she behaved before disappearing and how she only told him and Tang Ning where she was going, she probably liked him too. But what was this female voice really asking him? Was the focus on whether they loved him or not? Or was it on whether their love was true or not?

Su Jin really wasn’t too sure about this and felt that there was more to this question. He couldn’t help but look toward Kano Mai again, and this time, she plucked up the courage to face him. She wanted to help him, and the best way to help him right now was to tell him exactly how she felt.

She nodded at him to confirm her feelings for him. It was true that she was in love with him. She wasn’t revealing this because she hoped that he would accept her feelings, but to help him with giving an answer.

He felt his heart skip a beat and his lips trembled slightly. Since Kano Mai did have feelings for him, then that meant…wait a minute.

Su Jin paused for a moment. Something was still not quite right. His mind quickly started processing everything again and he finally took a deep breath before declaring, “It’s fiction. You’re lying to me. Neither of them love me.”

Everyone was too stunned for words. They had all seen Kano Mai nod at Su Jin, which meant that at least Kano Mai did love him.

“Boss, are you too touched or excited, so you tripped over your own words? Didn’t you see her nodding at you?” yelled Chu Yi anxiously.

Kano Mai was also nervous as she said, “Jin, I…I…do like you. It’s true.”

“Is that your final answer?” said the female voice.

Su Jin smiled and nodded. “Yup. That’s my final answer. Neither loves me.”

.

Kano Mai trembled all over and tears filled her eyes. What was wrong with this man? She had already told him how she really felt.

“Tell me your reason,” said the female voice.

Su Jin scoffed. “You’ve been playing word games with me. You asked if they both truly love me, but the word ‘love’ can be so misleading.”

Everyone was even more confused after hearing Su Jin’s explanation. Su Jin went on, “Love represents the most beautiful emotion of mankind and it’s something that everybody yearns to have, whether it’s the love between two lovers or the love between family members. But when it comes to two people who haven’t actually confirmed their relationship status, using the word ‘love’ is a little too strong. After confessing their feelings for one another and getting a positive response, the couple can then slowly reach a point where they can say they truly love each other. Before that…just like what Mai said, she does truly like me, but she wouldn’t use the word ‘love’.”

“You’ve purposely tried to confuse me by using a similar word that conveys similar meanings. The two of them might have feelings for me, but since I haven’t reciprocated them, then we’re still at the ‘like’ stage. You can’t call that love. Do not use this word so carelessly!”

The female voice seemed to vanish for several seconds before speaking again, “Congratulations, you’ve guessed it right! These two ladies do like you very much, but like you said, the word ‘love’ should not be used carelessly.”

Su Jin breathed a sigh of relief. He had nearly said that the voice’s statement was true. But after Kano Mai said that she liked him, he became sure of the logic behind his answer.

“Mai, thank you. I nearly fell for her trap,” Su Jin thanked Kano Mai.

Kano Mai’s entire face was crimson and she looked a little awkward as she said quietly, “I’m sorry, Jin. I…nearly misled you.”

He laughed and said, “Don’t say that! If you hadn’t said those things, I might have really been misled. I’m really grateful for the way you feel about me and I really can’t reciprocate them in that way, but no matter what, I will still be your most loyal friend and your most reliable backup.”

“Hey, Boss! There are some words that shouldn’t be thrown around carelessly! How could you say you’re her most anything? You’re making it sound like I’m not loyal or I’m not reliable!” Chu Yi came over and glared at Su Jin indignantly before turning to Kano Mai with an ingratiating smile. “Sister Mai, what are your thoughts about dating a younger man?”

Kano Mai whacked the younger man promptly on the head as her response.

“So, who’s next?” the female voice resounded once more.

“I’ll go next.” Xiang Nan stepped forward. He thought the same way as Su Jin. If the questions were personal, then standing by to watch and wait wasn’t going to make much difference.

“Oho! You’re a clever one! I like clever people. So…your little team fell apart because of your mistake and your incorrect judgment caused the death of your friend. Is that fact or fiction?” The female voice sounded really mean as she asked Xiang Nan about something he was least willing to face up to.

Su Jin frowned. This was possibly the worst question to ask Xiang Nan. It was going to be hard for Xiang Nan to remain calm.

And just as Su Jin had feared, Xiang Nan immediately clenched his fists after hearing the question, which meant that he was going through an inner struggle. When the Challenge started, he had told Su Jin and Kano Mai that the team had disbanded because of something he had done.

“Mr. Xiang, keep calm and think rationally. What’s right or wrong doesn’t change depending on your emotions. You need to face it bravely and make the correct judgment,” Su Jin said to Xiang Nan. He believed that as long as Xiang Nan could remain calm, he’d definitely make the right decision and survive this round.

But it was so hard for Xiang Nan to remain calm. Even though Su Jin had already tried to advise him, Xiang Nan was still facing great difficulty in controlling his emotions. He shut his eyes and tears began streaming down his cheeks.

“It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault! If I hadn’t made a poor judgment, if…if I hadn’t been stubborn in sticking to my own opinions, Brother Yu wouldn’t have died!” Xiang Nan cried bitterly as he fell to his knees.

Su Jin could barely believe how Xiang Nan could have been so affected by just one statement like that. He felt that there was more than met the eye, so he sent out his psychokinesis to take a closer look at this place but it was blocked immediately.

The woman’s voice whispered into his ear, “Young man, I can see that your psychokinesis is strong, so I did not use any hallucination techniques on you. But if you dare to ruin my game, I will kill everyone here!” Her voice was menacing and she practically shrieked the last bit out.

He felt a sharp pain in his head and nearly fell to the floor. Thankfully, Chu Yi caught him in time. Chu Yi asked worriedly, “What’s wrong, Boss?”

“I’m fine,” said Su Jin through gritted teeth. He was horrified that these questions that the female voice was asking included making the owners hallucinate and think they were at the scene of the context surrounding the question. His psychokinesis was able to fight against such techniques, so he did not end up seeing any hallucinations, but he was not allowed to help anybody else. The female voice had obviously sensed that he was trying to use his psychokinesis, so she stopped him and gave him a warning.

But he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing either, since these hallucinations could be a matter of life and death.

He could only say to his team mates, “When you guys go through her test later, just remember one thing. Keep your minds clear and don’t let anything else affect your judgment.” He dared not mention anything about hallucinations because he was afraid that the female voice would kill them all.

“Humph, do you take us as idiots?” Situ Jin scoffed a little disdainfully. By joining the team, he had accepted Su Jin to a certain extent. But his main aim was to become more powerful and to be able to better observe and analyze this young man.

“Got it, Boss.”

“Don’t worry, Jin.”

Unlike how judgmental Situ Jin was, Chu Yi and Kano Mai took his advice seriously and nodded in response.

By this time, Xiang Nan was crying so loudly, it echoed. The female voice spoke again, “Tell me, is it true? Or is it a lie?”

Xiang Nan trembled violently as he raised his head. His face was covered in tears, but he gritted his teeth and said, “No! I…I cannot agree with this statement! My duty is to strategize for the team, but every judgment that I make is…is based on the information and understanding that every member of the team has! The team is gone and Brother Yu is dead too, but before dying, he told me…regardless of whether we make it to the end or not, the team will share everything!”

“So, the statement you made is a lie! Things turned out this way for the team because the team wasn’t capable enough for that Challenge! It wasn’t purely because of what I did, so I will not agree with this statement!” yelled Xiang Nan.

His eyes glowered angrily, enraged by the hallucinations that the female voice had given him.

“What a resilient fellow! Well, you win!” said the female voice.

Xiang Nan stumbled and Su Jin ran over to catch him. He panted heavily as he grabbed hold of Su Jin’s arm and whispered, “Mr. Su, the questions are not a matter of getting them right or wrong…” His voice trailed off as he fainted.

“I’ll go next!” Kano Mai stepped forward for her question.