Chapter 3 The Skilled Individual

• The liar...
• Skyler silently repeated these two words to himself a few times in his heart, confirming his own identity. Then, without any change in expression, he quietly covered the card.
• Just a minute ago, he had also entertained the thought of everyone making it out alive.
• But things were different now.
• Even though he didn't know the eight individuals before him, this time, they were the ones destined to die.
• “If everyone has no objections, please remember the rules. In this game, there is only one liar...” Goat Head reached out, pointing to the sexy woman to Skyler's left. “Let's start with you, and we'll take turns clockwise.”
• “Huh? Me?” The woman was taken aback, immediately pursing her lips.
• Upon glancing around, Skyler found that going in a clockwise direction starting from the woman on his left would not particularly work out in his favor.
• He would become the final narrator.
• Under extremely tense and oppressive circumstances, people typically could only remember the first and the last narrators.
• Raising doubts at this point would seem overly abrupt, so his only option was to take things one step at a time.
• The seductive woman furrowed her brow, her wide eyes darting around anxiously. Eventually, she let out a sigh and said, “All right... I'll start, but I must warn you, I've never been good at telling stories since I was a child, so please don't blame me if it's not any good...”
• At that moment, everyone present didn't know what they could say; all they could do was listen in silence.
• The woman used her slender fingers to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear before she began.
• “My name is Candy, I'm... um... a 'technical staff'. We earn our living through our own skills, so I don't find that shameful.”
• It was only then that everyone noticed how scantily clad Candy was. She was wearing nothing but a grubby low-cut mini dress that barely covered what needed to be covered.
• Regardless, it seemed like she didn't really care about this matter.
• “There are many parts of my story that I find inconvenient to share with everyone... In short, if you ask me to act it out, I can, but if you ask me to describe it, I really don't know where to start. After all, why would anyone with a bit of education do what I do? Before I arrived, I was at work, but the client I encountered was truly bizarre. Even though our establishment clearly provided a service area, he insisted on going to his car, claiming it would be more exciting... So, in order to make money, I had no choice but to go with him. This was my first time working in a car, and I didn't expect that such a seemingly luxurious vehicle would be so cramped inside. Before long, I was drenched in sweat. I honestly didn't understand what was so thrilling about it. During all this, that client's phone kept ringing non-stop, but he stubbornly refused to answer it. It was driving me up the wall...”
• Candy seemed ready to continue berating the customer, but an accidental glance at the corpse on the table immediately sent a shiver down her spine. She took a deep breath and said, “Ah well, I've accepted the career path I've chosen. I just didn't expect an earthquake to suddenly occur. At first, I thought our actions were too rough, causing the intense shaking. Who would've guessed that it was an actual earthquake?”
• At the mention of an earthquake, everyone's expressions subtly shifted, as if recalling something.
• “The car was parked in a narrow alley, and right above us was a huge billboard. At that time, my head was sticking out of the car, and I had a clear view.” Candy pointed to the top of her head, her voice trembling as she spoke. “For some reason, that enormous billboard snapped and fell directly onto the car. That's when I lost consciousness...”
• She let out a long sigh, ending with, “When I woke up, I was here. I'm really scared...”
• Candy wore an aggrieved expression on her face, an expression that seemed to have been practiced to perfection, one that could stir a man's heart upon sight.
• The tattooed man, sitting next to her, paused slightly before saying, “Everyone, do we need to continue the storytelling?”
• The man in the white coat was taken aback as he looked at the tattooed man. “What do you mean?”
• “This lady has already lied, so we can proceed with the vote now,” the tattooed man confidently declared.
• “You...! What did you just say?” Candy was shocked as she demanded, “When did I lie?”
• The tattooed man cast a frosty glance at Candy. “Your name. You claim it's 'Candy', but all escorts use an alias. Aliases like Candy, Tiffany, and Lily are quite common, so by concealing your real name, you've already told a lie.”
• After the tattooed man finished speaking, Candy's face turned beet red.
• “W-What are you blabbering about? I'm just called Candy! I haven't used my real name in years!” Then, she looked around at everyone before adding, “At my workplace, you can only find me if you call me 'Candy'. No one would recognize me if you used my real name!”
• At this moment, everyone began to fall into deep thought, and the expression on Skyler's face also turned somewhat serious.
• From the way Candy had spoken earlier, Skyler didn't detect any hint of deceit. The rhythm of her storytelling was steady and her tone was calm.
• The way she narrated, as if she was simply chatting with a friend, could only indicate two possibilities. One, the story she was telling might have been concocted a long time ago, rehearsed over and over to herself. Or two, she was telling the truth.
• But now, the tattooed man offered Skyler a different perspective.
• And that was lying about one's name.
• Lying about one's name didn't necessarily involve logic or reason, so it was often hard for most people to spot the inconsistency.
• After all, everyone present had never met before, and they could only learn each other's names through their respective introductions.
• Skyler carefully pondered over Goat Head's words again. He had said, “Among all the storytellers, one person will be lying.” The rule did not specify that the liar had to use a “fake story” to lie. In that case, a “false name” could also apply.
• Realizing she was under suspicion, Candy's eyes widened in alarm, her demeanor becoming extremely tense. “If you still don't believe me,” she stuttered, “my real name is Juliana Zimmer... I'm from Sablehaven... You can try calling me by my real name, but I won't respond to it. I'll only respond to 'Candy'... I... I...”
• At this point, Skyler silently shook his head.
• This woman wasn't as intelligent as others would imagine.
• In other words, she couldn't have possibly concocted this lie in advance, let alone spontaneously come up with the scheme of lying about her name.
• Goat Head had stated there was only one liar, implying that the only possible person could be Skyler himself.
• If nobody else had noticed the severity of Candy's issue, then he had found a foolproof strategy to win.
• If he were to fabricate a name, Kinsley wouldn't be a good choice for a surname. Although this surname wasn't rare, it was not that common either. It would be wise to avoid using a surname that could so easily be remembered.
• In other words, everything he narrated had to draw as little attention as possible.
• Hence, he decided to call himself “Matthew Lewis.”
• He would recount the rest of his story truthfully, ensuring that even the most discerning individual wouldn't be able to spot any inconsistencies.
• The game was nearing its end.