The Earth is Online

There was a creaking sound and the short hour hand under Tang Mo’s foot started to slide slowly to the left. It slid clockwise four times before finally falling on the 24th square. Tang Mo stepped forward and headed to the 24th square. At the other end of the truth clock, the minute hand under the black rabbit slide backwards. It moved back two squares and the rabbit should go to the 60th square. The minute hand stopped but the black rabbit was slow to move.

The truth clock’s indifferent voice was heard. Player 0, please enter the correct square.”

The black rabbit jumped into the 60th square.

The huge Russian black rabbit doll slammed into the ground, causing it to shake. At the end of this round, both the black rabbit and Tang Mo weren’t punished. The black rabbit moved back two squares and clearly gave up on eliminating the items. However, Tang Mo moved back four squares.

Why did this number look wrong?

“Last time it was a level five non-universal truth. What is the reason this time?” Tang Mo’s calm voice was heard.

The black rabbit looked up and stared coldly at Tang Mo without speaking.

Tang Mo smiled and didn’t say anything else.

If someone were watching right now, they would find that the black rabbit seemed to have completely changed personalities. It was different from before. The black rabbit had always shown a fierce, angry and arrogant image towards Tang Mo. As soon as it walked onto the truth clock, it threatened to eat Tang Mo and said Tang Mo’s eyeballs would be good with sugar.

According to the black rabbit, it had passed through the truth clock and eaten countless humans.

This black rabbit was similar to every black tower monster that Tang Mo had seen. It was neurotic, sinister and vicious. The attitude towards humans was only as ‘food’. It also liked to hum out of tune songs and say creepy words. If there was one thing different, it was probably that the black rabbit was too bad at acting. Whether it was Mario or Pinocchio, they all loved acting. It was their greatest pleasure to see humans being fooled by themselves.

One human and one rabbit quietly looked at the truth clock. After a long time, a hoarse male voice emerged from the Russian doll. “When did you find out?”

“From the beginning.”

The black rabbit’s eyes widened with astonishment and it cried out, “From the beginning?”

In the quiet dark space, Tang Mo looked at the Russian doll not far away and explained, “Before the game began, I grabbed Mr. Rabbit’s tail and fell directly onto the truth clock. I had no choice but to stand on this clock because I was blocked by an invisible cage and unable to leave. But…” Tang Mo paused and stared at the black rabbit. “You came up on your own.”

The black rabbit’s face was full of astonishment as it kept thinking. A minute passed and it finally understood where it went wrong, forcing it to smile.

Yes, Tang Mo had wondered about the black rabbit’s purpose from the beginning.

The black rabbit took the initiative to walk onto the truth clock. Before stepping onto it, the black rabbit’s body wasn’t limited by the truth clock and it could move freely. After walking onto the truth clock, it was trapped in the small one square metre space like Tang Mo. It said that it had played the truth clock game before and had eaten quite a few humans. It knew the way to open the truth clock and showed a good understanding of the game.

However, after walking onto this clock, no one could guarantee that they wouldn’t die in the game which was under the full control of the truth clock. Where did the black rabbit’s confidence that it would definitely beat Tang Mo, not lose the game and fall into the black hole of truth come from?

There were two possibilities. First, it was so arrogant that it didn’t take a human player like Tang Mo seriously. But the more likely option was that it was relying on something.

What did the black rabbit rely on that allowed it to confidently walk onto the truth clock and play the game of life and death with Tang Mo?

In the first 30 minutes, Tang Mo had been thinking about this issue. He thought it was a special prop or maybe the black rabbit was really smart and good at playing this game. This lasted until 48 items appeared and Tang Mo and the black rabbit tried their best to eliminate the items. Tang Mo ended up advancing seven squares while the black rabbit moved back a full 10 squares.

“Whenever there are a small number of objects, you always move further than me and have the upper hand. Once many items appear, whether it is the 38 items in the third round or the 28 items in the eighth round, you move forward a lot less than I do.” Tang Mo’s voice was calm. “With fewer items, you advance. With many items, you retreat. This game is a test of the player’s brain power, eyesight and memory. The more items there are, the higher the difficulty of the game. The difficulty increases exponentially. These two rounds prove that you aren’t stronger than me. You are actually much weaker than me.”

The black rabbit protested, “There were a few items I had never seen before.”

Tang Mo ignored it. “In particular, the third round with 48 items. You went back too much. The advantages that you accumulated in two rounds disappeared and you still haven’t made it up now. This shows that you and I are equal when participating in this truth clock game. You have no props or treasures and can’t guarantee that you will advance more than me. Then this is the problem. Why on earth did you walk onto the truth clock and start this game?”

This was a game where they were betting their lives and victory was unsure. How could the black rabbit boldly walk onto the truth clock?

There was only one possibility.

“It isn’t that you want to come up, you were forced to come up.” Tang Mo concluded.

The black rabbit looked at Tang Mo with a complicated and strange expression and its body shook slightly. A moment later, it started to laugh. A hoarse and unpleasant laughter emerged from the wooden body. It was laughing but it sounded drained. There was no longer the rage from before.

The black rabbit thought a lot. From the moment it walked onto the truth clock, it thought about to how to deceive this player. It did its best, trying to intimidate Tang Mo and constantly concealing itself as a blind and arrogantly stupid rabbit. Tang Mo was fooled by it but it still lost.”

“I lost to luck.” The black rabbit stated. “If I knew all four difficult items in the round just now, I could’ve told you the information and let you answer the four items. Instead, you chose to answer two objects and gave up on the other two, meaning you weren’t punished. There is the delicious stowaways bun and the other object is clearly human blood. You should know with one glance how these two should be eliminated. It’s just that I didn’t know the biscuit and pink sachet and couldn’t give you a hint. Thus, you chose to give up and not answer.”

‘Rule 10: every hour, there will only be four items on the truth clock. The truth of these items is the most difficult truth.’

The first time an item with a difficult truth appeared, the black rabbit ‘inadvertently’ exposed the information of the delicious stowaways bun. In that round, Tang Mo moved back three squares and the black rabbit moved back one. Tang Mo should have no problem with the number of squares. He would understand that he answered the truth of two objects wrongly and gave up on eliminating two items, thus making him retreat three squares.

The problem was that he wasn’t punished. The black rabbit’s brain moved quickly and it immediately said that this was a ‘level five non-universal truth’ and Tang Mo could be exempted from punishment. Some people might really believe these words but Tang Mo wouldn’t believe them. And…

“The half eaten biscuit is the favourite brand of Grandmother Wolf. The pink sachet is placed at the head of Grandmother Wolf’s bed. This is the individual truth between them.” The black rabbit was shocked when it heard this and looked at Tang Mo with consternation, only to see Tang Mo smile and say, “These were the two objects I eliminated. I gave up on eliminating the bun and the blood.”

The black rabbit cried out, “You know what the bun and blood are but you didn’t eliminate them?”

“You are my enemy. The information that the enemy revealed to you, even if there is a 90% or 100% chance of it being correct… would you believe it?”

The black rabbit, “…”

Tang Mo licked his lips when he saw the black rabbit’s frustrated expression.

In fact, there were many things he hadn’t said but there was no need to mention them. In this game, the black rabbit lost its biggest trump card.

The black rabbit and Tang Mo, they were two objects that could be eliminated.

From the beginning, Tang Mo said that the ‘black rabbit is a black tower boss’ and the truth clock denied it. This was to imply that the black rabbit wasn’t a black tower boss or it might not even be a black tower monster. It was a human.

The black rabbit gained the upper hand whenever there were fewer items. When they were many items, Tang Mo gained the advantage. This wasn’t because the black rabbit could only eliminate fewer objects and became stuck with a large number of objects. It was because the ‘two squares advantage’ that the black rabbit received disappeared when there were many items.

The black rabbit had the two square advantage. This occurred because Tang Mo wouldn’t eliminate himself and the black rabbit every round, causing him to move back at least two squares in every round. This was difficult for Tang Mo to discover. For example, in the first round of the game, there were six items and he moved back one square. Tang Mo thought that he answered two objects correctly and was wrong for four items. Thus, he moved forward one square and back two. The end result was moving back one square. (0+1-2= -1). However, he actually answered four items correctly. He advanced two squares but because he didn’t eliminate himself and the black rabbit, he had to move back two squares. Add the one mistake he made and he ended up moving back one square.

Another example was that only two items appeared in the previous round. This was simply tempting Tang Mo to quickly eliminate the items and win the game. However, Tang Mo chose to give up. He didn’t eliminate these two items. Suppose he eagerly eliminated these items and could advance one square. However, because he didn’t eliminate himself and the black rabbit, he would be forced to retreat two squares. The end result was retreating one square, which would be explained by ‘Tang Mo answered the wrong truth.’

It was only when he moved back four squares that he could prove there really were two objects that could be eliminated but weren’t eliminated. These two objects were Tang Mo and the black rabbit.

The game rules had one big bug. If Tang Mo and the black rabbit simultaneously eliminated all the items on the truth clock, who would be the winner?

There were three ways to clear the game: catch up with the other player, the other player dying from the punishment or eliminating all items.

There could be only one winner on the truth clock. If two players eliminated all the items at the same time, who was the real winner? The biggest loophole in the rules of the game made Tang Mo decide to give up on eliminating these two items. There was only one answer that explained this loophole. The rules for the black rabbit were different.

Tang Mo could pass the game by eliminating all items. The black rabbit couldn’t pass the game by eliminating all items.

Tang Mo gave up on eliminating the two objects to determine the black rabbit’s true goal.

10 minutes soon passed and 14 lights flashed in the centre of the truth clock. The black rabbit saw the 14 rays of light and realized something. “I haven’t lost!”

Tang Mo looked at it.

The black rabbit’s face was fierce again as joy flashed on its fac.e “Yes, the game has just begun. I haven’t lost and you haven’t necessarily won. You will lose as long as I catch you! So what if you know? It has just become a fair battle. I will surely win!”

The blue light gradually darkened. Tang Mo looked at the black rabbit and smiled. Before the 14 items were revealed entirely, he said quietly, “I have guessed the general truth. There is only one thing I’m not sure about. The black tower can force players to participate in the game and perhaps it can also force the underground people or black tower monster to participate. As I entered the game, the black tower said it was my solo game. Thus….”

The blue lights completely dissipated and 14 items appeared. The second hand moved again as the clock made a mechanical sound, reminding the two players to prepare to eliminate the truth.

With the truth clock as the background sound, Tang Mo’s eyes became cold. “The only thing I’m not sure about is…” He clearly enunciated every word. “Are you a human player?”

The black rabbit’s expression changed and it suddenly laughed. “Stupid human, do you think I am a human? That is the best joke I’ve heard this year. I will definitely eat you. Hahaha, I will rip you to pieces and eat you.”

Tang Mo’s lips curved. “Oh, you really are a human player.”

The black rabbit’s laughter stopped as it stared at Tang Mo with disbelief. Tang Mo no longer looked at him but was looking down at the 14 objects.

The black rabbit roared, “Tang Mo!”

Tang Mo was stunned and raised his eyebrows. “You even know my name? This is a bit unfair.”

The tenth round of the game officially began.