Inside the resort hotel near Fluorescent Beach, Association Star Envoy Gon had successfully trapped Chen Kong and the others, but he didn't seem to be in a hurry to capture Isabelle. As a seasoned expert in bullying the weak, Gon exuded unwavering confidence in his abilities, feeling completely in control of the situation.
He shook his head, the husky mask still on, and idly twirled the yellow card in his hand as he strolled to the center of the hotel lobby. Though he appeared unguarded, with numerous openings that might invite an immediate sneak attack, Chen Kong and his companions knew it was a deliberate trap. Any impulsive move would lead to the same outcome as Chen Xing's earlier misstep: a pre-match yellow card.
Having personally experienced its effects, Chen Kong and the others were now extremely wary of the yellow card in Gon's hand. Just one card could reduce Chen Xing's overall attributes by a third, an alarming penalty. Receiving several more could render them unable to even stand.
Recognizing that his 'bullying tactics' had been deciphered and they were no longer foolishly attacking him, Gon understood his yellow card strategy was temporarily ineffective. He wasn't overly concerned, however. His primary goal—to have Karma Flame Chen Xing, the most formidable of the trio on paper, receive a yellow card—had been achieved.
When an 'athlete' receives a yellow card, their overall attributes are reduced by one-third. If an athlete accumulates four yellow cards, it results in their immediate disqualification from the field.
Gon addressed the group, "Everyone, it seems you've understood the seriousness of maliciously attacking a referee during a match. In that case, let me explain the content and flow of the upcoming match."
With a crisp snap of his fingers, all the lights in the hotel lobby abruptly extinguished. A moment later, a dazzling spotlight pierced the darkness, centering on Gon in the middle of the lobby. Producing a microphone from seemingly nowhere, Gon began his pre-match address with a burst of excited showmanship.
Gon: "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I am your most trusted professional referee of Deep Blue Metropolis, Gon Bruce!!!" He paused for effect, then continued, "Welcome, everyone, to this Dodgeball Championship! Now, let's warmly welcome the Red and Blue teams onto the field!"
As Gon's words echoed, the spotlight shifted, fixing itself on Chen Xing of the Red Team. With one hand holding the microphone, Gon excitedly gestured towards Chen Xing, dramatically introducing her to the non-existent audience.
Gon: "First, let's introduce the Red Team's strongest ace, Karma Flame Chen Xing!!!" His voice boomed. "Don't let her young age fool you; she's only twelve, but her strength should not be underestimated. Her Star Source, Red Lotus Karma Flame, is a top-tier natural elemental Star Source, even renowned throughout the entire Star Envoy world. The title of Red Team's strongest ace is truly well-deserved!"
Finishing his introduction, Gon lowered the microphone and made an exaggerated, sweeping gesture, as if urging an unseen crowd to applaud. Amusingly, since Isabelle was the sole designated 'audience' member, despite her extreme reluctance, her body involuntarily applauded, filling her with acute embarrassment.
Once the applause subsided, Gon continued to introduce Chen Kong and Caroline.
Gon: "Next up is the second Red Team player, the genius girl of the Automatons, Quantum Phantom Caroline!" He paused briefly. "And our final Red Team player, the ordinary young man of the Specialized-type, Dreamweaver Chen Kong!"
Hearing Gon so accurately state their three Star Sources, Caroline's mind immediately began its analysis.
Though they had been in Deep Blue Metropolis for some time, they had never publicly revealed their Star Sources, nor had they registered their information with the Star Envoy Association. Gon shouldn't have known. Yet, he had stated them with pinpoint precision. Could his Star Source possess a function akin to information probing?
As Caroline pondered this, she noticed Gon looking directly at her from the field. His enigmatic smile clearly indicated that he had guessed her thoughts.
Indeed, Gon's Star Source, 'Referee,' did have an effect similar to 'Probe.' Its principle was a pre-match inspection: after selecting the 'athletes,' the referee could view their Star Source type, base Star Energy value, and various basic physical attributes.
Even a lion uses its full strength against a rabbit. This adage explained why Gon maintained a perfect mission completion rate, a rare achievement within the Star Envoy Association.
First, he was shameless. Despite having the power to advance to Level 3, he stubbornly remained at Level 2, refusing to break through. While Level 3 would grant him greater power, it would also bring a sharp increase in mission difficulty and more formidable, complex enemies.
Gon's Star Source was specifically designed for dominating weaker opponents. Consequently, a newly promoted Level 3 Gon might even be weaker in real combat than some exceptionally talented Level 2s.
Thus, no matter how much the higher-ups tried to persuade him, Gon would persistently claim a lack of talent, insisting he couldn't break through. He adopted a defiant stance: "As long as I have no dreams, no one can force me to have dreams," happily swimming in the comfortable "fish pond" of Level 2.
The second reason for Gon's perfect mission completion rate was his extreme caution. Despite his exaggerated demeanor and eccentric personality, he diligently prepared before accepting each mission, thoroughly assessing whether to take it on.
This included, naturally, the tasks for which he received illicit payments. Therefore, it wasn't that Gon could complete every mission he undertook; it was that he only undertook missions he was 100% certain he could complete. No one understood how to bully the weak better than Gon. When it came to bullying the weak, Gon was the professional!
While Caroline continued her observations, meticulously gathering information, Gon had already begun announcing the match flow.
Gon: "Alright, now that all members of the Red Team have been introduced, let's take a look at today's match content!"
Gon snapped his fingers, and a large projection screen materialized behind him. On the screen, Chen Kong and the others appeared as animated stick figures.
Gon: "Today's match is a 1v1 Dodgeball Championship, best two out of three. The team that wins two rounds first will achieve final victory." He elaborated, "At the start of each round, both the Red and Blue teams will send out one player to engage in a dodgeball round of dodging and attacking against the opponent's player."
He then outlined the rules:
Gon: "Rule One: If the defender fails to catch the attacker's ball, the attacking team maintains possession. Conversely, if caught, ball possession switches."
"Rule Two: If a player is hit three times in a single round, or leaves the designated playing field prematurely, their side is considered to have lost that round."
"Rule Three: During the match, attacking the referee in any form is prohibited. Violators will receive a yellow card. Accumulating three yellow cards results in immediate suspension from the match and the declaration of their side's loss for that round."
"Everyone, I declare, the match—"
Caroline: "Wait a moment."
Before Gon could announce the match's start, Caroline abruptly interrupted him. Gon's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Caroline step forward from the group. He felt he might have underestimated this automaton cat.
Caroline: "Referee, before the match begins, I believe we are allowed to ask questions regarding the match content, correct?" She continued, "And as the referee, you have an obligation to truthfully inform us. After all, if this were a real match, what I just said would be true."
Gon: "Tsk, you actually found out." Gon contemptuously pursed his lips, then said, displeased, "Ask away, ask away. As long as it's related to the match, I can answer you truthfully. As for anything else unrelated to the match, sorry, no comment."
Caroline nodded, then stated:
Caroline: "My first question: is there a limit of one appearance per person per round in this match's player selection?"
Gon was stunned. He hadn't expected Caroline to immediately deduce the 'hidden rule' he had set. Conventionally, in a best-of-three match, Caroline's side, having three players, would subconsciously assume they could only field one person per round, prohibiting anyone from playing twice.
The reason Gon could play consecutively was that the Blue Team only consisted of him. To ensure the match proceeded smoothly, he was allowed to break this single-round player limit.
However, in reality, the rule of 'one appearance per person' never existed from the start. If such a rule truly existed, Gon would have explicitly stated it in the initial 'public rules.' The reason he concealed this was twofold: first, he had no obligation to inform them; second, he wanted to exploit Caroline and the others' subconscious assumptions to create implicit advantages for himself.
Although he greatly wished not to tell Caroline the truth, due to the limitations of his own Star Source, he could only truthfully provide the answer.
Gon: "Yes, a player can appear multiple times. In fact, if the rest of you agree, that person can even play three consecutive rounds." He added a caveat, "However, if that person has a yellow card, it will not be removed at the end of their single round; it will persist until the end of the entire match."
After receiving the answer to that question, Caroline suddenly pointed to a clock in the lobby and asked:
Caroline: "My second question: is the match time for this game based on real-world time, or... the time of a special subspace?"
Gon: "..."
Silence. A deathly silence fell. Gon looked at Caroline as if seeing her anew. A moment later, Gon dropped his previous exaggerated and flashy demeanor, speaking in a serious, low voice.
Gon: "When did you find out?"
Caroline: "I found out from the moment you began to unhurriedly explain the rules to us."
Gon: "Why?"
Facing this question, Caroline suddenly smiled.
Caroline: "Because I believe a certain idiot wouldn't be held up by you for so long. And if he's not having problems, then if he hasn't appeared by now, the problem... must be with us. Either he can't find us, or we're in a different time flow.
But the former is impossible, and by eliminating all impossibilities, whatever remains, however absurd, must be the truth. Combining this with the current deserted state of the hotel, the only reasonable explanation I can think of for this situation is a subspace, existing between virtual and reality."
Hearing this, Gon couldn't help but retort:
Gon: "Why is it impossible for him not to find you? That guy might be strong, but he's only Level 1 after all. I am a noble Level 2."
Facing this question, Caroline gave an answer Gon had never considered. As an automaton, Caroline actually discarded all objectivity and rationality, giving a very idealistic answer.
Caroline: "Because I firmly believe that no matter where I hide, that guy will definitely find me, just as I also firmly believe that no matter where that guy runs, I will definitely find him too."
Gon: "..."
Gon sighed, then said, utterly speechless, "Compared to an automaton, I somehow feel like you're more human. You know, only humans would incorporate subjective thoughts into objective intelligence analysis and use that as a basis to completely ignore all other practical factors and real evidence."
To this, Caroline smiled and replied:
Caroline: "Is that so? Then it seems I've done well, after all, that idiot once told me that he found it more fun for me to be a person than to be an automaton."
Gon: "If you put it that way, then the guy you're talking about is definitely an idiot, because automatons become much less useful once they develop thoughts."
Caroline: "I think so too, but..." Caroline looked at Gon and whispered, "...that's also that guy's charm, isn't it? After all, it's because of him that I feel truly alive in this world. And it's also because of him that I have the desire to continue living as a human."
Gon: "..."
Gon stared at Caroline in silence for a long time, then couldn't help but say, "To be able to fool someone like you, known for your rationality and calmness, into such a state, the guy you're talking about must be quite the smooth talker."
Caroline thought for a moment and said:
Caroline: "He's certainly good with words, and I don't know how his mind works, but he always manages to say things that make you rack your brains trying to understand. However, to make me like this, words alone aren't enough. After all, compared to potentially deceitful words, we automatons value actual objective actions more. And in that regard, that guy... has always done very well."
Gon couldn't help but say, "What if even his actions are deceiving you? You know, this world is never short of people whose actions are also deceptive."
Caroline: "Hmm, if that were truly the case..." Caroline pondered for a moment, then answered without hesitation, "...Then let him deceive me for a lifetime."
Gon: "..."
Damn it!!! I really deserve this; I shouldn't have asked that extra question!!!