If “the rules are absolute” still applies to this second “game,” then what’s written on the mask is the key to breaking the puzzle.

But how do you break it?

And when will the harpoon be launched?

“The clock will not stop for a moment”...

Could it be at a quarter past one?

Ashley Carter turned to look at the clock on the table. It was already 1:05. If “a quarter past one” is the time the harpoon is launched, then there’s less than ten minutes left.

“Turn a hundred times toward the direction of your hometown”...

The nine people present all have different hometowns, and besides, “a hundred times” is no small number.

If they’re thinking in the wrong direction, it would be easy to waste these ten minutes.

But in this room, besides himself, what else can be “turned”?

Ashley Carter’s gaze lingered on the clock in the center of the table.

He leaned forward and gently touched the clock, only to find it was firmly fixed to the table, unable to move at all.

“If the clock can’t be moved, could it be the chair?”

Ashley Carter looked down at the chair beneath him. It was an old, musty-smelling, ordinary chair, just placed casually on the floor, with no mechanism.

If that’s the case, then there’s only...

Ashley Carter looked at the round table in the center of the room and finally noticed something odd.

This table can’t really be called a “round table,” because it seemed to be a polygon—just with so many sides that it gave the first impression of being “round.”

He reached out and tried to turn the tabletop, and sure enough, a faint sound of chains came from inside the table.

But the table was heavy. Even with considerable effort, Ashley Carter could only turn it a few centimeters.

“A hundred times...”

That number definitely can’t be done by just two or three people. All nine people present would have to work together to turn the tabletop if they wanted even a sliver of hope.

Ethan Green keenly noticed Ashley Carter’s action and called everyone to stop.

Everyone gathered around the table to take a look and found that the table could indeed be turned.

“You really are something, con man.” Brian Johnson nodded and said, “If we turn this table a hundred times, we should be able to open that invisible door.”

Ashley Carter glanced at the clock again. Time was tight, but now the problem had become more straightforward.

Turning this round table a hundred times toward the “hometown” direction—there are only two possible answers.

Left, or right.

But everyone’s hometown is in a different direction—east, south, west, north—so how do you determine left or right?

“Ashley Carter, do you already know when the harpoon will be launched?” Ethan Green asked, covering her mouth and nose.

“The hint says the time ‘won’t stop for a moment,’ so I guess it’ll be at 1:15.” Ashley Carter said softly.

Brian Johnson’s expression changed when he heard this: “Doesn’t that mean there’s less than ten minutes left? Let’s hurry up and start turning.”

Dr. Harris moved the corpse lying on the table to the side, then slowly sat down, reached out to test the weight of the table, and said, “But we only have one chance. If we turn this heavy table a hundred times and pick the wrong direction, what then?”

“Then we still have a fifty percent chance of survival!” Brian Johnson said anxiously. “If we do nothing, we’re dead for sure. If we turn it, there’s at least a fifty-fifty chance we’ll live. Let’s hurry!”

With that, he began to turn the tabletop to the left with all his strength.

Brian Johnson might look skinny, but he was actually very strong. By himself, he managed to turn the table half a circle.

“What are you all standing around for?! Damn it, help out!” Brian Johnson shouted at everyone.

The rest knew Brian Johnson made sense, so they had no choice but to help him turn the table together.

There was no right answer now—they could only take a gamble.

But Ashley Carter still didn’t move.

He didn’t know which way to think.

Left, or right?

Why is the keyword “hometown”...

Everyone here is Chinese, so is it “east”?

North is up, south is down, west is left, east is right—so the answer is “right”?

But what about the people whose hometowns are in the west?

Or maybe everyone’s hometown here is related to the “Zuo Zhuan” from the Spring and Autumn period, so the answer is “left”?

Ashley Carter closed his eyes slightly, originally wanting to use the two corpses to shield himself, but if everyone else died and the next game came, what would he do then...

“It’s not time to give up on them yet.”

Ashley Carter thought to himself, then reached out, grabbed a sheet of white paper from the turning tabletop, picked up a pen, stood up, and walked to the side. He found an empty spot, sat down, and began to write something quickly.

Although the others were a bit puzzled, they didn’t stop turning the table. By now, they had already turned it more than a dozen times.

“If he hadn’t introduced himself as a ‘con man,’ I’d have thought that guy was a mathematician.” Brian Johnson said to Emily beside him.

Emily was a bit dizzy from turning earlier and could only nod perfunctorily.

This time, Ashley Carter didn’t write out a vertical calculation, but instead roughly sketched a map of the country on the paper.

“Hometown...?”

His mind was racing, and suddenly he thought of something.