Chapter 590: The Real Impostor

As the only office worker among the players, Xu Guangxin's health should have been the worst of the group. He was regularly working overtime and staying up late, constantly moving between homes, and his diet was almost certainly as disordered as the rest of his life. He was practically a carbon copy of the victim himself, ticking every box. Not that this was unusual. Which office worker didn't live that way?

The broader environment had left every working person with no choice but to adopt the same kind of lifestyle.

So even without considering him the most seriously guilty, voting for him under the 'Health' criterion was entirely valid.

During voting, players could not communicate, and each person's judgment of the offences was not consistent. So even two players from the same community would not necessarily concentrate their votes on the same target.

A five-way tie was a significant stroke of chance, but it had ultimately produced the grim result of everyone suffering chest pain simultaneously.

Deng Xiao could feel himself approaching the edge of death. He touched the carving on the back of his board, and the lump in the vessel seemed to have grown again.

Worse still, his heart was beating faster and faster, and everything about how his body felt was deteriorating.

"Enough of this."

This time, Deng Xiao did not look toward Lu Bingjun. He simply pressed the 'Help' button directly before the new round began.

As long as the Impostor was alive, this game would keep going indefinitely.

The player who most looked like the Impostor, Shi Guoliang, also appeared to be nearing the end of what he could endure. But Deng Xiao could not afford to gamble on which of them would go first.

Deng Xiao had received more Sudden Death Votes than Shi Guoliang, but his physical constitution was sturdier. Shi Guoliang was older and had previously undergone cardiac stent surgery, so even with slightly fewer votes, his situation was not reassuring.

If Shi Guoliang died first and was later confirmed as the Impostor, the game would end immediately.

The situation at this point was in complete chaos. Almost all the players' offences had been exposed, and no one had any control over where the votes would fall.

Deng Xiao now understood why the players from Communities 7 and 11 had used their assistance opportunity so early.

The earlier you used it, the more you could influence the vote distribution, establishing an advantage from the start.

But at this point, there were no other options left.

[Deng Xiao has used the 'Help' function. Lin Sizhi from the same community will speak on their behalf.]

[All originally scheduled activities for this round will be cancelled. All speaking time will be given to the audience representative.]

[For the voting phase, the audience representative may compel all players to vote according to either the 'Offence' or 'Health' criterion only.]

Lin Sizhi's voice came through the speaker.

"You should have called for assistance sooner.

"Shi Guoliang is not the Impostor.

"That sentence was a trap deliberately laid by the Imitator, and Shi Guoliang stumbled into it without understanding what it was, inadvertently providing cover for the real Impostor.

"Shi Guoliang is clearly the owner of some kind of food and beverage company. As a guilty party brought into the game, since his offence couldn't overlap with Lu Bingjun's, it was almost certainly connected to diet.

"That reasoning was entirely correct.

"However, 'the company has never produced pre-packaged food' was a sentence verified as true by the lie detection mechanism, which severely misled the subsequent analysis.

"I believe Shi Guoliang genuinely thinks his company does not produce pre-packaged food.

"This is because his concept of 'pre-packaged food' diverges enormously from the ordinary person's understanding of it.

"For most people, anything that is not freshly cooked over an open flame counts as pre-packaged food, which also aligns more naturally with the literal meaning of the term.

"But roughly two or three years ago, the catering association and relevant government bodies jointly issued a formal standard that significantly narrowed the definition of pre-packaged food.

"Under this standard, foods containing preservatives, vegetables that have only been rinsed and roughly cut, food processed centrally in a central kitchen, and staple food products are all excluded from the definition.

"In other words, canned goods, sausages, pickled vegetables, pre-sliced and packaged shredded potatoes, frozen rice dishes, hamburgers, pizzas, and so on are all outside the definition of pre-packaged food.

"The most important exclusion is this: anything processed centrally by a central kitchen does not count.

"So food cooked centrally, packaged, frozen, and distributed to individual restaurants would, in the eyes of a general consumer, absolutely be pre-packaged food. But in the eyes of an industry professional, it would not.

"Because technically, going by the letter of the relevant regulations, it is not.

"Shi Guoliang knew from the very beginning what his offence actually was, and originally intended to conceal it.

"But when he saw 'the company has never produced pre-packaged food' appear on his board, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He thought he could use the Gallery's lie detection mechanism to clear himself of suspicion.

"Because in earlier rounds, he had already disclosed the fact that he owned a private farm. Combined with this sentence, he could present his company as a conscientious business selling healthy food.

"Which would redirect the framing of his offence toward something more similar to Lu Bingjun's.

"If other players genuinely came to believe his offence was roughly equivalent to Lu Bingjun's, then Lu Bingjun, as the more direct executor, would draw more fire.

"Unfortunately, this was a trap deliberately laid by the Imitator.

"When this contradiction was exposed by an audience player, Shi Guoliang not only revealed his actual offence, but was also viewed by many players as the Impostor. Meanwhile, the real Impostor was able to remain completely hidden.

"At this point, five players remain alive in the inner room. Three of them, Li Hui, Deng Xiao, and Shi Guoliang, are all on the edge of death.

"Shi Guoliang has received fewer Sudden Death Votes, but he has previously undergone cardiac stent surgery, which makes his heart intrinsically more fragile than Li Hui's or Deng Xiao's.

"If he were the Impostor, he would end the game immediately. Because continuing under these conditions risks him dying at any moment, and there is absolutely no need to take that risk.

"So the real Impostor is Xu Guangxin.

"Because from the very beginning, his goal has been to kill as many players in this game as possible.

"The title 'Impostor' itself is actually quite a clear hint.

"If the role were simply about being able to alter the lie detection results on the board, the more fitting name would be 'Liar.'

"The real meaning of 'Impostor' lies in impersonating a specific identity. The ability to alter lie detection results at will is only a necessary side effect of carrying out that impersonation more effectively.

"So Xu Guangxin is not actually the victim's colleague or friend at all. His 'health details' are a complete copy and paste of the victim's own information.

"This case differs from other Judgment Games in one important way: the players' connections to the victim are much closer.

"Shi Guoliang, Wei Hongbing, and Deng Xiao not knowing the other players is entirely plausible.

"Because Shi Guoliang, as the owner of a large food and beverage company, would naturally not come into contact with the others. Wei Hongbing was the victim's landlady, and Deng Xiao was the victim's personal trainer, both of whom had almost no overlap with the victim's work or social circle. So not knowing the other players makes sense.

"But Lu Bingjun was the victim's direct superior. Li Hui was the victim's childhood friend, classmate, or close friend. Between them, these two covered both the victim's professional and personal life.

"In that context, regardless of whether Xu Guangxin was the victim's colleague, friend, or some other connection, it would be nearly impossible for him to simultaneously not know both Lu Bingjun and Li Hui. And the reverse applies as well. Lu Bingjun and Li Hui should both have at least heard of someone called Xu Guangxin.

"Neither of them was certain of this themselves. Lu Bingjun may have assumed Xu Guangxin was the victim's friend, while Li Hui may have assumed he was a colleague, which is why neither of them made the connection quickly.

"As the Impostor, what Xu Guangxin did very cleverly was to never once use the privileges of his identity to alter any lie detection result. He even voluntarily exposed a great deal of information that worked against him.

"Which is precisely why he was able to hide so effectively."