In any given game, the line between advantage and disadvantage can be a matter of perspective. A change in how you view the problem can lead to a completely different outcome.

Rock-Paper-Scissors should be a pure game of chance, with a 1/3 probability of winning, 1/3 of losing, and 1/3 of a draw.

But Fang Lin, due to his own traits, had actively altered this distribution. By playing Paper twice in a row, he had exposed his subconscious.

And Su Baiye, having foreseen himself being killed by 'Paper' twice and knowing the terrifying power of that rag, had made a bold guess and carefully verified it.

Su Baiye seized the opportunity to call his bluff, directly exposing the fact that 'his opponent was afraid of Paper.'

When Fang Lin heard Su Baiye's guess, his first reaction was also, 'That's illogical. The reasoning doesn't hold up.'

Fang Lin consistently playing 'Paper' could mean he was afraid of Paper, or it could mean he was afraid of Rock, or simply that he wasn't afraid of Scissors.

With three possibilities on the table, why was Su Baiye so certain that Fang Lin was afraid of Paper?

Because Su Baiye himself was genuinely afraid of Paper...

Scissors was a piercing attack, Rock was a blunt weapon, but the rag was practically a magic attack!

Fang Lin had already demonstrated he could withstand Scissors. As for the damage from Rock, as long as it didn't hit a vital spot, he wouldn't die. Only that rag... not only was it a magic attack, but it only hit the face!

Su Baiye's 'bluff', combined with the reactions of Fang Lin and Tang Ruyu, had instead confirmed it as fact!

Fang Lin's play priority: Paper > Scissors > Rock.

There was nothing wrong with this strategy in itself, but once seen through by an opponent, it became a fatal weakness!

By exploiting this, Su Baiye could seize the initiative, stay one step ahead of Fang Lin, and greatly increase his odds of winning!

Looking at it from another angle, if Fang Lin threw caution to the wind and made his moves unpredictable, Su Baiye would lose his strategic advantage. However, this would create another problem... the potential losses for Fang Lin would also be much greater!

Fang Lin could be stabbed ten times by Scissors and still be alive. He could be smashed five times by Rock and still be breathing.

But that rag... just two hits, and it would be enough to end his life completely!

Initially, this weakness wasn't a huge deal. As long as he played cautiously, steadily, and mixed standard plays with surprises, Fang Lin's chances of winning were still high.

But Fang Lin knew one thing clearly: odds of winning were just odds, not an actual victory.

Su Baiye had keenly picked up on the pattern in Fang Lin playing 'Paper' twice in a row, and by laying his cards on the table, Su Baiye was forcing his hand!

Either Fang Lin continued with his previous strategy, allowing Su Baiye to dominate the flow of the game while Fang Lin occasionally tried to sneak in a win—succeed and he wins, fail and... Su Baiye would slowly grind him down.

Or, Fang Lin could abandon his advantage and truly fight for his life against Su Baiye.

Su Baiye's strategy wasn't that complicated. It could be summed up in one phrase: the barefoot are not afraid of the shod.

Because he was willing to risk his life, he didn't need to sweat the small stuff.

When a king and a beggar sit at the same gambling table, the king has already lost.

In this gamble between a rookie and a veteran Player, the rookie loses nothing by losing, but profits immensely by winning!

Stomping on newbies has its risks. Sometimes, a shark will spawn in a fish pond.

It wasn't that Fang Lin didn't understand this principle. It was just that he had a reason he had to fight...

At this point, Fang Lin knew that if he continued to hold back, his fate would be no different from Tang Ruyu's—in fact, it would be even worse.

After Tang Ruyu went bankrupt, the worst that could happen was that he couldn't repay his loan and would be taken away to do hard labor. Sooner or later, he'd pay it off and might even get a chance to make a comeback.

But if Fang Lin lost everything, he would have no chance to start over!

How many Points was Tang Ruyu's loan? The interest on Fang Lin's debt alone was higher than Tang Ruyu's principal!

Unlike Tang Ruyu, Fang Lin had a backer.

On the Lost Train, a backer, a patron... only when you yourself are reliable can you truly rely on them.

Once you prove incapable and are labeled 'unreliable,' that backer will become a mountain crushing you from above.

Fuck!

The pressure on Fang Lin was even greater than on Tang Ruyu!

Realizing his dire situation, Fang Lin didn't hesitate. He reached into his pocket, opened a small box, and pinched the pitch-black finger inside.

【Finger of Misfortune】, a special item that could plague its target with bad luck.

Fang Lin knew Su Baiye's victory over Tang Ruyu wasn't just a matter of good luck. But, weakening his opponent's luck first couldn't be a bad move!

After doing all this, Fang Lin looked at the cards in his hand again. After much thought, he ultimately played it safe and chose Scissors.

If Su Baiye also played Scissors, it would be a draw. If Su Baiye played Paper, Fang Lin would win! As for Rock... getting hit once was fine, it wouldn't hurt! At least, his heart wouldn't ache!

After Fang Lin played his card, Su Baiye quickly made his choice.

Fang Lin's Scissors, against... Su Baiye's Rock!

Su Baiye won again!

A three-win streak!

This was no longer a matter of probability! Su Baiye had seen right through Fang Lin's strategy!

At this moment, Su Baiye seemed to have transformed into the ultimate winner, born to win, moving from one victory to the next.

The rock smashed the scissors and also slammed into Fang Lin's left shoulder. He let out a muffled grunt, his left shoulder slumping, but he could still take it.

After three rounds, it was Su Baiye's turn to play first.

Fang Lin stared intently at Su Baiye, as if trying to see through his move. He raised his other hand, which held three cards, in front of one of his eyes.

In the palm of his hand, a mirror was held face down.

【Back-Peeping Mirror】, a mirror that can see through anything from behind. From the Qiao Family, quality guaranteed. Even centenarians who've used it say it's great!

In this game, Fang Lin had a total of three advantages:

First, his physical constitution was far superior to a rookie's. He had a larger margin for error and could afford to lose!

If it were Su Baiye, he wouldn't be able to withstand a single hit!

If this game were quantified:

Losing to Scissors costs 1 HP. Losing to Rock costs 2 HP. Losing to Paper costs 5 HP.

Fang Lin had 10 HP, while Su Baiye had only 1.

Fang Lin also had equipment and consumable supplies, giving him an overwhelming advantage in terms of stats!

This novel is available on "pawread dot com".

Second, the Finger of Misfortune, which could worsen the opponent's luck. He had already used it, but the effect wasn't obvious.

The third advantage was the mirror in his palm, which could be used to peek at Su Baiye's play!

Usually, Fang Lin would also have Tang Ruyu coordinate with him, trying to get a peek at the cards. This was why Tang Ruyu's Dice of Gambling Madness was opaque to the outside world, while Fang Lin's was transparent.

The opponent wasn't an idiot and would naturally be wary of Tang Ruyu. That's when the Back-Peeping Mirror came into play!

Tang Ruyu was just the overt distraction; the Back-Peeping Mirror was the real killing move!

The Back-Peeping Mirror's perspective was from behind the target, looking forward. It claimed to see through everything, which was an exaggeration, of course, but seeing through a human body was no difficult task.

However, as special items, the cards themselves could not be seen through.

The Finger of Misfortune and the Back-Peeping Mirror—a two-pronged attack. Fang Lin refused to believe Su Baiye could survive this!

It was Su Baiye's turn to play first. He was clearly more cautious than before, thinking about what to play.

"Should I try Rock first?"

The moment this thought arose, Su Baiye's soul left his body, and he once again saw the scene of himself being killed by Paper.

"How about Scissors?"

This time, Su Baiye was smashed to death by Rock.

Su Baiye immediately realized something was wrong!

"If I play Rock, he plays Paper. If I play Scissors, he plays Rock..."

What did this mean? The answer was self-evident:

"Is this guy hacking too?!"

Isn't a little peek considered a cheat?

Just to be sure, Su Baiye had another thought. "Play Paper?"

In the vision from his Death Prediction, Fang Lin used Scissors! The scissors sliced Su Baiye in two!

Great. He had now unlocked all three ways to die. Su Baiye truly understood what it meant to have 'no chance of survival.'

No matter what he played, he died. How was he supposed to play this?

Could he report his opponent for hacking?

This guy was definitely hacking! You ask how I'm so sure he's hacking? I'm using a hack and I still can't win, so how could he *not* be hacking!

Su Baiye could only think these things to himself. In a way, it wasn't that his own hack was weak, but that the guy stomping on newbies was just too strong.

Someone of Tang Ruyu's caliber was the standard level for stomping newbies; he might even struggle against the "fish" from time to time.

But Fang Lin... he was like an elite boss camping the entrance, with both the stats and the mechanics to back it up.

Su Baiye didn't give up. Instead, he changed his angle of thought.

Fang Lin might not have clairvoyance; what if it was mind-reading?

Su Baiye decided to test it. "What if I randomly pick one and don't look at it myself?"

After this thought arose, he once again foresaw his own death. This meant Fang Lin couldn't possibly be a mind-reader.

After all, even Su Baiye himself didn't know which card he would play, yet Fang Lin did!

However, for Su Baiye, this was actually good news—as long as it wasn't mind-reading!

If a veteran Player who just ambushed people on the road could master a bug-like ability like mind-reading, then there was truly no way to play on this Lost Train...

Su Baiye tried a few more times. Without exception, the result was always the same: death.

Finally, with his back against the wall, an absurd idea occurred to Su Baiye.

"What if I shuffle the three cards, stack them together, and snap them all at once?"

Because the force on the three cards wouldn't be identical, there would always be a sequence to their breaking. After exerting the force, Su Baiye himself wouldn't know which card he had actually snapped first.

This uncertainty might be able to affect his opponent's judgment!

According to the game rules, if two or three cards were snapped at once, the first one to break would be the one that counted. And when replenishing his hand, all broken cards would be replaced!

After this thought arose, his soul did not leave his body.

It could work!

Heaven never seals all exits... A situation that he thought was certain death now had a sliver of hope!

Su Baiye immediately acted on his idea. As long as his Foresee Death ability didn't activate, it meant success!

After all, with his frail body, Su Baiye couldn't afford a single failure.

Fang Lin also noticed Su Baiye's action. He was stacking all three cards and snapping them at once? What was this? Just gambling on pure luck?

Watching Su Baiye's strange move, Fang Lin's expression darkened. Su Baiye had clearly realized something was wrong, but when had he been exposed?

Not even Tang Ruyu knew about the Back-Peeping Mirror...

The Back-Peeping Mirror could see through a human body, but not the three cards. In the mirror, the backs of the three cards just looked like a mosaic.

Even if Fang Lin could barely make out the order of the stacked cards, Su Baiye was snapping them almost simultaneously. Fang Lin couldn't be sure which card had actually taken effect.

"Did he play Rock? No, it looked like Paper!"

"I should have added a replay function! And I should have gotten a higher resolution..."

Fang Lin regretted it now. To save 500 Points, he had opted out of the mirror's replay function.

As for the resolution, that profiteer from the Item Group actually said the price in Points was based on the 'p' of the resolution!

Why didn't he just go rob people instead! Even Fang Lin, a highwayman himself, felt that this merchant was a robber!

"I can only take a gamble..."

Fang Lin knew Su Baiye was playing randomly, while he had come prepared. The advantage was still on his side.

Fang Lin ultimately chose 'Scissors.'

The two revealed their cards. Scissors against Scissors! Ace against ace!

A draw!

Seeing this, Wang Luo was a little disappointed. Su Baiye's winning streak had been broken, which was not good news.

Tang Ruyu, however, raised an eyebrow. That dog Fang Lin really did have a few tricks up his sleeve... In the end, the veteran Player Fang Lin was a cut above... Boss Fang had turned the tables so quickly. As expected of my dearest boss!

At this rate, Boss Fang and I will have the last laugh again!

As everyone knows, once a chosen one's winning streak is broken, their luck turns bad, and death is not far behind!

On the other side, Su Baiye wore a faint, unreadable smile. He repeated his previous method, completely unaffected.

No one noticed that Fang Lin's body was trembling slightly, as if he had been plunged into an icy cavern, an endless chill flooding his heart.

He knew very well that the last round had been his best chance at victory!

And even so, the result was only a draw!

If he still couldn't win even after giving it his all, then what awaited him needed no further words.

Would he win?

Fang Lin knew the answer clearly. He was going to... lose