Ten Day Ultimatum

The sight left everyone visibly stunned.

"I drew the {Liar} card," Qi Xia said slowly. "But the specific card isn’t what matters." He casually tossed the card into the center of the table. "If I’m right, each of you has a {Liar} identity card."
No one moved.
After a moment, Police Officer Li asked, "So... you’re saying everyone here has lied?"

"Exactly." Qi Xia nodded. "You’re all sharper than I gave you credit for. Every one of you slipped a small lie into your story—to stitch together a complete narrative without breaking the logical thread."
Police Officer Li furrowed his brow. "If your guess is right..." He let out a heavy sigh. "Then this is going to be even harder."
Everyone turned to him, their faces etched with confusion.

He went on, "According to the rules, survival depends on whether we can all correctly identify the liar. But the liar loses. So, we..."
Doctor Zhao was the first to catch on. "You’re saying... we could vote for anyone and still win, since everyone lied. A {game with no losing outcome}. But whoever we vote for—dies?"
"That’s right." Police Officer Li nodded. "Our best shot is to focus every °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° vote on one person. That way, we limit the casualties. The rest... can survive."

His words sank into the room like a noose tightening. The goat-headed figure remained still. So—were they really supposed to choose someone to die?
Qi Xia let out a sharp, irritated breath, glaring at Police Officer Li. "Officer, do you make a habit of butting in when someone’s talking? Does that turn you on?"
"What are you talking about?" Police Officer Li frowned. "I’m just trying to help—offering plans and suggestions—"

"I don’t need your help," Qi Xia snapped. "Your plan will get us all killed."
"What?" Police Officer Li recoiled. "How the hell would that happen? What part didn’t make sense? If everyone’s lying, doesn’t that mean any vote works?"
"Officer Li. Remember what the Goat Head said? {The rules are absolute}. And that {only one person will not be telling the truth}. You remember that?"

Police Officer Li paused. The goat-headed figure had said those exact words.
"Let me explain it for everyone," Qi Xia said coldly. "In this game, the {Liar} actually has a solid shot at winning. That’s why everyone believes they have a chance. But if we just throw out random votes, all of us are going to die."
Qiao Jiajin, sitting beside Qi Xia, lightly tapped her tattooed arm and murmured, "Because we broke the {rules}..."

"Exactly." Qi Xia nodded. "And what makes this game so vicious is that we can’t even tell for sure whether the other person is lying. Like Lawyer Zhang said, the only thing we can do is compare experiences and look for holes. But we all came from different places. Even if some details don’t match up, we still can’t say for sure they’re false."
He scanned the grim, unsettled faces around him. "The organizer picked all nine of us on purpose—to fill us with conviction. To get us convinced we’re the ones who see clearly. To make us chase the cracks in each other’s stories."
"But is that even real? How sure are we that someone else is lying?" Qi Xia let out a short, bitter laugh. "There’s only one {liar} in this game we can be absolutely certain of—based on what we’ve heard. Their story doesn’t match our reality at all." He picked up a pen and wrote {Mortal Goat} on his paper. "I always thought it was weird that he introduced himself as {Mortal Goat}. Too theatrical. But now I see—it was part of the damn game."
Everyone turned their heads slowly toward {Mortal Goat}, who still hadn’t moved an inch.

Police Officer Li paused, then shook his head. "Qi Xia, I have a question. The rules said {among all the storytellers, one person will not be telling the truth}. But Mortal Goat didn’t even share a story."
"Didn’t he?" Qi Xia shrugged. "I recall him saying loud and clear that he brought us here to create a {God}. That’s one hell of a story, isn’t it?"
Police Officer Li stayed quiet, staring down. Qi Xia’s logic was persuasive—but something still felt off.

"But..." Doctor Zhao interjected. "All your reasoning hinges on the idea that {everyone is lying}. But how can you be sure? What if we flip our cards and it turns out you’re the only one with the {Liar} identity?"
"There’s no way every one of you told the truth," Qi Xia said with a brittle smile. His face darkened. "I’ve been thinking it through for a while now. Not only do I know you all lied—I’ve pinpointed where."
He slid his scrap paper to the center of the table, then turned to Tian Tian beside him. "Tian Tian. You said you were {working} in the car, your head sticking out. Did the billboard really hit the vehicle and knock you out?"

Tian Tian pressed her lips together. Didn’t answer.
"Qiao Jiajin," Qi Xia said, "you fell from a hell of a height onto that billboard. You seriously remember nothing about what happened next?"
Qiao Jiajin stayed silent.

"Teacher Xiao Ran. Did you and the kid really dodge that car?"
Xiao Ran looked away.
"Doctor Zhao. Operating rooms are reinforced, right? Built to stay intact. You said the ceiling collapsed. Really? Did it actually knock you out?"

Doctor Zhao turned his face to the side, eyes cold and silent.
"Han Yimo. You said you don’t know what happened. But when you’re deep in writing, even small things break your concentration. You really don’t remember anything about how you got here?"
Han Yimo exhaled quietly. Didn’t speak.

"Lawyer Zhang. Your car was shoved into a crevice. So tell me—how deep was it?"
Lawyer Zhang crossed her arms, stone-faced.
"Officer Li. What kind of car were you driving? Couldn’t you just drop the seat and get free from whoever was choking you?"

Police Officer Li touched the red marks on his neck. Didn’t answer.
"Lin Qin. You said the ceiling in your studio collapsed. But you’re on a high floor. If that kind of collapse happened, wouldn’t the whole building be rubble?"
Lin Qin stared down at the floor, saying nothing.

Looking at them—at their silence, at their eyes—Qi Xia clenched his jaw and spat out the final words.
"Let’s stop pretending. We’re all already dead. Me included."