Chapter 70: Caroline, Who Sees Through Everything

Chapter 70: Caroline, Who Sees Through Everything

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Gohn suddenly blew hard on the whistle hanging around his neck, then pointed at Caroline and said,

“Hey! You there, Red Team contestant! Please don’t talk about anything unrelated to the match during the competition. Otherwise, I’m giving you a yellow card warning!”

As a lifelong single man, one of the things Gohn hated most was couples showing off in front of him.

What, you people just love bullying single men?

What did we single men ever do to deserve this?!

Everyone present—Chen Xing, Caroline, and even the audience watching from beyond the dimensional screen—clearly understood he was talking nonsense. There was no such rule at all.

Only one clueless idiot didn’t get it. Chen Kong blinked and asked in confusion, “Not allowed to talk about outside stuff? But… I don’t think that was in the rules you mentioned earlier?”

Gohn turned toward Chen Kong and stared at him like he was an idiot.

“Who’s the referee here, you or me? Keep yapping and I’ll give you a yellow card right now.”

“Uh…”

Facing Gohn’s annoyed threat, Chen Kong was at a loss for words.

He wanted to refute him, but he was afraid Gohn might actually toss him a yellow card.

After weighing the consequences, he decided to stay quiet.

Even though he could use the effect of his Void Mark to nullify the yellow card, the problem was the massive level gap between him and Gohn.

Erasing a yellow card might cost him half—or even all—of his star energy.

It’s definitely not something he could afford to do lightly.

Besides, instead of wasting energy like that, he felt it would be much better to find a chance to cancel Isabelle’s “spectator” status and get her out of this weird subspace first.

With that in mind, Chen Kong subconsciously glanced in Isabelle’s direction.

His small movement was instantly picked up by Gohn, who mocked him with a sneer:

“Don’t bother looking, kid. You think I don’t know what you’re planning?”

“Let me tell you, if you recklessly use that special ability of yours that erases Star Origin effects, without a real-world coordinate, you might fall straight into an unknown spacetime rift instead of returning to reality.”

“So if I were you, I absolutely wouldn’t try anything stupid. I’d stand right there, behave myself, and focus on preparing for the next match.”

Is he telling the truth… or just trying to mess with me?

Because of Gohn’s words, Chen Kong’s thoughts suddenly became chaotic.

Caroline calmly added, “He’s telling the truth, Kong. A subspace is like a small boat drifting on the ocean. If you don’t have the ability to swim back to shore on your own, it’s best not to casually use that power.”

“And if I didn't guess wrong, the subspace we’re currently in is probably created by his star gear, not his Star Origin ability.”

“Otherwise, I don’t believe a mere second-order Starbearer would have the power to open a subspace on his own.”

Hearing Caroline jump in again, Gohn completely lost it.

‘What—no, stop—stop right there! You cat girl! Every time with the ‘I didn’t guess wrong, I didn’t guess wrong!’ Can you STOP already?!’

‘If you’re THAT good at guessing, why don’t you go guess today’s lottery numbers instead of exposing MY information every time?!’

He was broken. Gohn was mentally and emotionally broken at this point.

If Caroline were occasionally wrong, it wouldn’t be so bad.

But every time she opened her mouth, she hit the bullseye with pinpoint precision.

This wasn’t guessing—she was practically reading aloud from his personal character data sheet!

And she was right again: this subspace truly wasn’t Gohn’s Star Origin ability.

It was the effect of one of his star gears—the Rift Prism.

【Name: Rift Prism】

【Effect: By rotating the prism’s surfaces, it can cause localized spatial distortion, projecting a section of real-world scenery into the subspace between illusion and reality, forming a closed-off special space.】

Although Caroline had already guessed about seventy to eighty percent of his ability, Gohn still wasn’t nervous.

After all, in the face of overwhelming power, all schemes and tricks were nothing but flashy decorations.

He held the advantage in this match!

“Alright, I’m done arguing with you brats. For this first round of dodgeball, who are you planning to send out first?”

Gohn walked to the center of the field and extended his right hand.

The next second, a lead ball the size of a basketball suddenly materialized and landed heavily in his palm.

Upon seeing this, Chen Kong was instantly dumbfounded.

Wait—your dodgeball is a lead ball?

And that big???

If that thing gets thrown at someone, forget catching it—not dodging it is basically choosing death!

“Kong, you go first for this round.”

“Huh? Me?!”

Before Chen Kong could recover from the shock, Caroline’s voice suddenly sounded.

And after hearing her words clearly, Chen Kong looked at her in disbelief, as if he couldn’t trust his own ears.

With his skinny arms and legs, going up there was basically offering himself up for Gohn to crush in one hit!

Sending him first—how was that any different from sending him to die?!

Fortunately, Chen Xing knew exactly what his little brother was like, and immediately stepped forward.

“Caroline, why don’t I go first instead?”

Caroline shook her head.

“No. You already have a yellow card. Since we don’t know what other hidden rules this guy has designed, sending you out first would be the most reckless move.”

“But my brother—”

“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine.”

“Because if I’m right, the core of this referee’s Star Origin… is actually the concept of fairness.”

“And in order to maintain fairness, not only must he follow all the publicly stated rules he mentioned earlier, but any hidden rules he designed must also be presented to us in some subtle way. Otherwise, those hidden rules would be unfair.”

As she said this, Caroline suddenly pointed toward the wall clock hanging in the hall.

“Tell me—what do you think is the purpose of that clock?”

With that hint, Chen Xing immediately began to realize something.

Meanwhile, Chen Kong said dumbly,

“Uh… so we can see the time here?”

Caroline: “…”

You’re not wrong…

But next time, please don’t say it.

I have low tolerance for stupidity.

Fortunately, Chen Kong being dumb didn’t mean Chen Xing was too.

After a bit of thought, Chen Xing quickly found the answer.

“You mean… from the very start, this match has a strict time limit?”

“Otherwise, in this subspace where the concept of time doesn’t exist, there would be no reason to show us something that lets us track time.”

Caroline nodded, confirming his conclusion.

Then she turned her head toward Gohn, who was already mentally overwhelmed in the field.

“Yes. From the very beginning, this guy has been subtly misleading us.”

“His overly extravagant entrance performance, his relaxed, casual explanation of the rules—all of that was to implant a subconscious assumption into us: that he had plenty of time, that he could play with us slowly.”

“In doing so, he increases our sense of urgency and tension, making us forget about the original concept of time. That way, we wouldn’t notice this hidden rule.”

“But he forgot one thing.”

“What thing?”

This time, the one who asked wasn’t Chen Kong or Chen Xing, but Gohn himself.

Because now he was also curious—what did he forget?

“He forgot to mention the conditions for a draw.”

“You see, in any competition, if enough matches are played, then with a large enough sample size, a low-probability event is bound to occur at some point.”

“And once such a low-probability event occurs even once, then to prevent it from happening again, it will inevitably be documented and may even develop into one of the official rules.”

“Even though it’s very unlikely for a best-of-three dodgeball match to end in a draw, I was still able to derive several small-probability scenarios that could result in a tie, all within a very short amount of time.”

“If even I—someone participating in dodgeball for the first time—can deduce that a draw is possible, then Gohn, as both the referee and event organizer, absolutely must know it too.”

“If so, then why didn’t he mention it?”

“Given the huge gap in level between us, even if we knew the conditions for a draw, it would still be extremely difficult for us to achieve one. There was no need for him to hide it. He could have openly included it in the rules.”

“After all, the more rules he made public, the larger the advantage he would gain in this match.”

“Yet he chose to give up that advantage, just to hide every draw condition. That can only mean one thing.”

Mean what?

Completely confused, Chen Kong asked stupidly.

“It means that among all those possible draw conditions, there exists one condition that—even with our level lower than his—still gives us a decent chance to achieve it.”

“And among all the draw conditions I can think of, only one fits our current situation.”

“That is: if both sides have the same number of round wins, the same number of successful hits and catches, and the same number of penalties—then if we drag the match out until the time limit, it becomes a draw.”

“But that would mean my sister—”

Chen Kong started speaking, but suddenly froze mid-sentence.

Then he slapped his forehead and exclaimed in realization:

“—Right! I totally forgot that I can remove my sister’s yellow card!”

“In that case, as long as I activate my ability, then my sister is basically treated as if she never got a yellow card at all.”

“After all, that yellow card is ultimately just a Stellar Technique, not a real rule.”

Caroline nodded.

“Exactly. That’s why you’re the best person to go first.”

“Because if you don’t aim to win, and only aim for a draw, then you can completely focus on dodging without ever needing to catch the ball.”

“And among the three of us, purely in terms of evasion and concealment ability, you’re actually the best, Chen Kong.”

“Okay, Caroline, I understand!”

“I’ll handle the first round!”

After hearing Caroline’s explanation, Chen Kong—who had originally been terrified of going first—instantly became overflowing with confidence.

Come on, fighting head-on might not be his strong point.

But when it came to hiding and dodging, with Void Mark, he was unmatched among all 36 participants of the Stellaris Program—aside from Tendou himself!

For the first time ever, Chen Kong felt like he wasn’t a burden—but a key member of the team.

Meanwhile, the Crustyroll interdimensional audience had the same realization after hearing Caroline’s detailed breakdown.

They instantly understood just how scheming Gohn was and couldn’t help complaining:

“The referee is personally participating in the match, and he still designs this many hidden rules? This guy is way too shady.”

Silence.

At this moment, Gohn was utterly silenced by Caroline.

He had seen many Machina Type Starbearers, but one as sharp-eyed and quick-thinking as Caroline—this was his first time encountering one.

Seriously, with a brain like that, why on earth are you working as Isabel’s bodyguard? Why not go solo and dominate on your own?!

Fortunately, even though Caroline had already exposed most of his hidden tricks, Gohn still had backup plans!

He just needed to find a way to speed up the flow of the match—he absolutely could not allow Caroline to keep talking.

If she kept going, he was genuinely afraid she would strip every last one of his trump cards clean.

So the moment he saw Chen Kong finish putting on the red team’s dodgeball vest and step onto the court, Gohn immediately spoke up:

“Alright, I’m flipping a coin now. Whoever it lands on gets the opening attack. Heads or tails?”

Chen Kong thought for a moment.

“Then… heads.”

“Okay.”

With that, Gohn flicked the silver coin into the air.

After spinning through its free fall, the coin finally clattered to the ground.

Seeing the result, Gohn immediately announced, “Heads. Looks like you’re pretty lucky.”

But unlike the delighted Chen Kong, Caroline, watching Gohn still dressed in his referee uniform, suddenly looked thoughtful.

“Here. First round’s attack goes to you.”

Gohn tossed the heavy lead ball casually toward him.

It traced a large arc through the air before landing in Chen Kong’s arms, nearly making him fumble it.

And even from that simple act of catching it, Chen Kong’s arms already felt sore.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen to him if he actually got hit by that ball…

Thinking about that, Chen Kong swallowed hard, a thin layer of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

But soon he remembered something.

Since his goal was to force a draw, he would almost certainly never get another chance to attack after this.

Meaning this throw would very likely be the first and only attack he got in the entire first round—he absolutely couldn’t waste it.

If he managed to land a lucky hit, then afterward he would only need to dodge until time ran out, and not only avoid losing, but even earn their team a precious win, greatly increasing their overall chances.

With that in mind, Chen Kong raised the ball, preparing to hurl it at Gohn with everything he had.

But just as he was about to throw, Caroline’s voice suddenly cut in from not far away.

“Wait, Kong—don’t throw it yet. Let him put on the player’s vest first.”

“Because if you throw right now, that counts as attacking a referee for no reason. At best you’ll get a yellow card; at worst you’ll lose the match on the spot.”

Hearing this, Chen Kong immediately froze mid-throw, staggering a bit before regaining balance.

On the other side, seeing yet another one of his traps get exposed—Gohn completely lost it.

If Caroline hadn’t warned him in time, would that airheaded idiot over there ever realize what was happening?

He would’ve fallen straight into the trap, lost the first round instantly, and his plan would’ve gone perfectly!

Letting such a clueless newbie escape disaster—Gohn simply could not accept it.

“Damn it, next time I’m definitely adding one more public rule—non-participants are not allowed to say a single word!”

Cursing under his breath, he shot a glare at Caroline outside the court, then walked to the sidelines in annoyance and pulled off his referee uniform.

And with the uniform gone, Gohn finally revealed to everyone the sculpted upper-body physique beneath—like a living anatomy model carved from stone.

Maybe it was to vent his irritation, or maybe he just wanted to crank up the pressure on Chen Kong.

Instead of immediately putting on the blue team’s dodgeball vest from the ground, Gohn turned toward Chen Kong and struck a textbook bodybuilder pose, flaunting his exaggerated muscles with full arrogance.

At the same time, the muscles on his back tightened, the overlapping lines gradually forming a pattern resembling a demonic grimace—the “demon face back” that athletes and spectators often spoke of with awe.

After showing off to his heart’s content, Gohn finally put on the blue team’s dodgeball vest and spoke in a deep, heavy voice:

“Kid, don’t think you can relax just because someone helped you.”

“I may be a Trait Type, but I’m also a referee who jumps in to compete all the time. This body, forged through countless trials, is on a level your skinny arms and legs can’t even dream of.”

“My purity… is far above yours.”

“Come on, brat. Let me see your purity!”

Hearing this, Chen Kong took a deep breath, his eyes suddenly filled with determination.

The shift in his expression and aura was so intense that Gohn was genuinely taken aback.

Without realizing it, he immediately assumed a serious defensive stance—fully prepared to counter whatever attack came next.

“Hah!!”

Chen Kong shouted, then used all his strength to throw the shot put in his hand.

His posture was impeccable—like something straight out of a textbook demonstration.

The only problem was, the shot put he threw traced an extremely shallow arc, then hit the ground a full five meters short of Gohn.

Gulu-lulu-lulu—

After rolling slowly for a few seconds, completely devoid of threat, the shot put finally came to a stop—still half a meter away from Gohn’s feet.

Chen Xing, Caroline, Gohn, Dimensional Audience: “……”

Staring at the shot put on the ground, Gohn spaced out for a moment. Then, silently, he bent down and picked it up.

Lifting his head to look at the embarrassed Chen Kong not far away, he let out a long, weary sigh.

“…I’m sorry. I overestimated you.”

“Other people might pretend to be weak…”

“But you are actually… genuinely… helplessly… weak.”

<+>

Note:

Gohn looks like Aoi Todo, from the series Jujutsu Kaisen

This is the Demon Face Back: 

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F1nj67nhvis351.jpg

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