Chapter 61: How many steps does it take to disguise yourself as a real ghost?

After the question was asked, everyone held their breath, waiting silently for the Pen Fairy’s response.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Suddenly, the pen moved, sliding over to “Yes.” Just as everyone exhaled in relief, it suddenly slid sideways and landed on “No.”

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Everyone:..

……

Then, the pen wildly slid back and forth between the two options, as if even the Pen Fairy herself wasn’t sure of the answer.

Just as everyone’s expressions grew increasingly puzzled, suddenly, with a “tsla” sound, the pen scratched a long line outward, then stopped moving.

And this long line pointed directly at High Ponytail.

At first, High Ponytail didn’t realize what was happening, but when she saw everyone looking at her with strange expressions, it suddenly dawned on her.

“Ah! Why is it pointing at me? No… I’m not… what does this have to do with me?” High Ponytail flailed her hands in panic, her words jumbled.

99

Su Yan withdrew her gaze calmly and said, “In theory, the Pen Fairy should only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ This might just be a coincidence, not an indication of anything.”

Crew Cut Guy nodded and looked at High Ponytail comfortingly, “It’s okay, maybe the show crew is just trying to stir up trouble.” Though he said that, his expression remained unchanged, and it was hard to tell if he truly believed it.

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Green Hair, who never kept things to himself, aggressively ruffled his hair with one hand and glared fiercely at High Ponytail. “Tell me, is this all your doing? You’re such a timid person, so why would you stay just for ten thousand yuan?”

High Ponytail bit her lip, her face growing paler. “I need the money, I really need the money.”

Green Hair sneered, clearly not buying her words. He raised an eyebrow and looked sharply at High Ponytail. “I remember ‘Yan Jing’ said before, as long as none of us believe in ghosts, the Pen Fairy won’t be summoned. And among us, you’re the only one who believes the Pen Fairy exists, right?”

Those words stirred up a thousand waves in everyone’s minds, and they all began to consider the validity of that statement.

“Looks like… that’s actually true?”

“So if she doesn’t believe in ghosts, does that mean this round of the game can just skip ahead?”

“So the Pen Fairy was right—the key issue really is with this girl?”

“Pen Fairy forever!”

“No, have you guys thought about ‘Yan Jing’s’ perspective?”

“Honestly, I don’t quite understand ‘Yan Jing’ either. Did she really plan this game?”

“I keep thinking, ‘Yan Jing’ has no reason to put herself in danger. Or maybe she has her own questions she wants to ask but is just taking this opportunity to do so?”

“Anyway, I doubt the Pen Fairy’s authenticity.”

Su Yan subtly curled the corner of her mouth, then quickly reverted to her peacemaker expression. “Don’t randomly suspect your companions! We still have to get through this together! Now, it’s your turn to ask a question!”

She looked toward High Ponytail.

High Ponytail hesitated for a moment, then her gaze steadied as she asked without hesitation, “Can I escape my crisis?”

But she didn’t notice the obsession and desperation filling her eyes, as if if the Pen Fairy answered “No,” she would lose her mind right then and there.

Green Hair scoffed with disdain. “Isn’t that just the same question the guy asked earlier? You’re deliberately asking a repeated question just to waste a chance, aren’t you?”

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High Ponytail didn’t get angry at the provocation; instead, she focused intently on the pen standing on the paper, as if she were staking her entire life on it. Yet she was also hesitant—wanting to hear the answer but afraid it wouldn’t be what she wanted.

Su Yan raised an eyebrow slightly, a glint of meaning in her eyes. After a few seconds, the pen decisively slid onto the “Yes.”

At last, a clear answer.

High Ponytail instantly relaxed, as if all her strength left her, slumping in her chair.

But the corners of her mouth uncontrollably stretched into a broad smile, tears shimmering in her eyes—it looked like tears of joy.

“What’s going on? Why are your answers different?” Green Hair couldn’t help but ask a question that every Nickster was wondering.

“Yeah? Why is it different now?”

“Why does the guy’s question get a vague answer, but the girl’s is so straightforward?”

“Pen Fairy is clearly biased against men.”

“Is there any difference between this girl’s question and the guy’s?”

“Is this Pen Fairy even accurate?”

“Anyway, I really believe the Pen Fairy exists now.”

“Let’s see how this girl explains it.”

Crew Cut Guy no longer hid his curiosity and stared straight at High Ponytail, waiting for her explanation.

Green Hair asked again directly, “Why did the Pen Fairy’s answer to your question differ from his? What’s the difference between your two questions?”

Su Yan’s mouth curled up once more, but Green Hair didn’t notice that with his question, he had already taken the Pen Fairy as a real entity.

And that was precisely her plan.

That’s right, there was no Pen Fairy at all—only a psychological master: Su Yan.

Her purpose in organizing this game was to captivate the Nickster audience and boost ratings. The Nickster viewers were clearly very interested in ghosts.

But Su Yan felt that telling more ghost stories might cause visual fatigue or give others the excuse to say ‘Yan Jing’ only attracts viewers with ghost stories.

So, if she couldn’t tell ghost stories but still wanted to connect with ghosts, the only option was to play a ghost game.

And that required her to direct and perform herself, creating a ghost.

What Crew Cut Guy said earlier was indeed correct—Su Yan avoided Green Hair’s trap because she noticed the couple rings on his ring finger.

Though Green Hair wore the ring there possibly just for fun, with no deeper meaning, connecting that with his attitude made the truth easy to guess.

Green Hair was a non-believer in ghosts and very rebellious. His question’s purpose was obviously to deny the existence of ghosts.

No matter if the answer was “Yes” or “No,” this “ghost” had a fifty percent chance of guessing correctly.

So to settle things once and for all, or to prevent this “ghost” from blindly guessing, making the answer neither “Yes” nor “No” was the best method.

Thinking this way, the truth became easy to deduce.

And as for Crew Cut Guy’s question, Su Yan purposely gave a misleading answer. After all, his question was tricky—not fitting into “Yes” or “No” and not able to reuse the same tactic.

Fortunately, Su Yan had already started laying the groundwork as soon as she confirmed these four would remain.

These four guests all had distinct personalities—Green Hair was the easiest to manipulate, while High Ponytail was the one who could most help her.

When Green Hair said he had played this game before, Su Yan had already planted the seed for later events.

Yes, the phrase “sincerity leads to efficacy.”

This phrase explained why Green Hair’s summoning failed and also shifted some blame onto High Ponytail. After all, among the four, she was the only one openly believing in ghosts.

As for why the Pen Fairy gave different answers to High Ponytail’s question earlier, Su Yan’s gaze flickered across High Ponytail’s collar and landed on the faint bluish-purple bruises not fully concealed by concealer.

Naturally, it was because of her pitiful background. @EndlessGoodReads, all at Jinjiang Literature City

By now, High Ponytail had recovered. She wiped the corner of her eyes and said joyfully, “Because the question I asked really was different from his—I asked if the troubles in my real life could be solved.”

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Green Hair challenged bluntly, “Then tell us, what’s your real-life difficulty? If you don’t say it, how can we believe you’re telling the truth? Once this game is over, none of us knows each other. What do you have to lose by telling us?”

“I…” High Ponytail’s eyes flickered with struggle. Though Green Hair was right, exposing her wounds still made her hesitate.

She sighed and slowly recounted her story: “I once had a happy family… but ever since my father got addicted to gambling, our family has been swallowed bit by bit by nightmares.”

She gave a self-mocking laugh. “You know, it’s so hard to maintain a family, but how easy it is to destroy one. Just one gambling session can ruin a once-happy family completely.”

Su Yan and the others fell silent. No one said a word. Su Yan had long suspected High Ponytail’s background was tragic, and as expected, the next part was about domestic violence.

Sure enough, High Ponytail continued, “My mother couldn’t bear the endless debt and left us. My father went from a decent man who avoided vices to a smoker, drunk, and abusive.”

When she spoke these words, her eyes were calm, as if she had long since grown numb to it, no trace of sadness remaining.

“But I think I’m about to welcome a new life!” High Ponytail brightened up and smiled. “The Pen Fairy told me I’m about to escape this suffering. Everything is heading in a good direction now. I’m working hard to save money through this game, and after I pay off my debts, I can return to my old life, right?”

At this, even Su Yan, who had anticipated all along, let out a silent sigh. How could it be? How could paying off debts bring her back? Without getting rid of her father, High Ponytail could never embrace the sunlight.

High Ponytail didn’t notice the low energy from the three around her and proudly said, “See! The Pen Fairy even answered a question like this for me. She must be real. You shouldn’t doubt anymore. I’m 100% on the Pen Fairy’s side.”

Green Hair’s expression looked dazed, as if he had been deeply shaken. If High Ponytail’s story was true, then the Pen Fairy could not be a human trickster. After all, how else could someone know about such real-life matters besides spirits?

Could ghosts really exist?

Crew Cut Guy furrowed his brows tighter, his forehead wrinkles almost able to trap a fly. He lifted his head again, his searching gaze sweeping over Su Yan, Green Hair, and High Ponytail before settling back on High Ponytail.

He was a genuine materialist, never believing in ghosts.

But the situation unfolding before him was truly baffling.