Darkstone Code

From the beginning, the host told everyone—contestants, the live audience, and viewers at home—that the answers listed on the cards are things around them.

Whether it’s animals, plants, or various tools, they won’t be far from people’s living environments.

Otherwise, if they randomly introduce some rare plant, animal, or something known to very few, the game wouldn’t be worth playing.

Every contestant knows this rule. Essentially, they’ve received a free clue that the answers are always around them, frequently seen and encountered in life.

It won’t be something obscure, and that’s why this show is popular.

Audiences don’t like watching scientists discuss top-level scientific issues; they want to watch programs they can understand.

At least it gives them the chance to show off some cleverness in front of their family—

"Hey, I freaking know what the answer is!"

Meanwhile, ordinary answers prevent dullness, encouraging more participation, thus attracting more attention to the show.

At this moment, Harry is thinking about things that are alive in the human living environment, but we don’t eat them.

There are only a few types, mostly belonging to one category—pets!

The most common ones are cats and dogs. In the west, some like to keep snakes and lizards, and horses are also considered people’s "pets."

So how can these pets be classified to quickly narrow the scope to the smallest range?

There are many techniques and choices here, and Harry falls into a long silence.

Not having received a good education doesn’t necessarily mean someone is stupid. Although Harry hasn’t had higher education, he’s not dumb. On the contrary, he’s very shrewd and reacts quickly.

The studio’s background music makes the atmosphere oppressive, making people involuntarily tense—this is to set the mood.

There’s only one chance. After thinking for nearly three minutes, Harry asked, "How many legs does it have?"

In the next second, many people in the audience stood up, incredulous that Harry had asked such a...sharp question.

Yes, sometimes the question seems foolish, but at other times, the effect of these foolish questions can be quite terrifying.

Contestant number one struggled to maintain his expression because Harry was close to his answer. He originally thought Harry would ask "Is this thing a pet?" or something similar.

Unexpectedly, he skipped right over that and directly asked how many legs it has.

Contestant number one desperately wanted to avoid answering, but had no good way to sidestep the question.

Harry was getting closer to his answer, while he was still quite a distance from Harry’s answer.

Ultimately, he gave a number, "It has two legs."

In the audience and at home, some people couldn’t sit still, especially those with slightly sharper minds.

A pet with two legs, it’s almost locked onto a few types of animals!

The host also realized this and asked Harry, "Do you need to tell me what’s written on his card?"

Harry shook his head, "I’m still not sure."

Contestant number one stared hard at Harry, his pressure mounting. This kind of game works this way—when your questions fail to provide decisive clues, you fall far behind.

Facing contestant number one, if he maintains his current pace, moving step by step toward the answer, he’ll likely not keep up with Harry’s speed.

He must be more aggressive, directly asking questions with obvious pointers. Only then can he catch up with the progress of the Q&A, ensuring he doesn’t fall too far behind Harry.

But simultaneously, there’s a problem here: if his questions don’t point in the right direction, it’s like the distance between him and Harry widens further.

From the current points, contestant number one is clearly ahead, but in the progress of the Q&A, he’s already fallen behind.

He starts to think, hesitates, struggling to make a decision.

People often do this—the more they think, the more they fear making certain choices.

About three minutes later, he takes a deep breath and slowly exhales.

If he doesn’t chase, the opportunity is very slim. He must chase and try.

What’s something you can sometimes encounter in the morning, and sometimes can’t?

People wake up in the morning and first come into contact with the bed, bathroom, shower, various toiletries—this seems suspicious.

Then there’s clothes, worn every day, underwear...

Thinking of this, contestant number one is uncertain; his wife sometimes doesn’t wear underwear, especially in summer when she feels wearing it is like Hell.

He sometimes doesn’t wear it either, making the suspicious targets more numerous.

Then there’s breakfast, also suspicious, because sometimes people eat breakfast, sometimes they don’t due to time constraints.

Then there’s going to work.

Bus?

Being late?

Damn, too much!

If the previous question hadn’t been asked in the wrong direction, he should have already locked onto one major category and started asking more detailed questions!

Harry’s first two choices were quite ordinary, maybe a bit off, but still seemed ordinary...

No. 1 scratched his head and looked at Harry again, clenching his fist tightly.

He decided to take a gamble.

Compared to underwear, toiletries, and commuting methods, everyone’s habits in life aren’t likely to cause uncertainty.

The only uncertain factor, even after decades of life, seems to be breakfast.

He swallowed, "Is it... something related to breakfast?"

Harry nodded slightly, "Yes."

At this point, it was pointless to catch up. The opponent still needed at least two more questions to catch up to him.

Meanwhile, he might be able to finish the opponent off in just one more question.

In response to the host’s inquiry, No. 1 couldn’t come up with a precise answer and entered the next round.

At this point, the range for Harry had become extremely small; not just one but two "extremely" were needed to describe its situation.

Some people keep chickens as pets, as seen on TV, ducks, geese, and what else?

Yes, birds.

Pigeons, falcons, parrots; these are common flying pets.

Harry’s logical thinking became increasingly clear. He didn’t take long to consider, "Can it fly?"

No. 1’s expression turned worse, and he reluctantly nodded his head, "Yes, it can fly."

People outside had already started celebrating. Harry’s parents and siblings gathered together, knowing well that a million dollars were enough to change their lives!

It even gave them the right to pursue their dreams!

Many were praying for Harry to win, not out of goodwill, but because they had bet a significant amount on him.

No. 1 was completely unsettled, chasing aggressively, now stuck constantly in a binary choice, filtering out all possible wrong answers.

"Can it be eaten?"

Harry shook his head, "No, it can’t be eaten."

Related to breakfast, yet cannot be eaten, restaurant, table, chair, vase, utensil, cutlery, kitchenware.

Damn, so many choices!

It was quickly Harry’s turn again. At this point, there weren’t many options left, "Is it a predator?"

No. 1 shook his head, "No, it’s not."

Then he posed his own question, "Is it a glass product?"

Glass and iron products are two large categories. Not finding the answer, he began eliminating the most common glass types.

Harry shook his head, and the question power shifted to Harry, who asked, "Is it..."

He hesitated, pigeon or parrot, a binary choice.

During the Federation period, more people raised pigeons than parrots, so he hesitated, initially wanting to ask if it was a pigeon, but paused.

If it were him, he wouldn’t choose a pigeon because it’s too common, and their goal is to mislead competitors as much as possible.

He cautiously asked, "Is it a parrot?"

No. 1 clenched his fists tightly, his body tense, as if suddenly having an episode.

But soon, his body returned to normal, and he looked up, revealing a profoundly unpleasant smile.

At that moment, across the entire Federation, any place with a TV fell silent at once.

Those who were loudly debating the answer with their families stopped, focusing intently on the screen.

Even those guys whose pants would never stay up closed their rhythmic mouths, staring dead at the screen.

When a "yes" came from No. 1’s mouth, everyone exclaimed instantly!

The host also stood up in surprise and stepped between the two.

"Congratulations, Harry, you’ve won."

"Next up is your moment!"

The host then led Harry to Studio No. 1, where a special carpet was already laid on the ground, and many Darkstone Security staff surrounded them.

Harry stood directly below the glass box as a thin layer of something suddenly descended around the glass box.

With the host’s shout of "Congratulations to Harry for winning the first season’s championship," cash cascaded down like a waterfall.

Whether the live audience or viewers in front of the TV, their hearts began racing, adrenaline surged, and their eyes turned red!

So much money!

Damn, if only I were the champion?

Some audience members even stood up, trying to leap over the railing and rush inside, but upon seeing the Darkstone Security staff, they immediately sobered up.

The host walked up to Harry at this moment and asked a question, "What’s it like to be hit by a million?"