Chapter 1 – Werewolf Master System
"Where is this?"
Wang Changsheng woke from a haze of chaos, looked around, and frowned.
He found himself seated at a round table; besides him there were several people—and a few indistinct creatures.
He called them creatures because each was like a living shadow, a heavy, grotesque mask clamped over its face, devilish in aspect.
Yet every human and every shadow had a numbered placard in front of them.
They formed a circle from One to Twelve.
"Hm? I've got a mask too." Wang Changsheng noticed the mask on his own face; oddly, he could see straight through it as if it weren't there.
Before he could react, lines of text flashed before his eyes.
[Congratulations, you've been crushed to death.]
[Werewolf Master System activated.]
[Your Fortune attribute has increased; in-game you're far likelier to receive a Chosen role!]
[Tech systems can no longer detect you—cheat to your heart's content!]
[Skill gained – Hole in the Helmet]
[Hole in the Helmet]: Every match you can clearly observe every player's night actions.
[Skill gained – Can't See Me, Can't See Me]
[Can't See Me, Can't See Me]: Before the game begins, silently repeat "can't see me" twice; your presence plummets and others can't read your alignment from your face.
"I've been… crushed to death?"
Wang Changsheng blinked.
"Werewolf system?" He caught on at once. "I transmigrated? Damn it—I'd just won nine million!"
Before arriving here, he'd bet on the ultimate crown of a world-level Werewolf tournament and pocketed nine million yuan.
On the way to claim it, a truck slammed into him; his vision went black, and the next instant he was here.
"Tch—!"
A sharp pain stabbed through his skull like a needle.
Fragments of memory drilled into his mind.
After a moment's silence he understood the situation.
He really had transmigrated—into a world even more fanatical about Werewolf than his old one, a craze rivaling the hottest MOBAs of his past life and surpassing them.
"Didn't expect a blink and I'd become a Werewolf team player." The corner of Wang Changsheng's mouth curved upward, harder to flatten than an AK.
"Only a substitute, but no matter—I've got the system!"
With the Werewolf Master system and his own passion and knowledge, he was confident he could climb from substitute to top-tier pro.
Wang Changsheng loved Werewolf; otherwise he wouldn't have won that nine million by following the tournaments.
Still, while he held his own in casual games, against the world's elite he'd been outclassed.
Now, however, he possessed the Werewolf Master system.
Especially these two new skills.
One: Hole in the Helmet.
Two: Can't See Me.
In a Werewolf match they were practically broken.
Hole in the Helmet let him watch every player's night movements.
It was almost pure cheating.
When the Judge called "Night falls, close your eyes," everyone else sank under heavy masks, each allowed to open their eyes only on their own turn—
—while he could look around freely.
From the very first night he could map out every identity.
Remember, Werewolf is a game of listening to speeches and parsing logic to find the four Werewolf Cards among twelve.
You can also read off-table clues or study tells, but that risks misreads.
Wang Changsheng was different.
He effectively had a Gods Eye View.
Aside from lacking the authority to give orders at night, he might as well be the Judge.
As a Good Guy he could pinpoint the four Werewolf Cards.
As a Werewolf he could openly name the four Power Roles.
With this skill he need only nudge the discussion toward the facts he already knew to secure victory.
Of course, Werewolf isn't a solo game; specifics still demand case-by-case play.
Still, Wang Changsheng—who carried a system—was confident he could fight for victory in every single game.
"Whew—"
Wang Changsheng exhaled in his mind, calming his excitement.
At the same instant, a deep, magnetic voice rang beside his ear.
"Dawn has broken."
"Player 7 was eliminated last night."
"Game over; the Werewolf faction wins."
As the voice faded, Wang Changsheng felt himself pulled out of the sealed chamber and back to reality.
It turned out the world's technology was highly advanced.
In their Werewolf tournaments, every player would lie inside a gaming pod; through neural links, twelve contestants were transported together into a sealed chamber.
A system monitored everything.
Anyone who even looked like they were cheating was instantly flagged.
Wang Changsheng, however, was an exception.
His own system blocked the pod's perception of him.
In other words, even if he cheated right now, the monitoring system couldn't catch him.
But every match was live-streamed.
So although Wang Changsheng possessed the skills "Hole in the Helmet" and "You Can't See Me," he wouldn't risk unnecessary cheating.
Those skills were already the ultimate hacks.
What other cheat could top them?
Wang Changsheng rose from the pod and saw the people around him wearing different expressions.
Some looked delighted; others were gloomy.
He skimmed the memories surfacing in his mind.
Understanding dawned.
In the match that had just ended, their team had lost more points.
But since this was only a reserve-team qualifier, it wasn't a big deal.
The real focus was on the main squad's matches.
Yet Wang Changsheng's team was now in a dire position.
After the reserve qualifiers ended, the main teams would clash.
His team—Hand Over Thoughts—currently sat at the bottom of the standings.
One more loss, one more point behind, and they would be out of the national finals.
Naturally, the other teams were happy.
Wang Changsheng's teammates looked miserable.
——————
(A/N:)
Because this book is a series of logic games, the spotlight stays on the matches themselves.
There will be a few female characters, but at most they'll share a casual meal or two with the protagonist; there won't be a true female lead.
Unless the plot later changes, or a majority of readers demand it, or I design a female character so smooth and unobtrusive that no one finds her annoying, I probably won't write a heroine.
I'm not good at writing romance; rather than produce something cringeworthy, I'd rather leave it out.
The women in the story are independent and self-reliant.
I'll describe their beauty subjectively, but within the setting that beauty is objective fact—just as I'll describe male characters as handsome or plain.
These women may like or even admire the protagonist; that's normal—men admire him too.
Most likely none of them will fall in love with Wang Changsheng.
They'll concentrate on studying Werewolf strategy and on their own careers.
Again, the protagonist and the female characters will at most share a few meals.
To avoid any backlash—say, accusations that the protagonist is irresponsible or a player—my setup will be mutual convenience: both sides focus on their careers, not on brainless romance triggered by sharing a meal.
No one will throw a match on account of it.
In fact, I may not even write such scenes; meat-juice burgers are greasy, and too many are unhealthy—unless the plot stays light and logical.
After all, this is primarily a logic-driven story.
Read on without worry.