novelTele Chapter 69 The Paradox of Nash Equilibrium
Chapter 69 The Paradox of Nash Equilibrium
Chapter 69 The Paradox of Nash Equilibrium
Because Lin Ya was the one who placed the most bets.
The bet lasted a full fifty-five seconds!
Therefore, the timer she can give must be greater than fifty-five seconds!
Therefore, by deduction, other people's betting time must be less than fifty-five seconds.
In other words, as long as it's within their own betting time, it's an absolutely safe time!
—Indeed, the longer you bet, the greater your advantage!
Lin Ya breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that she had finally made the right gamble.
She finally gained the upper hand!
Then she realized why the "protector" had asked the "monkey" to give a number that was "less than the betting time".
Because if the other party becomes the bookmaker, then the time they give must be longer than your own betting time.
Once the precise betting time is locked in, it means that others can safely use the house's "safe timer" to waste their own time!
—This fat guy actually has some skill!
but----
A new doubt arose in Lin Ya's mind—shouldn't this be the best opportunity?
Before the other party realizes what "betting time" means, you can directly extract this most valuable information from them.
Could it be because he is a deceiver in the realm of virtue, and therefore a good person?
Or is it that—
Just as Lin Ya was pondering this, the "monkey" asked the "protector" somewhat nervously, "Hey, when should I call you?"
How much do I have now?
The protector countered with a question.
His forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat.
Even so, his expression remained calm and resolute.
The beeping sound continued as he spoke: "Beep, beep, beep—"
"—Yes, it's 39!"
The monkey nervously replied, "38, 37————"
"What?!"
Upon hearing this, the protector was greatly surprised. He immediately trembled violently and pressed "pass" without hesitation, passing the flower to Mingpo.
Upon seeing this, Lin Ya and the monkey were momentarily stunned into a blank.
Why is that?
Why was he so terrified—as if someone were chasing him?
"Because he realized it."
Mingpo's leisurely voice rang out: "That beeping sound."
And they are not spaced in seconds.
Under the gaze of the other three, some were drenched in sweat, some looked bewildered, and some seemed lost in thought.
Mingbo said frankly, "Mr. Protector, you were just mentally calculating the amount of 'safe time' you could use, right?"
"However, the intervals between those beeping sounds were noticeably longer than a second —"
"Hey, buddy!"
The protector raised his voice, interrupting Mingpo with a tense expression: "Change!"
The monkey used 15 seconds, while he himself used 23 seconds.
That's already taken thirty-eight seconds!
The absolutely safe time is the betting time, and the betting time must be less than sixty seconds.
Therefore, even if Frankenstein's betting time is fifty seconds, he only has twelve seconds of absolutely safe time.
Even if he bets on 59 seconds, that only leaves him with 21 seconds of safe time!
However, the number above Frankenstein's head has decreased to 44.
This means he has already used sixteen seconds!
He knew perfectly well the safe time, yet he remained so unhurried.
Does he have 55 seconds of safety time?
Even after a 55-second bet, you still couldn't become the house?
Could it be that the dealer bet the full minute?!
"Oh----"
Mingpo smiled, stopped narrating, pressed the "Pass" button, and returned the sunflower to Lin Ya.
The number above his head finally settled at 42.
"—So, this is actually a cooperative game?"
Lin Ya also realized something.
No one can see the exact time above their head; they can only rely on others to give them a hint.
Because of the disturbance caused by the beeping sound, it is almost impossible to judge the time by oneself alone.
"That's how it should have been."
Mingpo gave the black cat a meaningful look: "But—Lord Mo has set a trap for us."
He knew that Mo didn't like being called "sir," but Mingpo still deliberately called him that.
"----trap?"
The monkey was still somewhat confused.
But the protector frowned and looked at Mingpo.
"That's right. Killing someone will get you a Pseudo-Gold of the Sun." This extra rule, which wasn't originally part of the game, will greatly increase the game's difficulty.
Mingbo looked at him, nodded, and slowly said, "Because it means that if someone bets small enough and for a short enough time—say, within a few thousand seconds, or even less."
"Then only the minimum level of timing is needed to ensure that this time bomb" will not be passed back to me.
"No matter who it kills in the end, the game will be over. I can then reliably get a fake Sun Gold."
I'm glad none of you have this dangerous idea.
This is precisely the trap left by Mo—capable of directly destroying the original game structure, which was full of strategic depth, and causing it to advance infinitely!
Two drops of cold sweat slowly trickled down the protector's forehead.
He hadn't even realized that!
He couldn't help but feel a sense of lingering fear.
Fortunately, none of the four people present did anything so dangerous and cruel.
His own bet was for thirty seconds, while the monkey's bet time should be more than fifteen seconds, possibly more than twenty seconds.
After they had spent thirty-eight seconds, the "Frankenstein" senior, who was clearly stronger than them, still showed no sign of panic.
Either he cheated and learned the exact timing—which means his betting time was also very long!
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck the protector.
The sweating, overweight man blurted out, "Nash equilibrium! It's Nash equilibrium!"
In the blink of an eye, he almost figured out the result!
Assuming everyone knows the rules and is intelligent, there are only two optimal solutions: either bet for one second or bet for sixty seconds.
First, the first possibility.
If you want to kill someone with a quick-explosive grenade, the most reliable way is to use a one-second quick-explosive grenade to kill the next person instantly.
So, if everyone else thinks the same way, then everyone's betting time is only one second. This makes it impossible to choose a dealer, resulting in someone being randomly eliminated, and everyone potentially becoming a loser.
However, if someone pinches the grenade for two seconds and becomes the dealer, then everyone else can immediately choose to "stop" when it's their turn, and then pinch the grenade for one second to kill the next person!
Therefore, those who actively choose to avoid the flow of the thunder for two seconds will definitely not receive the reward.
But if you don't get the extra reward, then there's no point in choosing that option at all—because choosing two seconds or more means you're destined not to get the extra reward either.
Under this possibility, the Nash equilibrium is that everyone bets on one second.
The more intelligent people there are, the greater the chance that everyone will suffer together!
Therefore, the clearly skilled "Frankenstein" probably considered this possibility and thus avoided it.
Of course—this might also be his compassion.
In the second possibility—
If we don't consider directly killing someone, but instead hope that the game can be based on "allowing everyone to survive and complete the game safely."
In order to maintain control, the longer you bet, the better!
The "absolutely safe" time is your betting time minus the time that has already elapsed. Therefore, the longer you bet, the safer you are as a player, and the greater your probability of being the house.
Once you become the house, all you need to do is bet more – that's the safe strategy!
Before everyone's "absolute safety limit" is used up, it is very likely that it will go through a cycle and come back.
At this point, the dealer can both throw and catch their own bets because the dealer definitely knows how much they initially placed!
She can simply waste her time, and when her time is about to run out, she can choose to "terminate" and then become the new dealer again!
The house will always have the upper hand!
If that's the case, then the second possible bet should be sixty seconds, competing with others for the dealer's position!
However, if everyone thinks this way, it will actually lead to the dealer falling into the hands of others.
This is precisely the classic paradox of the "invisible hand" paradigm—
If you act solely out of self-interest, the result will only be harming others without benefiting yourself!
It is neither beneficial to oneself nor to others!