My Level Zero System
Chapter 232 - 232: Prisoner's Dilemma

"Sequential attacks?"

Pegasus frowned when she heard Tolimus's suggestion.

"Exactly, isn't this a sufficient method to resolve our predicament?"

Tolimus leaned back, his arms crossed over his chest, and continued to explain.

"Although neither of us can trust Kain and Faith, we two can't fully trust each other either. So, to eliminate those two cunning individuals, we can only attack someone sequentially without officially confronting each other."

Tolimus's method was simple. For instance, while they still pretended to follow Kain's or Faith's plan, when a spy within a certain team signaled and revealed their team's position, Tolimus's and Pegasus's teams would attack sequentially. For example, Tolimus would be the first to attack, but wouldn't completely eliminate the attacked team; he would only inflict some damage. Then, Pegasus's team could jump in afterward to finish off the remaining part of the attacked team.

There were two main reasons for such a convoluted attack method.

The first reason, as mentioned, was that they couldn't fully trust each other.

When both Tolimus and Pegasus led their teams to attack another team, this thought might very well arise:

"I should take advantage of this attacked team, cooperate with them to eliminate the other side."

Although this possibility was very small, as it was relatively difficult to execute and the benefits gained were uncertain, who could be 100% sure that the other person wouldn't do it?

And if they weren't 100% sure that the other person wouldn't betray them, should they betray first to prevent being betrayed?

This is exactly the theory known as the "Prisoner's Dilemma." A dilemma where both subjects know what the best outcome is, but trust is the crucial wall that prevents that best outcome.

Tolimus and Pegasus both knew that trusting each other was the best option, but precisely because they couldn't determine if the other party trusted them, neither could trust the other.

This also led to the second benefit of this tactic.

Let's say Tolimus's team attacks first. In that case, when the attacked team suffers casualties among its members, Tolimus's team will likely incur similar losses, as all teams that make it to this round are very strong.

When the second wave of attack occurs, meaning Pegasus's team attacks the team that Tolimus's team had already attacked, they can completely eliminate the attacked team while also taking certain damage.

The purpose of this is to distribute the disadvantages evenly, in this case, the damage both teams receive.

But why can this be considered an even distribution? Aren't Tolimus's and Pegasus's roles different?

This comes down to the art of balancing combat power.

When Tolimus's team attacks another team, assuming both teams' combat power is equal, the damage inflicted will, of course, be equal.

But when Pegasus attacks that team, it becomes a situation of a damaged team fighting an intact team. Although the damaged team will retaliate and inflict damage on the intact team, because there's already a power imbalance between the two sides, an equal exchange of damage cannot happen.

Therefore, even though Pegasus's team is the one that finishes off the attacked team instead of just simply damaging it, the damage her team receives is not significantly different from the damage Tolimus's team receives.

A very logical and practical strategy.

"Interesting, but who attacks first, and who attacks second?"

Pegasus rested her chin on her hand, narrowing her eyes and staring at Tolimus.

He just offered a meaningful smile.

"So, do you want to attack first or second?"

"I understand your strategy now. But there's a problem here."

"That is, if you are the first team to attack, then you only need to eliminate one member of the other team, and in return, your team will only lose a maximum of one member."

"But if my team is the second to attack, then the outcome of a 5-on-4 battle is very unpredictable. An opponent cornered might not accept being eliminated after only taking out one member of my team."

"After all... that's up to four Magus."

Pegasus pointed out the flaw in this damage-balancing strategy.

This would mean the second attacking team would be at a disadvantage, and a disadvantage is not far from failure.

However, Tolimus burst out laughing.

"Pegasus, you've forgotten one thing. When you defeat and eliminate that team, won't their advantage belong to you? Is that price enough to compensate for the difference in damage?"

This was the final step in this damage-balancing strategy. It was another variation of the Prisoner's Dilemma theory.

The advantage of the first attacking team was already clear and undeniable. But the advantage of the second attacking team was different.

It couldn't be asserted with 100% certainty that there would be unforeseen damage. Nor could it be asserted with 100% certainty that the advantage gained from the eliminated team would not affect the final victory.

Given these "uncertainties," if Pegasus chose to be the first attacking team, it would be no different than her yielding incredibly important advantages to Tolimus, just to secure an "adequately safe" advantage. And if she didn't want Tolimus to gain those "potentially" incredibly important advantages, then she had to step out of her own comfort zone.

So, what would Pegasus decide?

She pondered in silence, making the atmosphere in the room seem to freeze.

Although Tolimus still appeared relaxed, where no one noticed, his palms were sweating.

As the heir of a noble force, they were taught how to arrange and see through conspiracies as a basic lesson, and his sharpness and intuition were honed from it.

Pegasus was no less capable; she was an intelligent girl, otherwise, she wouldn't have been the leader to bring her team this far.

In Kanzax Academy, the talent among top students didn't differ too much; that's when intelligence spoke volumes. After all, a Cecilia sweeping everything with just one sword, not even needing teammates, was just a rare case.

It is for this reason that the final round of this tournament is played in this special format instead of just a boring knockout match.