I understand the "making competitors look bad part" and "the need to be recognized as a helpful friend", and I agree to all of them. What got my head stuck still is that this is so incompatible to the assumption where Pareidolia being the possible culprit behind Molly's incident; this is the only part I was rejecting hard. Essentially what I want to prove is that this possibility isn't just "low but exists", it's "zero". (A note here is that the culprit here has to be either USER2 or Pareidolia because it was confirmed by Sekai that the sacrifice in Chapter 2 was for a different god that isn't HOPE)
Normally I'd think anyone that plays their cards like this (gaining trust then betraying later) would be someone that wasn't in an advantageous position in the competition or was in need of accessing something very specific and wasn't currently in possession. Thus this someone did some strategic moves on the key factor of the competition to get the upper hand against its opponents. This contradicts with the assumption where Pareidolia being capable of many things Pre Chapter 4 very hard. If Pareidolia was capable of doing good cop (pretend to be a friend)/bad cop (pretend to be USER2) all by itself already, it would already have the upper hand being this capable. What not just keep doing the bad cop part already since it got what it wanted, no? What other things it may want that cannot be done by forcing Sensei but can only be done by lulling Sensei into choosing it?
I'd also agree that Pareidolia isn't something you should trust and I suppose perhaps this is the main reason that prompts you. But that isn't necessarily the same as regarding "absolute everything" it says as lies if one can't find a reason behind a lie. Aka, "Pareidolia once hid its nature from you" is a good reason to distrust it, but it will not be enough to interpret its statement on Molly incident otherwise, and jump to "maybe it was actually Pareidolia who did it". It had a reason to hide its nature, and it should have another now if it keeps lying. Especially now that Pareidolia finally assumed a great idea of control and revealed its true nature to Sensei already, why does it need to keep lying? You've outwitted your opponents, and more importantly your cover is already compromised. Why still falsely pin blame on other USERS about some horrible deeds in the past if that was from you? If there was an elusive reason or goal for it to keep lying, it'd have to be something that cannot be achieved by continuing toying Sensei, and can only be achieved by Sensei actively choosing it; this reason or goal was never articulated anywhere, and I am not about putting my faith in future evidence when there isn't one. Getting its own season doesn't quite count because that's a mean to an end and not an end (getting its own season so that it can do things vs just getting its own season).
And the reason I brought up Sensei's exchange with Pareidolia again is because, Sensei is proven to be an absolute dunce when trying to figure out who did what. I admit I don't know how much Sensei can see what we see and it's hard to prove anything, but that's not my point. The point is we saw an USER2 on the screen during Molly incident, but when Sensei tried to wrap his head around about it, he first thought it was Pareidolia because this is a nostalgic trick he experienced, and then he thought it was HOPE because I assume Sensei was associating this trick with the one that said "take something that doesn't belong to you", and Pareidolia had to "correct" him that it was USER2 that did it. I almost don't need to care whether Sensei could see what we see or not because he just got it all wrong; Pareidolia's supposed plan to pin blame on USER2 never worked as intended because Sensei was too dumb to point at the right scapegoat anyway. This is another reason why I would have to regard Pareidolia's statement on Molly incident as true because, Sensei was too much of a dunce to get properly deceived on the matter. Still lying at this point would be just for deceiving players instead of Sensei. And this isn't an in-universe reason I can accept.
So same thing as my last post (or an extension of it): The wish to have Sensei trust it, choose it, and vilify others highly contradicts with the assumption of Pareidolia being powerful enough and being responsible for Molly incident. Since I believe "Pareidolia trying to gain trust" is true, then "Pareidolia being powerful enough and being responsible for Molly incident" would have to be false.
I'll try to streamline my thought process to compare with yours (apologies in advance if I get any part of it wrong because it'd look up I was putting words in your mouth)
Yours:
Pareidolia claimed Molly incident was caused by USER2 but the entire exchange was very back-and-forth → Pareidolia cannot be trusted due to preconceived solid reasons → This means that statement he gave has a good chance to be false → Molly incident might not be caused by USER2 → Bear in mind that Pareidolia communicated in USER2 fashion twice → This might imply the possibility of Pareidolia impersonating USER2 at some other occasions before Chapter 4 → USER2 never outright admitted that was his doing → Pareidolia could actually be the culprit behind Molly incident and was trying to pin blame on USER2 (or the possibility was there I should say) → All the more reasons to believe as such because Pareidolia was such a lying fuck since the beginning (it is)
Mine:
Pareidolia claimed Molly incident was caused by USER2 but the entire exchange was very back-and-forth → Pareidolia cannot be trusted due to preconceived solid reasons → Its days of gaining Sensei's trust are over, however → I don't find a reason for Pareidolia to still lie to Sensei about it at this point → Molly incident might just be caused by USER2 → USER2 never said it was him but this topic never came up between Sensei and USER2 so at best it's unconfirmed → Pareidolia's statement at least aligns with what we saw on screen during Molly incident → Are there direct evidences that can prove Molly incident was done by someone other than USER2? → Currently no → USER2 was for now the one responsible for Molly incident, and Pareidolia was trying to replicate a "successful" case by pulling the same trick on Karin
My weakness here is that I don't find an in-game reason for Pareidolia to keep lying about something Sensei could never figure out on his own, and I don't find other direct evidence which can prove that USER2 didn't do it. So feel free to give me pointers. And definitely correct me if I got your part wrong.
