Surprise! Wasn't This a Surprise?

"Fourth Brother, let Eldest Brother teach you one final iron rule. Trust no one—not even brothers who have lived and died beside you! I served in the army for five years and won countless merits, yet all of them were taken by my superiors.

"I fought no fewer than a hundred battles, yet I was promoted to nothing more than a measly Ten-Man Captain. Don't you find that ridiculous? Don't you find it tragic?

"Those Noble Scions who once humiliated me could become Hundred-Households without earning a single merit. Some time ago, I heard that his father, Earl of Qingning, intended to pull some strings after the New Year and get him promoted to Deputy Thousand-Household.

"And me, with neither power nor influence—even if my skills are good and my fists are hard, what use is that? A mud-legged commoner will always be a mud-legged commoner, not even worth as much as the dogs beside nobles and Noble Scions.

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm trash. I'm not even as good as those eunuchs in the palace. When they leave the palace, what Thousand-Household or Ten-Thousand Household doesn't have to fawn over them?

"Once this merit is divided up, I'll be no more than a Thousand-Household. I can do nothing to him. But if I can claim all the credit for myself, I will surely be able to enter the Bureau of Peculiar Individuals and achieve something extraordinary.

"So you all have to die. This is the price I offer Heaven. When I left the Elite Camp like a homeless dog, I swore a venomous oath: I would become a Superior person, one beneath one man and above ten thousand!!"

The Cavalry Captain roared, spilling the secret he had suppressed in the depths of his heart.

"So you had Second Brother go with you to borrow the Spider Silk Net? If he were here, he would definitely choose to perish with you. But I'm different. Almost all our brothers are dead. There's not much point in me staying alive.

"Brilliant! Eldest Brother, you must have guessed that I wouldn't resist, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have saved me for last. Do it. Our eight brothers are still waiting for me on the road to the Yellow Springs."

Fourth Brother gave a bitter smile. Eldest Brother, usually gentle and patient, always so caring toward his brothers, had such darkness hidden in his heart. He had disguised himself well—kept it up for over five years.

"Human nature is complicated. Fortunately, I can see through people's hearts!" With a single slash, the Cavalry Captain finished off his last brother, revealing a smile even more miserable than Fourth Brother's.

Under the moonlight, surrounded by blazing torches, the Vagrants leaning against the wall and playing dead, the cavalrymen slain by betrayal from their brothers, the monster struggling in the net, and the captain looking up at the sky and swearing to climb to the very top wove together a tragic song.

Shocking!!

To He Zhao, this scene was no less astounding than watching a soul-stirring movie.

In the past, he could only see scenes of brothers betraying each other in television dramas.

Now that he had witnessed it with his own eyes in the Simulation Scenario, goosebumps rose all over his body.

The human heart was impossible to fathom!

"Stop struggling. The web has been mixed with Golden Powder and soaked in Black Dog Blood for seven times seven, forty-nine days. The longer you're bound, the weaker you'll become." The Cavalry Captain sneered at the Corpse Demon.

Leading the monster, whose struggles were gradually weakening, he began dragging his brothers' corpses together. He Zhao was no exception.

Then he took out a waterskin from his waist. When he pulled out the stopper, a pungent odor wafted out, and he poured its contents over the corpses.

In modern times, this stuff was called petroleum. In ancient times, people often called it Fierce Fire Oil.

"Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth. In the next life, let us be brothers again."

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a firestarter and lit it.

Boom—

The flames blazed fiercely. The Cavalry Captain turned around, preparing to leave with the Corpse Demon.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

He Zhao sprang up abruptly, pulled the rusty dagger from his heart, and stabbed it toward the back of the Cavalry Captain's neck.

Pfft—

The blade sank into flesh, leaving only its wooden handle outside.

"Ah!!"

The scream echoed through all of Xiahe Village.

He Zhao kicked a man when he was down. Like a spider, he wrapped his arms and legs around the Cavalry Captain and dragged him toward the bonfire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sounds of blows rang out without end. He Zhao spat out mouthful after mouthful of blood, yet rather than loosening, his arms only tightened further and further.

"Surprise!"

"Wasn't this a surprise? Wasn't this unexpected? I'm actually not dead!"

Clinging tightly to the Cavalry Captain, He Zhao was like a human torch, setting the other man ablaze as well.

"Ah—"

Miserable screams continued to ring out. Relying on his terrifying strength, the captain broke free from He Zhao's restraints, but he could not put out the flames covering his body. After all, Fierce Fire Oil had been used—how could it be extinguished so easily?

"Hehehe!"

His face twisted grotesquely from the flames, He Zhao's trembling arms grabbed the Spider Silk Net and slowly dragged the Corpse Demon toward the bonfire.

"Ao! Ao! Ao!"

As though it had seen a ghost, the Corpse Demon used both hands and feet to crawl frantically in the opposite direction.

Having been trapped in the net for too long, its strength had weakened tremendously. It could not stop He Zhao at all.

"Perishing together is an excellent ending too."

Not long afterward, the Cavalry Captain stopped struggling and collapsed headfirst onto the ground, silent forever.

The Corpse Demon met an equally miserable end. It burned even more fiercely than He Zhao, its body alone eclipsing the light of the entire "bonfire." Before long, it became a heap of debris.

Ruthless He Zhao lay in the fire, his entire body burned into charcoal. Yet miraculously, he was still alive, his chest rising and falling.

"I, He Zhao, laughed last!"

The moment the words fell, he died and ascended to Heaven.

[Congratulations, you survived for 5 hours. While successfully carrying out the plan of diverting calamity eastward, you witnessed a performance of betrayal. Amid the raging flames, you dragged your enemies down into the Abyss. Cicada, mantis, Huang Que—the weakest among them all, you were actually the true BOSS. Although your time laughing was a little short, that did not stop you from laughing last.]

[Rating: E+.]

[Enemies killed: Xuandu Army Cavalry (2), Variant Corpse Demon (1).]

[Rewards: 7 Simulation Coins (enemy kills), 30 Simulation Coins (rating), lottery draw (1).]

[Would you like to replay your simulated life?]

[My Wallet: 264 Simulation Coins.]

"Come on, Sir! I took out the Cavalry Captain and burned the BOSS of Xiahe Village to death, yet I only got an E+ rating?"

This game was too hardcore. Suffering was real suffering. Compared to it, Sekiro and Dark Souls had to move aside.

"Whew—"

He Zhao let out a deep breath. From being unable to survive even a minute at the start to now being able to dispatch enemies one after another, he truly enjoyed this sense of accomplishment.

"A lottery draw?"

He focused his mind and gave it a light tap.

Before Ruthless He Zhao appeared the Variant Corpse Demon, the ten-man cavalry squad, even their horses, weapons, miscellaneous items, and more.

"Isn't this just a gacha draw without spending money on your horse coins?"

Going by gameplay even more punishing than the Old Thief's Souls series, the Simulator's odds of a jackpot were probably even more outrageous than that universally cursed Penguin.

Immediately afterward, a Lottery Tube like one found in a temple came into view.

He Zhao tried controlling it with his mind and gave it a slight shake.

Clatter!

A Bamboo Slip fell out.

He flipped it over and saw written on it: [Supreme Supreme].

The Variant Corpse Demon stepped forward. All the other people, objects, and livestock shattered and vanished.

[Congratulations, you have obtained the talent: Child of the Night.]

"?"

[Child of the Night: You are a child of darkness. After the sun sets, all attributes +3. After the sun rises, the Amplification disappears.]

The next moment, he opened the Past Life Mall. He was going shopping!

[Endure Hunger: You possess endurance toward hunger beyond that of ordinary people. Price: 100 Simulation Coins]

"Bought!"

Wasn't it just 100 Simulation Coins?

This lord was rich now.

"I'll make you lose your shirt, you little bastard. I'll shear you bald, you sheep."

He had no intention of continuing to play the vagrant opening. He was sick to death of it.

Besides, he had already wiped out the BOSS of Xiahe Village once. All the grudges of the past had vanished into emptiness.

"I'll rest for a few days first, then start a new identity."

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. In the early hours of the morning, He Zhao lay in his bedroom and began the game.

[Would you like to spend 10 Simulation Coins to unlock a new identity?]

"Yes."

[My Wallet: 153 Simulation Coins.]

[Life After Life, Endless Joy!]