Trial Cleared, Lost and Bewildered

[Special Trial (Finale Performance [Deception]) Challenge Successfully Completed]

[Rating and calculating rewards...]

[Player: Cheng Shi, Performance Rating: S]

[Obtained Item: Finale Performance Participation Certificate (C) x1]

[Obtained Item: Clown Nose (C) x1]

[Obtained Item: Clown Makeup Mirror (C) x1]

[Obtained Item: Hope's Match (C) x1]

[Obtained Item: Denial of [Destiny] (C) x1]

[Obtained Item: Praise of [Deception] (S) x1]

[Path to Godhood +20]

[Ladder of Audience +3]

[Current Path to Godhood Score: 2333, Global Ranking:]

[Current Ladder of Audience Score: 196, Path of Fate Rank: 18]

[Trials completed, exiting soon]

"..."

When Cheng Shi saw the notification that he had passed the Trials, Cheng Shi was momentarily dazed.

He thought he had been resurrected, and it seemed that there was no other possibility than the Creator resided in the True Universe to be able to resurrect him when the era ended and the world collapsed.

In that instant, Cheng Shi was both surprised and delighted.

The shocking thing is that [Origin] has actually descended; the joyful thing is that if [He] has come, then the Outer God's schemes will have nowhere to hide, and [Destiny] has truly gone Wrong Path!?

When his five senses returned and he opened his eyes, Cheng Shi was stunned to find that he had not been resurrected in the Void or the True Universe, but had appeared on the roof of the Rest Area.

He looked at his hands, no longer feeling the scalding flames; he touched his eyes, no longer touching the boiling blood...

He shuddered, his eyes widening in disbelief, his hands trembling as he reached for his mouth, and then he felt a startled and bewildered twitch that was beyond his control.

The Lips of Foolish Play are back!

It didn't die!

Everything before that...

Cheng Shi's mind went blank. He staggered back two steps and sat down on the ground with a thud. His lips moved for a long time, but he couldn't utter a word.

Only after he slowly accepted that all the Despair he had just experienced was merely a Trials, and gradually processed the Memory he had not lost, did he recover. With a "thud," he fell backward onto the rooftop, staring blankly at the sun high in the sky, feeling the warmth of the sunlight and the temperature of the world, and then he cried.

It's definitely not due to emotion; anyone staring at the sun would cry!

Two lines of tears fell, Cheng Shi burst into laughter through his tears, then clutched his stomach and pounded the ground, before acting as if he were going mad.

He suddenly jumped up from the ground, pulled the Mask from his pocket, and slammed it to the ground. Still not satisfied, he stomped on it, pointing at it and cursing loudly:

Fuck you!

Someone starts a group buy, and someone immediately joins.

"Fuck you!"

When the Lips of Foolish Play rarely align with his own stance, especially when they are cursing the God of Merriment, Cheng Shi feels every pore on his body relax and open up.

That's the feeling!

Without hesitation, he pulled out his Tongue of Lies, his Ear of Secret Prying, and even gouged out his Gaze of Mockery, throwing them all on the ground, just to hear those few words:

"Fuck you!" x3.

Um?

That's not right.

Although tongue, ear, and eye are three separate entities, Eye Brother a pair, so how can there only be three sounds?

Realizing something was amiss, Cheng Shi and his friends immediately turned their attention to the "traitor" in the crowd, Ear of Secret Prying.

The Ear of Secret Prying remained silent for a moment, then said softly:

"Although the Mask is His Token, in your hands, it represents [Destiny]."

If you're going to curse, you should actually curse the Dice...

Otherwise, given His nature, all your greetings to [the Origin] would have been redirected to [Destiny].

The Tongue of Lies abruptly stopped its vengeful wriggling after its resurrection, and stiffened, asking, "What does this have to do with [Origin]?"

Two Gaze of Mockery spoke in unison, "Idiot, [Deception] His mother is of course [Origin]."

"..."

Cheng Shi's mind was buzzing.

In that instant, he felt the Clown Nose and Clown Makeup Mirror he had obtained from the Trials appear invisibly in front of him, and the mirror reflected a classic Clown image.

His face twitched violently. He took out the [Destiny] Dice, stared at them blankly for a long time, then gave a self-deprecating laugh, threw the Dice on the ground, and gritted his teeth, saying:

"Bitch, [Nothingness] is a bitch!"

Lips of Foolish Play responded instantly again:

"·Bitch, [Nothingness] is all a bitch!"

Cheng Shi laughed, but then asked with some suspicion, "Mouth Brother, you haven't turned into a broken record because you were scared by the end of the era in the Trials, have you?"

The Lips of Foolish Play paused for a moment, then revealed their true colors:

"Idiot."

"..."

Cheng Shi blinked, feeling better.

This is the Mouth Brother! Just the right style!

He ignored the chattering guys on the ground and moved to the edge of the rooftop, beginning to ponder the meaning behind this bizarre and terrifying Trials Deception.

Clearly, the players' experience is correct; the hints and even the questions in the [Deception] Trials... are not to be trusted at all.

Finale Performance?

Bah!

This wasn't a Finale Performance at all; it was a complete Clown circus!

But the Clown in this circus isn't just himself; it's as if all life in the Cosmos has become an actor on this Stage!

But the problem is, this Stage is too real. The Despair pain, the burning Divine Authority, the ruthlessness of Destiny, the response of the Covenant... is all of this really just an illusion?

Or has the event already occurred, and I've simply experienced another time reset?

[Time]!?

No, no, no, the notification that the Trials has ended indicates that the timeline has progressed to after the [Deception] Trials, and the Trials within the [Covenant] rules are still being settled. That means that what just happened was a Trials, and it has nothing to do with the current reality.

That wasn't a reset at all, but more like a... deduction?

Is [Time] not a savior, but an accomplice?

Cheng Shi was taken aback, and blurted out, "I think [Time] is also... cough cough."

Before things were certain, he ultimately held fast to his piety.

But being unrelated to reality doesn't mean the Outer God don't exist. The exact state of this [Nothingness] needs to be redefined. But before that, Cheng Shi must first confirm one thing, something that even thinking about sends chills down his spine:

Am I really who I am?

Am I now concluding a profound Trials, or is this merely a Memory of living in some broken world?

Or perhaps... Memory from an outside world have corrupted the present world, causing one to inherit Cheng Shi's past from Another World...

If all cause and effect were confined to this Starry Sky, then Cheng Shi wouldn't need to consider things so complicatedly.

But after personally experiencing the True Universe, he couldn't help but wonder, in this world where anything is possible, am I... still myself?

Cheng Shi stood on the edge of the rooftop, gazing into the distance, and murmured with a complex expression:

"Mouth Brother, are we... still us?"

Sensing the complex emotions in Cheng Shi's heart, the Lips of Foolish Play restrained their aggression and hummed:

"Regardless of what has become of us, at least His aura has never changed."

He didn't die, so I have Lord of Grace again.

"..." Cheng Shi paused, then suddenly laughed, "Yes, your Lord of Grace has returned. I hope my Fear Faction... can also return."