In reality, in an open parking lot somewhere in an unknown province or city.
Chen Chong slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the familiar roof of the car overhead, he let out a complicated sigh.
He had survived again.
Not only that, but he had also obtained his second A-rank talent as a trial reward.
Talent acquired: Steadfastness Below the City (A), Warrior Professional Talent. When using shield-type skills, all defensive effects are increased by 25%.
Players with 1,600 points had two additional talent slots besides their two initial slots, and could replace the talents in them.
Chen Chong silently removed his last C-rank talent and replaced it with his newest A-rank talent.
With that, his talent configuration suddenly rose from the lower-middle tier of 1A2B1C to the upper-middle tier of 2A2B.
Among the current ranking brackets, having this configuration at just over 1,600 points could be considered outstanding. At the very least, it ensured that he would have more confidence and a higher survival rate in the next few trials.
"Cheng Shi... Do all big shots really like showing off...?"
He shook his head with a laugh, casually took a bottle of beer from the stack of crates in the passenger seat, and gulped it down.
The liquor spilled everywhere and ran down, soaking his clothes, but he did not care. He downed four bottles in a row before belching and tilting his head back against the seat.
"Heh. What a goddamn world. It would be better to just dream."
Chen Chong gave two bitter laughs and casually threw the bottle out the window.
After being thrown out, the bottle did not shatter upon making intimate contact with the ground. Instead, it gave off a series of crisp clinks.
Looking toward the sound, he saw that the enormous parking lot had long since been filled with bottles piled as high as mountains.
Compared to "parking lot," "dump" was perhaps a more fitting description.
A dump for recycling liquor bottles.
Chen Chong had never been the kind of person who needed two bottles of alcohol to help him sleep.
What he had drunk was two cases.
And what he sought was not sleep, but... numbness.
"Just end already, you fucked-up world."
In reality, in an apartment somewhere in an unknown province or city.
Cao Sansui stared blankly at the Pocket Watch in his hand, still unable to recover from his shock.
The trial ending an hour early had never happened before. He had no way of knowing what this change signified.
But there was one thing he did know: at the instant he left the trial, he had seen the smile on Cheng Shi's face.
"What was he smiling about? Why wasn't he afraid? Could it be that he already knew the trial would end early?"
Cao Sansui's expression grew even more suspicious.
He had always firmly believed that time could not lie. After all, he had activated the Time Battlefield during the trial.
But the problem was, even if time could not lie, did that mean people could not?
If there was someone who could deceive everyone and manipulate time...
Then that person could only be the one who had given everyone the cola...
Cheng Shi!
"Huh!?"
Cao Sansui's eyes suddenly widened. He hurried to the desk, used a tool to pry open the Pocket Watch's face, and began searching carefully with a magnifying glass.
Sure enough, he did not have to search for long before discovering traces of a damaged fingerprint on the back of the watch hands.
There were three marks in total. Connected, they formed a subtle expression:
:)
"..."
Time truly could not lie.
But someone had deceived time.
Cao Sansui understood everything in an instant. Clutching the Pocket Watch, he suddenly laughed in relief.
The trial had not ended early. It was the time in his hand that had advanced.
"Cheng Shi... Impressive."
In reality, in a basement somewhere in an unknown province or city.
Nangong sat cross-legged on the floor, looking at the half of a beef patty that had vanished from her hand, and suddenly laughed aloud.
"I survived again... That's great."
Her score was as low as ever. Even with the points from this trial added, her Ladder had only barely surpassed 1,400.
With trials growing more difficult as time passed, that score made life far from easy nowadays.
But she was not dissatisfied. Being able to survive beneath Decay's gaze was already no simple feat.
"You could have lived a little more easily. Accelerating the decay of others is also a form of offering to Her."
A hoarse voice echoed through the dark, damp basement. Looking around, there was no one there besides Nangong.
It was actually a voice from Nothingness.
But Nangong seemed to have long since grown accustomed to its existence. She drew her dagger and firmly shook her head.
"I can't harm people."
"Foolish. Embracing decay is the creation of all living beings."
"I can't harm people."
"...Incredibly foolish. Forget it. Begin today's sacrifice."
Nangong froze slightly. "Wasn't the sacrifice just performed?"
"The sacrifice in the trial was offered to Her. Now it is my share."
Nangong's expression changed slightly. Gritting her teeth, she pulled down her pants and used the dagger to carve a deep cut into her thigh.
The cut formed a five-stroke tally mark, and marks like it nearly covered both her legs.
Fresh blood instantly welled from the dark-red wound and rapidly gathered toward the dagger. Nangong's face grew paler and paler.
Only when her body temperature began to drop did the dagger stop drinking. It gave a satisfied hum.
"Is it done?"
"Yes. You can heal yourself now."
Nangong forced herself to cast a Healing Art on herself. Then she pulled a small notebook from beneath a rotten wooden bed and solemnly wrote down a name.
Cheng Shi.
"You still want to repay him? Ridiculous. The gods won't let you meet again."
"Then I still have to write it down. What if?"
Nangong flipped through the pages. The shabby little notebook was filled with densely packed names, each belonging to someone who had once helped her.
"I helped you too. Why didn't you write down my name?"
"Your payment... I already gave it to you..."
In reality, in a park somewhere in an unknown province or city.
Song Yawen stared at his trial score, dumbfounded.
Ladder of Audience +3
"How many? Three points??? The Ladder of Audience can add three points???"
He read it over and over in disbelief, then let out a strange cry and began hopping wildly in place.
"Holy shit! I got three points! Brothers! I got three points on my Ladder of Audience!"
At the sound of this, the other players in the park cast him looks that said, "This guy's lost it." But that did not affect Song Yawen's enthusiasm in the slightest. He ran laps around his living area again and again, shouting as he ran:
"Tell me, isn't this awesome? I got three points in one go! Have you ever seen anyone get three points?"
Finally, someone grew annoyed by his shouting and cursed:
"Song Yawen, are you fucking sick? The Ladder of Audience can add at most two points. Are you dreaming about getting three?"
Song Yawen did not even stop and continued yelling:
"What the hell do you know? Could I have misread the reward panel? A big shot carried me. He went all out and directly paid audience to the True God. I'm already on a different level from you people. Got it?"
"There really was a big shot? What's his name? What profession does he follow?"
"Of course there was. I'm telling you... I'm telling you nothing. Is a big shot's name something you're worthy of knowing?"
After saying that, he ignored how everyone around him looked at him and continued making a commotion on his own. Only after venting all his excitement and joy at surviving the calamity did he finally quiet down and return to his tent.
And then...
He continued typing in the various channels:
"I got three points on my Ladder of Audience, brothers. Don't you think I'm awesome?"
"Heh. No."
In reality, in a detached villa somewhere in an unknown province or city.
A snow-white figure was faintly outlined in a shattered dressing mirror.
If one focused their gaze, they could vaguely make out a hand covered in calluses from drawing a bow, hesitantly reaching toward those long, beautiful legs.
"Cheng Shi..."
A murmur rang out, and Birth blossomed.
She gazed upon this place once again, dispelled the frost from Her believer's face, and granted her a new blessing.
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