"Who? The person from just now?"
"Didn't you guess who He was?"
Cheng Shi frowned, lost in thought.
It wasn't that he hadn't guessed. The moment he confirmed that the person before him was his Lord of Grace, he knew that the one from earlier was probably another god of the Nothingness path—Destiny.
Because they had the same external appearance, the same form, and the same void-like fluctuations.
The only difference was their personalities.
One was indifferent, while the other was unrestrained.
"Looks like you guessed it."
"So what if I did? With me being only a human, could I possibly take revenge on a god?"
"Hehe, you don't need to test me. I can tell you the answer.
Any life-form can take revenge on a god. It's just that this kind of 'revenge' might not be in the form you want, as you understand it.
Take you, for example. From beginning to end, you've been taking revenge on Him."
"???"
Big brother, don't make things up. When have I ever taken revenge on Destiny?
If I had the guts for that, would I have gone and ordered a solo instance?
Seeing Cheng Shi's astonishment, He continued.
"The moment you removed the Mask representing Me from the Starting Point of Life Path, your desecration of Destiny had already begun."
Cheng Shi was left dumbfounded. Countless scenes flashed through his mind, and his thoughts returned to the day when the gods descended.
On that bright and breezy afternoon, the Faith Game forcibly invaded the consciousness of everyone in the world through means incomprehensible to humanity. Cheng Shi was naturally included.
After being deposited at the Starting Point of Life Path, Cheng Shi stared at the white Mask and the bone-pale Dice before him, the confusion in his heart soaring beyond the heavens.
The situation was obvious. He had to choose one of the two.
Cheng Shi was extremely conflicted. He didn't even know what these two things represented.
"How should I choose?" he muttered to himself.
Unexpectedly, the Mask answered him.
"Choose the 'Dice of Destiny.'"
Although Cheng Shi didn't know what the "Dice of Destiny" represented, he knew the Mask was referring to that die.
Cheng Shi was someone who took advice.
So he picked up the die.
According to his simple philosophy, if you listened to advice, you would have enough to eat.
Thus, he chose the die without hesitation.
Just as the Mask curled its lips into a pleased smile, Cheng Shi reached out and pinched the Mask.
The Mask's smile instantly froze.
Cheng Shi wasn't just someone who took advice. He was also a clever man.
Since this Mask could advise someone to take an object, the Mask itself had to be something good as well.
Thus, greedy Cheng Shi abandoned the choice between two and decided to take both.
The mutation began.
The die started growing heavier, while the Mask began to burn.
The searing flames roasted Cheng Shi's left hand until it was charred black, while the heavy die smashed his right hand into the floor.
Even so, he never let go.
He was the very embodiment of greed unto death.
Only when the Mask had burned away half his body and the die had pierced through his palm did these mutations gradually disappear.
Mortally wounded, Cheng Shi lay on the ground. Looking at the Mask's remains and the ash-stained die before him, he found himself back in a situation where he had to choose between two.
Cheng Shi let out a miserable, hollow laugh and placed the Mask's remaining lips against his face, but the Mask vanished instantly.
Left with no choice, he reached out with his pierced right hand and fished the die out from beneath the ground.
And then...
He inexplicably became a believer of Deception.
A Lips of Foolish Play that he couldn't feel appeared on his face, while his hand held a Dice of Destiny that could only ever roll a one.
As a result, from the beginning until now, other people's Edicts of Passage involved praying to their Masks, while he could only pray to his die.
"Remember now?
You defied your own destiny.
From that moment on, every Edict of Passage you performed was a desecration of Him.
Tell me, if there were always a tiny insect questioning you, provoking you, and desecrating you...
What would you do?"
Cheng Shi's face twitched. That depends on who it is.
If I were that god, I'd definitely stomp that filthy insect to death.
But if I were the insect...
Bah, Destiny really is a bitch!
Under the starry sky, the eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a smile.
"Look, you've desecrated Him once again."
"..."
Cheng Shi smiled on the surface while cursing inwardly. "You summoned your believer just to make fun of him?"
"What else?"
"???"
Is this something a human would say?
Cheng Shi's face twitched twice. He sighed in resignation and said:
"Let's talk about something serious, Lord of Grace.
Your devout and humble believer has just survived an assassination attempt. His mind has suffered tremendous pressure, and he's utterly exhausted. He really has no energy to listen to your teasing.
Please tell me directly why you came and what you want me to do."
The eyes rolled, and He smiled.
"Why didn't you follow My will and kill that believer of Destiny?"
Cheng Shi answered honestly:
"Personally, I think making her realize how rotten her destiny is and question the Lord of Grace who once protected her might be more painful than killing her.
Death is the simplest form of torture."
"Interesting. Perhaps Death would disagree with your view, but it doesn't matter. He doesn't get to decide.
Then how are you so certain that your choice is definitely the right one?"
"Because I'm your believer. Your radiance has always guided me."
It was a compliment so blatant that it practically left fingerprints. It rang loud and clear.
But it was useless.
The eyes grinned.
"You've desecrated Him once again."
"..."
"Still, I'm very satisfied.
Hmm, how should I reward My devout follower?
Let me think. How about I tell you a few secrets?
With so many secrets, which one should I tell you?"
The eyes blinked merrily. A moment later, He chuckled.
"Let's play a game."
"?"
"A game of Memory.
The believers of Memory search everywhere for interesting secrets to please Him. Let's also play a secret-exchange game.
You can ask me two questions, and I'll ask you two questions as well.
Considering that I also bear the divine name of Deception, for the sake of fairness, we'll add one more rule:
Of the two answers, at least one must be free of lies."
Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened, and his mind began racing.
One had to know that, according to the rules of the Faith Game, the provision stating that "at the end of every year, players will be selected according to the rankings on the Ladder of Audience, and the top ten players will receive the opportunity to meet the gods" would not take effect for another six months.
Therefore, no matter what, this was an opportunity to learn about the gods, the Faith Game, and "himself."
What should he ask?
And how could he ensure that He wouldn't lie?
Cheng Shi thought for a long time before arriving at an answer: there was no way to ensure it!
Even the rules of this game could be a lie told by Him.
Simply because His divine name was Deception!
Since that was the case, there was no need to waste any more brainpower searching for logical loopholes.
He would just ask whatever he wanted to know.
Before you continue