Cheng Shi

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Cheng Shi (程师) 3
Alias(es)	Doctor of Forgetfulness; Clown; Fate Weaver 156 254 490
Species/Race	Human 8
Gender	Male 4
Affiliation	Jesters 903 990
Occupation/Role	Player; healer, strategist, and infiltrator 30 381 850
Status	Alive 1195
First Appearance	Chapter 2 2

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Progeny Priest of [Birth]	4	Publicly identifies as a male Progeny Priest and handles healing for Life believers. 4
Reason Corroder of [Chaos]	40–41	Introduces himself under this identity; his healing can gradually drive targets mad. 40 41
Follower of [Destiny]	135	Reveals that he grafted a segment of a Blood-Swapping Priest's destiny. 135
Fate Weaver	199	Accepts becoming a believer of [Destiny]; learns to use the Mask of All Beings to switch professional states. 199
Clown of [Deception]	254	His identity as a Clown is confirmed; he subsequently embraces deception as a combat and survival method. 254 255
Dual-faith walker of [Destiny] and [Deception]	601	States that he fused the two faiths and can wield both a die and a mask. 601
Time Walker	1034	Documented under the Time Walker title. 1034
Autonomous shadow counterpart	1090	His shadow develops independent sensory input, physical output, faith, and talents, effectively allowing two coordinated sets of abilities. 1090
Emissary of [Chaos]	1166	Is identified as an Emissary of Chaos while battling after an encounter with [War]. 1166

Background

Cheng Shi grew up as an orphan before being adopted by Cheng Jia, known as Old Jia. Initially a deceitful child who tried to run away from his new home, he changed after realizing that Old Jia had been saving food for him. He stopped lying, settled into family life, and later faced financial hardship while preparing for college. 287

Old Jia remained Cheng Shi's most important familial bond. Cheng Shi describes him as “an ordinary but great father,” and reacts with immediate hostility when others probe into his past. 917 His birthday is observed on July 13, the anniversary of his adoption. 1081

After entering the Faith Game, Cheng Shi favored Solo Trials because they were less difficult and placed less pressure on him. 2 He initially concealed his true circumstances behind shifting identities, including presenting himself as a Priest of [Birth] and later a Reason Corroder of [Chaos]. 3 40 41

His early trials established him as an unconventional healer and planner. He used Shared Divine Grace to cover an entire ruin with a healing chain, forcing Dread Demons into reproduction, and later exposed the impostor A'ming as Huang Bo through deduction and preparation. 8 30

Cheng Shi was killed by Su Yida after the latter used Eternal Prison to freeze him in time. 86 He later encountered alternate, future versions of himself, whose injuries and warnings made clear that his path would involve repeated loss, divergent timelines, and conflicts extending beyond a single world. 121 1058

Appearance

Cheng Shi's appearance is frequently obscured by masks, impersonation, and changing professional states. When seen without a disguise, he has messy hair, upturned eyebrows, round eyes, and notably constricted pupils. 845

• Often carries or manifests masks tied to his Fate Weaver and Clown identities. 199 601
• Uses disguises convincingly enough to be mistaken for other Players, including Zhen Yi. 431 464
• His shadow can act independently and possesses its own faith and talents. 1090

Personality

Cheng Shi is cautious, opportunistic, and intensely practical. He habitually studies people for weaknesses, gathers leverage before acting, and avoids trusting others without a clear advantage. Li Jingming characterizes him as cunning, powerful, excessively cautious, and greedy. 585

He is also theatrical and provocative. Cheng Shi enjoys misleading opponents, playing roles, and turning a dangerous situation into a performance on his own terms. He openly calls himself a “born liar” and later embraces the title of Clown. 212 739

Despite his self-serving presentation, Cheng Shi is capable of loyalty and compassion. He saves Bailing without betraying her trust, revives Xie Yang, heals Ji Yue while exhausted, and agrees to help Hong Lin become stronger against the gods. 30 775 1150 1090 He rejects the image of a heroic Fire Keeper, however, insisting that his foremost goal is survival. 1167

Abilities & Skills

Healing and Support

Cheng Shi began as a healer and retains a broad range of restorative and supportive techniques across his changing faiths.

• Shared Divine Grace — An S-rank talent that turns a healing spell into an expanding Healing Chain. Instead of diminishing across many targets, the chain intensified until it enveloped an entire ruin. 8
• Reproductive induction — His [Birth]-aligned healing drove Dread Demons to obsess over reproduction, producing vulnerable offspring that altered the battlefield. 8
• Healing and mental support — Can use healing, Focus, Mental Arts, Anti-Interference Techniques, Resistance Shields, and shared resistance buffs. 89 299
• Order healing — Heals severe injuries with [Order] power, though prolonged treatment can exhaust him. 1150
• State Reversion — Revived A'ming after the previous trial. 40

Fate Weaver Techniques

As a Fate Weaver, Cheng Shi manipulates positioning, probability, and professional states.

• Mask of All Beings — Lets him switch out of the Fate Weaver state through a simple removal gesture and mental affirmation. 199
• Dice-based swapping — Plants dice and exchanges places with them, allowing him to escape lethal situations or reposition through collapsed terrain. 216
• Never-Lost Gambling Tools — Enables instantaneous disappearance and relocation. 660
• Today's Warrior state — Gives him extreme durability and explosive close-range power; Gongyang Jiao judged him to be a maxed-out Today's Warrior. 490
• Thunder Punishments — Uses lightning to finish powerful enemies, including Gongyang Jiao. 490

Deception and Identity Manipulation

Cheng Shi treats identity as a weapon and is highly skilled at exploiting assumptions.

• Master of Deception — Possesses deception-related power and can construct convincing false identities, scripts, and staged evidence. 302 850
• Self-hypnosis — Studied psychology, recorded difficult memories, and rewrote their cause and effect to make himself accept altered memories as true. 129
• Lies Like Yesterday — Can alter his faith-state; he used it to become a follower of [Death] and remain in the Universe Graveyard. 971
• Impersonation — Successfully pretended to be Zhen Yi and used the confusion to evade Hu Wei and redirect suspicion. 431 464

Vitality and Survival

Cheng Shi possesses exceptional resilience and several methods of surviving otherwise fatal damage.

• Vitality — Allows him to recover from devastating injuries, including a barrage of arrows that pierced his heart and body. 971
• “Never die” failsafe — Prepared a contingency that allowed him to be revealed alive after he was believed dead. 971
• Authority of Vitality — Kept him alive after Hu Wei severely injured him. 431
• Faded Authority of [Decay] — Used it to make an arm nearly impregnable, resisting attacks and decay. 575

Time and Shadow Abilities

Cheng Shi has acquired techniques associated with Time and an independently active shadow.

• Time Deduction Method — Uses a Time talent to connect with alternate versions of himself. 1058
• Pointer Knight timing — Uses time-derived perception to identify the best moment to break through enemy pressure. 783
• Independent shadow — His shadow provides additional senses and physical output, has its own faith and talents, and coordinates perfectly with him. 1090
• Shadow-based exchanges — Attempts to use his shadow in mirror-based swaps and other deceptive setups. 1112

Investigation and Deduction

Cheng Shi is an observant investigator who reads behavioral inconsistencies, physical evidence, and combat habits.

• Identified A'ming as an impostor by questioning whether “A'ming” was truly A'ming. 30
• Deduced Da Yi's Assassin profession from calluses, posture, sensory behavior, and physical control. 460
• Recognized flaws in Therius's request for death and let the possession attempt proceed so the Great One within him could consume the intruding soul. 228
• Uses others' motives, curiosities, and fears as leverage in negotiations and interrogations. 503 591 1163

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Ring of Bone Servant Lele'er — A ring said to surpass ordinary Demigod Artifacts. 86
• Concentric Dagger — A dissection dagger capable of stripping or adding personalities; Cheng Shi seized it from Therius. 243
• Thorn Weeping Ceremony — An SS-class quasi-divine artifact that raises mental power at the cost of self-harm. 615
• Lush Antler Crown — Used to perform a powerful Healing Art when reviving Xie Yang. 775
• Tongue of Lies — Used to force a deceptive confrontation with Long Jing. 464
• Ear of Secret Prying — One of the body parts Cheng Shi seeks to assemble into the Mask; he had already acquired it by the Sandlais investigation. 850 1195
• Lips of Foolish Play — Another component associated with the Mask. 1195
• Contempt of the Dead — Potion marked in advance on Bailing; prevents true death for its duration. 30
• Surgical scalpels — Used as close-range weapons during his battle against Therius's slices. 239

Relationships

• Cheng Jia / Old Jia — Adoptive father. Old Jia taught Cheng Shi honesty and gave him a stable home despite poverty; Cheng Shi considers him his only true familial bond. 287 917 1081
• Xie Yang — Neighbor and recurring acquaintance. Xie Yang helped him obtain a weapon early on; Cheng Shi later revived him and received an S-class item in gratitude. 18 775 1011
• Bailing — Trusted teammate. She followed Cheng Shi's plan even when it required risking her life, and he ensured her survival with Contempt of the Dead. 30
• Fang Shiqing — Former teammate and Fire Keeper acquaintance. She assisted Cheng Shi in capturing Huang Bo and later reunited with him warmly. 30 156
• Hong Lin / Big Cat — Powerful ally and frequent collaborator. Cheng Shi supports her wish to defy the gods and protect her friends, while she recognizes his potential as a Fate Weaver. 459 760 1090
• Hu Wei — Ally with a turbulent history. Hu Wei once severely injured Cheng Shi after mistaking him for Zhen Yi, but later helped lead him to safety. 431 459
• Li Jingming / Dragon King — Intelligence rival and occasional partner. Cheng Shi revealed his fused faiths to him, while both repeatedly attempt to outmaneuver the other. 601 809 1112
• Zhen Yi — Deception counterpart and frequent source of identity confusion. Cheng Shi impersonates her when useful, while she can imitate him convincingly enough to deceive others. 431 464
• Zhen Xin — Acquaintance with a similarly painful orphanage background. Cheng Shi received her memories and gained a deeper understanding of her motives. 853
• Chen Shu — Persistent would-be recruiter for the Fire Keepers who calls Cheng Shi “brother-in-law.” Their relationship mixes bickering, negotiation, and occasional genuine empathy. 1140 1150 1152
• Su Yida — Former associate who killed Cheng Shi after returning from the Void Rift with transformed memories and powers. 86
• Future Cheng Shis — Alternate versions of himself who reveal the cost of their respective paths and offer incomplete guidance across timelines. 121 1058

Story Role / Major Arcs

Early Faith Game Trials

Cheng Shi enters the Faith Game as a Solo Trial specialist and immediately establishes a pattern of false identities, calculated cooperation, and unconventional healing. He prevents his party from isolating Nangong, turns a Dread Demon horde into a reproductive crisis, and exposes Huang Bo's impersonation of A'ming. 3 8 30

Void Rift and Future Selves

After being killed by Su Yida, Cheng Shi's story becomes increasingly tied to Void phenomena, alternate versions of himself, and the consequences of accumulated choices. He meets a scarred future self who crossed through a gap in [Memory]'s archives and later encounters other versions who imply that many known allies have died in their timelines. 86 121 1058

Fate Weaver and Clown

Cheng Shi becomes a believer of [Destiny], gains the Fate Weaver identity, and later accepts his role as a Clown tied to [Deception]. He ultimately fuses the two faiths, gaining a flexible fighting style built around masks, dice, role-switching, and lies. 199 254 601

Rise Among Peak Players

His growing reputation causes other Players to recognize, impersonate, and fear him. He defeats Gongyang Jiao as a Today's Warrior, manipulates high-level opponents through staged identities, and becomes an important figure in the Jesters' network. 490 810 903

Defiance of the Gods

Cheng Shi increasingly confronts the structure of the Faith Game itself. He recognizes that several divine powers are converging on him, seeks ways to inspect deities' minds, proposes terms directly to [Memory], and works toward plans that could change the balance between gods, players, and worlds. 1090 1112 1163

Notable Quotes

“Nothing is impossible.” 8

“I think this is fine. It's livelier with more people.” 243

“Heh, I, Cheng Shi, the Clown. A true clown.” 739

“I have no flame to pass on; I only want to live.” 1167

Trivia

• Cheng Shi's birthday is July 13, celebrated as the anniversary of his adoption by Cheng Jia. 1081
• A fortune-teller interpreted the character “Shi” in his name as a fate that “sticks out” yet is “suppressed by heaven.” 1081
• He once described himself as socially anxious while arguing that “social terrorists” should count as socially anxious as well. 20
• He refused personality purification because he preferred having multiple personalities, describing it as “livelier with more people.” 243