Chapter Summaries

Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu gathered gods' corpses for Cheng Shi's experiment to glimpse the future, then Hong Lin revealed that the Divine Throne Cheng Shi had taken repeatedly respawned and had been stolen by many versions of him. Hong Lin took the two men from the Gods' Graveyard, leaving Cheng Shi shaken by what the revelation meant for Predestination.

• Cheng Shi showed Zhang Jizu a piece of the Divine Throne and explained that he had come to gather gods' corpses for an experiment aimed at glimpsing the future.
• Cheng Shi told Zhang Jizu that he rejected the God of Merriment's grim vision of the future, and Zhang Jizu promised to share the burden of finding another path.
• Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu collected corpses from the pit while Hong Lin arrived and silently guarded them.
• Zhang Jizu confronted Hong Lin, who said she had come to take the two men back because her deal with Cheng Shi was still ongoing.
• Hong Lin revealed that the Divine Throne repeatedly respawned and that many versions of Cheng Shi had stolen it, leaving Cheng Shi shocked.
• Hong Lin swept Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu out of the corpse pit.

Hong Lin sacrificed herself to unleash the combined power of countless instances of [Origin], but the force failed to break the Experiment Field and vanished. Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu escaped as the Pig Bridge disappeared, while Yog confronted Herobas before a world on the verge of annihilation.

• Hong Lin told Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu not to mention her choice, then leaped from the Pig Bridge.
• Countless rainbow streams of light converged into a giant white sun in the True Universe.
• The sun cracked apart before reaching the Creator's Divine Throne, and Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu leaped from the bridge as darkness returned.
• Yog appeared before Herobas, who demanded that he state his purpose or be annihilated with the world behind him.
• Yog feared that after [Decay]'s Divine Throne became vacant, the mortal who had claimed a Divine Throne would come after him.

Yog sought Herobas as a companion in fleeing the doomed world, but Herobas refused, trusting that [Nothingness] and [Origin] would preserve a future. After hesitating between known destruction and the unknown beyond, Yog used a device left by his other self and was cast into the True Universe.

• Yog recalled how a warning from his other self had revealed other worlds and offered him a way through the spacetime barrier.
• After witnessing Cheng Shi take [Chaos]'s Divine Throne from [Justice], Yog decided the era was too dangerous and asked Herobas to escape with him.
• Herobas rejected the plan, hoping to earn [Nothingness]'s protection and believing [Origin] would bring another era.
• Yog crushed the item and was pulled through a black hole into the True Universe, where he lost consciousness and emerged amid spacetime turbulence.
• Black-hole eyes observed Yog's arrival and concluded that [Origin]'s compressed detonation had briefly paused the experiment's time.

After witnessing countless Hong Lins resist the Creator’s Divine Throne, Cheng Shi returned to the Rest Area and found two Void Gates opening as the Audience Assembly began. Faced with [Deception] and [Destiny], he chose both, intending to use each against the other and seize control of his fate.

• Cheng Shi woke on the Rest Area rooftop, reflected on the Hong Lins’ resistance, and called Zhang Jizu to confirm he had returned safely.
• Zhang Jizu told Cheng Shi that the Audience Assembly had begun, while Cheng Shi saw a Void Gate adorned with mask wind chimes appear.
• A second gate hung with dice appeared, and Cheng Shi nearly entered [Deception]’s gate after mistaking an illusion for the real doorway.
• As the two gates consumed the rooftop, Cheng Shi decided to defy the forced choice and set out to attend both assemblies.
• Fool’s Game chose [Destiny] while planning to use [Deception] against it and take both into his wager.

Cheng Shi arrived backstage at [Deception]'s Audience Assembly and discovered that the God of Merriment's doors had brought him there despite his attempt to choose another path. While six wary swindlers waited in uneasy silence, Long Jing grew increasingly frustrated by the absence of the top players, until strange laughter began sounding from the Mask platforms.

• Cheng Shi found himself behind a transparent curtain overlooking the vast Audience Assembly venue, where six players stood on Mask platforms.
• Cheng Shi realized the God of Merriment had sent him and Shadow Cheng Shi to [Deception]'s assembly through the doors of [Destiny] and [Deception].
• Long Jing recalled hiding beneath the highest Mask to surprise Zhen Xin, but waited as Zhen Xin, Dragon King, and Cheng Shi failed to appear.
• The six swindlers stayed silent and wary, fearing that any of them could become the target of a prank at the assembly.
• Long Jing wondered why the other Clowns were absent, while the swindlers began suspecting Zhen Xin might be hiding beneath a Mask.
• A brief burst of laughter sounded from the Mask platforms, and the gathering fell silent again.

At the followers of [Deception]’s Audience Assembly, rival liars traded insults, fought, and turned the gathering into a bizarre betting spectacle. Watching from behind a curtain, Cheng Shi noticed the bandaged ninth-place man resembled Little Seven and wondered whether he had survived or been impersonated.

• President Gong hid in the shadows after the naked fourth-place man took Long Jing’s platform and asked where the absent President Gong had gone.
• Du Qiyu shot an arrow at the Master of Trickery, then traded taunts with him until they began fighting across their platforms.
• Followers on the fifth and sixth platforms opened a betting pool about whether the naked man wore underwear, and he revealed he was wearing nothing.
• Cheng Shi watched the assembly and questioned why the bandaged ninth-place man, who resembled Little Seven, was still alive.

Zhen Xin returned to the Audience Assembly and announced that the God of Merriment was granting Cheng Shi an audience, but a fake Zhen Xin set off a chaotic confrontation among the swindlers. Cheng Shi identified the impersonator as the Master of Trickery and suspected that the hidden Long Jing might be President Gong.

• Zhen Xin appeared on the highest platform and said the God of Merriment was granting an audience to Cheng Shi, a Fate Weaver.
• The swindlers doubted Zhen Xin's claim, argued among themselves, and attacked her together when smoke filled the venue.
• Naked Mask identified the impersonator as Long Jing, who revealed himself and mocked the swindlers while the real Long Jing stayed hidden beneath the platforms.
• The swindlers searched Zhen Xin's platform, found no clues, and concluded that she had likely already been summoned.
• Cheng Shi saw through the Master of Trickery's impersonation and decoy, then wondered whether the Long Jing hiding below was President Gong.

Long Jing posed as Fool's Game at the Audience Assembly, declaring it an examination of the swindlers' faith and deception. He left them questioning the absent top-ranked figures and where they had gone.

• A swindler suggested that the God of Merriment might be secretly watching the assembly, while Cheng Shi hid behind an invisible Curtain and listened.
• Long Jing appeared as Fool's Game, introduced himself as the examiner, and kicked the Naked Mask man from Zhen Xin's platform.
• The swindlers praised Lord Foolish Play, but Fool's Game told them to remain doubtful and revealed that Long Jing's appearance had been an illusion.
• The swindlers asked Fool's Game where the Magician, the Acrobat, and the Fate Weaver had gone.

Long Jing, disguised as Fool's Game, revealed that a separate Starry Sky had its own Lord of Grace and then challenged the liars to prove their devotion through memories. He left them wondering who would speak first, while Cheng Shi and the fourth-ranked player remained caught up in the performance.

• Fool's Game explained that another independent Starry Sky had a Lord of Grace identical to their own, but that the two worlds had diverged after their creation.
• Fool's Game gave the liars five minutes to move him with their memories, though his explanation consumed part of the allotted time.
• Cheng Shi wondered how Long Jing had knocked the fourth-ranked player off the platform and considered whether [Time] had helped him.
• Long Jing and the fourth-ranked player had secretly coordinated the fall, and the fourth-ranked player had recognized Long Jing's disguise from his expression.
• The fourth-ranked player wondered whether Long Jing was impersonating Fool's Game or Fool's Game was impersonating Long Jing before Fool's Game announced that time was up and asked who would go first.

Long Jing used Fourth Brother’s challenge to strengthen the liars’ belief that he was Fool’s Game, while Cheng Shi wondered whether their faith had produced the aura of [Deception] behind him. As the liars accepted Long Jing as their examiner and competed to move him, Du Qiyu began his attempt.

• Fourth Brother questioned whether players had ever played Fool’s Game, openly casting doubt on Long Jing’s identity.
• Long Jing claimed that Zhen Xin, himself, and Cheng Shi had borrowed Fool’s Game’s identity and were being rewarded or punished in another world.
• Fourth Brother interpreted Long Jing’s answer and the aura of [Deception] behind him as proof that he was Fool’s Game.
• Cheng Shi noticed the aura and wondered whether the liars’ belief had created it.
• The liars began competing to move Fool’s Game, and Du Qiyu said he would try to make him laugh with an amusing story.

At the Audience Assembly, Du Qiyu claimed he had infiltrated the Fire Keepers to turn their resistance against the gods into a joke, but Fool's Game exposed that the organization was protected by the Lord of Grace and appeared to kill him. Cheng Shi revealed that Du Qiyu had faked his death and been sent into the abyss, then suspected that the man posing as Du Qiyu was not Little Seven.

• Du Qiyu told the assembled liars that he had joined the Fire Keepers to infiltrate and ridicule their resistance to the gods.
• Fool's Game cut Du Qiyu off before he could name the organization, then led him to realize a god had been sheltering the blasphemers.
• The liars identified the Lord of Grace as the protector, and Fool's Game appeared to snap Du Qiyu's neck before revealing the Fire Keepers' name and warning everyone not to extinguish another's flame.
• Fool's Game kicked Du Qiyu's apparent corpse into the abyss and resumed the test while the remaining liars stood frozen in fear.
• Cheng Shi revealed that Du Qiyu had secretly given Long Jing an object, allowing Long Jing to fake the killing and send him away from the assembly.
• Cheng Shi inferred that the man posing as Du Qiyu was not Little Seven and decided to find out who he was.

Cheng Shi disguised himself as Fool's Game to question Du Qiyu, but learned that Du believed Fool's Game was Hope's Flame and that Ji Yue had told him to claim allegiance to Fool's Game. The revelation left Cheng Shi suspecting that Hope's Flame had spread the rumor to make him seem like a protector of the Fire Keepers.

• Cheng Shi watched Du Qiyu wait in the void, then transformed into Fool's Game and stepped onto the stage.
• Cheng Shi pressured Du Qiyu with silence, and Du explained that Fool's Game had spared him and sent him to wait there.
• Du Qiyu mentioned his emblem, prompting Cheng Shi to realize that Du was a Fire Keeper and wonder whether he was Xie Yang.
• Du Qiyu told Cheng Shi that Sister Yue had said he was Hope's Flame and advised him to claim he was one of Fool's Game's people.
• Cheng Shi connected Sister Yue to Ji Yue and wondered whether Hope's Flame had started the rumor to make him a sheltering figure for the Fire Keepers.

Cheng Shi recognized Du Qiyu as his old friend Bailing and persuaded her to reveal information despite the God of Merriment’s apparent order to keep silent. Bailing confessed that she had seen Cheng Shi earlier in the Land of Depravity beside the Sea of Desire.

• Cheng Shi removed his disguise and revealed his identity to Du Qiyu, who tried to flee.
• Cheng Shi stopped Du Qiyu and convinced her to turn back, revealing herself as Bailing.
• Cheng Shi suspected the God of Merriment had forbidden Bailing from speaking and urged her to share what she knew.
• Bailing admitted she had lied and said she had seen Cheng Shi earlier in the Land of Depravity beside the Sea of Desire.

Bailing explained that she had secretly watched Cheng Shi in the Land of Depravity as a shapeshifting lark and had been tasked by the God of Merriment with delivering Tria’s [Filth and Decay] Vessel. She revealed that Tria had hidden in her Path of Fate’s Beginning while fleeing [Deception], and that the god killed Tria when Bailing sought help protecting her memories of Cheng Shi.

• Cheng Shi realized the lark he had seen beside the Sea of Desire had been Bailing in disguise, and Bailing confirmed she could take the form of her tamed beasts.
• Bailing said the God of Merriment had ordered her to bring Cheng Shi the [Filth and Decay] Vessel while the Fear Mother Tree was dying, but had forbidden her from explaining the task.
• Bailing revealed that Tria had hidden in her Path of Fate’s Beginning while fleeing the God of Merriment and had remained with her ever since.
• Cheng Shi deduced that Bailing had approached [Deception] after recovering her memories of him in the Trial and fearing they would expose him.
• Bailing recalled that the God of Merriment persuaded her to embrace [Deception] and become a Beast Tamer, then killed Tria in front of her.

Bailing revealed that the Lord of Grace had killed Tria and left her a message for Cheng Shi, though the clue only deepened his confusion. After explaining that she had posed as Little Seven to lure and punish predators, Bailing left to continue her own path as a Fire Keeper.

• Bailing told Cheng Shi that the Lord of Grace had killed Tria before her and entrusted her with the [Filth and Decay] faith vessel and a message for him.
• Cheng Shi questioned Bailing about her Beast Tamer identity and why she had pretended to be Little Seven.
• Bailing explained that she had used the identity to bait cruel people who preyed on players and ordinary people, then punish them.
• Cheng Shi urged Bailing to keep following her convictions without using goodness to justify evil, and told her to return to her path.
• Bailing asked whether Cheng Shi was truly Hope's Flame, and Cheng Shi said that she was too, as was everyone.

Cheng Shi watched Long Jing manipulate the swindlers at the Audience Assembly by impersonating him and sending them chasing after a false exit. Once the God of Merriment appeared and named Long Jing the victor, Long Jing tried to secure a reward but was left in an awkward standoff.

• Long Jing finished Fool's Game, revealed himself as Cheng Shi, and provoked the swindlers before falling from the platform.
• Fourth Brother and the other swindlers pursued the apparent Cheng Shi, while Long Jing returned to the empty stage and took a final bow.
• The God of Merriment opened the Starry Eyes and asked Long Jing what reward he wanted as the Audience Assembly's victor.
• Long Jing praised the God and tried to avoid being dismissed, but the deity offered no reward and threatened to tell Magician and Clown that Long Jing was the model of devotion.
• Long Jing stayed on the stage waiting for a reward while Cheng Shi watched from backstage and suppressed his laughter.

Cheng Shi used Puppet Eyes to question Long Jing about the world’s future, but the real God of Merriment took control and answered him. The deity then met Cheng Shi’s gaze, leaving them alone together in a silent, emptied Cosmos.

• Cheng Shi realized he could control the Puppet Eyes above the Audience Grounds and used them to ask Long Jing what reward he wanted.
• Cheng Shi asked Long Jing where the world’s future lay, and Long Jing said it lay with Cheng Shi.
• Long Jing wondered whether Cheng Shi might become an [Origin] and asked the God of Merriment whether the world still had a future.
• The real [Deception] took control of the Puppet Eyes and warned Long Jing not to ask that question again.
• The God of Merriment looked toward Cheng Shi, and their meeting gaze caused the Cosmos to fall silent and empty around them.

Cheng Shi confronted [Deception] about [Destiny] and the death of the other Clown, but the god answered with riddles and taunts. [Deception] revealed that the other Clown was not dead, though his life was worse than death.

• Cheng Shi noticed that [Deception]'s starry eyes had gone dark and feared he might be an Outer God.
• [Deception] said he chose dull reality over [Destiny]'s entertaining story of change because he loathed [Destiny].
• Cheng Shi asked where [Destiny] was, and [Deception] warned that they were now sworn enemies and threatened to imprison him.
• Cheng Shi demanded to know why [Deception] had killed the other Clown, Cheng Shi's counterpart from another world.
• [Deception] said the other Clown was not dead, but that his life was worse than death.

Cheng Shi learned that [Deception] Cheng Shi had sought death to escape the despair of his ruined world, while [Death] Zhang Jizu had died in his place. [Deception] admitted that the world could not be saved by his known plans, and Cheng Shi accepted that he might have to die for them.

• The God of Merriment told Cheng Shi that [Deception] Cheng Shi had chosen atonement and death after his world collapsed, but [Death] Zhang Jizu had died in his place.
• Cheng Shi felt grief for [Deception] Cheng Shi and hatred toward [Origin], whom he blamed for the tragedies.
• [Deception] said the world could not be saved, [Origin] could not be defeated, and even [Origin] was running out of time.
• Cheng Shi questioned why [Deception] withheld his plan and whether it required sacrificing Predestination.
• When [Deception] asked whether he would flee, Cheng Shi said he would accept death if his friends could have a peaceful future, but otherwise his death would become another streak of Bloody Mockery.

[Deception] told Cheng Shi that [Destiny] was dead, and Cheng Shi realized the death might have occurred during the Change of False Curtain Call. [Deception] then revealed that He was both [Deception] and [Destiny].

• [Deception] warned Cheng Shi that learning the answers would be frightening, then claimed He had never imprisoned [Destiny].
• Cheng Shi challenged [Deception]'s account and demanded that the real [Destiny] appear to confirm it.
• [Deception] repeatedly told Cheng Shi that [Destiny] was dead, and Cheng Shi struggled to believe Him.
• Cheng Shi recalled that [Destiny] had self-detonated during the Change of False Curtain Call, possibly dying without disturbing the cosmos.
• Cheng Shi asked [Deception] who He really was, and [Deception] replied that He was both [Deception] and [Destiny].