Divine Skill [Fake Death]

Qin Shang said, "Oh."

He wondered why he hadn't heard of any sports world records being broken repeatedly over the past ten years.

He had thought that leveling up would enhance him enough to turn him into a superhero with his underwear worn on the outside...

Just then, Red-robed Cult Master seemed to read Qin Shang's thoughts and chuckled softly.

"You're probably still thinking like an ordinary person. You haven't adapted to your identity as a Path of God player!"

"The Path of God player community consists of superpowered individuals. You can't measure them by ordinary people's standards."

"You can think of it as urban superpowers."

"Even if you really got into a conflict with someone in the real world, or some dispute arose, players with these superpowers had no need to engage in hand-to-hand combat with ordinary people."

"So there's no need for Path of God to grant ordinary players excessive superhuman strength in these areas."

"After all, that would be abandoning what you're good at to attack what others are good at."

"It's similar to a swindler. You possess Inherited Fake Death. With just those two first- and second-level skills, if you really wanted to kill an ordinary person..."

"No, forget an ordinary person. Even a world-class athlete would be a piece of cake."

"Not to mention the hypnotist's class skill, Dream Illusion. Using it against ordinary people would be practically impossible to guard against."

"One skill is enough to make you fall asleep on the spot. Even if you had Dwayne Johnson's terrifying level of combat power, taking two knife wounds after falling asleep would still be a serious problem, right?"

Hearing this, Qin Shang was stunned for a long while before sighing inwardly at how terrifying it was.

That was right. He was now a Path of God player.

And the skills in Path of God could be brought out of the game entirely. That was the most terrifying aspect of Path of God.

Perhaps even a high-level swindler would lose to a well-trained armed police officer in a fistfight.

But the other side had all kinds of bizarre skills at their disposal. What good was superior hand-to-hand ability?

Red-robed Cult Master was right. Hypnotists were terrifying too!

Little Loli's "Grandpa Niu cosplaying as a maid to seduce Strong Mom" was a hypnotist.

Back in Carriage One, she was clearly an NPC who absolutely couldn't lie, yet whether it was when she sowed discord among everyone afterward or when she introduced herself at the beginning...

That little girl hadn't revealed the slightest flaw.

The pinker the outfit, the more vicious the killer!

Sure enough, that saying never lied!

Heart-to-Heart Sister the doctor hadn't died unjustly, either. Who told her to discover the truth that "the pinker the slippers, the more vicious the killer" was?

The next moment, Qin Shang suddenly caught a key point in Red-robed Cult Master's words.

"Oh, right. What's Fake Death? Is it a swindler skill too?"

His understanding of skills was still too one-sided.

Actually, learning more about their properties would be helpful.

As soon as he said this, Red-robed Cult Master's voice rose sharply, and she sounded slightly envious.

"Fake Death has an effect similar to a rollback."

A rollback?

A death rollback?

Qin Shang was startled.

He suddenly remembered that the Cursed Red Skirt among the items he had received for clearing Death Train seemed to have a similar passive ability.

"There's a consensus among Path of God players: after reaching level two, the swindler class becomes very difficult to kill."

Red-robed Cult Master clicked her tongue and parted her vermilion lips.

"That's because the second skill of a player with the swindler class Character Card is called Fake Death."

"A level-two swindler can Fake Death once within twenty-four hours. In other words, they can perform one death rollback. You should know what a rollback means, right? It's like loading a save file in a game."

"But the prerequisite is death... As long as someone kills you, the passive activates!"

"After Fake Death activates, a level-two swindler can roll back to five minutes earlier."

"If their level increases, the rollback duration can be extended. For example, they might roll back to half an hour earlier, an hour earlier, two hours earlier, or even several days or months earlier. It isn't impossible..."

After saying this, Red-robed Cult Master unsurprisingly caught a flash of shock and uncertainty on Qin Shang's face.

There was no other reason. The Fake Death skill was...

way too damn overpowered, wasn't it?

Didn't that mean swindlers were basically impossible to kill after reaching level two?

After all, they could keep rolling back their deaths.

A trace of envy also appeared on Red-robed Cult Master's pretty face.

"So that's why I told you that although Path of God players don't gain much in terms of physical ability or basic physical attributes, and even a top-level Path of God player might be unable to match some elite athletes in certain aspects..."

"If you really want to kill them, you don't need to get into a physical confrontation with them."

"Once your level is high enough, just start by killing yourself on the spot, Fake Death back a few minutes, then catch them off guard and smash them with a brick..."

Red-robed Cult Master revealed a charming smile.

"Or take a high-level swindler. If they really wanted to kill someone, it would be even simpler."

"I said it before. As your level increases, Fake Death can roll back farther. Say you wanted to kill me, but you couldn't beat me. What would you do?"

"Simple. Just Fake Death back to my childhood. While I was still a child, strangle me to death..."

Gasp!

Overpowered. It was way too damn overpowered.

Qin Shang's eyes lit up.

Did that mean...

Did he have a chance to use Fake Death to roll back to the day before his wife left on a business trip, then go to Yanjing with her?

Did he have a chance to return to the day his mother jumped from a building and killed herself?

At the thought of this, a feverish flush appeared on Qin Shang's face.

This skill could practically make up for every regret in life!

"Of course, no one has tried doing that yet. If you become a high-level swindler in the future, I still don't recommend it."

Just then, Red-robed Cult Master noticed the excitement in Qin Shang's eyes and added another sentence, pouring a bucket of cold water over him.

Qin Shang was stunned.

Then he blurted out instinctively,

"Why?!"

Red-robed Cult Master gave him a mocking smile and wore a meaningful expression.

"Because after rolling back through Fake Death, you can't come back!"

"Can't come back?!"

Qin Shang's eyes widened.

"Why?"

"According to what you said, suppose I'm a high-level swindler player. If I travel back several years, accomplish what I want to do, then kill myself to activate the passive, couldn't I Fake Death once more?"

"For example, using the example you just gave, I return to your childhood, strangle you to death, then kill myself to activate Fake Death..."

Before he could finish, Red-robed Cult Master let out a mocking laugh.

"Fake Death is a rollback, not a full-save load. Suppose you're twenty years old..."

"I'm twenty-six!"

Red-robed Cult Master suddenly slammed on the brakes. The abrupt stop nearly sent Qin Shang's head into the windshield.

Seeing his disheveled appearance, the woman smiled in satisfaction. She clearly disliked being interrupted and had vented a little of her displeasure before continuing lazily.

"Then twenty-six."

"For you, the limit of this Fake Death skill's rollback is twenty-six years ago—the day you were born."

"And after returning to that day, if you tried to continue using Fake Death to roll back, you'd be surprised to discover that you weren't a Path of God player."

"Because twenty-six years ago, you hadn't obtained a Character Card."

"Moreover, after the rollback, you'd become yourself at the corresponding age. In other words, twenty-six years ago, you'd be a baby in swaddling clothes..."

Qin Shang's expression froze.

Damn it, what kind of ridiculous skill was this?

In other words, theoretically, Fake Death could let someone travel through their entire lifetime.

But traveling into the past merely meant bringing back one's memories. It didn't allow one to change any of the established circumstances.

For example, sixteen-year-old Qin Shang had been a solitary boy who carried a small schoolbag to school. If he traveled back, he would still be the same.

Back then, Qin Shang hadn't obtained a Character Card...

At most, he could tell his mother, "In a few years, you might be brainwashed by a pyramid scheme, join it, then jump from a building and die."

But his mother would most likely give him a hard slap and tell him to get out of her room.

What was even worse was that he would have to endure being without any superpowers and experience all the things he had been powerless to change all over again—his father disappearing, his mother jumping from a building, and himself dropping out of school and ending up in prison.

Those things would practically form a closed loop and become established facts.

Even if he traveled back, without a Character Card, he would still be unable to change much of reality.

"Understand now?"

The next moment, Red-robed Cult Master smiled playfully.

"So under normal circumstances, you can only return to the day you became a Path of God player at most."

"And generally speaking, swindlers wouldn't roll back to the day they obtained their Character Card."

Qin Shang was stunned again.

"Let me tell you something unpleasant. Path of God's system calculations encompass swindler players who try to use Fake Death to return to the past."

"Path of God's system calculations transcend time!"

"In other words, if the instance number of the dungeon you entered on the day you remember obtaining your Character Card was 001, then when you traveled back and obtained your Character Card again, the first dungeon you entered definitely wouldn't be 001."

"The system won't let a player enter the same dungeon twice. According to the system's algorithm, you've already entered and cleared Dungeon 001, so when you start over, the dungeon you enter definitely won't be Dungeon 001."

"So even if you're hoping to return to the past and use whatever abilities you have to change some regrets, I advise you not to..."

"Because after returning, you won't be able to change much. More likely, once time proceeds normally to the day you obtain your Character Card, you'll be matched with a high-difficulty dungeon you've never entered before and end up dying in it."

Hearing this, Qin Shang finally understood.

The Fake Death skill was indeed ridiculously overpowered.

As one's level increased, the timeline one could roll back could be extended indefinitely, and the number of rollbacks within a day could also increase.

But the prerequisite was that it had to be after one became a Path of God player.

Otherwise, rashly returning to the past would only change the future.

This supernatural system of Path of God, which transcended reality, would rewrite the future.

The course of many things would gradually become uncontrollable!

And even if he rolled back to a point after obtaining his Character Card, he still might not be safe.

Because Path of God knew about this behavior, and the rule that players couldn't enter the same dungeon twice ensured that a swindler who returned to the past with his memories couldn't make use of his experience at all.

It looked overpowered, but was actually useless...

Qin Shang silently slapped a label on the Fake Death skill.

He would probably use it normally to roll back only a few minutes or hours, just to avoid dangers that might occur afterward, right?