Ace-Gray Joker

Several breaths after the gunshot, Chu Jiu finally recovered from the shock that felt like falling from the clouds.

She had never experienced anything so thrilling.

At that moment, she seemed to see a clown walking a tightrope. Not only was he unafraid, he even grinned at the Grim Reaper in the abyss, full of mockery.

This guy had toyed with death!

Was he insane?

No matter how composed Chu Jiu was, she could no longer suppress the excitement and curiosity in her heart. She asked rapidly, "Y-you... you knew there was something wrong with the gun?"

She had personally watched two people die to that gun, yet only the one in their cage had a problem?

Ji Xun smiled and shook his head, denying it. "No. There was nothing wrong with the gun."

Chu Jiu also felt that the gun probably was not the issue. "Then y-you... why could you fire six shots?"

"The rules only said you could fire one shot at someone else. They never said you could only fire one shot at yourself."

The corners of Ji Xun's lips rose slightly, as though he was still immersed in the lingering thrill of gambling his life in that roulette game.

"And I told you before. The factors determining a stage aren't limited to the rules of the space itself."

As he spoke, he gave the iron spikes above them a meaningful look.

Time had already passed, yet the iron spikes had not fallen.

That meant they had cleared the stage.

Both of them had survived and cleared it.

He had also cleared it in a way none of the contestants in the other two iron cages had chosen.

Then he glanced at Chu Jiu's inquisitive eyes across from him, turned to the Mechanical Clown standing there in a daze, and asked meaningfully, "Isn't that right, Mr. Clown?"

But the clown did not respond. It simply watched quietly, though the curve of its smile seemed to grow increasingly bizarre.

At that moment, Chu Jiu was filled with endless question marks. She only wanted to know what exactly had happened.

Ji Xun had a good impression of this teammate, so he naturally did not mind explaining.

Now that they had cleared the stage, he had already understood everything.

He spoke confidently. "If it were just a simple roulette murder game, wouldn't that be terribly boring? It would make the planner seem utterly mediocre. With such an exquisite setup, how could the ending possibly be so ordinary?"

"..."

Chu Jiu listened and agreed.

This Alternate Dimension was the most intricate one she had ever experienced.

If they could leave the final stage simply by killing someone, it would feel as though its quality had suddenly dropped. It would not deserve the brilliance of the earlier setup at all.

The guy across from her had said this before.

But how did he know the gun was not the issue?

Ji Xun smiled mysteriously and slowly revealed the truth. "Do you remember that saying? 'When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.' That was already a clear enough hint. When you stare at the evil in human nature, that evil stares back into your heart and reveals your truest self."

Chu Jiu suddenly understood. "You mean that card?"

Only then did she realize it. Earlier, after they killed that Shadow Demon, it had dropped a card.

They had both guessed that it was a clue to the final stage.

And now, it had come into play!

Wait... no, it had not been used at all!

What did those two inexplicable sentences have to do with clearing the stage?

This guy had fired six shots at his own head!

He must have discovered something else before he dared to gamble like that.

Ji Xun explained, "When we entered that Mirror House earlier, I had already formed a rough guess. Then, when I entered the Iron Cage and saw the setup, I guessed a little more. Once I heard the rules of the roulette game, I fully understood what the planner was thinking."

As he spoke, he grinned, his eyes gleaming with fervor. "So this final stage was never truly meant to test roulette luck. What could be more profound than testing human nature?"

Chu Jiu said nothing.

She had heard every word, but her mind did not feel like it understood.

She did not say anything, or she would feel stupid.

After a brief pause, Ji Xun continued, "The essence of an Alternate Dimension is to pass trials and obtain rewards. The purpose of the stages is to screen for people with traits that align with the designer's intent. Only then can they clear the stage and receive the final reward. From the earlier Wall Breaker, the witch, the Gambling Dog, the Shadow Demon, and now this clown game... in the end, you'll find that those who pass must possess certain traits: restraint of desire, courage, wisdom, unwavering faith, and perhaps... kindness. Of course, what makes this space special is that it also tests some unusual traits, such as a gambler's mentality, cunning, madness, and obsession. Only adventurers who possess all of those traits can receive the final recognition."

After a pause, he continued, "And the other sentence, 'Before dawn arrives, someone must light up the darkness.' The designer gave one final hint. The people this space selects are those who can let others see light amid endless darkness. So from the moment someone raised a gun at their companion, they had already been eliminated. A teammate could not die, which meant there was only one choice left."

Shoot himself!

Only then did Chu Jiu understand the deeper meaning of those two sentences.

That was why this guy had fired six shots at himself!

There had to be other factors involved that she had not yet fully figured out, but she thought of something else and asked, "Then earlier..."

Ji Xun did not wait for her to finish. He directly said, "You want to ask whether that old servant could have passed as well if he had fired several shots at himself?"

He answered his own question. "No, that would have been impossible. He could have left alive, but he would not have cleared the stage. The greatest respect one can give the planner is to clear his game according to its rules. We skipped a few minor stages along the way, but those were unimportant. Yet that master and servant pair appeared here directly, so they had clearly taken a shortcut. They must have had some special intelligence, brought in from outside rather than discovered within the space themselves. Without those traits, there was no way he could obtain the final reward."

Using bugs to clear a game was not necessarily a problem, but you would lose some essential clues and the experience of the game.

You could obtain some clearance rewards, but not all of them.

That was inevitable.

"..."

Chu Jiu was deep in thought.

Ji Xun agreed. "That guy was actually very smart. He had obviously realized this too, which was why he had not taken the gun and waited until the final moment. But even if he had guessed it, as a young master of his standing, he would not dare gamble. If he died, then everything would truly be over. Anyone in his position might hesitate. After all, power and status can also be shackles in some ways. They make people lose their appetite for risk. That was dictated by fate and had nothing to do with intelligence."

After listening to Ji Xun sort through and explain the entire sequence of the stages, Chu Jiu finally felt the tangled thoughts in her mind become clear.

But how could a normal person fire six shots at himself based on only those two clues?

Chu Jiu could not help asking, "This was all your speculation. What if you had gambled wrong just now?"

"If I lost the gamble, then I died."

Ji Xun answered casually.

His tone was so calm that it was as though he was not discussing his own life and death.

Then, beneath the Gas Mask, his face split into a brilliant smile.

He stared at the Mechanical Clown, and it was as though he saw himself reflected in a mirror.

After a moment of silence, Ji Xun added in a low voice, "To me, the outcome of this kind of gamble is more alluring than death."

These exquisite stages had given him that long-lost, pathological, ultimate pleasure that reached the peak of his mind!

"..."

Having seen it twice already, Chu Jiu was used to it. She knew this guy seemed to have fallen into that arrogant and crazed state again.

"The same was true for it."

As if sensing some gaze from the darkness, Ji Xun added, "If I guessed wrong, I died! But it lost! If I didn't die, neither of us would have won! It would never allow itself to lose!"

Chu Jiu did not understand. "It?"

Ji Xun smiled brightly. "Yes. Put another way, the designer of the space? Or perhaps the will of the space? The final boss? Something along those lines, anyway."

Ji Xun asked again, "Do you know why I'm saying all this now?"

Chu Jiu had wanted to say, Wasn't it for me to hear?

But she immediately realized his words were directed at something else, so she asked, "Why?"

Ji Xun smiled faintly. "Because that guy has been peeking from the shadows all along."

Chu Jiu's heart trembled slightly. She looked around. "But... if you say it out loud, won't it...?"

Ji Xun shook his head. "I was saying it for it to hear. Solving a perfect puzzle is an enjoyable experience. And as the designer of the stages, having someone praise the stages and understand the brilliance of those designs gives far more of a sense of accomplishment than killing and toying with players too stupid to appreciate the thrill of the stages."

Chu Jiu's head was full of black lines as she automatically drew the comparison in her heart. Why does it feel like the stupid player he's talking about is me?

After a brief pause.

Ji Xun looked at the bizarre Mechanical Clown again and asked for the second time, "Isn't that right, Mr. Clown?"

This time, the clown responded. "Yes, adventurer."

Its already exaggerated mouth curled into a smile that seemed to split its entire face apart, and it added, "Congratulations. You have completed the trial."

Ji Xun responded as though he had encountered a worthy opponent. "Thank you. It was a delightful experience."

The Iron Cage slowly opened.

The clown smiled faintly.

As it smiled, that smile gradually froze.

Its already gaudy paint rapidly dimmed, as though it had suddenly lost its life at the brink of death and faded into dullness.

The Mechanical Clown's mission ended there.

At the very end, it spoke the second sentence written on the card. "Before dawn arrives, someone must light up the darkness."

It was as though he heard a whisper from ancient times.

Ji Xun listened silently and thought about it seriously.

He stared at the dead Mechanical Clown for a long time without looking away.

At that moment, Revelation appeared again.

"You heard a description of darkness in a whisper from the abyss. You touched a 'miracle.'"

Ji Xun fell into thought as he looked at the unremarkable Black Card he had obtained earlier.

At that moment, it had already changed.

It turned out that the Cataclysmic Object recorded in the archives had long been in his hands.

It was a gray poker card.

Ace-Gray Joker

Quality: Epic

Category: Demon Mark

Extraordinary Traits:

1. Trickster: Comprehension +10, photographic memory. Cognition cannot be erased or altered by any external force beneath the level of Card Rules. Chance to interpret Demon's Whisper.

2. Gambler of Misfortune: A clown's life seems cursed by fate, always Afflicted by Misfortune. He grows amid desperation and pain, like a dancer on the edge of a blade, finding meaning in existence through the pursuit of thrills. The more insane the desperate situation, the better his luck.

3. Wild Card: Unlimited bodily containment. All Elemental Resistance can grow. The wielder is unrestricted by sequence and may use any Profession Card to advance.

4. Demon Feast: You can draw Extraordinary Traits from corpses.

Evaluation: The Joker Card is also the most special card in poker. It is an ace and also a Wild Card. The clown mocks the hypocrisy of the gods, laughs at the incompetence of the Grim Reaper, and likewise ridicules the greed and cowardice of human nature. He walks alone through the shadows, peering into the entire world. This is a card recorded in history yet hidden amid the dust of history. It is one of the legendary Fifty-four Demon Source Cards, pointing to an indescribable high-ranking demon. Fusion Compatibility: 97%. Mutation Probability from fusing this Demon Mark: no greater than 5%.

There was also a line of handwritten words beneath the card. Though Ji Xun clearly did not recognize that script, he understood it: Is this the Demon's Enslavement Contract? No, quite the opposite. This is the Conquest Mark through which a Spell Card Master controls demonic power—signed M.

P.S. Demon Mark quality rankings: Common, Black Iron, Silver, Gold, Legendary, Epic.

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Thanks to "20211109091511327" and "Guang Guangtou" for their support and tips.