No one knew what the Assembly of Gods Convention actually looked like — what its proceedings were, what spectacle awaited those who attended. Players only knew that those ranked in the top ten on the Ladder of Ascent within their specific faith had a chance to be summoned by their god, and to see a true divine face in person on the first anniversary of the Faith Ga's descent.
So the closer the date drew, the more frequently players initiated Wish Trials. Those of middling or lower scores knew they stood no chance and didn't bother wasting energy this late — but those peak players who were just one step away from making the cut refused to give up any chance to stand before a god face to face.
They pushed harder — and grew more disappointed. Because even the highest-ranked were fighting among themselves for those slots.
Even those top-ten players who had already had a divine audience before weren't willing to sit it out. The Ladder of Ascent was one of the two most important rankings in the Faith Ga. No one believed the Convention tied to it would be "ordinary" — just another routine audience.
And so in the three days Cheng Shi had been absent, the Faith Ga had been genuinely lively.
Though none of that liveliness had anything to do with the clown. To everyone else, it was excitent; to him, just noise.
Cheng Shi had desperately wanted to give himself a little ti — to quietly sort through everything he'd experienced, do a ntal review, and lay a solid foundation before taking that next unknown step into the future.
But certain divine beings left him no such opportunity. He could only be pushed forward with the current, step through the door, and arrive at the Assembly of Gods Convention's...
Hm?
This didn't look like the venue for the Convention. It looked more like behind the stage — backstage.
Swept here by void-force, Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened and he paused his steps. What lay before him was not a hall-like space. It was boundless void — with a semi-transparent curtain drifting before it, one that appeared not to exist at all but could actually be touched.
And beyond that invisible, strange curtain was the real venue.
The venue was vast beyond asure. "Venue" was perhaps misleading — there was no floor, no ground. Countless thread-like refractions of light pierced through the void from top to bottom, and in the endless black, they suspended countless enormous masks — too many to count. Each thread held a single mask at a different angle — and those threads were packed so densely they had nearly woven across the entire void.
The sight was nearly identical to the mask wind chis Cheng Shi had seen before stepping through the gate — except the chis here were absurdly enormous.
Each mask was its own independent platform to stand on. At this mont, six figures were stationed on different masks, eyeing each other and surveying the surroundings — apprehensive and guarded.
The six were positioned at descending heights — mirroring their order on the Ladder of Ascent. The ten mask platforms were arranged like a spiraling staircase around the venue's center. The top three and the bottom one were all empty.
Cheng Shi watched the scene in quiet silence. His eyelid twitched sharply.
He had guessed wrong, as expected.
That was the Fun God for you. Even forcing your way through [Fate]'s door still brought you straight to [Deceit]'s Audience Ground. And it wasn't just him — Shadow Cheng Shi, who had stepped through [Deceit]'s door, had ended up here too.
Cheng Shi had never expected to so deeply understand "different routes, sa destination" at this particular mont. That endlessly scheming patron of his hadn't given him a second choice at all. The two gates it opened on the rooftop had been a performance all along.
"Ha. Clown."
But he was used to it by now. Cheng Shi smiled at his own expense.
Fortunately, tricks were usually followed by a good outco. At least he hadn't materialized in the main venue like the others — and what this curtain ant... was he being left backstage to watch a good show?
Thinking along those lines, Cheng Shi gradually drifted closer to the curtain and waited silently for the "performance" to begin.
For the players inside the venue, however, the performance had already started long ago.
Long Jing had been the first [Deceit] believer to arrive. He knew his rank on the Ladder of Ascent couldn't surpass Long Wang or Zhen Xin now — so he'd tried to get a head start in terms of arrival speed. The mont the Audience Gate opened, he charged through without hesitation.
And it worked. He was the first to arrive.
But that wasn't enough. It wasn't sufficient demonstration of devotion. Personal piety was thin on its own — if he could mix in a little entertainnt for the god alongside that devotion, he might earn more of the Fun God's attention. And more of the Fun God's attention naturally ant being closer to it, which would translate into greater contribution to the various clown plans.
He was certain that with his demonstrated devotion, he could extract at least one useful thing from the Fun God's mouth.
Having reasoned this far, Long Jing suppressed his quiet satisfaction and hid himself. He tucked beneath the highest mask platform, waiting for Zhen Xin to arrive — ready to surprise her and pay back his embarrassnt at the first Joker Society eting.
He hadn't expected the wait to stretch on this long.
Zhen Xin, Long Wang — neither had co. Cheng Shi hadn't co either. Instead, six fraudsters had gradually trickled in one by one.
Among the top-ranked fraudsters, they all knew each other — even those who weren't close had crossed paths in various trials. So there were no pleasantries or warmth between them. Only mutual wariness. They understood their peers too well — and understood the Fun God too well. No one wanted to beco the entertainnt in an occasion this important.
On an ordinary day, getting swindled by a fellowcon person was grounds to swear a bit and move on. But getting conned at the [Deceit] Assembly of Gods Convention...
Believe it — these fellow fraudsters would never let it go. The mont the Convention ended, you would beco the world's — or at least this present era's — biggest entertainnt spectacle.
To avoid becoming that spectacle, every fraudster was on full alert, minimizing their own presence, avoiding drawing fire. This naturally ant that what should have been the liveliest [Deceit] Convention gathering had nearly beco an awkward silence. Six pairs of eyes darted around like they had tics. Six mouths, though, were sealed shut as if they'd pledged allegiance to [Silence]. No one dared speak.
Long Jing had been waiting so long his thoughts had turned to nothing. Still no Zhen Xin. He even started wondering whether the top-ranked player got different treatnt, having already been called for a one-on-one audience long ago.
And Long Wang — why hadn't he shown up either? Oh, right. Long Wang's na was [Deceit] but his faith was [mory]. Maybe he was attending [mory]'s Convention?
Not impossible.
Then Cheng Shi — why wasn't he here?
Of the ten top fraudsters, four of them were Jokers. And now three of the four, except Long Jing himself, were nowhere to be found. Was that right?
And he was the first one to arrive, no less. Was that right?!
It was not. Not remotely right.
You can't keep treating
as the clown — I am an Acrobat. What is going on that you're all keeping from
again?!
In truth, the other Jokers hadn't hidden anything particular from Long Jing about this Convention. They just hadn't told him what was going on beyond the Convention itself.
Cheng Shi's departure to the Real Universe was sothing only a minimum number of people could know about. Zhen Xin naturally said nothing extra — and to avoid arousing suspicion, she hadn't even t with the other Jokers since. So Long Jing naturally didn't know that the Magician had now inherited [Chaos]'s divine throne and had gone to another Assembly to serve as a "judge." As for Li Jingming — Long Jing had guessed correctly. He'd gone to [mory]'s Assembly.
Of those three, Cheng Shi was the only one who had actually arrived at [Deceit]'s Convention grounds — but he was behind the curtain, not on the stage. This ant the Acrobat on stage had been lurking beneath his mask platform for ages without a single Joker showing up.
When the only clown on stage is left alone — he must truly be the punchline.
Long Jing was exhausted. In that mont, he considered abandoning his entertainnt sches entirely. He was afraid that if he waited any longer, he'd beco the entertainnt himself.
And it was at precisely that mont that the other attendees began to grow suspicious of the four absent top-ranked fraudsters who had failed to appear.
"I don't buy that the Zhen girl would skip the Convention. Watch yourselves, everyone — she might already be hiding under soone's mask platform, waiting to make you the entertainnt."
"Ha. Zhen Xin might not pull that — but Zhen Yi? Who knows."
The mont those words settled, from the various mask platforms at different heights — ca a sudden chorus of...
"Heh~"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The brief exchange died back into silence once more.
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