Before the Scavenger revealed himself, Cheng Shi had already vaguely deduced why he'd attacked the other teammates.
When the [Oblivion] warrior chose to attack the two people inside the walls instead of him and squinty-eyes, Cheng Shi had been mulling it over. It wasn't until they ran into the [Folly] follower at the gate—and her inadvertent remark—that it clicked. This hunt was truly connected to the cakes Mo Shu had offered at the beginning.
'What an interesting person.'
He was hunting the three who hadn't eaten the cake!
He clearly knew everyone would be on guard against unfamiliar teammates at the start—especially suspicious of unfamiliar food from unfamiliar people. Yet he'd still chosen to hide the "key to safety" inside his handmade pastries.
So why?
So twisted hobby?
A trust test between strangers?
No—it shouldn't be anything that absurd. As a high-ranking [Oblivion] follower, he shouldn't be that frivolous.
Cheng Shi couldn't figure it out, nor did he want to overthink it. The man himself was standing right there. Instead of guessing, just ask.
Mouths existed for asking questions. The more questions asked, the fewer misunderstandings.
So Cheng Shi studied his suddenly-arrived "teammate" and raised an eyebrow:
"Complete Deletion?"
Mo Shu turned toward Cheng Shi. With a aningful curl of his lips, he said:
"Cheng Shi. Not bad."
"I've never been matched against you, yet you recognized . So the skeleton cockroach told you?"
'Skeleton cockroach...'
'As expected—the cruelest nicknas always co from rivals.'
Cheng Shi's lips twitched. He fought desperately to suppress his grin in front of squinty-eyes' rival, pressing his mouth shut. The harder he tried, the more his lips wanted to betray him. This would be terribly disrespectful to his friendship with squinty-eyes.
But from that one sentence alone, he could deduce that the Scavenger hadn't been tailing them continuously. At least during his conversations with squinty-eyes and Scorpio, the man hadn't been listening.
Oddly enough, maybe because he was accustod to facing peak players, seeing a Chosen One standing before him didn't particularly faze him. It was Scorpio and Gao Ya behind him who stiffened upon hearing the man so readily confirm his identity, their gazes turning grave.
Cheng Shi found it funny—a priest getting pushed to the front line by his teammates. It was like karmic payback for all the tis he'd shoved teammates ahead of himself. Shaking his head with a wry smile, he addressed the restless Scavenger with genuine curiosity:
"Why kill people?"
Mo Shu wasn't like the other high-score players Cheng Shi had encountered—unfathomably deep. He was remarkably candid. Since Cheng Shi asked, he answered without reservation:
"They didn't align with my Lord's Benefactor. They had to die."
He even added a casual smile, as if annihilating teammates was utterly trivial.
"..." Scorpio trembled, not daring to make a sound. Gao Ya frowned hard, wanting to fire off so caustic remarks—but after sizing up the situation, she chose silence.
Mo Shu's gaze swept across everyone. He snorted softly and added:
"But more than that, I'm curious how you detected ."
'How did I detect you?'
'Guess whether I actually did.'
Cheng Shi smiled enigmatically, deliberately dodging the question. But verbally, he continued along the previous thread:
"So you used a few cakes to test whether people align with [Oblivion]'s will?"
"Isn't that a bit reckless?"
Mo Shu didn't press further when Cheng Shi didn't answer—every expert had their own tricks. Nothing worth investigating.
"Reckless? Maybe. But it works for ."
"Works?" Cheng Shi frowned, unable to figure out why.
"Mm. It works."
"I've always believed there are too many things in this world that shouldn't exist. Too many people who shouldn't be alive."
"If [Life] continues, how can the universe reach [Oblivion]?"
"So everyone should die."
"But I'm just an ordinary [Oblivion] follower. I can't annihilate everyone—that'd be way too much work."
"So I devised a thod."
"At first, I stole a Die of Fate from a [Fate] follower. At the start of each trial, whatever number I rolled, that's how many I'd kill. But after a few rounds, I felt like I was harvesting on [Fate]'s behalf."
"So I had to switch thods. The little cakes were the second thod I ca up with."
"Before They descended, I really was a pastry chef. Loved baking. People loved my cakes. But after the ga started, I beca a follower of [Oblivion]. How could His follower be permitted to keep creating?"
"So I ca up with another idea: let my teammates annihilate my creations for . That way, I wouldn't feel guilty about creating."
"But so people refused to offer their trust. Entrenched behind walls of prejudice, unable to free themselves. Since they wouldn't help , I might as well help them."
"Those without [Oblivion] in their hearts will be [Oblivioned] by others. Perfectly reasonable, right?"
"But as I kept killing, I suddenly realized: when only [Oblivion]'s followers and those who carry [Oblivion] in their hearts remain—wouldn't universal [Oblivion] be right around the corner?"
"And so I beca even more exci—... even more convinced that this path is correct."
"So, Fate Weaver—that's the path I walk. Do you think my philosophy is right?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
'Buddy, I understand every individual word you said, but strung together, it's way too abstract. I really can't cosign this.'
'Also—oblivion or not aside—you're definitely catching so [Prosperity] vibes!'
Cheng Shi was numb. He deeply believed that every peak player was fundantally insane—from Hu Xuan to Zhen Xin to Mo Shu. Without exception.
But this one was especially unhinged!
Because he actually used whether people ate his cake as the selection criteria for hunting teammates!
This was beyond absurd.
Cheng Shi had assud the cake contained so deeper aning he couldn't fathom. But the facts proved he'd overthought it.
The opponent simply felt killing everyone was too exhausting, so he'd fabricated an excuse to trick himself into sparing a few lucky souls.
This childish reasoning was simultaneously laughable and heartbreaking.
The tears were for the unlucky ones who didn't eat the cake. The laughter was for the desperately hungry ones who did.
'In that case, I suppose I should thank you for not killing ...'
Cheng Shi wanted to laugh but couldn't. His expression was frozen stiff. He suddenly felt this Scavenger wasn't really an [Oblivion] follower at all—more like a [Corruption] believer who happened to wield [Oblivion]'s power.
He was clearly unleashing his killing desire without the slightest restraint.
Scorpio thought the sa—which made him even more terrified, to the point of completely ignoring who the "Fate Weaver" in Mo Shu's words actually was.
He hid behind Cheng Shi, compulsively checking the ti, desperate to survive the day so he could escape via future-projection.
The [Folly] follower's thoughts ran deeper. She was noncommittal about Mo Shu's [Oblivion] path, but very interested in Cheng Shi's identity. When Mo Shu called him "Fate Weaver," she murmured:
"So you really are that Cheng Shi!"
"..."
'Is this really the ti for that?'
Cheng Shi's thumb had been resting lightly on his ring. He feigned nonchalance, clapped his hands, and responded:
"Profound understanding. But I have a question."
"Since your path of [Oblivion] is so pure, why did you choose to embrace [mory]?"
Mo Shu raised an eyebrow, shaking his head with a wry smile:
"I knew I couldn't hide it from that cockroach."
"You're right—I did seek audience with Him. And He did grant
so power."
"After all, the opening-cake routine is way too obvious. If I didn't make everyone forget I existed, by the day after any given trial, every player would know to eat a cake at the start."
"But you and he both guessed wrong. I haven't decided whether to embrace [mory]."
"[mory] belongs to [Existence]. And [Oblivion] doesn't want [Existence] to exist."
"So rather than embracing [mory], I'm leaning toward... [Deceit]."
"?"
Cheng Shi's brow creased deeply. He'd caught it: Mo Shu's words weren't a casual jab at [Existence]—he genuinely had the option to choose [Deceit]!
'What's going on?'
'The Fun God summoned him?'
'Is this one of His chosen players? An ally?'
'Sothing doesn't feel right.'
He studied the man opposite him and asked uncertainly: "What does [Deceit] have to do with this?"
"Everything."
"He summoned
too. I never found where He was during the entire audience, but He bestowed so fun toys upon ."
As he spoke, Mo Shu drew from his spatial storage a clown doll—grinning wide with a bright red nose.
"Clown Substitute. But this clown isn't that kind of clown." He rubbed the clown's red nose, smiling eerily. "This is a circus clown. It lets
enjoy one extra player identity. So when slaughtering in the peak tier isn't satisfying enough, I can switch to a 2,100-point fish pond and hack down a few more fish."
!!!!!
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted violently. It all clicked.
The Scavenger hadn't lied. He truly was the [Oblivion] Chosen One—but with a second, 2,100-point player identity!
'But this Clown Substitute... isn't the implication a bit too obvious?'
'He really gave this?'
'Did He give it to you... or to ?'
Cheng Shi blinked thoughtfully and quickly lowered his gaze.
'Interesting. So the Fun God's purpose in sending
into this trial might be to retrieve this so-called Clown Substitute?'
'Did He have a falling out with [Oblivion]? So He wants
to reclaim what He bestowed on an [Oblivion] follower?'
'What god is this petty?'
'But if it's the Fun God...'
'Hiss—actually, you know what? That tracks perfectly.'
At this thought, he raised his head with a smile. But when he again saw Mo Shu still rubbing the clown doll's red nose, he suddenly felt deeply uncomfortable.
'Bro, could you please stop rubbing the clown's nose? My nose is starting to itch...'
"ACHOO—"
...
Reviews
All reviews (0)