Foolish Game of the Chapter 398: Brother Cheng, Don't Tell Me You Also

Trial. A city square in an unknown location.

Beneath a massive Prosperity god-tree statue, a nervous Scorpio slowly opened his eyes.

By rights, having just finished a trial, he shouldn't have needed to jump straight into another one. At the very least, he should have spent so ti reviewing the previous trial and contemplating the elusive Ti "miracle."

But...

He'd realized that in the end, he'd never found where the Ti miracle was supposed to appear. Instead, he'd witnessed a whole trial's worth of Birth "miracles."

Of course, what others might call "miracles," followers of Birth would regard as nothing particularly remarkable — birthing things left and right was simply what they did.

Scorpio wasn't a Birth follower. Unable to glean any insight, he'd pragmatically launched another trial. The reason for such urgency was obvious: he'd used up every trump card he had.

The life-saving Old Hunter's Dagger was gone. To boost his survival chances before the next special trial arrived, he'd decisively prayed to his Benefactor, Ti, for a new trial.

His wish: to find sothing else that could keep him alive.

So when he opened his eyes and surveyed the five teammates before him, those leg-spotting eyes of his imdiately locked onto a dashing female player with long, flowing hair.

Clearly a Prosperity follower. That playful smirk and imperious gaze — definitely a high-level player!

A high-tier Prosperity player in a Prosperity scenario — if that wasn't a pri thigh to cling to, what was?

But... Prosperity again?

Scorpio suddenly thought of Cheng Shi from the last round.

'Brother Cheng was truly a good person.'

Just as nostalgia flickered in his eyes, the long-haired female player finished appraising the group. She smirked and turned to another female player beside her, teasing:

"All new faces. Looks like no luck.

I told you your prayer wish was unreliable. There are so many players in the ga — running into him directly is nearly impossible."

The pink-haired girl beside her responded to the teasing with a noncommittal silence, rely tugging her baseball cap a little lower over her face and offering a quiet "Oh."

Seeing her lapse into silence, the long-haired player laughed heartily and boldly introduced herself to the group:

"Na's Hong Lin. Druid. Score: 2741."

Shocked silence crashed over the team.

"How MUCH?!"

"Wait, hold on — I think my hearing aid's broken!"

"2700?! No way! I just wished for enough hair to try a new hairstyle, and I run into a 2700 monster? Bro — I an, sis — are you Bald Uses Rejoice?"

Hong Lin didn't bother hiding her identity. She nodded casually. "That's ."

Hm?

Who?

At the keyword, Scorpio's head snapped up toward the teammate who'd practically scread his throat raw, then rapidly swiveled to the long-haired female player.

Bald Uses Rejoice? Druid?

'It matches!'

'But why is the score so high?'

'And... why is it a woman?'

Scorpio stared at Hong Lin, and suddenly the image of Cheng Shi vanishing before his eyes at the end of the last trial flashed through his mind.

!!??

'Could it be that Brother Cheng rushed off so urgently to...'

'No way — Brother Cheng, you too...?'

'Wait, but if this is really Brother Cheng, why does she look like she's never seen

before?'

"..."

'Well, I guess... this kind of thing is hard to bring up, isn't it...'

'No no no — I shouldn't think like that. It's the apocalypse. Everyone has the right to choose their own gender.'

'But Brother Cheng, weren't you kind of into Gao Ya...?'

'...Never mind. That's all in the past.'

A whirlwind of thoughts raced through Scorpio's mind, yet in the end he said nothing. Instead, he let out a quiet sigh and suppressed every flicker of excitent and confusion in his eyes.

'Who would've thought I'd cling to the sa big thigh in two consecutive trials?'

'Brother Cheng... no, Sister Cheng has been so good to .'

He'd sorted himself out — but his silky emotional transitions had thoroughly confused Hong Lin.

She'd never seen such complex emotions on a teammate's face, especially emotions that seed to be directed at her.

'What's going on?'

Ordinarily, other players would have said nothing and simply observed this emotionally unstable teammate more closely over ti, gradually uncovering the story.

But Hong Lin was different. She was blunt by nature. And besides, this trial was practically her personal run. So she looked at Scorpio with keen interest and asked directly:

"I don't think I know you. So why does it look like... you know ?"

"..."

Scorpio's expression grew impossibly complicated. He was even starting to wonder if Cheng Shi had been ssing with him.

'Sister Cheng, do you want

to recognize you or not...'

Just as Scorpio wavered in agonized indecision, the pink-haired little fox beside Hong Lin suddenly raised her head and asked hesitatingly:

"You know Cheng Shi, don't you?"

"???"

Scorpio's brain froze. Hong Lin blinked — then quickly put two and two together. Her mouth twitched and her face settled into an expression of speechless exasperation:

"Alright, tell us your story. We've got... plenty of ti."

"Bro... Brother Cheng, then I'll really start talking?"

"?" The little fox blanked, then imdiately widened her eyes and began scanning the others with amazent. "Cheng Shi? He's HERE?!"

"?" Hong Lin's face went dark as she realized Scorpio seed to be addressing her. Sothing occurred to her and for a mont she was simultaneously so angry and so amused by her own thoughts that she could only nod repeatedly. "Oh, sure, sure. What did you just call ?"

"Um... Sister Cheng?"

BOOM—

Hiss—

As a crater exploded in the ground before him, the other teammates stood rooted in place, scalps tingling, shivering uncontrollably.

'This is the power of a Chosen One?!'

'Absolutely terrifying!'

...

Reality. A cetery in an unknown province and city.

Co to think of it, in the current state of reality, city ceteries were perhaps the one setting that had changed the least.

Aside from a few extra weeds, the place was identical to how it had been before the Faith Ga's arrival.

The paths were still cleared by soone. The headstones were still maintained by soone. Even the number of graves... continued to increase steadily.

At this very mont, Zhang Jizu — wearing a cetery worker's uniform and holding a small carving knife — was etching sothing onto a brand-new headstone.

A closer look revealed the four characters: Tomb of Mo Shu.

Yes — Squinty Eyes was carving a grave for Mo Shu. And not just Mo Shu. Every teammate he'd been matched with whose death he'd confird would be "buried" in this cetery after the trial ended.

That was why, even in a world where travel between regions was impossible, the cetery's headstone count continued to climb.

He was using Death's commoration to chronicle the ga-ti of the Faith Ga!

Of course, Mo Shu hadn't truly died — only his duplicate had. But hey — everyone needs small goals. What if one day they co true?

...