Foolish Game of the Chapter 402: Existence Has Become the Past

"You're not the Aph Ros I know!

Who the hell are you?"

Having discovered the other party couldn't cross the threshold or harm him, Cheng Shi's voice grew noticeably bolder.

He studied that flawless face, thinking:

'This Gate of Joyous Lust looks like a follower of Corruption. So... is she actually Corruption's Envoy?'

Cheng Shi couldn't be sure. In his imagination, a Corruption Envoy shouldn't be so... gentle.

Yes — gentle.

Aph Ros's thods were too soft. Despite constantly tugging at his emotions, she'd employed no other ans, no display of Corruption's power.

Cheng Shi had witnessed firsthand the terror of Corruption's talents. He couldn't believe that a being capable of summoning him here had nothing else up her sleeve.

Of course, perhaps the invisible threshold was restricting her. Cheng Shi didn't understand this "gate," so he could only maintain maximum vigilance.

And so, imdiately after his big talk, he scrambled back to the air wall — that single step of distance was, to Cheng Shi, the most reassuring buffer imaginable.

Aph Ros stood motionless, watching Cheng Shi retreat, seeming thoroughly unimpressed.

She shook her head with a bitter smile and asked, heartbreakingly pitiful: "Am I not beautiful?"

Cheng Shi was honest: "Beautiful. Extrely beautiful. But my mother told

the more beautiful the woman, the more terrifying."

Aph Ros considered this thoughtfully, nodded, spun around once more, and reverted to male form. He locked eyes with Cheng Shi and asked again with a coy smile:

"And now?"

"..." Cheng Shi's mouth twitched. "She also said the sa applies to n."

Aph Ros couldn't hold back a laugh. "You have a good mother."

"..."

Cheng Shi strongly suspected that was an insult masquerading as a complint. He wanted to shoot back "So do you," but then realized that would actually be praising the other party, so he reluctantly let it go.

Aph Ros didn't know what Cheng Shi was thinking. He only knew his "recruitnt" had failed.

"What a pity, my brother. We never did end up walking the sa path.

I naively believed you were truly His follower. I never expected you'd deceive .

So — whose follower are you, really?

Let

guess...

Hmm, you're observant, and skilled at constructing logic. So... you wouldn't happen to follow Truth, would you?

That rigid scholar spent his entire life pursuing the path of becoming 'Him' — utterly devoid of fun. Doesn't quite suit you.

Let

think... Civilization is full of filth, but thanks to noble Order, it remains governed. You don't strike

as a Civilization walker.

Life isn't worth considering. Descent is impossible. Chaos... all simpletons. Not you.

So that leaves — oh~

I see. You're an Existence practitioner?

You're helping your Benefactor organize mory?

Hmm, you frowned. So that's not it either.

Could it be...

you belong to Ti?"

At that last question, Aph Ros's tone turned instantly cold. His face darkened — as if rely pronouncing Ti's divine na were a detestable act.

This shift wasn't sothing Cheng Shi observed consciously. He felt it through Aph Ros's emotional contagion — experiencing the visceral revulsion as if it were his own.

But Cheng Shi sensed sothing off in what had been said. His frown deepened further.

And then — Aph Ros caught that micro-expression. He froze, then broke into a smile of sudden realization.

But the laughter carried less the relief of epiphany and more the sting of self-mockery — mockery at his own ignorance!

"So another era has passed. Existence has beco the past, hasn't it?

My good brother, I'm so curious. Tell

— in the era that followed Existence, who ascended to the pinnacle of the gods?

You...

are a follower of the new gods, aren't you?"

!!!!!

'New gods!'

'What new gods?!'

Cheng Shi's mind went blank — thoroughly, comprehensively blank!

His brain buzzed like a struck bell. From the mont he'd heard "Existence has beco the past," the ringing hadn't stopped.

'Why doesn't Aph Ros know about Void?'

'He even called Void's two deities "new gods"!'

'So... is she really Him?'

'An Envoy of Corruption — imprisoned, most likely by Ti — before Void's arrival?!'

Cheng Shi's eyes overflowed with confusion. Face drawn with complexity, he looked at Aph Ros and asked:

"Gate of Joyous Lust — that's your divine na, isn't it?"

Aph Ros's expression grew even more layered. Whether it was because he'd been imprisoned so long he'd lost track of the age, or because a na unspoken for countless millennia had been invoked again — his eyes brimd with wistful sentint.

"I told you, my brother. You're perfect in every way — except you're too smart."

'Smart?'

'But the Turadin I knew idolized choosing wisdom above faith and human nature!'

'What — have you forgotten?'

Cheng Shi said nothing. But his eyes said everything.

His equally wistful gaze silently asked Aph Ros: why have you beco this?

But Aph Ros didn't answer this ti. Instead, with infinite desolation, he mocked himself:

"I thought He had rembered . Forgiven . Sent you to save .

But it turns out — all of this was rely a glance of no consequence as the new gods surveyed the universe.

Ha. He was never rciful. None of Them have ever been rciful.

Gods — since you've already claid your Divine Thrones, why imprison yourselves within yet another set of rules?

Even He — even Corruption, who birthed

into this world — never embraced His own desires. How, then, can He expect the world to drown in the Sea of Desire?

Ha. All of it — delusion.

Truly... how boring."

With that, Aph Ros turned and walked away, losing all interest in the mortal beyond his door.

His desolation was so thick and so crushing that Cheng Shi was splashed by the emotional shrapnel. Instantly, he plunged into despair, collapsed to his knees, and howled at the sky.

But he never stopped observing. Every ti he seized a mont of emotional control, he drove the scalpel into his own thigh, then fought his emotions savagely — wrestling for control of his own consciousness — and forced himself to look into the mysterious interior of the Evil Infant Inquisition, watching Aph Ros's departing figure.

He couldn't be sure if it was an illusion, but he thought he glimpsed — deep in the hall's shadows — a mass of dark, writhing flesh.

When he looked up again, both the trace of flesh and Aph Ros's silhouette had vanished.

As the scene before him faded, the emotions that had shattered Cheng Shi gradually dissolved. Gritting his teeth, he rose to his feet, wanting to shout one final question — "What exactly happened?" — but before he could open his mouth, the scenery shifted in an instant. He was back on the rest area rooftop.

There he stood, legs drenched in blood, shaken and alard, brow furrowed, staring ahead without moving.

'Eras...'

Aph Ros had ntioned "eras."

Among players, the word "era" was common enough, but it didn't refer to periods belonging specifically to Them. Players typically used the term "epoch" for those — because each epoch corresponded to the peak reign of certain deities.

So did Aph Ros's "eras" correspond to what players understood as epochs?

The problem was: the Land of Hope had never had an Existence Epoch!!

Then what did that "era" refer to?

Cheng Shi frowned deeply, lost in thought. He had the distinct feeling he'd stumbled upon sothing monuntal.

...