Everyone sat cross-legged in a circle before the clock, silently rehearsing the prayer, determined to recite every word flawlessly the instant the hour struck.
In those final minutes, Hu Wei suddenly proposed:
"I know everyone here is trustworthy. But this excursion carries extraordinary stakes. So allow
to play the villain in these last monts— please, everyone, bring out your faith tokens.
"Let us pray for this trial while facing one another's symbols of faith."
The mont he finished, Hu Wei and Da Yi both drew their weapons across their palms and planted their blood-slicked armants into the ground before them.
Everyone had already seen Hu Wei's greatsword, but Da Yi's weapon was a first: a double-pointed stinger needle, roughly the length and thickness of a finger.
He really was an assassin!
And one who possessed a sixth finger, no less — because a needle that small would only ever dance and flip between an assassin's fingers, acting as a phantom sixth digit.
[War]'s token was inherently a single drop of blood. Choosing it at the Path Starting Point ant the player had to find a way to draw their own blood and resonate with it.
Over ti within the ga, this evolved into the Blood Splash Rite — drawing blood with one's weapon, then flinging it before oneself.
Hu Wei's request wasn't unreasonable. Though everyone knew perfectly well that no surprises could occur at this point, they complied nonetheless.
Mo Li produced a codex. The lance and shield emblazoned on its cover glead brilliantly, and the aura of Law Commands radiated solemn authority.
Hu Xuan set down a stone egg before her — a fossil-like object etched with countless microscopic veins of flesh and blood. This was [Birth]'s token from the Path Starting Point.
In the Faith Ga, every faith besides [Void] barely needed their token for Oracle Acts. For most believers, these objects were more like badges identifying their faith than functional tools.
But [Void] was different. Its followers had to perform Oracle Acts in conjunction with their tokens. This ant nearly every [Deceit] follower kept a Die of Fate on hand — because even if they didn't need it, they had to have it ready just in case.
And so, as fellow [Deceit] believers, Long Jing and Cheng Shi simultaneously produced a Die of Fate in front of everyone.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Seeing the group's peculiar expressions, Long Jing froze mid-motion, then swapped the die in his hand at blinding speed for a pure-white mask.
"Apologies. Force of habit."
"..."
Everyone exchanged glances, mouths twitching. 'So this is how these con artists open. Still obsessed with impersonating [Fate] followers.'
Only Cheng Shi knew this was purely the acrobat's misdirection. The faux pas concealed the truth about his mask, which was just as fake as the die — both were forgeries.
Yet the sleight of hand perfectly redirected everyone's attention.
Cheng Shi should have laughed at the scene. But right now, every eye was on the Die of Fate sitting before him, and laughter was the last thing on his mind.
He scanned the group's faces, noticed they all looked like they'd breathed a sigh of relief, and quipped:
"What's that look for? Mine's the real deal. If anyone doubts it, feel free to inspect the rchandise."
That drew genuine laughter from the others. Hu Wei guffawed and waved it off, then instantly sobered:
"Ti's almost up. Fifteen seconds. Everyone, ready."
He said this, but his gaze never left Cheng Shi's die.
Cheng Shi smiled along on the surface, but his heart lurched. 'Not good.'
He'd originally planned to secretly pray toward his mask, letting [Fate] deliver him smoothly into the trial. But who could have predicted that at this most secure of monts, Hu Wei would pull an even more secure maneuver?
It wasn't that Cheng Shi feared being exposed — his die was genuine and functional. The problem was...
His die was abnormal!
Though the Die of Fate was supposed to be [Fate]'s token, reality sotis contained things that "shouldn't" be. Take the current situation: the die in Cheng Shi's hand didn't represent [Fate] at all. It represented... [Deceit]!
While [Fate] might "eavesdrop," the one who actually responded to his every prayer was the Fun God!
So if he recited [War]'s prayer while facing the Die of Fate, did that count as blaspheming one Benefactor, or two?
Would He let him join this trial?
Or to put it more directly: did He think the entertainnt value of this trial was big enough?
And if it wasn't — what then?
At this thought, cold sweat nearly broke out.
But it was too late to change anything. As the second hand hit the mark, Cheng Shi had no choice but to join the others in reciting the pre-written prayer.
He quickly clasped the Die of Fate, held it before him with one hand while the other hid in his sleeve behind his back, and recited with utmost reverence:
"How does one survive? Only through blood and fire..."
Even as he spoke, he silently prayed that the Fun God wouldn't pull so outrageous stunt. But when the prompt appeared before his eyes, his expression crumbled exactly as expected.
[Wish Trial (Why All Beings Rot, Why All Things Decay [Decay]) has been initiated]
[Matching teammates (1/6)]
[Trial Objective: All beings are ordained to decay, yet none know why the universe decays (Ti limit: 5 days)]
"..."
'Great. Just great!'
'I knew it!'
[War] really could take a punch. Even after he'd prayed by na, he'd still been shunted into a [Decay] trial.
'Why All Beings Rot, Why All Things Decay!'
'How catastrophic must things be for a god to rewrite His own prayer as a trial's title?'
Staring at this trial na he'd never seen before, Cheng Shi's heart dropped.
'Oh no. He's not going to keep venting His unspent rage on , is He?'
'Dear Benefactor, You love watching the show, but shouldn't You at least consider whether the clown on stage might actually die?'
'I've already pissed off [Decay] once. If He decides to press the issue and I have to say so... unsavory things to survive, You'll have to... bear with .'
Cheng Shi's face was black as ink.
Never mind whether the trial would be difficult — just being matched into a [Decay] instance ant this trial was guaranteed to involve unforgettable suffering.
All he could do now was pray he was overthinking things. Otherwise...
In the last second before his vision went dark, Cheng Shi quickly scanned the others. When he noticed that everyone except him wore faint smiles, his expression darkened even further.
'So I'm the only unlucky one?'
"..."
[Match successful (6/6). Entering trial]
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