By the room's standing order, the Blind One should have been next. But she was too famous—every player present knew her. So everyone's gaze naturally skipped past her to the heavy-armored Qin Xin behind.
Qin Xin laughed heartily and rose to his feet. He glanced around, then sheathed his sword as a gesture of goodwill. With a slight nod, he said:
"In rembrance I am forever inscribed. In flowing light, my shadow is cast.
Qin Xin. Mirror Person."
The mont those words left his mouth, a bright yellow question mark appeared above Cheng Shi's head.
'mory?!'
'He's mory?!'
'Since when can mory followers detect lies out of thin air like con artists?'
'Does he know that scholar?'
Cheng Shi's brow furrowed. His appraisal of Qin Xin gained several more degrees of caution.
Mirror Person was mory's warrior class—a "speed-morization" profession that could rapidly duplicate an opponent's combat system by committing their techniques to mory.
Without powerful talents to forge a unique fighting style, Mirror Persons devolved into what others called "fifty-fifty warriors"—aning:
They couldn't beat anyone, and no one could beat them.
That sentence worked equally well whether you were the Mirror Person or their opponent.
Like Today's Hero, this was a rare profession at high levels—too diocre. Copying others' paths could never surpass the originals, and constant imitation risked losing yourself entirely.
But looking at Qin Xin's build... who could he even mirror?
Cheng Shi figured the best candidate was probably Big Cat in her bear transformation. Both were oversized—at least there'd be so resemblance.
But speaking honestly, wasn't this match a little too "unfriendly"?
The mont Qin Xin revealed his mory allegiance, Cheng Shi could count every one of his five teammates as a potential "enemy."
One opposing Deceit: a Mirror Person.
One opposing Chaos: an Investigator.
One "colleague" who'd opened with a lie—a "Erudite Scholar" who might not be one at all.
One who was catastrophically incompatible with the trial environnt, likely dead weight—a "terrorist."
And one heavyweight: the single biggest obstacle on Cheng Shi's path forward—the Fate Chosen, a "defending champion." A Blind One who claid to see through Fate yet had never t Fate.
'Tsk. This match composition is way too complicated.'
These identities gathered around one table gave Cheng Shi a mild headache. He needed to turn so "enemies" into "teammates" first—otherwise, a Void Clown in an Existence trial would be stuck at every turn.
And An Mingyu, the Blind One, was undeniably the best recruitnt target.
Not for her reputation. Not for faith camaraderie. But because of... Big Cat's phone call.
If Big Cat had given her the communication device, then An Mingyu wasn't a bad person. So before he reached the point of competing for Fate's title, they could likely cooperate.
This was the first step of his breach plan, formulated during introductions.
"Let's save ti, friends. Though the gods generously gave us seven days, we all know that in a Ti trial, too much ti is never a good thing—it ans the difficulty scales exponentially."
Li Wufang was a sunny man. He peeled off his leather jacket, revealing a pair of powerfully built arms. The flawless definition of his muscles made him look less like a hunter and more like a warrior.
"The trial's hint ntions past, present, and future. So I have reason to believe there may be three anomalies waiting for us to uncover.
Since we all know each other now—should we split up imdiately, gather intel, and regroup at an agreed ti? Or shall we explore together and get better acquainted?"
Though Li Wufang delivered this with a smile, his emphasis fell squarely on the first option. Clearly a pragmatist—efficiency was his priority.
But sotis splitting up didn't improve efficiency. The mont he finished, the Erudite Scholar Wang Mou shook his head in refusal:
"Too rough. Before we optimize for efficiency, we need to identify what helps and what hinders it.
Last-minute preparation isn't just a saying. On a seven-day tiscale, the sooner we determine the most efficient approach, the greater our returns."
Wang Mou frowned slightly, glancing past Li Wufang at the silent, eyes-closed Wu Cun behind him, then back at Li Wufang. The look clearly asked about their relationship.
Li Wufang didn't dodge the question. He answered with an open smile:
"I'd love to accompany a beautiful lady, but Order tells
that fabricating connections isn't very orderly.
I don't know her. I suspect it's the sa for everyone—random pairings upon descent."
Wu Cun offered no comnt. She irritably cracked one eye open, shot the Erudite Scholar a glance, and said coldly:
"You don't trust ?"
Wang Mou felt no embarrassnt. He nodded: "Correct. If there's an efficiency liability here, currently it can only be your destructive urge."
Wu Cun's expression froze further. Both eyes opened, drilling into Wang Mou with an icy stare: "Bold. Doesn't a seeker of Truth fear being erased?"
"I'm rely stating facts."
Tension spiked instantly. Cheng Shi looked left, looked right, thoroughly entertained.
He'd been planning to warn everyone about the Oblivion follower himself, but this truth-seeker with the fake identity had beaten him to it with far more bluntness.
'Excellent. Free entertainnt.'
Just as Cheng Shi was savoring the exchange of hostile expressions, Li Wufang stepped between the two, playing peacemaker:
"Easy now, easy. It's already sweltering in here—if your tempers burn any hotter, I'll have to take my pants off.
Scholar, I understand your concern. And, ah... ma'am—I think this trial's location is very likely underground. It's not safe, so it'd be best if soone paired up with you.
I'm not questioning your strength. But when annoying flies co buzzing around, a gentleman should step up to swat them away, no?
Beauty tends to attract trouble in chaotic places. I've seen it too many tis. So I think perhaps this gentleman..."
Li Wufang's gaze drifted toward Qin Xin—clearly suggesting the biggest body escort the most beautiful face. But before Qin Xin could respond, Wu Cun shot the Investigator a cold look and nodded irritably:
"Fine—you co with . Pairs of two. That should ease your suspicions and improve efficiency.
If you don't trust Oblivion, surely you trust Order?
Hmph—Truth isn't the only faith that can solve puzzles."
With that, she ignored everyone and shoved through the door.
Her temperant was exactly as explosive as any typical Oblivion follower.
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