Originally, Cheng Shi held no affection for Ti.
First, Ti and Destiny were opposites — Existence was the Void's natural enemy. You didn't show enemies a friendly face. Second, the lurking shadow of Ti's sudden appearance outside Aph Ros's door still hung over his heart. He knew almost nothing about Ti and instinctively feared dealing with the unknown.
But now, his mindset had shifted.
The mont he learned the Fun God wanted him to fuse with Ti, his rejection transford into curiosity. He burned to know what role Ti played in the Fun God's sche — and whether He would agree to this fusion with Void.
Deceit had once said: any approach tainted by His will was no longer "approaching" — it was "getting close." So the road beneath Cheng Shi's feet had always been walked by himself. Even though every inch was littered with so-called Destiny's guidance, at least he could tell any given deity with a straight face: the Fun God's shadow isn't behind this eting.
But this ti was different. The Fun God had handed him a performance on a platter — one staged on the "enemy's" platform, with a billboard out front bearing Destiny's na.
Cheng Shi felt like a bewildered actor holding a script with a title but no content. He wanted to perform it as well as possible, but had no idea how.
The most critical question: did Ti have a role in this script?
'My Lord, oh my Lord — did You actually arrange this with Ti, or is this just a probe?'
If the forr, he could just coast. If the latter — could the warring Void actually protect him from Ti?
Cheng Shi was lost.
But that couldn't stump an adaptable clown for long. After a brief mont of confusion, he furrowed his brow and made his decision.
'Since there's no script... I'll improvise!'
He sprang into action. First, he ntally grilled Brother Mouth. Getting no response, he felt slightly reassured. He pulled out the Tongue of Eating Lies and started tossing it toward the platform's outer edge.
He feared Ti might harbor illusions like mory, or phantoms of Existence might pervade His domain. So he used Brother Tongue to scout the path — much to Brother Tongue's fury, since this overti ca with zero compensation.
Finding no traps, Cheng Shi's courage grew slightly.
He... pulled out a pickaxe.
Yes. A pickaxe!
Don't ask why a clown's spatial inventory contained a pickaxe. The answer: mining.
But there was clearly no ore here. So what was Cheng Shi going to do with it?
Naturally — secure so loot and leave himself an escape route.
As a Destiny follower, as a forever-steady player, whether or not he'd eventually fuse with Ti, he needed an exit strategy.
Void fusing with Existence wasn't minor business. The violent clash currently raging in the Void proved his other Benefactor disagreed. Though he didn't know how the Fun God planned to push it through, once it happened — the Fun God could vanish into the Void and never resurface. But Cheng Shi? He couldn't escape his other Benefactor's wrath.
When that ti ca, how would he — carrying Ti's power — explain himself to Destiny?
'Well, Your twin deity made a compelling argunt, so I agreed?'
'That would be a death so stupid I wouldn't even know how I died.'
So everything Cheng Shi did now was about building an exit. He raised the pickaxe and slamd it into the ground beneath his feet — hoping to chip off a piece of folded ti for research.
Later, if Destiny ca in a fury, he could argue he'd never agreed to the fusion — it was all coerced — and he'd already proven his resistance through action!
'Look, my Lord — here's the ti I chiseled off Ti's domain. I couldn't do more, but I needed to express my position!'
Yet even this carried risk. Even if Destiny was rciful enough to let it slide... how would he handle Ti?
Best case: the other deity didn't have ti to show up. But if He did?
For that, Cheng Shi had prepared his defense too.
'I'm a Void walker who's fused with Existence itself. Bringing ho a few local specialties from my "new place" — is that wrong?'
'No. Not at all!'
Whether or not these excuses would work, greed had successfully talked him into it. He swung harder.
But a mortal's pickaxe could never shatter a deity's creation. The faster and harder he swung, the more the folded ti-floor remained immovable — while his pickaxe eroded first.
Not dulling or chipping — corroded by the vastness of ti.
Handle and head alike turned brittle. On his final forceful strike, the ground didn't budge, but the pickaxe shattered — exploding into sparkling points of light that arced upward. Like every other stream of light in this space, they instantly plumted... straight toward Cheng Shi!
"!!!"
He sensed danger. Tried to dodge. But how could life outrun ti?
Countless streams of light spiraled around him, coiling into rings of years that reflected in his horror-shrunken pupils.
That ancient, cyclical ti — like a chisel from the dawn of existence — etched the patterns of ti into Cheng Shi's eyes, stroke by stroke, transforming the briefest instant into unchanging eternity.
And at that very mont, another pair of spiral-and-star-painted eyes opened above Cheng Shi's head. They looked upon him — gaze so complex, laced with grief and resolve that no mortal could comprehend — and silently blinked at Their follower.
With that single blink, a mysterious force of Destiny rose from those starlit eyes, dispersing into star-specks that filled the sky, illuminating this entire space once more.
Simultaneously, Cheng Shi's hand rose of its own accord. Under his increasingly alard gaze, it pointed straight at his shadow — for the first ti overriding his will to switch his faith.
In that instant, Deceit's power shattered. Destiny's power surged to fullness.
The Destiny power within Cheng Shi began resonating with the sky full of star-specks — rising, intertwining with the Ti power that had just been etched as patterns — forming countless interconnected rings of reality and void. For one dazzling mont, they blazed across the starry sky — then poured back into Cheng Shi's eyes.
His vision went black. His entire body felt hurled skyward by a titanic force. Fighting through the violent vertigo, he forced his eyes open — and found himself face-to-face with two black holes vast enough to imprison every tiline in the universe.
Those black-hole eyes released a sigh, then returned the "follower" who'd paid them a visit back to the warped clock face.
This rollercoaster of terror left Cheng Shi's heart pounding like a war drum, every ounce of strength drained. But the instant his feet touched solid ground, he snapped back, imdiately looking upward — only to find that both the starlit eyes and the black-hole pupils had vanished.
The entire starry sky held only him. Him, and the endlessly imprisoned ti, and the countless ticking Universal Clocks.
Tick... tick... tick...
Ti never stopped flowing. The bewildernt in Cheng Shi's heart only grew.
Those familiar eyes that had descended — they didn't feel like his Benefactor Destiny. Yet everything before him forced him to believe it was Destiny — Destiny who'd co specifically to approve the fusion with Ti!
Because...
[Cheng Shi, Male, 22 years old]
[Path of Fate: Void]
[Path Talent: Reflection of Nihility (SSS): ...]
[Current Faith: Destiny (Fused) Ti]
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