Foolish Game of the Gods Chapter 16

Chapter 16: After the Calamity

Reality, an empty parking lot in some unknown city.

Chen Chong slowly opened his eyes, gazed at the familiar car ceiling, and sighed with mixed emotions.

Alive again.

Not only that, but the trial rewards had also yielded his second Grade-A talent.

[Talent Obtained: Stand Beneath the Wall (A), Warrior Class Talent. When using shield-type skills, all defensive effects increased by 25%.]

Players at 1600 points had, in addition to their two initial talent slots, two extra talent slots that could be swapped.

Chen Chong silently swapped out his last C-Rank talent and equipped the new A-Rank one.

With that, his talent configuration jumped from the middle-to-lower tier of 1A, 2B, 1C to the middle-to-upper tier of 2A, 2B.

In the current ranking distribution, achieving this talent configuration at just over 1600 was remarkably impressive. At the very least, it guaranteed him greater confidence and a higher survival rate in the upcoming trials.

"Cheng Shi… do all heavyweights love showing off that much…"

He shook his head with a wry laugh, casually grabbed a beer from the stacked cases on the passenger seat, and glugged it down his throat.

Beer splashed and streamed, soaking his clothes, but he didn't care. He downed four bottles in succession before letting out a beer-laced belch and slumping against the seat back.

"Heh. Fucking world. Rather be dreaming."

Chen Chong chuckled bitterly and tossed the empty bottle out the window.

The bottle didn't shatter on impact with the ground. Instead, it produced a crisp clinking sound.

Looking toward the source of the noise, the enormous parking lot was already piled high with mountains of bottles.

"Garbage dump" was perhaps a more fitting description than "parking lot."

A garbage dump for recycling beer bottles.

Chen Chong had never been someone who needed a couple of drinks to fall asleep.

What he drank was two cases.

And what he sought wasn't sleep, but… numbness.

"End already, this bullshit world."

…

Reality, an apartment in some unknown city.

Cao Sansui stared blankly at the pocket watch in his hand, still unable to process what had happened.

A trial ending one hour early was unprecedented. What this change signified, he had no way of knowing.

But one thing he did know: in the instant before he left the trial, he had seen Cheng Shi's smile.

"Why was he smiling? Why wasn't he afraid? Did he already know the trial would end early?"

Cao Sansui's expression grew even more suspicious.

He had always firmly believed that time didn't lie. After all, he had activated the Time Battlefield during the trial.

But here was the problem: even if time didn't lie, could the same be said of people?

If there existed a person who could deceive everyone and tamper with time itself…

Then it could only be the one who had given them all cola…

Cheng Shi!

"Huh!?"

Cao Sansui's eyes went wide. He rushed to his desk, pried open the pocket watch's faceplate with tools, and began meticulously searching with a magnifying glass.

Sure enough, after a brief search, he found faint traces of an incomplete fingerprint on the back of the watch hands.

There were three marks in total. Connected, they formed a subtle expression:

🙂

"…"

Time indeed did not lie.

But someone had deceived time.

It clicked instantly. Gripping the pocket watch, Cao Sansui suddenly laughed with profound relief.

The trial hadn't ended early. What had been moved forward was the time in their hands.

"Cheng Shi… impressive."

…

Reality, a basement in some unknown city.

Nangong sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at the empty space where the half beef patty had been in her hand, and suddenly laughed out loud.

"Alive again… that's wonderful."

Her score remained as low as ever. Even with this trial's points added, her Ladder score had just barely cleared 1400.

This score, in today's landscape of ever-increasing trial difficulty, was not an easy one to live with.

But she wasn't ungrateful. Being able to survive under [Decay]'s gaze was already no small feat.

"You could have lived much more easily. Accelerating the decay of others is, to Him, also a form of offering."

A hoarse voice echoed through the damp, dim basement. Looking around, there was no second person besides Nangong.

It was a voice from the void.

But Nangong seemed long accustomed to its presence. She drew her dagger and shook her head firmly:

"I can't harm people."

"Foolish. Embracing decay is the fortune of all living things."

"I can't harm people."

"…Utterly stupid. Fine, let us begin today's offering."

Nangong blinked. "Didn't I just offer?"

"The offerings made during the trial were all dedicated to Him. Now, it's my share."

Nangong's expression shifted. She gritted her teeth, pulled down her pants, and drove the dagger deep into her thigh, slicing open a long gash.

This cut was one stroke in the character "正." Such characters blanketed both of her legs.

Dark red blood gushed instantly from the wound, converging rapidly toward the dagger. Nangong's face grew even paler.

Only when her body temperature began to drop did the dagger cease its sucking and let out a satisfied purr.

"Are we done?"

"Mm. You may heal yourself now."

Nangong forced herself to cast a healing spell, then pulled a small notebook from beneath a rotting wooden bed and solemnly wrote down a name.

Cheng Shi.

"You still want to repay him? Laughable. The gods won't let you cross paths again."

"I still have to write it down. What if!"

Nangong flipped through the pages. That tattered little notebook was densely packed with names. Every single one was a person who had once helped her.

"I have also given you aid. Why not record my name."

"Your payment… I've already given…"

…

Reality, a park in some unknown city.

Song Yawen stared at his trial score, dumbfounded.

[Ladder of Audience +3]

"How much??? 3 points??? The Ladder of Audience can go up by 3 points???"

He read it over and over in disbelief, then shrieked and started bouncing around in place.

"Holy shit! I gained 3 points! Brothers! My Ladder of Audience went up 3 points!"

Other players in the park heard the racket and shot him "this guy's lost it" looks, but that didn't dampen Song Yawen's enthusiasm one bit. He sprinted lap after lap around his living area, shouting as he ran:

"Tell me that's not badass! I gained 3 fucking points in one match! Any of you ever seen a 3-point gain!"

Someone finally got annoyed enough by his hollering to shout back:

"Song Yawen, you sick in the head? The Ladder of Audience caps at 2 points. You dreaming about 3?"

Song Yawen didn't even slow down, still roaring:

"You don't know squat! You think I can't read a reward panel? I had a big shot carry me, unleashed an ultimate that got me a direct divine audience! I'm in a different league from you now, got it?"

"There's really a big shot? What's their name? What class and faith?"

"Obviously, I'll tell you… I'll tell you nothing! You think you're worthy of knowing a big shot's name?"

With that, ignoring how anyone looked at him, he kept right on hollering to himself until every drop of excitement and survival euphoria had been thoroughly drained from his system. Only then did he quiet down and retreat to his tent.

And then…

He resumed typing in every channel:

"My Ladder of Audience went up 3 points, brothers. Look at me, am I badass or what?"

"Heh. No."

…

Reality, a detached villa in some unknown city.

The shattered dressing mirror vaguely outlined a snow-white silhouette.

If one focused carefully, a hand rough with calluses from bowstring use could be seen, hesitantly reaching toward a pair of long, shapely legs.

"Cheng Shi…"

The murmur rose, and [Birth] blossomed.

He gazed upon this place once more, dispersing the frost from His follower's face, bestowing upon her a new blessing.