Foolish Game of the Gods Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Seven Days Fly By, the Trial Returns

As the title says.

Over these seven days, Xie Yang, having apparently received some promise from the Prophetess, happily ran a Grade-A weapon dungeon on Cheng Shi's behalf.

In truth, Cheng Shi hadn't originally wanted a weapon. What he needed were several gold pocket watches.

But Xie Yang felt that gold watches weren't worth even a bottle of Prosperity of Yore, so he insisted on getting Cheng Shi a weapon instead.

Seeing the man's stubborn, death-defying determination, Cheng Shi compromised and casually named a Mage weapon for him to farm.

Xie Yang was stunned for a good while when he learned Cheng Shi needed a Mage weapon.

"You're a Mage?"

"Don't I look like one?"

"I always thought you were an Assassin. Really good at hiding yourself."

"…"

Fortunately, Xie Yang survived the dungeon, though he came back badly injured.

Cheng Shi earnestly urged Xie Yang to ask for the Prosperity of Yore back. To his surprise, Xie Yang flatly refused and put a second bottle on his tab.

The weapon was delivered, but another potion went out the window.

"Here's hoping you find love soon." Cheng Shi's expression was complicated.

"Thank you."

Xie Yang was grateful from the bottom of his heart.

Cheng Shi was disgusted from the bottom of his.

If it weren't for the fact that you're someone to chat with, I wouldn't give a rat's ass about your romance.

Still, this was fine too. At least there was entertainment to be had.

In this world, relaxing the mind was what mattered most.

Time flew by. When he next opened his eyes, new trial information had already leapt into view.

Cheng Shi hadn't run a single dungeon all week. His competitive form was holding up nicely.

[Special Trial (Lost in Eternal Night [Memory]) Has Begun]

[Matching Teammates (1/6)]

[Trial Objective: Amid interwoven memories, you can always find a way out, provided the night hasn't dispersed (Time Limit: 12 Hours)]

"Fuck!"

Cheng Shi froze for a beat, then erupted.

A trial of the opposing side. Wasn't this basically a death sentence?

[Match Successful (6/6), Entering Trial]

Amidst Cheng Shi's extreme shock, his vision dimmed once more.

…

"Sir? Sir?"

The sounds of raucous conversation filled his ears, punctuated at intervals by clinking glasses and rowdy cheers.

This was a… tavern?

Cheng Shi opened his eyes and found himself seated at a round table. Six people sat at the table, all of them slumped over and fast asleep. He was the first to wake.

He checked his clothes. The collar and lapels were soaked through.

Thankfully it wasn't vomit. He'd probably knocked over a drink while sleeping. His entire body reeked of alcohol.

"Sir, shall I continue serving your wine?"

A black-clad waiter stood beside him, holding a tray, quietly awaiting Cheng Shi's instructions.

Continue serving? Everyone's passed out like this, what's the point, bathing in it?

"No thank you." Cheng Shi shook his head. He watched the waiter bow and withdraw, and his teammates began stirring one after another.

"Where is this? A tavern?"

"Ugh, headache…"

"Oh no, my clothes are ruined!"

"Sheep-Blood Wine of Shanira, a favorite of the Blizzard nomads. During the middle of the Civilization Epoch, a small kingdom called Pilus south of the Blizzard Mountains was famous for producing it."

"Glug glug glug. Ah, good wine!"

"…"

Looking at his teammates' varied reactions, Cheng Shi's expression darkened.

Three men, three women. This lobby clearly had a freeloader.

"Big shot?" The bespectacled boy who had spoken first began rapidly surveying his surroundings. His gaze lingered on Cheng Shi and the woman who had identified the wine's origin, then turned to address the latter.

"Fang Shiqing, [Civilization], Bard, Ladder 2047. Good morning, everyone."

This Bard of [Civilization] produced a white handkerchief from goodness knows where and, with considerable grace, dabbed at her wine-splashed white blouse and black neckerchief. Then she adjusted her glasses slightly and nodded to each person in greeting.

Cheng Shi quickly assembled a profile: long curly hair, black round-framed glasses, delicate features, and also… she looked like a teacher.

An English teacher, specifically.

Fang Shiqing, [Civilization], Bard, Ladder 2047

The bespectacled boy seated to her right opened his mouth slightly, projecting an air of profound shock.

"A 2000 lobby?" Seeing everyone's eyes turn to him, he scrambled to introduce himself in a fluster: "A Ming. Ming as in 'engrave.' [Civilization], Assassin, Ladder 1717."

The moment the boy finished, Cheng Shi frowned.

This person was lying.

He couldn't tell whether the man had concealed his Destiny or fabricated his score. Either way, class wasn't easy to fake, nor was there any need to.

But looking at him, that panicky demeanor didn't fit an Assassin.

Assassins were typically more… sharp? Efficient?

Cheng Shi suddenly thought of Song Yawen. Forget it. Maybe the contrast trend is sweeping the Assassin scene nowadays too.

A Ming, [Civilization], Assassin, Ladder 1717

"Hey, big bro?"

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the boy called out to Cheng Shi.

Cheng Shi blinked and realized that, at some point, the introduction order had shifted into reverse. And the boy happened to be seated on his left.

His turn already?

Cheng Shi adjusted his expression slightly and introduced himself with a bright, radiant smile:

"Cheng Shi, [Existence], Priest, Ladder 1501."

The instant he finished, he noticed a certain woman across the table frown slightly.

Oh? Now this is interesting.

"1500?" A Ming's eyes went even wider. He looked at Fang Shiqing, then at Cheng Shi, even more shocked. "A 500-point gap again?"

"Again?" Cheng Shi smiled.

"Last week's trial had a 500-point gap too. Very rough, very deadly."

"But you survived anyway, didn't you?"

A Ming managed a strained smile and said, far from optimistically: "Just got lucky, that's all."

Introductions continued. Next was the older man to Cheng Shi's right who had been rubbing his head the entire time.

This man had choppy, longish hair and was wearing a fur-collared jacket in sweltering weather. His eyes carried a distinctly listless quality.

"Huang Bo, [Primordial Chaos], Bard, 1998."

[Primordial Chaos]! The opposing Destiny of [Civilization]!

Now this should be fun.

Cheng Shi smilingly observed Fang Shiqing and A Ming's expressions, but saw that they merely gave the man an extra glance without any particular reaction.

Huang Bo, for his part, kept his fingers buried in his hair, scratching his scalp without even lifting his eyes. He seemed completely unconcerned that his team included an enemy.

Huang Bo, [Primordial Chaos], Bard, 1998

"Another 2000?"

"Another Bard?" The female player across from Cheng Shi gasped, then quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.

This was the very same woman who had frowned upon hearing Cheng Shi's Destiny.

"What, is today a singing competition?" Another female player who was still chugging wine tilted her head. Her elbow rested on the table as she swirled the bottle, her tongue darting quickly across her lips. She giggled:

"Bailing. You can also call me Niao Niao. [Corruption], Hunter. My Ladder score is too low to mention. Whatever you good brothers and good sisters say, I'll just go along with it."

Saying this, she took another two hearty gulps, completely unconcerned that the spilled wine once again soaked through her collar, saturating her low-cut black satin dress until it clung to her chest, outlining two curves that made the blood race.

"What I'm best at is being obedient~"

[Defilement].

Cheng Shi didn't even need to look. He could tell just from the scent that this collar-wearing young lady was a Hunter of [Defilement], a Sensory Tracker.

They excelled at indulging their own desires and guiding their prey to wallow alongside them, pulling at the prey's nerves and tormenting their psyche until the target lost all sense of self in debauchery and surrendered all resistance in the depths of corruption.

This young lady looked like a master of physical debasement. Yet Cheng Shi noticed she hadn't lied, which meant her Path to Godhood score was genuinely low.

Low score, and still matched into his lobby.

She's got something going on.

Bailing, [Corruption], Hunter, X

Assassin A Ming looked rather flustered by her posture and expression. Old man Huang Bo kept scratching his head. Fang Shiqing observed with keen interest. But the last female player beside her flashed a look of distinct disgust.

Cheng Shi looked thoughtfully at the final female player. The young woman had refined, delicate features and also wore a pair of glasses. She appeared poised and self-assured, yet seemed distinctly evasive when she met Cheng Shi's gaze.

"Xu Lu, [Nihility], Bard, Ladder 1643."

"?"

The moment that cutesy, pinched voice emerged, Cheng Shi first felt a shiver run down his spine, then quickly looked at Bailing, trying to hide the corners of his mouth that he absolutely could not control.

Well now, what a coincidence.

The sole Prophet in the lobby, and he already knew her. This was almost certainly the cutesy-voiced girl that Xie the lapdog pined for but couldn't win.

Tsk tsk. A follower of [Fate]. Tough luck for her, because my identity in this trial is a follower of [Time].

In other words, he was the wolf!

Sliiurp!

Xu Lu, [Nihility], Bard, Ladder 1643

Cheng Shi badly wanted to laugh but didn't dare reveal himself too much. He knew Xu Lu was surely studying him too, though she was probably still puzzling over whether this Cheng Shi was the "neighbor" she knew about.

Xu Lu was indeed studying Cheng Shi. While pretending to glance at him casually, she mentally replayed everything Xie Yang had told her about Cheng Shi.

"There's a Mage named Cheng Shi on the rooftop across from mine. Average-looking, a bit chubby, total deadbeat otaku. He begged me forever to help him out, and I took pity on him, so I ran a random Grade-A weapon dungeon and got him a weapon."

"The guy doesn't look like much, but he's loyal. Knows how to show gratitude. Even gave me a Grade-A healing potion…"

"It wasn't a dungeon drop, he definitely picked it up during some trial. Anyway, it's definitely worth less than the weapon I gave him."

"My score's high, I've got plenty of tricks, no use keeping it. You take it, keep it as a lifeline. The potion is pretty… decent, I guess. No need to thank me."

Clearly, the Cheng Shi across from her differed considerably from the one in Xie Yang's descriptions. At the very least, this Cheng Shi wasn't ugly. Not only was he not ugly, he was actually a little handsome.

On top of that, he was a Priest.

That didn't match "Mage" at all.

As everyone knew, class was the hardest thing to fake.

So probably just a coincidence, same name?

What she didn't know was whether he worshipped [Memory], or its opposing counterpart… [Time].