Chapter 39: A High-Ranked Lobby!
A bed, a desk and chair, floor-to-ceiling windows and doors, a balcony.
Warm breeze vaulted over the windowsill and bounded into the room, curiously inspecting every corner, gently stroking the curtains, toying with strands of hair, so warm and soothing it made one's heart melt.
Cheng Shi's skin tingled where the hair strands teased him. He snapped his eyes open and found himself lying on a soft bed.
This was…
A hotel room?
He sat up in surprise and looked around. The room was spacious but empty.
Just him!
Cheng Shi's stomach dropped as a faint frown creased his brow.
This was the first time in any trial that he'd opened his eyes and not seen a single person.
As always, any change meant new risk.
Cheng Shi didn't dare let his guard down. He rose quickly and meticulously inspected everything in the room.
Only after confirming there were no arrays or traps did he breathe a small sigh of relief.
During his inspection just now, he thought he'd heard some movement from the next room.
Could it be that this time, everyone got their own room?
Thinking this, Cheng Shi tiptoed back to the bed and reached for the wall beside it.
But the moment he pressed his ear to the surface, preparing to listen in on what was happening next door, he caught a faint, barely perceptible sound of breathing.
!!!
At this very moment, just on the other side of the wall, someone else was also eavesdropping on his room!
Cheng Shi's pupils contracted!
Though startled, he felt no fear.
Because he knew that if the roles were reversed and he were the one eavesdropping, he would hold his breath and not leak a single sound.
Since the other party had let out a trace of noise, it meant this wasn't an act of surveillance, but a probe.
The person next door was most likely a player!
And a player with a mind full of twists and turns.
Against that kind of person, the direct approach worked best!
Cheng Shi mentally simulated a clash of wits with the void on the other side, then pressed himself against the wall and whispered:
"Palace Jade Wine?"
The breathing next door indeed faltered.
But instead of the response Cheng Shi had anticipated, a "bang" sent a sharp dagger punching through the wooden wall, stopping right before his eyes.
The gleaming blade hovered exactly 0.1cm from his Adam's apple.
The force control was precise, the distance calibration perfect, the explosive power astonishing!
Cheng Shi didn't dare swallow, terrified that even a bob of his Adam's apple would shave off a layer of skin.
But he didn't flinch, because he sensed no killing intent from the other side.
Indeed, there was no killing intent from next door.
This was simply a way of saying hello.
The dagger rotated gently, patted Cheng Shi's neck with its flat, and then slowly withdrew.
The next second, through the small hole the dagger had carved, a pale, delicate hand that looked boneless squeezed through and spread its five fingers open toward Cheng Shi.
Fingers like spring onion whites, tips like bamboo shoots, nails painted red as vermillion lips.
Nice manicure!
Cheng Shi smiled and clasped the cool little hand.
"Pleasure to meet you."
He exchanged pleasantries with his mouth, but his eyes never left the tiny slit the dagger had carved.
Calling it a small hole was actually an exaggeration. It was really just a crack.
The dagger was slender and long. The vertical length of the slit it created was less than 2cm, and the width went without saying: virtually nonexistent.
Yet through this imperceptible crack, a normal adult human arm had squeezed through as though it had been two-dimensionalized, then expanded back out, unfurling into a soft, pale little hand.
Expert!
That was Cheng Shi's first impression of his neighbor.
After those two exchanges, the other side finally responded.
"Pleasure."
A woman, as expected.
But the voice was far from what Cheng Shi had imagined.
It wasn't the crisp, bright tone of a girl-next-door. It was low and husky, a standard deep-voiced smoker's rasp.
This…
Sister, your audio and video are a bit out of sync.
Cheng Shi was no creep. He promptly released her hand and asked with a smile:
"It seems you can pinpoint my exact position?"
The other party fell silent for a moment, then gave a soft "Mm."
"Fair enough. Everyone has secrets, don't they? What's the play now?"
The moment those words left his mouth, knocking sounded at his door.
Not just on his side. Knocking rang out next door simultaneously.
Both doors knocked at the same time?
Cheng Shi frowned slightly and stayed silent. But the girl next door directly belted out:
"Scram!"
The knocking paused for a beat, then a snort of laughter came.
"Come on out. You two are the only ones left."
?
Players?
It didn't seem to be a lie.
But to keep a card in reserve, Cheng Shi tapped the wooden wall and whispered to his neighbor:
"I'll open the door first. Stay put."
Last time the other party had acted first. This time Cheng Shi would take the lead.
This was the most basic coordination and courtesy in any trial.
When it came to seeking cooperation, Cheng Shi never played the petty man.
However, the dagger-wielding young lady next door completely ignored his instruction. She immediately pattered off the bed, "thump thump thump," and opened her door.
Cheng Shi shook his head helplessly, climbed off the bed, and opened his own door.
Pushing open the door, he found three men of extraordinary presence standing in the hotel corridor.
The aura they radiated was difficult to pin down precisely, but at a glance, they looked like warriors forged in the fires of war.
Unlike the dogged resilience of ordinary soldiers, their eyes carried an additional layer of confidence that looked down on all others.
Cheng Shi needed only a single sweep across these individuals to know that coasting as a freeloader this round was absolutely guaranteed!
All experts!
Two of them had clearly changed into clothes provided by the hotel. Cheng Shi had noticed the clothes on his desk during his inspection, but out of caution, hadn't changed.
Looking at it now, those two players were quite committed to their roles.
The man closest to Cheng Shi saw him open the door, wrinkled his nose, sniffed, and said with mild distaste:
"Unnecessary caution."
???
He'd been judged?
Cheng Shi shook his head with a smile and didn't argue.
The girl next door also stepped out. Cheng Shi glanced at her and remembered nothing except the flamboyant, wildly colorful floral tattoo sleeve running down her arm.
A tight cropped tank top, tactical cargo leather pants, daggers tucked at her waist.
She was unmistakably an Assassin.
The man standing in the middle of the corridor saw that both of them had emerged, cast his gaze past the railing for a backward glance at the floor below, and then said with a smile:
"A fresh challenge, but still the same rigid faiths, wouldn't you say?
Allow me to introduce myself. Fang Jue, Jurist, 2437."
!!!
A Jurist, a Bard of [Order]!
Cheng Shi had just witnessed a Jurist NPC die in the previous trial, never expecting to meet a real one in the very next round.
More importantly, this man was 2437 points!
What an absolute titan!
In this game, the meta at high ranks was entirely different from low ranks.
Word had it that heavyweights above 2400 announced their credentials the moment they met, not even considering faith conflicts. A completely different style from the 1000-something "weaklings" and their approach.
This was probably what they meant by: all fear is simply a lack of confidence in one's own strength.
At this tier, perhaps no one believed they could be easily killed by an enemy anymore.
They all had sufficient backing.
This confidence might come from experience, from caution, but more than anything, it came from the blessings of their respective patrons.
They already had enough, and strong enough, talents to support whatever they envisioned.
And most crucially of all, players at 2400 points possessed one more blank talent slot compared to those at 2000.
When the [Faith Game] first descended, each person received one initial Faith Talent and one initial Class Talent.
Upon reaching 1200, 1600, 2000, and 2400 Path to Godhood points, they each gained an additional blank talent slot.
This slot could be filled with either a Class Talent or a Faith Talent.
And talents were, without a doubt, the greatest reliance players had in this insane game.
This Jurist was one of the two players who had changed clothes. He'd put on a commoner's outfit in the Land of Hope style, yet the "aristocratic" air about him was impossible to conceal.
Compared to a Jurist, he currently looked more like a roaming bard.
Fang Jue, [Order], Bard, 2437
Aside from Cheng Shi, no one else seemed surprised by the Jurist's score. The man beside the Jurist who had knocked on the girl's door adjusted his glasses and said with an identical smile:
"I appreciate all forms of support, especially Jurists. Du Xiguang, Memory Traveler, 2502."
Wait!
How much???
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