Reality, in a spacious parking lot in Unknown Province City.
Chen Chong slowly opened his eyes, looking at the familiar car roof in front of him, and let out a sigh filled with mixed feelings.
He survived again.
Not only that, but the Trial reward also gave him a second A-Level talent.
[Acquired Talent: Steadfast Defense (A), Warrior profession talent, when using shield-type skills, all defensive effects are increased by 25%]
Players with 1600 points, in addition to two initial talent slots, also have two extra talent slots that can be swapped.
Chen Chong silently swapped out his last C-Level talent and replaced it with the latest A-Level talent.
As a result, his talent configuration suddenly went from a lower-middle tier level of 1A2B1C to an upper-middle tier level of 2A2B.
In the current point distribution, being able to get this talent configuration with just over 1600 points can be considered very outstanding, at least guaranteeing him more confidence and a higher survival rate in the next few Trials.
"Cheng Shi... Da Laos really like to show off, don't they..."
He shook his head and chuckled, casually grabbing a bottle of beer from the stack of liquor boxes in the passenger seat and gulping it down his throat.
The liquor spilled and flowed down, soaking his clothes, but He didn't care, chugging down four bottles in a row before letting out a burp and leaning his head back against the seat.
"Heh, this damn world, it's not even as good as dreaming."
Chen Chong gave two bitter laughs and casually threw the bottle out the car window.
After the bottle was thrown out, it didn't make intimate contact with the ground and shatter; instead, it emitted a series of crisp clinking sounds.
He looked towards the source of the sound, only to see that the vast parking lot was already piled high with mountains of bottles.
Compared to calling it a parking lot, a garbage dump might be a more fitting description.
A garbage dump for recycling bottles.
Chen Chong was never someone who needed to drink two bottles of wine to help him sleep.
What He drank was two cases.
What He sought wasn't help with sleep, but... numbness.
"Hurry up and end, this damn world."
...
Reality, in an apartment in Unknown Province City.
Cao San Sui stared blankly at the pocket watch in his hand, still not having recovered.
The Trial ending 1 hour early was something that had never happened before; He couldn't know what this change meant.
But there was one thing He did know, and that was that the moment He left the Trial, He saw Cheng Shi's smile.
"What was He smiling at? Why wasn't He scared? Did He already know the Trial would end early?"
Cao San Sui's expression became even more suspicious.
He had always firmly believed that Time wouldn't deceive people; after all, He had activated the Time Battlefield during the Trial.
But the problem was, even if Time wouldn't deceive people, wouldn't people?
If there was one person who could deceive everyone, and tamper with Time...
Then He could only be the one who gave everyone their cola...
Cheng Shi!
"Hmm!?"
Cao San Sui suddenly widened his eyes, hurried to the desk, used tools to open the pocket watch's face, and began searching carefully with a magnifying glass.
As expected, after searching for a while, He found a trace of an incomplete fingerprint on the back of the watch hand.
There were a total of three lines from this fingerprint trace, which, when connected, formed a subtle expression:
:)
"..."
Time indeed doesn't deceive people.
But someone deceived Time.
Cao San Sui instantly understood; He held the pocket watch and suddenly laughed with relief.
The Trial didn't end early; what ended early was the Time in his hand.
"Cheng Shi... amazing."
...
Reality, in a certain basement in Unknown Province City.
Nangong sat cross-legged on the ground, looking at the half of a beef patty that was no longer in her hand, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"I survived again... That's really good."
Her score was as low as ever; even after adding the points from this Trial, her ladder score had just barely exceeded 1400.
This score, in today's world where Trial difficulty is becoming increasingly difficult as Time passes, is not easy to live with.
But she wasn't dissatisfied; being able to survive under the gaze of decay was already not an easy thing.
"You could have lived a little easier; accelerating the decay of others is also a form of offering to He."
A hoarse voice echoed in the dark and damp basement; looking around, one couldn't see a second person besides Nangong.
This was actually a voice from Nothingness.
But Nangong seemed to have long been accustomed to its Existence; she pulled out a dagger and shook her head firmly, saying:
"I cannot harm others."
"Foolish, embracing decay is the creation of all living beings."
"I cannot harm others."
"...Utterly foolish, never mind, let's begin today's sacrifice."
Nangong was slightly stunned and said, "Didn't I just make a sacrifice?"
"The sacrifices in the Trial were all offerings to He; now, it's my share."
Nangong's expression changed slightly; she gritted her teeth, pulled down her pants, and used the dagger to deeply cut a gash on her thigh.
This gash was one stroke of the character "just", and such "just" characters almost covered her legs.
Blood instantly gushed from the deep red wound, and the blood quickly gathered towards the dagger, making Nangong's face increasingly pale.
Only when her body temperature began to drop did the dagger stop sucking, letting out a satisfied hum.
"Is it done?"
"Mm, you can heal yourself now."
Nangong forced herself to cast a healing spell on herself, then pulled out a small notebook from under a rotten wooden bed and solemnly wrote down a name.
Cheng Shi.
"You still want to repay Him? Ridiculous, the Gods won't let you meet again."
"I still have to write it down, just in case!"
Nangong flipped through the pages; the tattered little notebook was filled with names, densely packed, each one a person who had helped her before.
"I also gave you help, why don't you write down my name."
"Your reward... I've already given it..."
...
Reality, in a park in Unknown Province City.
Song Yawen stared dumbfounded at his Trial score.
[Ladder to the Audience + 3]
"How much?? 3 points??? The Ladder to the Audience can add 3 points????"
He looked at it again and again in disbelief, then let out strange cries and jumped around in place.
"Holy crap! I got +3 points! Brothers! My Ladder to the Audience got +3 points!"
The other Players in the park heard the sound and cast glances of "this person is crazy", but this didn't affect Song Yawen at all as He unleashed his enthusiasm, running wildly around his living area over and over again, shouting as He ran:
"I'm just asking if you guys are awesome or not, I got a damn +3 points in one go! I'm just asking if you've ever seen someone get +3 points!"
Finally, someone got annoyed by his shouting and cursed loudly:
"Song Yawen, are you f***ing crazy? The Ladder to the Audience adds a maximum of 2 points, you're dreaming about getting +3 points!"
Song Yawen didn't stop at all, continuing to roar:
"What the hell do you know? Could I misread the reward panel? There's a Da Lao who carried me, used a big move to directly meet the True God, I'm not on the same level as you guys now, got it?"
"There's really a Da Lao? What's the name? What profession and Faith?"
"Nonsense, I'll tell you... What the hell am I telling you? Is a Da Lao's name something you can know?"
After speaking, regardless of how the people around Him looked at Him, He continued to make noise on his own, only calming down and sitting back in his tent after venting all his excitement and the joy of surviving the ordeal.
Then...
He continued typing in various channels:
"My Ladder to the Audience got +3 points, brothers, see how awesome I am?"
"Hehe, no."
...
Reality, in a detached villa in Unknown Province City.
A vague outline of a snow-white figure was sketched in the shattered dressing mirror.
If one focused their gaze, they could vaguely see a hand covered in calluses from a bow, hesitantly reaching towards those slender beautiful legs.
"Cheng Shi..."
The murmur sang out, Birth blossomed.
He gazed upon this place once again, dispelled the frost on the believer's face, and bestowed upon her a new blessing.
...