[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-foolish-game-of-the-gods":3,"chapter-foolish-game-of-the-gods-foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-38":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Foolish Game of the Gods",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},579359,829,"Chapter 38: Chat Channel Insights and a New Trial!","foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-38",38,"\u003Cp>Cheng Shi didn’t give a single bottle this time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that, he could vaguely hear an argument breaking out in the neighboring building that night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it was the [Fate] follower doing all the shouting, while Xie Yang kept apologizing with a nervous laugh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amused by the groveling sounds of a “bootlicker,” Cheng Shi slept like a baby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t wake up until noon the next day, lazily stretching before skimming through the chat logs of the various channels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As usual, the Faith Channel was filled with endless lies. Even glancing at it felt like a waste of time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Regional Channel was full of people planning meetups or comparing scores—chattering on like elderly matchmakers before the [Gods] had descended. The sheer volume of mundane messages gave him a headache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only the Class Channel had anything interesting, with fresh gossip worth reading every now and then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brothers, breaking news! [Prosperity] has a new Chosen One after a 2-month gap! ‘Bald Head Uses Pantene’ has been dethroned!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh? Tell us more!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You guys from [Prosperity] keep changing your Chosen One so often. It’s only been a few months and already another one. Why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did he strangle himself with his own hair again?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The joke about being “strangled by their own hair” was a popular jab at followers of [Prosperity].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Prosperity] is the second god of the [Life] path, embodying the apex of life, the flourishing of mind and body. The god encourages unchecked growth and rapid rejuvenation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, followers of [Prosperity] often experience surges in spiritual energy, and their flesh and hair grow at abnormal speeds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, more than one hapless follower had suffered because of their overgrown hair, leading to mishaps during trials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over time, this became a running joke among players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Class Channel]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who knows? I shaved my head, so I’ll never be the clown.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who’s the new Chosen One? Let everyone bow before them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The new ID is ‘Only Carves Rotten Wood.'”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Notice the ‘Rotten’? That’s a tough one. Where are the [Decay] followers? Shouldn’t they be beating him up?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heh, let them have their fun. Our [Decay] Chosen is still ranked number one, so [Prosperity] can keep eating our dust.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Correction, they’re eating something else. Not dust.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Care to share your coordinates?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sure, Jiang Province, Shanshi City, Xinyao Street, No. 167-1 Guqiao Alley. Come on, I’m waiting.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“???? That’s where I live, bro! Who the hell are you?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn, what a coincidence. That was my old house.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy crap, all those toys were yours?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“???”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, tell us more about those ‘toys.'”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And by the way, [Deceit] got a new Chosen One too. First time since the game started. The guy who used to dominate with ‘True Heart’ got knocked down out of the top 10.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He probably failed a few trials. Still, it takes a real boss to stay in the top 10 even after failing. One failure, and I’d be out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry, I got you. I’ll heal you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Idiot, I can heal myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah, but your own milk never tastes as good as your bro’s.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi was chuckling at the banter when he suddenly saw the message about [Deceit]’s Chosen One being replaced. His expression turned serious as he quickly opened the Ladder of Ascent rankings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Ladder of Ascent (Existence-Memory) \u002F (Void-Deceit)]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>1. Li Jingming (Memory) 204\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>2. Ad Space for Rent (Deceit) 203\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>3. This Feeling Can Wait (Memory) 200\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>4. Still Like a Dream (Memory) 197\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>5. Aba Aba (Deceit) 197\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>19. If Your Score’s Lower, Just Kill Yourself, Noob (Deceit) 189\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>20. This Day Last Year (Memory) 189\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>21. True Heart (Deceit) 188\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>64. I Never Lie (Deceit) 161\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Cheng Shi hadn’t heard the name Zhen Xin in his conversation with [Deceit], he wouldn’t have paid much attention to this ID.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He remembered thatTrue Heartused to dominate the Ladder of Ascent with 210 points, and yet, in just a few days, they had dropped to 188 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rank 21.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What had this guy been up to?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How had he suddenly fallen out of the top 10?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no way to figure it out just by thinking, so Cheng Shi decided to ask directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling bored, Cheng Shi casually posted in the Faith Channel:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why did you drop down, man? Run out of tricks?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, a message like this would get lost in the endless stream of scams and banter. But for some reason, this time, a lot of people saw it, and it immediately ignited their gossiping spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Faith Channel]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rumor has it, she’s pregnant with Li Jingming’s child and is on maternity leave.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s not right. I heard she got caught in a national crackdown on fraud and got locked up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whoa, the Qing Dynasty must’ve ended—look who’s crawled out. What era are we living in now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Era of [Deceit].”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“High awareness, were you a government official in your past life? Mind sharing your score and some tips, bro?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I live by two rules: 1. Be honest. 2. Be really fucking honest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know a bit. She’s got a communicator and reached out to some higher-ups from other faiths. Apparently, she’s out looking for someone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Looking for who? The father? Is she really pregnant?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shit, maybe it’s mine?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brothers, I’m going to piss on him to wake him up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“……”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking for someone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi frowned. That sounded odd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could searching for someone affect your rank on the Ladder of Ascent?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How was she even “looking for someone”?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unable to make sense of it, he continued scrolling through the rankings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He noticed that many of the IDs around his rank were well-known in various channels, each with around 2400 points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were the top-tier players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And here he was, just barely over 2100, yet already climbing the ranks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tsk, I’m not bad after all!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Cheng Shi had never understood why, after each trial, his Ladder of Ascent score would always max out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After meeting [Deceit], however, he had started to get an idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could it be because…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he immediately suppressed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No! Stop thinking about it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I summon something nasty again, I might not get saved next time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, the power [Deceit] had mentioned…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shireallywanted it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Becoming a Chosen One… that’s a bit much.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Turning a laid-back slacker like him into a motivated go-getter would take at least ten days of effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, Cheng Shi spent the rest of the week leisurely, without any particular drive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That is, until a blood-red notification flashed in his vision, signaling the arrival of yet another trial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at the trial details and sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Here we go again…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Special Trial (Which Path Leads to Death [Death]) has begun]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Matching teammates (1\u002F6)]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Trial Objective: There is but one path that leads to death. Find it and offer your sacrifice. (Time limit: 7 days)]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven days!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why was this trial so long?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the [Gods] had descended, the longest trial shared across the channels had been three days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today, the trial length had been extended to a full seven days!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no need to think twice—this trial’s risk factor had likely multiplied several times along with the duration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Match successful (6\u002F6), entering trial]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi’s heart sank, still reeling from the surprise, when his vision was pulled into endless darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>",1244,"2026-05-30T16:17:59.091Z","2026-06-01T04:31:40.442Z",1,"novelbin.me","40a2fb3d6fd1224b8e7f2a48e6f482a7558cec586bb79448975f1b17d1173bb3","foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-39","foolish-game-of-the-gods-chapter-37",1463,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffoolish-game-of-the-gods-cover.jpg"]