Chapter 464: One Path

This person's death is truly strange; Cheng Shuili asks herself, even if the person standing in the Blood Ring were her, she wouldn't be sure she could get out unscathed.

By now, the paths she could take seem all sealed off.

Just as this thought arose, another thought pressed over it.

No, that's not right, yes, not right…

There is still a road she can take.

Kill Qing Qing's kiss, then kill the three short-haired women, and she would be the sole victor, able to end the whole game in the way the rules prescribe.

But Cheng Shuili just doesn't want to follow this damn Instance's rules!

This is a team Instance, yet the final act's rule says only one can survive— isn't that forcing these players to kill each other?!

What does that mean? Treat them like monkeys to play with?

A nameless fire mixed with resentment toward the Instance's rules itself ignited in Cheng Shuili's chest.

She despises the feeling of powerlessness from being designed and forced to make cruel choices, and loathes even more the tasteless amusement of putting humanity in dire straits for entertainment.

But anger doesn't solve the problem.

Cheng Shuili took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her surging emotions.

The Instance is dead, the rules are cold; she must maintain absolute composure.

"Going with the flow certainly won't work," Cheng Shuili finally said, her voice returning to its usual calm, "but actively breaking the stalemate need not be only the path of mutual slaughter."

Qing Qing's kiss raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Besides killing them a few, how else could we break it? Surely we can't destroy that puppet, or wipe out this Blood Ring, right?"

Her words carried a hint of jest, yet also revealed the helplessness of their current predicament.

Cheng Shuili's gaze fell back onto the Gray Puppet, slowly shifting to the crack on its wrist, then to the Blood Ring emitting a faint light.

Finally, her gaze slowly lifted, toward the heavy curtain behind the stage, and further up to the theater's dome shrouded in darkness.

"The rules are dead, but the thing enforcing them may not be."

She spoke softly, as if to Qing Qing's kiss and also to herself: "Didn't we interfere with the Gray Puppet's execution last round? That counts as an error. Though the error was set aside, it certainly hasn't disappeared."

Her gaze refocused on the crack in the Gray Puppet's wrist: "If we keep interfering with the Instance's progress, piling up enough errors, will the puppeteer—the director behind the theater—really still stand by?"

Qing Qing's kiss's eyes flickered: "You mean we might be able to force the puppeteer to show themselves? But wouldn't that be more dangerous?"

"This seems like the only chance..." Cheng Shuili said, "No matter what, the outcome won't be worse than being trapped in this unsolvable death loop as we are now."

This idea is extremely bold, but the danger hidden within is also terribly great.

But Qing Qing's kiss had to admit, this is currently, aside from mutual slaughter, the only conceivable approach that might break the deadlock.

Since the theory exists, she is willing to try it together with Wu Ya.

"How to force it? Keep stopping the Gray Puppet from executing its flow? But just now, we both expended considerable effort, and looking at the puppet's state, it's uncertain whether we can command it so smoothly next time."

Qing Qing's kiss voiced the concern.

Cheng Shuili fell silent for a moment.

Indeed, their attacks have limited effect on the puppet, and Qing Qing's kiss's special attack obviously consumes a great deal.

More importantly, the Gray Puppet's logic seems to have recorded this error; in the next clash, its reaction could be fiercer, possibly even directly turning Cheng Shuili, this Lao Da, into an enemy combatant.

After a moment of silence, Cheng Shuili's gaze slowly turned to the three short-haired women slumped on the ground, her eyes deep: "Perhaps… we don't need to interfere ourselves."

The short-haired woman jerked as if a venomous snake had locked onto her, a chill instantly spreading through her body.

She instinctively tried to retreat, but found she had nowhere left to go, only able to stare as Cheng Shuili's deep gaze fell upon her.

"What… what do you want to do?" the short-haired woman's voice turned shrill with fear.

Qing Qing's kiss also froze for a moment, then seemed to understand, looking at Cheng Shuili with a complex gaze: "You intend to have them create the error?"

Cheng Shuili didn't answer directly, but continued in that calm, hair-raising tone: "The enforcement of the rules requires the actors' cooperation. If the actors don't follow the script, even actively sabotaging the performance… you say, will the puppeteer come out to correct the actors, or to correct the rules? Or…… be forced to appear, personally handling this performance accident?"

Those words were like ice water, poured over the heads of the three short-haired women.

They understood: this was to use them as bait, even as disposable consumables, to probe the limits of the rules, to force that terrifying woman to show herself!

"No! I won't go! Why should we be sent to die?!"

The older male was the first to scream, having just crawled back from the gates of hell, now about to be pushed out again, his emotions nearly collapsing.

The obedient male also shook his head repeatedly, face full of terror.

The short-haired woman's face turned deathly pale, her lips trembling, wanting to say something but unable to utter a complete sound.

Persuading these few people was somewhat troublesome; after the short-haired women ended up with bruised noses and swollen faces, they finally relented, willing to cooperate with Cheng Shuili and Qing Qing's kiss's plan.

"... What… what should we do?"

The short-haired woman's mouth corner was swollen, making speech a bit labored, but her articulation remained clear.

"Very simple." Cheng Shuili pointed at the Blood Ring, "Before this round's countdown ends, you three, step into the circle together."

"What?!" the three exclaimed in unison, all color draining from their faces.

Step in together?

That would hardly be…

According to the Gray Puppet's earlier answer—the rule: the last to step in dies.

If the three entered simultaneously, triggering that rule, wouldn't it certainly mean one of them dies?

How is that any different from sending them to die?!

"Don't rush." Cheng Shuili's voice remained steady, "The rule is that the last to step in dies, but if your three movements are perfectly synchronized, theoretically there is no 'last person.'"

"Haven't you seen clearly? This so-called final act, the audience below wants to watch us slaughter each other, using every means to survive. But once the actors abandon survival, stop struggling, a crowd together is no better than death…"

She looked at the three's terrified expressions and continued: "Do you think… the person behind all this, the mastermind, could still bear to stay hidden?"

The short-haired woman swallowed, struggling to maintain composure on her face.

The older male and the obedient male, however, shook their heads desperately: "No way! I won't go in! Even if I die here, I won't enter!"

Cheng Shuili and Qing Qing's kiss exchanged a glance, the latter lightly raising an eyebrow.

Looks like someone got a beating... still receiving less.