Chapter 123: Are the Wheel of Time and the Eternal Kingdom a Perfect Match?

"Yes." Qiu Yinong was not surprised by his statement and added,

"There are two possibilities."

"First, aside from us, all other Players are AI-generated."

"However, the Players we have encountered possess incredibly complex minds. It is unimaginable that an AI's computing power could achieve this. Furthermore, aside from having complex thoughts, humans are sometimes very..."

"Baffling."

Chen Ran nodded. For example, when they were children, they would grab a thin twig and systematically decapitate all the rapeseed flowers in the village just for the sake of it.

"An AI-generated person is ultimately not a real human and cannot simulate certain baffling human behaviors. Since we haven't noticed any flaws up to this point, we can rule out the first possibility."

"Second, the Players in the 18th Level are also trapped in a virtual world, just like us."

"Then, proving whether or not this is a virtual world is quite simple."

"Simply put, my Grandfather died when I was two years old. At that time, let alone the technology for a virtual world overlaying reality, there were barely even any virtual games. Therefore, if I were to meet my Grandfather in the 18th Level, it would prove this isn't a virtual world."

"By the same logic, as long as we encounter any acquaintances who died before the technology was invented, it will still prove that this isn't a virtual world."

Having deduced this much, both understood that the probability of this being a virtual world was less than ten percent.

However, they still needed to verify this theory. Chen Ran mused aloud, "The 18th Level is vast. Trying to find someone we know who died prematurely is undoubtedly like finding a needle in a haystack. But if we go to the Liar-Slayer Alliance to check their information, setting aside whether we even have the clearance, it might trigger a chain reaction. And if we directly purchase information, we don't have enough Points. After all, there are far too many people with the exact same names in this world."

"However, we could make them come find us on their own initiative, but if we do that, we would have to stand in a highly conspicuous position..."

"What do you mean?" Qiu Yinong looked at Chen Ran uncertainly.

"Three options. First, a large number of Players gather at The Gatehouse every day to run Instances. We can go check every day. Over time, even if we don't find anyone, the two of us weirdos who only watch and never run Instances will surely become well-known among the Players in the 18th Level."

"Second, we cause a massive scene in the 18th Level so that our names become known to every Player. Anyone who recognizes us will naturally appear before us."

"Third, combat records. Right now we can confirm that either your Wheel of Time is a True-Self Tier Skill, or my Eternal Kingdom is a True-Self Tier Skill. No matter how we randomly select an Instance, we will always roll the most difficult Instance for that Star Rating, therefore..."

"In every Instance, we cannot leave anyone alive. Otherwise, once we're exposed, we'll be targeted by the Ghost Whisperers. So..."

"According to the Downward Compatibility Mechanism, when we are One-Star Players, we will encounter Two-Star Players, and at two stars, we will encounter Three-Star Players. But this situation is random and uncertain. For example, in our current Instance, we didn't encounter any Two-Star Players, only a two-star NPC."

"In that case, we will actively provoke Two-Star Players. When they enter an Instance, we follow them into it, increasing our probability of matching with Two-Star Players."

"It won't take long for our names to become well-known to the majority of Players without exposing our Skills, and those who know us will then appear before us."

If it were any other Player hearing Chen Ran's words, they would definitely curse him out for being a madman.

Taking on the most difficult Instance of their Star Rating, while actively matching against Players one star higher than themselves.

They clearly didn't know the meaning of the word death!

That wasn't all. One couldn't forget that if the Downward Compatibility applied to a team, and one member of the team was a One-Star Player, according to the mechanism where the team's combined star rating limit cannot exceed three, the highest star rating in the team could actually be three stars.

This also followed the Downward Compatibility Mechanism.

Simply put, they could potentially encounter a Three-Star Player in a One-Star Instance!

One-star rookies deliberately provoking Two-Star Players, with the distinct possibility of running into a Three-Star Player, all while trapped inside the most difficult One-Star Instance—just thinking about it showed how grueling it would be.

But instead, Qiu Yinong was seriously considering the feasibility of these three options.

"Option one can be ruled out. Setting aside the countless rules and regulations of the 18th Level, our abnormal behavior alone would let anyone with a brain know that something fishy is going on. It would be too easy to become targets."

"Option two can also be ruled out. Causing trouble in the 18th Level is just courting death. Any random six, seven, or eight-star Player could effortlessly play us to death. We cannot afford to provoke them."

The 18th Level wasn't like an Instance with strict Star Rating restrictions. If anyone foolishly provoked those high-star Players, they wouldn't even realize how they died.

"Option three is quite feasible. We'll end up matching with Two-Star Players sooner or later anyway. Until we obtain the Liar-Slayer Alliance's Mind Cultivation Method, neither our intelligence nor our Mental State for resisting Lie-Judgments will undergo any changes. Meeting a Two-Star Player sooner rather than later makes no difference."

"However..."

Right at this moment, Qiu Yinong drew her Liar-Slayer without any warning. "I lied!"

"Liar-Slayer: Wheel of Time."

Right at this moment, Qiu Yinong drew her Liar-Slayer without any warning. "I lied!"

"Liar-Slayer: Wheel of Time."

Amidst Chen Ran's shock, the Secret Room turned as pitch-black as ink. When the light was restored,

Chen Ran spoke up:

"However, we could make them come find us on their own initiative, but if we do that, we would have to stand in a highly conspicuous position..."

Suddenly, he saw Qiu Yinong slowly raising her gun and aiming it right at him.

Chen Ran's heart seized with panic.

'Oh no, this is likely not the correct timeline. She already used the Wheel of Time!'

'Did I tell a lie in an alternate future timeline? Is she about to execute a Judgment on me?'

Thinking of this,

Chen Ran had no time to deliberate whether this was merely a test of his Skill or a real Judgment.

He had no choice.

"Liar-Slayer: Eternal Kingdom!"

He raised his hand and fired a shot, immediately diving down and using the long table as cover to prevent himself from being hit by a Bullet.

However...

The gun didn't go off. Chen Ran froze awkwardly in place, suddenly realizing that his actions had already exposed the second effect of the Eternal Kingdom.

Lowering her weapon, Qiu Yinong looked deeply at him and said, "As expected, your Eternal Kingdom possesses a second effect. Judging by your actions just now, you were trying to break my..."

"Wheel of Time?!"

"I knew it. With just an effect that prohibits the use of Skills, how could you possibly say: I don't know which of our Skills is a True-Self Tier Skill!"

The Wheel of Time ended, and Chen Ran's memories also returned.

"Don't mind it. Now that the Skill has ended, you should realize that you didn't tell a single lie during our previous discussion."

"Since we are going to implement option three and face Two-Star Players, there's a high chance we will frequently cooperate and combine our Skills. And I felt there was a massive probability you wouldn't volunteer the information about the Eternal Kingdom's second effect..."

"Therefore, I had to use the temporary amnesia caused by the time loop to trick you into revealing the Eternal Kingdom's second effect."

Logically speaking, since Qiu Yinong now knew the second effect of the Eternal Kingdom, she should have understood that her life was entirely in Chen Ran's hands. It would only make sense for her to be terrified, but...

She simply smiled.

A smile as beautiful as a blossoming flower.

"Don't you think our two Skills are an absolutely perfect match?"