Chapter 71: Deception-type Skill: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Creak.

The door leading to the Third Study was gently pushed open, but there was no one inside!

The two Chen Rans immediately looked toward the door leading to the Fourth Study.

Standing there were two Geng Haos and two Chen Rans. The four of them raised their arms, aiming their guns at the ceiling. Chen Ran BC inwardly cursed.

Unfortunately, they were too late.

The secret room plunged into darkness.

"Liar-Slayer: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back!"

In the darkness, Chen Ran BC heard the sound of a door closing twice. Before long, the darkness receded, and the light in the secret room was restored.

Chen Ran BC immediately looked at the rear door. It had been shut. The two Geng Haos were no longer in this secret room, leaving only the two Chen Rans.

There was a slight problem with the numbers.

Chen Ran BC evaluated their surroundings again, but the environment in the secret room remained unchanged.

'Two possibilities: the darkness just now means someone used a skill.'

'One: Geng Hao used a skill.'

'Two: Chen Ran used a skill.'

'If Chen Ran used it, we can completely ignore it. After all, even though Eternal Kingdom is terrifyingly powerful, once it is activated, all skills—whether currently in use or not—are either shattered or banned.'

'Which means the person who used a skill is highly likely to be Geng Hao.'

'Therefore, one of the Geng Haos lied, and they locked both Geng Haos in the Fourth Study to prevent us from executing Judgment on them.'

Seeing the two Chen Rans guarding the rear door, Chen Ran BC frowned. With the protection of the Liar-Slayer, they could not forcibly move these two Chen Rans out of the way.

'Since we cannot force our way into the Fourth Study to pass Judgment on Geng Hao, then...'

They scrutinized the two Chen Rans.

'What is Geng Hao's skill?'

'Are these two Chen Rans standing before us both the real Chen Ran, or are they constructs created by a skill?'

'And in the darkness just now...'

'Why did I hear the sound of a door closing twice? What kind of trick is this?'

'Could it be like this: during the first door closing, the two Geng Haos were locked in the Third Study, while the two Chen Rans hid in the Fourth Study to avoid being affected by the skill.'

'During the second door closing, the two Chen Rans were locked in the Third Study, and the two Geng Haos were moved to the Fourth Study?'

'This would mean that only the two of us in the Third Study are affected by the skill!'

At this thought.

Chen Ran BC exchanged a glance, both seeing the grimness reflected in each other's eyes.

'We do not know what the skill is.'

'And we are the only two who fell for it.'

'The disadvantage is far too obvious!'

"Oh, what is this? Did you not come here to face off against us? What, do you not even dare to speak now?" Chen Ran A spoke up.

Chen Ran BC did not reply.

Instead, they continued to analyze.

'Just now, I noticed that Geng Hao's Liar-Slayer was an ordinary color.'

'Which means Geng Hao's Liar-Slayer skill is only at the Ego Tier.'

'The Ego Tier affects emotions.'

'And emotional skills usually involve illusions, phantoms, cognition, and memories...'

'Let me think back carefully.'

'My memories are coherent without any gaps, and everything makes sense, which means memory has not been affected.'

'Cognition?'

'This one is a bit harder to determine. Previously, when Zhang Jinhua used a Cognition-type Skill, Chen Ran relied on a sedative to break it.'

'Moreover, at that time, a little bit of reasoning made it obvious that Zhang Jinhua's skill was designed to get close to Chen Ran and obtain the numbers in his hand.'

'But now, it is hard to tell if we have been hit by a Cognition-type Skill.'

'Cognition is unconfirmed.'

'Phantoms cannot be ruled out either. After all, it is possible that only one real Chen Ran stayed here, while the other is an illusionary construct.'

'The same goes for hallucinations.'

Having reasoned to this point, Chen Ran BC already felt the urge to retreat. They urgently needed a newly spawned Chen Ran or Geng Hao with the lying attribute to cancel the skill they had been hit by.

They turned their heads, ready to flee.

One step, two steps, three steps... two steps, one step.

To their horror, they discovered that despite taking a total of five steps, in the end...

They had only moved forward one step.

The two tried again and found that every time they took their third step, their bodies would uncontrollably move backward by two steps.

'So that is how it works!'

'This is Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back?'

'Take three steps, step back two!'

Now, the two men were no longer in a panic.

Chen Ran B pulled a cigarette case from his pocket, took out a cigarette, and pulled out his lighter.

Chen Ran B put the lighter back in his pocket, and then placed the cigarette back into the cigarette case.

Looking at the cigarette case in his hand, Chen Ran B froze for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

'What a powerful skill!'

'Geng Hao's skill must be among the absolute strongest in the Ego Tier!'

He put the cigarette back into his pocket, but strangely enough, this did not trigger Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back.

'In other words, Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back means that if the target performs three actions, they will reverse two actions, returning to the very first action.'

'But if the target only performs one or two actions, Geng Hao's skill will not be triggered?'

'Speaking is also an action. Does this mean that if I say three sentences, I will be forced to take back two? How exactly does one reverse two sentences?'

After thinking it over, Chen Ran B carefully arranged his words and said, "This skill is quite interesting. It is certainly unique. Geng Hao's skill can actually make a person reverse two out of three actions."

He deliberately mentioned 'Geng Hao's skill' in the third sentence, afraid that reversing two sentences would leave the final sentence without a subject.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ran B carefully organized his phrasing and said:

"Geng Hao's skill can actually force a person to reverse two out of three actions."

Chen Ran B, "..."

Chen Ran C, "..."

'What a terrifyingly strong skill!'

'To think it can even reduce three spoken sentences down to a single one. However...'

'It does not seem to have any real use.'

'As long as all three sentences I speak contain no lies, no matter how they are cut down, it is impossible for me to lie.'

'Furthermore, when Geng Hao activates this skill, if a player notices that the people and scenery haven't changed, they will naturally start considering other aspects and eventually figure out the skill's mechanics. In other words...'

'This skill seems incredibly powerful, but it is actually quite average.'

Seeing this, Chen Ran C also breathed a sigh of relief. No wonder the secret room turned pitch black every time a player used a skill. With all sorts of bizarre and unpredictable skills out there, if there were no blackout warning, players wouldn't even know a skill had been used—that would be truly troublesome.

Since they had tested and discovered the result.

Chen Ran C spoke up, "Speak up. How do we fight? You lay out the rules."

"How do we fight? You lay out the rules."

"You lay out the rules."

Chen Ran exchanged a glance with Chen Ran A and pulled a coin from his pocket.

"A coin toss?"

Chen Ran BC thought about it. As long as there were not three continuous actions, it would not trigger Geng Hao's Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back.

Thus, they gladly accepted.

"You two come over here. It is too much of a hassle for us since we reverse two steps for every three we take." Chen Ran C was somewhat speechless at this skill.

However, as soon as these words were spoken.

Both Chen Ran and Chen Ran A revealed smug, triumphant smiles. Chen Ran chuckled, "Do you know why we used Geng Hao's skill to set a trap for you? The reason is very simple. Because I tested it personally, I knew that I would definitely fall for it. Since I, the original, would definitely fall for it, by the same logic, you Chen Rans would definitely fall for it too."

"What do you mean?" Chen Ran BC clearly sensed that something was wrong and frowned as they asked.

"Three words: Thinking too much!"

"Tell me... is there a possibility that Geng Hao's skill is actually incredibly simple, and you are just overcomplicating it?"