Chapter 334: The Recorder, the God-Worshipper, the Oath-Breaker, the Lucky One, and the Knower

The Recorder, the God-Worshipper, the Oath-Breaker, the Lucky One, and the Knower.

(There are 6000+ words in the main text today too!)

Reality, a supermarket in an unknown city.

Although this was a supermarket, the merchandise on the shelves had long since been cleared away; now, the shelves were filled with thick, heavy books.

In the aisle between the shelves, a tall, thin young man wearing a windbreaker was hunched over a wooden table, writing furiously.

As he transcribed something into a massive blank notebook, he muttered the contents aloud, his expression fanatical and twisted, as if immersed in an indescribable pleasure.

"Beneath the Final Tomb of Putrid Blood, beside the Lake of Corrupt Blood, those soils overflowing with black blood are not the flesh and blood of the 【Decay】 pilgrims, but the accumulation of 【Prosperity】 ash over countless years.

As for where those pilgrims seeking the Final Tomb of Putrid Blood went, the answer might be unexpected, for they all sank to the bottom of the blood lake, becoming members of the Blood Puppet Chorus, chanting the dirge of 【Decay】 mechanically and dully, begging for the day their Benefactor might grant them freedom once more."

This tall, thin young man was clearly Hu Wei, and he smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the "history" he had transcribed.

History was not entirely true; in fact, the vast majority of history had been polished by recorders—he had understood this from the moment he joined the History School.

Therefore, he was not transcribing true history, but adding a few of his own private goods into the history he was recording.

As for whether those blood puppets at the bottom of the lake were begging for freedom...

Who knows.

These truths would wait for the next person seeking true history to discover.

After all, 【Memory】 requires inheritance; he only needed to cast a hook of indistinguishable truth and falsehood, then wait quietly for the next devout 【Memory】 believer to take the bait and find the truth. They would certainly discover his history in the process of seeking true history, and then remember it together.

In this way, his "existence" would also be recorded endlessly.

Oh, right, he should also thank that Puppet Master; at least she had witnessed a segment of his "existence." Perhaps when he died, there would still be a chance to live on in her memories.

Reality, an apartment in an unknown city.

Su Xing sat quietly by the coffee table, wiping the mud and stains off Xiao Caiwei.

Her wish to seek an audience with 【Decay】 had fallen through, but this had no impact, as she was not a believer of 【Decay】; she was merely in a rush to see 【Them】, without a specific target.

As she wiped, she recalled the bizarre situation before the trial ended.

When she and the Historian were running for their lives to avoid being swallowed by the violent Tide of Sighs, she clearly felt as if she had seen one of 【Them】 above that massive tree canopy.

But she wasn't quite sure, because she remembered the aura of the 【Gods】 beneath the canopy was extremely complex, and it didn't seem like there was only one.

But the problem was, how could several of 【Them】 descend simultaneously during a 【Prosperity】 trial?

She couldn't figure it out, nor could she understand it, so after finishing wiping Xiao Caiwei, she silently chose her next target in her heart.

Since her memory wasn't very clear, why not pursue 【Memory】?

In this way, perhaps she could be a quiet undercover agent, providing Su Yi Da and Zhen Yi with some news regarding 【Memory】.

Reality, a movie theater in an unknown city.

A man lying prone on the ground looked at his rotting hands and broken body, then slammed his fist into the ground in hatred, letting out a roar of unwillingness and anger.

"No! No!!!

Why! Why!!??

Why did it turn out like this! Why did it turn out like this!!"

This poor wretch, rotting from head to toe, was clearly Qin Xin. As for why he, who had already broken his oath to 【Prosperity】, had turned back into this state...

Naturally, it was because he was still alive.

Yes, the reason was that he was still alive.

When the unbearable 【Decay】 frenzy, heavy as Mount Tai, crashed down upon him, he had lost all hope, his heart turned to ash, and only one thought remained in his mind: His revenge had come!

Qin Xin did not want to die, otherwise he wouldn't have broken his oath at the bottom of the blood lake, so when he had no way out, he had no choice but to pray to his original Benefactor once more, begging for His forgiveness and willing to pay any price for it.

At that instant, in his despair, he held almost no hope for his behavior of flip-flopping in faith, but no one expected that at that very moment, 【Decay】 actually responded to him!

He forgave his sin of oath-breaking and accepted him back.

Thus, when the ice-cold 【Decay】 frenzy crashed down, Qin Xin not only didn't die, but was also healed by the infinite power of 【Decay】.

Of course, the healing of 【Decay】 might be different from 【Prosperity】, so he turned back into this half-dead state.

The good news, naturally, was that he had saved his life in the trial.

And the bad news was...

He was carrying two 【Oath-Breaking Curses】!

One from 【Decay】, one from 【Prosperity】!

【Decay】 had accepted him back but hadn't removed that curse for him, so after a series of events, he was still the fourth-ranked Rotting Chanter on the Ladder of Audience, but he had two brand-new oath-breaking curses on him.

You thought it was over? No, this poor double oath-breaker was even deducted 20 points after the trial ended.

No one knew that players could be deducted 20 points in a trial, but in Qin Xin's view, this score undoubtedly signaled 【Prosperity】's extreme hatred for him!

He was a 【God】 who loved revenge; just thinking of this made Qin Xin's heart even more fearful.

"No! Why! I don't accept this!! Fate is unfair! Fate is unfair!!!"

Reality, a villa in an unknown city.

When Xiang Honglin opened her eyes, she didn't find anything different about herself; she had returned to her familiar rest area, was still in her normal human form, and even received trial rewards and bonus points during the settlement.

Aside from possessing some special powers and having more vigorous vitality in her body, she still looked like an ordinary player.

Of course, a God-Chosen wasn't ordinary, but from the perspective of 【Them】, she was indeed very ordinary.

Recalling what had just happened, Xiang Honglin couldn't help but smile, and the moment she curled her lips, the phone beside her rang.

It was Tao Yi calling.

The first sentence she heard upon picking up was the other party's confusion and bewilderment.

"I think it's a bit strange!"

Xiang Honglin raised an eyebrow, as if she had expected it: "What's strange?"

"After this trial ended, He gave me 3 points. Strange, right? I've never even received the 'honor' of 2 points, and this time, without doing anything, I was given 3 points.

Baldy, didn't you always say that of His 3 points, 2 are ill-intentioned? Could it be that He has started watching me too?"

Hearing this, Xiang Honglin almost laughed out loud.

But she held it back, suppressing her laughter as she replied: "Mm, yes, He has started watching you."

"Hm? You laughed?

Did you laugh?

You know, don't you? This isn't an accident, right?"

"Ah? I don't know."

"No, you know!

You're too quiet today, not like you at all. Something big must have happened that I don't know about, right?"

The little fox was indeed a little fox.

Xiang Honglin finally couldn't hold it in; she laughed heartily, clutching her stomach for a good while, but as she laughed, she didn't know what she was laughing at anymore.

She put the phone on speaker and dropped it on the floor, then lay on the floor looking at the ceiling, saying with a strange and complex expression:

"I met that liar. He is indeed a liar."

"Hm? Who? Cheng Shi?"

"Heh, I just said 'a liar,' and you knew it was Cheng Shi?"

"... I guessed."

"You guessed wrong. He's not a liar; he's a Fate Weaver."

"Ah?"

"Also, those 3 points of yours—I'm the one who gave them to you."

Xiang Honglin smiled, waiting for the other party's shocked retort, but after a while, she received:

"How could he be a Fate Weaver?"

"..." Xiang Honglin's gaze instantly became incredibly resentful. "Little Yi Yi, you really have changed your heart."

"Ah? No, what did you just say?"

"I said those 3 points of yours were given by me!!!"

"But what does that have to do with him being a Fate Weaver?"

"..."

"Bang!"

The great 【Prosperity】 eldest daughter, Lady Fulazhuo, at this moment, bestowed the punishment of scrapping a phone.

Reality, a museum in an unknown city.

Seeing Zhen Xin woke up, her eyes filled with disappointment, but even more so with confusion.

At the end of the last trial, while she was waiting in the suddenly mutated rainforest to see if there were any other opportunities to find that prophesied future, she vaguely saw several of 【Them】 descend upon the boundless tree canopy.

Just as she thought she had waited for the right moment, she was thrown out of the trial by an inexplicable force and returned directly to the rest area.

So Seeing Zhen Xin was very confused: what exactly happened in that trial that squeezed the players out?

She couldn't figure it out, so she immediately called Aunt Jing. However, Aunt Jing also knew nothing about these sudden changes, but she could learn from Aunt Jing that, unlike her, other players didn't seem to have been thrown out immediately.

Therefore, her exiting the trial was not an accident!

It was very likely that someone, or one of Him, had sent her out of the trial.

But the problem was, who was "he," and for what reason?

This kind of confusion without logical basis might yield no results for others even after thinking for three days and nights, but Seeing Zhen Xin was different; she was a liar, and a liar with rich associative abilities.

She thought that since she had been thrown out of the trial unscathed, it meant the other party had no ill intent, and since there was no ill intent, it certainly wouldn't be a casual act.

So she immediately connected all the places in the trial where she felt something was wrong, and as she thought, she thought of Cheng Shi's shadow, thought of that void, and thought of that "future" that had no response.

So, was it possible that the "future" didn't respond at that time, but had responded just now?

Only that ethereal "future" would act so illogically, throwing her out of the trial.

Because if it were 【Them】, she figured the place she woke up now wouldn't be the rest area, but the Place of Audience.

So... what was the "future's" response?

The answer was simple: the shadow!

Seeing Zhen Xin frowned, turned on a magic lamp collected by Zhen Yi in the museum, and illuminated her own shadow.

She looked at her shadow, preparing to step into the void again, but the moment she reached out to break the void, she suddenly discovered that the outline of her shadow seemed... somewhat strange.

The shape could only be said to barely resemble her; the outlines of her upper and lower body were somewhat twisted and deformed, and there were even indentations and defects at the edges and curves, as if eroded by some source-less light.

Seeing Zhen Xin was startled, then immediately stood still again, assuming the posture she had used in the trial when stepping into the void to seek the "future."

As she adjusted her posture, her shadow slowly changed, finally transforming into a more bizarre outline.

It somewhat resembled her, but it clearly looked more like some kind of symbol.

Seeing Zhen Xin's gaze fixed; she quickly memorized this symbol, then took out a piece of white paper and traced it down.

Looking at this eerie symbol, she muttered unconsciously:

"This is... text?"

She frowned and began to flip through the ancient books of the Star Fall Continent she had collected, trying to find text with a similar style.

But she searched through books from countless civilization eras without finding a single clue, until she expanded her scope and began searching for tribal relics from the Life Era, finally finding the same text on an ancient, almost rotten bone fragment strung into a book chain.

Not similar, but identical.

She saw the exact same strokes.

"Found you!"

The exhausted Seeing Zhen Xin finally smiled. She dismantled the text on the bone fragment, mixed it with other symbols, and inquired about relevant information through various channels and contacts. Until the next special trial arrived, she finally deciphered the symbols contained in the shadow.

And the meaning of these strokes, after translation, became two words:

【Origin】.

This was clearly a divine name, but strangely, Seeing Zhen Xin had never heard of Him. Even though she had collected countless anecdotes about gods, she had never heard this name in these historical scraps.

"【Origin】... Who is He?"

She repeatedly examined the name, scouring her memory for any history related to Him, but the overly focused Seeing Zhen Xin didn't notice that when she whispered the name, her bizarre shadow actually slowly returned to normal.

And just then, she suddenly froze. Her expression quickly became joyful, the corners of her eyes curled high, her curled lips couldn't hide her smile, and her mouth uncontrollably clicked:

"Hee~

My dear sister, why haven't you called me yet?

I've been waiting anxiously.

Since you won't call me, I'll just have to come find you~"

【Volume One: Faith Game, Finished.】

To prevent 【Deception】 believers from causing trouble, I must state again: it is the end of Volume One, not the end of the book. The book is still far from over! Everyone, beware of deception!

Words at the end of the volume:

First, thank you to all my friends for your love and following!

I never dared to imagine this book could have such results when I started writing it. I originally just wanted to write a relaxed and interesting infinite flow story, but I didn't expect the story to drift as I wrote. Fortunately, it didn't fly off the track and received the love of so many friends. I am truly very happy, thank you all again.

I didn't actually want to divide it into volumes, but then I thought it would be lacking without it. Many readers mentioned that the main plot of this text isn't strong. Indeed, the first few trials were passive, one connected to another, and time became the only main plot. Although time is indeed the main plot, this also fits Cheng Xiaoshi's personality: lying flat and rotting, muddling through if possible...

But now Cheng Shi doesn't want to muddle through, so the tone needs to change. The second volume will probably be a story of someone climbing the ranks while fooling people (tentative).

Also, I have noticed many opinions about this book, and I know this book still has many shortcomings. I will try my best to repair them without changing the big framework, at least ensuring the logic is smooth and the story is interesting. You can also @ me to change the text when you find logical problems in the story; as long as I see it, I will modify it immediately.

As for some requirements that are too high or too professional... I humbly accept your criticisms and strive to improve as soon as possible. After all, Cheng Shi's incompetence is faked, but I am truly incompetent...

I am not a professional author, and I am constantly learning as I write. In the first volume, out of 800,000 words, nearly 90,000 words were discarded; this does not even include the small sections and chapters that were revised or deleted. Even chapters finished on the first day might be frantically rewritten right up until the moment they are published. That is why you all see many instances of extra or missing characters and incoherent sentences in the text—all of which are the result of not having enough time to proofread after revisions.

I would also like to thank all my "woodpecker" friends here; it is your diligence that has provided a better reading experience for the readers who came after. Thank you!

I don't always have inspiration when I'm typing, and I dare not guarantee that my ideas are always interesting. I usually go bald from writer's block, but every time I see the fun in the comments section, I feel like I can do it again. I am also very grateful for everyone's encouragement.

To be honest, a large part of the joy of reading "Foolish Play" comes from the comments section. This is a novel where you cannot turn off the comments. Believe me, even if there are a tiny few comments that slightly affect the viewing experience, most of them are just for fun. Reading them while you read the story significantly increases the pleasure of reading.

Ps. When I wrote the sentence above, I switched back to 【Fate】, not a 【Fraud】 believer.

That is about all I wanted to say. I hope I can live up to everyone's liking and continue to write the second volume well. The story is continuous; it's just that a sub-volume has been added, which does not affect the reading.

Title of the second volume: 【Void】 Walker.

Praise the 【Void】!

Regarding the update time, two chapters will be updated consecutively every morning at 8:00.

Don't ask why it's 8:00 AM; working stiffs need to catch up on their novels during their commute. That's that.