[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-gods-foolish-game":3,"chapter-the-gods-foolish-game-the-gods-foolish-game-chapter-982":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Gods' Foolish Game",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2362110,4617,"Chapter 982","the-gods-foolish-game-chapter-982",982,"\u003Cp>If there's still hope......\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi had no idea the battlefield had just been a chaotic mess; he only knew he’d slept like a log.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After who knew how long, when he woke again, he found himself back in the rest zone, having lain on the rooftop for some time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Falling into unconscious sleep without warning was far too reckless; filled with dread, Cheng Shi silently checked his physical state, and only after confirming there was no issue did he let out a heavy sigh of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did the last line of 【War】 mean? Did the Jester God show up?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If He came, then come—but why send me away?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was the one who proposed the deal, yet you two reached an agreement and left the intermediary out entirely?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is that appropriate?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi snorted inwardly, realizing his mortal status had diminished his influence and sense of involvement; all those masks—Ultraman, Fool’s Play—worked on other mortals, but faced with 【Them】, they became nothing but insubstantial jokes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, the jester was still the funniest of 【Nothingness】.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what did “Jester God” even mean? Could He have appeared before 【War】 just to rescue me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How did He feel about my first interference in His plan?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi desperately wanted answers, but he knew asking the Jester God was pointless; so he changed tactics and decided to meet his other benefactor, 【Fate】.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if 【Fate】 was still in the dark, the one who understands you best is often your opponent—and this opponent was His own sibling deity; so if 【Fate】 felt His predetermined path had grown even more treacherous, perhaps that meant the deal had succeeded?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He acted at once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, Cheng Shi pulled out his mask and began chanting, “Life is as countless as stars,” but before he finished, his prayer was interrupted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, the interruption wasn’t some sudden force dragging him into the void—it was his phone ringing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, paused briefly, and decided the matter wasn’t urgent; he set the mask down and picked up the phone, hearing Xiang Honglin’s irritated voice on the other end:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You were right—I prayed to 【Fate】 and indeed met Him again, but unfortunately, He slipped away once more!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?” Cheng Shi blinked. “Yug?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who else!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing the name, Honglin’s irritation spiked further: “Compared to Lin Xi, He’s more like a stinking rat in the sewer—why is this guy so good at running?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doesn’t He have even a shred of imperial dignity!?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forget Him. Not all news is bad lately—at least there’s one good thing: Lin Xi is dead. Did you hear?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......” Cheng Shi blinked, saying nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey? Cheng Shi, you still there? I said Lin Xi is—” Honglin’s voice suddenly halted, then asked, suspiciously, “You already knew, didn’t you? It wasn’t you, was it!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Did you just get out of the trial too?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wow, who said Honglin was dumb? She’s sharp as hell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi had no reason to deny it; he simply replied, smiling: “I killed him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You... killed Lin Xi?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yeah, it’s complicated—I ran into...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi had planned to quickly exchange intel with Honglin, but she cut him off, sighing heavily:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Chun also died. You know—‘Only Carves Rotten Wood.’ I thought she’d fulfilled her vow, but now I see you killed Lin Xi—so it seems she took her own life...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You know?” Honglin’s voice cracked. “Wait—Cheng Shi, did you kill Chun too?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, who said Honglin was sharp? She’s just—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whatever. We’re brothers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi sighed and briefly recounted how he’d encountered both of them in the trial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding Lin Xi’s death, Honglin offered only “Good riddance,” but the death of the 【Prosperity】 believer left her deeply shaken—clearly, she’d considered him a friend, whether ally or just a fun combat partner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Honglin’s somber silence, Cheng Shi too fell quiet for a moment, then steered the conversation back to Yug. He was curious about the 【Time】 power Yug had left behind when he escaped, so he asked why Yug carried 【Time】 power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Honglin was utterly baffled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who has 【Time】 power?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi hadn’t realized anything was wrong: “Yug—how else did He slip past you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yug?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cheng Shi, are you drunk?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yug is a follower of 【Decay】—where would He get 【Time】 power!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He escaped using 【Decay】’s power—what does that have to do with 【Time】? Are we talking about the same Yug?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>???\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Are you kidding? Where am I supposed to find a second Yug? And Yug isn’t even a twin—He—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi’s gaze sharpened; he gripped the phone tighter and asked sharply: “You just said He escaped using 【Decay】’s power?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re definitely drunk.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When did you enter your trial?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?” Hearing Cheng Shi’s serious tone, Honglin sensed something was off; she recalled her trial’s timing and replied firmly: “Seven minutes ago. After the trial ended, I drank one glass of water, then called you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven minutes...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s impossible!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last trial ended long ago. Even if divine audience time didn’t sync with the world, I’d already slept in the rest zone for ages—this isn’t just a seven-minute issue. Logically, Yug should’ve lost 【Decay】’s protection long ago—how could He possibly use 【Decay】 power to escape?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who drank?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or what went wrong?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Cheng Shi, what happened?” Honglin’s tone turned grave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cheng Shi didn’t know what had happened—but a wild theory suddenly struck him. Yet it was too absurd to voice to Honglin; so he simply explained his own fading of Yug and admitted he didn’t understand what had occurred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honglin fell silent. After a long while, she spoke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maybe there really is another Yug?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Time】 has spun countless possibilities—what if one of the two Hes we encountered came from a simulation world?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can confirm my trial had no 【Time】 follower—so Cheng Shi, the one you met was a fake from a simulation!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What a brilliant big-cat Holmes!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem is—my trial had no other 【Time】 followers either. The only 【Time】 follower was me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wouldn’t I know if I’d done a simulation?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, on the rooftop rest zone:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Delivered?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A figure sat at the rooftop’s edge, drinking thick fluid under the setting sun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind him, the black-cloaked hooded figure chuckled and nodded:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This Yug was too cautious—but luckily, Anshen’s divination technique was convincing enough. Mission accomplished.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing the confirmation, the seated figure wiped his mouth and smiled:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good. We can only help this much. The rest depends on whether they can find their own path.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No sooner had he spoken than several figures landed on the rooftop. A crisp female voice, laced with mockery, spoke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard you turned down Qin Xin?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seated figure didn’t turn, only nodded at the sinking sun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re different from them. The torchbearers shouldn’t pin their hope on me. I am myself—I’ve never been a god.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pity. You refuse a safe god-making plan and insist on leading a god-slaying one...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female voice paused, then another male voice spoke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Interesting. So—who’s the target?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The figure everyone watched slowly rose, his gaze fixed far ahead, hardening with resolve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“【Prosperity】!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps He is the true answer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because the 【Prosperity】 in that world fell?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not entirely. Recently, I met another interesting version of myself—he told me 【Time】 is the answer, but 【Prosperity】 is the paper screen blocking it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So he helped that world tear through the screen and topple 【Prosperity】.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s a bit late for us now—but what if?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As long as the gamble isn’t over, who knows what number the dice will show?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, the figure raised a single red dot before his eyes, blocking the last rays of the sun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh? So the success in that world wasn’t accidental—it was an inevitable result of collective effort?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Interesting. I’m suddenly curious what memory my counterpart in that world would carry. But I’m even more curious—did the one who tore through the screen... escape?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Escape...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No one escapes. If your own world still holds hope, who would light the only spark elsewhere?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He was more unfortunate than I am—at least I still have you.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1339,"2026-06-21T06:05:16.216Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e41d0e464b19dd649bd8646784518b906c523eed8de1f8917de531139444f4ed","the-gods-foolish-game-chapter-983","the-gods-foolish-game-chapter-981",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-gods-foolish-game-cover.jpg"]