Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Chapter 708: Fate's Grace

Lin Yu had previously expressed his views inside the teahouse to the two Taoist masters and the other players regarding his attitude toward "Zhu Qiansi," and he genuinely agreed with those views himself.As an ordinary contemporary youth who wasn't particularly extreme in personality, Lin Yu truly felt that granting Zhu Qiansi freedom would indeed be unfair to those innocent people who had died.

But...

Before that, Lin Yu was also a good actor who respected character settings.

Clearly, the character image shaped by Lin Yu's performance and the character biography he had constructed in his mind—the "Zhu Ming" built on the prototype of "Xia Yue"—was not a character with strong moral convictions.

Though he might have "family" as a weakness and might feel compassion toward vulnerable groups...

"Zhu Ming" would absolutely never give up his own "interests" because of his compassion or for the sake of "morality" and "justice."

Even among the player base of the 'Death Game,' the prototype of 'Zhu Ming,' "Xia Yue," had the strongest will to survive and adaptability that Lin Yu had ever seen.

A million people had died in Willow Town. Zhu Ming might express a word of regret, and if there was a possibility of saving them, Zhu Ming would lend a hand.

He might even avenge the dead.

But, but...

He would absolutely never give up an opportunity to elevate his own strength by an entire level for the sake of that million people.

Looking at the stunned High Mountain, the furious Snowy Owl, the grim Seagull, and listening to Li Nian's unrestrained laughter beside his ear, Lin Yu felt time slowing down more and more.

The interval between achieving the [Clearance Mission] conditions and entering the [Settlement Space] seemed to be stretching infinitely.

This was naturally somewhat abnormal.

But Lin Yu was very familiar with this feeling.

Time was still passing normally; it was just that his perception of time had changed.

It was like...

activating [Most Suitable for the Virtuous and Frugal].

And the source of this abnormal feeling wasn't difficult to guess.

He looked toward Zhu Qiansi beside him—even though the [Collar] was placed on her, making her completely subordinate to him as a [Summoned Creature], Lin Yu knew very well...

"It was you who pulled the strings, wasn't it... Since you could cut away one identity, naturally you could cut away a second one."

"It's like the layered spaces here... the talisman formation space, Willow Town ruins, and your main body are on the first layer; the Willow Town environment, Zhu Qiansi, and Yunzhen's residual soul are on the second layer; the real Willow Town and almost all of your Causality Silk are on the third layer; and now... there's actually one last layer, isn't there?"

Lin Yu said, and in that last second of less than a moment, the scenery before his eyes shifted again.

This time, he arrived inside a cool, shaded cave.

The cave was covered in white spider silk, the corners were neatly stacked with gnawed human bones and animal bones, a large stone had been smoothed flat presumably as a bed, and some carefully cleaned oil lamps adorned the corners.

This seemed to be the cave of a demon that loved cleanliness and order.

Zhu Qiansi sat at the edge of that great stone.

"You guessed right," she said calmly, like a cold, rigid piece of metal, "I did keep one last layer, and this is the layer prepared for you."

Lin Yu wasn't surprised. He walked straight into the cave and sat down beside Zhu Qiansi.

"So—dear Miss Zhu Qiansi, you've had your eyes on me from the very beginning, haven't you?"

Lin Yu asked softly in return.

Zhu Qiansi nodded, not avoiding the question.

"Yes, I do need your help to obtain freedom, but... I don't need you to take me out."

"I need... to take your place and go out."

Lin Yu let out a breath. "I knew it—just as I suspected."

"How did you know?"

Zhu Qiansi looked at Lin Yu and asked.

Lin Yu pursed his lips. "Your so-called 'freedom'—the plan came about only after seeing me, that's true—but since what you seek is 'freedom,' how could it be achieved through 'acknowledging a master'?"

"Since your Causality Silk divine ability can merge you with the concept of Willow Town, naturally it can also merge and replace you with me... that wasn't hard to guess."

Lin Yu said calmly.

From the very beginning, he knew Zhu Qiansi was deceiving him.

But fortunately, Lin Yu hadn't told the truth either.

Snowy Owl, High Mountain, and Seagull were fooled by him, but that didn't mean Lin Yu had chosen Zhu Qiansi.

Helping Zhu Qiansi was something "Zhu Ming" would do, but ultimately that was just the character Lin Yu was playing.

What the real Lin Yu would do was, in the identity of "Zhu Ming," feign choosing Zhu Qiansi and then...

turn the tables on her.

Looking at Zhu Qiansi before him, Lin Yu smiled and spoke. "What you want isn't just to leave the Prison Mountain Realm—it's my identity as a 'Player,' the identity to freely move between all realms, isn't it?"

Zhu Qiansi nodded. "Yes."

"Then you're really wrong. Although Players seem to be able to go anywhere, they're actually the least free. Whether we come or go, we all have tasks to complete, and we have to do this every week," Lin Yu looked at Zhu Qiansi. "I'm serious. I'm not lying to you."

"I know. My understanding of 'Otherworldly Ones' is greater than you imagine," Zhu Qiansi looked at Lin Yu, her dark, placid eyes as deep as an ancient well. "You, a lucky fellow blessed with nothing but good fortune, can't even imagine what I've been through... just like you can't possibly guess why I chose you out of so many Players."

Lin Yu listened to Zhu Qiansi's emotionless yet supremely arrogant words and let out a breath.

"Sigh... really, what's so hard to guess about that?" Lin Yu rested his chin on one hand. "You chose me, of course, because I was your only option."

"With your Causality Silk divine ability, it's far too difficult to grasp those Players who flash by like shooting stars and maintain a fusion with them while they're still alive—unless that person already has a connection with you, a very deep one..."

"And considering how your Causality Silk divine ability is so incompatible with this Prison Mountain Realm, coupled with your urgent desire to leave this realm, as well as some rumors I've heard about 'threads' from high-level beings in other worlds, it wasn't hard to guess where my connection with you comes from," Lin Yu reached out and pinched Zhu Qiansi's chin. "You want to be my older sister... but my real sister is far more of a genius than you."

"Now my only question is... Zhu Qiansi, Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, did you happen to acquire a piece of 'Fate Fragment' by chance, or are you yourself a living 'Fate Fragment'?"

Lin Yu said softly. Zhu Qiansi looked at him and spoke in a low voice.

"You... are truly very clever."

"Just as you said. But I am not a Fate Fragment myself, nor did I acquire one by chance."

"I was originally the inheritor of 'Fate Fragment'—I was once the Chosen One of the 'God of Fate, Rules, and Change.'"

"Your body... carries the causal entanglement of the three beings who caused my lord's fall, all at the same time."

A smile appeared on Zhu Qiansi's face—this being who seemed completely emotionless, or who had lost all emotion, was revealing genuine joy for the first time.

"Truly, my lord's grace has descended upon me... Fate has finally brought you before me!"

"All who devoutly believe in Fate shall ultimately receive Fate's blessing!"