Pei Liang had known from the start that there was something wrong with this so-called idiot game of theirs.
Leaving aside the fact that she had achieved such high completion rates across several worlds and amassed a huge number of points, yet had never been granted access to any way of using them.
The one time, in the previous world, when the system had tried to persuade her to spend points to fill in missing parts of the plot—that had been suspicious too.
Unlike the Reincarnation Game, the purpose of the Cannon Fodder Struggle Game Pei Liang was in was not to set layer upon layer of traps to test the players, stimulate their potential, unlock their genes, or anything of the sort.
Quite the opposite. Judging from the assistants and task formats it provided, the Cannon Fodder Struggle Game was, in practical terms, more about improving the players’ emotional intelligence in romance.
It was only that Pei Liang’s approach differed from its usual logic. Her methods of conquest were straightforward and brutal, while what she herself cared about more was accumulating skills.
According to the system, the overwhelming majority of hosts followed the expected route in their strategies.
After all, death was on the line. Following the logic of the plot was the safest approach.
In short, if the game’s purpose was never to deliberately cultivate players—or if it did cultivate them, but only for one purpose—
To make men fall hopelessly in love with them—
Then obstacles like the ones in the previous world had been utterly meaningless.
Even if the script had been damaged by a player who had failed a previous mission, with malicious plot traps inserted and only misleading information left behind—
It was just a script. More than one player had already fallen there, and the place where they had failed was especially pointless. Trying to coax Pei Liang into spending her points over something like that required no special thought at all.
It was practically written across its face: deliberately trying to trick you into wasting points.
If Pei Liang had merely been suspicious in the second world, then by the third, she was certain: some part of this damned game had gone wrong.
Sure enough, after she wreaked havoc in the third world, not only completing her mission but even thoroughly changing the world’s very structure, certain entities could no longer sit still.
She did not know whether they could not tolerate her straying further and further from the intended path, or whether they could not tolerate the fact that she had accumulated a considerable number of points without ever stepping into a trap or spending a single one.
In any case, Pei Liang did not believe the hints about some old fogeys disapproving of her keeping men or refusing to exchange sincere hearts for sincere hearts.
This was only the fourth mission world, yet every trick in the book had already been deployed. They had even brought in outside help, all to trap her in this world and prevent her from moving on.
It seemed that, in some way, something about Pei Liang—some trait of hers—had already made her a thorn in the side that certain beings felt they had to remove.
Still, the other side was either genuinely stupid or simply overconfident. In any event, although Pei Liang lacked the key information needed to deduce the full picture of what was happening—
She had no problem tearing a couple of chunks of flesh off them.
Especially with the issues involving Yu Cheng and the Reincarnation Game. Once those were exposed, her existence would be discovered by higher-level entities.
Then she would no longer have to remain at the mercy of these ill-intentioned immediate overseers.
So when Guan Qian arrived, Pei Liang directly told her to put the four of them into her spatial storage.
Guan Qian froze. “Four people? What are you planning to do?”
As she spoke, she eyed Pei Liang suspiciously, her expression carrying a distinct look of someone staring at a depraved beast.
Surely this woman wasn’t planning to use her storage space to evade inspection and engage in some real group action, was she?
Guan Qian put on a fiercely unyielding expression. “What do you take my space for?”
Yu Cheng looked baffled. “Why are you reacting so strongly, Miss Guan? We’re only going in there to do something that isn’t convenient to do outside.”
Guan Qian immediately looked at Pei Liang with solemn respect.
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran were one thing. Chu Yebai had always been a pervert, and after Gong Ran’s rose-colored glasses had shattered, she had seen his true nature clearly enough.
But Yu Cheng? Upright, honorable Yu Cheng?
At Aolong Base, she had heard plenty about Yu Cheng from Bai Rou. He was supposed to be a thoroughly decent man, someone with exceptionally high moral standards.
How had he, in such a short time, come to accept joining this kind of group activity?
When it came to leading people astray, Pei Liang truly possessed a talent no one could rival.
Chu Yebai was growing impatient. “Just open it already. What are you dawdling for?”
Gong Ran added, “Hurry up. We can’t wait any longer.”
Guan Qian looked ashamed and aggrieved. She kept hypnotizing herself: Think about the luxury rooms. Think about those handsome guys she’d been introduced to lately.
After sending the four of them inside, her face still crumpled in despair.
Her space had been sullied!
The moment the four entered Guan Qian’s space, they found themselves surrounded by darkness.
Although the space had come alive and was now capable of accommodating living beings, not much time had passed, and the area that could sustain life was limited.
At present, it took the form of an enclosed room of less than thirty square meters. There were no doors or windows, and no way to open it from within.
The adjacent areas, used for storing items, were in something like a vacuum state. Forcing one’s way through would be dangerous.
So Guan Qian’s space could even serve as a prison—as long as she was capable of trapping someone inside.
Pei Liang had asked Guan Qian to store some furniture, appliances, and food inside. Living there temporarily would not be a problem.
She switched on the lights and sat down.
Getting straight to the point, she said to Chu Yebai and Gong Ran, “That time in the outskirts, when your memories of our negotiations with Bai Rou and the others disappeared—you should both realize that some force was controlling you, right?”
Gong Ran nodded first. He had always been known for his intelligence. When he realized that his memories were vanishing at an alarming pace—almost as if they were being deliberately and slowly erased, in defiance of all common sense—
he immediately understood that this world might be even more unbelievable than he had imagined. Perhaps it was being manipulated by an invisible hand.
And Pei Liang and Yu Cheng were the key to unraveling the mystery.
Thus, although those memories had disappeared at the time, the two men had, without discussing it, each found ways to imprint that conclusion deep in their minds.
Even if it was repeatedly wiped away, the moment they encountered a keyword or related trigger, they would remember it again.
Chu Yebai was silent for a moment, then smiled. “But it’s interesting. Every time I come across a keyword and remember this, I forget it again soon afterward.”
“But now, there’s no sign of the memory fading. In fact, it seems that I’m gradually able to recall what happened when you questioned those four people out in the outskirts.”
“For example, you never actually needed them to answer. You just kept talking to yourself the entire time, but you still revealed quite a lot through what you said.”
Pei Liang nodded, looking somewhat relieved. “Looks like my guess was right. Guan Qian’s space really is independent of both games’ control. It isn’t protected by the rules, but neither is it restricted by them.”
Yu Cheng lowered his head and thought for a moment before suddenly realizing something. “Then Guan Qian is currently—”
Pei Liang smiled. “That’s right. She’s busy right now.”
Outside the space, four people dressed in black combat gear suddenly invaded the room, weapons in hand.
The moment they appeared, they opened fire on Guan Qian without so much as a greeting.
“It’s you!” Guan Qian exclaimed in surprise, clearly recognizing the four of them.
They were Bai Rou and the others.
With the destruction of the Aolong Base, the four had naturally become prisoners of the Harbor Base once again.
Yu Cheng had previously come forward to speak with them, and at the time, they had seemed to accept the situation readily.
Only Bai Rou still held a grudge over the incident when the other three had dragged Yu Cheng into the car. Yu Cheng had clarified that they had merely been joking around and trying to scare him, and that it had also been part of the plan.
Who knew whether Bai Rou had believed him.
As for the other three men, Yu Cheng himself did not care about the incident, so there was no reason for them to remain hung up on it. They had recently been working for the Harbor Base, and they had performed quite well on their missions.
No one had expected them to suddenly turn on Guan Qian.
Although Guan Qian’s ability was powerful, it was not suited for combat. Her skills and awareness could not keep up.
Caught completely off guard, she seemed to be riddled with bullets in an instant.
The four men relaxed.
“This mission was easier than expected.”
“The Main God wasn’t lying, was it? As long as we kill Guan Qian at this exact time, we really will receive one hundred thousand points?”
“One hundred thousand points. That’s enough for us to buy our freedom and return with all our skills and abilities intact.”
“I’m going to buy ten tons of gold,” Glasses said excitedly.
In the Reincarnation Space, buying one’s freedom cost only fifty thousand points. A top-tier bloodline or supernatural ability could easily be obtained for ten thousand points.
By contrast, gold and diamonds—valuable commodities in the real world—were practically worthless there.
If the promise was genuine, each of them could return to reality and live a life resembling heaven itself.
All four were excited, but Bai Rou alone knitted her brows tightly. “Something’s wrong. Why hasn’t the reward been credited yet?”
Normally, once a mission target was killed, a notification confirming the points would appear—unless they were in the middle of combat and the system did not want to interrupt them. But they had already begun discussing how to spend the points.
The other three were startled.
Then they heard Yu Cheng’s voice.
“Since we were teammates once, I’ll have a solid-gold gravestone made for you.”
The bullet-riddled corpse of Guan Qian slowly disappeared, and the layout of the room subtly shifted.
The four men then saw Yu Cheng only a few meters away, staring at them with disappointment and a gloomy expression. In another direction, Guan Qian was sitting on the sofa, completely unharmed.
“It’s an illusion ability. We’ve been tricked.”
In other words, their mission had been anticipated from the very beginning.
Otherwise, this was Pei Liang’s room, and plenty of people had seen Chu Yebai and the others—fighters of formidable strength—enter. Who would have dared to launch a surprise attack here?
The older man forced a stiff smile. “Captain Yu, you can’t blame us for this. The Main God issued the mission—what were we supposed to do?”
“Guan Qian is just a minor, insignificant character in the instance. You don’t have to turn against us over her, do you?”
Yu Cheng smiled. He looked at the middle-aged man. “I used to be too lazy to argue with you because your little schemes were completely irrelevant. Did that make you think you were so capable that you could leave no loose ends?”
“What have I told you before?”
“No, Captain Yu—” Mohawk was usually the most obedient of them, and he was also the one who got along best with Yu Cheng. He hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
But Yu Cheng did not even let him finish. He cut him off. “I’m asking you—what did I tell you?”
At that moment, Yu Cheng’s absolute authority within the team was on full display.
The four of them mumbled their answer. “Follow your orders in everything.”
“So you all remember. Then what are you doing now?”
“But the Main God—”
“Looks like you still don’t understand your situation.” Yu Cheng smiled at them. “All this time, who has been leading you to a way out?”
“Me, or the Main God?”
The answer had to be Yu Cheng. The Main God only ever threw players into one deadly predicament after another.
Yet Yu Cheng had never thought of abandoning them because they had been cowardly at the beginning, possessed only average abilities, or had a poorly structured team. He had never replaced them with newcomers who showed greater potential.
They understood the favor Yu Cheng had shown them. But that was a hundred thousand points.
Seeing their expressions, Yu Cheng knew exactly what they were thinking.
He sighed. “The Main God cannot be trusted. This isn’t the first time I’ve said that.”
“With a hundred thousand points, you could return to the real world carrying enormous wealth, or even supernatural abilities and bloodlines. That would inevitably upset the balance of the real world, and the game’s first ironclad rule is to prevent its existence from being exposed.”
“What do you think it would do? Or rather, do you really think it would allow you to return to the real world just like that?”
They were only thinking about the benefits, but when they examined the logic behind it, the so-called truth was horrifying.
The four fell silent, unease spreading through their hearts.
On the one hand, the reward was tempting. On the other, the captain’s words made perfect sense. They had returned to the real world before, after all. As long as they had enough points, they could briefly go back for a vacation or to visit their families.
But during those visits, they were subject to countless restrictions. No matter what methods they used, they could not find anyone like themselves in the real world, nor anyone connected to the game.
There was no guarantee that anyone had ever truly bought their freedom.
Glasses could not help saying, “Even so, Captain, what you’re doing now amounts to defying the Main God.”
“We can’t risk our lives by taking this gamble with you.”
Yu Cheng smiled. “I know. The moment you accepted the Main God’s mission, we became enemies standing on opposite sides.”
“Do you really think I’ll protect my enemies?”
The four of them had simply been relying on their understanding of Yu Cheng. He was not the sort of person who would take his anger out on others merely because they refused to risk their lives alongside him. In fact, he was very good at understanding other people’s difficulties.
They were certain that as long as they did not act recklessly, Yu Cheng would not attack them first.
But Yu Cheng’s words startled all four of them. Instinctively, they sensed danger closing in.
They were just about to jump out the window and escape when they turned around—and saw Chu Yebai standing behind them.
The other party grinned. “Perfect. Rather than mindlessly forcing information into their heads like idiots, I’d much rather arrive at the answers by making them interrogate themselves.”
And so, the four of them were helplessly pressed tightly together before Guan Qian collected them back into her space.
It hadn’t taken much time at all before every secret in the four men’s mouths had been pried out.
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran now wore rather surreal expressions.
“So, what you’re saying is that our world is actually a novel, and you people all came here to complete missions?”
“What’s your mission?” Chu Yebai asked Yu Cheng.
But before the other man could answer, he had already guessed. “To kill her?”
“I should’ve realized it sooner. Who else but a lunatic would willingly throw himself at her?”
Yu Cheng frowned. What the hell was this guy implying?
Gong Ran asked Pei Liang, “Then what’s your mission?”
“Save humanity? Rule the world? Lead Earth into a new era?”
As he spoke, he glanced at Yu Cheng and shook his head disdainfully. “Not to put too fine a point on it, but your game’s scope is pretty limited.”
“Look at her mission. And then look at yours. Of course, that comparison isn’t entirely fair. You can tell there’s a problem just by looking at the players’ qualifications in the two games.”
“She’s clearly exceptional. You’re passable, I suppose, but what about those teammates of yours? A bunch of useless clowns. Giving you a mission with too high a difficulty level would practically be bullying you.”
Yu Cheng: “…”
Chu Yebai snorted, clearly agreeing with Gong Ran’s attitude. That bastard Yu Cheng was always a hypocrite. Now he could finally get a taste of what it was like to be treated the same way.
Then Yu Cheng said, “Her mission is simply to fall in love with the male lead of the novel.”
“If you count them up, there are currently two known male leads.”
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Chu Yebai and Gong Ran.
Yu Cheng was just about to say that the scope of a mission shouldn’t be judged by the quality of its players—in the end, his and Pei Liang’s games were more or less equally ridiculous, and neither was anything to be proud of.
But then he saw both men’s expressions change instantly.
Gong Ran was the first to stand up. “Then it’s my turn.”
Chu Yebai cut off any possibility of that at once. “You can get lost. Whether you’re part of the plan or not doesn’t matter anymore. We don’t have any other connection, anyway.”
Gong Ran ignored him and looked at Pei Liang. “That’s not fair. Why should he get everything?”
“It’s been several months. Surely it should be my turn by now. Dump him.”
If this had merely been an ordinary matter of stealing someone’s girl, it would have been one thing. But now that he knew he had originally been one of her mission targets, only to have his opportunity stolen because he had appeared a few days later, he couldn’t accept it.
It was as though a piece of candy that should have been given to him had suddenly been snatched away without explanation. That was even more infuriating than being told outright that he wasn’t getting any.
Pei Liang’s head began to ache. “Is this really what we should be talking about right now?”
The moment she said this, Chu Yebai became unhappy. “So you’re saying that once we deal with this mess, there’ll still be room for discussion?”
Yu Cheng looked displeased at Chu Yebai’s domineering attitude.
“As far as I know, the two of you are merely using each other. Of course, it’s perfectly understandable that her charms have made you infatuated.”
“But you have no reason to act like this and obstruct Dr. Gong’s fair competition, do you? After all, the two of you aren’t lovers in the traditional sense, so you don’t have to follow certain rules.”
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran turned to Yu Cheng at the same time. “Shut up, you hypocritical double-standard bastard.”
Yu Cheng was baffled. He looked at Gong Ran. “It’s one thing for Mr. Chu to attack me, but why are you taking his side too, Doctor Gong?”
“What I just said was clearly on your side. I was standing up for your rights.”
As he spoke, he looked toward Pei Liang, his face full of questioning. “You saw it too, didn’t you? Why are they taking out on me something that has nothing to do with me?”
Pei Liang shot the two men an unhappy glance. “I called you here to take care of serious business, not to squabble over this nonsense. Fine, you two bicker all day long, but why are you ganging up on Captain Yu?”
“Isn’t he being wronged?”
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran were so furious their vision went black.
Confirmed. Yu Cheng wasn’t just a hypocritical double-standard bastard—he was also a completely natural, utterly oblivious green-tea schemer.
What was happening here was obvious: he was openly helping Gong Ran claim his rights, but in reality, he was targeting Chu Yebai and trying to eliminate him from the running so that he could have a chance himself.
Otherwise, given this man’s personality, he wouldn’t have said a single word about such a trivial matter.
Damn it. After covertly targeting someone, he even had the nerve to turn around and accuse Gong Ran of being unstable and uncontrollable, then put on an innocent act.
Who the hell had called him a righteous, sunny champion of justice? Bah!
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran were fuming, while the four reincarnator players were staring blankly at their captain as well.
The four of them looked rather miserable at the moment. Since they hadn’t believed that revealing details about the game here wouldn’t result in them being erased, they had initially forced themselves to stay tense and keep everything bottled up for the sake of their lives.
Then Gong Ran had administered a single dose of medicine, and they decided that enduring the torture would be worse than dying.
Everything that needed to come out had come out. Now they were sitting limply on the floor on their knees, completely dispirited.
After watching their captain’s entire performance, they could only think: Wow. It was as if they were meeting him for the first time today.
Who was this scheming green-tea bastard? Could their captain have already died, with this being some impostor who merely looked identical to him?
What was most infuriating was that he had done all of this entirely on instinct, acting in his own interests without even realizing why he was doing it.
He was practically a genius—and completely unaware of it. For a moment, Chu Yebai and Gong Ran were so annoyed that they didn’t even dare expose him and curse him out.
Any other accusations were like trying to scratch an itch through a boot. Yu Cheng simply wore an expression of righteous indifference, as though they were the unreasonable ones. It was enough to make a person furious enough to ascend to heaven.
Gong Ran took a deep breath and endured the humiliation. “Fine. Let’s not discuss this for now. Let’s talk about the serious matter.”
Pei Liang smiled approvingly at Yu Cheng. “As expected of Captain Yu—upright, principled, and logical. You managed to persuade these two lunatics—no, these stubborn men—without any trouble.”
Yu Cheng’s smile immediately turned a little bashful. “It’s nothing. I was only doing what I was supposed to do.”
Chu Yebai and Gong Ran: “…”
They could taste blood at the back of their throats.
Fortunately, they soon got down to business.
“There are quite a few problems at present.”
“First of all, the Reincarnation Game’s secrecy protocol seems excessively extreme. Chu Yebai and Gong Ran can’t be killed, so they can only use that rather unreliable memory-fading method.”
“Even so, they’ll gradually notice that something is wrong and put safeguards in place to restore their memories. Sooner or later, they’ll uncover the truth.”
“Among all these countless worlds, there is no shortage of clever people. Generally speaking, once ordinary people learn of the Reincarnation Game’s existence, the result is more often than not a brutal death.”
“But such an extreme approach contradicts its stated purpose of protecting the balance of reality. It feels more like a cold-blooded way of cleaning up loose ends. And as you said, despite the complaint panel in the Reincarnation Space, none of you have ever successfully filed a complaint.”
“And this world is clearly a dungeon instance of our game. Yet not only did you come here, you were also given a storyline that was highly misleading about me. It’s difficult not to suspect that the two games are colluding behind the scenes.”
“But I don’t think I’m important enough yet to make the Reincarnation Game leave its own turf over such a trivial matter and act as someone else’s weapon.”
“There’s probably something fundamentally wrong with the Reincarnation Game itself,” Yu Cheng continued.
Pei Liang nodded. “The Reincarnation Game is probably not as lofty or terrifying as you imagine. On the contrary, it may simply be something too shabby to see the light of day.”
“Even so, the resources it possesses would still be extremely useful to you right now.”
When she said “you,” she meant Yu Cheng alone. The other four were not included.
In Pei Liang’s eyes, Yu Cheng had already given them hints, yet they had still betrayed the team for the petty gains right in front of them. They knew perfectly well that Yu Cheng was the team’s brain and its core, but they had not spared a thought for the deeper meaning behind his actions.
Even if Yu Cheng chose not to hold their betrayal against them, people like that would never go very far.
“So, although the Reincarnation Game has the most obvious vulnerabilities, my plan is to postpone dealing with it. First, I’ll handle my cannon-fodder game.”
“What are you planning to do?” Chu Yebai asked.
Pei Liang smiled. “Actually, to our game, the existence of you male leads is far more important than a few players like us—though I don’t know why, exactly.”
“So what happens if the mission’s male leads in this world start dying, one after another?”
