Chapter 18

Gu Yi'an landed on the grass.
The icy aura had already faded away.
Now, the closest person to Gu Yi'an was the Merchant, who had descended first.
The Merchant stood less than a meter away from Gu Yi'an, gazing into the darkness in one direction, and said, "You guessed right. After obtaining the correct summoning ritual, she appeared on her own."
In these times, ghosts and monsters would strike first.
Two dull thuds sounded behind Gu Yi'an as the Witch and the Student landed on the grass one after another.
The Witch said, "Protect the Sage."
A faint "crack" came from ahead.
The Merchant's expression changed abruptly, and in almost an instant, several small objects appeared in his hand.
"Merchant, retrieve your prop," the Witch calmly instructed.
"Alright." The Merchant waved his hand, recalling an item.
The Witch swiftly traced a symbol in the air with her finger and charged into the darkness.
Suddenly, the office building that had been providing faint light behind the players vanished.
Everyone was engulfed by boundless darkness.
Fear of the dark instantly swept over the players present.
The Witch's composed voice rang out, "Don't panic, I'm here. Move closer to me."
But then, from another direction, a voice identical to the Witch's sounded.
"Nobody move. She's the ghost."
Panic surged through the air.
A few seconds passed.
The Student's frantic voice reached the players' ears, "Which one is real?"
"Fool, shut up!" the Witch coldly snapped.
Strange noises came from the Student's direction, but soon, silence fell once more.
Gu Yi'an stood in the darkness, listening to the sounds of collisions and the unconscious groans of the other players.
She twirled the small coffin she had obtained from the previous game world in her hand.
Now, all the other players were under attack, except for her.
Gu Yi'an didn't believe she was lucky enough to be spared by the ghosts.
Suddenly, an intense sense of danger surged through her.
It was coming!
Just as Gu Yi'an thought this, the small coffin in her hand slipped from her grasp without warning.
"Thud!"
In an instant, light replaced the darkness.
A coffin lay quietly on the grass.
Gu Yi'an's hand hovered slightly in the air, still holding the position of twirling the small coffin.
In the distance, the blood-soaked Student, the disheveled Witch, and the Merchant with four or five small items floating around him, all three stared at Gu Yi'an in stunned unison.
The sky had brightened, clearly indicating that the ghost had been successfully eliminated.
The Merchant reacted the fastest, casually putting away his props as if nothing had happened and strode toward Gu Yi'an with a hearty laugh.
"Sage, it turns out you were holding back a trump card."
He glanced at the motionless coffin and added, "If you ever want to trade such a prop in the future, I'll exchange it for a resurrection badge."
Gu Yi'an hadn't quite processed it yet, that formidable ghost had just died like that?
But she showed no expression on her face. After listening to the Merchant's words, she only asked, "How do we contact them? By dialing the phone number on the small note we found on the butcher?"
The Merchant's smile widened. "As expected of the Sage. It's that number, but you have to use an underworld phone to call it."
The Witch tidied her hair and walked over slowly.
She scrutinized the Merchant for a moment and said with certainty, "You have an item on you that can be exchanged."
Then, her tone turned unfriendly. "You didn’t swap out my item, did you?"
The Merchant immediately replied, "You’ve misunderstood. I’m not that capable."
The Student limped over to join them, the blood on his body fading at a visible rate.
Having only caught half of the conversation, the Student was confused. "Swap what?"
No player answered him because, without their notice, the scenery around them had transformed.
The grassy lawn had reverted to the round table where the game had begun.
The Witch, Gu Yi'an, the Merchant, and the Student stood in a row.
Across from them, Mr. Demon sat in His designated seat.
He watched them through His mask.
"You have fulfilled my wish," His voice was gentle, tinged with laughter. "I declare the game over."
Although the players had been eagerly anticipating these words, hearing them now didn’t bring the joy they had imagined.
The Student was the only one grinning cheerfully. Even though the game had been unusually easy, they had still passed.
But when he saw the pensive expressions on the other three, he grew puzzled.
The Student nudged the Merchant beside him with his elbow. "What’s wrong? We cleared the game. We’ll be going back soon."
He glanced at Mr. Demon’s seat, only to find it empty once again.
"Huh? Could it be that Mr. Demon’s idea of clearing the game isn’t the same as our The Game of the Gods clearance? Are we not going back to the pure white space?"
The mere thought of this possibility filled him with dread. Had they been tricked by the demon?
"We’ve cleared the game," Gu Yi'an said calmly, her gaze fixed on the now-vacant demon’s seat. "It’s just that we misunderstood some things."
The Student felt reassured by the first part of her statement but grew dizzy at the second.
He asked, "Misunderstood what? As long as we clear the game, that’s all that matters, right?"
Gu Yi'an glanced at the broken window, the one the butcher had crashed through.
"Mr. Demon said we could call Him a god, but He prefers us to call Him a demon."
"The first victim summoned a god. The god took pity on her and granted her the power to seek revenge, but she ultimately became a demon, a demon who repeatedly used her power to play deadly games with the living. That’s why the god no longer wishes us to call Him a god but instead wants us to call Him a demon."
The Student muttered, "The god had it rough."
Gu Yi'an coughed lightly, cutting off the Student’s musings. Mr. Demon had only disappeared; He was still watching them.
Gu Yi'an looked intently at the empty seat belonging to Mr. Demon and said earnestly, "But You are not a demon. You are a god."
Delight the god, praise the god, and the god shall grant you eternal life.
The Student glanced at Mr. Demon's empty seat, then at the Merchant who had just had an epiphany, then at the Witch whose face had regained its smile, and finally at Gu Yi'an, who remained calm and composed.
It dawned on him belatedly.
Mr. Demon's wish, to kill the demon, referred to the title of "demon" itself.
He preferred to be called a god.
This game was full of traps.
The Student swallowed nervously and asked with lingering fear, "Sage, didn't you say we had cleared the game?"
Gu Yi'an nodded. "Yes, we have. It's cleared now."
As soon as she finished speaking, the figures of the four players present began to fade.
It was clear that Mr. Demon, or rather, the god, though absent, was very satisfied with her earlier statement.
Before disappearing from this world, the Merchant deliberately said to Gu Yi'an, "Sage, I look forward to meeting you again in the next game, if fate allows."
The Merchant reappeared in his own pure white space.
[Game Clear Status: Passable. Who would have guessed you were the real thief? Be thankful they didn't expose you. The god looks forward to your next game.]
Back in the pure white space, the Merchant let out a long sigh of relief.
If the god hadn't created the conditions for him, he would have been exposed on the spot by the sage.
Fortunately, he had realized the opportunity the god had given him at the very start of the game and used an item in his possession to swap the cards before anyone could check them.
And luckily, the sage had been slightly misled by the small trap in the god's seating arrangement.
She had noticed his anomaly but, lacking evidence and not yet fully understanding The Game of the Gods, had kindly let him off.
The Merchant continued reading the black text floating in the air.
[Reward: The god has graciously granted you ten days of life and one item. Do not hesitate, praise the god from the bottom of your heart.]
[The god says to you: Impossible.]
The Merchant was about to skip the last line, which always had the same content, but suddenly he sensed something amiss.
This time, it seemed different.
His gaze fixed on the last line of black text.
Impossible?
What was impossible?
Could it be that the god disapproved of him inviting the Sage?
In another pure white space belonging to the Witch.
The Witch stared at the floating black text before her, so angry she could no longer maintain her composure.
[Game Clear Status: Barely Passable.]
[Reward: You still want a reward? Dream on.]
[The god says to you: (Don't even think about it. The god has nothing to say to you. The god has blocked you.)]
The Witch stomped her foot in anger. "So what if I snatched a few souls and fleeced some wool in the last couple of games? You're a god, do you have to be so petty?"
The black characters scattered and rearranged into two numbers.
[10]
In the blink of an eye, it changed to a new number.
[9]
The number changed every second.
The Witch let out a long sigh and quickly straightened her appearance.
"I surrender. Luckily, I managed to snatch over twenty minions in the last game, they’ll have to do as fuel."
The numbers vanished, and the pure white before the Witch’s eyes tore apart.
She saw several people with bewildered, lost expressions.
New players.
The Witch had arrived at a new game.
Suffering a similarly miserable fate was the Student.
The hand holding his Student card trembled as he stared at the black text in the reward section, filled with regret.
[Reward: The god has mercifully reclaimed your lucky item. This is the god’s promise, next time, you might not get such good teammates. Praise the god, for in His kindness, He has granted you a card out of pity.]
If time could be reversed, the Student wanted to strangle his past self for ever striking up a conversation with the god.
You just had to show off, didn’t you?
Now, his lucky item had been taken back by the god.
Even though that Student card was something he’d rightfully earned by constantly asking questions and fulfilling his character’s role in the game, now it was treated as a gift from the god.
The Student was filled with regret, so much that it hurt.
As for what the other players’ pure white spaces were like, Gu Yi’an wasn’t quite sure.
She stared at the black text before her, lost in thought.
[Game Clear Status: Perfect Clear. Because the god is very satisfied, it’s perfect. The god won’t mind that you missed some insignificant clues.]
[Reward: The god grants you ten days of peace. The god has bestowed an item upon you. Do not hesitate, praise the god sincerely.]
[The god says to you: (Please wait, the god has a question.)]
Is this even allowed?
Gu Yi’an waited.
The black text before her dissipated like smoke.
A new line of text appeared in the air before her.
[Do you like the god, or the demon?]
Gu Yi’an: "..."
Are you insane? They’re both you, how am I supposed to answer?