Chapter 19

Gu Yi’an wanted to say she didn’t like either.
But if she really said that, given the god’s pettiness, He would definitely hold it against her.
Gu Yi’an remained silent, but the line of text stubbornly hung in the air, refusing to disappear.
To leave this pure white space sooner, Gu Yi’an hesitated and said, "I like... Xiao Ze?"
The little boy she’d met in the first game, quite adorable, and apparently another incarnation of the god.
Since both were the god, as long as she didn’t mention the demon or the god directly, it should be fine.
Gu Yi’an’s voice faded into the pure white space.
The black text silently vanished.
Gu Yi’an breathed a sigh of relief.
This indicated one thing, the god had accepted her answer.
She thought to herself, Maybe the god isn’t as petty as I thought.
In midair, a black card with gilded cursive script on the front drifted down like a falling leaf and landed gently before Gu Yi’an.
Gu Yi’an reached out and took it.
It was the Sage Card.
She glanced up, and an introduction to the card appeared in the air.
[Item: Card (Sage). Clearly, you don’t possess the intellect to match it, but who cares? The god likes you. Look on the bright side, even a calm fool may have a moment of brilliance.]
Gu Yi'an: "..." I think you're mocking me, and I have proof.
The black text suddenly vibrated slightly, causing the characters themselves to become unstable.
It was as if they had been forcibly altered by an external force, after completely collapsing, they reformed into new content.
[Item: Card (The Wise). Since you're good-looking, you're right about everything.]
Gu Yi'an: "..." This is even worse than the previous mockery.
She lowered her head to glance at the card in her hand, recalling its earlier item description.
The effect of this card should be to help someone stay calm.
Many people tend to panic and make mistakes in moments of tension and anxiety, even when what they're facing is actually quite simple.
What they need most at such times is calmness.
A pretty good item.
Before Gu Yi'an’s eyes, the pure white faded away, replaced by a blackboard with white chalk writing.
At the same time, the loud voice of the teacher writing with chalk reached her ears first.
She had returned to her real world.
Ten days of peaceful life passed in the blink of an eye.
When Gu Yi'an returned to the pure white space, she recalled her previous two gaming experiences.
The black text in mid-air, as if replaying history, shifted into phrases familiar to Gu Yi'an, announcing the arrival of the third game.
[This is your third game. God is fair; He treats everyone equally. You have received no hints.]
[But you may bring the items God has rewarded you with.]
[Please praise God, for He has bestowed upon you a coffin and a card. You can calmly collect your own corpse.]
The black text crumbled like falling sand, eventually fading away.
The whiteness of the pure white space before Gu Yi'an’s eyes was gradually consumed by the scenery of a new world.
She had arrived in a new world. Immediately after, a line of black text suddenly appeared in the air before her.
[Shh! God is watching you.]
Beneath the black text, raging flames erupted, quickly burning them to ashes.
Gu Yi'an then began to survey her surroundings.
The first thing she noticed was a group of unfamiliar men and women around her.
Aside from two others who, like her, were examining the environment, the rest had their gazes fixed in unison on the spot where the black text had just vanished in mid-air.
Are all these people players?
Gu Yi'an swept her eyes over them, roughly counting the number of people.
Including herself, there were twelve people in total.
A female player blurted out, "Twelve? Is this because there weren’t enough people to die, so they brought in more?"
As soon as she spoke, she drew the attention of all the players, as she was the first to break the silence.
Seeing everyone’s eyes on her, the female player stepped forward and stood where the black text had just disappeared. She asked, "Are there any new players?"
Gu Yi’an noticed a few people in the crowd growing visibly tense, a stark contrast to the seasoned players around them who seemed unfazed.
The female player had clearly noticed this too. She pointed in several directions, counting, "One, two, three… five. Five new players. Good. You have one minute to tell us your beginner tips."
Her words instantly chilled the atmosphere.
The new players were genuinely startled by her demand.
They still didn’t fully understand the situation they were in, nor had they grasped what this so-called "Game of the Gods" was all about. Yet, here they were, being pressured by a veteran player to reveal the only beginner tips they had.
Judging by the female player’s demeanor, they knew the information they held was crucial, not something to be shared lightly.
None of them were fools. They had their own reservations and exchanged glances, unanimously falling into silence.
Gu Yi’an took this opportunity to carefully observe their surroundings.
They seemed to be in a courtyard in front of some kind of institution.
The greenery in the flower beds was neatly trimmed, likely having been tended to not long ago.
About ten meters away stood an office building only two stories high.
A small sign hung at the entrance, but the text was too tiny for Gu Yi’an to read clearly.
Suddenly, she felt something off about her clothes.
Gu Yi’an looked down and noticed that one of her pockets felt unusually heavy.
Her props, a small coffin and a card, couldn’t possibly weigh this much combined.
Curious, she reached into the heavy pocket.
The objects inside felt smooth.
There seemed to be more than one.
She took them out and laid them in her palm: a black touchscreen phone and an ID badge with her photo and name on it.
The job title on the badge read: "Junior Investigator, Gu Yi’an, Special Investigation Bureau under the Direct Jurisdiction of the Divine Eye."
Gu Yi’an glanced up and noticed other players following suit, pulling out identical phones and badges from their own pockets.
So, every player had them.
This was the first time Gu Yi’an had encountered the Gods assigning identities to the players.
The female player who had spoken earlier examined the phone and badge, let out a cold laugh, and turned her gaze back to the newcomers.
"You all came from that pure white space. You know we’re in a game now. And yes, those who didn’t believe are already dead in that space. Let me make this clear: this isn’t an ordinary game. It’s one where you can die at any moment. Judging by the number of players and the identities we’ve been given, this round is going to be tough. A lot of people are going to die."
"Listen, don’t complain. If the Gods hadn’t pulled you into this game, you’d already be dead. Hmm… the Gods are kind and merciful. They’ve graciously given you doomed souls a chance to cling to life."
Her praise for the Gods sounded insincere, and her expression twisted slightly as she spoke.
The veteran players present shared her sentiment.
They would never believe in this self-proclaimed deity; they only trusted themselves.
If it weren't for the fact that this "god" was overwhelmingly powerful, so powerful that resistance was futile, they would never have resigned themselves to playing this wretched game.
The female player briefly skimmed over the praises for the deity, slightly lifting her chin as she addressed the new players, "Tell us your beginner hints. Only then will we have a better chance of clearing this game. Since you’re sharing the hints, I, as an experienced player, will offer you some guidance later. Whether you make it through will depend on your own abilities."
The other veteran players watched coldly from the sidelines.
In an unfamiliar new world where no one knew what to expect next, any clue from the beginner hints was better than nothing.
The most challenging aspect of the deity’s game was the unknown.
Humans always fear the unknown.
Gu Yi’an paid no attention to the veteran players pressuring the newcomers.
This wasn’t something she could influence on her own. If she tried to intervene, she’d only end up displeasing both sides.
Gu Yi’an fiddled with the phone in her hands, occasionally glancing around to observe her surroundings.
When she inadvertently positioned the phone to face her directly, the screen lit up.
Facial recognition?
Gu Yi’an checked the phone’s home screen.
The wallpaper was a front-facing image of a camera lens.
At the top of the screen, text and small icons displayed the time, weather, and temperature. Below, a few simple app icons were arranged: Browser, Dialer, Messages, and Camera.
A small red dot appeared over the Messages icon.
Gu Yi’an tapped it and found a message from someone named "Divine Eye."
"Junior Investigator Gu Yi’an, please report immediately to the Divine Eye Direct Jurisdiction Special Zone Investigation Bureau."
Was this the first task in this world?
Gu Yi’an snapped back to attention and looked at the other players.
Just then, the five new players had reached a decision, and one of the male players was sharing their hint.
"Our hint is: There are no coincidences in the world."
No coincidences in the world?
Gu Yi’an gripped her ID badge, a sense of foreboding washing over her.
Their current roles were investigators, literally, people tasked with investigating something. Did that mean they were supposed to look into some bizarre incident?
The veteran players seemed to share the same thought. They exchanged uneasy glances, each seeing the others’ apprehension about what lay ahead.
The female player who had pressured the newcomers earlier brushed it off, saying, "Don’t overthink it. No matter how strange or bizarre things get, can they possibly compare to the ghosts and monsters we’ve encountered before? I’ve already tested it, none of my items that can attack supernatural beings work here. Maybe this world has no ghosts at all."
Her words served as a reassurance for most players on the scene.
If there were no ghosts in this world, the difficulty of this game would be significantly reduced.
But Gu Yi'an was not among those reassured players.
She had already sensed danger from the unusually large number of players in this game and the meticulously arranged identities assigned by the deity.
Why would the deity assign them identities?
The answer might be simple.
In this game world, without a reasonable identity, they wouldn’t survive.
Gu Yi’an’s gaze swept over the surveillance cameras on the surrounding lampposts.
In such a small flower bed, there were at least eight cameras, and that was only the visible ones.
That female player had likely also realized the high difficulty of this game, which was why she had intimidated the newcomers early on to provide beginner tips. Then, when the experienced players grew anxious because of those tips, she stepped in to reassure them, thereby gaining more authority.
Gu Yi’an observed the current situation: experienced players were busy checking whether their tools were functional, while newcomers were bewildered, hastily trying to cozy up to the veterans nearby.
One male newcomer had wanted to strike up a conversation with Gu Yi’an, but when he saw her expressionless face, clouded with worry, he silently walked away.
The situation wouldn’t cool down anytime soon.
But Gu Yi’an didn’t want to wait any longer.
The game had already started, and they were still discussing.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Please quiet down."
Gu Yi’an mimicked the tone Mr. Demon from the previous game.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but its clear, cold tone seemed to fall directly into everyone’s ears.
In fact, due to Gu Yi’an’s appearance, people on the scene would intentionally or unintentionally glance at her from time to time.
After all, beautiful things always attract attention.
All eyes converged on Gu Yi’an, including those of the female player.
Gu Yi’an waved her phone.
"Open your phones and check the messages you’ve received. This is our first task."
"I think this is what we should be focusing on right now, don’t you agree?"