Game of Deception Chapter 19: Shift in the Worldline

Ming Po sprang up from the bed and hurried next door.

Currently, Ming Po had returned to an hour ago, and about forty-five minutes had passed since he left the instance.

In other words, this was fifteen minutes before he originally returned to the real world.

But it seed he was still a step too late.

The room looked almost exactly the sa as before.

His pajamas were still tossed onto the quilt, and an open, half-empty can of cola sat on the desk. Since Ming Po now had a physical body, he reached out and touched the can. It was still a little cold, beaded with condensation.

He must have left not too long ago.

...Missed him again?

Ming Po furrowed his brow, but quickly thought of a solution.

He pulled out his phone and directly called his disobedient son.

It rang only once before connecting; clearly, the other party was walking and playing on their phone.

A surprised voice ca through the receiver: "Ah Po? Where the hell did you wander off to? You've been MIA for a week, I fucking thought you were dead!"

"Never mind that for now," Ming Po said sternly. "Where are you?"

Hearing Ming Po's tone, Ai Shiping realized sothing was up and answered seriously, "I'm at Ouya Plaza. Why?"

"Get back here imdiately. Don't leave the house for the next few days. Absolutely do not go out, you hear ?"

Ming Po pressed solemnly, "Why did you suddenly go out anyway?"

"Just heading to the company to take a look."

The voice on the other end sounded quite upbeat: "The boss ssaged to drop by and hand over my work. I'm getting ready to start next month."

...The company?

Hearing this, Ming Po froze.

He asked, "Which company?"

"Faceless God Studio... Didn't you introduce to them? What's going on lately, another flu outbreak?"

"Do you know where it is?"

"Of course."

Ai Shiping then gave him an address.

It was exactly the sa place Ming Po had just visited, without a single deviation.

A chill ran through Ming Po's heart.

He realized the problem might be far bigger than he imagined.

"Hold off on going there for now. No matter who ssages you, bla it on . For the next few days... no, for the next week, absolutely do not go outside, understand?"

"...What about grabbing packages?"

"Inside the residential complex is fine, but don't leave the gates."

As he spoke, Ming Po realized his words might have been a bit too harsh.

If this unfilial son sensed sothing was wrong, it might just spark his curiosity and rebellious streak, which would be bad.

So, Ming Po casually covered his tracks: "I might co back at any ti over the next few days, but I lost my keys."

"Oh, alright then. You didn't even say a word about going on a business trip... Where did you go anyway? Why did your phone have no signal? I told you to swap out that garbage Apple phone."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, keep it a secret and wait for to get back."

Having said his piece, Ming Po hung up and breathed a sigh of relief.

He pondered for a mont before sitting down at Ai Shiping's computer.

He searched for "Ouroboros Ring" and, sure enough, found a ton of guide videos with over a million views.

He then searched for Lawyer Chen, but could not find the man.

"...As expected."

Ming Po muttered softly to himself and typed the word "ti" into the search bar.

The second option in the input thod's suggestions directly popped up with the current date and ti:

May 20, 2023, 14:06:41

"What is going on..."

Ming Po whispered.

But in the very next mont.

He watched helplessly as the ti in the input thod seed to be devoured by a line of dark golden worms, fading away without a trace.

Ming Po fell silent for a second, then typed "ti" again.

The second option that popped up this ti beca:

March 4, 2026, 14:00:22

His eyes widened drastically.

Realizing what had just happened, Ming Po imdiately searched for Ouroboros Ring once more.

But this ti, absolutely nothing ca up. The search results were either about the ouroboros snake itself or the Mobius strip. He even saw a random video about "The Day of Shooting the Ring" and so showcase for a ga called Mutiny.

He clicked open the browser and checked his search history, only to find that his previous search record for Ouroboros Ring had vanished into thin air.

He imdiately pulled out his phone again and called Ai Shiping.

"What now?" The other party asked impatiently. "Say that again, what were you planning to do just now?"

"Do you have dentia, Ah Po?! Are you turning into an old granny?"

Ai Shiping was losing his patience: "Didn't I just tell you... A friend invited to a livehouse and bought a ticket. Did you change your mind again? I just told them I wasn't going."

In that instant, an indescribable, bone-chilling cold spread through the depths of Ming Po's heart.

He stayed silent for a few seconds before saying casually, "It's nothing. Just send your friend's WeChat contact. I need to ask them sothing."

"Sure."

"Oh, right."

Ming Po asked casually, "What gas have you been playing lately?"

"Delta Force, and Yan Yun."

"No more MMOs? I thought you loved playing MMOs."

"Yan Yun counts as an MMO, I guess. Mostly, these two are just more profitable right now. MMOs have been going downhill these past few years. I made so decent cash boosting people in Naraka Bladepoint before, but I don't really want to play it lately. I was actually looking forward to Aion 2, but that flopped too. The Koreans never disappoint when it cos to being disappointing. Are you planning to play an MMO? The storyline in FFXIV has been pretty rough recently, so I really don't recomnd coming back to it. Speaking of which, didn't you buy a Nintendo Switch 2 and ZA? The console and cartridge got delivered ages ago, and you still haven't co back to unbox them. If you aren't playing them, can I give them a spin?"

Ai Shiping chattered on endlessly.

Obviously, unlike Ming Po—even without Ouroboros Ring, his passion for video gas remained strong.

"Yeah, go ahead and play. Just don't go out recently."

"Ah, I know, I know, Ah Po, you're such a nag. You're coming back next week, right? Or the week after? When you get back, I'll treat you to so barbecue."

"You just want to eat it yourself. Where do you want to go?"

"Hulun Has Beef, right? That place you said was really good last ti."

"...Alright. I have so things to take care of, I'm hanging up."

Ming Po said, pressing the button to end the call.

His straight back felt as though it had been frozen solid.

Ming Po sat in silence for a mont, then slowly began to clear his browsing and search history.

—He had never heard of any of the gas Ai Shiping had just ntioned, not a single one. He hadn't even heard of the barbecue place he brought up... let alone possess any mory of ever going there to eat with him.

Was there really any need for such a chaotic and broken worldline to exist?

Such a thought surfaced in Ming Po's mind.

The entire world was being recklessly overwritten by the power of the chips.

A person's current emotions, their past mories, and the things they were ant to do in the future—everything collapsed and disintegrated in the face of that indescribable power, erased and altered at will.

Before it, everything mortals treated as treasure was incredibly fragile—lives, experiences, emotions.

It was a power that neither laws, morality, nor violence could stop. It felt like the authority level of an existence from a higher dinsion.

"...Is this truly a power that mortals can possess?"

Had he not already beco a Deceiver of the World, perhaps his own mories would have been rewritten as well.

—That sort of thing was absolutely unacceptable.

Ming Po lowered his gaze slightly, but his fists didn't clench. Even his furrowed brow relaxed. There was no visible expression on his face, and his eyes were as calm as still water.

But that did not an he wasn't angry.

If his friends were here, they would know that this was exactly how Ming Po looked when he was truly infuriated!

It was the wrath of having his territory invaded—neither loud nor explosive, but rather silent, relaxed, and chilling.

Like a snake. Like a wolf.