"A genuinely good person, especially if they're sowhat clever, would naturally develop a 'savior complex' upon solving the puzzle and realizing these people are innocent victims."
"But falling for that would an stepping right into your trap... leading to eternal damnation!"
"If I'm not mistaken, we aren't the first players to co here, are we? Did all the previous ones get trapped here permanently?"
"In that case, you're the real monster here. I should learn from you..."
Lu Ce's body was now completely pierced by nurous tubes. Raising his head with a mocking smile, he stared at the dark wall before him.
Seems I'm not the only beast in this place.
After their conversation began, the surrounding goblins had halted their attacks again. The endless sea of creatures pressed Lu Ce into the center, creating a bizarre interrogation scene.
In this prison, everyone seed to be the one being interrogated.
Lu Ce's eyes behind the pink mask scanned the goblin army, sensing impending danger.
He noticed clearly - all the splattered green blood, whether on walls or floor, disappeared instantly as if being absorbed.
The dismbered corpses from his earlier explosions were nowhere to be seen, replaced by fresh goblin troops. He couldn't comprehend where all the dead bodies had gone.
In other words... these things might truly be infinite!
[Life] here ant they died and were reborn endlessly.
So...
Lu Ce's gaze returned to the tubes piercing his body.
"I see..." The voice finally spoke again, its green fluorescent glow forming a vague face in the air that looked down upon Lu Ce.
"So you actually recognized these issues and were just pretending to be the villain here."
"That's putting it rather disgustingly." Lu Ce pushed aside so tubes blocking his view.
"Good or evil are just convenient labels."
"Honestly, the mont I saw this ga scenario, I knew the simplest solution would be killing everyone to escape."
"I should thank you for relieving my moral burden."
"And after discovering their mories were altered, do you know my first thought?"
"What? That I'm utterly despicable?" Life responded with apparent interest.
"No. It was 'what a hassle.'" Lu Ce raised his right hand and tapped his temple with a finger.
"Social conditioning left with this annoying thing called 'morality.'"
"Though I knew being a monster was the optimal choice, I might still hesitate."
"So I thought - if only I could find an excuse to proceed guilt-free..."
"And unfortunately for you, I found one."
The mocking smile on his pink mask silenced Life montarily.
The fluorescent green face in the air seed to stiffen, clearly unable to comprehend what kind of being stood before it.
Finally, it asked: "But if you realized this, why didn't you explain it to your teammate earlier?"
"Haven't you heard the saying?"
"What?"
"Busybodies choke on their own farts."
Life: "..."
"I'm not human."
"Then you're quite good at insulting yourself."
Their verbal sparring continued, with Lu Ce seemingly venting his darkest impulses.
Though his life drained away like sand through an hourglass, he still found energy for this banter.
That such exchanges could occur between life and death left the tense audience watching the ga feed completely bewildered.
[Chat: Wait... must they crack jokes when I'm terrified?]
[Chat: Is... is this how gods converse with top players? So childish.]
[Chat: Also, this god seems... off. Too relatable? Lacks the gravitas of previous deities like Joy.]
Lu Ce noticed nothing amiss. Taking advantage of the goblins' temporary ceasefire, he obsessively polished the three brains until they glead.
"Fine, I'll grace you with an answer."
"At that ti, I wasn't completely certain. Plus, explaining would've been tedious."
"And what if you'd interfered upon learning the truth?"
There was another unspoken reason - malicious jealousy. He was testing Xie Antong, seeing whether she could make morally reprehensible choices for victory.
Without that resolve, she'd only be dead weight!
"Oh?" Life's tone held no divine dignity as it pressed, "But now you've told . What then?"
"Because now... I believe it's too late for you to act!"
Without warning, Lu Ce launched his attack. Hell's Roar erupted at maximum power as he tore free from the tubes.
Simultaneously, he bit open a high-grade potion with his teeth and chugged it down.
......
Outside, prisoners collapsed en masse. Xie Antong's helt had extended from partial to near-full coverage.
She couldn't let anyone see her pale face - only her determined eyes remained visible.
The endless goblin tide continued. Though the three elites fought valiantly, the situation appeared hopeless.
"Seems impossible... Blank, what now? Won't Sin intervene?" Cutter asked weakly, far exceeding his capabilities as a barely-top-10,000 player.
"Yeah, and we're really not attacking the walls? We can't hold much longer," Charge Horn voiced his despair.
"So this is... Hell Mode? Blank, this is really—"
"No problems!" Xie Antong cut him off decisively.
Only her eyes showed through the helt, yet they shone with reassuring steel.
"Everything proceeds as planned. No issues whatsoever."
She forced control over her trembling body, steadying both voice and gaze.
She was bluffing - but knew when other players looked to her as their pillar...
She had to bluff!
She had to make everyone believe they weren't cornered yet.
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