Infinite spooky game

Sunset Ruins, Player Square.

The players who were watching the live broadcast of the Colosseum dungeon saw the big screen flash twice and then go black. At the same time, new text appeared on the record stone tablet, accompanied by the full broadcast:

[The True End of the Colosseum-"The Gambling Game of the Gods" has been included]

[MVP player: ** (This player has not set a display nickname)]

[The Colosseum dungeon has been permanently closed due to force majeure]

[Last player to clear the level: ** (This player has not set a display nickname)]

The "Colosseum" copy has already attracted the attention of thousands of players due to the dual hype of debates in the forum and private booking within the game.

Now that the ending of the game has finally been determined, the spectators are talking about it.

"What happened? Does anyone know what happened next? I saw Lin Wuya enter the temple, and a few minutes later, the temple collapsed."

"At least you managed to see the end of the dungeon. I was following Lin Ye's live broadcast, but unfortunately I was killed by Fan Zhanwei in the middle. After searching around, I found out that someone had reserved the entire Sunset Ruins, but it was gone just as I arrived."

"Who is that MVP player? Lin Wuya? Why is there only one player who cleared the level in the end? Did they all die?"

"It's impossible that they were all destroyed. I didn't see any signs of complete destruction. Could they have all been crushed to death by the temple?"

"I understand. Although they were in the same dungeon, the players completed the game in different order. A group of people came out first and achieved the NE ending; only one person stayed until the end and completed the game with the TE ending."

At this time, several players who had just come out of the "Colosseum" copy also came to the Sunset Ruins, including the teammate who entered the temple with Lin Chen.

He talked nonstop: "It was so thrilling. Lin Wuya and I entered the temple and met an evil god. The evil god asked him to kill me, saying that only in this way could he become a god and go find the man called 'Qisi'.

"Before I could react, he slashed my neck with a knife. It was so painful... Fortunately, he somehow came up with it and resurrected me."

"Resurrection?" a player wearing glasses asked suspiciously, "How did he do it? When did resurrection become so worthless?"

"I don't know either. If I knew, wouldn't I have become a big shot like him?"

"Then do you know what the 'Gods' Gamble' in the TE ending is about? What did Lin Wuyao and the evil god bet on?"

"Huh? What kind of bet is this? Someone got the TE ending?"

……

Except for Zis, basically all the players in "Colosseum" were in a confused state. They completed the game inexplicably and were thrown out of the dungeon.

——Including Lin Chen.

Lin Chen opened his eyes at the guild base and saw various documents piled messily on the desk. He was unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

He originally thought that he would stay in the "Colosseum" copy forever, and would be fed with the rules as food at some point in time. He never thought that he would be able to come back here.

His last impression was that Qisi was holding the scepter of Poseidon and saying something to the huge golden eyes that Li had transformed into.

Then, the temple above the Colosseum fell down with a bang, crushing all the players under its shadow...

The system interface that had disappeared was reloaded, like a computer program recovering from a malfunction after a crash, and the field of vision also caught the light again in the sudden darkness.

Lin Chen felt as if he had had a bizarre and absurd nightmare, and had just woken up from a heavy hallucination like the deep sea.

He could feel the scarlet leaves floating at the bottom of his mind, and murmured, "Brother Qi, are you still there?"

"I'm here." Qi Si's voice sounded calmly, "You can go back first. You don't have to wait for me."

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly thought of a terrible possibility: Li needed a new god as a sacrifice, so how could he let him go so easily? Unless there was another being who took his place...

Just as he was about to ask, he heard a helpless sigh: "What are you thinking about? I won a game and I'm just looking for the loser to share the profits. I guess some people will argue about it. It will be too late if you wait for me to come out."

"Really...really?"

"If you're really worried, go to the restaurant we went to before and order a table of food. We can talk slowly when I come out."

"Huh? Oh oh! I'll go right away!" Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief, and his mind moved. The next second, his figure appeared under the World Tree in Sunset Ruins.

The Players' Square was packed with people. He said he was under a tree, but he couldn't see the tree trunk, only the moving heads of people.

Turning around, I saw that the steep cliff at the edge of the square was only fifty meters away, and the broken walls and ruins in the distance were clearly visible.

He couldn't help but be stunned: Why are there more people coming to Sunset Ruins today than on the day Fu Jue showed up?
In his mind, Qi Si added slowly: "Don't forget to order Longjing shrimp. It tasted good last time."

"Uh-huh!"

Lin Chen collected his scattered thoughts, pushed through the crowd, and ran towards the European-style town on the other side of the square.

……

The light in the ancient Greek temple was dim, the murals on the walls had faded, revealing the cracked bricks underneath. The dome, which was carved with patterns, was as high as the universe, and the many worn gems dotted it were cold and lonely.

The angular rubble was suspended in the vast space, as if time was frozen at the moment of collapse, surrounding the long bronze table in the center of the temple like small meteorites next to a planet.

Li sat at one side of the long table, and Qi Si sat down opposite him, smiling: "All irrelevant people have been sent away, it's time for further communication. First of all, I want to ask - your bet with that guy Qi is over, right?"

"Yes." Li didn't seem to care about the disrespect in Qis's words, and his tone was flat. "He won. You, as His chess piece, swept my chess piece off the chessboard."

Qi Si raised his eyebrows and looked at Him: "From your tone, you are not frustrated. You even expected this outcome and accepted it calmly."

"There is no need for extra emotions. From your human perspective, this is nothing more than a cricket fight." Li raised his hand, and the phantom of a black and white chessboard appeared in the void. The chess pieces of various colors moved on it by themselves, simulating and replaying the progress of the game.

The red and white chess pieces and the black chess pieces moved apart after meeting each other, and the white chess piece in the shape of Poseidon was pushed off the board. Chess pieces appeared and disappeared one after another until only a few were left.

On the vast and lonely chessboard, the red, white and black chess pieces stood facing each other alone. At a certain moment, they suddenly moved and collided with each other.

In an instant, the chessboard shattered into pieces, turning into fine powder that was blown away by the sudden wind.

Li said calmly: "I lost, which proves that Qi's plan has a high success rate and can be officially implemented, that's all."

Qi Sixu squinted his eyes and said, "You weren't so calm when you cheated with Qi before. I almost died in your hands in the "Shuangxi Town" copy..."

"When humans play cricket fighting, don't they often put their hands into the cup?" Li asked back, and continued, "Of course, I realized not long ago that I chose the wrong chess piece at the beginning of this game, and I was doomed to have no chance of winning."

Qi Si stroked his chin and thought for a while, then said, "When it comes to this kind of situation, I usually choose to overturn the chessboard and start over."

"It's meaningless." Li shook his head. "The referee has gone crazy, so there's no need to continue the bet. I'd rather try new options than fix past mistakes."

"Oh? Is it... like this?" Qi Si narrowed his eyes.

He knew that the referee Li mentioned was the rules. Although he didn't know how "crazy" this abstract concept was, he could understand that the importance of a gamble without a referee would plummet. After all, cashing in the bet would become troublesome and would most likely end in nothing.

But the question is...is this gambling game with so many implications really unimportant?
If that was the case, why did Qi come to see him in person and promise to tell him the last part of the truth after he cleared the dungeon?
Qi once told him: "A gamble involving the gods of the past, present and future has begun. I have placed a heavy bet and hope that you will keep winning until you take the final crown of Sunset Ruins."

Judging from the result of the gamble, "The Last Crown of Sunset Ruins" refers to the qualification to become a god.

But "rules feed on gods", and the result of becoming a god is nothing more than being swallowed by the rules. What is there worth pursuing?

And...what are the chips on the deed?
Something happened during the "Ragnarok" twenty-two years ago. The Ruins of Sunset were destroyed and Qi was exiled to the "Meat-eating" copy.

He already had nothing, and everything he had left to stake was of great importance. How could what he was betting on be as trivial and insignificant as Li said?
Or is it that the gamble among the gods that he and Li understood is different?

"I understand." Qi Si looked at Li calmly, "No wonder you knew my plan but never interfered or obstructed it. I guess you have a new plan outside of the original gambling game, so Chang Xu is insignificant to you."

He held his chin with his hand and raised the corner of his lips maliciously: "In that case, how about giving me his body? I'll make a specimen and keep it as a souvenir. Otherwise, I'll always worry that he will come back to life one day."

Li refused: "No, his body is still useful to me."

"Useful? What are you going to do?"

"I want to see your world."

Li answered simply, then changed the subject: "Compared to him, I want to know your choice more. You proposed a deal with me and bet with me on the outcome of the game, but until now you have never put the chips on the table. Instead, you asked me for the so-called bet. I know that you have big plans."

Qi Si was a little disappointed that he failed to get Chang Xu's body, but not much.

I believe that as the current main god of the weird game, Li would not be so tasteless as to deceive him and secretly resurrect Chang Xu.

He tilted his head and said indifferently: "You want to see my value, so I show you my value, that's all. The fact that I want to win the gambling game of the gods should be enough for you to recognize me a little more."

"And then?" Li stared at him with golden pupils, the golden light in his eyes flowing like a whirlpool, "The rules are about to awaken, but I gave up the sacrifice that was within my grasp as you wished."

"This involves the deal I want to discuss with you." Qi Si looked up at the dome, where the gems inlaid had turned into a bright gold. "The nutritional value of the new gods is probably not as sufficient as the old gods. I think it is enough to have one person who holds the power of the contract, and the remaining souls of the old era should also rest in peace - what do you think?"

He didn't say it explicitly, but the implication behind his words was clear: he would sacrifice the deed, and then... replace it.

Li's tone finally showed some movement: "You are the chess piece chosen by Qi. His shadow has been present in all your past twenty-two years. After entering the strange game, you also received a lot of help from Him. I don't understand why you made such a choice."

"Because of profit." Qi Si lowered his eyes and spoke in a very light voice, "A banished and imprisoned god can't bring me any more benefits. I have already extracted enough value from Him, and even part of the contract authority.

"In the next game, I want to take His place as a chess player and sit at the gambling table according to the rules."

Li asked: "Why do you think I would agree to trade with you?"

Keith didn't answer right away.

A blood mist as white as beads and gauze emerged in front of him, and within a few seconds it condensed into a long bright red scroll, with the golden word "契" shining brightly on it.

He smiled, his eyes curved. "If you want to completely control the strange game and freely create copies, you must use the power of the contract. I think you have been constrained by the contract in the past. This is why you took the risk of being discovered cheating to come to me in "Double Happiness Town".

“Now I can tell you that the power of the contract in me is not complete, and part of it is still under the control of Qi. But I believe that as long as I can kill Him unexpectedly, I can inherit everything from him and become the new god.

"You haven't killed Qi for so many years. I guess you are restricted by the rules, right?"

Qi Si paused deliberately, waiting for Li's answer.

Li Dao: "Yes, I cannot kill a being of the same status as me, unless he falls into evil and madness, like the ancestor god."

"I see." The evil appearance of the Lord of Life in "The Frog Hospital" flashed before Qi Si's eyes, and he knew that it would be difficult for the contract to develop to that level.

He went on: "Then the matter is very clear. As a player, killing gods is allowed and even encouraged by the rules. In Frog Hospital, I even unlocked the achievement of 'blasphemer'. I think you will need my help on this point.

"You know, I'm just a player who has just entered the weird game for more than a month. I don't have much experience, and my fighting ability is even more worrying. You might as well take a gamble. By then, I will be easier to deal with than Qi."

Silence spread in the temple. Golden spots of light floated and flew irregularly, sometimes dispersing and sometimes gathering, weaving into various magnificent and beautiful patterns.

After a long pause, Li nodded and said, "I will help you within the scope allowed by the rules. In the next instance, you may have a chance to seize divine power."

"I'm already looking forward to it." Qisi stood up and asked casually, "Is 'He' still in the 'Flesh-Eating' instance?"

"No longer." Li said, "He is in Rose Manor." (End of this chapter)