Keep attacking girls and try not to be killed by them

In this desolate world with almost no information, the text on this only stone pillar must contain some clues to guide the challenger through the trial.

(Facing fear...daring to fight "oneself", this should be facing fear, right?)

(What does it mean to live toward death? Is it something similar to Martin Heidegger's philosophy?)

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Jiang Ran was a little confused. He didn't have to "commit suicide" to pass the trial, right?

He wouldn't dare to make such an attempt if he wasn't absolutely sure. If he failed, there would be no chance to start over.

While thinking this, Jiang Ran killed "himself" for the twelfth time.

The way he killed "himself" now was as easy and simple as exploiting a bug. Every time the shadow clone appeared in the same place and in the same way, Jiang Ran only needed to find the right time to shoot an arrow at the head.

But after killing "himself" for the twelfth time, Jiang Ran suddenly understood.

(So ​​that’s how it is…)

(I've never "faced my fear"...!)

5.30 - Game of Gamblers (Part )

Face your fears.

These four words are not difficult to understand.

However, it takes some thought for people to understand what they "really" fear.

Jiang Ran initially thought that facing fear meant facing the fear of fighting and the fear of death. As long as he fought and won against his own "shadow", he would be considered facing fear.

Now it seems that this understanding is a bit superficial.

During the twelve times of shooting "himself", Jiang Ran found it easier and simpler each time.

Not to mention fear, even the tension is gone.

Jiang Ran's instinct actually knew what he was really afraid of, and his reason, with the help of instinct, subconsciously avoided situations that would bring him fear.

Fortunately, after shooting "himself" for the twelfth time, Jiang Ran suddenly realized it.

Unknowingly, he had already brought what would happen in this trial into his control, and this was also Jiang Ran's usual style in various battles.

He always analyzes the risks first, then designs tactics to avoid them, and finally wins the battle with the least risk.

Risk means an uncontrollable situation. In order to avoid risks, Jiang Ran usually prefers to fight at a distance, using distance to buy his own reaction time and dodge time, and then gradually weaken the enemy, control the situation, and finally win the victory steadily.

Jiang Ran finally understood that what he was really afraid of in this trial was actually a close combat with his own "shadow".

Close combat means no time to think and an uncontrollable situation, which is what Jiang Ran fears.

(But... in close combat, am I sure I can defeat myself?)

There are 20 seconds left until the thirteenth battle.

Jiang Ran thought for 15 seconds and then made a decision.

(Then let’s fight!)

Jiang Ran glanced at the word "Jiang" on the palm of his hand, then put down the fir tree demon's long hunting bow, took out the two quivers, and put all the props that were not needed for the time being, such as the glowing magic stone, flint, telescope, etc. on the ground.

Next, he will fight a decisive battle with his own "shadow" for the first time as a "junior assassin".

·

As the countdown ended again, Jiang Ran stood face to face with his "shadow" 20 meters away.

(Come on, what will you do?)

Jiang Ran held a shield in one hand and the black sword Flame Horse in the other, with his knees slightly bent, ready to attack.

After hesitating for a moment, the shadow enemy raised his longbow and aimed at Jiang Ran.

(Oh, it’s exactly like me.)

Jiang Ran immediately began to maneuver around the shadow enemy, gradually shortening the distance between the two sides.

Jiang Ran had tested the firing speed of the Fir Tree Spirit's longhunting bow, and found that it was about 90 meters per second when fired horizontally. This meant that at a distance of 20 meters, he only had 0.2 seconds to react and dodge.

However, this is not a problem, because the red light warning of the Super-Dimensional God's Eye can start to give an alert up to three seconds in advance.

As Jiang Ran was running, he noticed that the red light countdown had begun, so he seized the opportunity, changed direction, and easily avoided the first arrow.

And this is the only arrow the shadow enemy has a chance to shoot.

After successfully dodging, Jiang Ran directly charged forward in a straight line. Seeing this, the shadow enemy knew that it was too late to shoot the second arrow, so he immediately dropped his longbow and replaced it with a round shield and a black sword and a flame horse to prepare for close combat.

At this critical moment, Jiang Ran was thinking about when the shadow enemy would use the "Shadow Escape Step"?

In this desolate space, there are only three places with shadows around, namely the shadow of the stone pillar, Jiang Ran's shadow and the enemy's shadow.

If you teleport to the shadow of the stone pillar, you will create distance;

And if you teleport to the opponent's shadow, it will be an almost certain kill;

Jiang Ran was almost certain that the shadow enemy would choose to kill with one strike, the only question left was when he would use it.

Is it the moment when the distance is shortened to 10 meters?

Or should I just hold it in until Jiang Ran uses the "Shadow Escape Step" first and then counterattack?

In any case, the cooldown time of "Shadow Step" is as long as 30 seconds. Once used, there is no chance to use it a second time.

The key to the outcome of this battle lies in who can win the game of "Shadow Escape Step".

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Ran had advanced to within ten meters of the enemy. At this moment, he activated "Computing Power Boost·Overclocking", and he believed that the enemy must have activated the same skill.

A second passes.

Two seconds passed.

Neither side used the "Shadow Escape Step" and entered the realm of hand-to-hand combat, wary of each other.

As the saying goes, magic is fast at seven steps away, and it is both accurate and fast within seven steps.

Within this distance, any party using the Black Sword Flame Horse's skill "Blue Flame Horse" will be unavoidable. Moreover, "Blue Flame Horse" can be used together with the Black Sword Flame Horse's slash, and there will be no chanting flaws like traditional magic.

However, Jiang Ran did not use the "Blue Flame Horse", and the shadow enemies were also useless.

Because they all realized that when using the skill "Blue Flame Horse", the spreading blue flames would block the user's vision, making it impossible to detect the enemy using "Shadow Step" in the first place.

If you can't detect it in time, then there's no way to use the strategy of using "Shadow Escape Step" to counter "Shadow Escape Step".

Taking advantage of the momentum of the charge, Jiang Ran made a light slash with his sword as a test, but was blocked by the enemy's round shield. Then, the enemy stabbed with a sword in his backhand, also as a test, so Jiang Ran simply stepped back and made a small jump to avoid it.

Jiang Ran had a feeling that not only could he guess what the enemy was thinking, but the enemy could also guess what he was thinking.

This is the biggest advantage and disadvantage of fighting with yourself.

The tense confrontation and temptation increased Jiang Ran's heart rate to the limit.

He was both nervous and excited. In this evenly matched contest, if either side relaxed for a moment or made a tiny mistake, the outcome would be decided in the blink of an eye.

In this trial where mind reading is ineffective, Jiang Ran must think one step closer to the future than "himself"!

(Then let me surpass myself!)

The boiling fighting spirit activated Jiang Ran's whole body. At this moment, the former Jiang Yiran was back. Not only was his mind working at full speed, but his body was also in the best condition!

Since this trial requires him to face his fear, then he will overcome his fear!

(Hashrate boost and overclocking!)

As he activated his skill, Jiang Ran lowered his body and took a step towards the enemy! This was a close combat area that he had never wanted to enter before!

The enemy reacted immediately by lowering their center of gravity to prepare for defense, but Jiang Ran suddenly stopped, jumped sideways, and swung the iron round shield in his hand, smashing it hard on the enemy's head.

In a flash, the enemy raised his round shield to block, but at this moment, Jiang Ran had already thrown out the poisonous dagger again, accurately attacking the enemy's leg!

Seeing the poisonous dagger about to hit, the enemy swung his sword and barely deflected the flying dagger, but Jiang Ran's attack was not over yet! He had already taken the opportunity to circle behind the enemy and fiercely swung out the black sword Flame Horse!

At the critical moment of life and death, the enemy who was forced into a desperate situation did not use the "Shadow Escape Step", but twisted his body forcibly and blocked the slashing path of the Black Sword Flame Horse with his iron round shield.

Just as the sword and shield were about to collide violently, Jiang Ran, who had the upper hand in the confrontation, suddenly disappeared!

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5.31 - The Real Strong One (Part )

(Shadow Escape Step!)

Jiang Ran spotted the shadow behind the enemy and moved over instantly!

After half a second of surprise, the enemy immediately turned around to look behind him, but at this time, the black sword Flame Horse swung from behind him had already ignited blue flames -!

Without any hesitation, the enemy immediately used the "Shadow Escape Step"!

The target he chose was the shadow behind Jiang Ran! He had been waiting for this moment for a long time!

But what he didn't expect was that at the same time he completed the teleportation, Jiang Ran had already twisted his waist and hips, abruptly changing the direction of the swing!

What greeted this shadow clone was an overwhelming blue flame!

"BOOM!" With a loud bang, the blue flame horse, neighing along with the flames, galloped towards the shadow clone. Its extremely high temperature ended his life in an instant!!!

·

"Huh...huh...huh..."

Jiang Ran stuck the black sword Flame Horse into the ground and used the sword to support himself.

He completed this round of fierce fighting almost entirely in an anaerobic state.

It was only at this moment, after seeing the enemy's vitality drop to zero, that he relaxed and began to breathe heavily.

According to Jiang Ran's usual style, skills like "Shadow Escape Step" must be used to counterattack when the enemy's attack is in a stiff state.

But just now, he broke through his own limitations and suddenly teleported away when he was about to attack, successfully catching the enemy off guard.

Afterwards, even if the enemy used the "Shadow Escape Step" to counter, it was already within Jiang Ran's expectations.

The strongest point of the skill "Shadow Step" is its "suddenness".

Once you know when the user will use it and where the user will teleport to, the effectiveness of Shadow Step will be greatly reduced.

After seeing the enemy use the "Shadow Escape Step", Jiang Ran immediately knew that the enemy must have teleported to the shadow behind him, and the red light prompt that appeared immediately confirmed his judgment.

Therefore, Jiang Ran was able to deliver a "big gift" to the enemy as soon as he completed the teleportation, leaving him no room to react.

After this battle, Jiang Ran became more resolute in his previous thoughts - skills like "Shadow Escape Step" must never be known to others.

·

Looking at the shadow replica that was burned to charcoal, Jiang Ran felt his own fragility.

If you get shot in the head by an arrow, you will die. If you get hit by a "Blue Flame Horse", you will become very cooked in a second.

These 300 points of vitality are really not enough.

However, it was precisely because of this that he was able to kill "himself" thirteen times without much effort.

(You should let me pass this time, right?)

Jiang Ran looked at the enemy's charred corpse, fearing that it would turn into a black shadow and sink into the ground again.

However, Jiang Ran's worries were unnecessary. This time, the enemy's body turned into black smoke and floated in the air.

At the same time, the words "Face your fear" on the stone pillar also disappeared.

Seeing this, Jiang Ran was both happy and confused.

I am glad that I have finally escaped from this cycle of killing “myself”;

What is puzzling is why only the four words "face your fear" disappeared, then what about the remaining "live towards death"?

Jiang Ran, feeling something was wrong, quickly retreated and put back on the equipment and props he had just taken off.

This is certainly a heavier burden, but having more options always means more chances of success. At worst, you can just throw them all away when necessary.

·

Not long after, the huge black magic circle emerged from the ground again. This time, there was no 60-second countdown on the magic circle. Instead, it continued to rise into the air and spread into a super-giant magic circle of the same structure, hovering in the air and slowly rotating.

(It seems like something big is about to come out...)