"The girl stepped onto the spiral staircase and ascended to the next level on the Path of Destiny."

The sixth card was still a spiral staircase. After the piece moved past it, the Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair reshuffled the cards.

This time, a card appeared on each side of the piece, forming a cross.

This meant that after moving to one card, if she wanted to move to another, she generally had to return to the center of the cross and then move again—the game only allowed movement forward, backward, left, or right, not diagonally.

However, the pattern on the back of the cards had changed: it was no longer the unpredictable starry sky but a mysterious dark green shadow.

The piece moved towards the card in front. The nearby candle suddenly flickered, threatening to go out, but then stubbornly blazed again, illuminating the front of the card: hands reaching down, trying to grasp something non-existent.

*Too Late*

"The girl followed the path revealed by a fissure in the earth, entering the lower levels of the Rift Valley. As soon as she stepped in, she felt as though her body had become heavier. However, it was just a sensation; her body hadn't changed at all."

"The underground is very dark, but the girl can create light," said the Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair. "She walked downward, further down. Encountering a fork in the road, she followed her intuition and chose a path to continue deeper."

The front of the card showed a girl rapidly walking down a rugged and narrow underground path, her right arm burning to serve as a light source.

Suddenly, a pale blue arm burst out of the right stone wall. Unnamed didn't panic. She immediately drew her Two-Handed Greatsword and severed the blue arm!

But blue arms also burst out from the stone walls on the left and behind her. Unnamed shouted loudly and chopped them all off!

After being severed, the blue arms turned into smoke and dispersed, but new blue arms continued to emerge!

"The girl is under attack by the 'Hands of Too Late.' Should she advance or retreat?"

At that moment, two options appeared on the screen in front of Ren Suo: "① Continue forward ② Retreat."

Ren Suo's eyes narrowed slightly. There will definitely be a Destiny check here, he thought, and the 'Despair' rate for advancing will certainly be higher than for retreating.

This could easily lead to a Serious Injury.

I need to prepare...

Thinking this, Ren Suo washed his hands and wiped the grease off the controller before choosing "Continue forward."

As expected, a check was performed here: Hope, Great Hope, Great Despair, Great Despair, with a fifty-percent chance of sudden death.

Ren Suo steeled himself and drew—he actually got Great Hope!

He only heard the Supreme Supreme hum lightly. Then, the blue arms in the corridor suddenly hung limply, like the tired hands of someone who had been petting a cat for hours. Unnamed easily passed through the corridor unscathed.

"These delicate arms are the hands of the young," said the Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair. "Too late to send love letters, too late to hold onto loved ones, too late for diligent Effort... For the young, 'too late' is regret over missed opportunities."

Ren Suo glanced at the live stream comments: "Immortal Venerate hums, and these arms go soft!"

"Believe it or not, if I hum, your little peckers will go soft too."

"If your girlfriend suddenly hums coldly and mercilessly in bed, then you really will go soft."

"Alas, if I hadn't hesitated and been indecisive back then, I could have had a girlfriend too..."

"These little hands... Immortal Venerate couldn't even be bothered to speak, just effortlessly annihilated them."

But after passing this path, Unnamed once again faced obstruction by the blue arms!

It was another check, but this time it was Hope, Despair, Despair, Despair!

"Immeasurable Celestial Honored One, Amitabha, Hallelujah!" Ren Suo prayed before drawing.

The next second, arms also burst out of the ground, grabbing Unnamed's legs. She nearly fell flat on her face, but luckily, she supported herself with her Two-Handed Greatsword and fought her way out, though her body was now covered in numerous cuts from the Hands of Too Late!

He drew the Card of Despair!

"These robust arms belong to middle-aged people," said the Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair. "Too late to achieve dreams, too late to honor parents, too late to generate love with passion, too late to progress further... For the middle-aged, 'too late' is anger at oneself."

Is this your excuse for groping a vibrant young beauty?! You don't even go for a wardrobe malfunction, just straight to injuring her body!

This is bad, Ren Suo thought, but he still had the Supreme Supreme hum.

At that moment, the live chat comments changed to: "Alas, the Supreme Supreme wanted to test the girl, and it seems she has disappointed the Supreme Supreme."

"The Supreme Supreme is really Strict, isn't he?"

"If I had been resolute in buying a house three years ago... it's too late now, all too late."

"A half-hearted combat Status is the worst. When I was a Mercenary in Europe, I also had to go through such trials."

"Yeah, when I joined the military..."

Great, Ren Suo thought. A bunch of keyboard mercenaries and keyboard warriors are disrupting the chat's atmosphere. For now, no one suspects anything is wrong with the Supreme Supreme not taking action.

But if Unnamed suffered Serious Injury again next time, it might not be so easy to brush it off.

However, it turned out that passing through two corridors was not enough; a third check stage appeared:

Great Hope, Great Despair, Great Despair, Great Despair!

They're really trying to screw the game character over!

Ren Suo's lips twitched slightly.

At this moment, the balcony window suddenly made a sound. He paused, quickly turning off the TV screen.

A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. When Ren Suo went to open the door, he indeed saw Little Jiu standing outside.

She had her hair braided into thick plaits today, giving her a surprisingly grown-up look. She held out the thermos in her hand to Ren Suo and said, "Sister Ling made century egg and lean pork congee today, for Big Brother!"

"Thank you." Ren Suo ruffled her hair, which was very soft. Little Jiu clearly enjoyed the touch as she started to walk into the house.

"Hey, wait a minute." Ren Suo squatted down to stop her. "Sister Ling didn't ask you to come and play at my house all morning, did she? She must have other tasks for you, right?"

Little Jiu's gaze drifted upward. "No, no."

"What about your long vacation homework?"

Little Jiu shivered. "Wh-what about it?"

"Hurry back and finish it, otherwise don't even think about coming to my place to play on your phone," Ren Suo snorted coldly.

Little Jiu huffed. "Long vacation homework? That little vixen! I'll have her whipped into shape on the very last day!"

Hmm?

Ren Suo quickly sent Little Jiu back home. I have to tell Dong Chengling not to let Little Jiu watch too many palace intrigue dramas, he thought.

However, after some consideration, he suppressed the thought—palace intrigue dramas weren't bad for a child's intellectual development; at least they could help Little Jiu recognize the treachery of the world.

But he still had to ask Dong Chengling to make sure Little Jiu hurried up with her long vacation homework. Otherwise, if the last day of vacation was spent just catching up on homework, how tragic would that be!

Back on the sofa, Ren Suo could no longer delay. Besides, he had no other tricks up his sleeve, so he simply turned his head away and drew a card at random!

Ren Suo thought, This time, Unnamed is probably going to be thoroughly groped by the Hands of Too Late. But when he turned his head, he saw Unnamed running comfortably and effortlessly through the corridor, all the Hands of Too Late completely limp!

He actually drew Great Hope!

This time, he made the Supreme Supreme sigh. The entire live chat immediately turned into: "An old father's concern," "Immortal Venerate really does love his daughter after all," "Indeed, everything is within Immortal Venerate's control!"

Ren Suo looked at his hand in disbelief. Drawing a Card of Despair and then Great Hope? Could this be the 'fodder' strategy—where you intentionally fail once to increase your luck for the next attempt?

However, he quickly remembered that he had just petted Little Jiu's head and squinted thoughtfully.

Ah, people shouldn't believe in superstitions.

But a fox's fur... it shouldn't go bald from petting, right?

"These pale arms are those of an old person," the Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair said. "Too late to enjoy life, too late to venture, too late to do what needs to be done, too late to love those who should be loved... For the elderly, 'too late' is the Fear of time."

"The Path of Despair, obscured by countless Hands of Too Late, preserved the only Hope amidst Despair."

In the scene, a cyan light orb hovered at the end of the cave. As the girl approached, the cyan light orb flew towards her, wrapped around her hands, molding itself, and finally transformed into a pair of gauntlets!

"The girl obtained 'Just-In-Time Gauntlets.'"

"Just-In-Time Gauntlets: The first attack against any target gains +100% attack speed, is a Sure Hit, a guaranteed critical hit, and will definitely trigger weapon effects."

Ren Suo was slightly startled. This time, I've really stumbled upon a Divine Artifact, he thought.

Now, Unnamed had three pieces of equipment: a Two-Handed Greatsword, an Elf Cloak, and the Just-In-Time Gauntlets. The Two-Handed Greatsword was merely a bit sharper than average and wasn't anything extraordinary. The Elf Cloak offered good defense, but unfortunately, it didn't provide full coverage, only protecting the torso, so it was just average.

The Just-In-Time Gauntlets, however, were excellent. Though their effect only applied to the first hit, Unnamed's Attack Power with the Two-Handed Greatsword was not low; however, her attack speed was significantly reduced.

When battling minor Strange Creatures, the first hit's Sure Hit and guaranteed critical hit would be enough for Unnamed to one-shot her enemies!

Ren Suo gleefully moved his game piece onto another card.

When the game piece pressed down on that card, the candle in the small wooden cabin actually extinguished completely!

The candle promptly lit up again, and appearing on the screen, along with the front of the card, were:

Humanoid figures, deep black in appearance, each with a single, horizontal eye, tearing at each other.

*Abyss of Despair*

The Cloaked Girl with Blue Hair said, "Humans harbor Hope because they cannot see death."

"As the girl ventured deeper into the crevices of the Rift Valley, the deeper she went, the heavier her body felt.

Suddenly, she stumbled upon a sand pit and fell to the very bottom.

She ignited a light source and found herself in a vast underground space..."

The card's front shifted to Unnamed's perspective. Leaning on her Two-Handed Greatsword, she slowly climbed to her feet. She raised her right hand and shot out a flare, which exploded against the rock ceiling dozens of meters above, scattering countless sparks.

The moment the sparks lit up, the screen suddenly filled with countless deep black, one-eyed humanoid Strange Creatures. They were tearing at each other, attacking one another.

Every time a One-Eyed Monster fell, several others would rush forward, open their mouths, and devour its flesh and blood. Then, a dozen more One-Eyed Monsters would appear to attack them while they were feasting. They piled up, layer upon layer.

When a One-Eyed Monster had eaten until it was perfectly round, it would explode, transforming into three or four new One-Eyed Monsters. Then, the cycle of mutual slaughter would begin anew.

The moment the sparks lit up, they all ceased their slaughter, first glancing at the ceiling above, then, as if by common accord, turned to look at the girl.

Countless huge, bloodshot eyes stared at her.

Suddenly, the One-Eyed Monster closest to the girl took a step towards her.

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