Her friend beside her was dressed in a plain blue robe. Hearing the woman speak, she turned her head to look—and her expression changed drastically. She hurriedly tugged at the woman's sleeve.
"Aiya, what are you afraid of? This is just a trial instance."
Ji Huaichu looked up, but for a moment couldn't recall who this woman was. But since those over there were all spirits from the Nether Capital, and she had fought plenty of them, it was normal not to remember. Ji Huaichu saw the peony pattern on the woman's clothing—hmm, a peony spirit? She then glanced at the one beside the peony spirit; the clothes seemed to be… a green bamboo spirit?
She had absolutely no memory of tearing flower spirits apart. Ji Huaichu turned around, found an empty seat in the Taiyin Ghost King area, and lazily said, "I accidentally stepped into Fourth-Class Kaiyuan recently, so I figured I could recruit a few players to help out. After all, dealing with those third-rate types—can't expect me to do everything myself."
The ghosts on the Taiyin side were all in human form too, so it was completely unclear what kind of ghosts they were. Hearing Ji Huaichu speak like this, quite a few ghost kings laughed and echoed her words.
Taiyin and the Nether Capital were neighbors—more or less allies. They were both on the Shattered Mirror Continent, but their relationship… well, some got along, while others couldn't stand each other. Besides, many combat-type games aimed at players had ghost kings betting behind the scenes. There were quite a few betting pools set up between the Nether Capital and Taiyin.
A ghost king mulled over the tone the peony spirit had just used, leaned back in his chair, and said sarcastically, "Red fox spirit, still wearing that fox skin of yours? Yesterday at the betting table, you lost all your energy—didn't expect to see you today."
"You won just one round, what's with the arrogance?"
"Winning or losing doesn't matter, mainly because I won too much last night—probably enough to last me a year." That ghost king laughed heartily and waved his hand as if troubled, "Sigh, the red fox really is generous."
The two sides had long disliked each other. With the peony spirit starting it off and a ghost king from Taiyin picking it up, the demons from the Nether Capital and the ghosts from Taiyin began a lively exchange of "greetings."
It wasn't until all the players had gathered and the game officially began that both sides quieted down.
The black curtain in the sky shifted and gradually revealed a scene inside a room. One by one, the players on the screen woke up, all cautiously observing their surroundings.
In front of each boss from the Shattered Mirror Continent appeared a small screen. Some bosses had two screens before them—these were live streams of the individual players they had recruited.
—"Ahem, everyone, for this trial instance, we need to work together to clear it!" The screen showed a close-up livestream of this particular player, face filling the shot. In the lower right corner was a friendly label indicating this player's number of game experiences: 4.
"…Which idiot did this one get recruited by? I thought he was going to say something useful, and that's it?" The ghost king who had mocked the fox earlier looked thoroughly speechless. It was like this: on the way to dinner, one of your companions suddenly raises his arm and solemnly announces, "Everyone, we're about to go eat! Let's eat well, eat our fill. I'll lead the way!"
No one present said a word.
As long as they didn't expose themselves, no one could tell which boss this player was linked to. Of course, if someone secretly peeked at another's solo live feed, that was a different story.
Ji Huaichu paid no attention to the footage on the main screen. She lowered her gaze to the small screen in her hand, where the player was currently thinking about how to gather intel. Those big, jet-black eyes sparkled and shifted—extremely lively and expressive.
A young girl.
And a very pretty money tree.
Recruiting her as a decorative piece—perfectly fine.
Ji Huaichu had never recruited a player before, simply because she was already strong enough on her own. If she ever needed extra hands, she had plenty of ghost soldiers under her command. Players with average abilities or an offensive focus—she didn't need them. Healers—she didn't need them either. What Ji Huaichu did need were support-type players.
But support players had a hard time surviving in the early stages, unless they were exceptionally strong. And those who did survive… Ji Huaichu couldn't snatch them.
The one she finally managed to snatch up didn't pass the trial.
Otherwise, Ji Huaichu wouldn't have extended an invitation to Mu Anqi—this money tree—even though she was still a newcomer when discovered. She even interpreted their second encounter as some kind of fate and directly gave Mu Anqi a trial card to recruit her.
Normally, no boss would ever do this. Letting a player who's only completed two games participate in a trial instance is simply too difficult. They haven't earned many points, and their abilities have barely improved. Even if they're individually strong, accidents can still happen.
Players who fail the trial can no longer be recruited in the future. Their memories of the trial instance and the ghost king involved may even be completely wiped. From the player's perspective, it's as if they simply died in one of the games… just lost a resurrection chance, nothing more.
Typically, no matter how impatient a ghost king may be, they'll wait until a player has cleared a third game and received the manual automatically issued by the Paradise. Only after the player understands everything will they be sent into the trial. As a result, most players in this instance had cleared four or even five games. Players who'd only passed three games were extremely rare.
"Who recruited this player—only cleared two games?" a startled voice called out. The plainly dressed spirit over there looked completely speechless. Wasn't this just sending the player to their death on purpose? Which ghost king had too many trial tokens to waste like this? Even he, a spirit formed from a gravestone, hadn't seen a boss pull something this underworld-level shady.
Ji Huaichu remained unaffected. She watched as the player on the screen earnestly told lies, coaxing the believer into revealing quite a bit of information. Although… the information wasn't all that important, this player was still the first among them all to obtain any intel.
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"How did I end up recruiting this idiot? He actually tried to knock out the captain of the Goddess Cult's team—and failed—and now he's on the run?" one ghost king complained in disbelief.
The bosses were all watching the progress of their recruited players, occasionally glancing at the spotlighted players on the main screen. The whole arena was lively.
Ji Huaichu sat quietly, watching the player on her screen running around, befriending each believer, probing for information—busy to the extreme, but ultimately returning with nothing.
She thought back to the profile Nirvana Paradise had sent her after she issued the trial card. Mu Anqi—died in a car accident at the age of twenty. Ji Huaichu's original world was an ancient one, and when she first arrived at the Shattered Mirror Continent, she hadn't understood much about the backgrounds, perspectives, or technology of other worlds. But after all these years, that was no longer a problem.
Won three hundred million in the lottery, and on the way to claim the prize… got into a car accident?
Talk about the extremes of fortune.
Twenty years old… Ji Huaichu's thin lips curved into a smile, but her eyes grew cold and distant. At twenty, she had already been a battle-hardened general. Back then, she had countless visions of the future, but she never imagined that… just five years later, she would die by drinking poisoned wine.
Ji Huaichu gathered her thoughts. Even though she had already broken through the Barrier Phase and entered Kaiyuan, memories of her past life still stirred a surge of yin energy within her. She chose not to dwell on it and refocused her attention on the screen.
When she saw Mu Anqi frozen in shock by a single remark from the tin soldier captain, her thoughts subtly aligned with Mu Anqi's train of thought.
So then—what will you do next?
...
Mu Anqi controlled her expression and emotions. The tin soldiers showed no intention of chasing or killing her, and the paper-white townsfolk didn't surround the house to drag her out and burn her… She was safe.
The rules issued by this city lord were entirely "subjective." And since they were subjective, as long as Mu Anqi firmly believed, then it didn't count as lying.
She calmly finished her meal. Most of the other players hadn't moved either. Even those who had already eaten didn't step forward first to take the so-called identity cards—they were all waiting and watching.
Mu Anqi tidied up her bowl and chopsticks, stood up, and walked straight to the door. The tin soldier captain, his face as blank as white paper, met her gaze. Behind him, a tin soldier held out a small box, from which the captain took a card and handed it to Mu Anqi.
There were no unexpected incidents.
Mu Anqi took the identity card—it looked almost like her ID card from before she died, with a frontal photo of her… uh, a forcibly frontal photo? Mu Anqi had no idea when the city lord managed to take that, as there was no background, just her figure cut out. Next to the photo were the simple words "Name: Mu Anqi," and below that, the familiar "Age: 20" and "Gender: Female."
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That's it…? Mu Anqi began to question reality. A tall player peeked from behind, saw that it was just an ordinary card, and went to line up as well.
Mu Anqi let out a breath of relief and casually flipped the card over—only to find a long string of tiny text on the back?!
Rating: Passable.
Flaws: Pimples on face. Too skinny. Short. Sparse hair. Lacks exercise. No mermaid lines or abs. Thick thighs*. Skin not fair enough.[T/N: Thick thighs save lives! You gotta appreciate them! XD]
"…."
Mu Anqi nearly snapped the card in half on the spot!
Acne?! She'd somehow ended up in this survival world, and what if she got a pimple because of the stress? Was that a crime? She hadn't even noticed it herself! And what the hell were "too skinny" and "short"? She was 165 cm and 45 kg, wasn't that perfectly normal? And "sparse hair"—now that was absolute BS. Back when she was alive, every time she got a haircut, they had to thin it out!
Fine, she could accept that. No mermaid lines, no abs—fine. Thick thighs? Okay, fine. But skin not fair enough? She wasn't fair enough? What did they want—so pale she'd vanish into a white wall with her eyes closed and no one could tell the difference? She wasn't some Japanese geisha!
Lacks exercise?! Get the hell out of here! She spent so many points on physical training—where exactly was she lacking? That was just blatant lying with a straight face!
The moment the tin soldier squad left, the room exploded in outrage.
"What do you mean? I'm 169 cm and 120 pounds—how is that 'obese'?!"
"My eyes are small, so what? What's that got to do with the boss?!"
"Single eyelids—what? That counts as a flaw too?"
'Poor posture'… okay, fine, I give up."
"I have freckles on my face, is that my fault? That's a flaw?!"
"It even said I look ghostly pale, lips with no color. 'Ominous aura.'"
"…That's nothing. I'm a grown man—so what if I have body hair? It's not like I don't maintain hygiene. What kind of damn trial is this?!"
"I've got an even more ridiculous one—it said I have big feet…"
"This thing discriminates against flat chests too?!"
"And my waist is considered wide?!"
[T/N: hahahaa… Imagining myself in this and now it's the scariest instance of all time (〒﹏〒)]
...
The players who received their identity cards were in an uproar. All of their ratings were "Passable." Thankfully, no one had received a failing grade. But even so, that long list of so-called flaws made their blood boil and fists clench.
Many of them swore in their hearts: they'd have to see just how "beautiful" this so-called "Goddess of Beauty" really was!
Based on such nitpicky evaluations, there wasn't a single perfect person in the world! Calling herself the Goddess of Beauty—was she perfect then?