Chapter 856: The Path That Belongs to Me

Chapter 856: The Path That Belongs to Me

How should I describe these five years I’ve spent?

First, I left my original room and woke up in an empty one. Standing there were three "Zodiacs": Tiger, Rabbit, and Snake.

Their games were as simple as playing drop-the-handkerchief to me. The only one with any challenge was Tiger’s bloody battle game, but I had no opponent to fight.

So I got a bye, counted directly as "surviving the battle."

Next, I only needed to crack a Rabbit-class escape password lock and answer a few questions from Snake about ancient Chinese knowledge, and I could walk out of the room unscathed.

Once I cleared a game, I could clear it every time, so the "interview room" could no longer trap me.

I materialized before a lonely building in the "End Land." The moment I opened my eyes, a girl with long black hair that reached her waist walked past me, dressed all in black.

She glanced at me, and I returned a symbolic glance, but neither of us spoke. She hurried away.

I entered another long period of solitude. I never saw White Sheep, Sheep, or Zhang Qiang again. But this time, the loneliness was different from before.

This loneliness had an "end."

All I had to do was strengthen myself while waiting—wait until the day White Sheep appeared. Then my solitude would end.

So YNA is real.

Do you know why I had those three letters tattooed on the side of my index finger’s third knuckle?

So I could touch them with my thumb anytime.

Some words, if you keep telling them to yourself, soon become true.

Almost every day, I revisited the three challenges White Sheep left behind.

First: make people despair. Second: stop everyone from collecting "Dao." Third: recruit trustworthy strong individuals.

Clearly three challenges, but White Sheep insisted they were one. Was he overestimating me?

No matter how I thought about it, these three tasks required dealing with people to accomplish. Yet dealing with people was precisely what I was worst at.

Could this be a "test"?

Facing these three challenges, I could only think to tackle them one by one. But even when splitting them apart, each seemed impossible on its own—and contradictory.

If I made people despair, they would have a higher chance of obtaining an "Echo." In other words, they would become strong to varying degrees, retaining memories and awakening extraordinary abilities. At that point, anyone would seize the chance to gather more "Dao" and gamble on that slim hope of escape.

If then I tried to stop them from collecting "Dao," I wouldn’t just be facing ordinary "participants." I would be making enemies of the "Echo-bearers."

Even though I possess "Heart-Stealing Soul" and can protect myself in critical moments, I can only steal hearts, not souls. If it came to a real fight, I could die at any moment.

If "Brute Force" and "Heart-Stealing Soul" are both types of "Echo," then theoretically, people here could enhance their bodies and minds comprehensively—maybe even supernatural enhancements. Alone, with only "Heart-Stealing Soul," I would be no match.

In summary, if I blindly tried to make people despair or stop them from collecting "Dao," I would find myself in danger instantly.

Before long, I would become infamous throughout the End Land. Being universally hated would be the least of my problems—the real issue would be failing the third challenge: "recruit strong individuals."

So how were these three problems to be solved?

I walked into the building behind me, found discarded paper and pen, and wrote down all three challenges.

My abilities were limited, but fortunately, I had many "weapons." As long as I chose the right ones, I could take on even the hardest problems. Now I needed to clear my thoughts and not rush.

This was Gidlin’s Law—list the problem clearly, and half of it is already solved.

I believed White Sheep was someone like me. From various conversations, I kept trying to gauge his mental patterns. It meant he had done the same in the "Liar Game," reading my character through my words.

So this challenge might have been tailor-made for me.

In other words, White Sheep knew I disliked dealing with people, yet he still left these three problems. First possibility: he wanted to train my ability to interact with others. Second possibility: he believed the task could be completed without social interaction.

Our identities—mine and Zhang Qiang’s—must have been important to him. He risked various dangers to push us down these two paths. If we didn’t do what we were supposed to, it would surely affect him.

I’m not arrogant, but I knew Zhang Qiang wasn’t as powerful as me. So when White Sheep spoke, he deliberately steered Zhang Qiang toward the "Road of the Zodiac"—including the line he said to Zhang Qiang alone: "Those who become Zodiacs will gain eternal brute strength." That was a complete, continuous psychological suggestion, combined with my timely hints—Zhang Qiang was practically forced onto that path by both of us.

Between the two paths White Sheep offered, "Zodiac" was easier than "Participant." So I believed he did it intentionally.

After assessing my character and abilities, he guided me onto this "Participant" path and crafted a challenge for me.

But it was really hard.

In the past ten days, I unusually participated in many games and interacted closely with various "participants." I admit some seemed decent, but people’s hearts are hidden behind their ribs. I truly couldn’t trust them.

Whenever a game ended and the "judge" distributed various "Dao" to the group, I would fantasize about things I’d never done before.

For example... should I use "Heart-Stealing Soul" to control everyone, snatch the Dao, and run?

If I did, they would mimic my actions and run in the opposite direction—meaning the plan was feasible. They couldn’t catch me, but I would face enormous risks.

One or two thefts might be safe, but over time?

I had no effective solution. If a goal was unattainable, I’d switch to another.

What if I didn’t steal, but simply "destroyed" the Dao instead?

After all, I didn’t need the Dao anyway. I was just waiting for someone.

Holding Dao in hand meant worrying about others snatching it, and it could even invite death.

So I finally had a clue. To hinder participants in absolute safety: first, I had to find a way to destroy these Dao. Second, I couldn’t show my face.