Hoo—after letting out a long breath, Lu Ce stood where he was, feeling a bit empty, like something was missing. He had won, once again, and now all he needed to do was quietly wait for the rewards and settlement.

Aside from that Thirteen Steps, this challenge didn’t seem any harder than before. In fact, it was even slightly easier in comparison.

Park Bu Seong wasn’t even as tough as Tom...

But even now, having won it all, he still felt that the anger hadn’t fully subsided. He couldn’t tell if it was because of the mask’s influence or something else entirely.

The feeling wasn’t pleasant. Since the fight was over, Lu Ce started trying to suppress the Wrath Mask’s influence on him.

Only those with experience knew—once anger took hold, it was hard to push it down purely by reason. Even if nothing showed on the surface, the burning heat of that emotional spark still scorched inside.

Pa pa.

He patted the mask on his face. Lu Ce kind of wanted to take it off, but when he remembered that Xie Antong was still behind him, his hand froze mid-air—then dropped back down.

Better not.

【Challenge Progress, 7/7. Challenge Mode complete. Black Side Wins!】

【The game has ended. Livestream barrage is now closed. Players have thirty minutes to collect loot on their own. You may enter settlement anytime or be forced into settlement after thirty minutes.】

Several minutes passed before the in-game announcement finally arrived. A horror mystery decryption game had, with the help of a few bizarre players, become something completely different.

The livestream window had closed. Every viewer staring at the screen was still frozen in a daze.

There hadn’t been any real high-level duels in this battle. What left the deepest impression was Lu Ce’s unexpected slaughter—and that divine light no one had ever seen before.

It was the first time a game’s in-world activity had caused such a global-level effect outside the game. Numerous religious organizations had already begun intense mobilization.

Lu Ce himself might not yet have the strength to go against the world, but the uniqueness of his game was already tugging on many threads within the global order.

......

Watching “Sin,” Xie Antong landed from the air, her feet gently touching the ruined ground. She rubbed her fingers across the rubble absentmindedly, her mind a little dazed.

In this game, the only place she truly used her abilities was one of the horror mysteries. The rest had been resolved in ways she could hardly understand.

The highest-level match in the world hadn’t really given her much of a chance to grow.

“Side effects from the Sealed Artifact?”

Looking at “Sin” in his current state, she made a casual remark.

“Sharp observation.”

Lu Ce replied, lowering the hand that had been covering his mask.

Truthfully, Xie Antong didn’t really want to talk to “Sin.” She’d intended to jump straight into settlement, but part of her was still brooding over what he’d said earlier.

Maybe trying to prove something, he took the initiative and said:

“You’re right. At our core, he and I both rely on family background. Only with top-tier weapons and gear did we have a shot at getting a piece of the pie in this high-level game.”

“But at the very least, I don’t think I’d do something like sending the person I care about to die at a critical moment.”

“I never denied that.” Lu Ce’s pale green mask showed no emotion at all, like they were just having a casual chat.

“But the fact that you said, ‘you wouldn’t abandon,’ means that deep down, you never even considered that you could be the one abandoned—right?”

Xie Antong’s pupils shrank in an instant, as if struck again. She hadn’t expected that this guy, whose violence spoke louder than words, could be just as skilled in psychological warfare.

The effects of the Brainwave Amplifier had already worn off. Her once agile mind was starting to slow down, sink into gloom. Even the All-Seeing Eye didn’t seem to be helping right now.

She forced a small smile and, after confirming the audience view was shut off, opened her mouth:

“Because I trust my judgment. The person I like wouldn’t have the kind of character Park Bu Seong does.”

She didn’t know why she was saying all this to Sin. Judging by his appearance, he probably wasn’t someone who’d care about this kind of thing.

“He might not come from a great family, and he doesn’t have terrifying power like you do, but...”

“So tell me—how is he any different from the other guy?” Lu Ce interrupted, giving Park Bu Seong’s body a kick.

“What?” It was the first time Xie Antong felt like her brain couldn’t keep up.

“The little performance those two put on earlier—didn’t that feel familiar to you?”

“An upper-class person can have ten thousand kinds of feelings for someone lower—but love will never be one of them.”

“That young master gets everything he wants, and the only reason he liked that girl over there was because he hadn’t gotten her yet. His urge to conquer and his curiosity hadn’t worn off.”

“So let me guess.”

“You probably like someone like that too. Someone from a rough background, who feels different from all the men you grew up with—those guys constantly trying to get close to you in every way.”

“A rich girl suddenly meets a bottom-tier guy who doesn’t care about her at all—and boom—your interest is piqued. A curiosity bubbles up, a feeling you’ve never had before, the thrill of ‘the unattainable.’”

“The more you probe, the more fun it feels.”

“So that curiosity starts spiraling out of control. And you even mistake it for love, to the point where you’re now trying to justify it as something real.”

“My guess... not far off, am I?”

Xie Antong was stunned. Since the start of the game, this violent, quiet guy had never spoken so much to her.

But these words were like the most terrifying weapons, striking her heart again and again. Far more intense than any horror scene from before.

“What the h*ll are you even saying!” Xie Antong, who had kept her temper perfectly until now, suddenly erupted like a furious cat, confronting this deadly presence head-on.

On the All-Seeing Eye, blue data streams began surging wildly.

“What? That overblown confidence of yours makes you think you’ve seen through everyone?”

“Well, I’ve been observing you for more than just one game.”

“Yeah, the privileged class consumes the world’s resources by default. Just being born, they’re already guilty. People like you are born their opposites, right?”

“So you think they can never be sincere. Just a bunch of disgusting monsters using money and power to devour everything around them—and themselves too.”

“And you—see yourself as the natural opposition. The Godslayer Badge, right? What a glorious name.”

“To gain ultimate power, you’ve gambled your life. You’ve thrown away love, humanity—everything—just to dive into the abyss of slaughter.”

“But have you ever thought about this—

when you sacrifice everything to gain ambition and power,

how are you any different

from the people who sacrifice their conscience and humanity for money and influence?”

“How are you any different?!”