Opening his phone, the first thing that appeared was a dark red space. The video content was something Lu Ce was all too familiar with.

Lava...

Saw...

Ten Players tied up...

Lu Ce: ......

Forcing down the twitch at the corner of his mouth, Lu Ce was momentarily at a loss for words.

Was the world really this small?

“Before the lava engulfs the platform, you need to find a way to escape.”

“What do you mean, you want us to saw off our legs?”

“What’s the reward for the first one to get the saw?”

“.........”

Hearing the Game Host’s voice inside the video, along with the in-game version of himself speaking, Lu Ce felt a wave of secondhand embarrassment so strong that his toes curled.

What could he even say?

What should he even say?

After watching the game video for a few minutes, Xie Antong, who had been observing his expression, spoke up:

“Sawing off your own leg—sawing! Not chopping!”

“If it’s someone with no training, I don’t think anyone could actually make that decision. They’d rather die and give up all hope of living.”

“But look at this guy!”

At this point, Lu Ce saw himself in the video—calmly, leisurely sawing through his leg.

Back then, he had been wearing the Greed Mask, so it hadn’t felt like a big deal at all. But now, watching it from a normal state of mind... yeah, it was pretty horrifying.

Trying to act oblivious, Lu Ce casually asked, “Why isn’t he sawing the leg that’s cuffed?”

Xie Antong nodded and said,

“At this point, I thought he was just an idiot. But later on, I realized just how terrifying he really is.”

“Keep watching. I edited this and picked out the most crucial parts.”

Saying that, she dragged the progress bar while blocking the screen with her hand, explaining things as she went.

But Lu Ce was already feeling numb.

Listening to her analyze him, right in front of him, from head to toe—he could feel the tingling sensation from his scalp down to his feet.

He had no idea how much time passed before the video finally ended. Lu Ce’s face remained stiff the entire time.

Honestly, it was only from an outsider’s perspective that he could truly grasp how insanely overpowered he had been in the last game.

There was no way he wouldn’t be noticed.

“This is the general summary.”

Finally, as the video finished playing, Xie Antong took a deep breath and turned off her phone. Her face was filled with unconcealed shock.

No matter how many times she watched it, she never got tired of it. That overwhelming sense of disbelief surged up in her every single time.

Seeing Lu Ce sitting there, his expression blank, she assumed he was still in shock.

“Well? Give me your thoughts.”

Lu Ce: ?(´･ω･`)?

How the hell was he supposed to evaluate this?!

How should one objectively evaluate oneself? Urgent! Online! Waiting for answers!

“Pretty impressive, I guess. Definitely remarkable. I’d say he probably achieved Perfect Completion.”

Having no better option, Lu Ce decided to pat himself on the back a little.

“Pretty impressive?! That’s beyond ridiculous, okay?” Xie Antong, noticing his half-hearted response, got a little worked up.

“Whether it’s intelligence or raw strength, a person like this is enough to shake the very structure of human society.”

“We had a feeling before, but I didn’t expect it to happen this fast.”

Lu Ce listened to her words and felt a bit uncomfortable. He responded,

“This is enough to shake human society? That seems like a stretch.”

“The only thing he’s really shown is that his strength is way above human limits. You really think that alone is enough to impact the world’s order?”

“But this is just the beginning!” Xie Antong said seriously.

“Power only snowballs. And who knows how many people like this exist out there?”

“Chosen’s Paradise changed the world overnight—it was drastic and irreversible.”

“In the future, those who control the world might not be high-ranking officials or financial tycoons, but the top Players.”

“Just like the game says—Players will ultimately own this world.”

Lu Ce: ......

“This video—you recorded it yourself, didn’t you?”

“Did you upload it online? Or is it already circulating on the internet?”

Xie Antong shook her head. “No.”

“My family has some connections. I can see real-time intel from the internet.”

“I actually saw some people upload this video, but they were all deleted almost immediately.”

“This doesn’t just mean the video is graphic and involves death

“The top Players are a strategic asset. Governments, organizations, various factions—they’re all keeping a close watch.”

“Now that the friend system is available, there will probably be co-op games in the future. Just wait, soon enough, all kinds of strange factions will start popping up like mushrooms after the rain.”

Xie Antong said a lot.

Lu Ce, knowing her family background wasn’t simple, didn’t ask further.

But one thing was certain—there were already a lot of people and organizations keeping an eye on him.

Who knew how long the Original Sin Mask would keep him hidden?

“So, after talking so much, isn’t it about time you told me something real? I already admitted that I’m a Chosen Player.”

At the end of her speech, Xie Antong suddenly shot him a sly sideways glance (ヽ(￣ω￣(￣ω￣〃)ゝ), leaning in close and whispering into his ear.

“You’re a Player, aren’t you? Based on what I know about you, there’s no way you listened to my advice. You definitely joined the game.”

Lu Ce subtly pushed her away.

The classroom was so loud that no one would pay attention to them, but seriously, did she have to get so close?

Breathing near someone’s ear like that—it was itchy, okay?

“Yeah.”

This time, Lu Ce didn’t deny it.

“What difficulty was your Game Instance?”

“......I forgot to check. But in our game, while there were deaths, most of us made it out alive...”

“There were deaths in your game too?!” Xie Antong was immediately startled. She gave Lu Ce a once-over.

“Well, that’s good. You got lucky.”

“You were probably in a Normal or Hard Instance.”

“Based on the intel I’ve gathered so far, Chosen’s Paradise games generally have four difficulty levels.”

“Normal, Hard, Nightmare, and Hell.”

Lu Ce listened carefully.

Even though he had personally experienced a Hell Mode Game, he actually knew little about the overall game structure or other Players’ experiences.

“Tell me more. What’s your analysis? What’s the approximate distribution of these difficulty levels?”