Upon hearing Sima Liu's words, the voice replied without joy or sorrow, "Who am I? A name is just a code, it has no meaning. If you really need a code to call me by, you can call me Devil."
"Dev...il....." Chanting this syllable, Sima Liu recalled in his mind all the experts, demigods, and even Outer Realm demigods of the Eastern Administrative Region he knew, but found no corresponding person.
But that was to be expected; no one would use their real name when trying to conceal their identity.
Thinking this, Sima Liu couldn't help but probe, "Are you one of Fang Ze's people?"
The voice was obviously puzzled for a moment, "Fang Ze?"
But then it suddenly dawned on him, "You mean the little guy who locked you up here, right?"
Listening to the other person's words, Sima Liu frowned slightly, hesitating in his heart, 'Doesn't know Fang Ze? Could it be... am I overthinking it? This mysterious person has no connection with Fang Ze?'
Thinking this, Sima Liu felt even more hesitant: If not one of Fang Ze's people, could it be... really some master playing around in the human world? That's too far-fetched, right?
With this thought, Sima Liu suddenly realized: What does it matter if it's true or not? Anyway, he's already in this situation, things can't get worse, might as well see what this mysterious person intends to do.
Thinking this, he asked, "Sir, may I ask why you are looking for me?"
"A game," the voice said lightly, "I created a game and want to find some testers to test it."
"As long as they can complete the game, I can grant them any wish."
Hearing the mysterious person's words, a spark lit in Sima Liu's heart, "Including rescuing me from here?"
The mysterious person sneered but confirmed, "Of course."
Hearing the mysterious person's sneer, Sima Liu realized he had asked a naive question: If any wish could be granted, why wish for something so simple as escaping? Wouldn't directly becoming an Absolute Pinnacle or demigod be better?
Of course... provided this mysterious person really possesses such powers.
Thinking this, Sima Liu pondered for a moment, then asked, "If I fail the game, is there any penalty?"
The mysterious voice said lightly, "Of course not."
Trapped with nothing to do, hearing there was no punishment made Sima Liu hesitant for a moment, then he decided to treat it as a distraction. Thinking this, he said, "Then I can give it a try."
The mysterious voice, "Sure."
As the voice fell silent, a virtual screen appeared in front of Sima Liu. The screen displayed a group of overlapping boxes, looking not many, only a dozen or so. In these boxes were three kinds of common items—peach, apricot, apple, and so on...
And each item had four or five pieces.
Below the boxes was a horizontal progress bar with nine boxes.
The mysterious voice sounded in Sima Liu's ear, "The game consists of two levels. Passing both levels constitutes passing the test and gaining deliverance."
"And the method of the game is very simple: just move any three identical items from the top boxes to the progress bar below to eliminate them. When all items are eliminated, you pass this level."
Hearing such simple rules and seeing the dozen boxes filled with identical items at a glance, Sima Liu had only one thought: Is that it? Isn't granting wishes for free?
Thinking this, Sima Liu feared the mysterious person might change their mind, so he hurriedly started controlling those items with his mind. Sure enough, in less than a minute, he passed the first level smoothly.
Seeing he passed the first level smoothly, Sima Liu was filled with self-satisfaction. He felt the game was too easy for him, with no difficulty at all. It looked like he would soon find out if the mysterious person could really grant wishes.
While he was thinking this, the content of the first level slowly faded from in front of him, followed immediately by the appearance of several hundred boxes. These boxes, stacked like containers, layered one atop another, forming a huge matrix.
Sima Liu was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but scrutinize the matrix.
And then he was surprised to find that although the visible side had only a dozen boxes, the number of layers below was unknown. More importantly, the original three items had ballooned to dozens, increasing the difficulty dozens of times!
Sima Liu was dumbfounded at the sight before him. Even without calculation, he knew the difficulty of this level was incomparably greater than the previous one!
"This.... is too exaggerated, right? Two levels, completely different difficulties."
Though he felt some exasperation at the mysterious person's unorthodox methods, the game's mechanics were too simple, so after muttering a couple of sentences, Sima Liu decided to keep playing the game to prove a point.
At first, he advanced smoothly, "swish, swish, swish," eliminating those items. But soon, when he reached the fifth or sixth layer, Sima Liu began to feel exhausted.
Especially looking at the endlessly layered boxes below, he felt a wave of despair: When will this ever end!
Then, after barely progressing through two or three more layers, the nine-box progress bar was finally filled, and the game failed.
Watching the gameover screen, Sima Liu stood still for a moment, then slowly said, "Sir, I've failed."
Hearing his words, the mysterious voice, silent for some time, spoke again, stating lightly, "You haven't failed yet. You still have a chance."
Sima Liu asked, puzzled, "I still have a chance?"
The mysterious voice, "Yes."
"You have ten chances to save yourself in each game. Each rescue can clear your nine boxes below, giving you another chance to start over."
Hearing the mysterious voice, Sima Liu's eyes lit up.
But immediately afterward, the mysterious voice said again, "However, to prevent you testers from abusing this opportunity, there are conditions: each use of this chance will result in a mental penalty. You must think carefully."