"Oh? You seem rather pale, don't you think?"
The Creator observed Perfect Life's condition and couldn't help but voice his surprise.
"This is truly fascinating. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to utterly defeat you yet."
Perfect Life: ......
For a moment, he forgot he was in combat. His hands rested on his chest, one black and one white, flipping repeatedly as if searching for some kind of "exit."
The Creator, ever the honorable one, saw his opponent suddenly start fortune-telling and refrained from launching a sneak attack.
He simply stood there watching quietly.
"Strange..." Perfect Life frowned.
"This is a setup, but not against me. Someone else is the real target."
Perfect Life seemed utterly perplexed and abruptly turned to look directly at Xie Antong.
"Your scheme? Interesting."
"Why do you think I'll suffer a crushing defeat?"
His Yin-Yang Hands rose to chest level as golden eyes locked onto Blank. Those piercing eyes seemed capable of seeing through all deceitful plots.
"Chinese culture is vast and profound," Xie Antong said calmly. "Can you truly comprehend it all?"
"At least I can tell when you're lying," Perfect Life replied indifferently.
"No need. I never lie," Xie Antong stated.
"Your defeat will come because you choose it willingly."
Perfect Life: ?
"I'd like to hear your reasoning," he said curiously.
"Because fundamentally, the real challenge in this room is between you and me."
"You needn't ponder schemes. A single teleportation to snap my neck would end everything instantly. There's no need for you to fight The Creator."
Perfect Life froze momentarily. Theoretically, that made sense, though he'd never considered it.
If The Creator was fighting him, should he first bully the weak before avoiding battle?
What kind of person would that make him?!
"Because you previously promised not to actively target weaker players in this game," Xie Antong continued without needing his input.
"Keeping your word, honoring commitments - that's your fatal flaw."
Perfect Life felt this woman's values were utterly warped. Since when was integrity a weakness?
"Guess what Sin would do if he were in your position?"
"What would he do?" Perfect Life asked reflexively.
"No one knows what he'd do!"
"Breaking promises, betraying allies, spouting nonsense, disregarding the bigger picture, acting recklessly - that's him."
"And that's precisely why he's truly stronger than you in this game."
Perfect Life: ?
His expression twisted before bursting into laughter:
"He might indeed be stronger, but certainly not just for those reasons!"
"Are you suggesting I'll suffer defeat because I refuse to play dirty?"
"Ha! Let's test that theory!"
His aura surged violently, as if completely dismissing such petty tactics.
Xie Antong smiled wordlessly and shook her head.
No...you still don't understand.
But it didn't matter. At least she was nearly certain her gamble would pay off.
"You—" Perfect Life began speaking when suddenly a fierce gust of wind roared from behind!
The Creator judged the verbal sparring had gone on long enough. Blank's meaning was clear - the time wasn't right yet.
Time for action, not Perfect Life's ramblings.
Perfect Life had no time to waste either. In an instant, he moved with his halberd, clashing violently with The Creator's renewed assault.
BOOM!
Both combatants had already gauged each other's strength, eliminating the need for further probing as they launched into frenzied exchanges.
The virtual space transformed into a supreme battlefield as bizarre skills and weapons poured forth like water.
He and The Creator were both players who pursued omnicompetence.
Their battle appeared exceptionally dazzling, arguably the most visually spectacular among all players.
Xie Antong stood calmly within this warzone as if accustomed to such scenes.
This was a true battle between gentlemen - The Creator didn't overly protect her, nor did Perfect Life attempt to strike her directly.
She remained there naturally, listening intently to every external sound.
Outside, the periods of silence were growing more frequent.
Most had either died or were being led around by Chiyo Eine.
From the limited remaining sounds, she'd already deduced nearly everyone's room locations!
Earlier, the game rule requiring at least one piece of true information was her fabricated "false rule."
Though false, it proved remarkably effective, providing valuable intelligence. All her fake rules accelerated the game's pace!
She knew that with unknown privileges on the game's side, the best strategy wasn't hiding identities but quickly revealing room locations!
To avoid mob mentality, the revelations had to be comprehensible only to her - this was the safest way to race against that "Jue Ge."
Now, the time was almost ripe.
BOOM!
The room's battle raged intensely when suddenly Xie Antong's cool voice cut through:
"Perfect Life, where you fall short of Sin isn't in character or strength."
"You lost from the very beginning - when he pitted the game itself against competitors."
"He's been competing against the game all along, while you've been fixated on competing against him."
Perfect Life chuckled disdainfully after hearing this.
"Save your psychological warfare. I'm not comparing myself to him - I'm surpassing my limits."
"I reserved one room selection for him and another for the game itself!"
"Oh?" Xie Antong's tone remained unchanged.
"Then when I impersonated the game and mentioned Room Zero, why didn't you go?"
"You...impersonated? What?!" Perfect Life's aura faltered momentarily.
"You never tried, did you?" Xie Antong pressed on.
"Room Zero doesn't exist! That Jue Ge character has no fixed room - he only visits others. You can't actively seek him out."
Room Zero doesn't exist?
Perfect Life's mind instantly descended into chaos. He'd never deeply considered this, always believing there was no urgency in confronting the game.
"Your choice now, Perfect Life."
"If you win, the game will know I'm in this room and come to claim the final point effortlessly."
Perfect Life's brain operated at lightning speed, and suddenly everything became clear!
"All this time, you've been deceiving the game?"
"You want me to lose so it mistakes this room for Sin's, making it attack the real Sin's location instead?"
"Using one threat to eliminate another!?"
"Ha! But why would I do that? Let it come here - I'll handle it."
Xie Antong smiled up at the battling Perfect Life.
"Sorry, but that still wouldn't be your fight."
"Because this is my room. Coming here means challenging me."
"And I'm such an easy target - crushed with minimal effort."
"Then the game achieves perfect clearance. But suit yourself - it's win-win for me."
"Though I can't create major trouble for Sin this way, at least his perfect clearance vanishes. Consider it my revenge."
"As for you? This might be your chance to surpass him and become the new Number One Under Heaven."
"So forget what I said earlier - no need for crushing defeat. You should win! Then you might overtake Sin as Number One."
"The Number One Under Heaven that the game absolutely adores~!"