The mask in his hand peeled off and then vanished into thin air, entering his backpack.
Xie Antong's mouth opened slightly as she watched "Sin" remove his mask and transform into Lu Ce, feeling a strange sense of peculiarity. Her face even turned somewhat red.
She didn't know why she was blushing.
It seemed... for someone who wore a mask year-round, taking it off in front of you alone felt like undressing directly, carrying a certain sensual quality.
It was quite strange.
Wait... what kind of nonsense is this!
She shook her head vigorously, as if trying to shake off all those messy thoughts from her mind.
She felt that the backlash from the Pleasure power might have already begun affecting her, filling her head with who knows what kind of stuff.
Meanwhile, Lu Ce wasn't in very good condition.
He had never experienced what it felt like to remove his mask after excessive use, or what the side effects would be.
Under normal circumstances, after finishing a game, he would directly enter the perfect clearance repair page. After the repair was complete, he would wake up without any sensation.
It was all seamless switching.
This time he said he'd try it, but as soon as he took it off, that dizzy feeling was exceptionally severe.
His body swayed slightly, momentarily unable to stand steadily.
It felt like forcibly peeling another self from his own body—that dizziness was exceptionally uncomfortable, making it difficult to walk or stand.
His brows furrowed tightly, appearing extremely irritable. Under the strong emotional impact, it took him quite a while to recover.
Xie Antong watched his condition and waited until he seemed somewhat better before speaking:
"Are you... okay?"
"Very not okay." Lu Ce said coldly, "But what about you? Are you about to enter that emotional breakdown state soon?"
Xie Antong stared at him blankly, then pursed her lips as if holding back laughter and said:
"Are you sure your condition isn't still problematic?"
"It looks like you're still leaning toward Jealousy's side."
Lu Ce immediately froze, touched his face—he seemed to have already fully immersed himself earlier, and just after removing the mask, he had somewhat forgotten.
The two looked at each other, both feeling inexplicably awkward.
Lu Ce cleared his throat lightly and spoke:
"Is there something? What's the issue with your condition?"
After all, he had never experienced Xie Antong's current state either.
Xie Antong originally wanted to say she just wanted to see your face without the mask, but when she opened her mouth, she used her brain and asked:
"You said earlier to be careful with words, that He might be watching you—what did that mean?"
When Lu Ce got to serious matters, his demeanor became much more proper as he spoke:
"That previous meaning from Pleasure, plus your feelings, I think..."
"Possibly now, in the true 【Pleasure】's eyes, you are part of the power He distributed, although probably the less controllable part."
"But He might still be paying attention to you."
"Be cautious with words and actions. Things you don't want Him to know, don't say even when you're alone."
After Lu Ce's reminder, Xie Antong felt that if this were true, the atmosphere seemed somewhat terrifying.
She looked at Lu Ce and asked:
"Then, you should have dealt with 'god' power before too, right? The one watching you is...?"
"The one watching me, according to their claims, should be dead. There might be some bizarre story behind this."
Lu Ce replied. Actually, he had always wanted to know what hidden circumstances lay behind the statement "Agony is dead."
Unfortunately, he really couldn't access that information now.
"Dead..."
Xie Antong felt a bit headache. Having just stepped into this unknown field, she couldn't yet contemplate further things.
She raised her head and looked somewhat confused at Lu Ce without his mask.
"If He really is watching me, then you taking off your mask now..."
"Not watching you in the literal sense." Lu Ce replied.
"Moreover, this was originally a kind of experiment. What my real face looks like—it doesn't matter if they know."
"I want to clarify what relationship exactly exists between the game and the 'gods'."
"Right now in the game, Pleasure was just driven away, and it's still the reorganization time after the game ends..."
"If there's no clear hierarchical relationship, maybe... 【Pleasure】 can't even see you right now!"
"If that's really the case, then this period after each game ends is worth utilizing."
Xie Antong nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Lu Ce somewhat teasingly and said:
"It seems you've already set your sights on the game and 'gods' levels, no longer considering other players worthy of attention?"
"Indeed, it seems arrogance was originally part of you."
Xie Antong said this teasingly, but Lu Ce didn't take it as a joke at all. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and spoke very seriously.
"Of course." After pausing briefly, he continued, "And I suggest you'd better be like this too."
"I'm not in this game to be a slave in the colosseum, fighting other slaves to entertain nobles."
"Actually, many times, They... can also be utilized and deceived..."
"It's already so clearly indicated that this game wants everyone to kill each other."
"So any cooperative relationships between players... are unreliable."
Xie Antong's mouth hung half-open as she blinked. After attempting to devour Pleasure today, her horizons had truly opened.
So, that time they became enemies during the broken engagement wasn't just to deceive the other players in the world?
"So in this game, relationships where we're enemies, where we oppose each other, are actually more reliable?"
Lu Ce raised an eyebrow at her, neither confirming nor denying.
"Since we've said that in the game, even 'gods' have purposes, why not speculate more? You should have a better brain than me."
After speaking, the forced logout time reached its limit. Both their bodies flickered simultaneously and vanished from the spot.
Leaving only darkness behind.
......
【Game over, congratulations player, perfect clearance!】
"The one watching me, according to their account, should be dead. There might be some bizarre story behind this."
Hmm... so I still achieved perfect clearance...
【Seven Deadly Sins Heart, Jealousy, overload state unlocked.】
【Currently unlocked modes: Greed, Wrath, Jealousy.】
......
【Ding!】
A sharp sound rang out, startling Lu Ce even in his perfect repair state.
Where did this alarm come from?
【Detected abnormal divine power fluctuations...】