Chapter 25: Iron Will

The joy of clearing the game came so unexpectedly that Du Gang wasn't quite mentally prepared.

At this moment, seeing the settlement screen, he felt a wave of fatigue. Of course, an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and happiness also surged in his heart.

This sense of achievement was no less than carrying out a very important special mission!

Unlike Zhao Haiping, Du Gang didn't ponder too much and directly chose the identity of an assassin.

The reason was simple: he felt this occupation suited him best.

He had tried the other occupations, like foot soldier, scholar, or Ranger, but in the end, he still felt that the assassin's role fit him the most and seemed to be the easiest.

After watching Zhao Haiping's foot soldier instance video of clearing the game, Du Gang didn't think he had the capability to clear the foot soldier instance.

The moment he chose the assassin occupation, a strange feeling washed over him.

It was a bit like the sensation of obtaining a gifted skill, but unlike a gifted skill, this feeling would always be there, a permanent effect.

The special ability of the assassin was "A Commoner's Fury."

The full saying should be, "A commoner's fury, five steps will bleed, the world in mourning, today it is witnessed." It originates from a historical anecdote that narrates the story of an assassin killing a ruler.

The effect of this special ability is: after meticulous preparation and finding the right moment, one can deliver an extremely lethal strike and ignore all pain and disturbance during the attack phase until the attack is complete.

Obviously, this skill was tailor-made for an assassin.

To activate this skill, preconditions must be met, such as meticulous preparation and finding the right moment; it can't just be recklessly charging in. But once the perfect opportunity is found, one can deliver a fatal blow, as swift and piercing as a bright rainbow!

Of course, this skill didn't have a god-tier effect of a guaranteed hit or instant kill, and it didn't mean one was completely invulnerable to damage during its activation.

One could only say that once this move was activated, it would likely severely injure the enemy, but there was also a chance one might risk their own life.

But anyhow, it was already a pretty powerful skill.

If he had gotten this kind of skill earlier, he estimated that he might have succeeded in assassination even without a golden talent.

As the joy of clearing the game subsided a little, Du Gang checked the changes in this Trial Illusion once more.

He discovered that in this Illusion Realm, he had an additional choice: to attempt to clear the game again or to view the entire process of his previous success.

"So, it's like a video replay? Let me have a look."

Du Gang chose to revisit the images of his last successful game clearance.

He had thought it was only about switching to a third-person perspective to admire his victorious moment; however, he found an unexpected gain.

There was nothing special at first, until the moment when the character played by Du Gang, Nie Rang, mentioned that the ink jade Qilin had a small flaw and hoped to point it out to Emperor Yanling, a line of small text floated above his head: Fortuned Fate is effective!

Then, as he stepped forward, he slipped, and the same line of text appeared above his head: Fortuned Fate is effective!

Finally, when his dagger pierced Emperor Yanling's calf, the line of text also appeared.

Du Gang couldn't help but be stunned, "This Fortuned Fate... triggered three times?

"The first trigger seems to have confused Emperor Yanling, making him, who is usually suspicious, not think twice.

"The second trigger allowed me to fall, and Emperor Yanling, in his haste and neglecting his guard, came forward to see if the ink jade Qilin was damaged; that gave me the opportunity to strike.

"The third trigger allowed me to successfully stab his calf?

"No, I was already holding on to him at that time, so the dagger would definitely have hit. Then why the trigger?

"Could it be... whether the poison acts fatally or not is also a matter of chance?"

Du Gang suddenly came to a realization. It seemed that the Ren Level gold talent was indeed useful, not a scam at all!

Each of these three triggers was critical; it could even be said that without this talent, whether Du Gang could clear the instance was still an unknown.

It was perhaps just one move shy of a checkmate, one step short of completion.

Of course, to say this talent was invincible? That wasn't the case either. It was effective because Du Gang had already done a lot of preparation beforehand; it simply made his final move more certain.

In other words, all the previous preparations were useful, but not completely so, and there was still room for improvement.

"It looks like there was a great element of luck in my clearing the instance this time.

"If I hadn't happened to draw the golden talent, if this golden talent hadn't happened to trigger three times, it would still have been very difficult.

"It seems I still have many shortcomings.

"Moreover, looking at it this way, Nie Rang's method of successfully assassinating Emperor Yanling those years ago may not have been the optimal solution. Nie Rang's first strike was dodged, and only at the last, perilous moment did he succeed with a thrown sword. Although my first strike also failed, I immediately grabbed Emperor Yanling's thigh. Strictly speaking, my attempt was actually smoother than Nie Rang's.

"Of course, it's not to say I'm better than Nie Rang. It's because Nie Rang had only one opportunity, while I could attempt to find the optimal solution countless times based on Nie Rang's original model; my swordsmanship, although far inferior to Nie Rang's, could be augmented by a variety of amazing talents from the Reclaimers.

"The depths of this game are indeed much deeper than I initially imagined!

"Fortunately, from the current situation, the designer of this game doesn't seem like a bad person, and judging from the game's content, he seems to be quite a sentimental person.

"That's a good thing.

"But it's still too early to conclude; I'll have to observe for some time more."

After personally clearing an instance, Du Gang gained a deeper understanding of the game's content.

Judging by the conditions of both the assassin and foot soldier instances, "Dark Sand" clearly drew inspiration from historical heroes who are celebrated and mourned.

Although the players suffered, after re-experiencing those historical figures' pivotal events, they generally gained a deeper understanding and recognition of history.

This also had some educational significance.

From this perspective, this game could be considered a game with positive energy, and the estimate of its harmfulness could be lowered slightly.

Of course, that might be a bit premature, and the specific situation would have to be observed further.

The game offered an option, asking him if he was willing to release the video of his successful run.

Du Gang thought about it and agreed, but he did not accept the title of a top player, nor did he reveal his identity. He simply allowed the release of the video.

After all, his identity was special, and it was better to keep as low a profile as possible.

...

Meanwhile, in the literary trial "pleading for the people," Chu Ge was also making a final effort to clear the instance.

After another failure, Chu Ge returned to the initial state of the trial instance.

However, he could feel that he was only one step away from the ultimate clearing.

The literary instance was more complex and difficult than he initially thought, and basically, he hadn't received aid from outside the arena.

But that was okay because Chu Ge was confident that he was the top player in this genre.

After calming his emotions a bit, Chu Ge looked at the three talent skills in front of him.

[Gui Level · Calm and Collected (White): Your emotions are calm, allowing you to face danger more indifferently.]

[Gui Level · Eloquent Speech (Blue): Your speech becomes more infectious and persuasive.]

[Ren Level · Iron Will (White): You can endure pain to a great extent.]