Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 275 Night Beyond the Mirror
"Some entered the corridor to fight for their true name;

Some people stand outside the light and shadow.

For those who have not yet returned, let us hold onto time.

Fate does not belong only to challengers.
Also belongs to—

Those who chose to stay and watch over us.

Before night fell, the entire base was tinged with a hazy silvery-white hue by the aftershocks of the energy released during Siming's ascension.

It wasn't the usual mysterious afterglow, nor was it a star map echo; rather, it was a special kind of barrier fluctuation that lay between "fate structure" and "world system projection"—neither a dream nor reality.

The moment the [Empty Corridor] unfolds, the space itself rises and extends like a chessboard.
Ultimately, under the influence of the reshaping of the star map, it collapsed into a closed-loop array woven from mirror fragments, echoes of memories, and clues of destiny.

At that moment, Si Ming's figure completely disappeared from everyone's sight, locked behind the chessboard gate.

It was a closed door without a handle or an observation hole.

At the center of the door is a single gray-white elephant eye totem, slowly rotating, like a gaze or a silent judgment.

Vera stood in front of the door, placed her hand on the surface of the barrier, and felt a slight but clear rebound.

“We can’t even access the observation area,” she said in a low voice, her expression grave. “Irostia is the illusory god to whom Illusion belongs. He must defeat the god’s true form in order to escape the corridor.”

“Does that mean…” Herman leaned against the broken wall, raising an eyebrow, “that none of us can help?”

“It’s not that I can’t help,” Vera said calmly, “it’s that I can’t.”

Her tone was like steel: "If the barrier is forcibly broken, the secondary mystery binding will fail, and the Fate Master will forever lose its resonance with the card."

“There’s one more thing.” Zhuang Yege approached, his gaze falling on the edge of the card domain that was slowly sinking into the stone base. “Forcibly interrupting it will cause a break in his rational star map.”

"It's very likely... a complete collapse."

“In other words,” Natasha said, leaning against the railing and gazing at the gray chessboard, “he is now alone, having entered someone else’s territory.”

She crossed her arms, her tone as casual as ever, but unusually low: "Even fate has temporarily stopped looking at him."

No one spoke.

The wind blew across the tattered, eerie barrier in front of the camp, and the ashes drifted, appearing unusually heavy against the twilight sky.

On the post-war command platform on the west side, Natasha slowly crouched down and pulled out a card with a cold blue luster from behind her waist.

It was a tangible communication card, its surface shimmering with star-like data stream patterns.

After the fourth night, she tried to connect to the guild headquarters, but at that time, the "suppression field" constructed by Von Blanc blocked the communication frequency of the entire Mysterious City.

Now that he is gone, although the spatial wave layer is still chaotic, it has loosened briefly.

She placed the SIM card flat on the ground, lightly pressed the card's identification point with her fingertip, and turned the knob, causing radio waves to flow like filaments of light.

“…Damn it,” she muttered, the blue light flickering.

Rudolf walked over, knelt down on one knee to help stabilize the signal: "Try tuning to 2.4A. The signal might be too far away in our area."

Natasha nodded without saying anything more and quickly moved the four contact points.

Just as the light pattern was about to go out, the communication card suddenly jolted—

A stream of golden-white starlight bursts forth from the center of the card, like a star track that has been blocked for a long time finally being aligned.

Then, a familiar yet slightly out-of-focus female voice pierced through the channel rift, like a whisper across the stars, and rang out—

“...Natasha.”

As soon as the voice was uttered, almost everyone looked up instantly.

The Voice of Youhua – Ruoli.

The sound was short, yet it resonated through everyone's nerve chains.

Natasha immediately knelt down, pressing down on the communication card with one hand, her tone calm, with a rare display of respect:
"Your Excellency Youhua, we are currently located in the 'City of Mysterious Remains,' at dawn on the fifth day, after the fourth night."

Von Blanc's domain has been breached, and the Priest is challenging the Sub-Mystic. We request—communication guidance and gate coordination.

A faint static came from the card, like some kind of high-entropy information trying to penetrate the system noise layer of the Mysterious Corpse City, but soon, Ruoli's voice became clear again:
“...I know. We are building the anchor points for the door.”

"To open the 'door,' you must find the right door."

"By then, we will be able to deploy the 'stable teleportation anchor' into the city."

“The right door?” Vera repeated in a low voice, her face darkening.

“What is she looking for…” Herman murmured.

Natasha calmly replied, "I understand. But I can't guarantee that Si Ming will be able to return to the team in time."

Ruoli was silent for a moment, then her tone suddenly changed slightly:
"You just need to hold on."

"Remember—as soon as possible, before the other party notices."

"I will personally step in when the door opens."

— Communication interrupted.

The star stream broke, the card surface trembled violently, then slowly went out, and the communicator returned to its original card form.

A rune indicating a "thermal feedback layer" appeared on the card's surface: recognition successful, but the transmission intensity is too high, and the card surface is critically overloaded.

Natasha slowly closed her eyes and whispered, "She risked her 'Youhua Authority'."

"We only have two nights left."

There was silence.

Everyone understood the meaning of that sentence.

No one will fight for you forever.

And if you want to live to see the end—

Someone has to survive until that night.

Night deepened, but the fog had not yet dissipated.

Inside the temporary medical tent in the center of the camp, a mysterious white energy barrier flickered in and out, shimmering like a thin mist, enveloping the calm and cold body within.

Xiao Lianyin lay there quietly.

She was covered with the "Mirror Village Garment"—a cloth garment woven from threads of affection, which was said to be summoned only when the Red Night Clan was about to exhaust their life force, serving as a garment of soul to maintain their consciousness.

Vera stood by her side, her clothes dusty, but her expression remained as calm as ever.

She held a half-empty syringe in her hand, and for what seemed like the umpteenth time, she fed the freshly prepared medicine to Xiao Lianyin's lips.

In reality, it has almost no practical effect.

"She's just putting on a brave face."

Vera did not turn around, her voice so low it seemed she was speaking to the night, but she was whispering to Rudolf behind her.

"Her current consciousness is being forcibly maintained by her mysterious abilities. Her body... has reached its limit."

Rudolf stood outside the tent, listening to her words, but only let out a long sigh and said nothing.

The tent was filled with the heavy scent of medicine. In the dim light, the atmosphere was like frozen night water, silent yet oppressive.

suddenly--

One finger moved.

It was a slight, almost illusionary tremor, like dust gently brushing against a cold stone surface.

Next, her eyelashes trembled, her brows furrowed slightly, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

Her eyelids slowly lifted, revealing those familiar yet bloodshot peach blossom eyes, weakly and stubbornly gazing upwards.

She spoke, her voice hoarse like dry, cracked bamboo leaves being blown by the wind.

"...Did you win again?"

Everyone inside the tent was startled.

Mu Sisi reacted the fastest, rushing forward and exclaiming in surprise, "You're awake?!"

"Keep your voice down." Xiao Lianyin grinned, blood trickling from the corner of her lips. "My eardrums haven't fully recovered yet. Don't scare away the rest of my clarity of mind."

“You should still be unconscious!” Vera frowned, reaching out to press on her shoulder, her touch crisp yet warm. “You haven’t recovered to a safe level at all; you shouldn’t be awake.”

"I...I'm just not completely dead."

She exhaled softly, her voice as low as a cold laugh ground from between her bones.

"However, I have never been afraid of death since I was a child."

A brief silence fell inside the tent.

The firelight flickered, casting a faint shadow on her face, highlighting her pale yet still sharp features.

She slowly turned her head, her gaze falling on the top of the tent, as if searching for a ray of light that had not yet returned.

"Where is the God of Fate?"

“Challenging his secondary mystery,” Vera whispered back. “The domain has been activated.”

"Heh." She chuckled softly, but her throat was dry.

"They did choose a ruthless one."

"The second secret...is in this place."

She shook her head with a smile, but then slowly closed her eyes as if she had laughed herself to exhaustion.

“If he gets lost, there’s no one to pick him up.”

"So you want to go pick it up?" Vera asked calmly.

“If I go, we’ll both fall in together,” Xiao Lianyin said softly. “I’m not that stupid.”

A breeze swept past outside the tent, causing the gauze curtains to rustle softly, like whispers from afar.

Her voice lowered, like a flame about to go out in the wind:

"But Vera—"

"I want to live to see him come back."

"At least, don't let me die before him."

Vera turned her head, her gaze falling on her stubborn and tired face.

At that moment, a very slight emotion flashed across her eyes, like a light drizzle on the surface of water, barely perceptible.

She raised her hand and straightened the edges of her "Mirror Country Dress".

Then he nodded gently, his voice so low it seemed as if he were afraid to disturb the faint light lingering in that corner.

"You won't die."

"You must live—"

"Wait for us to go back together."

A wind rose outside the tent.

The lamp inside the tent flickered slightly, its light trembling like breathing, as if responding to this harsh yet tender gamble.

The wind swept through the ruins, past the exposed steel towers and dilapidated factory buildings, and through the rusted walls, a faint low-frequency electrical sound could be heard, like a sleeping mechanical heart that had not yet completely stopped.

Rudolph leaned back against a half-collapsed metal wall, his left leg tightly wrapped in a temporary fixation device. The fracture had been sealed with stitches, but the deep, dull pain still surged in waves, as if writhing in the gaps between his bones.

He was no longer able to truly stand up.

"Does it still hurt?" Zhuang Yege's voice was low, but without a trace of pity, like a soul guide who always guards the grave, his greeting also carrying calm and restraint.

“It feels like a chainsaw is chewing on my bones.” Rudolf gritted his teeth, his tone harsh but still retaining his inherent sarcasm. “But… it’s alright.”

Zhuang Yege squatted down in front of him and slowly pulled out a mysterious card with a dark green luster from his bosom.

The card has a cold, eerie glow and depicts a mechanical beast covered in bio-veins. Its ribs open and close like a repair pod, its limbs are embedded with self-regeneration nodes, its eyes are frequency-modulated monitoring light sources, and its back is engraved with a dark green mark.

【Number】：No.4412
[Department]: Life Sciences

[Card Name]: Regenerative Armor Structure - Hetis

[Relic Pact Entry]: Summons a mecha creature that is a fusion of secret remains and flesh and blood technology, which attaches itself to the holder and participates in battle in exoskeleton mecha form.

Rudolf frowned, his voice lowering slightly: "My repair card is a Fate-type, balanced one."

"Your body is badly damaged." Zhuang Yege's tone was calm, almost cold. "Switching your binding to a life-type binding will allow you to maintain your movement and consciousness through its regenerative properties."

Rudolf fell silent.

Zhuang Yege hovered the card in front of his knee. The card surface floated, and although the light did not emanate, it already felt like a heavy layer of options pressing down on the space.

"I found this card on the fourth night, intending to use it as a summoning aid."

"But you need it more than I do."

His tone remained unchanged, but it carried a hint of entrustment.

“You need to understand—this isn’t a fix.” “It’s a reconstruction.”

"You will become... a part of you that is no longer the same as you were before."

Rudolf looked up.

His face showed no hesitation or fear, only his eyes, which were as cold and sharp as iron.

“It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. “As long as I can get back alive, even if I become a monster—it’s all worth it.”

He grabbed the card, his fingertips trembling slightly, yet his resolve was as firm as a hammer.

"I will step on the enemy's bones and pull the trigger, I don't care if it's original or not."

Zhuang Yege nodded slightly, said nothing more, and began to work.

He extended his fingertips, and threads of fate overflowed from his palm, forming a "regeneration implantation pattern" together with the World System technique.

It was a complex inscription of runes that ran from the root of consciousness to the end of the spine.

The mysterious radiance of the life element pierced Rudolf's life pattern structure like acupuncture, forcibly stripping away the original life element mystery.

This process is extremely painful.

Even though Zhuang Yege activated the paralysis field, the pain still tore through him.

Rudolf gripped the edge of the protective panel tightly with his fingers, his knuckles turning white, veins bulging, and cold sweat soaking his back.

He didn't beg for mercy or shout; he just gritted his teeth and endured it.

Thirty-six seconds later.

The world returned to silence.

"Card binding successful." Zhuang Yege stopped, his tone as usual.

"Hetis, semi-implant type, initial master recognition complete."

Rudolf slowly opened his eyes, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

He gently moved his knees, and a strange yet steady flow of life feedback came from his lower limbs, as if some activated system was gently but firmly pulling him forward.

"This feeling... is like a wolfhound biting my nerves and dragging me forward."

He grinned, a ferocious smile that carried a familiar ruthlessness.

Zhuang Yege stood up, sheathed his sword and talisman, and said in a calm voice:

"It is not a beast."

"It is you."

Rudolf remained silent for a long time, then nodded.

"Then what should this beast bite to death tonight to be considered a proper farewell?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind suddenly rose, causing the newly reconstructed steel cable structure to vibrate slightly, like a sleeping hunting dog growling.

Camp center.

The energy pillars, originally set up as a lighting array, began to flicker quietly, and the light frequency gradually became disordered.

Initially, it was just a beam of light deflected.

Then, in just over ten seconds—

All light sources went out silently.

Like an invisible hand, it slowly pushed this weary city from dusk into true night.

No one noticed when night had completely fallen.

Until that moment—

In the center of the sky, a familiar yet unfamiliar black moon appeared.

It does not belong to nature.

It is the scepter of destiny that embodies the rules.

Once it rises, it means:

—The fifth night has officially begun.

The game of death begins again.

The wind stopped in the silence.

It stopped blowing.

Almost simultaneously, everyone outside the tent felt the air being filled with some kind of "sound" through every crevice.

That was not a sound that the eardrum could perceive—but a hallucinatory voice that fate "broadcast" directly behind the ear bones, as if information was extracted from reality and then infused by layers of world rules.

Crazy Thirteen's voice, like an old record repeatedly spinning in a broken record player, with rough edges and a hint of laughter, crushes through everyone's heart:

"Tick-tick-tick-"

Time is about to start moving on again.

He laughed, a laugh as precise and dry as the second hand of a clock, yet carrying an undeniable sense of threat that leaped across every nerve.

"You all think that daytime is real, right?"

"Do you think that just because someone doesn't listen to me, they're no longer one of my people?"

"Hehehehehehehe—"

A sudden gust of wind arose, dust and sand swirled, and new regular patterns appeared on the ground, spreading rapidly like an inscription.

The fifth night of trials has begun.

Everyone started moving almost instantly.

Vera was the first to rush out of the medical tent, her blonde hair flying in the night, her eyes as cold as blades: "Everyone assemble."

Zhuang Yege immediately gripped the Soul Bell tightly, his steps as firm as a mountain.

Rudolf bent down to examine the Hettis feedback system, his metal spine trembling slightly.

Natasha pressed the World System projection array, and the light screen automatically synchronized with the abnormal frequency band.

Mu Sisi hugged her sketchbook tightly, her fingers trembling on the cover.

"What happened... when did it get dark?" Nobuna instinctively gripped the hilt of her sword.

“Just now… I was recording data and didn’t even see the sun set…” Hermann’s voice was low, as if he was swallowing something.

Madman Thirteen continued humming, his tone as eerie as a nursery rhyme:
"The fifth night is my favorite night."

"Because... at this point, the script finally starts to go off-key."

He seemed to be watching their panicked faces, laughing uncontrollably through some external surveillance system.

"are you ready?"

"Tonight, I have specially arranged a dream play for you."

At that moment, the black moon plunged into the center of the city, like an inverted scepter piercing the earth, and a violent rumble came from the ground.

A massive underground door is slowly opening, like the first page of hell.

All eyes turned to Vera.

—The God of Fate is not here.

Now, someone has to make a decision.

As the black moon rose, silence fell over the entire arena. Vera stood in the center of the ruins, her figure elongated by the moonlight, her robes billowing in the wind. Her expression was devoid of panic, yet as heavy as iron.

Her gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on the [Corridor of Emptiness] domain barrier that was still operating silently.

The gray-white checkerboard-shaped seal stood silently in a corner of the camp, like a frozen lake, making it impossible to sense the condition of the people inside.

The aura of the God of Fate has long since vanished from the deep structure of consciousness.

“He cannot be interrupted,” Vera said, her voice as cold as a blade cutting through ice, “otherwise the secondary mystery binding will fail.”

"As for Xiao Lianyin, she is not suitable to fight either." She added, "She has not yet recovered. The secret medicine has depleted most of her sanity. Forcing her to participate in the battle would cause her to collapse."

"When...when will he be back?" Mu Sisi asked softly, her voice barely audible.

Vera shook her head.

Nobody knows.

"Then what do we do?" Herman frowned. "At the start of the fifth night, we must enter the trial area. If there is no response, the system will default to 'forfeit,' and we will be directly put into the purge."

“I’ll take over,” Vera said calmly. “This isn’t the first time—I’ve filled in when he’s not around.”

She looked at everyone: "Let's regroup our team and set off immediately. But I need someone to stay behind—to guard this place and to guard them."

Everyone was startled.

At this moment, Hermann, who had been standing at the back of the line, spoke up:

"I stayed."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Herman pulled open his trench coat, revealing a black and gold mechanical pocket watch hanging on his chest.

That was his main mystery—

【Fate System: The Forgotten】

He said softly, “It can make me forget ‘who I am’ and ‘where I am.’ It can also make me forget that I’m participating in a game.”

"You mean..." Zhuang Yege raised an eyebrow, "that you can detach yourself from your player identity?"

Hermann nodded.

"I once used it to forget that I was a prisoner during a trial and successfully fooled the system monitoring."

“If I forget that I am a player in the City of Mysteries, then I am not a piece on the chessboard.”

“I can be an observer outside the rules.”

"That way, I can stay by Si Ming's side and avoid triggering the trial transfer."

Vera stared at him for a few seconds, then slowly asked, "Have you thought this through?"

Herman smiled calmly: "I'm not the main character, nor am I a powerful figure. But sometimes, someone has to be there to hold the fort."

"Are you sure you'll remember to watch over people after you forget?" Mu Sisi asked worriedly.

Herman pointed to the pocket watch and smiled calmly: "It has a 'set to retain memories' function. I will set a master command—'Remember: Don't let Si Ming die.'"

Everyone chuckled, and the atmosphere eased.

Vera nodded: "Okay."

At that moment, Celian also came out: "I'll stay too."

“You?” Natasha raised an eyebrow.

“I am the servant of the God of Fate.” She said calmly, “Theoretically, I cannot be too far away from him.”

She gazed at the sealed barrier of the [Empty Corridor], her eyes softening slightly:
"More importantly—I don't want him to wake up alone."

Vera stared at her for a few seconds, and finally nodded slowly.

"Alright. Herman and Selrian, stay behind. The rest of you, come with me."

Rudolf stretched his body and lightly pressed the central control of Hettis's prosthetic limb. "I can now walk a hundred steps, throw three punches, and smash one person—that's enough."

Natasha checked all the ammunition and status entries.

Zhuang Yege shouldered the Soul Bell, her voice slightly hoarse but firm: "Alright, everyone listen carefully—Siming is not here, we'll hold on from now on."

"We can't let him wake up and laugh at us for not even making it through one night."

"Live—and then together, get out of here."

The wind rose again.

Under the black moon, they formed a new team and embarked on the fifth night's trial.

The night outside the mirror had not yet completely faded, but a new drama of death was slowly beginning to unfold.

"Destiny is not a battlefield for lone travelers."

Some people are destined to go to war.

And some people are destined to—

Standing guard before that lamp that had not yet been extinguished,
Wait for it to light up again.

(End of this chapter)