You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

"No face?"

The cult leader repeated the three words, his brows furrowing even deeper.

In the Federation's horror games, monsters can be skinless, brainless, or even just a bunch of twisted chunks of flesh.

But "no face" is a completely new concept.

It is not a visual absence, but a cognitive deprivation.

The viewers in the live stream were in an uproar.

[No face? What? Is their face blurred out?]

I suddenly remembered a legend from my hometown, about a creature that specializes in stealing people's facial features...

[Don't even mention what happened before, it's giving me goosebumps!]

[Be careful, Master! This is definitely a killer move by the cunning planners! It's a hundred times more terrifying than the water ghost girl!]

The girl seemed to be gripped by immense fear by the word "water ghost," and her entire illusory body began to become unstable, with ripples like data streams spreading across its edges.

"He...he's on his way..."

"Every time I think about going there... he appears..."

"He can...imitate how I walk..."

The girl's voice was choked with sobs, broken and intermittent.

The cult leader crouched down, his gaze level with the girl's, his voice still gentle.

"Don't be afraid."

"He's imitating your walk, can't you learn to walk like him?"

The girl froze, her pure black eyes filled with confusion.

The viewers in the live stream were also stunned.

【What are you talking about, Master?】

[A ghost is imitating your walk, and you're imitating a ghost's walk? Is this some kind of nesting doll?]

[This thought process is the most incomprehensible in the Federation!]

The cult leader ignored the comments and looked at the girl, continuing to patiently guide her.

"Think about it, if he has no face, doesn't that mean he also has no eyes?"

"He can't see the road, so he can only follow the example of others."

"He's actually more pitiful than you."

These words seemed to have a magical power, and the water ghost girl's trembling body gradually calmed down.

In her dull eyes, the fear seemed to have subsided somewhat, replaced by a hint of curiosity and...sympathy?

Holy crap! You can interpret it like that?!

[Case solved! The cult leader is the real master of psychology; the Iceberg Professor was just reciting from the textbook!]

[They've made ghosts sound almost pitiful; that's such a clever move!]

Happiness Apartment, Room 404.

Hao Ren raised an eyebrow as he watched the cult leader's actions on the screen. The Federation players had finally produced a formidable figure.

This "Faceless Man" was something he had just redeemed from the LV2 resource library.

Its full name is "Shadow Phantom," something that only exists in ancient legends.

It has no physical form, no facial features; it is a concrete manifestation of the concept of pure "imitation."

If you run, it will run.

If you jump, it will jump.

It will do whatever you do, and it will do it in a more standard and more extreme way than you.

If you scream out of fear, it will respond with an even harsher sound.

If you attack it out of desperation, it will tear you apart with even greater ferocity.

It's like a mirror, amplifying the negative traits in your behavior.

The only way to deal with it is to not do anything unnecessary.

or……

As the cult leader said, we should imitate it in reverse.

When it imitates you, and you imitate it, the closed loop of imitation is broken because it loses the "source" of imitation.

in the game.

After comforting the little girl, the cult leader stood up and walked alone into the depths of the corridor.

"Wait for me here."

"I'll go and clear the road."

The little girl nodded, her small figure standing still like a sorrowful statue.

The cult leader moved forward step by step.

The sounds of rain and crying all disappeared.

In the corridor, only the sound of his own footsteps could be heard.

"despair."

"despair."

"despair."

Empty, deathly silent.

He walked about twenty meters.

Ahead, in the endless darkness, a human-shaped silhouette suddenly appeared.

It stood there quietly, like an unpainted, unfinished model.

Its entire body is pitch black, blending into the surrounding darkness, yet its limbs and torso are still clearly discernible.

The most bizarre thing is its head.

There was nothing there.

It was as smooth as a pebble that had been painted with black paint.

This is "No-Face".

[Holy crap! It's out!]

[OMG! This design...it's more sanity-draining than any monster!]

I feel like all five senses are itching...

The cult leader stopped and stood facing the faceless creature from a distance.

The two are about ten meters apart.

The faceless man also remained still.

A human and a "ghost" faced off in the dark corridor.

Time ticked by, and the atmosphere in the live stream became extremely tense.

Everyone held their breath, awaiting the impending impact.

Finally, the teacher took the initiative.

He slowly raised his right hand.

Almost at the same time, the faceless man opposite also raised its right hand with the exact same speed and angle.

It's perfectly accurate, like a reflection in a mirror.

The cult leader did not stop.

After raising his right hand, he slowly raised his left foot.

The faceless man opposite also raised his left foot.

The human and the ghost, both standing on one leg in a comical pose, faced each other in the corridor.

[Pfft... Sorry, I couldn't help it, this scene is too funny!]

[Be serious! This is a battle of wits between experts! A psychological game!]

[I get it, the cult leader is testing its imitation mechanism!]

Test complete.

The cult leader lowered his hands and feet and resumed his standing posture.

No-Face also recovered.

Then, the cult leader began to walk forward.

As he took a step forward, the faceless man would take a step back, always maintaining a distance of ten meters.

It was as if an invisible wall stood between them.

The cult leader tried running a few more steps.

The faceless man's retreat speed also increased, and his movements were exactly the same as his.

"I see."

The cult leader stopped in his tracks, understanding dawning on him.

This thing is just a pure imitator.

It is not offensive in itself.

Its terror stems from its "feedback" on player behavior.

If you are so frightened that you turn and run away, it will chase you at an even faster speed, driving you to despair and collapse.

If you provoke it and throw a punch, it will retaliate with the same action, and with far greater force than you.

For players like Berserker Dragon Bro, encountering it is a death sentence.

But for the cult leader...

This is practically a free point question.

He looked at the faceless man in front of him and suddenly grinned.

Then, he did something that surprised the more than 40 million viewers in the live stream, as well as Hao Ren behind the screen.

He opened his arms and leaned back slightly.

Legs together, toes pointed.

He started...dancing ballet?

A clumsy and comical spin in place.

The faceless man opposite him immediately copied his movements.

An equally clumsy, but more exaggerated, spin in place.

The cult leader made a circle around.

The faceless man also turned around.

The cult leader then performed another comical jump, kicking his legs wildly in the air.

The faceless man also jumped up, his black body drawing a strange arc in the air.

The originally terrifying and eerie standoff took a sudden turn.

It turned into a bizarre...duet scene.

【? ? ? 】

[Cult Leader! What are you doing, Cult Leader?!]

Am I watching a horror game livestream? Why does it feel like I'm watching The Federal Talent Show?

[Ghost: Don't I have any dignity? Are you making a fool of me?]

Happiness Apartment, Room 404.

Hao Ren almost spat his coffee onto the screen.

He envisioned countless ways for players to fight against "Shadow Phantom".

Standing still wastes time, cautiously backing away, or even being driven crazy and having a mental breakdown.

But he never expected that someone would use this method.

To solve this puzzle in a way that is almost humiliating.

"A talent... truly a talent..."

Hao Ren shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

in the game.

After performing a series of difficult dance moves, the cult leader stopped.

The faceless man opposite also stopped.

The entire corridor fell silent once again.

The cult leader looked at the motionless faceless man and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

He cleared his throat and then shouted at No-Face.

"Sarilang! Sarilang!"

The sound echoed in the corridor.

The faceless man's body seemed to stiffen for a moment.

Its smooth head was slightly tilted, as if it were "thinking" about the meaning of the slogan.

Then, amidst the stunned gazes of forty million people.

It raised its hands and began to swing them up and down.