The Hero Reborn as a Demon King Loli

Although this illusion was not only a test of willpower, but also set a trap of "not being able to fight in the illusion" for people to fall into, Chloe did not expect that these contestants would be so bad.

It is said that apart from her and three other contestants who were still in the illusion, the other contestants broke the illusion circle within 10 seconds of entering it.

Chloe initially thought this match would be a contest of patience and strategy, but it turned out to be a contest of incredible speed and agility...

If it ends too quickly, then things will get complicated... Chloe thought to herself.

Just before she left the arena, Lulu had secretly told her what she needed to do in the next selection... It was a contest of speed and endurance, which was going to be a bit difficult for Chloe.

The magical armor she was wearing had maximum defensive capabilities, but when it came to speed... how could a "big iron can" like her compete with someone in speed?

Furthermore, this armor requires her magic and energy to operate, so Chloe's stamina cannot last long!

Moreover, only five people can advance in the next round, and among the ten people who advance in this selection... three of them are masters!

There is also a high-ranking contestant, number seventeen Lance, who is suspected to be the "real hero." He is probably not an ordinary high-ranking player, so he is also guaranteed to advance.

So there's still some suspense regarding the last remaining spot for advancement.

It's safe to say that even without wearing this armor, Chloe would most likely have been eliminated immediately.

Lulu secretly tells Chloe about the next match, knowing Chloe's situation, so she tells her to prepare for the "resurrection match," but Chloe thinks it's too much trouble...

Chloe only hoped that the remaining three people could stall for a little longer. If they could drag it out until noon, Chloe's [Disguise Card] cooldown would be over, and she could then go all out for the next round of the selection competition.

If she could go all out, it wasn't impossible for her to win using some special methods...

……

The first round of selections is still ongoing.

After comedian Mami Tomoe left the stage, the audience continued to watch the contestants who were still struggling in their hallucinations on stage.

Honestly, if all the contestants on the field were like contestants number one and sixteen, standing there expressionless, then this selection process would be utterly unwatchable.

If it weren't for the fact that contestant number 17, Lance, was somewhat interesting, the audience might have already wanted the host to bring the "troublemaker" onto a variety show...

As for Lance, number seventeen, why did the audience find him interesting?

That's because his expressions were truly spectacular. The audience followed the close-up magical projection, watching Lance's expression change from anger to confusion, then from confusion to joy, then from joy to terror, and finally from terror to hysteria... In short, it was incredibly entertaining.

Some viewers even started their own betting pools, wagering on how long Lance could last.

Not long after, the two calm contestants, number one and number sixteen, seemed to think that they had stalled for enough time. Almost simultaneously, they broke through the illusion array and walked out of the barrier.

Their actions reveal that they had already seen through the illusion's true nature and were no longer affected by it. Their presence inside the magic array was merely a delaying tactic.

After all, this was their first time participating in such a bizarre selection process, and they didn't know how their ranking would affect them.

However, since they broke the illusion at the same time, it means they reacted almost simultaneously... This ranking seems to be useless, as no one in the audience, judges, or commentators paid attention to their situation.

It seems like whether they win first place in this project or not, they've already lost.

So they came out of the magic circle.

Of course, in the end, just as they thought, there was no point in them dragging things out.

After they came out, it was time for the judges to score them.

Given that the two of them remained completely calm throughout the process and did not seem to be affected by the illusion at all, but their comedic elements were almost non-existent, the judges ultimately gave them a score of "three eights".

The judges even said directly that both of them deserved the same score, and they were too lazy to do it again, which was extremely perfunctory.

Then almost everyone turned their attention back to Lance, and the atmosphere on the field was filled with joy again.

This score looks top-tier, but it's still a little bit worse than Chloe's.

This further convinced them that the ranking in this match wasn't particularly important...

However, when they came out and saw Lance still struggling in the illusion, their expressions were quite interesting.

Previously, within the illusionary magic circle, due to limited perspective and the need to appear calm, they had not been able to see Lance's behavior.

All I know is that he really heated up the atmosphere... or rather, he made everyone laugh.

Contestant number one, Lyon, had initially intended to acknowledge Lance as an opponent, but after witnessing Lance's performance...

He said he didn't understand it, but he was greatly shocked.

For some reason, Lance is now doing "yoga" inside the magic circle.

In short, his body was twisted into a bizarre posture, but his expression alternated between pain and pleasure, making him look quite comical.

For the audience, isn't this much more enjoyable than watching monkeys at the zoo?

Then contestant number one also joined the audience...

Unlike contestant number one, contestant number sixteen, the guy from the Abyss Order, was frowning as he looked at Lance, seemingly deep in thought, as if he hadn't expected Lance to last so long.

They had already colluded with the church to maliciously increase the difficulty of the competition for this "real hero," claiming that true heroes must face greater setbacks.

But unexpectedly, this hero's willpower was terrifyingly strong!

However, his brows quickly relaxed, and a faint mockery appeared on his face.

In any case, this "failure" will never get the title of hero. This is all part of the plan. We will definitely eliminate him in the next selection round.

……

Although, in retrospect, Lance's willpower was quite extraordinary; even after he became the "clown," he did not attack the fragile illusion.

It can be said that his willpower is absolutely "heroic".

Although the audience and judges were just having fun, not one of them failed to admire his willpower... even Chloe had to admire him as a true warrior.

Some viewers couldn't help but wonder what kind of illusion he was seeing that could make his expressions and movements so rich?

Unfortunately, the Sage, who was supposed to play the illusion content, was gone; otherwise, the audience would have known the truth.

As for the truth...

As a young man who had only recently been summoned to this world, Lance's willpower was much stronger than that of ordinary people, but the contents of this illusion were things that even Chloe, a former hero, couldn't help but take action against.

Not to mention that Lance's illusion was an "enhanced version".

What did Lance see in the illusion that made his expression so varied?

One can only say that he saw a lot of things, and some of them were absurd.

Simply put, what he saw was constantly changing, and this change was quite unexpected...

For example, one moment he's on a date with his goddess, and the next moment he's fighting her with weapons.

For example, he was just being affectionate with a beautiful girl, and suddenly she tied him up and was about to torture him.

What's even more outrageous is that one moment he's about to do something fun with a beautiful girl, and the next moment she turns into a muscular man.

In short, the illusion he saw was as "rich" as if he had eaten a "red umbrella," and most importantly, he himself did not realize that it was an illusion.

That's why he performed so "brilliantly".

Most importantly, he still couldn't break the magic circle... Because his illusion was an enhanced version, the magic circle's strength was many times greater than others' magic circles, so even though he tapped on the edge of the magic circle, he couldn't destroy it...

……

Finally, Lance was carried out of the magic circle by the medical team.

Although he was eventually carried out, his brilliant performance won unanimous praise from the audience and judges.

Finally, the judges unanimously gave Lance three perfect scores: 100, 100, and 100.

The contestants then realized that the maximum score was 100 points...

"I have to admit, this guy is indeed quite suited to be a hero, judging from his ability to withstand pressure..."

Chloe looked at Lance, who was foaming at the mouth and being carried away by the medical staff, and couldn't help but sigh.

Midway through, she joined the audience and witnessed the "real hero's" expressive face.

It has to be said that if this were an act, Chloe would be completely outmatched.

He's the Joker of actors! (In every sense of the word)

However, Chloe still couldn't understand why a mocking illusion could turn people into this... It wasn't until Chloe checked the magic circle amidst the chaos that she discovered it had been tampered with.

Good heavens, this is a nested magic circle! A regular mocking illusion is nested with more than a dozen different smaller illusion magic circles... The combined strength of these magic circles is practically welded shut!

Oh my God, this is so tragic… Chloe almost laughed out loud—no, she expressed her deepest sympathy.

However, it seems that someone is indeed targeting this "real hero"... Chloe glanced at the member of the Abyss Order, and then at the judges on the stage.

She noticed that the person from the Abyss Order was observing her actions, and that someone else on the judging panel was also watching her...

It's quite obvious who in the church is collaborating with the Abyss Order... That makes sense, if there wasn't an inside agent among the judges, how could they possibly have pulled such a stunt beforehand?

"I think I'm being watched too... but it's okay, we have the numbers..."

Chloe watched the other two judges chatting with Luluxin and thought to herself.

However, thanks to Lance for stalling for more than three hours, her [Disguise Card] cooldown was finally over.

Now she can operate freely... and she can also try out the operation she's thinking of...

Thinking this, Chloe revealed a wicked smile.

Chapter 137 If it were me... I'd be in jail by now!

Lance was resuscitated in about three minutes and is now fine except for a slightly poor mental state.

Even after learning that he had come in first place in the first round of selection and that his score was higher than all the other contestants combined, he laughed loudly with a slightly pale face.

He laughed and said things like, "I am indeed the strongest!" "I am indeed the true hero! The protagonist is Lord Lance!" He looked very proud or even arrogant.

It seems he didn't realize that this contest was essentially a "variety show," and that his score wasn't based on his ability, but rather on the joy he brought to the audience.

In short, he had long been seen as a "joker" by the audience and other contestants.

Of course, no one told him these things... After all, his silly grin was quite amusing.

……

Because contestant Lance had taken quite a long time, and it was almost lunchtime when he left the stage, the judges unanimously decided to take a break.

Although the judges and contestants don't really care about lunch, the audience does.

In addition, there is another player who is not in good form, and out of "humanistic" concern, we cannot immediately put him on the field to perform... or play in the game.

During the intermission, both the judges and the contestants dispersed. However, the three judges naturally had their own private rest room.

One of the judges was resting with his eyes closed in the lounge, but his slightly furrowed brows suggested that he was deep in thought.

Just then, someone pushed the door open and entered, saying to the judge:

"That guy is really lucky, he actually made it through the first round..."

Upon seeing the person, it turned out to be a member of the Abyss Order, the contestant named Chris.

His behavior and tone showed that he didn't treat the judge as an outsider at all.

“I don’t think it’s just luck… I was surprised that he could maintain his consciousness for so long under multiple illusions… I knew he had strong mental strength, but I didn’t expect it to be this strong… Also, Chris, close the door.”

The judge spoke to him in a calm tone, and as a Saint-level expert, he regarded a mere Master-level person as an equal.

Or rather, they are what are called "allies".

"A problem with mental strength? I think it's Simmons' problem. When you started tampering with things, why didn't you just do something like 'make his magic circle automatically break after it's activated'?"

Chris said in a slightly complaining tone, but he still closed the door behind him.

He also knew that the room was soundproof, and that it would be easier to talk things out if he closed the door.

"That would be too obvious... That's what I originally thought, but I didn't expect that more than half of the people would emerge from the illusion almost instantly... Hmph, what kind of trash are these people who passed the preliminary selection? They want to be heroes."

The judge named Simmons, whose tone was originally indifferent, became somewhat disdainful after mentioning the contestants who "left the warehouse in a second".

"...Most of those 'rotten fish and shrimp' you mentioned are my people."

Chris sat down on Simmons' sofa, crossed his legs, and continued in a somewhat sullen tone:

“You know that the people in our cult are not very emotional, and the lower the level, the more unstable their emotions are. If I hadn’t been able to break free from the influence of this kind of provocative illusion, even I might not have been able to resist it.”

After hearing Chris's words, Simmons shook his head and said:

"Well, although there were some deviations from the original plan, we can definitely eliminate him in the second round... By the way, how many people do you have left? What are their levels?"

“There are three left, and with me, there are four of us: two Saint... Master level, and two Advanced level,” Chris replied.