Cheng Shuili’s gaze was calm, carrying a conviction that compelled others to believe, as she parted her lips to utter those four words: "It should be it."
The young man: "!!!"
All players: "!!!"
The Faceless Jester: "...!"
Overthrow the feast!
She was not joking!
She actually wanted to use the rules to make the players treat the Faceless Jester as a dessert ingredient!
How was this possible?! How could this be allowed?!
But the logic... it seemed...
Eh? It actually self-consistent perfectly!
The aura around the Faceless Jester turned completely violent.
Shadows spread from behind it like living creatures, the light in the entire banquet hall dimmed, and a gale began to howl.
"Blasphemer... you deserve to die!"
It let out a roar that did not sound human!
The young man was struck by this terrifying pressure, collapsing directly to the ground, unable to even stand.
Yet Cheng Shuili remained unmoved at the center of this frenzy. She even tilted her head slightly, looking at the Faceless Jester—whose form was somewhat distorted by rage—with a tone of near-naive confusion:
"What? Are the rules not allowed to point out facts?"
"Or does your rule about removing impurities not include yourself?"
"If the rules cannot even constrain their creator..."
She chuckled softly, the sound crystal clear amidst the dead silence and the storm.
"Then isn't this rule itself the biggest joke, the very 'impurity' that should be removed?"
This voice traveled accurately into the ears of every player and every monster, forcing them to begin thinking.
If the rules were supreme, everything in this world should be within the rules. Following the logic given by the crow, this "impurity" to be removed was none other than the Faceless Jester itself, was it not?
And if the rules were not supreme...
Then what were the players who had always been within the rules, obeying them, and unable to resist the Faceless Jester?
The young man, limp on the high platform, had his pupils contract from fear and the information he had received.
He looked at the calm figure below, then at the Faceless Jester on the stage who was furious to the extreme. An absurd yet incredibly intense thought grew in his mind like wild grass!
What if... what if the crow was right?
What if this existence that toyed with them at will and set cruel rules was the very root of destroying the "perfect feast"?
This thought was like a spark falling into a parched grassland.
It was not just the young man; all the players, and even those previously dull attendants and guests, seemed to have a trace of extremely faint contemplation flash across their empty eyes!
The rules themselves, under Cheng Shuili’s words, began to subtly scrutinize the Faceless Jester.
"No!"
The Faceless Jester let out a scream more miserable than before, even carrying a hint of panic.
It felt the crisis!
"I am the rules! I am the feast!"
It roared frantically, attempting to use even greater power to crush Cheng Shuili, this audacious blasphemer.
But this time, the expansion of the shadows seemed to encounter a clear obstacle.
Those threatening things no longer spread as smoothly as before. Instead, after expanding, they made sizzling sounds, like a short circuit, and even began to disintegrate on their own.
Cheng Shuili curled her lips, drawing a smile of success.
She did not actually know if this theory about the rules would affect the Faceless Jester; her purpose in saying these things was twofold.
First, to incite this chosen player to attack the Faceless Jester.
Second, to provoke the Faceless Jester’s anger, deepening its "dissatisfaction" with her to the point of being uncontrollable, thereby forcing it to make a move against her.
Cheng Shuili did not know if the rules would self-correct, but the rules were definitely in effect, and they were restricting the Faceless Jester.
Cheng Shuili was not violating any rules right now, so how could it take action?
If it took action, would that not be a violation of the rules?
Since it violated the rules, it had to accept the punishment of the rules!
The shadows surging around the Faceless Jester vibrated violently, and the outline of distorted facial features even faintly appeared on its smooth mask.
It stared fixedly at Cheng Shuili, its invisible gaze almost turning into a physical blade to pierce through her.
"You... you..."
The Faceless Jester’s voice was hoarse and deformed, filled with irrepressible killing intent.
Facing the gaze that could cause any player to have a mental breakdown, Cheng Shuili not only did not retreat but took a step forward instead.
She raised her chin slightly, her eyes holding a calm that bordered on provocation.
"It seems I guessed right."
"And you just wanted to make a move against me. You, this rule-monster, also violated the rules, right?"
Her tone was light and breezy, yet it was like a heavy hammer, fiercely shattering this farce!
As Cheng Shuili’s words fell, the backlash of the rules reached its peak!
The Faceless Jester could no longer endure it, throwing its head back and letting out a shriek that no human could make, mixed with fury.
The young man on the high platform was almost frightened into a faint by this terrifying sight, but his survival instinct made him bite his lips hard. The invisible pressure caused blood to overflow from his mouth, and the metallic scent continued to spread.
He looked at the figure below who was still standing straight, and a crazy thought suddenly emerged.
"Since the impurity... since the greatest impurity..."
He muttered, struggling to climb up from the ground, his gaze locking onto the Faceless Jester, who was twisting in pain due to the backlash of the rules.
"Since the greatest impurity is this monster, then as long as I kill this monster!"
His eyes were terrifyingly bright, even though he had no weapon in his hand, only a dinner knife he had picked up for self-defense because his legs had gone weak.
But...
"Kill you... only by killing you can we live! Kill you, this impurity!"
He roared, turning all his fear and despair into brute force, clutching that small dinner knife, and staggered toward the Faceless Jester!
Although the Faceless Jester was in the pain of a rule conflict, it was not someone just anyone could provoke.
Seeing this tiny sacrifice dare to rush over actively, its rage grew even greater. A twisted shadow tentacle whipped toward the young man like a lash.
This strike contained power far exceeding any previous attack against any player.
If it connected, the young man would instantly be turned into meat paste.
All the players held their breath, their eyes fixed on this scene.
The man holding the dinner knife had blood-red eyes, clearly having lost his sanity, his mind filled with only one thought: "Kill it! End the entire dungeon!"
He was like a moth to a flame, charging toward the boiling shadows without hesitation.
Just when almost everyone thought he was doomed, a sudden change occurred.
The Faceless Jester’s tentacle seemed to hit an absolutely invisible wall, stopping abruptly less than half a meter from the man, and then, as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand, it shattered inch by inch, annihilating little by little!
The Faceless Jester let out an even more miserable scream, its entire figure becoming a bit more illusory.
"It cannot directly attack the chef chosen by the rules!" Panshi reacted suddenly, shouting, "At least until the dessert is made or it is explicitly rejected, it cannot! This is a rule it set itself!"
The young man heard this roar, the madness in his eyes intensifying, even carrying a hint of ecstasy!
"It cannot kill me! It cannot! Hahahaha!"
He laughed, acting like a madman, and the dinner knife in his hand fiercely stabbed toward the body of the Faceless Jester’s twisted and churning shadows!
"You dare to attack me?"
The Faceless Jester let out a deafening roar, and the entire island seemed to tremble under its fury.
But the boiling power around it seemed to be bound by countless invisible chains. Every time it tried to condense an attack, it would be forcibly broken up by the invisible rules and then annihilated!
It could only watch as that insignificant dinner knife, carrying all the despair and madness of a tiny sacrifice, stabbed into its body made of rules and shadows...
Puff!
A slight sound, almost negligible.
The dinner knife sank into the shadows.
There was no blood, no feeling of piercing a physical body.
But the Faceless Jester’s movements froze at this moment.
Its constantly twisting body and mask solidified completely.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
All the players held their breath, eyes wide, unable to believe everything they were seeing.
Could it be... it succeeded?
Just like that... simple?
Cheng Shuili frowned slightly, feeling something was wrong.
The backlash and restrictions of the rules were real, and it was also true that the Faceless Jester could not directly attack the chef it had chosen.
But would a rule-monster really be so easily... by an ordinary dinner knife...
Just then, a change occurred again!
"Ugh... ah..."
The young man holding the dinner knife suddenly let out a painful groan.
The arm he used to hold the dinner knife, starting from his fingertips, had its skin rapidly turn gray, shriveled, as if all the moisture and vitality were being drained away in an instant.
The traces of decay were like a spreading plague, racing up along his arm, passing his shoulder, and crawling toward his torso, his head...
"No... no..."
He widened his eyes in terror, wanting to let go of the dinner knife, only to find his hand firmly stuck to the handle. Or rather, his entire existence was being absorbed by the dinner knife that had stabbed into the shadows!
"Dessert... needs... materials..."
The Faceless Jester’s solidified figure let out a low, malicious voice.
Its smooth mask turned back to the stage below. Although the expression could not be seen, everyone could feel the cold mockery of a plot successfully executed.
"The chef who... voluntarily offered himself... as a material... is indeed... the most... delicious... part..."
Its voice carried a joyful tremolo, like someone tasting a gourmet meal.
In the horrified gaze of everyone, the young man’s body turned into a plaster statue maintaining a forward-thrusting posture in just two or three seconds.
Then, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the plaster statue, the sound of cracking was endless, and finally, it completely collapsed, turning into dust, drifting away and disappearing.
Only the dinner knife fell onto the high platform with a "clatter," producing a crisp echo.
The Faceless Jester, however, acted as if the unpleasantness from just a moment ago had never happened. It stretched its body, as if it had just enjoyed an appetizer.
"Thank you to this guest..." It paused deliberately, using this small gap to observe the expressions of the players below, and only then said the following lines as if satisfied: "For your generous contribution."
The Faceless Jester restored its tone, as if nothing had happened, and then its gaze swept over Cheng Shuili again, carrying undisguised regret.
"Pity... the main course does not seem willing to take the stage voluntarily."
"Then... according to the rules... this production..."
The Faceless Jester’s voice dragged on, carrying a playful teasing, like a cat catching a mouse.
"Is obviously a success!"
It paused deliberately, enjoying the feeling of the players’ hearts being gripped by fear once again.
The air was dead silent.
The scene of the young man turning into fly ash was still burning on everyone’s retinas.
Voluntarily attacking, but instead being eaten as dessert!
This cruel turn of events completely defeated the flickering flames of resistance in the hearts of most players.
Despair, like cold tide water, drowned the entire scene once again.
The Faceless Jester enjoyed this dead silence. It stretched its body made of shadows, like a predator after a full meal, lazy and satisfied.
Its gaze swept over Cheng Shuili again, carrying undisguised greed and lingering anger from being provoked.
"Then... next! Dessert time continues!" It announced in an aria, the malice in its voice almost overflowing. "In ten minutes, we will pick the next chef and make another choice! Hope the next one... can bring us a more... wonderful performance!"
The countdown began again.
The thin man who had incited the attack on the crow lay on the ground, his body still shaking uncontrollably, his crotch wet, emitting a fishy odor, but no one laughed.
The players all had tense faces, holding weapons as if facing a great enemy. Yet they did not know how to face this monster, so they could only stand in place for a moment, waiting for the results of the new round to come out.
And Cheng Shuili...
Cheng Shuili was gently patting the non-existent dust on her sleeves.
When the Faceless Jester was confronting the rules just now, some invisible ash seemed to have fallen.
Her patting motion was very careful, very serious, as if she were at some banquet where she needed to maintain her appearance, rather than a terrifying slaughterhouse where life and death hung in the balance.
After patting off the dust, she looked up again, looking at the Faceless Jester.
This time, there was no exploration or mockery in her eyes, replaced by an extreme coldness, like ten thousand years of cold ice, deep and bottomless.
She spoke slowly, her voice not loud, but clearly penetrating the oppressive silence, entering the ears of every player, as well as the Faceless Jester.
"I think I have already made it very clear."
"You violated the rules."
Cheng Shuili’s voice was calm and waveless, yet it was like a cold scalpel, precisely cutting through the false calm.
The Faceless Jester’s lazily stretched shadow stalled slightly.
"Oh? My dear guest, why do you say that?"
Its tone still carried teasing, but underneath that composure, there seemed to be a hint of imperceptible tension.
As if it were afraid that something it was trying hard to cover up would be discovered.
Cheng Shuili ignored its performance, just continuing to speak in that tone of stating a fact: "You made a move against a guest who had not violated any rules, which is me."
"The rules stopped you in the first place, but the fact that you violated the rules has become a reality."
Did it think it could gloss over this interlude just by ending a round of dessert time?
Cheng Shuili would absolutely hold on to this.
She smiled and raised her head, using Insight on this monster again.
If she guessed correctly...
The rule that "rule-monsters cannot be killed by players" should have expired, right?
Rate on N.U.
