Catastrophe Card King

Chapter 22: Chapter 19 [trump card-GreyJoker]

Translator: 549690339

A few moments after the gunshot, Camilla was snapped back from her shock, akin to falling from the clouds.

She had never had such a thrilling experience.

Right now, it seemed like she was seeing a clown walking a tightrope before her eyes, he not only wasn’t afraid, instead, he gave a smirk to the god of death in the abyss, full of mockery.

This guy just toyed with death!

He must be out of his mind.

Despite Camilla’s usual calm demeanor, she couldn’t contain her excitement and curiosity at this point and asked hurriedly, “Did… did… did you know there was something wrong with this gun earlier?”

She had seen two men die under this weapon, yet only the one in their cage was malfunctioning?

Leonard Churchill shook his head with a smile, refuting the statement, “No. There’s nothing wrong with the gun.”

Camilla also figured it wouldn’t be the gun, “Then why… why could you fire six shots?”

“The game rules only say that you can only fire one shot at others, not that you can only fire one shot at yourself.”

Leonard Churchill’s mouth edged upward, as if he was still immersed in a buzz from the thrill of the Russian Roulette game.

“Also, as I said before, the factors of the left and right levels are not just about the rules of space itself.”

Saying that, he glanced significantly at the iron spikes overhead.

Time had passed, but the spikes did not fall.

That meant they had cleared the stage.

They both cleared the stage while staying alive.

He also managed to pass in a way that the contestants in the other two cages hadn’t chosen.

He glanced at Camilla’s two increasingly curious eyes, turned his face toward the mechanically stiff clown and asked significantly, “Isn’t that right Mister Clown?”

But the clown didn’t answer, he only quietly watched, yet his smiling face seemed to take on an eerie curve.

At this moment, Camilla had endless questions, desperately wanting to know what had happened.

Leonard Churchill, impressed with her, was naturally willing to explain further.

Now that he had passed the level, he had fully understood everything.

He began to elaborate: “If it were just a simple Russian Roulette killing game, how boring would that be… it would make the designer seem unskilled. Such a well-designed arrangement, how could it possibly have such a typical ending?”

Camilla agreed with his words.

This alternate dimension was the most exquisitely designed one she had ever personally experienced.

If the final level required nothing more than a murder to escape, it somehow… lowered the standard, and did not match the previous ingenious design.

This was something the man across from her had said before.

But how did he know what was wrong with the gun?

Leonard Churchill grinned mysteriously and slowly revealed the truth: “Do you remember that saying, ‘If you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you’? This is actually a very strong clue, when you stare at the evil of human nature, the evil will turn around and look into your heart, revealing the true you.”

Camilla suddenly realized: “You’re talking about… that card?”

It finally dawned on her, earlier when they killed the [Shadow Demon], a card was dropped.

They all guessed that it was a clue to the final level.

It’s been utilized now!

Wait…no, it wasn’t used!

What did those two cryptic sentences have to do with clearing the level?

This man shot himself in the head six times!

He must have discovered something else that led him to risk it.

Leonard Churchill explained: “Back when we entered the Mirror House, I had roughly guessed. So when we entered the iron cage and saw the setup, I guessed some more. After listening to the Russian Roulette game rules, I fully figured out the designer’s intent.”

As he spoke, he lit up with a fanatical fire in his eyes: “Therefore, what the final level really tests was never a matter of Russian Roulette luck. Anything you could test wouldn’t delve as deep as testing human nature.”

Camilla:

She heard every word he has said but her brain didn’t understand.

She didn’t speak, or else she would feel like she was stupid.

After a brief pause, Leonard Churchill continued: “The essence of the alternate dimension is through testing and getting rewards. And the purpose of the level is to select people who conform to the designer’s directional traits in order to pass and eventually get the final reward. From the previous [Wall Break], [Witch], [Gambling Dog], [Shadow Demon], and now the clown game…in the end, you will find that the people who pass must have these traits: self-control of desires, courage, wisdom, firm belief, and possibly… kindness. Of course, what makes this space special is that it still tests some other special traits: gambler mentality, cunningness, madness, obsession. Only adventurers who satisfy all the above traits can be ultimately recognized.”

He paused for a moment and then continued: “And the other sentence: ‘Before dawn arrives, there must always be a person to light up the darkness’. The designer gave the final hint that the people selected by the space should be those who can let people see the light in endless darkness. Thus, from the very beginning, whoever pointed the gun at their companion had already effectively eliminated themselves. Comrades can’t die, so the choice was only one left…”

Shoot oneself!

It was only then that Camilla understood the meaning of the two sentences. That’s why this guy fired six shots at himself!

There must be some other factors to this, that she hadn’t fully understood yet, however, it sparked another question, and she wanted to ask: “What about before…”

Leonard Churchill didn’t wait for her to finish and said directly: “You were going to ask if the old servant before, who shot himself several times in a row, could also pass?”

He answered his own question: “No, that’s not possible. He was able to come out alive, but not pass. The greatest respect one can give to the game designer is to play by the rules and clear the game. On our way here, though we may have skipped some minor levels, it didn’t matter. However, these two master and servant appeared directly here, obviously they took a shortcut. They should have some special intel, brought in from the outside world, rather than being discovered in this space. Without those traits, he could never obtain the final reward.”

Playing a game and exploiting a glitch to win is okay, but you’ll miss some necessary clues and gaming experience.

You can get some rewards for passing, but not all of them.

That’s inevitable.”

Camilla pondered.

Leonard Churchill agreed and said: “That guy was actually very clever too, clearly understanding this point, so he didn’t take the gun until the very last moment. But even if he guessed correctly, he, a man of status, wouldn’t dare to take the risk. If you die, you will truly lose everything. If anyone else was in his place, they might hesitate too. After all, power and status are in certain aspects a kind of shackle, making people lose the heart to take risks. This is fate and has nothing to do with wisdom.”

After listening to Leonard Churchill’s thorough explanation of the situation and all the puzzles, Camilla’s mind finally started to clear up.

But how could a normal person, based on these two clues, shoot themselves six times?

Camilla couldn’t help but ask, “All of this is just your speculation, what if you guessed wrong?”

“If I lost the bet, I would’ve died.”

Leonard Churchill responded flippantly.

His tone was so calm, as if he was not discussing his own life and death.

Then, a bright smile spread across his face, hidden under the gas mask.

He looked at the robotic clown, as if he was looking at his own reflection in a mirror.

After a pause, Leonard Churchill responded in a low voice: “For me…the thrill of this gamble is much more attractive than death.”

Through these intricately crafted puzzles, he was experiencing a long-forgotten and unhealthy thrill that peaked excitement in his mind!

Having seen this twice, Camilla was well-familiar with his behavior. She knew that he had fallen into one of his arrogant and insane states again.

“This also holds for it.”

As if sensing a gaze from the dark, Leonard continued, “If I bet wrong, I die! But it loses! If I don’t die, none of us win! It will not allow itself to lose!” Camilla was confused, “It?”

Leonard Churchill smiled brilliantly, “Yes. To put it another way…the designer of the space? Or the will of the space? The final level’s big boss? In short, that’s what I meant.”

Leonard Churchill asked again, “Do you know why I’m saying this?”

Camilla originally wanted to say: Isn’t it because you said it to me?

But she quickly understood the implication of his question and asked, “Why?”

Leonard Churchill smiled slightly, “Because, that being has been spying in the shadows.”

Felt a slight shock in her heart, Camilla looked around, “But…if you say it out loud, won’t it…?”

Leonard shook his head, “It’s intended to hear this. Unraveling a perfect mystery is a pleasing experience. As a level designer, if someone appreciates their level and understands their design’s intricacy, it brings even more satisfaction than killing or messing around with players who can’t understand the thrill of the game.”

Camilla was sweating bullets, feeling like the clueless player he was referring to was her.

There was a pause.

Leonard Churchill turned to the mechanical clown again, asking for the second time, “Isn’t that right, Mr. Clown?”

This time, the clown answered back, “Yes, adventurer.”

Its already exaggerated smile stretched wider, splitting its face, and it added: “Congratulations, you have completed the test.”

Churchill, having met an opponent worthy of his abilities, responded, “Thank you. It was a pleasant experience.”

The iron cage slowly opened.

The clown smiled slightly.

Whilst laughing, its smile gradually froze.

Its already vibrant color quickly faded, as if someone on their deathbed losing their life, suddenly dull and colorless.

This was the end of the mechanical clown’s mission.

At last, it said the second line from the card: ‘Before dawn, someone always has to light up the darkness.’

It seemed like a whisper from ancient times.

Leonard Churchill listened quietly and thought carefully.

Staring at the dead mechanical clown, he didn’t take his eyes off for a long time.

Enlightenment came upon him once again.

You have heard the description of darkness from the whispers of the abyss, and you have touched the ‘miracle’.’

With this in mind, Leonard Churchill looked at the black card in his hand that he thought until now was unremarkable.

Now, it had transformed.

It turns out that the catastrophe recorded in the file had been in his hands all this time.

It was a grey poker card.

[trump card-GreyJoker]

Quality: Epic

Category: Demon Mark

Extraordinary Traits:

1. 1. Trickster: Enlightenment +10, photographic memory, cognition cannot be altered or erased by any external force lower than the rules of the card, can probabilistically interpret the whispers of the demons;
2. 2. Unlucky Gambler: The life of the Joker seems cursed by fate, full of bad luck. It grows in adversity and pain, like a knife-edge dancer, finds the meaning of existence in the thrill, the more desperate the situation, the better the luck.
3. 3. Universal Card: the body can hold an unlimited amount, full elemental resistance can grow, the fusionist is not subject to the sequence restrictions, can use any profession card to upgrade;
4. 4. Demon’s Feast: You can extract extraordinary traits from corpses;

Review: The Joker is also the most special card in poker. It’s the trump card and also the joker. The clown mocks the hypocrisy of the gods, ridicules the incompetence of the death, and also satirizes human greed and cowardice…it walks alone in the shadows, spying on the whole world. This is a historically significant but hidden card; it’s one of the fifty-four demonic origin cards, pointing to an indescribable high level demon. Fusion compatibility 97%, fusion of this demon mark has a deformation probability of less than 5%;

The bottom of the card is handwritten with a line of inscription. Even though Leonard Churchill didn’t recognize the language, he understood it: is this the enslavement contract of the demon? No, on the contrary, this is the mark of the Curse Card Master’s control over the power of the demon – signature M

PS: The quality of the demon mark is divided into: white, black iron, white silver, gold, legend, epic.

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