Game Name: Blood and Fire Festival

Clear Condition: Obtain the "Warrior Medal"

...

[Detected that you will undergo a 'Promotion Trial' in this game. Loading special tasks for you now.]

Promotion Task 1: Weave a deception, requiring that at least 50 or more NPCs or Players are influenced by this deception and take corresponding actions, while simultaneously obtaining an equivalent of 50 people's worth of 'Belief'.

Promotion Task 2: Use "deception" as a means to achieve this dungeon's "clear condition". That is, do not obtain the final "Warrior Medal" through combat and looting trophies, but obtain it through a method that fits the definition of "deception".

Complete both tasks to unlock the 'Personal Trial Dungeon'. Complete the 'Personal Trial Dungeon' to complete the 'Promotion'.

The tasks are not mandatory to complete.

Lin Yu opened his eyes.

A thick, heavy smell of blood drilled into his nostrils, which, for once, matched quite well with the bloody words before his eyes.

He stood before the entrance to a damp, dense forest. The ground was wet, black soil, and towering trees that looked to have extremely hard wood were layered and arranged, dark and oppressive like soldiers standing in formation.

And in front of Lin Yu, there was an altar made from what looked like human skulls, but larger in size and with sharper teeth.

Beside the altar, a sturdy, muscular man, roughly over two meters tall, was wearing animal hide clothing. His face and exposed arms were smeared haphazardly with bright red, bloody colors, staining his originally dark skin with streaks of crimson.

He looked down at Lin Yu and spoke in a low voice, "Are you here to participate in the 'Glory Festival'? ...Judging by your appearance, you seem to be human."

Lin Yu nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes."

The burly man nodded. "I see. You're a bit late! Hurry up!"

He patted the skull altar.

"Stick your hand in!"

Lin Yu glanced at the altar that seemed to emanate a certain eerie aura, then extended his hand into the skull's mouth.

*Crunch!*

The skull's mouth snapped shut, its hard, sharp teeth piercing the skin of Lin Yu's hand.

Blood welled up and flowed into the skeleton's mouth, after which it released its bite.

"Pull your hand out!"

The burly man reminded him, and Lin Yu hastily withdrew his hand.

After he pulled his hand out, a fierce flame ignited beneath the altar.

His blood flowed into the flames and finally condensed into an irregular, blood-red crystal.

The flames gradually died out afterwards. The burly man picked up the crystal, blew on it, and hissed and puffed from the heat.

"Ha, that's really hot... Here, take it. This is your 'token'!"

"Number three hundred and eighty-five!"

Lin Yu took the crystal, looked at the "385" numeral symbol inside, and fell into deep thought.

This token was just too wild. Not only was it irregular, it was even a bit prickly to hold!

Although he knew the entire Black Marsh world was barbaric and crazy, this was just too barbaric.

And the burly man spoke again.

"Keep going forward for about a hundred meters, and you'll encounter a 'barrier'."

"Today, when the sun sets and the moon rises, after your token flashes, the barrier will briefly drop for a few minutes. Seize the time to cross it."

"When the barrier rises again, the 'Glory Festival' will begin once more. Ten days later, when the barrier drops again, the festival ends."

"Understood?"

The burly man asked unhurriedly. Lin Yu nodded.

"Understood."

Based on the burly man's explanation and clarification, combined with the bloody words he saw earlier, Lin Yu had now completely figured out the purpose of this [dungeon].

Just as Shen Bingmiao had said, this was a very simple and brutal dungeon with almost no hidden information or conditions, only the purest slaughter and competition.

The information about the clear condition and the "Glory Festival" also completely matched Shen Bingmiao's intel.

"Thank you, President. You actually bet on everything being right. You're truly invincible."

Lin Yu silently praised Shen Bingmiao in his heart.

With prior preparation, he now felt fully confident—clearing it was definitely not a problem.

It was just that the two task conditions for the "Promotion" were still somewhat tricky.

The second condition was relatively easier to handle. Lin Yu instantly thought of many solutions—tricking someone out of their "Warrior Medal," or using the [Counterfeit] and other things to forge a "trophy" to obtain a "Warrior Medal," or even fabricating another condition for obtaining a "Warrior Medal" to make it "come true"...

But the first task condition...

"Not only do I have to talk and deceive these guys who look like they have simple minds and well-developed muscles, but I also have to fool fifty of them? This is really giving me a headache!"

Lin Yu sighed, feeling a faint ache in his head.

He had already prepared himself for direct confrontation, yet both tasks forced him to engage in dialogue and deception with those brutes in this kind of activity where people start fighting the moment they meet.

"As expected, 'Promotion' tasks are never simple."

After this internal lament, Lin Yu looked at the burly man again.

No matter how difficult the 'Promotion' was, he still had to do it.

So... take it step by step.

At least the burly man in front of him was clearly willing to talk to him—such opportunities wouldn't be many. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

So, after getting the "token," Lin Yu spoke up again to strike up a conversation.

"Hey, I have another question... How many entrances like this one are there?"

Upon hearing Lin Yu's question, a look of "how could you not know this either?" appeared on the burly man's face, but he still answered Lin Yu.

"Twelve. Why?"

"Thank you."

Lin Yu said with a smile.

If there were twelve entrances, then with twenty players distributed on average, it was indeed normal for him to be alone at one entrance.

"If we assume each entrance has a player, then at least eight people would be with others... In the most extreme case, eight entrances might have pairs of players, or nine people might all be crammed at one entrance..."

"I don't know how many of these people entered as a team. Although the map is large, encountering teamed-up players would still put me at a disadvantage."

"And even without teamed players, after being assigned together, they might naturally form temporary alliances... At least, if it were me, I would temporarily ally with the person next to me."

"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that it's exactly one 'Order' and one 'Marauder' who have already started fighting..."

"I just hope that 'Twenty' doesn't have any 'teammates' with him."

After further deducing information from the burly man's words, Lin Yu quickly completed his analysis and judgment of the situation.

However, his reason for striking up a conversation with the other party wasn't just to gather information.

"So, you came to participate in the Glory Festival, but you don't know how many entrances there are?"

"Yeah, because it's been too long since I last came," Lin Yu said calmly as soon as he heard the other man couldn't help but speak up again. "Let me correct that, friend. I'm not a 'human'."

"The last time I participated in the Glory Festival here, there wasn't any 'entrance' or 'no entrance'."

Hearing Lin Yu's words, a look of astonishment appeared on the burly man's face.

"You... what exactly are you? You're not human? Are you Spiritkin then?"

"No, hearing your tone, so full of vicissitudes... Could you be a Monster?!"

Lin Yu shook his head.

"Wrong... I am a 'Rakshasa'."