Chapter 845: The White Human-Goat

Until I truly stepped into the “Land of the End,” I realized just how powerful the White Goat in the room was.

His games were even harder than many “Earth-level” ones here, yet he called himself a “Human Goat.” Could it be that the White Goat was weaker than the incompetents outside?

I recalled the terms of the “Zodiac Ascension Wager Contract,” which stipulated that the White Goat had to endure at least three empty rooms before fully ascending to “Earth-level.”

This place was utterly bizarre. If all “Earth-level” Zodiacs had signed this contract, they should have been overwhelmingly powerful. Yet, I never encountered another Zodiac as formidable as the White Goat.

He was clearly the “pinnacle,” so how had he become the “foundation”?

If the Zodiacs here were categorized into “Human” and “Earth,” then above them, shouldn’t there be a “Heaven”?

Would the “Heaven” here be far stronger than the White Goat?

I wandered alone in this city for a month—roughly three cycles—only to find that the situation was no different from what I had imagined.

This was a city of despair built on deception.

Extreme conditions and overwhelming fear of death would lay bare the “evil” in everyone’s hearts. No matter what the escape conditions were, as long as these people kept turning on each other, all hope would gradually be extinguished.

Even if all the “Earth-level” games here weren’t difficult, the “Participants” would create their own obstacles.

A game that could be cleared through cooperation would collapse due to one person’s paranoia. A game requiring intelligence would inevitably be ruined by some low-IQ fool barging in.

Everyone here kept questioning why they had come, but I had no time for such idle thoughts.

Our goal wasn’t to figure out why we were here—it was to find a way out.

After all, their guesses were wrong. They claimed everyone here was guilty of some “sin,” but that was absurd because I didn’t remember committing any crime.

How exactly is “sin” defined?

If I accidentally stepped on an ant while walking, would that count as “killing”?

If I hung up on a telemarketer, causing him to miss his last sales target and spiral into suicide, would that count as “killing”?

If a long-lost classmate called me, saying he was terminally ill and needed money, and I refused, leading to his death—would that count as “killing”?

Why should my “sin” be judged by others?

I wouldn’t claim my life has been perfect and free of mistakes, but I know I’m no irredeemable villain. I’ve never broken the law or harmed anyone—that’s all.

Yet this eerie place tampered with my memories. I was absolutely certain… something had invaded my mind.

My memories told me that because I was bullied and isolated in my college dorm, I poisoned the water dispenser.

That was utterly ridiculous. Whoever fabricated this memory clearly didn’t understand me.

I’d been isolated since childhood—I wouldn’t suddenly snap in college. Everything I did was to better myself, so why would I throw away my future for a few “nobodies”?

Sure, the motive and method made sense, but if the killer was supposed to be me, then the whole scenario fell apart.

I was unwavering in my life goals—I’d never act so impulsively.

To me, people who enjoyed bullying others were beneath contempt. Why would I ruin my life for them?

Even if I really wanted to… there were far subtler ways.

After a few cycles, the others in the room began to develop “Echoes,” and the rules of this place slowly became clear to me.

As the saying goes, it’s the swimmers who drown. If these people hadn’t gained “Echoes,” they wouldn’t have taken such risks.

But once they awakened their abilities, they sought greater rewards—in other words…

They started vanishing from the room.

First one or two, then five or six.

No one could be blamed for this—except the White Goat and me.

The three games in our “Interview Room” seemed far harder than the “Earth-level” games here, so many from our room grew overconfident and tried to gamble their lives against the Zodiacs.

What they didn’t know was that the reason they had survived such difficult games was, first, thanks to me, and second, thanks to the White Goat. Their own abilities had nothing to do with it.

By the time seven people had disappeared, I began to worry for myself.

The White Goat’s ultimate goal was to make us all vanish, but I knew my own nature.

Every move I made was calculated—I would never leave my life to chance like gambling.

In other words, unless something uncontrollable happened, I would never bet my life against anyone.

Which meant… I was now the White Goat’s biggest thorn in his side. He’d definitely try to eliminate me.

No—there was one other survivor besides me: Zhang Qiang.

He was the only one who had supported me in the “Liar’s Game.” He seemed steady and quiet, likely sharing a similar temperament to mine.

The two of us watched as people disappeared one by one, knowing exactly what it meant. They would never return to this room—they were gone forever.

In the next cycle, we awoke in the room as usual, expecting the White Goat to recite the rules again and explain the “Land of the End’s” “Deification Project.” But this time, he did something unprecedented.

“‘Brute Force’ Zhang Qiang, ‘Soulstealer’ Yan Zhichun—would the two of you be interested in working with me?”

His words stunned not just us but even the Shar-Pei and the Sheep standing beside him.

“White Goat… what are you saying?” the Shar-Pei hissed. “Stick to the script. Don’t cause trouble.”

“The script?” The White Goat let out a cold laugh, his voice muffled by his mask. “Should I keep reciting the same rules they’ve heard a thousand times, let them vote to kill me, and then watch ‘Brute Force’ bust his way out?”

“Then what do you propose?” the Shar-Pei snapped.

“Don’t be naive,” the White Goat said. “These two will never disappear from this room. I can see it in their eyes. If we do nothing, the next long stretch of deaths will be ours. So why not try a more efficient approach?”

The Sheep beside them hesitated. “But this breaks the rules… White Goat, what if the higher-ups find out? Are you trying to get us killed?”

“Yes, but not entirely,” the White Goat replied. “If you two agree, we’ll proceed with our discussion. If not… I’m prepared to gamble against you right here.”