30 seconds — just 30 seconds is enough!

After what seemed to be a peaceful night, the next morning, after enjoying Aunt Tian’s breakfast of meat buns with eggs, Xing Ye’s team gathered energetically in the courtyard.

For the past three days, Xing Ye’s group had been eating quite well—except for the first day, when they had a rough meal. On the second and third days, they either freeloaded at the village head’s house or had Aunt Tian secretly cook for them, so they were well fed.

In contrast, the other six players were miserable—having gnawed on paper grass for three days straight. Their faces were pale and sickly, and they had clearly lost strength.

The Mountain God Festival was set for noon. Since it would take time to climb the mountain, everyone gathered at nine o’clock. The village chief gave a short morale speech, told the guard team to bring the map, and the group set off together.

The Mountain God Village’s ritual differed from those in old legends. There were no grand ceremonies—just sending the children up the mountain was enough.

Niu Xiaohua led the way with the map, followed by Xing Ye and the other children. Yan Hebi walked alongside them.

The ten players, split into three teams, were as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers (NT: idiom meaning clearly divided). They only waited to fight once they reached the Mountain God’s dwelling.

“Is the village chief following us?” Qian Daniu whispered.

The village chief had schemed for years; now that success was within reach, there was no way he wouldn’t tag along.

Cao Qian listened carefully, then said, “I don’t see him, but I bet he’s behind us—waiting to deliver the final blow.’”

After speaking, she glanced at the guard team and gave everyone a meaningful look. The group understood and fell silent.

Cao Qian knew Liang Ergou’s initial skill best. Liang Ergou was a fate-defying player. His two initial skills were physical. One of them, “Sharp Ears and Keen Eyes”, cost 50 points to maintain for 24 hours with no cooldown. It was like having supernatural hearing and sight—he could see or hear anything within a ten-li radius, as long as he focused on it.

This made him excellent at eavesdropping, though not unstoppable.

His seeing only worked if there were no obstacles; he could see far, but not through walls. His hearing required focus on a specific direction—otherwise, too many mixed sounds would overwhelm him.

Through walls and doors, Liang Ergou couldn’t perceive what happened inside. So when the group discussed plans, they used hand signals and lip reading to communicate.

And, according to Cao Qian, even though the skill could last 24 hours, Liang Ergou rarely kept it active the whole game—hearing too many meaningless sounds was mentally exhausting. Unless he was investigating or fighting, he wouldn’t waste energy on it.

While Yan Hebi went to question Aunt Tian for information, Cao Qian had made noise inside the house to distract Liang Ergou’s attention.

Of course, even if they discovered the paper men’s weakness, Xing Ye already had his own plan.

Before leaving last night, Xing Ye had used two QR codes: “Paper Substitute” and “Hypnosis.”
“Paper Substitute” was to mislead everyone, while “Hypnosis” ensured Liang Ergou wouldn’t realize Xing Ye had already slipped out of the courtyard.

Yang Xiaomao, being young and not very fit, plus nearly sleepless the night before, soon panted heavily after a short climb. Yan Hebi, worried Xing Ye would tire out, hoisted him onto his back and whispered, “You can sleep a bit on my back.”

Everyone: “……”

The sight felt oddly strange.

At 11:30 a.m., the ten of them arrived punctually at the entrance to the Mountain God’s cave. The ground was blanketed with Mountain God Grass—nothing else grew there.

Xing Ye looked up at the blazing sun. He didn’t feel the familiar sense of being controlled.

While walking up the path earlier, a voice in his mind had urged him to hurry—but once he stood on this grassland, that voice vanished.

If the Mountain God’s festival was something the god welcomed, then control should have grown stronger the closer they came. Why, instead, did it feel as though something was protecting him?

“This is the place,” Niu Xiaohua said, lowering the map and signalling her teammates with her eyes.

They had reached their destination—it was time to act. The village chief would surely send help soon.

Catching her hint, the others nodded, ready to—wait, what were they supposed to do again? There seemed to be so many tasks, yet they couldn’t recall where to start.

They didn’t realize that Cao Qian had beaten them to it: upon seeing the Mountain God Grass, she had asked Linlin to activate “Idleness”.

When a fate-following player became a tool, their initial skill upgraded under the enhancement of the QR code attached to the tool. Thus, fate-following tools were stronger and costed more points to use.

However, most fate-defying players’ tools had one weakness—they were slow to activate. They must pick up the tool, commune with it, select the ability, pay the points, and only then could they trigger it.

Even for someone as quick as Cao Qian, that still took at least one second.

A sentient fate-following tool, however, could activate instantly with a thought—far faster than a player doing it manually.

As soon as Linlin activated “Idleness,” Xing Ye cooperated by beginning to draw his QR code.
However, Cao Qian’s skill hadn’t affected everyone.

Chang Laizi and Zhang Dali remained unaffected—they opened their wristbands, ready to use their own QR codes.

Chang Laizi’s initial skill, “Turn a Deaf Ear”, could block mental-control type QR codes, protecting both himself and one ally. He chose to shield Zhang Dali.

Zhang Dali was a fate-following player with many QR codes and an uncanny knack for picking the right one in critical moments. Most importantly, his initial skill, “Move Mountains Like Yu Gong”, was especially powerful in mountainous terrain.

(NT: Yu Gong, a legendary old man, decided to dig a path through two massive mountains blocking his home, despite being mocked as foolish. Through his relentless perseverance and the efforts of his descendants, the gods were moved and eventually helped remove the mountains.)

When “Move Mountains Like Yu Gong” activated, nearby rocks lifted into the air and rained down on Xing Ye’s team. Yet Xing Ye didn’t stop drawing his QR code—Cao Qian leapt up and shattered the stones with her fists.

After using his skill, Zhang Dali immediately tapped a QR code to activate it. Unlike Xing Ye, other players couldn’t see what their codes actually did—they could only guess from descriptions. If lucky, it was an attack type; if not, they might waste a powerful ability.

Fate-following players tended to have good luck—Zhang Dali picked an attack QR code called “Air Blade.”

The method of use was taht by blowing air, the player could generate “air blades” as attacks for 10 minutes. The stronger the player’s lungs, the greater the number, power, and range of blades.

Fortunately—or not—Zhang Dali’s lung capacity was excellent. With one strong breath, countless dense air blades surged toward Xing Ye’s group. Cao Qian, still blocking flying stones, was covered in fine cuts, yet she didn’t falter.

Qian Daniu used “Steady Stream”, a defensive QR code, to protect Cao Qian, and at the same instant, triggered another code as the air blades flew out.

Unlike their enemies, Xing Ye’s group actually knew what their QR codes did. During the day they’d spent at the village head’s house, they hadn’t been idle—they’d shown all their codes to Xing Ye.

Xing Ye couldn’t see the codes directly through his wristband—but the Truth Mirror could.

The mirror’s power, guided by Lu Mingze, let Xing Ye view every QR code his teammates possessed. That way, they wouldn’t repeat the wasteful confusion of the Puppet City world, when they’d squandered a rare code (“Puppet Show”) for lack of information.

With clear coordination and full knowledge of each QR code’s effects, the team had devised counter-strategies for any possible scenario.

Qian Daniu’s QR code was called “Vacuum Zone.” At first, it seemed useless—it created a one-meter-wide airless zone in front of them for 10 minutes, with no direct attack power, though it could block sound or serve in traps.

But Xing Ye had mentioned earlier that if they faced wind- or air-based attacks, the “Vacuum Zone” would become an excellent defence.

Indeed, once the air was cut off, Zhang Dali’s “Air Blades” instantly vanished upon hitting the vacuum barrier—unable to reach them at all.
And since delayed-effect QR codes can’t be stacked until their time runs out, Zhang Dali couldn’t use another one right away.

His only offensive initial skill was “Move Mountains Like Yu Gong”; his other one was defensive. With both spent, he was left with no means of attack.

Everything happened in a flash—only ten seconds had passed since Linlin cast “Idleness.” Xing Ye’s QR code wasn’t even halfway drawn.

Niu Xiaohua and Liang Ergou were still frozen, trapped in the “Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?” state.
“Idleness” was a group skill costing 100 points per target, maxing at five people, and lasting one minute.

There were six enemies; Linlin could only control five. She chose the four guard-team members and Wang Sifang.

Wang Sifang’s fate-following jade Buddha tool had a dangerous ability—he couldn’t be allowed to use it. Qin Xiao’er, being on his team, would naturally side with the guard team. Without Wang Sifang’s command, he wouldn’t dare act rashly. Even if he did, Qian Daniu could counter him.

Qian Daniu had already activated “Quit While You’re Ahead”, a defensive code protecting Xing Ye—ensuring Qin Xiao’er couldn’t break her defence line.

Yan Hebi, meanwhile, focused on Chang Laizi. Since Qian Daniu’s “Vacuum Zone” prevented her from using further QR codes, Cao Qian was still occupied with falling rocks, and Xing Ye’s ultimate move was still charging, Yan Hebi stood as the final line of defence.

Chang Laizi glanced at his QR code and sneered, “At a time like this, who knows what random ability this code will give? I’m not about to bet my life on a fate-defying player’s luck.”

As he spoke, a folding fan appeared in Chang Laizi’s hand—it was a fate-following tool!

Xing Ye had been right— in advanced worlds, any skilled player might possess a fate-following tool, so they had to stay on guard against Chang Laizi’s attacks.

Seeing Chang Laizi take out his tool, Yan Hebi didn’t hesitate. He immediately tapped a QR code—“The Magician’s Hat.”

This was a QR code Xing Ye had specifically chosen for Yan Hebi: the moment anyone was discovered to own a fate-following tool, he was to use this code without delay.

Chang Laizi sneered, “So you’re a fate-defying player, huh? A random QR code user like you thinks luck can—huh? Where’s my tool!?”

Before he could activate the fan, it suddenly vanished into thin air!

“The Magician’s Hat” — a tool-type QR code.
The magician’s hat could hide countless objects, whether living or nonliving— a pigeon or a human being, anything you wish to conceal. It could be used three times, each use lasting five minutes.

This was Yan Hebi’s first time using the “Hat” QR code.
He placed the hat upon his head, with Chang Laizi’s fate-following tool hidden inside—
leaving Chang Laizi no chance to use it.

Twenty seconds passed. The others had already exchanged several rounds of attacks,
when Qin Xiao’er finally caught up and timidly nudged Wang Sifang.

“Who should we be helping?” he asked nervously.

Wang Sifang squatted on the ground, using a stone to draw circles.
“Wait a bit,” he muttered. “Let me think where to start first.”

Seeing his fate-following tool stolen and hidden, Chang Laizi grew furious and picked a QR code at random, hoping it was an offensive one— but instead, he drew “Healing Hands Restoring Spring.”

It was a one-time-use healing QR code: no matter how severe the injury, it would restore the user completely.

Chang Laizi, however, only had a small scratch on his hand. The QR code healed the tiny wound and then dissipated— a powerful healing code, utterly wasted.

Twenty-five seconds passed.
Xing Ye’s QR code was nearly complete, and the others had almost exhausted their QR codes and initial skills, when Qin Xiao’er suddenly noticed—they were surrounded.

It was the village chief, who had led over a hundred paper men up the mountain to encircle them completely.

The chief laughed darkly:
“So, you’ve already started fighting, huh? You guard team lot can’t even beat a few kids!
Don’t worry, I brought reinforcements—ah!”

He didn’t even finish his sentence before Cao Qian, still blocking falling rocks,
casually picked up a massive boulder and hurled it at him.
Paper men might not die, but they could certainly be pinned down— the chief was crushed before he could command the capture of the sacrifices.
The nearby paper men rushed over to lift the stone off him.

None of this distracted Xing Ye in the slightest. He didn’t even flinch as bits of flying gravel brushed his cheek; he was wholly absorbed in drawing his QR code. “Thirty seconds—just thirty seconds is enough!”

The moment the paper men bent to lift the boulder, Xing Ye finished his QR code.
He slapped it down beneath his feet—onto the Mountain God’s hill— and instantly, the ground shook and the mountain roared! (NT: idiom describing an overwhelming, world-shaking power.)

 

Translator : DarNan