novelraw Chapter 60 : Are You Shadow?
Chapter 60 : Are You Shadow?
Chapter 60: Are You Shadow?
“Exactly!”
Zhao Yuan immediately replied respectfully, “Let that person speak to you directly.”
As his words fell, a young man dressed in an extravagant tailcoat, wearing a tall top hat and a monocle—his attire reminiscent of a medieval magician—smiled and stepped out from the shadows of the room.
“Good day, my beautiful lady.”
The young man gracefully removed his hat and performed a perfect gentleman’s bow toward Chu Hanyue. “I am Gao Yuan, a humble street magician of no renown. It is my honor to fight alongside you.”
Chu Hanyue looked at the man before her—his manner flamboyant, yet with a glint of cunning in his eyes—and frowned slightly.
“【Magician】, Gao Yuan.”
The young man smiled as he introduced himself. “【Faction: Radiance】.”
He snapped his fingers, and a delicate rose appeared out of thin air between them.
“A gift for the beautiful lady.”
Chu Hanyue did not take the rose. She only looked at him coldly. “I know how you got involved with them.”
“It’s a long story.”
Gao Yuan shrugged, his face showing a trace of reminiscence.
On the day the game began, he had been aboard the luxury cruise ship 【God of the North Wind】, performing a so-called “close-up magic” show for a group of bored billionaires.
But what he didn’t know was that this luxury liner was actually a secret base prepared by the “Ascension Alliance” for the upper echelons of their Hai City branch, gathering many of the alliance’s core members.
Just as he made a playing card appear from within a sealed envelope before the astonished crowd, that cold divine oracle suddenly echoed in his mind.
【Welcome to ‘Game of Gods’】
【Matching player identity and faction】
【Identity match complete】
【Faction match complete】
【Player: Gao Yuan】
【Identity: Magician】
【Faction: Shadow】
【Truth and illusion, all lie within a single thought; the world is your stage, and all beings are your audience】
……
At that instant, Gao Yuan could clearly feel his consciousness split, projecting several “illusions” identical to his true body.
These illusions were not ethereal; they had form. They could mimic his every movement, and even take fatal blows in his stead.
And his true self could switch places with any illusion at will, making it impossible for anyone to determine his real position.
But when he first awakened his Transcendent ability, he failed to control it properly, drawing the attention of the Ascension Alliance’s upper ranks.
Zhao Yuan, thinking fortune had fallen from the sky, immediately led his well-equipped mercenaries to capture Gao Yuan—the “wild Transcendent”—intending to dissect and study him.
To them, Transcendents were “specimens” for research, not equals.
“As for the result…”
Gao Yuan spread his hands and smiled teasingly. “All they caught was one of my ‘little tricks’.”
The moment Zhao Yuan’s men burst in, Gao Yuan decisively cast several illusions throughout the banquet hall, while his true self slipped away silently.
Those poor mercenaries fought desperately against the indistinguishable illusions, only to end up surrounded by dissipating clouds of smoke.
They could never tell which was the real body and which was the illusion; every strike might merely shatter another phantom.
Over the next three days, Zhao Yuan deployed all his forces, turning the entire cruise ship upside down—yet never once catching even a glimpse of Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan, like a ghost, would appear in their dining room one moment, and in their cabins the next.
He even sneaked into Zhao Yuan’s bedroom, swapping his prized cigars for a carrot in mockery.
This game of cat and mouse finally ended with Zhao Yuan’s total breakdown.
He had realized that they were simply not on the same level as a Transcendent.
So Zhao Yuan changed his strategy, beginning to communicate with Gao Yuan in a respectful manner.
“They said they would help me win the game, and in return, I promised to aid them in exploring the mysteries of transcendence after the game ends.”
“How about it? Quite a fair deal, isn’t it?”
Gao Yuan spread his hands again and concluded, “So, after several tests, we reached an agreement.”
After hearing this, Chu Hanyue glanced at Gao Yuan’s careless face, then at the embarrassed Zhao Yuan beside him, and felt deep doubt toward this so-called “Ascension Alliance.”
“They couldn’t even capture a non-combatant player, yet they dare to covet ‘Divine Grace’?”
Chu Hanyue’s icy-blue eyes swept coldly over Zhao Yuan, her tone filled with undisguised disdain.
Cold sweat trickled down Zhao Yuan’s back as his ingratiating smile froze stiffly.
“Miss Chu, this…”
He stammered, “We were ignorant and underestimated the greatness of ‘Divine Grace’…”
“Enough.”
Chu Hanyue interrupted impatiently, her gaze shifting to Gao Yuan. “You said you’re from the 【Radiance】 faction?”
Gao Yuan was slightly taken aback, then smiled again, full of roguish charm. “Yes, my beautiful lady, we are teammates from 【Radiance】.”
“Oh?”
“What a pity then.”
Chu Hanyue suddenly said coldly, “I’m from 【Shadow】. Looks like we’re enemies.”
The smile on Gao Yuan’s face froze instantly.
“This… this…”
He felt a sudden awkwardness. He was a 【Shadow】 player, yet he hadn’t sensed any trace of that same factional aura from Chu Hanyue.
“You… you’re joking, right?” Gao Yuan forced a laugh.
“Of course, I’m also 【Radiance】.”
Chu Hanyue suddenly smiled. “But don’t you think that was quite a funny joke?”
This woman—she dared to toy with him!
Looking at Chu Hanyue’s still serene face, Gao Yuan felt a deep wariness rise in his heart.
This woman was far more dangerous than he had imagined.
Chu Hanyue watched his shifting expressions and sneered inwardly.
Of course, she was 【Radiance】.
The reason she claimed to be 【Shadow】 was merely to test his reaction.
From that reaction, she confirmed that Gao Yuan was indeed 【Shadow】.
But she didn’t care.
In her heart, she had already decided—she needed no teammates in this game. She only needed to kill everyone.
So she didn’t care who was 【Radiance】 or who was 【Shadow】.
Because right now, she needed Gao Yuan to help her fight against the authorities.
Once Gao Yuan lost his usefulness, she would kill him without hesitation.
……
Meanwhile, Gao Yuan looked at Chu Hanyue’s cold, striking face, his mind working rapidly.
If she could so easily escape the strict surveillance of Bureau 869, that alone proved her Transcendent power.
He would use this woman—to fight against the officials, to eliminate those foolish 【Radiance】 players.
And when she was no longer useful, he would kill her.
Thus, the two players, each harboring their own schemes, formed a temporary “partnership” under a veil of mutual calculation and distrust.
“Well then, my teammate,”
Gao Yuan once again wore his careless smile. “What shall we do next?”
Chu Hanyue gazed into the distance and said calmly, “Wait for the officials to make the first move.”