I Became the Blacksmith NPC

Sure enough, the Void Lord had already figured out that Liu Kongkong wasn't a native. Since there was no point pretending anymore, Liu Kongkong dropped the act.

"So when the villagers came looking for you back then — what was it for?" After hearing from the Scorpion-Tailed Lion that the Village Chief and his group had visited this place more than once, Liu Kongkong had already begun to form a suspicion.

"Them? They wanted the Evil Eye Prying Ring — oh wait, that's not right. After Li Tiansheng used it to steal part of my abilities, it was downgraded. It should be called the Skill-Steal Ring now."

The Skill-Steal Ring? So that thing had come from the Void Lord — and it seemed it had originally belonged to Li Tiansheng as well.

Stealing the Void Lord's abilities... Both of the Void Lord's skills were related to copying. Could it be that Li Tiansheng had used the Evil Eye Prying Ring to steal the Copy skill, and that was how he'd created all those wild monster and boss Replicas?

Since the ring had previously been in the Village Chief's hands, it was obvious the Void Lord had given it to them.

"So you handed the ring over to them?" Liu Kongkong asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course. That thing was useless to me. They needed it — why wouldn't I give it to them?"

"Wasn't there some kind of deal between you two?"

"I know what you're trying to ask. I can give you the answer. But after I've finished answering, you'll need to answer a few questions of mine." The Void Lord's eyes flashed red — and before Liu Kongkong could even react, the stone door behind him slammed shut with a thunderous boom!

Liu Kongkong's brain froze for two full seconds.

Uh... he'd been locked in.

He never would have imagined that the Void Lord had such extensive permissions inside the dungeon — enough to even seal the boss room door!

"Fine. Go ahead." What else could Liu Kongkong say at this point?

Hearing his agreement, the Void Lord dispensed with any further roundabout talk. The two went back and forth in a question-and-answer exchange, and before long, Liu Kongkong's lingering doubts were all cleared up.

Before the players had arrived, the Village Chief and his group had indeed come here — their purpose being the Skill-Steal Ring. The Void Lord had set a condition: he wanted a Transit Stone in exchange. But since the Transit Stone was a key item for reaching the Xingye Continent, the first negotiation had fallen through.

The Void Lord's reason for wanting the Transit Stone was simple enough. He didn't know whether the players would find a way to deal with the Divine King, but to save himself the trouble, the best approach was to prevent the players from ever leaving the Starter Village.

A few days later, the Village Chief had returned alone — without the others' knowledge — and told the Void Lord he still wanted the Skill-Steal Ring, asking if different terms could be arranged. This time, the Void Lord's condition was that the Village Chief use his administrative permissions to adjust the construction timeline of the dungeon.

Liu Kongkong was somewhat taken aback by this.

Judging by the EXP distribution the Village Chief had been able to manage before, his permissions within the Starter Village were clearly extensive — but Liu Kongkong hadn't imagined they extended this far.

"After his defeat, Li Tiansheng's power dropped sharply, so his control over these spaces weakened considerably. To recover quickly, he delegated some permissions to the administrators of each space — your Village Chief, in other words. After all, these people are his most loyal followers. He trusts them."

The deal was struck that day, and the Village Chief took the Skill-Steal Ring away with him. What he hadn't anticipated was that the Void Lord had played a trick — hiding himself inside the ring. Unlike the other Scorpion-Tailed Lions, the Void Lord was, under Li Tiansheng's rules, unable to leave the Void Space. But with the "assistance" of the Village Chief — an administrator — he had successfully slipped free.

"When he realized what had happened, he panicked. But I told him that only heaven and earth knew of this — as long as he kept quiet, absolutely no third party would ever find out."

Then what am I? Liu Kongkong's mouth twitched at those words.

After leaving, the Void Lord discovered that there was far more than one Starter Village. Li Tiansheng had stored his Replicas across millions of spaces. Though the Void Lord couldn't leave the Starter Villages themselves, all Starter Villages shared the same root — there was nothing to stop him. And so, one by one, every administrator of every Starter Village fell victim to his combination of threats and inducements, all of them adjusting the Void Space's construction timeline.

"You two are truly a perfect match — one tricks monsters, the other threatens people." Liu Kongkong couldn't help but comment. At the same time, he thought: so the Village Chief had let an entire group of people be sacrificed just for his own selfish gain? And what had he wanted the ring for in the first place — to hand it over to Qi Ajuan?

Still, from Liu Kongkong's perspective, Li Tiansheng had probably already sensed something was off — otherwise, why would he have arranged that hidden quest for Wang Xiuqin? As for why Li Tiansheng himself hadn't shown up, Liu Kongkong had no idea.

"Last question: how did you know I wasn't one of the villagers?"

"I know the villagers well. None of them possess such formidable strength. Perhaps you don't realize it, but while the natives of the Xingye Continent can grow stronger, they do so far more slowly than people like you. And once the Void Space is activated, natives can no longer enter."

Hearing this, Liu Kongkong raised an eyebrow. So the warnings at the dungeon entrance earlier had nothing to do with the Void Lord.

"Alright, I've finished my questions. Now it's your turn." Being a man of his word, Liu Kongkong kept his promise.

The Void Lord seemed quite satisfied with Liu Kongkong's attitude.

"First: how did you grow this powerful in such a short time? I'll warn you — I can hear your heartbeat. If you lie, I'll know immediately."

The Void Lord had encountered other players before, but compared to the strength Liu Kongkong had displayed, the difference was so vast it was almost like comparing different species.

"I love telling the truth," Liu Kongkong said reassuringly. Then he answered: "Because I have a hidden class."

"What hidden class?"

"As you saw earlier — a brawler."

The Void Lord fell silent for a few seconds. Detecting no fluctuation in the other party's heartbeat, he pressed on with his next question.

"I can sense that your current name is not your real name. What is your true name?"

Oh? He can even tell my ID is fake?

"My name is..." Liu Kongkong's mind raced furiously. 0.1 seconds later: "A true man never changes his name — I am Lonely as a Song."

He then produced the Masquerade Ball, gesturing to indicate that this was the item he'd used.

Three questions, three answers — only a few of which could be called truthful.

"Hidden class" was a stretch, and the last answer had been made up on the spot.

As for why he'd made it up, Liu Kongkong had his own concerns.

First: according to the Scorpion-Tailed Lion, this thing in front of him was just a stray hair — a mere fragment — and even that fragment was this powerful. How terrifying must the true body be? Giving his real name to the other party would only invite trouble if things went south between them later.

Second: this fragment claimed it just wanted him to answer questions, but earlier it had mentioned a deal — and the contents of that deal weren't hard to guess. It basically amounted to having him go up against Li Tiansheng. But from what Liu Kongkong could see, Li Tiansheng was effectively the game's administrator in Hunt Heaven. Picking a fight with the administrator was clearly not a wise move for any player.

But the Void Lord had clearly spotted the problem.

"You're lying."

"Believe it or not!"

"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" The Void Lord slowly rose to his feet, staff in hand.

"You just said yourself that I'm a player — you think I'm scared of dying?" That was what Liu Kongkong said, though in truth he had no real certainty about whether he'd respawn like a normal player. But the prerequisite was: could this fragment even kill him in the first place?

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