Replica 09

After taking in his surroundings, the Chinese-American named Li Lei was momentarily stunned.

An ancient tomb? Interesting. He had studied his opponent's previously designed dungeons as well as the ones he himself had cleared, concluding that this Chinese contestant had an unusually creative approach. That's why he had gone to great lengths to design a temple for him.

But now it seemed their thinking was eerily aligned.

Once Li Lei confirmed his mission objective, he began moving forward. Inside the tomb, dim bronze lamps flickered weakly. Being naturally cautious, he remained alert to his surroundings. Ancient tombs inevitably brought zombies to mind—and just as the thought crossed his mind, he spotted a stone coffin not far away, its lid slightly ajar.

Li Lei steeled himself. He had confidence in his abilities.

But the next second, his left foot stepped on something, triggering a volley of dozens of short arrows flying straight at him!

Reacting swiftly—he was no novice at fast transmigration—he rolled to the side, barely dodging the arrows. Just as he caught his breath, the ground beneath him suddenly gave way, followed by a rumbling noise echoing through the tomb passage.

The live stream exploded.

"What the hell is this?!"

"A collapsing stone trap."

"?"

"Nobles from thousands of years ago designed these specifically to deal with tomb raiders."

"This guy’s got skills!"

"And what’s this now?"

Li Lei barely managed to evade a massive rolling boulder by ducking into a recess. But then, an eerie sensation crept up behind him. Without hesitation, he lunged forward—just in time, as a wooden board studded with sharp blades sprang out from where he had been crouching. A second slower, and he’d have been dead or maimed.

Li Lei’s expression darkened completely. What kind of dungeon was this? Before he could process it, the ground beneath his hands sank, and the floor beneath him collapsed!

The live stream went wild.

"Did I click on the wrong stream? Isn’t this supposed to be about fighting supernatural entities?"

"Devious Chinese! Fang Zhiyi! Shameless! Absolutely shameless!"

"I’m lodging a protest with China! These tactics are beyond cheap!"

"Shut up, you damn American!"

Even the Chinese analysts were baffled. Fang Zhiyi never consulted them, leaving them with no choice but to analyze and record passively. But this time, the dungeon he designed left them utterly speechless.

"...So he’s trying to kill his opponent with pure physical traps, is that it?"

"The supernatural rules state that dungeons must be clearable. Fang Zhiyi did say that after designing a dungeon, he’d have to demonstrate how to clear it. If he designed it, it must be possible... but this..."

Only the minister suddenly realized something, shaking his head with a bitter smile. "Typical of him."

Every nation had been training their contestants intensively to counter Fang Zhiyi’s dungeons. But no matter how they racked their brains, none could’ve predicted he’d design an ancient tomb packed with mechanical traps! It was debatable whether there was even anything supernatural inside!

This was outright murder!

Fang Zhiyi, meanwhile, was nursing a headache. This fast transmigrator was skilled. Though confident he could defeat the malevolent spirit, the rules dictated it wouldn’t appear until the third day. Until then, he could only search for clues.

The original host had never experienced this dungeon, and because of the fast transmigrator’s interference, Fang Zhiyi couldn’t rely on past knowledge.

After wandering around for a while, he simply found a room and went to sleep.

While Fang Zhiyi’s side remained eerily calm, Li Lei’s situation grew increasingly intense. Clinging to the edge, he barely managed to pull himself up—only for a massive blade to drop from above! Instinct saved him, the blade merely shearing off a lock of his hair.

Li Lei almost laughed in frustration.

What kind of dungeon was this? He’d prepared for supernatural battles, and now he was dealing with physical traps?

His system couldn’t hold back either. "Host, it’s been a while since you’ve been this humiliated."

Li Lei glanced at the floating system, a flicker of irritation in his eyes. "Shut up. My humiliation is my business. Stay out of it."

The system sighed but said no more.

After waking up, Fang Zhiyi headed straight to the kitchen for food. He noticed a monk dressed differently from the others—while the rest ate vegetarian meals, this one devoured meat without hesitation.

Fang Zhiyi gave him a brief look before ignoring him. Once fed, he returned to sleep, his live stream unnervingly silent.

Li Lei, meanwhile, scrambled through the tomb passage like a man possessed. He swore—in this life, no, in all his lifetimes combined—he’d never encountered so many traps, each one flawlessly designed to anticipate his evasive moves, only to ambush him again where he sought refuge.

"Anyone else would’ve been dead ten times over."

"Fang Zhiyi is ruthless. Who’d have thought he’d skip the supernatural and go straight for mechanical murder?"

"Fang Zhiyi’s side is still dead quiet. No idea what he’s planning."

"I love that both streams are running simultaneously. Watching Fang Zhiyi alone would’ve bored me to death."

"Listen to yourself."

"Li Lei found the main burial chamber!"

At this point, Li Lei was on the verge of tears. The stone coffin he’d spotted earlier had taken him who-knows-how-long to reach. Whatever was inside, he just wanted it to come out already. He was done.

Sure enough, as he approached, the coffin began trembling. Li Lei held his breath. The lid flew open—and the corpse inside abruptly sat up!

Without hesitation, Li Lei formed a hand seal and pressed it against the corpse’s forehead. Then he froze, realizing with embarrassment that it was just a corpse.

Except for one detail—both its hands were flipping him off.

Then, the entire chamber began shaking as if on the verge of collapse. Faced with three doors, Li Lei closed his eyes.

"Holy crap, what’s he doing?"

"Did you see him try to ‘seal’ the zombie? What a weirdo."

"Is he divining?"

"I read somewhere that ancient people believed fate could be calculated. Guess the Americans dug up a relic!"

"Chinese viewers, you’re in our stream. Show some respect."

"Make me. Come fight me!"

"You stupid monkeys."

"Oh, so you started it? , "

""

"You ignorant groundhogs..."

"Chinese people, you..."

For the first time, the Americans witnessed just how creatively vast Chinese profanity could be. Their faces burned with fury, yet they were powerless to retaliate.