Totally No Difficulty at All

After paying the price of 18 HP, Zhong Yi finally walked out of the question-mark room unscathed.

"Ptooey, ptooey! Old Zhou possessed me!"

Zhong Yi was furious.

Three battles had only cost him 2 HP total.

But then he entered that random room without even encountering a single monster, and his HP dropped to 60...

"No way, I need to find a monster to vent my frustrations!"

Zhong Yi glared angrily at his health bar, opened the map, and pressed forward.

Above the question-mark room, there was only one path.

It led to a purple elite monster room.

"Hmph, an elite monster? Fine. If the opponent is too weak, fighting them just doesn't feel satisfying!"

Zhong Yi snorted coldly, completely dismissing the word "elite."

After three consecutive battles, he had already developed a general sense of how difficult the "Killing Immortal Tower" was.

Simply put—easy.

There was absolutely no challenge!

Not a single one of the three monsters had managed to pull off a surprise kill; they had only taken two HP from him, barely scuffing his clothes.

Even if the elite monster was a bit stronger, how strong could it be?

Even if it was ten times as powerful as a normal monster, it would just go from costing 2 HP to costing 20 HP—nothing to worry about.

With that thought, Zhong Yi smiled confidently and stepped into the elite monster's room.

A massive, dark green evil Buddha statue, wielding a scythe, appeared before him.

This elite monster, named "Ancient Statue," had its eyes half-closed and was in a slumbering state.

"What the—? 'Awakens after two rounds'? Letting me attack for free for two rounds?"

Once he saw the monster's status, Zhong Yi felt insulted.

Not only was he being allowed to hit it for free for two turns, but there was also a debuff that made each card he played deal 10% extra damage.

It was as if the monster didn't take him seriously at all!

"Let me show you how tough I can be!"

...

"Smite! Strike!"

"Your journey ends here..."

...

"Burn! Preparation Strike! Strike!"

"Ha! I dealt 44 damage in two turns. Keep showing off!"

Zhong Yi was feeling smug.

This elite monster had 127 HP, which seemed tough, but letting him attack freely for two turns dropped it to 83 HP—not that much more than a normal monster.

Just as he ended his turn, the background music of the illusion suddenly became fast and heavy.

The Ancient Statue slowly opened its eyes: "Then, shall we begin?"

The damage number over its head suddenly turned into 25.

Zhong Yi: "???"

By this point, Zhong Yi had been streaming for over ten minutes, and a small audience had gathered in his chat.

Even though they didn't fully understand what was happening, they found it hilarious to watch him go from overconfident one moment to completely crushed the next.

"Even though I don't get it, I think his jinx powers are at work again."

"HAHAHAHA! Can't you keep your mouth shut when you're streaming?"

"I watched from the start and I think I kind of get it now... I'm going to try it out."

"Just joined—what's this illusion?"

"It's Old Demon Lu's new illusion—a card game! Looks pretty fun!"

...

Unsurprisingly, Zhong Yi lost.

When he entered the elite room, he only had 60 HP.

With no block cards, he could only survive three hits from the Ancient Statue.

He had either three turns to take down its 83 HP or he would die.

But the only card in his hand with decent damage was "Preparation Strike," and his DPS simply wasn't high enough. No matter how much he calculated, he couldn't find a way to win.

As the Ancient Statue swung its scythe down, the Iron Sect Cultivator slowly collapsed.

Zhong Yi, now in spirit form, shattered and dispersed along with him.

"Why do I have to die again with it? What was the point of this design..."

Zhong Yi resurrected at the starting screen and gave a helpless smile.

With his first run over, one achievement and story after another unlocked, along with new cards and characters.

"Silent Hunter"

HP: 70/70

Spirit Stones: 99/99

"A huntress from afar, skilled in the ways of daggers and poison. Anyone who blocks her path will meet a gruesome end from her poisoned blades."

Ability: Serpent's Ring (At the start of each battle, draw 2 additional cards.)

The chat immediately started demanding Zhong Yi try the new character.

"No, no, no—I feel like I messed up that last match. That Ancient Statue shouldn't have been a match for me!"

Zhong Yi waved his hands dismissively.

Right now, curiosity and novelty didn't matter. Strategy-based illusions like this were his specialty—there was no way he'd lose face in front of his viewers!

With that thought, he decisively chose the Iron Sect Cultivator and prepared to challenge the Ancient Statue again to save face!

"I did perfectly in those first three battles last time—flawless, no complaints."

"During the third battle, I shouldn't have picked 'Flame Barrier.' I should've grabbed another attack card to boost my damage!"

"And in that fourth random room, I shouldn't have entered... it was a total trap! I should've gone for the battle room next to it instead!"

"With 20 more HP and an extra attack card, I'd definitely crush the Ancient Statue!"

After adjusting his strategy, Zhong Yi once again entered the Immortal Tower as the Iron Sect Cultivator.

But this time, a massive blue whale appeared before him, its six eyes blinking as it stared at him.

"Mother of Rebirth (Banished): ...Still... trapped in rage... is it... good..."

It muttered a few fragmented words, and then three special treasures appeared in front of Zhong Yi.

"Gifts of the Ancients (Choose 1 of 3):"

"Roaring Conch: At the start of Elite battles, draw 2 additional cards."

"Orange Incense Box: Upgrade one card."

"Leaf Salve: Transform 1 Strike and 1 Defend card, then lose 10 max HP."

"Why didn't this happen last run? Wait... 'Mother of Rebirth'? Is it because I died, and now..."

Zhong Yi caught on quickly.

He had died and was being resurrected by this "Mother of Rebirth" thing, which was also giving him some treasures?

"Interesting... I can upgrade cards?"

This was a feature Zhong Yi had never even considered, since he hadn't even reached a campfire yet.

He decisively chose the Orange Incense Box and upgraded one Strike.

"Next, I'll go this way, and then..."

Zhong Yi began mapping out his counter-strategy in his head from the last run. The more he thought about it, the more confident he became.

"This time, I will not lose!!"

With a surge of bravado, he strode out of the Ancient's room.

"???"

"Wait—why is the path completely different???"

Staring at the map, which was entirely different from the last run, Zhong Yi blinked in stunned disbelief.

He suddenly realized the extraordinary nature of this illusion.

The map changed every run.

The monster card drops were different.

Everyone's card choices were different too...

No wonder Lu Ze had said,

"The number of ways to beat this illusion is infinite!"

[Note: Detailed card game mechanics won't be expanded upon too much, since readers who haven't played might not understand. I'll try to write in a way that lets everyone get the fun parts. This section won't be too long—no need to worry if you haven't played.]

[Continued requests for gifts - the author isn't playing the pity card; I'm genuinely struggling. In two years of writing, I've never had to beg for gifts like this every single day, because things are really tough right now... (No comments, please; these will be deleted later)]