A thick fog filled the air.

Xiao Cheng's vision was quickly enveloped in darkness.

A familiar electronic notification sound rang in my ears.

"Ding-dong."

"Attention all players, the custom dungeon 'Becoming a God' has been loaded, and the game rules are being imported. We wish you a pleasant gaming experience."

Everything began anew, and bright lights shone down on her head, casting an unusually long shadow.

The shadow seemed to come alive, twisting and spreading outwards, slowly outlining several lines of abstract characters on the ground.

[Attention players, the game has officially begun.]

No rules yet.

[Please complete the final goal: Godhood Customization.]

A long, dark green gambling table appeared before her, and across from her sat a mermaid with her eyes slightly closed, reverently holding a black box in her hands.

Xiao Cheng was pushed by a mysterious force and sat down at the table.

Then, three blank agreements appeared silently in front of her.

You have three chances to sign the bet.

The merman spoke in an exceptionally mysterious voice, her tone somewhat stiff, as if she were being controlled by a black box, rather than speaking herself.

“You know, the path to godhood is always exceptionally difficult, so you must win all three of these bets.”

"But you are the first human to stand in front of me, so I will give you certain preferential treatment in return."

"I set the terms and conditions for the first two bets, but rest assured, they will definitely be within your budget."

"The third time, you will have the opportunity to set a bet. You can ask me for everything I have, as long as you can win."

"Time is precious, and I know what you're worried about right now, so this is our first bet."

As soon as he finished speaking, the black box suddenly emitted a beam of light, projecting the scene from hell onto Xiao Cheng's face.

As Xiao Cheng watched the sun gradually rise, her pupils suddenly contracted.

Just as the male merman had said, the rotting corpses on the ground melted rapidly, and the flesh and blood, like puddles of mud, wriggled and gathered together, surging and churning like waves.

Fang He looked very bad; his chapped lips were excessively pale, as if he had lost too much blood.

He listened intently to the sounds of flesh and blood coming together, then looked up towards the direction where the sun was rising.

Then the screen suddenly froze.

Time seemed to stand still. The merman extended her slender fingers, tapping lightly on the gambling table, and said with a smile, "He's about to die."

“I can save him, his eyes, his wounds, I can even pull him straight out of hell.”

"But how much I can save you... depends entirely on you. Before the bet officially begins, may I ask, how should I address you?"

Xiao Cheng originally wanted to retort, "Why would a god ask such a childish question?"

But unfortunately, Fang He was in His hands.

She could only honestly answer, "Xiao Cheng."

"Xiao Cheng, very good." The merman nodded in satisfaction, making two faint strokes with her finger on the table.

Correspondingly, on one of the agreements in front of Xiao Cheng, delicate handwriting slowly emerged.

It looks somewhat familiar.

Xiao Cheng thought back and realized it was the invitation letter that sent her into the dungeon; the handwriting on both was exactly the same.

No wonder He targeted me.

“Saving him is my bargaining chip. As for the terms of the bet… let’s keep it simple. I want to hear your story about this merman brother and sister,” the merman said. “And what is your bargaining chip?”

Xiao Cheng really had no bargaining chips; he was practically penniless.

No, there should still be some.

She suddenly remembered something, reached into her pocket, pulled out the two red chips, and slammed them heavily on the table.

"Two hundred." The merman lowered her eyes thoughtfully, her bright red lips barely touching. "Not enough."

“When we bet, it’s not about what you want, but what I have.” Xiao Cheng was particularly confident despite being poor.

The merwoman fell into a brief silence.

Then she sighed with a hint of helplessness: "I don't do business at a loss. Since that's the case... then let's exchange your memories with him."

Memory? Can something as intangible as memory be used as leverage?

Xiao Cheng was slightly taken aback, and then saw that there was another line of text on the agreement.

"Xiao Chengfang's bet: 200 chips and a memory."

“Since I’ve conceded on the stakes, the difficulty of the bet should increase accordingly,” the merman continued. “So one story isn’t enough, let’s add another. Can you redeem your memories…”

"Ah, I'm really looking forward to your performance next."

Xiao Cheng watched her lips move, and was about to say something when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his mind, as if something was being ripped out alive.

Immediately afterwards, everything went black before her eyes, her consciousness rapidly sank, and she became completely disoriented.

When she came to her senses again, she was no longer at the gambling table. The scene in front of her looked strange; it was a ruin that had just experienced a great battle.

Before she could continue to observe her surroundings, a figure suddenly flashed by, grabbed her shoulder, and slammed her heavily against the wall.

In a flash, Xiao Cheng instinctively reached out and twisted, gripping his arm and pinning him firmly to the ground.

The man struggled for a moment, then realized it was all in vain, so he simply gave up completely, stubbornly sticking out his neck and looking at Xiao Cheng in a contorted posture.

However, this conveniently allowed Xiao Cheng to carefully observe his appearance.

He was a stranger, but she felt a sense of familiarity with him, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

Then I heard him angrily question, "Are you one of her people again?! What exactly does she want?! She's always trying to control me. I'm her brother, not her son!"

younger brother.

Xiao Cheng successfully captured the keywords and managed to match the person in front of him with the merman's skull face.

It seems to match.

So... this is the story of the mermaid siblings mentioned in the bet?

It even has an immersive experience?

Xiao Cheng had a vague feeling that he had forgotten something, but when he thought back to the beginning and the end, everything from entering the dungeon to the bet went very smoothly, and there was nothing missing.

It's probably just an illusion.

She temporarily dismissed the strange thought, pressed the merman in her hand even tighter, and then coldly said, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

The merman was completely stunned: "Could it be that you are not..."

Xiao Cheng looked at his face and found it displeasing no matter how she looked at it, but she couldn't think of a reasonable explanation, so she could only attribute it to the natural factional conflict between players and NPCs.

But no matter what...

Kid, you're in my hands now, aren't you?

She sneered twice, raised her hand with a particularly villainous air, and slapped him mercilessly.

"Shut up, this is a robbery."