Do you even know what 'talent' really is?

What exactly is "talent"?

Talent refers to the abilities that every ghost storyteller gains when entering the ghost story world. Talent levels are divided into D, C, B, A, S, SS and the final SSS level. The strength of the abilities they possess naturally increases from low to high. Talents are an important guarantee for ghost storytellers to pass through the ghost story world, and even an important standard for measuring a ghost storyteller's strength.

The above is textbook knowledge. Since Bates asked Jiang Ran this question, he certainly wasn't talking about something everyone already knows.

“Jiang Ran—” Bates drawled, “What if I told you that you don’t actually have any talent at all?”

Jiang Ran, the only SSS-level ghost story master in the Dragon Kingdom, the world's number one ghost story master, even his talent has been confirmed as "destiny+", yet Bates said he has no talent at all!

What does he have? Ghosts?!

Even Jiang Ran didn't quite understand what Bates was saying. His words were too inexplicable, without any factual basis, and of course, they had no credibility whatsoever.

“I know you don’t understand, Jiang Ran, but that’s all I can say.” Bates paused. “If I say any more, someone might get upset!”

“Why don’t you ask yourself where your ‘talent’ comes from, and who bestowed this power upon you?” Bates smiled. “What you possess is not something as base as talent!”

"Once you've cleared this world, why not try changing your talent? You might get a surprising answer!"

Bates stepped back a few paces, keeping his distance, but still had a smile on his face!

"Wait!" Jiang Ran pressed, his eyes darkening. "What are you thinking? Who exactly are you, and how do you know all this?"

“I can only tell you—” Bates pointed to his eyes, which were gleaming with blue light, “This is a miracle from the [Heavenly Eye]!”

"Go ahead, someone is waiting for you."

"You two, do you really enjoy being riddle tellers?" Jiang Ran rubbed his forehead. "One day, I'll expose all your secrets!"

"I look forward to that day. By the way, the direction you're going is over there."

Bates transferred the Paradise Coins directly to Jiang Ran, a scene that left the audience somewhat bewildered.

"You can share the reward if you want, or not if you don't. I'm just saving unnecessary time."

Jiang Ran, carrying the invitation, headed with Gwen towards the location of the amusement park's general manager.

He still has one last chance to use his talent; if danger comes, at least he has a chance to save his life!

Jiang Ran pushed open that magnificent door!

The fluctuating divine power spread out, and Jiang Ran felt both warmth and a sense of familiarity.

"【pope】?"

The god seated on the main throne is none other than the Pope!

Although Jiang Ran had guessed early on that this was the world he had created, it was still somewhat surprising that his original self would perish before even completing the game.

"Please sit down," the Pope said softly. "This isn't the first time we've met. Although I didn't look like this last time, I'm sure you can recognize me."

“So, Your Holiness the Pope—” Jiang Ran sat opposite the Pope, with Gwen standing beside him, “what would you like to talk to me about?”

The live streams from China were cut off long ago, and Chinese netizens simply said they were used to it.

"Jiang Ran, if I put a group of powerful individuals together, what kind of terrifying monster do you think the one who survives to the end will be?"

"Are you really that free?" Jiang Ran shrugged. "I've noticed you always like to do this kind of thing, so what did you finally choose?"

"I haven't even started the real selection yet." The Pope took a sip of his tea. "Jiang Ran, how about you do me a favor? I have a game here."

"Oh? What game?"

"A game for two people." [The Pope] began to explain, "The referee will appear behind the two players in turn, extending a different number of fingers each round. The person who sees the referee needs to write down a word to remind the other person. This word cannot be the same as or a homophone of any number. If the other person guesses the specific number, they win."

"It sounds like a pretty good puzzle game."

"So, Jiang Ran, how can we make this game more difficult without changing the rules?"

"As a 'god,' you actually have to ask me about something as trivial as playing games?"

"After all, everyone has their own expertise, and I'd love to hear your answer."

“Hmm…” Jiang Ran pondered for a moment, “Anyone with a little intelligence can come up with a 100% solution to this game. The hints don’t need to be related to numbers at all. As long as the number of strokes in the character is the same as the number, you can easily guess the corresponding number using this method.”

"If you want to reverse this method, you have to get out of the idea of ​​'strokes'. For example, if you don't extend any fingers, there will naturally be no characters with zero strokes."

"That's a good idea, going beyond just 'strokes'? Jiang Ran, do you have any even deeper ideas?"

“Besides transcending ‘strokes,’ it can also transcend human thought!” Jiang Ran continued, “If the referee is a bizarre creature, then the room for manipulation is enormous; he could even possess ‘half a finger’ or ‘more than ten fingers.’”

"Your suggestion is excellent. I look forward to the day when this game is actually implemented."

[The Pope] puts down his teacup.

I wonder which unlucky soul will fall victim to this game in the future.

"Jiang Ran, I have one last question for you. You don't have to answer me now, but when I hear the answer, I don't want it to be a lie."

Do you want to become a 'god'?

Jiang Ran found this statement somewhat ridiculous: "Is it something I can achieve just by wanting to?"

"This is not your answer," the Pope said again. "I'm only asking if you want to, not if you can."

"Listen, if you want, you absolutely must go to the next SSS-rank. There you'll find everything you want to know, including the secrets of 'God'."

"If possible, I can recommend some teammates for you. Try to bring them along if you can."

“Alansta from the White Eagle Kingdom, Alex from the British Empire, Yuri from the Iron Tower Kingdom, Rusger from the Northern Alliance, and Yu Cheng from your Dragon Kingdom. Oh, and don’t bring that guy named Bates.”

The Pope rattled off six names at once. So God does pay attention to others too? No wonder, these people are all quite famous.

Aransta and Alex are both SSS-rank ghost story masters, and the other three are also SS-rank ghost story masters. But what makes them different from other ghost story masters, and is it worth the Pope's special attention?

[Congratulations to Jiang Ran, the Ghost Storyteller from the Dragon Kingdom, for clearing the S-rank Ghost Story World: Horror Amusement Park, with an overall rating of 99 points, Excellent]

Gwen [Nico's Helper] Quantity: 5/6.