At this moment, the civil and military officials of the Great Yan Dynasty were lined up on both sides. William Carter felt even more pressure, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Still, he forced himself to stay calm, knelt on the ground just like in the many TV dramas he had seen, and raised the wooden box high with both hands: “This humble subject pays respects to Your Majesty!”

He waited for a while, but there was no response.

William Carter felt a bit suspicious, thinking, could this game have a bug? Why is it stuck now?

He instinctively looked up, only to find that the lofty Abraham Lincoln was squinting at him, watching him with full vigilance.

“Looking up at the emperor? Clearly, you intend to assassinate the king!

“From the moment you entered the hall, you were filled with murderous intent. I could tell at a glance that you must be a ruthless person with neither father nor lord!

“Guards! Drag him out and behead him!”

William Carter was dumbfounded: “What the hell!”

Before he could react, two guards in red armor quickly stepped forward and seized him without a word.

William Carter wanted to resist, but the two guards had already locked him down tightly, making it impossible for him to break free.

Before William Carter could even argue, he was dragged outside the hall by the two guards, and with a flash of the blade, his life was ended.

If it were any other emperor, there might have been some procedure before an execution, but Abraham Lincoln was a notorious tyrant in history, never delaying when it came to killing.

William Carter only felt a chill on his neck, his vision went black, and only half a complaint drifted out from his unwilling head.

“Damn it…”

Chapter 5: This NPC Doesn’t Follow the Script at All

He returned to the starting point again.

Time and space in the illusion froze once more, and everything would only resume after William Carter selected a card skill again.

William Carter touched his neck, still a bit shaken.

“That scared me to death. For a moment, I really thought I was dead…

“It actually hurt quite a bit, kind of like being suddenly slashed. I guess the pain sensation is deliberately reduced? Feels like the pain is at about 20% or 30% right now?

“Thank goodness, if it was 100% pain, I definitely couldn’t take it. As it is, I can barely adapt.

“This game is seriously hardcore!

“There’s not a single hint, and the difficulty is maxed out from the start. I didn’t even get to speak before the emperor had me executed!

“And what I really didn’t expect is that among the three talent skills, there’s actually a misleading option? This ‘Overbearing’ one looked pretty good, but in reality, isn’t it just a total trap?

“This author is truly heartless! Looks like it’s another ‘old thief’ type game developer who loves torturing players.”

William Carter gradually calmed down.

When he was in the main hall, his nerves were stretched to the limit, but after dying once, he actually relaxed a lot.

Especially after seeing that there was no punishment for dying and he could restart infinitely, a certain player trait was activated in him.

As long as you can try again, even a god can be killed for you!

As a devoted action game player, William Carter usually enjoyed speedrunning. To achieve a perfect boss kill, dozens or even hundreds of attempts were nothing.

As for the number of times he’d died in those games, it was countless.

And although this game felt very real, it was still a game after all. As long as it’s a game, there’s nothing to be afraid of.

William Carter looked again at the three skill cards.

[Gui · Composed (White): Your emotions are steady, allowing you to face danger more calmly.]

[Gui · Mastery of Swordsmanship (Blue): Your swordsmanship is correspondingly improved.]

[Ren · Overbearing (White): You emit an aura full of oppression, making it easier for enemies to fear you.]

“Huh? Isn’t this exactly the same as before?

“Shouldn’t there be three new skills?”

William Carter looked carefully and finally noticed a line of small text below: “Each time you die, you can temporarily remove one talent skill from appearing. Swipe on the card to replace it with a new talent skill.”

William Carter suddenly understood: “Oh, so that’s how it works.

“Each time you die, you can eliminate a wrong answer. If you keep refreshing, you’ll eventually get a talent skill that suits you better.”

Thinking this, William Carter swiped on the “Overbearing” card, and it immediately flipped over, replaced by a new skill.

[Gui · Silver Tongue (White): Your mind is agile and your responses are quick, making it easier to gain others’ trust.]

William Carter almost had a spike in blood pressure—swapping out a Ren-level white skill for a Gui-level white skill, anyone would find that hard to accept.

But, well, every player has experienced the classic unlucky moment, so William Carter didn’t complain too much and started analyzing again.

“Last time, it was clearly the ‘Overbearing’ talent that screwed me over. The result of being too imposing was that as soon as I entered the hall, Abraham Lincoln was already on guard against me. The positive effect of this talent didn’t show at all, but the negative effect was maxed out.

“So now, with these three talents, Composed and Silver Tongue—one helps me stay calm, the other helps me perform better when questioned in the hall—both seem helpful for clearing the stage.

“But… if I want to successfully assassinate, in the end, I’ll definitely have to rely on swordsmanship.”