“Your Majesty, although this ink jade qilin is indeed an auspicious sign, unfortunately, there is a small flaw on it that is hard to notice unless examined closely.

“Please allow your subject to approach and point it out for Your Majesty.”

The young eunuch stopped, seemingly waiting for further instructions from Abraham Lincoln.

William Carter felt like there was hope, and he had already started planning how to perform once he got closer—how to draw the sword hidden inside the ink jade qilin, and which part of Abraham Lincoln's body to stab.

However, Abraham Lincoln completely ignored his request.

“Since you are so intimidated by my imperial might that you tremble with fear, unable even to look at me from afar in the hall, why do you now dare to come forward and personally point out the flaw on this ink jade qilin?

“Hmph, it seems you harbor ulterior motives and have another agenda!

“Guards, seize him!”

William Carter was stunned.

Damn it!

Why isn’t this NPC following the script? Why is he changing the scene on his own?

Chapter 6: Why Acting Skills Matter

A thousand wild horses galloped through William Carter's mind once again, but at this moment, the red-armored guards had already rushed over to seize him.

He had no choice but to go all in—he opened the box, took out the ink jade qilin, quickly fumbled for a moment, and suddenly drew the sword!

But when he held it in his hand, he was dumbfounded. This so-called sword was barely longer than his hand, even shorter than a dagger, and much narrower. Rather than a sword, it was more like an oversized awl.

Fortunately, even such a “sword” still benefited from the “Sword Mastery” talent skill. William Carter used all his strength to kill two people and injure six or seven more, and then was hacked to death by a flurry of blades.

As for Abraham Lincoln, William Carter had wanted to just throw the sword at him and try his luck—maybe, if he got lucky, he could kill him in one blow?

But in the blink of an eye, he realized the emperor had already run off and disappeared.

Coward!

Back to square one.

This time, William Carter didn’t rush to check his new talent skill, but instead began to seriously consider how to actually clear this game.

Although last time he managed to kill two guards thanks to the muscle memory granted by the “Sword Mastery” talent skill, it also made him realize something even more clearly: at his current progress, he was still a long, long way from clearing this scenario.

“Samuel Turner’s physical abilities plus Sword Mastery—that’s the highest combat power I can have right now.

“Unless I get extremely lucky and draw a Ren-grade golden skill, and it has to be a combat skill related to swordsmanship.

“The odds of that are way too low. Who knows how many times I’d have to die to get it? Besides, it’s not even certain whether there are any Ren-grade golden combat skills in the current talent skill pool for this scenario.

“I can only consider my current combat power as my final strength for clearing this scenario.

“But aside from combat power, there are too many other problems that are hard to solve.

“If I’m like a wooden barrel right now, then even with ‘Sword Mastery,’ my combat power is only just at the normal level for a barrel. Everything else is a shortcoming…”

William Carter summed up the reasons for his failure this time.

When he entered the hall, he couldn’t control his body or facial expressions, and his excessive fear aroused the suspicion of the ever-doubtful Abraham Lincoln.

Although he managed to bluff his way through for a moment, Abraham Lincoln no longer trusted him, so he had the young eunuch fetch the ink jade qilin.

William Carter tried to take the initiative to present it, but his words and actions contradicted each other, which the sharp Abraham Lincoln saw through, leading to his failure.

“So, to get close, on one hand, I have to remain calm and composed the whole time. In fact, just being calm isn’t enough—I also have to appear completely harmless, so that the suspicious Abraham Lincoln will at least initially trust me. On the other hand, when I propose to come forward and demonstrate, I have to pick the best possible moment, or come up with some way to cover up my real intentions…

“This is just too hard!

“If only I could get the other two talent skills, ‘Composure’ and ‘Silver Tongue,’ as well. With all three talents, maybe I’d have a chance at success.

“But the game mechanics only allow one talent skill.

“How am I supposed to do this?

“For a beginner scenario, this is basically unsolvable!”

William Carter frowned deeply, starting to doubt his life choices.

He’d played too many action games, and plenty of them had made him suffer. But at least in those games, after suffering, he could figure out ways to improve.

Whether it was repeatedly practicing targeted moves or searching for special items to help clear the level, at least there was a path forward.

But in this game, he had no clue at all.

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like an almost impossible goal.

“Could it be… this is why the game requires players to have excellent acting skills??”

William Carter suddenly remembered the requirements in the previous closed beta player recruitment announcement.

One point was especially emphasized: good acting skills, preferably at a movie king level! Or, if the character fits, just being yourself is fine.

Before, William Carter had wondered—it's just a game, not a movie, so why would acting skills matter?

Now he understood. The NPCs in this game are definitely not your average AI!