The situation for the others was even more tragic and unbearable.

Someone, walking on the steps, got so nervous that their legs cramped up and they tumbled down;

Someone else, unable to speak smoothly in the main hall and thus exposed, was dragged out and beheaded;

There was even someone who, in a wild attempt, tried to snatch a weapon from a Red Armored Guard, only to be hacked to death before even reaching the hall.

The other three trial instances were about the same, just with different ways to die.

In short, the degree of misery was about the same everywhere, but the forms of suffering were endlessly varied.

Very few people, like William Carter, could persist all the way to Emperor Yanling, and still manage to come up with an excuse when questioned by him.

Henry Clark was also well aware that, in reality, players like William Carter would definitely count as top-tier.

But even so, they still hadn’t found any way to clear the trial.

Brian Clark conjured a meat bun in his hand and took a bite: “I told you, you’re just wasting your time. The trial illusion is meant to screen out Orderbringers, and it’s extremely difficult. You shouldn’t expect too much from them.

“What’s more, as assistants, they can only gain one Orderbringer ability in the illusion, which makes it even harder.”

Henry Clark sighed softly and retorted, “But haven’t you noticed that, even though these players are having such a hard time, they’re actually performing better in the trial illusion than I did as a real Orderbringer?

“At least most of them have roughly figured out the objective of the instance.”

Brian Clark was momentarily speechless: “…You make a good point.”

In fact, Henry Clark himself wasn’t sure whether these players could clear the trial.

Because the players entered as “assistants,” which meant Henry Clark had distributed Orderbringer abilities to them.

The talent skill cards the players saw were actually just a special packaging of Orderbringer abilities. If Henry Clark himself entered a historical slice, he could bring three abilities at the start, and later even more as his power grew.

But as assistants, the players could only bring one for now.

This, without a doubt, made clearing the trial instance even harder.

Now, Henry Clark could only hope that the carefully selected players could make up for this gap with their outstanding talent and hard work.

But looking on the bright side, any player who could stand out under such tough conditions would be relying purely on real skill—they’d definitely be formidable!

Henry Clark continued to watch patiently, looking forward to the players’ performance.

As the guide, Brian Clark could observe all the players’ actions at once, and would only show Henry Clark those who made progress—basically acting as a smart observer system.

At the moment, William Carter was the player who adapted the fastest, so naturally Henry Clark paid more attention to him.

Chapter 7: The Warrior’s Trial

After a few more attempts, William Carter decided to give up for now.

Forget it, no more stubbornness!

If this were any other action game, he’d definitely keep bashing his head against the boss, whether it took ten, twenty, or fifty tries, memorizing the patterns until he won.

But this game was different.

After several tries, William Carter realized he was lacking in too many areas. If he used his talent skill to boost his acting, he wouldn’t have enough combat power to assassinate the tall and strong Emperor Yanling. If he used his talent skill to boost his combat power, his acting wouldn’t be enough and he’d be exposed.

In this situation, memorizing patterns was useless.

So William Carter thought it over and decided to withdraw for now and check out the other trial instances.

Since different trial instances represented different identities, the rules for clearing them would naturally differ. He just needed to pick the one that suited him best.

Even if they were all hard, checking out the other trial instances might help him better understand the game and find a new way to clear it.

When he had a strong desire to exit the instance, a cloud of mist once again enveloped his vision, and moments later he was back in that huge floating palace in the sky.

“So, this is the home of the Orderbringers?

“I wonder if NPCs will be unlocked here in the future.”

After dying so many times in the instance, William Carter had developed a strange sense of warmth toward this place.

After thinking for a moment, William Carter chose to enter the “Warrior” trial: The Making of a General.

He felt that the warrior identity should be the simplest—using other games as a metaphor, it was just a pure strength brute. While it might still be tough, for a player like him who didn’t like to think and relied purely on skill, it might be more friendly.

…

After passing through the illusion’s entrance, William Carter’s vision was filled with desolation.

Yellow sand billowed in the distance, blocking out the sky and sun. William Carter looked around and found himself standing atop an earthen city.

The entire city seemed to be built from rammed yellow earth, with the walls lined with logs, catapults, and other defensive equipment. Soldiers in black armor were busy at their posts, but time was frozen and they were all motionless.

In the distance, a pitch-black cloud seemed to be approaching.

Looking closely, he realized it was made up of many hundred-man formations, marching in force, an army at the gates.

At this moment, three different talent skills once again appeared before William Carter.