Chapter 95 - Mastermo, Close Your Eyes.

The game seemed to be against them from the beginning itself. 

Mastermo felt like he was being set up and on instinct, although the chair turned, he kept his eyes on the white screen. 

His brain couldn't process everything at once. What was happening? 

He had never felt so helpless in a level with so many things that didn't go according to what he guessed. 

He finally seemed to understand why this level was hard ranked and just as he realized this, he gave up on the hopes of winning this level. 

Inevitably, he was fully turned and could no longer see the white screen since his head couldn't rotate 180 degrees. 

He had never wanted to be a ghost more than now. Weren't ghosts supposed to have necks that could look back while walking front? He envied them right now, but even if someone were to give him an offer to become one, he would still refuse. 

If he became a ghost, he would no longer be able to play games and for Zhihao, that was worse than death. 

Suddenly he stopped struggling to keep his eyes on the white screen as he suddenly realized something. 

The game asked them not to turn around, but it didn't tell them what was front and what was back so if he looked at the white screen, wasn't he basically looking back?? 

Thank god he had given up on looking at that screen. 

He went with his theory and smiled proudly as he finally understood how tricky this game was. It was turning their chair to confuse them. They were not supposed to turn their heads even if their chairs were rotating. 

Whoever created this game was certainly intelligent. 

The Gamemaster who was sitting beside him and had also turned, smiled lightly as he saw the proud smirk on Zhihao's face. 

In front of them now was a black screen, much similar to the screen in front, but if there was a difference, it would be the fact that the words "Don't look back" was written in white on a black screen. 

Zhihao really thought he had figured the game out, but in the next second, he heard Alvi commenting on him. 

[Ha-ha! Loser!] 

Eh? 

Zhihao could not understand what was happening and in this state of confusion, he got one more notification. 

[You have failed to complete the H-ranked level 453: Don't look back.]

[Hope you come back to complete it later.]

[Bye!]

And just like that, Zhihao was thrown out of the level. 

"Eh?" 

His mind had still not processed everything. 

What had just happened? 

For the first time in T.I.A.D.'s history, Mastemo had failed a level and the worst thing was that he didn't even know why he had failed. 

He had played it according to the rules so why was he suddenly thrown out of the level? It was ridiculous!

When his screen changed into the main lobby of the game, he was more confused than angry or surprised. He had no idea what he had done wrong and maybe this was how he finally understood what the Gamemaster was talking about when he said that Zhihao was never going to beat the man with his current skills. 

If he can't even handle an H-ranked level, there really was no way he would be able to beat the Gamemaster like this, but before he could take this as a life lesson, he first wanted to know what he did wrong. 

"Alvi, why did I lose?" 

[You're such a sour loser]

[Can't even take a beating?]

[Just accept it]

[You lost.] 

Zhihao could almost guess that the bot was happy with him losing that game, maybe because she simply hated him or maybe because she was the one who was acting as the antagonist in that level. 

[You really want to know?]

[Why?]

"Why wouldn't I?"

[I can tell you.]

[Your mission was to not look back]

Zhihao frowned as he heard the bot, "And I didn't look back so how come I still lost? Isn't it your system that is broken? " 

[Are you saying that I'm cheating?]

Zhihao could sense the agitation in Alvi's voice, but he wasn't in any way calm, so if he were to get into a fight with a bot at this moment, he would not even feel stupid about it. 

"Who knows? It might be a bug. " 

[I'm offended]

[I have checked and there is no bug detected]

[It's your fault for losing so instead of being a sour loser, accept it and move on]

"But how?" Zhihao was adamant about getting an answer today and he didn't care if he was sounding a bit too unreasonable. 

[I'm sorry, but I can't tell you.]

[Better luck next time]

[I hope you get it by then]

It wasn't Zhihao's first time losing, but it was certainly his first time losing in a game he was sure he would be winning. 

At this moment, Li Ling decided to speak up and make Mastermo aware that he had returned.

"I passed." 

Zhihao looked at the man in shock and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

Weren't they in a team?! 

How could Li Ling pass while Mastermo failed?!

It just didn't make sense and Mastermo wondered how the level worked, but no matter what he guessed, he really could not understand it. 

Just what had he done wrong and what had Li Ling done right? 

The most shocking thing was that they were a team yet one failed while the other passed. It was ridiculous! 

Li Ling seemed to see through Zhihao's confusion and he wasn't as cruel as Alvi so he decided to tell the man what he had been missing this whole time. 

"The mission was to not look back." Li Ling spoke, "Look, not turn. The game only told you not to look back and it didn't forbid you from turning around. " 

"Huh?" Zhihao kinda understood it and yet he didn't. He was never a person to be so dumb not to understand something a person was trying to explain to him, but it looked like today was just not his day. 

Li Ling was patient as he responded, "When I was dragged away, I didn't look back." 

"I still can't understand it." 

Li Ling shook his head as he heard this, "I closed my eyes." 

Zhihao took a minute to register the words in his mind and when he finally understood what the man had said, it was like a bolt of thunder that had struck down on his head. 

He felt like banging his head against a wall and passing out on the spot. Why had he been so stupid as not to see through this?! 

He really was not worthy of beating the Gamemaster. His luck was great and his brain was amazing, but at times both would fail him. 

He put his head down and his shoulders started quivering. He wasn't crying, he was laughing. He was laughing at how stupid he had been. 

He really thought the game was going to be that simple. 

The instructions really were as clear as it seemed. 

Don't look back. 

It really didn't matter if he had kept his eyes on the white screen or the black one. No matter where he had kept his eyes focused on, he still would have lost. 

The game was built that way. To confuse the players into losing. The answer to winning the level was always in front of their eyes. They weren't supposed to look back and what was the best way to avoid looking back?

Close your eyes. 

If you close your eyes, you won't be able to look back and hence you would win the game. 

Zhihao understood a lot of things, but the most important thing he understood was that he was stupid. He was so stupid that he didn't think of that easy answer. 

He was just supposed to not look. Not look! How could he have not realized that?! 

Zhihao laughed at his own stupidity and in the next second, he sighed. 

"I lost." 

Li Ling wanted to say something, but at this moment, he felt like it was weird for him to say anything. After all, he had won and his partner had lost. It wasn't like Li Ling didn't know the answer so if he had wanted to tell Mastermo the answer, he could have but he was just too optimistic. 

He thought the man would not need his help. Wasn't that what happened in the last level? 

He trusted Mastermo. He believed that the man would have been able to figure it out. 

How was he to know that Mastermo would lose like this?

Zhihao heard Alvi and he was sure that the bot was going to say something that he would not be liking. 

[You are so stupid]

[And then you had the guts to say that you were going to beat the Gamemaster]

[Aren't you embarrassed with yourself]

[Such a disappointment]