Chapter 61: Cheap Tricks

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three shadows dashed forward at an incredible speed.

Clang! Clang! Bang!

Hiro saw the space in front of him blur for a moment before Rosaline appeared, wielding two short blades in her hands.

After parrying two sharp weapons, she spun on her heels and kicked the last shadow in the chest, sending all three assailants flying away.

"Rosa!" Yelled the last assailant who tumbled for a dozen meters before standing up, dust covering his body.

"Mind your own business; I don't want to be known as someone who indulges in killing one's own."

Rosaline was helpless, but she could only do this to save the lives of these fools.

"Are you really going to side with outsiders in front of all these people? Who will trust you in the family after this?" Another person asked, his tone sullen.

Rosaline didn't respond. Instead, she turned around and headed for the chopper while saying in a loud voice, "You can either waste your time here or hurry up; time waits for no one."

"Tsk, count yourself lucky, kid. However, I wouldn't be too happy if I were you, no one can guess what might go wrong while exploring the unknown dimension."

Two guys picked up the unconscious young man with them as they also rushed to the helicopter, deciding to give Rosaline some face this once.

Hiro blinked, the spark of pale blue lightning flickering in the depths of his pupils dissipating away as he sighed in disappointment.

Like the others, he followed Rosaline into the helicopter. Since not everyone could get on board at once, the helicopter was scheduled for more than one trip, sending batch after batch to the island.

As the daughter to the eldest son in the second generation of the Rosch family, Rosaline also had the qualifications to join the first batch.

Hiro silently followed along.

"Turn off your phones," said a female mentor of the Rosch family. She was in the co-pilot seat in the helicopter.

A few people pulled out their phones and turned them off accordingly. Watching this display, Hiro stifled a laugh, while Rosaline's face darkened a little.

The flight lasted for almost nineteen hours.

The helicopter had to make a couple of detours to refill the engine and avoid some unknown dangers on the way, but no one explained what danger they were avoiding.

Throughout the trip, as usual, during long-distance travel, Hiro was immersed in the {Simulation Space} without paying the outside world any mind.

In recent times, Hiro must have changed sects at least five or six times, training in the laws, martial arts, and magic spells of several doctrines in the game.

It wasn't for anything other than an experiment on Hiro's part. He was curious to know what would happen if the character in the game mastered so many diverse laws, even when some of them were inherently contradictory.

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How would the core of his dimension, which was connected to the system, develop?

All wuxia lore often mentioned the Great Dao and the 3,000 paths to the Great Dao, and while he couldn't learn all of them in one game, learning two or three shouldn't be a problem.

The question was, would any creatures in his pocket dimension find their path to the Great Dao as a product of this early experiment?

These were all questions that wouldn't get any immediate answers, so Hiro didn't spend too much time dwelling on them.

Suddenly, Hiro felt an external stimulus which prompted him to leave the {Simulation Space} and open his eyes.

"Are we there yet?" Hiro asked while stretching his upper body.

"We're about to land at any moment now," Rosaline answered, but she sounded a bit distracted.

Looking around, Hiro noticed the malicious gazes from some retainers and their respective masters, immediately understanding the situation.

Shaking his head, Hiro chuckled lightly and cracked his knuckles, neck, and shoulders before half-closing his eyes.

"Life is short," he muttered to himself. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

…

After a not-so-cumbersome procedure, the host of young adults alighted from the helicopter and were escorted toward the depths of the nameless island.

On the way, Hiro observed his surroundings.

There wasn't a trace of life other than plants and all kinds of insects; anything remotely larger than an adult's head couldn't be seen.

The sea on all sides stretched for god knows how far, and at least on the surface, it looked tranquil.

Helicopters came buzzing in from all sides, bursting through thick white clouds to drop their load of passengers onto readily prepared boats.

After restocking, and without approaching the island, the helicopters would take off and disappear in a matter of minutes.

"Such tight security," Hiro muttered to himself.

Soon, the Rosch family entourage joined the rest of the recruits in a vast, open space.

In the center of the space was a massive oval structure fleshed out from sci-fi movies, surrounded by women in nun clothes and men in clergymen attires.

Standing before the gate with his back to the crowd was an old man, kneeling while praying piously in hushed murmurs.

Hands clasped to his chest and head bowed almost too low, only his aged voice accompanied by the chirping of some out-of-sight insects could be heard.

Whoever saw this old man would get the urge to respect him and stay silent, just out of reverence for such deep faith.

[Notice: You're being influenced by faith energy, you can use 1 achievement point to resist.]

The notification from the system woke Hiro up and he immediately chose to pay. Then, he paid another point before tapping his index and middle fingers, which carried a mysterious energy, onto Rosaline's forehead.

The accumulating, bone-deep reverence in Rosaline's eyes slowly faded away as clarity returned to her blurry eyes.

She shivered, her black eyes reflecting Hiro's disdainful expression while he cast his eyes at the old man in a prayer position.

Quickly, Rosaline realized what happened just now, and the last remnants of her confusion turned into apprehension and fear.

Looking around, not only the scions from the Rosch family, but plenty of young talents from all over the country were watching with solemn awe and a hint of unmistakable reverence.

She didn't understand how she was getting brainwashed, even when she had kept her guard up this whole time.

Rosaline wanted to ask, but she knew that this wasn't the time or place. Maybe, once they were inside the pocket dimension, she would get the chance.

Just so they wouldn't draw anyone's attention, both Hiro and Rosaline acted the part while waiting patiently.

Hours passed, and no one seemed to be getting bored or tired from simply standing there and doing nothing.

This started to give the feeling of a mass religious gathering when thousands of people finally populated the vast space.

All of a sudden, the pious murmurs stopped, yet the rapturous silence continued on.

The old man slowly raised his head and looked up at the oval structure.

"Beloved children of faith," his voice sounded once again. seaʀᴄh thё novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"A perilous journey awaits you on a land bathed in the blood of the faithful. They will always keep you company as long as you keep the reverence in your hearts. You won't be alone, you won't be abandoned; you will surely thrive and survive. Come, children of faith, may the Lords watch over you."

Finally, the gathered crowd slowly came to their senses, and consciously or otherwise, they shouted enthusiastically in a positive response.

Watching this scene, Rosaline felt as though a page was torn from the world she recognized thus far. If not for Hiro's she would have been just like them, and she wouldn't even realize.

She wasn't unfamiliar with psychological cues and subtle brainwashing, but what scared her was the fact that she didn't even know how it happened, let alone have the ability to counter it.

Who knows when and where or how many times had she been influenced in a similar fashion? All of a sudden, her sense of self was slowly crumbling, and she was on the verge of mental collapse there and then.

Tap!

Hiro noticed her abnormality and flicked her forehead, and not lightly.

"Eek!" Rosaline's head bounced back as steam rose from her bruised, flat forehead.

She almost crouched down from the pain, holding her forehead in both hands as her teary eyes glared hard at Hiro.

She was this close to growling like an offended puppy if not for the current environment.

"You're thinking too much into this," Hiro shook his head and sighed.

"This cheap trick isn't as powerful as you imagine it to be, it could only be said that it worked this time by playing on the feelings of tension, fear of death, and the unknown in your heart. This type of energy can't affect you when you're in your optimal state of mind."

Not to mention, everyone was tired when this seed of worry and fear toward the unknown fermented in their hearts for close to half a day.

As Hiro said, these are cheap tricks at best.