The moment Jing Ye saw that line in the Villain Simulator's text, his scalp went numb.
What did it mean, "All the cloaked Herta clansmen around the altar had Herta's face underneath"?
Was the Villain Simulator saying that—from the very first time a "Herta" wanted to kill him after losing their match, to now, when "they" were suddenly trying to kill him, Herta, and Ruan Mei—
They were all… Herta "herself"?
That couldn't be right, could it?
[Before your consciousness completely faded, you saw the cloaked Herta clansmen around the altar remove their hoods.]
[The fanaticism in their eyes was completely unmasked. Strangely, they all had the exact same face as Herta.]
[The many Herta faces that appeared were not the mature "big Herta" you know, but all that petite loli Herta's face. Still, that was frightening enough.]
[Even more disturbing, their expressions were blank.]
[Only the burning fervor in their eyes was exposed, searing straight to the bone.]
[You can't comprehend who these people with Herta's face are, or why "Herta" herself would want to kill Herta.]
[You hear them chanting with Herta's exact voice.]
[They chant words that sound like they're taken from some ancient grimoire of forbidden magic.]
[You feel dizzy and light-headed, as though the wisdom and inspiration in your mind are slowly being drawn out by the obscure chant, leaving you and flying elsewhere—]
[Flying toward the center of the altar.]
[If you still had an unbroken "Light-Fingered," you might be able to understand that obscure spell. But after returning most of the stolen wisdom to Herta, you can no longer comprehend its contents.]
[By contrast, you notice the wisdom and light being drawn from Herta's corpse by the chant lasts much longer, just like the wisdom taken from Ruan Mei's nearby body.]
[The time required to extract Herta's wisdom is roughly twice your own—just about equal to the wisdom you returned when you shattered your trait.]
[You dimly guess at something, but with your inspiration gone, you can't quite piece the whole picture together.]
[You suddenly notice a detail: all the "clansmen" with Herta's face have obvious marks at their exposed joints.]
[They look exactly like assembly seams on dolls, blatantly visible on their bodies.]
[You seem to understand: are all these "Hertas" actually dolls with some kind of self-awareness… or puppets moving under a master's command?]
[You fix your gaze on the central figure presiding over the altar. She notices and looks back, surprised that you're still conscious.]
[Slowly, she lifts her hands to lower her hood—yet before you can see her face, your consciousness finally fades away.]
[You die.]
[Simulation complete. Rating: A-.]
[Although you managed to save yourself and Herta, you still failed to save Ruan Mei and died under the assassination.]
[Please do even more evil to Herta and Ruan Mei, in order to obtain greater power to face the pursuit and uncover the truth behind the Herta family.]
[The truth is right in front of you. Keep it up, Host.]
Jing Ye wasn't actually that surprised to see his own death in the Villain Simulator again.
The moment he saw that "Equivalent Exchange" had only been triggered at 66% destruction this time, he'd already guessed he still couldn't cross this hurdle.
The conditions the Villain Simulator had set were razor precise: only with 100% destruction of a trait could he obtain enough power to survive the Herta family's hunt and reveal the truth behind Herta.
But more than his failure, what really stuck with Jing Ye was that sudden glimpse of the Herta family's true face in the simulation.
Not a single living person in the "Herta family"? Every one of them a doll with Herta's face?
Didn't that mean Herta herself was the mastermind?
Why had Herta gone to such lengths, staging the entire thing? Was this all some revenge instance she'd built into the Villain Simulator to target him, or was it really the Simulator's own content?
This dungeon's riddles just kept spawning more riddles. You couldn't see the final answer until the very end.
Still, unlike in the simulation, the current Jing Ye hadn't been hauled to the altar and drained of wisdom by some obscure chant. He hadn't been turned into an idiot yet.
With his inspiration still intact, Jing Ye carefully thought back: those doll-Hertas with the same face, the altar… it was all clearly designed to drain his, Herta's, and Ruan Mei's wisdom.
But why wait until that late stage? And after stealing that wisdom, what was the goal?
That mastermind who removed her hood just before he died…
Now he knew why the dungeon "Herta's Tears" had its rating hidden behind two question marks.
No wonder it didn't show a grade directly—this dungeon really was bizarre.
But so what? He was about to rip the final truth out of this place anyway. No matter how well the dungeon hid its secrets, he was going to lift its skirts in the end.
He glanced at "Equivalent Exchange," which had again only shattered "Light-Fingered" to 66% in this run. Clearly, what he'd done to Herta and Ruan Mei still wasn't vicious enough.
Just humiliating Herta in front of Ruan Mei and secretly laying hands on Ruan Mei behind Herta's back wasn't enough to fully shatter the trait.
So what would reach 100%? What did he have to do to Herta and Ruan Mei to truly earn the title of "complete villain"?
Jing Ye already had a rough idea.
Herta's Tears—time for him to tear that skirt to shreds and drag every bit of mystery into the light.
He started the Villain Simulator once more.
[You are born. "Light-Fingered" activates…]
[You enroll in school with Herta…]
[To face the Herta family's future pursuit, you decide to start on Herta and Ruan Mei even earlier, bringing everything forward.]
[You approach Ruan Mei and trick Herta into walking right into your trap…]
[You humiliate Herta right in front of Ruan Mei…]
[You break your oath and lay hands on Ruan Mei behind Herta's back…]
[You secretly treat Herta and Ruan Mei as your playthings, sometimes tormenting them over the phone, sometimes letting them listen to each other's voices separated by only a wall.]
[You even deliberately go find Ruan Mei right after experiments with Herta, to "discuss tai chi" with her, then bring them together to watch them both struggle to walk straight while forcing themselves to smile.]
[Finally, to reach 100% destruction, you decide…]
[…to blindfold both Ruan Mei and Herta.]
[First, you invite Ruan Mei out and tie a blindfold over her eyes.]
[Ruan Mei might be a gentle girl who loves traditional Xianzhou culture, but after your "guidance," she's willing to accept these strange little experiments.]
[She obediently puts on the blindfold, following you uneasily into the room.]
[You tie Ruan Mei up with rope.]
[Ruan Mei is nervous. You reassure her that this is just a necessary safety measure for the experiment.]
[Then you have her take the "Parting the Wild Horse's Mane" pose and begin subjecting her to "Grasp the Sparrow's Tail" and "White Crane Spreads Its Wings."]
[When the violent "indoor downpour" has thoroughly soaked the bed, you lay the utterly exhausted Ruan Mei on it, letting her catch her breath.]
[Ruan Mei doesn't understand why you suddenly leave, but she remembers you once mentioning a method called "leaving someone to rest," so she obediently stays put.]
[Next, you bring Herta in, blindfolding her just as you did when you humiliated her in front of Ruan Mei the first time.]
[Compared to Ruan Mei, Herta has already been through many experiments with you, so she has no resistance to the blindfold—she's even grown used to it.]
[After so many experiments, Herta has changed from blowing hot air at you at the start to now: gritting her teeth on the surface, but quietly doing as she's told.]
[You lead Herta into the room, where Ruan Mei has been "left to rest."]
[Special event triggered. Entering immersive experience.]
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