Returning once again to the "Assassinate the King" trial, Zhao Haiping felt a strange sense of detachment, as if it had been a lifetime since his first attempt. Though only three or four days had passed since he first entered this trial, Zhao Haiping felt like he was no longer the same person.
Now, he too was a warrior who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood! Although the crimson-armored guards around Emperor Yanling looked fierce and intimidating, making Zhao Haiping feel a bit tense, they were nothing compared to the brutal northern Di soldiers he had faced.
The first time Zhao Haiping entered this trial, he had been so oppressed by the atmosphere that he could barely breathe, his legs even shaking. But now, he felt nothing. This showed that he was gradually adapting to the intensity of the game.
The talent skills appeared again, but instead of choosing Swordsmanship Mastery, Zhao Haiping casually selected Silver Tongue. He didn't have any special reason; he just felt a bit overconfident and wanted to see how much his basic combat skills had improved since the beginning.
After selecting his skill, the illusion began to shift, and the little eunuch in front of him started walking toward the palace. Normally, Zhao Haiping would bow his head and follow, but this time, he didn't.
Instead, he opened the box and felt out the sword hidden on the Jade Kirin ornament, familiarizing himself with its position so he wouldn't fumble when he needed it.
The crimson-armored guards on both sides froze in surprise, not immediately reacting.
It wasn't until Zhao Haiping lunged at a guard, slashing his throat, that the little eunuch screamed, "Assassin! Protect the emperor!"
The crimson-armored guards surged forward, but Zhao Haiping didn't surrender. He skillfully took the fallen guard's long blade and began fighting the others.
He held his ground for less than thirty seconds before being overwhelmed by their blades and dying.
"Well, I'm not as strong as I thought."
After failing his "Musou" attempt, Zhao Haiping thoughtfully selected Swordsmanship Mastery and restarted the trial.
With the added combat talent, his moves became cleaner and more efficient. He quickly approached the crimson-armored guard, drawing the sword from the Jade Kirin in one swift motion.
The guard's eyes widened in horror as Zhao Haiping's sword cut across his throat.
The second guard drew his sword and advanced, aiming for Zhao Haiping's back, but his strike missed as Zhao Haiping had already sidestepped, seeming to anticipate the attack. Zhao Haiping turned, thrusting his sword through a gap in the guard's armor, swiftly slashing his throat.
"An as…!"
The little eunuch didn't even finish his cry before Zhao Haiping dealt with him, too.
Soon, the crimson-armored guards surrounded him again. Zhao Haiping resisted briefly before being overwhelmed and killed.
After experimenting with different talent skills a few times, Zhao Haiping stopped his attempts and began to summarize his findings. He especially confirmed a hypothesis he had had since the soldier trial.
"Okay, even after clearing the soldier trial, I still can't just 'Musou' my way through the assassin trial."
"The combat talents do make a difference, but... it's still not enough."
"Comparing the two trials has made me more certain of the game's hidden mechanics."
"In each trial, a player's power depends on both their combat skills and the character they're controlling. As players engage in combat, they gradually unlock that character's combat memories."
"In the soldier trial, I controlled a regular soldier with a weaker physical build, but through constant fighting, the soldier's combat experience was quickly awakened. Combined with the soldier's combat skills, it only took a short time to master advanced battlefield tactics."
"In the assassin trial, I'm controlling Nie Rang, the top swordsman. He's physically stronger and specializes in swordsmanship. So when I choose Swordsmanship Mastery and fight repeatedly, his muscle memory for swordsmanship is quickly activated."
"Even with Swordsmanship Mastery, charging in recklessly still doesn't work. There are just too many guards, and they're all armored. Even if I take a weapon from one of them, it's impossible to cut through them all."
"Armor in the cold weapon era was indeed a cheat."
"It seems that for the assassin trial, I still have to follow the script. I can't just brute-force my way through."
After a few more tries to awaken more of Nie Rang's combat memory and improve his swordsmanship, Zhao Haiping noticed time passing quickly. His vision blurred with fog, and he soon awoke in the real world.
...
Meng Yuan and Canshang had witnessed Zhao Haiping's entire journey through the soldier trial.
"So this is what it means to be a top player… terrifying." Meng Yuan couldn't help but marvel; some players were just incredibly hardcore!
Having experienced the trial himself, he knew how difficult each one was.
As for which was hardest?
It was hard to say. Each trial had a different focus, and Meng Yuan hadn't cleared any of them, so he didn't have much authority to judge.
Overall, though, the soldier trial seemed to test physical strength and endurance the most.
Meng Yuan initially thought the soldier trial would be the last one players completed, considering the other trials might allow for some shortcuts, while the soldier trial's three phases were interlinked, leaving little room for shortcuts.
But unexpectedly, there were players capable of such hardcore tactics.
It was like in other difficult action games, where players who preferred brute force often completed a boss before those who found ways to cheese it.
In *Dark Sands*, or in the Order Restorer mission, there was no such thing as "cheesing." Any means of clearing a trial that kept the historical slice on its intended path counted as success.
Other players were close to completing the remaining three trials, with progress almost at the final step.
Three or four days had passed, and Meng Yuan sensed that most players' patience with *Dark Sands* was reaching its limit.
After facing challenges for days, players needed a morale boost.
With that thought, Meng Yuan turned to Canshang. "Edit together Zhao Haiping's completion footage into a perfect run video."
...
In the real world, Zhao Haiping woke up, still thrilled by his performance in the soldier trial the night before.
He couldn't wait to check the forums and see today's discussions.
As expected, no one had cleared any of the trials yet.
Many players were losing patience, and complaints filled the forums.
Why make the game so hard? Was this just to mess with people?
A single trial had blocked them for three or four days, totaling dozens of hours. The average player couldn't handle it.
"Am I really the world's first clear?"
"Maybe I should write a guide for everyone?"
Zhao Haiping felt a spark of excitement he hadn't felt in ages. He had grown numb to grinding in other games, where content had been fully explored, and grinding was just about minimizing mistakes and saving time, with little hype.
But *Dark Sands* was still unbeaten!
A guide for this game would definitely make waves!
But... this game didn't have any achievement notifications or anything like that. If he just posted a guide, would anyone even believe him?
At that moment, he noticed a message from his VR platform's mobile app, containing a link to an unknown website.
Curious, Zhao Haiping clicked it.
A few minutes in, he suddenly realized: This is my completion footage!
The video felt cinematic, with multiple camera angles, aerial shots of the Di soldiers attacking, close-ups of Zhao Haiping riding through the snow to get reinforcements, and seamless editing.
Though only about half an hour long, the video had cut out less important parts, preserving the essence of Zhao Haiping's triumph with a fantastic effect.
Zhao Haiping watched, his only thought being:
"Did I really pull off moves like that?"
I look incredible!
In the heat of battle, he hadn't paid attention to how cool he looked. But seeing it from a cinematic perspective, he could hardly believe this was his gameplay.
"This game has a built-in recording system?"
"After clearing, it generates a record of your run?"
"Judging by the speed, it must be auto-generated. I just cleared last night, and the video's already here."
"But the auto-editing is insane! It's as good as a movie!"
Zhao Haiping marveled once again at the game company's technical prowess.
Then he noticed a message attached to the video.
**[Congratulations! As an outstanding player who completed a trial, you will automatically receive a verified account and a "Pro Gamer" badge on the official site. Would you like to share your completion video on the site to inspire and connect with other players?]**
Below were two options: **[Agree]** and **[Decline]**.