“For many centuries, beyond the dimensions you know and see, several different forces have been vying for dominion over the human realm.” Woody's narration began.

But Feng Bujue didn't seem content to remain a mere listener: “Hold on… are you extrapolating from the 'Atari Crown,' a video game tournament prize from the 1980s? What's with this development?”

“Heh heh heh… you'll understand naturally as you listen on.” Woody pushed up his glasses again and continued, “However, this war is destined to be a protracted stalemate… Although everyone had high expectations in 1999, Vincent actually relied on that kid Lu Kun to rewrite the events recorded in the Book of Revelation…”

“Uh… who is Lu Kun?” Feng Bujue asked. “And… the events recorded in the Book of Revelation, does that refer to the millennial doomsday theory?”

“Well… it wouldn't really be a doomsday; it'd probably just be the Four Horsemen coming to clean up the surface; humanity might not even become extinct,” Woody replied. “As for Lu Kun… he's considered one of the strongest beings in the human realm. Speaking of which… many of the strongest in the human realm are otaku…”

As Woody said this, he revealed a thoughtful expression, paused, and then continued: “Anyway… those matters don't have much to do with you, and they're all in the past, let's continue on with what I was saying…”

“Oh.” Feng Bujue nodded, because he felt that the pit the other party had mentioned earlier was too deep, so he didn't continue to ask.

“Ten years after the 'Doomsday' was averted, at the behest of the 'Highest Will,' the human realm held a 'Candidate Game.'” Woody smiled. “Heh heh heh… and the people responsible for organizing that game were none other than us, the Hell Four Jerks.”

“Wait a second…” Feng Bujue's expression shifted slightly. “There really is such a thing as the 'Hell Four Jerks'?”

“Heh heh… You heard Cat… oh, no… You heard Gu Chen talk about us, right?” Woody asked with a smile.

“I thought he was just cursing,” Feng Bujue said. “So this is a real title? Come to think of it… there are three other guys as awful as you? Besides Vincent, who else is there?”

“Simon and Sid,” Woody replied.

“That 'Simon'?” Feng Bujue raised his hands, making quotation marks. “No way? He doesn't seem like he'd be on the same path as you guys.”

“Heh heh… you and Wang Tanzhi don't seem like you'd be on the same path either,” Woody responded.

“Hmm…” Brother Jue was speechless.

“As for Sid… well, you haven't met him anyway, so I won't introduce him further.” After Woody finished this sentence, he paused for a second, and then continued from where he left off: “Let's get back to talking about the game…

“The so-called 'Candidate Game' is a kind of 'ritual' that has been continuing since the era when the gods were divided; it concerns survival and death, the past and the future, it is a signpost of fate, a bond of time and space, its significance to this world is even beyond words…

“The victor of this game is only one person… however, there can still be many participants; we call these people who participate in the game 'candidates'; without a doubt, those who are qualified to become candidates are not ordinary people… every candidate has extraordinary abilities.

“When these people compete in the 'Candidate Game' and determine the only victor, this person will become the 'Chosen One'—that is, the person recognized by the gods.

“The 'Chosen One' is an existence sufficient to 'advance the era,' 'change fate,' and 'slay gods and demons'; at most, one or two such people appear every century, and they usually leave behind some well-known legends in the human realm. For example, during the Olympian War… there was a Spartan who became a candidate, and as a result, he almost single-handedly ended the war between humans and gods, and he even solved it with force.”

“Are you talking about that bald guy who used chains to tie two kitchen knives together…” Feng Bujue seemed to already know who the other party was talking about.

“Heh heh heh…” Woody once again avoided the question with an obscene laugh, without directly answering, and continued on nonchalantly, “Who it is specifically isn't important, you just need to have a concept of the 'Chosen One,' after all… you are also one of the candidates.”

“Oh?” Whether it was confidence or arrogance… Feng Bujue certainly didn't feel any surprise about this matter. “Then according to what you're saying… Thriller Paradise is the 'Candidate Game' you're talking about?”

“Thriller Paradise… is an experiment,” Woody replied. “If it succeeds, then for a considerable period of time to come, it will become the paradigm of the 'ritual' and be applied.”

“Then… what if it doesn't succeed?” Feng Bujue asked.

“That's not a problem you need to worry about…” Woody said here, then changed the topic, lowering his voice, “At least… not yet.”

“What do you mean?” Brother Jue keenly caught something from the other party's second half of the sentence.

“Heh heh heh… Sorry, I can't disclose anything about that,” Woody said with a smile.

“Your style of always being vague when you get to the key point… oh, no… your style of always going 'heh heh'…” Feng Bujue continued, “is really quite despicable…”

“Heh heh heh… thank you.” Woody looked like he wasn't ashamed at all, but rather proud of it, and even said thank you, then brought the topic back, “Let's talk about 'Thriller Paradise'…

“In the past, the Candidate Games were generally more cruel; although the forms were different each time, at the end of the day… it was a game that made people kill each other.

“People in ancient times all had faith; they valued glory, worshiped gods… and were willing to fight to the death in order to obtain the title of 'Chosen One.'

“But later, humans changed… You could say they became smarter, or you could say they became bad… Although they still held the gods in awe, they also understood 'fighting for themselves.'

“Later, humans lost their faith, and the game became more and more difficult to start; we even needed to use coercion and inducement to force those outstanding talents in the human world to participate in this game, and sometimes we even had to go to parallel universes to find people to make up the numbers.”

Just as Woody's words reached this point…

“Ha!” Feng Bujue laughed loudly. “Speaking of coercion and inducement, I have a deep understanding of it.”

“Heh heh… I've already been very polite to you; after all, we're not enemies,” Woody said with a smile.

“Then what if we become enemies in the future?” Feng Bujue glanced at the other party, speaking in a meaningful tone.

Upon hearing these words, Woody's expression suddenly changed, and he laughed strangely three times: “Heh heh heh… After you've heard what I have to say, maybe you'll have the answer…”