Chapter Ten: The Nameless

“I want you to become me.”
When these words left Su Ziye’s lips, they sounded almost absurd.
Yet there was no trace of surprise on Liu Ru’s face.
For no matter what Su Ziye said, Liu Ru had ceased to be easily startled.
Ever since witnessing the things Su Ziye accomplished overnight, Liu Ru had reached a certain understanding within herself.
“What do I need to do?” Liu Ru asked.
She did not inquire about anything else, but went straight to what was required of her.
Su Ziye snapped his fingers in satisfaction. “It’s simple. Just do as I tell you.”
“For instance, right now, I’m giving you a persona. All you have to do is act according to it.”
“First, you are a youth from a mysterious, powerful organization. You seek to participate in the annual Three Trials of Nightleaf Academy. You long to learn something from the greatest academy in this world, but even more, you wish to hide in the shadows of that institution.”
“You know there are people searching for you, and some who want you dead.”
“Perhaps you were once important, but now you are worthless.”
“You want to take part in the Three Trials at Nightleaf Academy with an utterly natural identity, blending in among the thousands upon thousands of candidates. Some will try to find you through your exam results. Your mission is to gain admission while keeping yourself hidden as much as possible.”
Liu Ru listened closely to Su Ziye’s words, for she realized this was the most he had ever revealed about his identity.
“But even if they do find me, they’ll only have found me, right?” Liu Ru asked.
If she became Su Ziye, then who would Su Ziye be?
“Yes.” Su Ziye nodded. “You won’t be easily discovered, but you can’t remain completely unseen, either. The balance is delicate—besides my own oversight, it’s also an intriguing and subtle test for you as an actor.”
“So no one knows what you truly look like, do they?” Liu Ru gazed at Su Ziye as she spoke.
She looked at the delicate youth with dark hair and eyes standing before her.
“That’s right,” Su Ziye said with a faint smile. “Still, I do like this face. Unless something unexpected happens, I won’t change it.”
“So, anyone investigating me will find nothing at all—my entire past has been buried in Liujia Village, with not a single survivor left behind.” Liu Ru nodded. “In that case, I, like you, am a person without a past, made up entirely of enigmas.”
That was the chief reason Su Ziye had chosen Liu Ru.
As he put it, an unknown.

“Of course, there are some problems with the details. The greatest is that your abilities are just too weak. You can’t handle the operations originally meant for me—not just hypnosis, kidnapping, assassination, and so on—but you might not even make it through the Three Trials at Nightleaf Academy,” Su Ziye said with a gentle smile.
Liu Ru did not argue.
For it was an obvious truth.
“These are the things you must accomplish.” Liu Ru looked at Su Ziye.
“I like your decisiveness, and I also like this challenge.” Su Ziye smiled. “Of course, it will be very dangerous, and sometimes extremely difficult. If you slip up, you might truly die. But as I always say, you’ll gain one of the world’s most precious rewards. And that reward goes beyond simply entering Nightleaf Academy.”
“Is Nightleaf Academy really so impressive?” Liu Ru asked with curiosity.
“It certainly is.” To her surprise, Su Ziye nodded earnestly. “I’ve said it’s the greatest academy in this world, for it was founded by someone equally remarkable. Even the current headmaster is among the most terrifying beings in existence.”
“I’ve long wanted to come here, yet the timing was never right. Besides, the education I received before may not have been inferior to what Nightleaf can offer.”
“Perhaps it was even a little better.”
“So is the time right now?” Liu Ru asked.
“Still not, but now I’m like a rat cornered with nowhere left to run, and Nightleaf Academy is the safest, coziest burrow I could find.” The youth smiled, though his calm demeanor made it hard to believe he was truly desperate.
“If I fail, will you die?” Liu Ru couldn’t help but ask.
“Perhaps I will, perhaps I won’t.” Su Ziye looked at Liu Ru. “But you won’t fail, just as I never do.”
“Since coming to this world, my win rate in every game has been one thousand percent.”
“That is to say, should I attempt a hundred things, I will succeed a thousand times.”
His smile was calm, his confidence equally so.
Though his words were outrageously arrogant, his tone was gentle.
Liu Ru looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh.
“That’s your win rate.”
If Liu Ru wished to fail, there was nothing Su Ziye could do to stop her.
“You are part of my win rate, too,” Su Ziye said, smiling at her. “Every piece I choose becomes the most brilliant of heroes in the end.”
“But for now, you are just an unknown?” Liu Ru gazed at Su Ziye.
Of course, Su Ziye was not his real name, just as Liu Ru was no longer hers.

“I truly like the feeling of being unknown, and I believe the future belongs to those without a name,” Su Ziye said with a soft smile.
“Then let me see what you really look like.” Liu Ru looked at him.
She gazed at his clean, delicate face. If this was a mask, what lay beneath it?
“How do you know what I show you is the real me?” Su Ziye smiled.
“Then humor me, just this once, will you?” Liu Ru replied serenely.
Su Ziye nodded.
He reached out and gently scratched his brow.
From his forehead, specks like diamond dust began to fall.
It was as if the mask on his face was suddenly crumbling, or as if a tower of sand was slowly being stripped away.
Liu Ru watched intently as Su Ziye peeled away the mask from his face, bit by bit.
But in the next instant, Liu Ru’s expression froze.
For she saw a pair of pale blue eyes.
She saw soft, slender eyebrows the color of pale gold.
She saw skin fine and almost bloodless.
She saw Su Ziye blink gently; the person before her seemed to come alive. Yet Liu Ru bit her lip.
“Get lost,” she could not help but say.
“Why won’t you believe this is my real face?” Su Ziye’s gentle voice came from a face Liu Ru knew all too well.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a woman,” Liu Ru said to the selfsame image before her.
“But looking exactly like me—now that’s just insincere.”
Su Ziye smiled, the girl before her warm and enchanting in her smile. Liu Ru had never realized she herself could look so beautiful when she smiled.
“You said it yourself—humor you, just this once.”