Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors

After this trial, Luo Ying's understanding of his identity deepened.

"Pifoo," the name, obviously originated from the phrase "When the country thrives or falls, every man is responsible."

Li Gaoling shouted in the battle, "The nation is at peril, and as a common man taking risks, it should start with Gaoling!"

This represents the idea that "When the country thrives or falls, every man is responsible."

The An and Shi Rebellion has always been regarded as the turning point from prosperity to decline for the Liang Dynasty, and the entire fall of Huaxia.

And it was because of the key victory by the government forces in the battle at Xiangji Temple that the sweeping national chaos did not completely end the Liang Dynasty or let the entire land of Huaxia quickly fall into turmoil.

The battle at Xiangji Temple was successful, and the role of the Mo Blade Team and Li Gaoling's personal bravery was extremely important.

That is to say, Li Gaoling actually saved the battle at Xiangji Temple personally and truly impacted the fate of the nation.

Of course, Li Gaoling might not fit the typical definition of a "common man."

After all, he was too strong, a veritable Gundam, incomparable to ordinary people.

But General Qin Kaiyun wasn't an ordinary cavalryman either.

Therefore, whether it was Qin Kaiyun or Li Gaoling, they were both on the top of this type of affiliated identity.

This identity doesn't emphasize turning everyone into Qin Kaiyun or Li Gaoling, but to use them as models to inherit this spirit and promote these tactics.

"Alright, you can safely go clear Emperor Taizong of Liang's instance now!"

After gaining this talent, Luo Ying felt a tremendous leap in his combat abilities.

This time in fighting Emperor Taizong's instance, he might have a completely different performance.

The combat style of Emperor Taizong of Liang was heavy armor mounted archery, and during his conquest of the land, cavalry played a crucial role.

What if, after Luo Ying goes in, he bares his upper body in every fight and chops the enemy cavalry into disarray?

Just picturing that scene feels absurd!

...

...

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

After a tense and thrilling competition, a list of ten people was finalized.

Many players looked at the list from back to front, with the rear names drawing more attention than those at the front.

This time, Meng Yuan had an explosive performance, achieving ninth place!

The players commented that Meng Yuan indeed had talent; though he could only achieve mediocre ranks in challenges that were not his forte, seemingly blending in with the crowd, whenever he faced challenges within his strengths, he could catch up again.

The first place was Zhao Haiping, whose combat style and command abilities matched Emperor Taizong of Liang most closely and ranked high among the players.

And behind him were known faces like Chu Ge, Li Hongyun, Yun Ying, and Xia Ruoling.

Among the few new faces, Luo Ying's name also appeared prominently.

In the real Return Order Space, after exchanging pleasantries, the players formally began to plan their strategy for this ultimate trial.

Chu Ge, as usual, assigned roles to the players.

But a pause was noticed by everyone including Chu Ge upon seeing the list of available roles.

Because there was no Lord Qin in this list!

It wasn't that he couldn't be played, he simply wasn't there!

In previous instances, although special heroic spirits like Emperor Taizu of Sheng and General Deng were not played, it was because the players chose not to play them, not because they couldn't.

The players felt that these heroic spirits should retain their true historical personas, and they should play supportive roles instead.

But this time, Lord Qin was simply not on the list.

That means, in this ultimate trial, there was no Lord Qin!

This took many players by surprise.

"No Lord Qin?"

"How can we fight this then?"

"…I thought just following Lord Qin and shouting 'nice!' would do, what do we do now?"

"We're losing not just a top-tier ADC but also a walking morale boost, with built-in max taunt and dodge—an ultimate commander!"

"Hey, hey, is this the GM? There's a bug in the game! Where's Lord Qin?"

The players were greatly disappointed, and their dreams of a public-funded star chase were shattered!

Chu Ge was the first to recover and began to reassure everyone.

"Alright, everyone, calm down, maybe this is just the challenge they set for us.

"Everyone knows that in those chaotic times, practically all of Liang Dynasty's stability depended on Lord Qin alone, and as long as Lord Qin was there, no opponent was too strong.

"Clearly, the demons understand this too, so they've used some tricks to hide Lord Qin's presence.

"Having ten of us here now essentially means using ten people to fill the role of Lord Qin!"

After this analysis, everyone gradually calmed down and accepted the situation.

Ten people to replace Lord Qin?

Well, it still poses a challenge, but it's not entirely impossible.

"Alright, let's assign the roles then!"

Everyone looked at the list of selectable characters, which was extensive.

But they were mostly from the Liang Dynasty's forces, figures like Dou Jiande, Wang Shichong, Xue Ju, and Liu Wuzhou were basically not available.

This made sense, if these characters were selectable, then ten players would just take one each, and the world would be pacified in no time, leaving no room for any battles.

But how to distribute the roles among Liang Dynasty's forces was not easy to decide.

Chu Ge silently took out the first identity card.

Emperor Gaozu of Liang.

Meanwhile, the other players turned their gazes towards Meng Yuan.

Meng Yuan was momentarily speechless, "Ah? Me again…"

Chu Ge, with a smile, said, "You're the most suitable."

Clearly, Emperor Gaozu of Liang was a figure that could not be overlooked.

He had always stayed in Chang'an, but ignoring him was not an option.

Describing Emperor Gaozu of Liang as "more trouble than help" wasn't really unfair. He distrusted anyone outside the royal family, particularly liked executing those who surrendered, and often hit his own subordinates.

With Li Jing's capabilities, he was more than capable of stabilizing the times too, but Emperor Gaozu repeatedly tried to kill him, and had Lord Qin not protected him, Li Jing would have died early.

And like the battle at Hulaoguan Pass, one major reason Lord Qin went to face Dou Jiande's large army with just 3,500 cavalry was that he was Emperor Gaozu's son.

If it had been someone else, Emperor Gaozu would have lost his temper much earlier.

If Emperor Gaozu could not control himself, he might hinder the players when they are making their moves.

But playing Emperor Gaozu could only help stabilize the rear, essentially offering no chance to fight on the front, so other players looked down on this role.

Meng Yuan, somewhat resignedly, said, "OKOK, leave it to me…"