Ascension: Online

"According to Hero Qin, the three of you were in the same Magic Beast hunting group as him. There was a girl with you as well, but… she does not appear to be here at the moment."

I nodded. "That part is true. But just for the record, he was the one who decided all the groups - not us. In other words, he placed himself into the same group as us."

Ling Ye looked at Qin Yao as if seeking confirmation. "Hero Qin did not mention that bit."

"I-It's true," Qin Yao replied, trying to calm down. "I organized all the groups."

I smiled. Step one of my plan had already succeeded - and that was to make Captain Ling Ye realize Qin Yao had hidden certain details from him. As much as Qin Yao wanted to, he could not deny what I said. With regards to this matter of organizing the groups, all of the other players who participated in this public event could vouch for us.

Now, it was time to move onto the next phase of my plan.

"B-But that isn't all that important, is it?" Qin Yao hurriedly added.

"No. It certainly isn't," I replied with a mysterious smirk. "So… moving on, Captain Ling Ye, please continue explaining what Hero Qin told you."

"Right. He claimed that your group discovered a cave of some sort. Is this true?"

I nodded, and Captain Ling Ye continued. "According to him, the cave had a 'door' of some kind, which was already unlocked. Then, he bravely volunteered to take the lead in the exploration of the unknown cave, and-"

"And that's where the similarities end," I interrupted. "Sorry, Captain Ling Ye, but Hero Qin here did not 'bravely volunteer' to take the lead. Jim was the one who went inside first, and the rest of us followed. As a matter of fact, Hero Qin was dead last."

"What? As a hero, it's my job to go first when going through uncharted territory," Qin Yao immediately denied. "Why are you lying to Captain Ling Ye, Igarashi?"

I laughed confidently despite the situation I was in. The reason for this was to show Ling Ye that I knew I was telling the truth. Every tiny movement I made, every little detail I enacted, was all part of my plan to win this battle of wits, intelligence, and trickery.

"We both know who's the real liar here, Hero Qin," I said boldly. "But putting that aside for now… Captain Ling Ye, continue the story, please."

Notice how I was taking control of the conversation, steering it the way I wanted it to go, despite my disadvantaged position as a suspect. My plan was going flawlessly without any hitches. There was just one final piece of the puzzle that I needed… the final nail in the coffin - the coffin for Qin Yao, that is.

Captain Ling Ye took a deep breath, and spoke quietly. "… Hero Qin claimed that once he entered the cave, the rest of you locked him inside."

And, there it was. Qin Yao's death warrant.

I chuckled. "What a joke. If that is the case, then how do you explain how we got back to the city after he did? According to him, we 'trapped' him inside, no?"

"Hero Qin said that he ferociously fought his way out of the cave, battling monsters and Magic Beasts alike…"

One lie leads to another. That is the truth of this world. It is an vicious cycle of deceit - one that will forever continue… that is, until the perpetrator is unable to lie anymore. Until the chain of lies start to have holes appear in them. Until finally, those holes become far too great to ignore.

This, was a perfect example of that path leading to eventual destruction.

"That still doesn't explain how we returned after he did, does it?" I continued, exposing Qin Yao's false story's plot holes one after another. "Even if he did fight enemies inside the cave, doing so undoubtedly takes time. If anything, that only further strengthens my argument."

"That's…" Ling Ye looked at Qin Yao, who immediately shook his head.

"H-How am I supposed to know why you guys returned after I did? Maybe you waited before returning on purpose, just for the sake of proving yourself right."

I sighed. "Qin Yao, you are digging your own grave. If we truly did that on purpose, then that would have to mean we expected to get arrested here. Otherwise, what reason would there be for us to do that?"

Qin Yao fell silent, unsure how to argue back, and I turned to Captain Ling Ye. "You see, Captain? Everything Qin Yao told you was a lie."

"That… I have trouble believing that," Ling Ye said after a short pause. "I want to see evidence. Rock, solid evidence. Everything you said, while logical, is mere conjecture."

"Mere conjecture?" I scoffed. "Do you still not understand? I've already pointed out all the contradictions in the story Qin Yao told you. And when someone's words have contradictions in them, chances are, they're not true."

"D-Don't believe his words, Captain Ling Ye! I told you just now already, didn't I? He will poison your mind," Qin Yao hurriedly said.

"…" Ling Ye fell silent, unsure of who to believe.

I sighed. "However… if it is rock solid evidence you need, I can provide that as well.

It seemed it was time to bring out my final trump card to secure my victory in this psychological battle.

*****

A short while later, we found ourselves staring at the 'cave' from Qin Yao's story. Of course, this was, in reality, the Vault of Corruption - but apart from Ichigo, Jim, and I, no one else present knew that… Qin Yao included. And that fact was exactly what would expose 'Hero Qin' once and for all.

I turned to Ling Ye. "Here we are."

"Hero Qin… is this the cave you claim they trapped you in?"

Qin Yao nodded slowly. "Yeah."

Ling Ye then turned back to me. "You said we would find evidence here. Where is it?"

I smiled. "It's simple, really. If Qin Yao really got trapped inside this cave… then he should know what the interior of it is like, right?"

Qin Yao's eyes widened in surprise as he knew his end was near.

Meanwhile, Ling Ye seemed to be calm. "I see. In other words… if Hero Qin's description does not match the reality, then it will become clear that he was lying."

"I wasn't lying!" Qin Yao cried in a last-ditch attempt to prove his innocence. "I don't see why I have to do this, when these guys were clearly the ones who wronged me! Why can't you just arrest them already?!"

By this time, his calm, hero facade has completely worn out. I've already seen his true self many times already, but every time his real form is exposed, I find it amusing. It'll never get old, no matter how much I watch it.

"Hero Qin. I want to trust you… I really do. I do not believe that you would lie to me, but just to be certain… some solid evidence is necessary. I place my full faith in you, Hero Qin. Go on, tell us what the inside of the cave is like, and we will see it for ourselves."

Qin Yao fell silent, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists as he glared at me with burning hatred in his eyes.

I wasn't fazed in the least, however, and instead, taunted him even further. "If you were really telling the truth, then you shouldn't be so hesitant to prove it, isn't that right?"

"Hero Qin. Please."

Qin Yao, after some debate, looked down at the ground, and began muttering quietly. "The inside of the cave… is a… jungle, of sorts. It is filled with dangerous Magic Beasts and Monsters, which I had to batt-"

"PFFT!" Ichigo, who had been listening quietly all this time, immediately burst out in laughter. "Hah! Jungle?! Not even remotely close!"

Qin Yao's body began shaking. He had taken one final, desperate guess, and failed it.

"… Let us see what is inside," Captain Ling Ye muttered quietly, even though he already knew Qin Yao had been lying to him all this time. In fact, he probably already knew from the moment I pointed out all the mistakes in Qin Yao's reasoning and logic. However, he just didn't want to believe it, which was why we had to come all the way here to show him some solid evidence.

I stopped him. "Hold on. Before we do that… just to add some fuel to the fire… the interior of the cave should be a high-tech, futuristic design, and on top of that… the first stage is a flattened hexagonal tunnel lit up by white lights on the left and white walls."

Ling Ye blinked in surprise. "Are you trying to convince me that you guys were the ones who fought your way out of this place?"

I smiled. "Take it as you will."

Ling Ye decided not to respond to my cryptic final message, and instead headed on in. The rest of us followed… with the exception of Qin Yao.

"Hey, soldiers," I hollered. "Keep an eye on your beloved hero, yeah?"

The two guards closest to Qin Yao exchanged glances, and nodded to me firmly.

Qin Yao glared at me with venom, to which I smirked smugly in reply.

We headed deeper into the cave and soon found ourselves standing directly in front of the closed metal door. The pad in the middle was still green, signaling that it was unlocked.

"… How do you open this?" Ling Ye asked, tone quiet.

"Just place your hand on it," I explained.

"…" Ling Ye did as told, placing his hand on the pad. But it flashed red for a brief moment, and the doors did not slide open.

"I think… a player's gotta do it," Jim said, before stepping forward and placing his own hand on the pad.

Once again, the pad flashed red, and the doors did not open.

"I see. It has to be a player who hasn't completed the Vault before…" I muttered. "Captain Ling Ye, Qin Yao needs to be the one to open this, since he is the only one who has not beaten it before."

"In that case… why can I not do it?" he inquired in confusion.

"It's… complicated," I said, brushing his question off. At this point, he wasn't keen to ask any further anyway. His emotional state was pretty unstable right now, given how the savior he had worshipped turned out to have lied to him all along. This worked to my advantage - Ling Ye was now completely in my control, and would accept whatever I told him.

This was the power of psychology. Not all battles are fought and won using fists and cold steel.

Ichigo whistled. "The NPCs in this game sure have some advanced artificial intelligence capabilities."

"I do not really understand, but… alright," Ling Ye replied, before turning around and hollering towards the outside of the cave. "Bring Hero Qin in here!"

The two guards I had spoken to just now soon appeared, practically dragging Qin Yao inside.

"T-Tch…" he muttered as he was placed before us.

"Hero Qin… please place your hand on that pad."

Unable to refuse, he did as told. The pad flashed green, and the doors slid open, revealing the chamber within. It looked the same as how it had been when we first entered this place - exactly how I had described it right in front of Ling Ye's face just now.

"A futuristic, high-tech tunnel, huh?" Ling Ye whispered to himself. He knew now. He had to accept the reality, after seeing this.

Qin Yao's answer of 'jungle' couldn't be further away from the truth he was looking at right now, after all.

"So, Captain. Do you see now? Who's the liar, and who're the true heroes of Tianyin?" I asked.

"… Yes. Yes, I do," he replied, before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "Guards."

"Yes, Captain?" the two guards answered simultaneously.

"Take Hero Qi- no, Qin Yao, away. Send him into exile, never to return to the city of Tianyin again."

Hearing this, all of us widened our eyes in surprise, Qin Yao himself included.

"H-Hold on, only exile?!" Ichigo exclaimed. "He nearly got us killed, trapping us in here, you know!"

"That… may be so, but he still saved Tianyin by exposing the sabertooths' weakness during the midnight invasion of the Magic Beasts last nigh-"

"Ah, actually… I was the one who did that," I interrupted Ling Ye's words.

"… Come again?"

"Yeah. I'm the one who slew the first sabertooth that night," I explained. "Qin Yao had just been beside me when I did so, and ended up shouting out the method to kill them."

"Basically, he stole all the credit from my boy here," Ichigo added.

Hearing this, Ling Ye clenched his fists. "So… I, Ling Ye, have been serving a false hero all this time?"

"Bloody right," Jim chuckled. "But ay, if you give 'im a suitable bloody punishment now… it's not too late, y'know?"

"Oh, I will. To deceive me and all of Tianyin…" he turned to Qin Yao's hopeless figure, kneeling on the cave's cold floor. "… You deserve to die."

Well, he was a player. Even if Ling Ye executed him, he would still respawn. That said… the pain he would experience was no laughing matter.

"Before that…" Ichigo suddenly interjected, and we all turned to look at him in puzzlement. He grinned mischievously and cracked his knuckles as Qin Yao's eyes widened in fear.

"… Can we all take turns beating the shit out of him?"