CHAPTER 1028: CHAPTER 1025: BEHIND THE SCENES

"Bringing you the latest news, the Human Self-Rescue Alliance has issued a statement that at 4 PM today, the councilman will deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the Points Trade Planning Office in the Main God World, looking forward to the human Points progress bar, and calling on people to focus on stability and reduce clearance risks..."

"The World Independence Association has combined the bionic technology of The World of Old Days to develop a preliminary wisdom body, hoping to increase the number of players. However, whether this wisdom body belongs to the human species remains an unknown question..."

"At precisely 3 AM today, several taverns had incidents where people were injured. The cause was disputes arising from discussions about the Number One Player’s clearance experiences. The United Group issued a statement urging people to calm their spirits and patiently wait for the adventurer players to clear..."

"In this time of crisis, we should remain calm. A spokesman from the Free News Agency stated that they will go to the United Group to present opinions on the history of The World of Old Days."

"The Medical Aid Foundation, Children’s Foundation, and Spirit Aid Foundation have been officially established. For details, please see the top post on the official United Group account..."

"Player Luna stated that if we condemn those still pursuing the light because they can’t see through a moment of darkness, then we are no different than those indifferent spectators who condemn the sheep to death."

"Whether the Number One Player and the leading players who persist will succeed, and whether the ending of The World of Old Days can be changed, we still do not know..."

"Sister Tasriel stands quietly in the church day and night, hoping that faith can give them blessings..."

The news voice came from the radio, and Eni looked at the live broadcast screen hanging.

On the screen, the scene of no hope for survival, even in the third person, was despairing, and the attitude of the bullet screen was already quite pessimistic because they knew the Number One Player could not see it anyway.

Eni withdrew his gaze and sighed.

"The thirty-first day, previous instances never lasted this long."

He opened the World Forum, and the posts were all about the Tenth World topic.

...

[(Hot) How long will the Tenth World last? If frontline adventurer players can’t clear it, aren’t we stuck in this progress?]

[(Hot) Discussion on the Bailian Favorability System - Dimensions and World Lines.]

[(Hot) Iris, the representative of the United Group, gave a speech that the days of the Tenth World are inevitably limited. We must believe in the adventurer players.]

[(Hot) Hubert’s explanation of the "rollback" mechanism, containing detailed descriptions of various rollbacks. The real-world systems corresponding to the Immortal’s Talisman, Sword of Destiny, and Eye of the Old Days might help us explore the mysteries of becoming a god.]

[(Hot) How should the Number One Player break the deadlock? Why was his initial identity "Su Ming’an"? Why did his instance start with his face and voice?]

[(Hot) An entire month has been spent on the Tenth World, is the progress of the human Points progress bar really enough? Was our previous attitude too optimistic!?]

[(Hot) Zhuang Zhou dreams of a butterfly, the butterfly dreams of Zhuang Zhou—everyone, have we really woken up?]

...

The shopkeeper brought coffee, curiously glancing at the fog on the three people’s faces, then quickly hummed a little tune and left. It seemed that her mood as a casual player was still quite good, perhaps because she knew there was no use in worrying.

The atmosphere in the Main God World was already quite pessimistic because people could hardly see hope for victory in the Tenth World.

Eni took a sip of coffee and started speaking:

"Today is March 15. Initially, 420 million adventurer players entered the Tenth World, motivated by the Ninth World Acto incident. But so far, only around 300 million players have finished the instance, and the rest are still in the world reset, even thinking they are still at the start of the instance."

"It’s not just... Su Ming’an. Including... Mei Yani, Flora, Anger, Violet, no matter how many times, they would never obey the Deity." Bei Wang’s gaze drooped on the live broadcast screen, in which the fire was still burning: "So, they also... haven’t come out."

On screen, a black-haired young man in the fire was leaning against the broken Prophecy Stone Wall. The figure of the Deity was like a pure white ghost.

That white shadow instilled fear in those present and even left a shadow in the hearts of the viewers outside the screen—this Deity, who initiated the reset again and again, letting them watch the instance stream for five or six days, repeatedly return to the beginning like watching a despairing film that replays over and over.

Eni pressed his palm against the coffee cup, not feeling any warmth at all, only coldness in his heart.

Eni was among the first players to finish the instance; he came out as soon as the twenty-day mark hit. The players who came out with him were called the "first batch of Tenth World clearance players" on the forum, and according to incomplete statistics, their number was around 250 million. This indicated that most players stayed safe for twenty days without experiencing any resets.

Bei Wang took a little longer; he came out on the twenty-seventh day because he had tried to defy the Deity on the seventh day and was reset once. In the second cycle of the world, he realized that all his routes of rebellion had been blocked by the Deity, so he did not choose to defy the Deity again and spent twenty days there.

The Deity’s methods became increasingly formidable, and when the situation in the first cycle of the world exceeded its control, it would immediately remedy the deficiencies of the first cycle in the second cycle, making it unlikely for most players to have a third reset opportunity.

So, people generally cleared the instance within thirty days, and undoubtedly, it was the Deity who ultimately won. But even so, those who earned a perfect pass indeed received it, even if it seemed like a victory out of the Deity’s mercy.

"Eni. I’d like to hear about your clearance experience," Bei Wang lifted the coffee cup.

Eni’s face was expressionless: "My experience..."

He didn’t think it was an experience worth talking about; in fact, speaking of it was quite embarrassing.

But he knew Bei Wang, who was not much interested in humanity; Bei Wang wanted to know just to gather more information.

"Alright..." Eni exhaled and recounted his embarrassing experience:

"At the start of the instance, I was the Vice Alliance Hierarch of the Human Self-Rescue Alliance. But everything made me feel despair—for example, the councilman Yvette who obediently followed the Deity’s orders to die, and the unresistable Oracle of ’wiping out history’ and the Ark Project pulling countless interest lines."

"Hell’s beginning, I can unhesitatingly describe it this way—the fervent pursuit of positive emotions, people’s pathological smiles, the degree of social stagnation and rigidity, already numb to an extent. After thinking for a long time, I decided not to resist the Deity."

"Actually, I tried to resist, uncovering many experimental subjects of the Deity in the world, myths of Old God and Angel, and even the complexity of the Prophecy Stone Wall. But it was too difficult... the pressure from the Deity was too overwhelming. Just getting near the tower, the Holy Alliance Army immediately appeared, I didn’t accomplish much in the dream tour games, and couldn’t persuade people to rebel with me, so..."

"Under the Deity’s gaze, I agreed to stay by its side until the end. During this time, I did not open the tower; what I did was merely finish five dream tour games with all my effort, which was not easy."

"By the time the twenty days had passed, I left the instance, and the perfect pass progress inexplicably reached 100%. The world seemed calm, but... the numbness of people seemed ingrained in their bones. I don’t know what the future of the world will become, but it shouldn’t be too good."

Eni took another sip of coffee, his expression somewhat angry. He was quite dissatisfied with this outcome.

"It will be destroyed," Bei Wang said succinctly.

"What?" Eni widened his eyes.

"It will be destroyed. If no one eventually becomes a god," Bei Wang lifted his coffee cup again, only to get burned once more.

"It really will be destroyed if nobody becomes a god..." Eni muttered to himself, "I always thought it was just the Deity scaring us. Does he really intend to destroy the world? Why?"

At this moment, a sharp voice came from the other side of the café.

"—God has invited Su Ming’an again, why did he refuse again!"

It was a group of adventurer players who had finished their instance and gathered here to have coffee.

Now on the streets and in various exhibitions, the figures of adventurer players are everywhere. It’s as if they’ve taken a long vacation.

A young man with yellow hair raised his head, pointing at the screen, "He should just agree to God’s invitation already! He knows he will be reset, so why continue, isn’t it just a waste of time? A waste of everyone’s time, a waste of all humanity’s time!"

He pointed at the screen showing Su Ming’an, whose body was covered in burns, and his face was full of reprimand and incomprehension.

"God has even promised him a Perfect Pass. He’s the Number One Player, he has so many points, such heavy responsibility, if he fails, who’s going to pay? Look at those—Eni, Bei Wang, Luna, Iris, didn’t they all succeed in getting out!"

The girl next to him with a butterfly hairpin said, "Save it, sit down, come on, sit down, people are listening..."

She quickly pulled the yellow-haired young man to sit down. Now the title of Number One Player is not like before. If you curse the Number One Player on the street, you’d definitely get beaten.

There are many people who understand Su Ming’an’s refusal to give up on the forums, and many who do not. Some believe it is essential to unearth the world’s deepest secrets, or humanity’s final wish will replay as a tragedy due to missing information, ending up like the Ruined World. Others feel the Number One Player should just honestly achieve a Perfect Pass, never mind the other nonsense, if the critical information is lost, so be it. At worst, everyone dies together in the end, and they alone bear the consequences.

Eni and Bei Wang are now confused, having not encountered the core of the Tenth World.

"—If I could enter the instance, I would definitely have him stop. He’s failed so many times, hasn’t he learned? It shows the Tenth World cannot be fully cleared..." The yellow-haired young man muttered as he sat down.

"Yes. I think reaching the Prophecy Stone Wall is already a feat, wiping out 99% of adventurer players, and that’s enough. What if he really dies? Start the Eleventh World sooner, why get hung up on one tree." The young man beside him said.

"Alright, alright, stop talking..." The girl hurriedly covered her mouth.

"...So."

Su Rin drew back his gaze and said calmly:

"What did you call me here for?"

He had no interest in the story of the Tenth World, nor in humanity’s diversity.

Eni said, "Could you enter the instance and remind Su Ming’an?"

Su Rin stared at him:

"Remind him to continue, or remind him to give up?"

The sound of chairs moved as the table of adventurer players finished their coffee and discussed where to go for exhibitions and vacation.

They didn’t care about what the person on the screen was enduring, perhaps because of confidence, or perhaps out of discouragement. Only the girl cast a worried glance at the youth on the screen.

At this time, the heroine had already reached out towards the young man, and the timelines of the two protagonists finally converged.

—Even if it was in the face of the world’s disapproval.

According to posts on the world forum—only one-third of people believe Su Ming’an can ultimately defeat God. In their viewpoint—they also cannot see what Chao Yan has done, as the live stream always stays fixed on Su Ming’an.

These thirty-one days, they have been in despair for too long. Initially, some still thought Su Ming’an could win, but after the fifth loop, repeated failures gradually eroded their confidence.

Even the spectators outside have given up, yet the most pained participant keeps persisting—why?

"Ding-ling—"

The bell on the glass door jingled once.

Eni declared resolutely, "Of course, remind him to continue. His reset count has reached ten times, while others are mostly under six times, indicating that the pressure he puts on God is the strongest, forcing Him to continually reset the world to salvage the situation."

Su Rin said calmly, "I am not the system of the World Game, unable to enter the instance again."

"True, you and he are not..." Eni lowered his head.

"Leaving."

Su Rin lifted his foot to leave. If not for sheer boredom, he wouldn’t have accepted Eni’s invitation, expecting there would be some constructive advice.

"...Su Rin." Bei Wang called out once.

Su Rin paused but did not look back.

"...Do you think, are we still awake?" Bei Wang asked.

Su Rin tilted his head, the sunlight left a sharp mark on his face, slicing through his golden pupils. His gaze stayed unfocused on Bei Wang’s face, as if not fully collected.

"—Otherwise, do not be affected by the sequelae."

He pushed open the door, the bell jingling again.

"Ding-ling—ding-ling."

Bei Wang sat at his seat, looked once more at the shallow eighth perfect pass pattern mark on the back of his hand.

"The World of ’Old Days’..."

...

Su Ming’an opened his eyes.

The sea breeze blew against his soaked clothes, but his mood was tranquil.

"...How many times now?" Su Wensheng’s voice would always come through.

"The first time."

"Really? The first time?" Su Wensheng stroked his chin: "I will indeed retain your memories after regression, but these memories won’t be clear, only... huh? What are you doing?"