Chapter 3: Gui’s Kindness – translated by Nausicaä
I didn’t know how long I had been kneeling in that sa spot, with nothing but a feeling of absolute emptiness in my heart. I should have known. What sort of ultimate technique could Wicked possibly have to defend with, alone, when facing Scorching Fla of the Four Heavenly Kings? There had to have been so trick for him to have made such a decision!
It was simply too late when I finally realized this. Wicked had already disappeared from Second Life, along with Scorching Fla. The only thing I could do now was to take revenge for him by killing the real instigator behind all of this: the Dictator of Life!
I wiped away my tears and stood up. What I had to do right now was to go to Mount HuaLian and et up with the others. But... I looked to my left and right, and then back again. Why does this forest look all the sa to ? Which way am I supposed to go? This... even more than Wicked’s self-destruction, this was the one thing that made feel weak in the legs... I really hope that I can get to Mount HuaLian by myself!
I had no choice but to consult with Lolidragon first. I opened the PM channel and asked, “Lolidragon?”
“What? What’s wrong? Don’t tell you guys have already reached Flower City, you can’t be that fast?” Lolidragon asked dubiously.
I was just about to open my mouth and explain my present predicant, when I was suddenly struck by a thought. Besides Lolidragon, there is virtually no one else who could have set up that ploy with Wicked and the ND self-destruct program. Then, doesn’t that an everyone has the ND self-destruct program installed inside them?
The reason they did it was to help eradicate all the enemies that blocked our way to the Dictator of Life! Furthermore, they didn’t tell precisely because they knew that I would definitely be opposed to it.
If I reached the Dictator of Life together with them, wouldn’t that an I would have to look on helplessly as the others lay down their lives to blow themselves up along with the enemy? By the ti I reached this realization, my face had already turned very pale. I definitely do not want to see anyone else turn into snowflakes.
“Prince? Did sothing happen?” Lolidragon kept calling my na, as though she had discovered that sothing was amiss.
However, I didn’t reply, and simply closed the PM channel without a word. I looked at the surrounding forest and murmured to myself, saying, “If I climb to the top of a tree, I should be able to see where Flower City is, right?”
As I predicted, once I had busily scampered up to the treetop like a monkey, I spotted a very large city with a spire in the middle, on the very top of which was even a sculpture of an extrely large rose... Sure enough, it was Flower City!
After making certain that I would be going in the right direction, I slid down the tree trunk, and I began to advance toward Flower City one step at a ti. Although it is a bit lonely traveling by myself, it is still better than watching the others blow themselves up.
“Haven’t you forgotten sothing very important?” a voice couldn’t resist reminding .
“What important thing?” Was there such a thing? I cocked my head and thought hard.
“If the Dictator of Life really were at Mount HuaLian and not Flower City, wouldn’t that an your companions are headed directly for certain death?”
“Oh yeah!” I had almost forgotten, Ocean’s Heart had said that the Dictator of Life was at Mount HuaLian... Wait a second, who’s talking to ?
I turned my head... and behind stood Xin Feng, who was even making a “victory” sign with both hands!
“I can’t believe it—Wicked’s death must have co as such a great shock to that I’m actually hallucinating and just imagined that I saw Xin Feng.” Amazed, I shook my head, and looked back again. Yet, the victory sign-posing Xin Feng was still standing there.
“What? Wicked’s already gone back to the Central Continent?” shouted out a gloating Xin Feng. “Yer daddy was right. Without yer daddy, you, sonny, would definitely go down in utter defeat.”
I pointed a shaking finger at Xin Feng. “H-how co you’re here?”
“What’s that supposed to an? Yer daddy also wants to kill the Dictator of Life.” Xin Feng complained resentfully, “Who knew that all of you guys would move so fast? By the ti yer daddy hurried back to Infinite City, there wasn’t a single person left.”
Hurried back to Infinite City? Xin Feng can’t possibly an that after being blown sky-high by AnRui, he had only just hurried back to Infinite City, right?Are you serious? I thought with disbelief. Just how far did you fly off to?
“Haha, just as yer daddy was hoppin’ up and down in rage by the sea, that damn clam ca back,” Xin Feng said with a smug expression on his face. “Of course yer daddy ordered him to take yer daddy to the Northern Continent. You were kiddin’ yerself if you thought that yer daddy would let you youngsters do sothin’ as grand as killin’ the final boss, then take all the glory for yerselves!”
“...” I was left at a loss for words.
“But yer daddy hadn’t even co ashore when yer daddy saw a horde of monsters, forcin’ yer daddy to sneak up through the forest.” Xin Feng heaved a sigh while shaking his head. “Yer daddy ended up not knowin’ where the heck he was. If yer daddy hadn’t heard the gang makin’ a riot over the team channel, yer daddy would’ve thought that you were all long dead!”
I had stopped paying attention to Xin Feng’s babbling nonsense and was in the middle of pondering where I should go next. To Flower City? Or Mount HuaLian?
I didn’t know if Xin Feng had detected my unpleasant mood, as he actually shut up and stopped with the “yer daddy this, sonny that.” But he imdiately spoke again, “Sonny, it seems like the gang is plannin’ to co lookin’ fer you!”
“Looking for ?” I asked, greatly startled.
“Yeah. You closed the team channel, so they’re worried out of their wits and saying they’re going to co find you,” Xin Feng answered, looking as though he was listening intently to sothing.
I also imdiately opened the team channel to find out what was going on.
“Sothing must have happened to Wicked. Otherwise he wouldn’t have stopped responding to us,” Lolidragon said worriedly.
“Don’t worry, Ming Huang has already gone offline to ask,” Wolf-dàgē responded calmly.
After a long while, Ming Huang’s voice could be heard. He sounded very heartbroken, and while suppressing his emotions with great difficulty, he said, “My brother’s character disappeared. He used the ND self-destruct program on himself against Scorching Fla of the Four Heavenly Kings and turned them both into ashes.”
Everyone fell silent. Finally, Lolidragon spoke up, “Since Wicked has disappeared, that guy Prince doesn’t have anyone taking care of him! And now he absolutely refuses to answer, so who knows what he’s thinking? We’d better go and find him first!”
Upon hearing this, I closed the team channel again. Since now I knew that they were coming to Flower City to find , I no longer had to worry about them eting the Dictator of Life at Mount HuaLian. Alright then, I’ll set off to find the Dictator first, and hopefully I’ll be able to take care of him before everyone arrives at Flower City.
“Alright, to Flower City!” I decided.
“Alrighty, yer daddy will go with you to kill the final boss!” Xin Feng shouted excitedly, a glint of anticipation in his eyes.
I hesitated a bit. “You... don’t have the ND self-destruct program installed on you, do you?”
“Huh? Indie cell-distract probe fan? ” Xin Feng repeated with a baffled expression on his face. “What’s that? How co yer daddy’s never heard of it before?”
“...Pretend I never asked.” Three dark lines descended down my face. I should’ve known that Xin Feng hasn’t ever grasped the present situation.
“Let’s go.” I imdiately started walking toward Flower City.
“Prin—Sonny! You’re walking in the wrong direction,” Xin Feng yelled hurriedly.
Eh? Is that so? I scratched my face as I was dragged along by Xin Feng. Weird, why does it seem like Xin Feng is acting a bit pushier than usual today?
“Xin Feng, after AnRui brought you here, did he leave again?” I asked absentmindedly. Darn that clam... would it have killed him to stay and help out?
“Uh-huh, yeah.”
“Since AnRui hates getting involved so much, I wonder who was actually able to make him co and act as our transport.” No matter how much I racked my brains, I still couldn’t figure out just who would be able to force that clam off its bum.
“It could be the Dictator of Life himself,” Xin Feng said solemnly. “Even though I don’t know the reason, it’s clear that the Dictator of Life is helping us reach the Northern Continent. Yet on the other hand, he’s also trying to prevent us from advancing. I really don’t understand what his true intention is.”
“Is it really the Dictator of Life?” I really didn’t understand the ntality of a final boss. He wants us to co, but at the sa ti he is desperately trying to stop us. What’s he playing at?
“I think it should have been him,” replied Xin Feng, his brow also furrowed in thought.
I suddenly felt very strange, as if sothing were out of place... Just what could it be? I stared at Xin Feng’s furrowed brow, feeling rather strange... Oh yeah! I shouted in surprise, “Xin Feng, you—”
Xin Feng’s body suddenly stiffened. “What’s wrong with yer daddy?”
I bore down rcilessly upon him. “You’re just as directionally challenged as I am! Acting all like you know where you’re going... If you’re really able to lead to Flower City, then I bet I can swim back to the Central Continent on my own.”
“Th—this is...” stamred a wide-eyed Xin Feng, looking as though he was at a loss for words.
“Luckily, I’ll be able to see if I climb a tree.” Imdiately I nimbly climbed up to the top of the tree. Xin Feng, the bastard, was even more directionally challenged than I was after all! We had been walking in precisely the direction leading away from Flower City.
Once again I slid down the tree trunk, and waved to Xin Feng. “It’s this way.”
Xin Feng remained rooted to the spot, staring stupidly at .
Seeing him like that, I curled my lip irritably. “What? You don’t want to co with ? Then you can go find the others by yourself.”
“I’ll co with you, no matter where you want to go,” Xin Feng said with a smile, and followed .
Sothing still feels weird. Isn’t Xin Feng acting... rather differently than usual? I thought hard. How is Xin Feng different from before? He seems to be... gentler? I shook my head violently. It is inconceivable that the word “gentle” can actually be used in conjunction with Xin Feng. I am definitely imagining things!
When the city walls of Flower City were already within sight, I found myself faced with a predicant. How should I sneak into Flower City?Considering that there were probably so hundreds of thousands of NPCs crawling all over the place, I really didn’t feel that with just Xin Feng’s help I could simply disregard the mobs of enemies and charge our way through to the Dictator of Life.
“If the Dictator of Life really were in Flower City, then he would definitely be in the Central Tower,” Xin Feng shrewdly analyzed. “That is where the defense would be the strongest.”
“The Central Tower!” Inwardly, I sized up our present situation. How could I possibly get to the Central Tower? Unless you were an NPC, any player that entered Flower City would definitely be slaughtered... Right, an NPC! I hurriedly asked, “Is there any way the two of us can disguise ourselves as NPCs?”
“Um, generally speaking, it’s not possible,” Xin Feng said with so hesitation.
“Then, that ans there is a way?” From the way he spoke, it sounded like Xin Feng had so sort of idea.
In a rather defeated tone, Xin Feng replied, “Yes, a while ago Lolidragon happened to develop a device that can be used to change one’s appearance.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and take it out,” I demanded rather unhappily. If Xin Feng had taken out this device earlier, I wouldn’t have had to stand here racking my brains for a way to get into Flower City.
Xin Feng pulled out of his bag a strangely shaped... plastic wrap!
Plastic wrap, as the na implies, is a clear plastic film used to preserve things. When bought, it often cos in a cylindrical shape, and upon opening it, one can pull out a very long sheet of clear, plastic film that can be used to wrap up food, which can then be placed in the refrigerator, preserved, and thus keep any foul slls from spreading. Moreover, it can be used to steam nice tasty eggs. In short, for a housewife and her cooking needs, it is an indispensable treasure... But, I seed to rember that what I wanted was a disguising device.What is Xin Feng giving this plastic wrap for?!
With flas practically shooting out of my mouth, I reached out with both hands and closed them around Xin Feng’s throat. Here we were, facing an extrely serious situation, yet this guy still had the nerve to play around with !
“Wrap this around your body, and then say the na of the person whose appearance you want to take!” Xin Feng frantically yelled, as he could do little else in the face of my wrath.
“Oh.” I imdiately withdrew my hands from Xin Feng’s neck, took the plastic wrap, and hastily began to “preserve” myself... I felt like a mummy being wrapped in transparent bandages.
I finally understood what it felt like to be a fish wrapped in plastic wrap. My entire body, including my eyes, was wrapped in the plastic wrap. Besides standing, I couldn’t do anything at all... although I could probably still jump straight up.
“Prince, just say the na of the person whose appearance you want to take,” Xin Feng reminded .
“...Scorching Fla.” I considered for a mont. If I want to get close to the Dictator of Life, it would definitely be best to turn into one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Furthermore, Scorching Fla has already disappeared along with Wicked, so I won’t have to worry about running into him.
The na had barely left my mouth when the film on my body suddenly began to tighten... Alright, I admit that Scorching Fla was a lot slimr than , but there wasn’t any need for it to be this tight. Moreover, my body felt so hot, it was as if I were being roasted over a fire. I couldn’t keep myself from moaning in pain. My god, not only am I being tightly wrapped in plastic film, now it feels as though I’m stuck inside a microwave.
Can it be that Xin Feng is an NPC in disguise, and is planning to devour after putting in the microwave? Wild thoughts swirled uncontrollably through my mind right before I passed out from the heat.
Ow, where am I? I can’t be inside the fake Xin Feng’s stomach, can I? I shook my head vigorously, trying to get rid of the feeling of dizziness.
“Sorry, I forgot to tell you that the transformation process isn’t very pleasant,” said Xin Feng... No, this wasn’t Xin Feng’s voice. I whipped my head up to look, only to see soone that I shouldn’t be seeing here.
Celestial!
I stared blankly at him. The Execution Squad can’t have found this quickly...right?
Celestial smiled. “I’m not actually Celestial. You turned into Scorching Fla, so of course I will need to turn into another NPC as well. We can just say that Scorching Fla has caught the traitor Celestial, and is bringing him back to report to the Dictator of Life.”
“That’s a good idea.” I got up, and happened to notice that my own hand had turned into so red, semi-transparent foreign-looking entity. I looked down at the rest of my body, which was half translucent. It made feel like a... ghost.
“Let’s go!” I gathered my courage and, dragging the “traitor” Celestial who had been captured by “Scorching Fla,” I headed toward the main gates of Flower City.
I walked straight into the city. As expected, the number of NPCs inside was as innurable as the players within Infinite City. Moreover, they were crawling all over the place. If I had brazenly charged in, I probably would have had to prepare to go back to the Central Continent after breaching just a ter past the city gates.
But right now I was Scorching Fla... Hehe, as expected, not a single NPC stood in my way. Dragging “Celestial” along like so, I steadily approached the Central Tower, drawing ever closer to my target: the Dictator of Life.
“Stop right there!” A cold voice suddenly rang out. What was even more frightening was that I seed to have heard this voice before.
Taking a deep breath, I turned to face this newcor, who turned out to be none other than Flowing Wind. I coolly asked, “What do you want?” In any case, right now I, like Flowing Wind, was one of the Four Heavenly Kings, so there was no need to be courteous with him. Besides, based on the short ti I had known Scorching Fla, I had the feeling that he definitely had not been a person of good temperant.
“You caught Celestial?” Flowing Wind asked with a surprised expression on his face.
“Yeah, and I was just about to bring him to see the Dictator,” I replied.
“Why don’t you just fly? What are you walking on your legs for?” Flowing Wind asked suspiciously.
Ugh, although this technique of disguise can transform into another person, it can’t give that person’s abilities... but I couldn’t very well say that. I thought about it, and ca up with a forced excuse. “Hehe, I wanted to take my ti beating this guy up. If I flew to the Dictator right away, where’s the fun in that?”
Flowing Wind laughed raucously. “But of course, let teach him a lesson too.” Having said this, he actually threw a punch at Xin Feng, knocking him onto the ground.
Seeing that Flowing Wind was aiming to land a few more blows on Xin Feng, I hurriedly blocked him. “Alright, that’s enough. Better not let the Dictator find out.”
“Alright.” Upon hearing the Dictator’s na, Flowing Wind had no choice but to stop, albeit very reluctantly.
I quickly helped Xin Feng up, and threw him a worried glance, which he returned with a reassuring smile.
“Flowing Wind, sothing serious has happened!” a child’s voice urgently shouted. “Scorching Fla is dead and the Dictator of Life has flown into a rage.”
“What? Scorching Fla is dead?” A strange expression appeared on Flowing Wind’s face. He stared at Clay Child, and then looked at .
I’m so dead. I was just about to break into a run and flee, when the whole sky shook with a terrible voice that was filled with rage and grief, wailing, “Why did they kill him?” “Scorching Fla didn’t do anything wrong!” “Damn all of you humans!”
“The Dictator of Life!” I looked toward the Central Tower. The Dictator of Life was in Flower City after all—Ocean’s Heart had given us false information.
“Hurry, run to the Central Tower,” Xin Feng reminded .
He was right. Right now we were up against two of the Heavenly Kings. If now wasn’t the ti to flee, I didn’t know when would be. I imdiately broke out running at top speed, but still rembered to shout at Xin Feng, “Don’t follow , Xin! Run toward the city gates, I’ll lure them to the Central Tower—Xin Feng?”
Shocked, I watched as Xin Feng spread out both arms to block the path of Flowing Wind and Clay Child. He lightly uttered the very words that I never, ever wanted to hear again in my life, “ND self-des—”
Not waiting for him to finish, I struck out with my foot, kicking Xin Feng down onto the ground so that he was unable to get up. I viciously growled, “Do you take for an idiot?”
I stomped, kicked and punched him. “Did you think I couldn’t tell that you were different from the usual Xin Feng? How could Xin Feng be as clever, as gentle, and as big of an idiot as you, who thinks only of sacrificing yourself for ?”
I kept hitting him, but couldn’t keep myself from choking on my tears as I cried out, “Stupid Gui!”
Xin Feng...no, Gui stiffened, then raised his head and gave a wry smile. “You found out?”
“I wasn’t sure at first, but when you shouted to activate the self-destruct program—how could I not have known?” I shouted, “You purposely walked in the direction opposite of Flower City in order to lead to the others, right? I refused to follow you, and yet you said that you were definitely willing to stay with . Who else could you be besides Gui?”
“I’m sorry, Prince. I didn’t an to lie to you, it’s just that when I saw Wicked blow himself up, I knew you definitely wouldn’t let co with you, so I...” Gui slowly got up, and gently held in his arms.
So you pretended to be Xin Feng, and even as you were about to blow yourself to pieces, you refused to tell you were Gui... I also embraced him back tightly and cried bitterly, “Wicked, Wicked’s already gone! Don’t leave too, alright?”
“Please don’t cry, Prince. If you cry, both Wicked and I will feel very sad,” Gui gently comforted .
“Then you have to promise that you definitely will not use the ND self-destruct program,” I said, looking straight at Gui, not wanting to give him any chance of evading .
Gui smiled, but did not say a word.
“Gui?” I asked, a bit afraid. Gui’s smile was so gentle... so gentle, that it made feel afraid.
“Chains of Love,” Gui softly recited.
My heart jumped, and looking down, I saw that semi-transparent chains were twisting themselves around my body... Gui was going to blow himself up! Panicking, I yelled, “Gui, I forbid you from disappearing! If you disappear, I definitely, definitely won’t go looking for you!”
The back of Gui’s body stiffened, though he calmly faced Flowing Wind and Clay Child, and asked, “Can you let us go?”
“Is Scorching Fla really dead?” Flowing Wind demanded, holding back his temper with trendous difficulty as the air surrounding him began to churn in turbulent gusts. Anyone could see that Flowing Wind would fly into a rage at the slightest sign of assent from Gui.
“Yes,” Gui answered serenely.
“You guys killed him!” Clay Child looked angrily at Gui with red-rimd eyes, while Flowing Wind fixed a hateful glare on .
Gui turned to with a bitter smile. “It looks like there won’t be a happy ending, Prince. You and Wicked couldn’t kill Scorching Fla... With the two of us against Flowing Wind and Clay Child, do we have any other choice?”
“We can escape,” I said, trembling as I struggled. Why are these bonds so damn tight?
“Don’t struggle anymore, Prince. Those chains are like my love for you... they will never, ever let go.” As Gui’s smile beca even more tender, it made my heart ache even more painfully.
“No!” I couldn’t stop myself from screaming. “Gui!”
“ND self-destruct program activate!” Gui softly called out.
A flash of blinding white light burst forth, and sounding as though he were about to cry, he gently said, “I still want to et you, Prince.”
Bang! The ear-splitting sound of a violent explosion tore through the air, followed once again by those exceedingly beautiful white snowflakes falling from the sky. Was this Gui’s blood, Gui’s flesh, or Gui’s heart? I couldn’t hold back the tears that filled my eyes. In my heart, all that remained was the image of a dark-haired demon with athyst eyes, a man who always left his smiles for , but kept his tears to himself.
“Gui... why did you sacrifice yourself?” I cried out. “I ca to Flower City on my own because I didn’t want to see any of you die for ! Yet you still gave up your life, what the hell is up with that?”
“Gui, you idiot! Idiot!” I yelled hoarsely.
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