????
The little guy has a lot of question marks floating above his head.
What just happened? Wasn’t Lena about to confess her feelings to the ga character, and the two were heading for a shalessly wild night together?
How did it all go from that to, in just a couple of lines, Lena turning into an ugly, twisted monster, and the ga character strapped to an execution platform, getting dismbered piece by piece until not even a trace of their ashes remained?
It was, frankly, quite baldly abrupt.
Yang Qizhou, with a hundred thousand whys in his head, clicked to refresh the text.
He muttered to himself as he did so:
"Well, yeah, now this is the **Deceit World** I know—thrills, madness, death, twisted horrors, and terror. That’s the true main the here. Romantic subplots? Nah, that sewer-trash better not show up."
What followed was the familiar sequence of events.
The ga character’s soul returned to its safe zone—back near the **River of Death** once again, for the umpteenth ti. The **Blessing Firelight**, representing the forces of destiny, flickered before them, and the eerie cries of the **dark crow** echoed endlessly in their mind.
Revive or reload—a choice between the two.
Maybe refusing the confession would be worth a shot... Yang Qizhou selected reload.
"Whenever the ga character is presented with a choice, it’s because fate has led them to a crossroads. Each option signifies a completely divergent plotline," he mused.
"Since accepting the confession led straight to a dead end, then perhaps refusing it might offer a glimr of hope."
Choice made, and the narration resud refreshing.
"You open your eyes in the familiar little cabin once more,"
"You see Lena, dressed in a gothic-style gown, her tear-streaked face beaming with tenderness as she holds you tightly. She tells you that she’s just an ordinary woman, longing to find a strong, brave, kind, and steadfast man to lean on."
"Just like the last **Destiny Path** experience."
"Once again, Lena asks you: ’Explorer, will you be that man?’"
"Fresh from the experience of being hacked into pieces and burned to cinders, the explorer now faces the choice..."
"Will you accept Lena’s confession and relive the horrifying feeling of being dismbered and brutalized?"
"Or will you coldly refuse?"
"Please make your choice."
Hey, hey, hey, damn you, narrator—reading between the lines, I feel like you’re mocking !
Is there even a question here?
"Option two," obviously.
Yang Qizhou clenched his teeth and kept tapping the screen.
"Ard with the scars of the last **Destiny Path**, you recall the girl’s face crusted with boils and oozing blood, her limbs twisted into tentacles, her complete descent into a grotesque and vile monstrosity. Your heart feels as though it’s been doused with icy water, extinguishing all traces of passion."
"You shove Lena away."
"You respond coldly: Lena—it was you who protected the **Fire Stealing Village** in the face of the unknown horrors and wilderness as the steadfast and indomitable **Night Watcher Captain**. You’ve never once shown fragility or helplessness. You’re not Lena. Who exactly are you?"
"You see Lena’s expression of affection disappear. In a blink, her face contorts into hideousness, filthy and oozing; her limbs morph into tentacles, her face a grotesque patchwork of sores and blood, just as in the last **Destiny Path**."
"Her gaze fills with malice, distortion, cruelty, and bloodlust,"
"Her voice grates like pounding on a massive invisible drum, hoarse, rasping, and shrill—an assault on your mind, a churn for your stomach."
"She says..."
"I rember you. The mont I was born, you were there."
"You finally understand. No wonder the **Fire Stealing Village** suddenly beca deserted. No wonder the **Fire Stealing Village** then turned into a field of corpses. No wonder everything before your eyes feels so distorted. No wonder ’Lena’ got infected and twisted into a monster. No wonder nothing felt quite right from the start."
"The reason is simple: this isn’t the Real World. It’s a dream."
"And the Lena in front of you isn’t Lena, but rather the **Dream Realm’s Child** that coveted the **Fire Stealing Village** and severely injured the **Old God Believer**, Alice."
"You’d unknowingly fallen asleep sowhere along the way."
"As this realization crystallizes, urgent voices pierce through—’Wake up, wake up! You can’t keep sleeping anymore!’"
"In your haze, you open your eyes to Lena’s slightly anxious face watching over you."
...
"No wonder the plot felt so off. The bustling **Fire Stealing Village**, suddenly empty. Lena, suddenly warped into a monster. It all makes sense now: it was just a dream."
"Of course,"
"The brilliant had already seen through everything."
"Completely expected."
Good thing no one was around to see Yang Qizhou’s stubborn bravado, or they’d have ribbed him with a sarcastic, "Take so modesty for once."
But truthfully, Yang Qizhou felt pretty unsure deep down...
Looking back over the narration, there were plenty of hints revealing that the ga character’s journey was no longer in the **Real World**—lines like "You saw the **Fire Stealing Village** grow desolate" and "You saw the **Fire Stealing Village** littered with corpses," or "You woke up bound to a massive torture platform."
Only, Yang Qizhou, imrsed in the **Deceit World**’s lore, hadn’t thought much of it at the ti. The narrative still passed as ’normal’ within the context.
"No big deal."
"Victory and defeat are just routine in a warrior’s life. I’ll win it back next ti."
"Keep playing, keep playing."
...
As Yang Qizhou tapped at the screen, the text refreshed once more.
"You rub your temple as a dull ache throbs in your head. You murmur your confusion—what exactly happened?"
"Lena, seeing that you’re awake, lets out a visible sigh of relief and explains what happened..."
"It turns out an entire night had passed. When Lena entered the room, she found you still trapped in slumber, your expressions, at tis, distorting or simpering with an eerie smile—hallmarks of **Dream Monster** corruption. Many villagers had t similar dark fates before, which deeply alard her. Yet, she was helpless. Thankfully, you managed to escape the dream and woke up in the end."
"An entire night had passed...? You’re taken aback because it felt like only monts had gone by."
Truthfully, the first ti, you didn’t break free at all. You’d already fallen victim to the **Dream Realm’s Child.** But luckily for you, you’ve got your cheat—the **Dark Crow of Profane Fortune**—and could load your save.
Yang Qizhou thought to himself, his eyes returning to the ga.
"After the false alarm passed, Lena revealed her curiosity about your dream. She asked you what happened inside."
"You gaze at Lena’s beautiful face, recalling how, in the dream, she wept delicately and threw herself into your arms in a heart-wrenching display. Giving in to temptation, you agreed to tumble into bed with her, and the result was dismbernt and incineration."
"You think to yourself that, for the sake of your survival, it’s better to keep that to yourself."
"You wave her question aside with a casual evasion."
"Sothing feels odd—the **Fire Stealing Village**, already marked by the **Dream Realm’s Child** and its corruption of villagers. But this ti, it all seems too deliberately targeted at you. Even in the dream, it beca apparent it recognized you."
"You voice your suspicions to Lena..."
"Lena explains that the **Old God Believer**, Alice, once battled the **Dream Realm’s Child.** Perhaps Alice holds the answers you seek."
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