"Mister Bai."
A gentle voice called from behind. Bai Haozheng turned, looked at the woman in a kimono, and nodded. "I'm here."
He stopped her attempt at a cordial greeting and raised his hands, palms up. In his left palm lay a Blue Capsule Pill, and in his right, a Red Capsule Pill.
"This is your last chance," Bai Haozheng said with a grave expression, his voice deep. "If you take the blue pill, you will fall into a dream.
"In that dream, you will lose all mories of the past and start afresh.
"You will assu the identity of a normal person in a mundane world without anomalies.
"You'll be born, grow up, go to school, fall in love, get married, have children, and grow old.
"In the dream, you will live a happy life.
"Maybe not rich and luxurious, but definitely safe and joyful.
"Eventually, surrounded by your beloved family and friends, you will die contentedly. In this world, your consciousness will also dissipate painlessly.
"You will no longer have to bear this overly heavy burden.
"You will no longer have to suffer the endless cycle of death.
"Your unburdened soul, without awareness, will continue to fulfill the duty of guarding the anomalies of the Mortal Realm and protecting everything in the real world."
As Bai Haozheng spoke, the words "A Drunken Dream" appeared above the Blue Capsule Pill.
"Take this Red Capsule Pill," Bai Haozheng continued. "I will take your soul back to the 'real world' where your body lies.
"I will rescue you from the device and find out what exactly happened to it.
"The script task has ended, and the System's restrictions on
have been lifted.
"I will negotiate with the Abnormal Event Control Departnt of your world to find a way for you to escape this endless responsibility.
"I have an item that allows
to remain in the scripted world for up to three hours after task completion.
"Three hours is enough.
"However, after taking the Red Capsule Pill, your soul and mine will be bound together. You will leave this world and be forcibly plunged into the killing ga with ."
Bai Haozheng paused, looked at Yuka Yuri before him, and slowly said, "I'm sorry, I don't have a perfect solution to rescue you from your current predicant.
"These are the only two options I can offer you."
"A choice... huh?"
The woman in the kimono took a deep breath. She recalled the cri scene photos of abnormal events she had seen and the Abnormal Event Control Departnt officials pleading on their knees before her.
She slowly reached out and picked up a pill.
This was the first ti soone had told her that she actually had the right to choose.
Li Ang opened his eyes to see the familiar living room before him, a travel case covered in stickers at his feet.
He did not relax his vigilance but first tested his summoning-type abilities.
The Necromancy Technique was usable, and he could retrieve the Beehive from his inventory. Furthermore, the system task log showed the 'Holiday Hotel' script task as 'Completed.'
This was primarily to confirm that Li Ang had indeed escaped the Dolphin Hotel and to ensure he hadn't fallen prey to so Illusion Technique.
"All is normal."
Once Li Ang confird he was back in the Mortal Realm, he took out a black, umbrella-like soul-guiding banner from his inventory.
Chaichai's head imdiately poked out from the black umbrella. She looked around vigilantly, then appraised Li Ang up and down, noticing that the style of the white lab coat he wore seed to have changed.
"The script task is over."
Seeing Chaichai's expression, Li Ang casually explained what had happened during the mission.
Chaichai listened seriously to Li Ang's narration, then frowned and sighed, "That Yuka Yuri is truly unfortunate... She only wanted to be an ordinary person, yet because she possessed Spiritual Sense, she was asked to beco a machine without a self..."
"Yeah."
Li Ang nodded. Seemingly reminded of sothing, he added, "But Bai Haozheng should be able to help. He was the first to understand the deeper worldview of the script task, and when we all chose to teleport away, he remained behind, likely with so unfinished business."
As for whether Bai Haozheng was staying in the script to say his last goodbye to Yuka Yuri, or whether they had fallen deeply in love, with Sparks flying, and he chose to betray the world to stay with her—that was beyond Li Ang's concern.
"Let's hope so."
Chaichai nodded. Yuka Yuri's difficult fate made her reflect on her own, and she sighed, "Alas, another day without a chance to appear. This world is full of malice. When will we Spiritual Bodies ever get to stand tall?
"If this continues, I feel like my role will diminish, much like a supporting actress in a dostic TV series who lacks influential backing.
"Eventually, I'll be reduced to a re backdrop, watching the main couple's public displays of affection, able only to bite a handkerchief and weep silently in so dark, unseen corner..."
"You're so dramatic." Li Ang's eye twitched as he retorted, "Entering a task isn't supposed to be fun. Bob and 13MARK were quite skilled, yet they died inexplicably. Even Ω, with his formidable personal strength, was outmaneuvered and lost his body. He's not even sure if he's still himself..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Ang received a friend request from Ω.
After accepting it, Ω first transferred 1,500 Ga Coins and then sent a few ssages expressing his gratitude.
The body Li Ang had fashioned for him was incredibly ugly and uncalibrated, severely hampering the efficiency of his superhuman powers. Ω would likely need to find soone to reshape his body again soon.
In addition, Bai Haozheng and Yuyi Xinzhong also sent him friend requests, which Li Ang accepted one by one.
For players, entering and exiting a script happens in an instant in the Mortal Realm. Since Bai Haozheng was able to send him a friend request, it proved he hadn't died within five minutes of the task's completion.
That was a good thing. Sooner or later, the Higan Organization would learn of the Black Holy Son's death. They would undoubtedly try to uncover the cause, trace any clues, and might even resort to a blood feud curse in an attempt to directly kill whoever was responsible.
The surviving players had communicated before leaving the script world, agreeing not to widely publicize the events of this task to avoid attracting unnecessary hostility.
Since Bai Haozheng was an Intelligence Analyst for the Special Affairs Bureau, he was naturally confident in his ability to survive the Higan Organization's pursuit, so Li Ang and the others didn't need to worry about him.
Li Ang closed the friend chat window and found that Chaichai, surprisingly, wasn't rushing off to play gas or watch ani after the task ended.
Instead, she floated in mid-air, legs crossed, an expression of serious contemplation on her face. She whispered to herself, mumbling as if possessed,
"Rely on others, and you'll always be a princess; rely on yourself, and you can beco a queen."
"To wear the crown, one must bear its weight. To hold the rose, one must endure its pain."
"Strive hard, and in ten years, you will be imnsely grateful to your diligent self today."
Still muttering, Chaichai suddenly stood up. "I'll go check on the swarm," she announced, then ran into the bedroom, leaving Li Ang to wonder what sudden inspiration had struck her.
Li Ang sighed as he watched Chaichai's retreating figure and turned to check on his gains from this task.
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