["In front of the Gate stands a Gatekeeper."]
["A peasant cos to the gate and requests entry, but the Gatekeeper says he can’t let him in right now."]
[—Kafka, "The Trial"]
...
In a room filled with fragrance, Su Ming’an bid farewell to Her Majesty, the Queen.
He ca to inquire about the Queen’s attitude towards last night’s massacre, but the Queen’s words were so subtle that he speculated she might be a Player, and thus he bade farewell and departed.
He returned ho and heard his sister Bai Chun’s increasingly painful gasps.
...
[My sister probably won’t last these two days.]
[Her illness was originally minor, but so Creator casually altered a chemical compound, turning her minor illness into an incurable disease...]
[The insane plan concocted by the God of Intelligence’s believers can no longer be stopped; they’ve distributed the launcher to at least fifty mbers of the Royal Family. I couldn’t prevent it beforehand, I can only patch it up afterwards.]
[I must act now, go and et the Supre Lord imdiately.]
...
"Bai Qiu’s goal was actually to stop a plan by the God of Intelligence’s believers... He couldn’t prevent it, he aid to make ands after the plan unfolded." Su Ming’an pondered: "Bai Qiu even knows the Supre Lord!?"
Who exactly is this person that erged from nowhere...
Su Ming’an quickly returned to his room, rummaging through Bai Qiu’s journal in an attempt to find a way to et the Supre Lord, but unfortunately, normal people don’t keep diaries.
"Why not try sleeping?" Little Liujin suggested.
Su Ming’an lay on his bed, his head just touching the pillow, and his body instantly sank into the bedding, falling asleep within a second.
In a haze, he saw a figure shrouded entirely in mist, saw a ruby faintly appearing at the forehead of the figure, and saw a pair of goat horns piercing through the mist.
Supre Lord Tosolius, a silent observer drifting beyond the world, forever watching in silence.
In the moonlight, he sat atop a high hill, gazing at the book in his hand, motionless, with only the occasional sound of pages being turned.
"Tosolius?" Su Ming’an tentatively called out.
The Supre Lord lowered his head and asked, "Are you here to press the button?"
...Button?
Su Ming’an was taken aback, seeing a red button appear before him.
"Press this red button, and you will receive one hundred billion Rol Currency." The Supre Lord remained engrossed in his book: "The cost is that Luowasha will be extinct in a thousand years."
"I won’t press it." Su Ming’an replied.
Another blue button appeared in front of him.
"Press this blue button, and you will ascend to High Dinsions." The Supre Lord lowered his head and said: "The cost is that Luowasha will fall into the hands of Noel Agnini."
...Is this for real? Are you conducting a test of humanity?
"No press." Su Ming’an maintained his stance.
Another green button appeared.
"And this green button." The Supre Lord turned another page, still reading attentively: "Press it, and Zhai Xing will be saved, but you will die, Su Ming’an."
He pointed out Su Ming’an.
"If it’s true, I’ll press it." Su Ming’an said: "But there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right?"
"Free?" The Supre Lord chuckled lightly: "Indeed, for you, this is free..." He finally ceased reading, handing the book to Su Ming’an: "Care to take a look?"
Su Ming’an was curious about what book the Supre Lord was engrossed in. As he opened it, he found it was a book evaluating World Ga instances, from the Newbie Dungeon to the fifteenth instance. On the last page, there was a pink bookmark with neatly written words: [Return it promptly after reading! —Chen Qingguang]
...Chen Qingguang? Who is this? So player in the World Ga? Su Ming’an held up the bookmark, looking towards the top right corner of his view: "United Group, did you see? Check this person out."
...
[Damn!]
[He finally checks the comnts.]
[I almost thought we’d been sidelined.]
[Is it the fortieth batch of Casual Players now? I thought I’d see the Lighthouse, but I ca back imdiately after going down! It’s insanely dangerous.]
[Shouldn’t the Number One Player consider confronting that traitor? Maybe he can kill him here.]
[There are hundreds of people nad Chen Qingguang, if not thousands, in this world, who knows which one this is.]
[Trust in the professionalism of the United Group.]
[If the Supre Lord has green eyes and isn’t Lü Shu, I’ll eat.]
[Quit with the formulas; why don’t you say it’s Chao Yan, why not say it’s Boris, why not say it’s Alan Yeager, Asada Shino, or Alice Gainesbar.]
[Little Greedy Cat is looking to con so food and drink again; the last Little Greedy Cat already blew up, looking forward to the next charming contestant.]
...
Su Ming’an quickly redirected his focus.
He dared not gaze further at the comnts, fearing that imrsing in such lighthearted and joyful content would breed attachnt and weakness.
Su Ming’an closed the book cover, glimpsing the author’s na—
...
"Shan Chang Ge."
...
...Hmm?
Wait a mont.
Wait, wait.
At that mont, the Supre Lord took the book back, removed the ruby from his forehead, and placed it in Su Ming’an’s palm: "A eting gift."
He seed to have no intention of explaining, but Su Ming’an suppressed his doubts: "Are you eager to et ?"
...Is it the Observer’s sentint towards the Protagonist in the Space-ti Record Body?
The Supre Lord remained silent, rely pointing at the ruby: "This object cos from the Outer Realm, not bound by most laws. It can grant you the strength to transcend everything."
"Transcend everything, aning?" Su Ming’an gripped the ruby, its warmth pulsating like a beating heart.
"Everything." The Supre Lord remarked as if just stating a fact.
"You should know my goal." Su Ming’an said: "How about dispelling the mist so I can see your form, saving ti."
"No."
"Why not?"
"If you win just like that, the Space-ti Record Body ends, and I’d have nothing to watch."
Su Ming’an felt a hint of anger; truly, this was a being who would stop at nothing for a compelling narrative. Yet, this was also the Supre Lord’s adherence to "Tao."
"I wanted your form to coerce you into protecting Luowasha. Hence, you not showing your form is quite reasonable." Su Ming’an stated: "Had you answered that reason, it would have been more logical."
"Hmm." The Supre Lord nodded: "You wanted my form to coerce into protecting Luowasha. Therefore, I don’t show you my form, it’s quite reasonable."
Su Ming’an felt like he was talking to a stone.
"Go back, I don’t want to occupy too much space, stealing the scene." The Supre Lord reopened the book.
"Can Zhai Xing truly rid herself of the World Ga’s control?" Su Ming’an inquired.
"..."
"What is the plan Bai Qiu wants to stop?"
"..."
"Why does Hui Bai have so many siblings, but only he remains in the middle? Why is Hui Bai both the golden-haired loathed by the World Tree and its trusted Order Guardian?"
"... Crossing lines." The Supre Lord finally deigned to move his lips.
"Crossing lines?" Su Ming’an instantly thought of many things, the grid ti of the Ninth World, the ten thousand world lines of the Tenth World, and the light and dark sides of the Eleventh World.
The next mont, everything before him began to blur, and he was about to wake up.
"One last question!" he shouted hurriedly, "If I present an exceptional Space-ti Record Body, could you, after I reach the conclusion, care for Zhai Xing for ? Consider it as... as the book fee!"
The Supre Lord moved slightly.
His fingers hovered over the book page.
"Is there no request you want to consider for yourself?" He said.
The Black Mist receded a little, revealing His green eyes, which looked at Su Ming’an with a gaze that seed sowhat... desolate.
It was a silent, frozen sadness.
Su Ming’an was struck for a mont by this gaze, seriously observing those green eyes, trying to find if there were any familiar traces...
However, the next instant, he had already left the dream.
Only hearing the last voice of the Supre Lord:
...
"Okay."
"You deserve a better ending, Su Ming’an."
...
[Seven tis I have despised my soul.]
[The fourth ti, I t a traveler in misery.]
[He made understand that a good story isn’t opting to inject pain into a character, but rather becoming an anatomist with a surgical light in hand—regardless of whether the body is complete or broken, every piece of flesh, every feather must reflect in the fullest form.]
[A true Observer doesn’t create trauma but lets existing wounds speak.]
[This reminds of a Space-ti Record Body I once observed.]
["Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to rember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."]
...
Su Ming’an opened his eyes and saw a thirteen or fourteen-year-old red-haired girl sitting by the bedside.
The window by the bedside was open, and the window lock lay on the table; the girl had evidently climbed in through the window.
"... Want to die?" Su Ming’an put on the golden glasses on the table, coldly following his character design.
"Lord Demon." Shi Ying lightly bowed: "I am the ’interdiary’ sent by the Mother Goddess to you, because I sensed you often have private etings with the Outer God, to report your daily words and deeds to the Mother Goddess, serving as a secretary."
She held a red-covered notebook in her hand, and Su Ming’an keenly saw she had just written: [7:58 AM, sleeps without undressing for five minutes.]
... Does Bai Qiu curry so much favor with the Mother Goddess?
Su Ming’an glanced at the purple glow in her eyes and said indifferently: "So you’re from the Demon Mother Goddess... You can stay by my side, but first, you are not allowed to interfere with my normal actions; second, the content of the records must be shown to ; third, you must not leak information to Su Liujin and them. Otherwise, no matter how much the Mother Goddess values you, I will kill you."
Shi Ying nodded while jotting down: "7:59 AM, the freshly awakened Bai Qiu threatened fiercely, demanding my devotion, or he would beco a yandere..."
Su Ming’an ignored her, pushed the door open, and suddenly noticed his pocket was bulging. He reached in, it was a ruby.
"Chen Qingguang... Shan Chang Ge..." he murmured these nas softly.
...
Mo Yan sat behind the iron bars, the bright white lights swaying on the ceiling.
He wore shabby clothes, hands overlapping on his lap, a face full of fatigue.
A heavily clad guard approached, unlocked the iron cuffs on Mo Yan’s wrists with a "clank", and said in a deep voice, "Soone has co to bail you out. You can leave now."
Mo Yan lifted his dark-circled eyes and saw a charming black-haired girl and a blue-haired boy standing by the iron bars.
"Brother! You’re out!" The black-haired girl waved her hand.
Mo Yan walked out of the prison with a grey face, biting his teeth.
The identity he was possessing was called "Mo Yu", from the Civilian Area, ordinary background, ordinary ability, ordinary person. The black-haired girl was his sister, nad "Mo Chunyan".
Last night’s massacre, Mo Yan managed to escape a disaster as he lived nearby, yet was falsely accused afterward, claiming several Silver-armored Knights hid in Mo Yan’s house, resulting in the backgroundless Mo Yan being detained.
Even though he was not the original owner, he felt a burning anger.
Yesterday the aunt who greeted him, today beca a pile of bones. What cri did they commit? Why do they have to beco leverage for those vying for power and profit?
"That Licanola deserves death! Jealous that your Genesis level is better than hers, she set you up; if it weren’t for this brother’s bail money, brother, you wouldn’t make it to tomorrow’s conference!" Mo Chunyan pointed to the blue-haired boy.
"And who is this..." Mo Yan asked, puzzled.
"I am Wu Yi." Wu Yi smiled, "What happened last night was truly appalling. Interested in learning the truth?"
Mo Yan pulled his sister warily, "Chunyan, you go ho, Dad’s still bedridden."
Mo Chunyan protested, "Bro..."
Mo Yan persuaded Mo Chunyan away and looked toward Wu Yi, "Speak."
"Follow ."
Wu Yi led Mo Yan to the Civilian Area, where the streets were narrow and sewage stread through. Wu Yi took many detours and arrived at a hidden underground area.
"Quite a hidden place... Is this a secret gathering spot for local civilians..." Mo Yan thought.
There was a high platform here, and at this mont, a purple-haired youth and a purple-haired girl stood on it, the youth giving an impassioned speech, heard by hundreds of people:
"Titana died on the balcony, her blood staining the White Daisies she carefully tended."
"Luo Li spent his life being a good person, often bringing us freshly baked bread, yet was chopped into a dozen pieces by a knight’s sword."
"Folina, she’s still waiting for her son to return from a lengthy journey, and instead, greeted by cruel blazing flas."
"Now, [Nest] can no longer rely be about mutual aid. Just relying on our own strength, we can’t protect ourselves at all."
After saying this, the hundreds gathered below imdiately spoke up:
"Whatever you have to say, just say it! Sique!"
"Yes, we watched your sister grow up, and you’re a fine young man. We trust you!"
"I was scared out of my wits last night, and my daughter was frightened into sickness today. We can’t live like this any longer."
"Sique, this secret mutual aid organization your sister established, [Nest], under the noses of those leeching noble skinflints, saved so many families. We’re all brothers and sisters through thick and thin. If you have any solution, we all agree!"
The purple-haired youth showed a look of emotion.
He took a deep breath and slowly drew out a green gemstone:
"I traveled earlier to the World Tree."
"The World Tree appreciated and gave this gemstone. Using it, I can perfect sothing called the ’World Book’."
"If the ’World Book’ is crafted to a certain degree, Genesis will no longer be without frawork, and Luowasha will officially beco a book! Even if terrifying events happen, as long as the order of the World Book’s mory Clips is switched, the tragedies won’t happen! Like the massacre last night, we can change it! Many lives, as long as we docunt them, their souls won’t die."
"As the Creator Conference approaches, I want to collect twelve stories to serve as the initial frawork to create the ’World Book’. They don’t need to be flamboyant, just real and distinctive enough. And everyone here, grounded and skilled across various trades, is the best choice."
"This must be kept from the upper echelons, which is why I gathered everyone here."
"I need everyone’s strength!"
Mo Yan felt his heart thud heavily.
He knew he was participating in what could be one of the most significant historical events for Luowasha. That it was happening below the surface, among a group of ordinary civilians.
"Do you see the purple-haired girl on the stage?" Wu Yi said in a low voice.
"I see her." Mo Yan nodded. That was Sique’s sister, was Wu Yi asking him to get close to her to win Sique’s favor?
"As the reward for bail money and uncovering the truth..." Wu Yi whispered:
"Kill her."
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