"I’m so tired, so tired, that old man’s advanced calculus class is really hypnotic..."
Haiwen Star.
Under the blue sky, traffic flowed, and tall buildings stood majestically.
Su Lianqing was an ordinary science university student. As soon as the hypnotic advanced calculus class ended, she imdiately rushed out of the school gate with a baguette in her mouth, yawning, and ran towards a nearby café to refresh herself.
"Studied calculus in high school, studying calculus in university, studying and studying, it’s all about inverse functions... sigh...!" She sighed heavily, pondering what to do about the upcoming final exams.
"Ding-dong—ding-dong—"
The café doorbell rang crisply as Su Lianqing pushed open the wooden door, a warm current mixed with the aroma of ground coffee beans hit her face.
She habitually walked towards her usual spot by the window in the café. However, today, soone was already there.
"Huh?" She paused in surprise.
It was a young man, facing away from her, seated in a high-back armchair. The youth wore a simple white shirt and dark pants, his posture upright, slightly turning his head, seemingly observing the people outside the window. Most striking was his white short hair, pure like the first snow of winter, even his quiet sitting made one feel... he seed almost like an angel not of the mortal world.
"Great aura... a celebrity? Or a model..."
Su Lianqing hesitated, about to find another seat, when the white-haired youth, as if he had eyes on his back, happened to turn his head at that mont.
"Mind coming over to sit and chat?" The white-haired youth said.
Su Lianqing looked at his face and nodded slightly, then walked over.
Up close, the white-haired youth’s skin was so perfect it seed unreal, and his cold deanor beca even more pronounced. His deep green eyes gazed at Su Lianqing, then he did sothing completely unexpected.
He extended his hand, long and clean fingers, holding a black card between his index and middle fingers.
On it were words written in blood red:
...
[Soothing and healing, infinite instances! Simulation world, self-redemption!]
[Global players, enthusiastically join! High-level ga, waiting for you to play!]
...
He placed the black card on the table in front of Su Lianqing, making a soft "tap" sound.
"You might find this useful."
Su Lianqing was stunned, looking at the black card on the table, then raising her head to look at the other’s calm face. "Sir, do we know each other? This is...?"
She didn’t know what to say, the situation was too bizarre. Could this be a new form of street marketing? A high-end club invitation? But with his aura, he was nothing like a flyer distributor.
However, before Su Lianqing could react, the white-haired youth slightly nodded, as a farewell gesture, then turned and walked towards the cafe door, pushing it open and leaving.
Only Su Lianqing was left staring dazedly at the black card.
She looked around, everything in the café was normal, no one paid attention to the brief encounter here. Outside, traffic continued, and the sunlight was just right.
Su Lianqing flipped the black card over several tis before eventually slipping it into her pocket.
... might as well keep it, it looks quite exquisite.
She left the café, pondering whether to investigate the black card, when suddenly, screams erupted around her—
"Look! Up in the sky—!"
"Oh my god!"
When did it appear, a gigantic heart suddenly obscured the sky!
The next mont, all the cries disappeared.
[Welco.]
A gentle male voice echoed in everyone’s ear, pleasant like a babbling brook.
When people opened their eyes, they found themselves standing in a vast square, looking at each other in terrified confusion, but before panic could fully spread—
Light converged above the square like flowing water.
A silhouette quietly erged.
He wore a fitted dark suit, a white puppet cat mask, with black cat ears on his head. He floated in the air, his posture relaxed, like a beam of gentle light.
At the sight of him, everyone not only felt no discomfort but instead inexplicably relaxed, their tense moods soothed.
"Good afternoon, friends from Haiwen Star." The voice reached each ear, clear, gentle, "I am the host of this year’s World Ga, you may call ’Boss Cat’. Over the next brief period, please allow to introduce so basic information."
He slightly bowed his head:
"This is the World Ga, where your world, Haiwen Star, has been registered as a participating civilization. The World Ga is... we can call it a ’Growth Plan,’ aid at nurous civilizations. Through a series of simulation scenario instances, participating civilizations will gain unique experiences and ascension."
The square filled with people, regained so vitality from the silence, as people looked up with faces mixed with uncertainty, fear, and curiosity.
"You will engage in one instance after another, becoming ’players’." The black-haired youth continued, his tone steady, "Players’ exploration, decisions, and achievents within instances will translate into personal points, along with a comprehensive developnt evaluation of our Haiwen Star civilization."
"Points can be quite useful; they can be exchanged for many interesting things, like knowledge, skills, force. And the civilization’s comprehensive evaluation..." He paused, "Will determine if your whole Haiwen Star civilization can obtain a broader perspective and richer possibilities in the future."
"One point must be made clear," his tone grew slightly serious, "Challenges within the instances are real. If you encounter misfortune, it will involve a real loss. Please take it seriously. However... gas always co with opportunities. An outstanding performance and high evaluation can sotis lead to unexpected turns, history has precedents."
"Also, to ensure an imrsive experience, the passage of ti in the real world will be suspended during the ga. Do not be overly surprised."
He raised a hand, gently tapping his temple: "Now, there is so ti before the first adaptive experience instance begins. This ti is for you. Rember, it’s not only about challenges."
"Well," he slightly bowed with elegance, "looking forward to eting all the players in the instance later. Best wishes to Haiwen Star."
No intimidation, no blatant threats.
As if the host, within a tightly knitted frawork of rules, described a life-and-death trial with the most encouraging language.
Especially the final phrase "best wishes to Haiwen Star," unlike a routine closing remark, seed almost like a blessing?
"Oh, let introduce the four assistants of our ga to you." Four silhouettes erged behind the youth.
```
Su Lianqing looked up and was suddenly surprised to find—the young white-haired man she had t in the café was among them!
"This person is an ’Assistant,’ she will delve into your instances, turning into possible NPCs or players you may encounter, secretly guiding you forward," the Boss Cat pointed to the black-haired girl.
The black-haired girl nodded lightly, as if she had gone through similar introductions countless tis.
"This person’s identity is ’Supervisor’... he will weed out so bad people among you," Boss Cat looked at the white-haired young man.
The white-haired young man pulled the corners of his mouth, as if smiling, a tacit understanding between them as if they had cooperated thousands of tis.
"This person is the ’Orderly’, he will stabilize the situation when it goes out of control, such as when there is high dinsional intervention," the Boss Cat looked at another white-haired young man.
This white-haired young man had dark eyes and sharp features, looking sowhat impatiently at the players.
"This person is the ’Rule Maker,’ he will convey special rules to you at specific tis."
The last introduction by the Boss Cat was a white-haired man, dressed in clerical robes, with a serene gaze.
"—Are you the host of this ga?" Suddenly, soone realized they could speak, and imdiately shouted to the sky.
"No." The young man smiled faintly, "I am the... Master of the World Ga."
"—Are you here to help us or annihilate us?" A well-dressed man shouted.
"Hmm..." The young man tilted his head, "What do you think?"
"—What is the price of failure?" A girl couldn’t help but tremble as she asked, almost about to cry.
The black-haired young man in the sky paused.
After a mont, he gently raised a finger to his lips.
A finger almost the sa as a human’s, the sa skin, the sa temperature.
"The price of failure—of course is—" he lowered his voice.
"It’s total annihilation, right!" A high school boy said with a weepy face, "I knew it, it’s always this kind of trick, you deities love watching lower life forms slaughter each other..."
"At worst, it’s collective exile..." another person shook their fist, "I won’t lose! I won’t lose! I’m going to win this ga, I’m going to change my destiny!"
"We’re dood, we’re dood..." a middle-aged man plopped onto the ground, trembling in fear.
However, above the sky, the dark eyes behind the mask moved slightly, revealing a hint of a smile.
He placed his hands behind his back and let out a light laugh.
"No."
"There won’t be annihilation."
...
"Smile, ’Players’."
...
Bang, bang, bang.
Su Lianqing’s heart pounded.
When everyone else was feeling terrified, she keenly felt—that ’Master of the Ga’ in the sky held no malice towards them.
On the contrary, it seed like He... very much hoped they would win this ga.
She looked up, hearing the young man’s final farewell before leaving.
"Then, before the ga begins, a final blessing for ’you’." The young man said softly, as if smiling,
"—Wishing you a bright and shining future."
No longer speaking to just one person, but to everyone.
Not just to the people of Haiwen Star, but to all civilizations about to experience the World Ga... a farewell.
At the mont the World Ga began, the sky screen swept over the rise and fall of countless civilizations—primitive tribes of the Stone Age, budding new cultures, races stepping into the Interstellar Age, silicon-based life on gaseous planets...
Countless civilizations have staged countless redemptions.
Light was born, shadow spread.
Creation and destruction, rise and fall, sobriety and madness, faith and void... countless civilizations were like alveoli on the lungs of the universe, expanding, contracting, bursting, rebirthing.
Prosperity praises itself, Paradise praises Hell.
And at the center of the overlap of all civilizations, there was such a figure.
—He wore cat ears, with a head of jet-black hair and dark eyes, dressed in a white shirt, mild in temperant and not sharp, as gentle as a student about to push open the library doors.
He followed his will, asuring sacrifice and being sacrificed.
He traveled far from his holand, seeking new scenery.
Selfishness before selflessness, love for this world.
In the middle of his life, during the pri of his age, he discovered his mission. He ventured deep into the eternal solitary organs of the universe, enduring the long journey and loneliness, just to grasp the dawn.
"Co."
People seed to see the shape of his lips:
"In the ’ga’ where everything is at stake, with all you are about to experience—joy, sorrow, betrayals, trust, calculation, sacrifice, selfishness and grand love,"
"—Prove to , prove to the rules of the universe—"
"Your resilience and brilliance surpass cold organs."
"The torch of humanity burning in the darkness outshines the deities of the heavens."
"I don’t believe that a civilization which can still birth a spirit of sacrifice in desperation is inefficient."
"I don’t believe that a civilization which can still find sparks of light in the darkness is hopeless."
"I don’t believe that what is called the disgraceful will to survive, ignorant stubbornness, or mistaken attempts... should be obliterated."
"Even if because of this, our blood spills over every corner of each instance, the roads we walk are filled with our own corpses and ashes after death and resurrection."
"—As long as we still have the chance to continue, we must let everyone witness the arrival of the future."
As he spoke to this point, the entire venue fell silent.
People lifted their heads, listening quietly, with a light in their eyes like never before.
The Boss Cat smiled slightly, and he spoke the last sentence—
...
"[Faced with the ashes of the sacrificed,]
[noble people will shed hot tears.]"
...
Behind him, the four assistants—the black-haired "Assistant" and the white-haired "Supervisor," the black-clothed "Rule Maker" and the white-robed "Orderly"—silently gazed at his back, their eyes transcending this mont, as if seeing a similar figure in a distant past, speaking similar words to another group of desperate people.
Su Lianqing tightly held the slightly warm Black Card. At the last mont before the white light of the Sky Curtain engulfed the scene, it seed she saw the light around Boss Cat did not extinguish, but transford into a...
Eternal,
Everlasting,
Gentle,
Dazzling,
As if it had lit up since ancient tis... Lighthouse.
Lighthouse?
Su Lianqing lifted her head, her irises burning. She suddenly felt her eyes sore, her pupils aching, as if on the verge of tears for so reason.
The fla flickered in people’s eyes.
—The firelight also reflected in His dark pupils, like countless stars shining.
...
[World Ga Ruler: Su Ming’an (Boss Cat)]
[Assistant: Yuanyuan]
[Supervisor: Lü Shu]
[Orderly: Lin Guang]
[Rule Maker: Li Mingyue]
[Retainer: Yamada Machiichi]
[Native Life Brain: Xiao Na]
[External Organizers: Aier, Lilia, Laplace, Flax]
[Civilizations redeed since inception: 2,897,182]
...
Thus, among the stars, beyond the passage of ti,
there is such a lighthouse, eternally lit.
It is a guiding lighthouse in the dark and lonely universe, holding the helm.
It is an ever-burning torch in The Dark Forest.
Once, it was a cold and severe "Civilization Purifier" in the universe—
Judging, selecting, obliterating in accordance with ancient and absolute rules... clearing unhealthy civilizations like waste.
Until one day, a "perfect scorer" who had personally experienced all of this beca its master.
He did not choose to sit on the eternal throne, watching the struggles and extinctions of countless civilizations with indifference.
On the contrary, he stepped down into the core of this giant machine,
Bit by bit, replacing its gears, laying new tracks, writing different instructions for it.
He turned the rciless "obliteration" rule into redemption;
he transford the cruel "purification" program into sublimation.
He turned the bloody execution ground into a rescue station for civilizations in dire straits.
From then on, when a civilization fell into a dood plight,
what descended was no longer a cold judgnt but a special invitation.
A group of colored travelers, known as "Players," would enter that world,
seeking loopholes, transmitting thods, igniting hope, finding ways of salvation...
If a group fails, another group will co,
until they find the answer to survival, or exhaust all efforts. Rather than a selection, it is an intervention and support again and again.
Nurous civilizations have thus not fallen into darkness,
they found originally invisible routes under the lighthouse’s illumination.
No one completely understands,
how many efforts the host known as "Boss Cat," wearing a cat ear mask, put in to make a universe machine—once driven by the logic of destruction—learn rcy and possess warmth.
But all the civilizations he illuminated gradually understood that perhaps, the light of this kind of lighthouse cos from a similarly small soul that has never given up on others. Only those with similar encounters can fully understand each other.
It does not advocate bloodshed, does not promote obliteration, replaces death with sublimation, and substitutes cultivation for abandonnt.
It is tolerant and inclusive, yet dignified and thriving.
It allows dying civilizations to find navigation, fanatic civilizations to recognize humility, desperate civilizations to sprout new paths, and perilous fishern to sail howard.
It gazes toward distant holands.
It carries the fervent hope of civilizations.
It does not declare victory, nor promises perfection.
It does not extol Hell, nor glorify Paradise.
It reveals only one thing:
"—I will march toward the end of the universe, climbing towards the peak with the World Ga."
"Behind that, I will surely glimpse... the true end."
"Keep moving forward."
"Oh, countless civilizations in the universe."
"—If you drown in the Ocean, look up to see , and you will know your direction."
Wandering traveler,
If you lose your way ho,
Look up,
The direction where the waves crash hardest, at the end of reefs and cliffs, there, eternally stands a lighthouse guiding the way. Go there, and you may find redemption or release.
If you feel lost, go towards it,
The tide will not overwhelm you,
The waves will not destroy you,
If the land is destined to rise,
Then let humanity choose again the peak of survival.①
Do not,
Do not,
...
—Do not [perish from the Ocean].
...
...
...
In the plaza, with the departure of Boss Cat, the World Ga was about to begin. People quickly started conversing with each other, their faces filled with fear but more so with curiosity.
So pulled together with strong and sturdy strangers to form teams, so hurriedly searched for family mbers, so speculated on the form of the first ga, and so looked everywhere for handy weapons.
Su Lianqing shook her numb hands, her palms brushing past her pocket, causing the Black Card inside to unexpectedly fall to the ground. When she bent down to pick it up, she suddenly heard a cold system voice—
...
"Ding dong!"
[You have obtained the "Ruler" status · Apprentice!]
[Please actively complete the Ruler’s Quest in the upcoming instances to level up!]
...
...Ruler?
What’s this?
She stared in shock at the glowing Black Card in her hand.
It seed, she heard the sound of the wheel of Destiny turning.
"Hi." Soone tapped her shoulder.
She turned around and realized it was a male classmate from the next class. She had tead up with him several tis before; he was a nice person. His na was Bolong.
The big boy smiled at her cheerfully.
...
"Classmate."
"Want to team up?"
...
...
...
(End of the Shore Guardian Arc)
...
...
——
[1] Bei Dao, "The Reply"
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