The difficulty of the instance had been increased to such an absurd level that Mizushima Haru had been able to completely control Dong Xue’s lifeline from early on.
...Such situations only appear in tasks with the highest difficulty, similar to "identity competition".
It was precisely because the competition was related to the Ruler that she had fought to this extent.
There is no hatred without reason, and a montary hatred will not last long.
Only interests are eternal.
Su Ming’an looked at Mizushima Haru, who seed to have accepted this as a fact, and sighed softly again.
The identity of the Ruler must be no simple matter.
Considering the ti, when the Third World ended, the Organizers had t with him alone and extended an invitation just to him, it was clear this was a very special and high-status identity, and it was unique.
Combined with the words "dinsional ascension" that the Organizers had ntioned then, it was normal for Mizushima Haru to be so desperate for it.
Just like Shadow had said before, things like "dominating Zhai Xing" could be achieved once a Ruler reached a certain realm. Therefore, this special identity must be different from ordinary ones.
——It is an extraordinarily special status.
"I see." Su Ming’an softly said, "That’s why you’re so persistent."
...No matter how you put it, it’s still because of the infighting.
Even if it wasn’t out of pure hatred, this behavior of scheming to drag to my death for so status...
Is stupid.
Too stupid.
"...Can I stop then?" Mizushima Haru asked softly.
Su Ming’an narrowed his eyes.
"The world won’t allow to stop." She said, "...You don’t understand at all, Su Ming’an."
"There are only the two of us here, and we don’t have any difficulty in communicating through language." Su Ming’an said, "You can try to make understand."
Mizushima Haru closed her eyes.
With the help of the Strengthener, her lost eyes had already started to grow so tissue, and the wounds on her face were also beginning to heal, the scene of flesh regrowing at this mont looked particularly terrifying.
When she opened her eyes again, there was a trace of spirit in them.
"My wish, you won’t understand." She said, "——I want to free my sister, to free all of humanity from this world ruled by gas."
Su Ming’an’s originally smiling expression stiffened slightly.
His breathing beca a bit more rapid, his heartbeat involuntarily accelerated, and even his back began to sweat.
But soon, he forcefully suppressed these reactions.
"What did you say?" He faced Mizushima Haru, who was like a dog, and asked in a very light tone.
"Ignorant and shortsighted people will not understand my actions." Mizushima Haru said, "Growing up with the education of noble families, I understand what it ans to bear humiliations and to break down and rebuild.
...Even if I fail in the Fifth World, I was still given the chance to rise again.
As long as I drag you to your death here, finish my task, and beco the Player with the highest special status, continually advancing, I will have the chance to save everyone back...
And the world won’t allow to stop, I can’t even take one step back.
The way back has been blocked, blocked by myself.
——Unless I can drag you to your death here. Otherwise, what awaits is failure.
...Just like the failure right now."
Su Ming’an even thought he had heard wrong.
He was slightly stunned, as the shock engulfed him like a tidal wave. A host of indescribable, mixed emotions brewed inside his chest.
His throat was as dry as a desert, his mouth felt like it was ablaze, and for a mont, he couldn’t utter a single word.
...At this mont, he suddenly had the thought of collapsing.
Mizushima Haru was telling him——
Having been a constant thorn in his side, almost dragging him into a dead loop, completely shattering his hopes, she,
Who had caused him to die nurous tis, nearly driven him mad by pushing him toward the Organizers, she——was actually telling him——
Her reason for doing so, for scheming to kill him, to drag him down to hell with her——
——Was actually the sa as his own thoughts all along.
...She was also trying to save her planet, her holand.
She was actually also thinking about "redeeming Zhai Xing".
"..."
Su Ming’an was nearly out of breath.
But unlike Mizushima Haru, he completely concealed his true thoughts, while she spoke them outright.
...She even took the initiative to seek help from the Organizers, asking them for such an opportunity.
But without the ability to rewind, unaware of the undercurrents, she didn’t know the malice with which the Organizers dealt with people like her, who harbored thoughts of saving Zhai Xing.
So, she was pushed by the Organizers into an even deeper abyss.
...To face him.
To beco the whetstone for his sword, to beco his stepping stone.
Su Ming’an felt a montary dizziness.
He was assaulted by an unexpected deluge of information, his vision filled with constantly shifting dark visions.
He found it hard to describe this feeling.
...He had always been fighting alone, from the beginning to the end, always alone.
No one to confide in, no one to communicate with, true thoughts had to be covered with selfish words.
He had thought, even in this ga, there must be others who shared his sentints; it’s just that they were dood to never interact with each other.
In such a world, they were fated to be solitary islands, clinging to their own ideals, fighting their own battles.
But now... soone had clearly stood before him, telling him.
She was one of the solitary islands too.
The difference was—she seed not to understand the danger, to the extent of foolishly speaking out in such a situation.
He almost wanted to grab her by the collar and tell her—her targeting him, trying to kill him as if on a self-destructive path, was nothing but an extrely stupid "car crash".
But at this mont, facing this ignorant brethren, he had to sneer at it.
He had to use the most malicious words to criticize her.
"Is there any point?"
Su Ming’an’s expression froze for a mont, then he reverted to a smile.
In the face of Mizushima Haru, who shared the exact sa thoughts as him, his smile was extrely sarcastic.
"Saving Zhai Xing? Mizushima, are you deliberately opposing the Organizers?"
"—How is that opposing! You’re still laughing? What’s so funny!" Mizushima Haru’s emotions surged like a tide, she clenched her teeth, extrely agitated:
"—How could you understand! Even if it’s aningless now, I’m giving it aning! One day, I will definitely, definitely save my holand—with my sister—"
"Even if you ascend to the highest rank of Ruler, you think you can accomplish such a thing?" Su Ming’an scoffed: "Who promised you that, is it your own fantasy?"
"I have begged the Organizers—they promised —" Mizushima Haru scread: "I will definitely, definitely win back my hotown, at least, I will not let it fall into the hands of soone like you—"
Su Ming’an’s smile beca a bit more genuine.
...He seed, seed to have found a, a completely new path.
A new path besides perfectly passing every level.
Perhaps he should thank this mad dog, Mizushima Haru.
"Then you should be grateful that you failed." Su Ming’an said.
"Su Ming’an, you know nothing about ." Mizushima Haru stared at him and suddenly cald down:
"Your insight is too shallow, you lack experience, you have never endured the agony of struggling at the brink of life and death, nor the sha of your family being taken away—if before, I could only bla you for not thinking of redemption, but now, having refused to redeem your holand and still choosing to dominate the entire world, you are extrely selfish."
"You want to deny everything about ?" Su Ming’an said.
"A student living in the Ivory Tower." Mizushima Haru fixed her gaze on him: "What can you understand? What do you possess?"
The ink-black pupils of her newly-grown eyes looked untouched by any speck of dust, but the jet-black blood on the edges was vivid.
Her eyes, brimming with blood, suddenly turned frighteningly cold:
"Su Ming’an... you will always look at issues from the perspective of the petty, just a classic example of a lowly individual who has montarily gained imnse power—there’s not a shred of nobility in your heart, your thirst for power has drowned you.
From the mont you beca the Number One Player, by sacrificing Yuanyuan, I knew that your heart was filled with extre selfishness.
For a title, you can watch indifferent as your companions die, you can rob others without hesitation.
Like a child who has gained nuclear weapons, the level of your ideals doesn’t match your power.
...And I, we have seen, have experienced far more tragedies than you have.
Whether it is , my sister, or even Edward, Eni, Adolf... their vision, their experience, the world they have seen, is much better than yours."
You’re just—
A small fry who got lucky for a mont.
A small fry who caught the attention of the organizers.
A guy who walked into sheer dumb luck.
An ordinary student, Su Ming’an, who raised a knife against his brethren for a bit of short-term gain—you’re so unworthy."
Su Ming’an listened to Mizushima Haru’s words, each one seemingly wept in blood.
He could understand her words, since in her eyes, he truly was the absolute enemy, yet he hadn’t shown a hint of being moved by her words,
But he couldn’t forgive her actions.
...If only she had thought it through a little more, she wouldn’t have laid all her cards on the table.
She was too foolish, foolish and naive.
Just like a hot-blooded young manga protagonist, believing that effort equals success, that loud ranting could bring about an "epiphany," that if she just infiltrated for so many years, it would lead to a good result...
But in reality, the biggest boss she faced and scorned, had always had the sa goal as her from the very beginning.
...And she would never know this truth.
Because that BOSS also loved, equally, the world she loved.
Su Ming’an smiled.
He acted as though he was performing in a farcical play, crazily criticizing his own ideals.
"You speak well, but you’re too naive, Mizushima—redeem your holand, then what?
You can’t have absolute domination, you can’t have the strongest strength.
You possess heavy troops yet don’t use them, you hold power yet discard it carelessly. You foolishly oppose the organizers and end up with today’s outco.
Before making a choice, you should have a clear sense of the odds and the consequences.
You should understand that hot-bloodedness, or simple love for your sister, won’t be the reasons for your success.
——You never truly fought against destiny, but only lost to the person you look down on the most.
Listen well."
He spoke to Mizushima Haru on the ground, each word deliberate:
"You’re simply not up to it."
"You can’t save anyone."
"Continuing will also lead to no outco, no one can win in the end with the ridiculous reason of redeeming Zhai Xing."
"Your passion will be worn away, your enthusiasm will gradually disappear."
"[You’ve just gone through an extrely simplified and extre way of thinking, generalizing all opinions, turning them into a so-called grand cause worthy of respect.]"
"——During this ti, you haven’t learned anything, only learned to completely affirm yourself, totally deny your opponent."
"And dignity, once lost for the first ti, will naturally be lost a second ti."
"You see, just under my montary coercion, in less than a minute, you’ve thrown away your dignity again, Plum Blossom Twice, lying in front of like a dog, just as you initially did."
"Your so-called ideals are worthless, your decade of persistence aningless. The significance you speak of—also has no significance."
"Redeeming your holand is, in truth, an impossible feat—humans cannot defy the organizers, nor can they go against their will."
"Rules are designed from the angle of those in power, and you’ve breached the basic ga rules."
"You are simply courting your own destruction."
"You see persistence and willpower as progress, you see justice as your virtue, thinking that under fair rules, you can claim everything from the ’ga’ system, becoming a hardcore player who can overturn the board."
"——But you simply don’t understand."
He slowly stood up, looked at the abyss-like corridor, saw Mo Yan slowly approaching, saw the pendant he held in his hand, and said softly:
"Mizushima, you need to understand that in the ga, players—
are inherently the most humble, the most needing to conform to the rules.
...
And you will end up with nothing."
"..." Listening to his long speech, Mizushima Haru’s expression finally showed cracks of collapse.
She was trembling, her whole body shaking, her reddened eyes fixed firmly on him, seemingly desperate to conjure hands out of thin air to crush his neck.
Shock, pain, sorrow, disappointnt... So many emotions flooded through her like tidal waves.
"It’s a good thing you turned off the live broadcast before saying all this," she said hoarsely.
"So, have I moved you?" Su Ming’an asked.
"Never," she said after a mont of silence, resolute.
"That’s a pity."
"...because my journey has co to an end," she said.
Su Ming’an’s eyes flickered.
"Unable to kill you, unable to stop you, I have sealed off my own retreat," said Mizushima Haru. "I had this one chance, and I failed."
"..."
"As a loser, what awaits is disappearance, is death," she said.
"..."
"Su Ming’an, you are extrely arrogant," she said, "Others may not have seen it, but in your words, I have fully heard your arrogance.
Even if in the end, you succeed in dominating everything—you still won’t be able to rejuvenate this land.
You have been completely assimilated, you are completely numb to the baseline and emotions that humans should have.
You are simply no longer human.
In the truest sense, you have conford to this ga—you have beco the real ’Number One Player.’"
As she spoke, her voice grew hoarser, and her words fainter.
Like floating through the clouds, with muddled words and blood trickling from her lips, she uttered her final sentence:
"—Congratulations."
Su Ming’an closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he saw the body of the girl, who had lost her limbs, had completely fallen to the ground.
Blood, like corrupted ink, spread over her, her eyes closed, silent, like a pitch-black tombstone.
His hand trembled slightly.
...when will humans truly dominate themselves.
Not feigning madness or stupidity, not wagging tails for pity, not living like slaves and dogs just to prevent the exposure of their real intentions.
The incompetent pioneer lay dead before him.
Separated by a pitiful barrier, their ideals could not communicate.
And even such foolish brethren... when they fell before him, he could still hear the tremble of their souls.
Sparse and precious.
Foolish yet naive.
And he would end this ga with his own hands.
In nine months.
He raised his head.
He saw Mo Yan standing at the door, with an expression of so astonishnt.
"Mo Yan, what’s wrong?"
He thought that Mo Yan had heard their conversation, which was so outrageous that it could terrify the entire world if released.
"Big brother," Mo Yan quickly approached him, "are you okay?"
Su Ming’an knew Mo Yan had probably heard.
But he felt Mo Yan was soone trustworthy.
The guy had entrusted him with his life, more than once.
"It’s okay—soone once said that those who constantly rush for their own interests are the most motivated, and also the most idealistic," Su Ming’an said up to this point, revealing an extrely brilliant smile, "...I think they’re right."
"..."
Mo Yan looked at him.
Mo Yan was looking at him with a very complex gaze, scrutinizing him carefully, as if observing a peculiar object.
"...Big brother."
...
"But you’re crying."
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