[December 4, 2021, Evening 18:00]
[Main God World・Zone 30]
In the Lotus Pond, a swarm of bright red fish swam.
In the courtyard, a purple-clay teapot was emitting steam.
The woman with long black hair lifted her cherry blossom kimono, poured the tea, took a step back into the chamber, and slid open the wooden door.
A middle-aged man with white hair and beard, clad in a black kimono, sat cross-legged on the tatami mats, with his eyes closed in ditation.
The woman took off her shoes to enter, placed the tea to one side, and knelt down in front of him.
The man did not speak, and the woman remained silent as well.
Outside the window, pink petals that resembled cherry blossoms fluttered down; the middle-aged man opened a thin slit in his eyes.
The woman bowed her head.
"Please inform of Sora’s whereabouts," she said, her voice steady.
The middle-aged man did not respond but rely closed his eyes again.
The woman’s head bowed even lower, her body bent, and her hands trembled slightly.
The heavy silence enveloped her completely, so still that she could hear her own breathing.
Her heartbeat drumd in her chest, and she sat motionless like a statue.
Eventually, amidst the mist of the tea, the middle-aged man finally spoke.
"You only need to do your duty. We will handle Sora’s matters," he said.
The woman didn’t lift her head but continued to bow.
After a long while, the man spoke again:
"Atlanda said that Sora is fine. As long as you keep winning, you will see her one day."
The woman’s gaze brightened.
The middle-aged man stood up, took down a bamboo sword hanging on the wall, and left.
The wooden door slid shut, and Mizushima Kawa Sora lifted her head, her fists clenched tightly.
"Sora... I will persevere."
Her eyes were filled with blood vessels on the verge of bursting.
Carry on.
And then, et you.
Dark circles lood under her eyes as she shakily stood up, bracing herself against the wall, and walked out.
The sunlight shone on her hands, and on the back of them, five white Pattern Marks glowed faintly.
She walked out, looking at the sky gradually dyed with a red glow from the setting sun, and turned off the do-not-disturb mode.
"Ding-dong!" "Ding-dong!" "Ding-dong!"
A series of "ding-dong" sounds suddenly rang in her ears.
This was a special alert from the World Forum for the individuals she followed, indicating soone she was monitoring had made a post.
Mizushima Kawa Sora usually followed only the most significant twenty to thirty individuals, such as top-ranking players and so key organization leaders. She never followed those top-ranked players who posted several tis an hour and acted like seasoned otakus; it would only distract her attention.
But now... What big event had taken place?
Why the barrage of posts?
She extended her hand to pull up the forum interface and saw several notifications popping up.
...
[The player you follow (Noel) has posted.]
[The player you follow (Edward) has posted.]
[The player you follow (Flora) has posted.]
[The player you follow (Bei Wang)...]
[The player you follow (Lin Jiang)...]
Eni, Yamada Machiichi, Adolf, Hubert, Flora...
A bunch of world-shaking nas appeared at this mont in the forum, all typically quiet but startling when they were active.
Mizushima Kawa Sora stared, stupefied.
She rembered that even when the eting for human salvation, a global event, took place, these individuals did not post with the fervor they were now.
...Was this a sign of so significant ordeal?
Her heart tightened, and she quickly expanded the interface.
What imdiately caught her eye was the hopage of the World Forum, and right at the top, she saw the hottest volunteer recruitnt post.
[(Hot) New Volunteer Hospital Recruitnt Post—Blue Ground Rescue Team Enthusiastically Recruiting!]
This was a post about constructing a temporary hospital that suddenly exploded in popularity after the first batch of Adventurer Players from the Sixth World returned. It was calling for talents of all sorts.
Whether they were expert scholars, forr doctors and nurses, including construction and civil workers, they were all needed. Even if you just had so Strength to commit, they were recruiting.
Volunteering is about selfless contribution.
When this post first appeared, Mizushima Kawa Sora once mocked people’s naivety in her mind. She thought this kind of volunteer recruitnt would have been embraced in the old world, but in the current tis... With interests being overtly displayed and players becoming isolated like hermits, and with danger on the rise, everyone being self-concerned, who would abandon the opportunity to enhance themselves for a selfless cause?
...But she soon realized she was mistaken.
She underestimated people’s determination.
...Even in such a world, countless individuals are willing to sacrifice for the greater good, even at the cost of their personal interests.
The human heart is a complex thing, and it was only after seeing the popularity of the recruitnt post that Mizushima Kawa Sora truly grasped the reality of this statent.
She briefly scanned the post.
["This world needs heroes." The United Group’s latest event schedule—inviting the public and volunteers to join.]
[The spirit of struggle embedded in civilization is longstanding; only by fighting can we survive this disaster together.]
[Fellow travelers nad Humanity, unite for ourselves, for our beloved families, for the civilization we have inherited, to survive!]
[This world needs you!]
[Weakness is never a barrier to Survival—may you start as insignificant and end as great.]
In addition to this statent, the post also included various activity images and videos of the construction in progress, followed by a segnt of a volunteer’s speech.
...
Mizushima Kawa Sora scrolled down to the comnts section at the bottom and initially thought the comnts were being manipulated.
But as the positive comntary grew, even she had to believe that perhaps there really were good-hearted people willing to contribute to this cause until now.
[Humanity’s future is in our hands!]
[Never could handle instances, nor good at secondary Occupations, but now I’ve found sothing I can do. I’m going to register right now!]
[This is the power of civilization. Even in such a world, human beings still carry the blood of a social animal.]
[Even amidst difficulties, we will find every possible way to overco them! This is human civilization rising from disaster!]
...
She closed her eyes briefly.
Although she had once doubted the usefulness of those idle players, wondered if the ga had pulled this bunch in just to drag them down.
But occasionally, so people shone so brightly that even she could not bring herself to criticize them anymore.
"Ding Dong! Ding Dong!"
During the ti Mizushima Kawa Sora spent reading the forum posts, she had been particularly attentive to new ones and almost forgot her real purpose for visiting the forum.
She pulled up the "Special Attention" interface and clicked into Noel’s latest reply —
[Noel: What? Still laughing out loud? Play the tough guy, keep playing the tough guy in front of , dare to et offline, dare to bump into each other in a ga instance? If you have the guts, stop hiding behind anonymity; I’m at your doorstep right now.]
Mizushima Kawa Sora: "..."
Mizushima Kawa Sora: "?"
She almost thought she had read it wrong.
To whom was this directed?
When she clicked into the full post, she discovered a very long... so long that even after scrolling to the bottom it seed endless chain of replies within the post, filled with traces of Noel’s machine-gun-like battle, almost chaotically cursing other players, hopping from the first floor to tens of thousands.
Upon closer inspection, she found that the content of the cursing was all aid at a specific group of players.
[56L Mushroom Xiaoxiao (Forging Series Third Rank): I think the Number One Player is very suspicious to begin with. He doesn’t release the strategy and always acts so mysterious. Who’s going to acknowledge him?]
Noel imdiately followed up with a reply below.
[（Reply）Noelv (World Ranking Second): Does your Main God World ho sit by the sea? Why are you minding such wide business? Who needs your acknowledgnt? Was the Number One Player elected or did he earn his position with strength?]
...
[128L A Qi Qi (Potion Series Second Rank): With the Number One Player holding so much sway, what if he suddenly turns against us? Wouldn’t we all be at his rcy? I didn’t believe it before, but now I see why the organizers would plant soone among us. Now I understand the reason.]
[（Reply）Noelv (World Ranking Second): When thinking through issues, please drain a little water from your brain first. You are as insignificant as an ant; is there even a need for spies? Looking at you, I guess your demise was due to a lack of intelligence, right?]
...
[598L Godefrey (Silver Rank Strategist): The Number One Player is too unfriendly. Haven’t you seen his instance records? Those who end up in the sa instance as him never have a good ending. How can a guy who lacks empathy for his own brethren possibly have a noble goal in the end?? The Number One Player should have been replaced long ago; even Prince Edward’s deanor is better than his.]
[（Reply）Noelv (World Ranking Second): Oh? I’ve got it now; I finally understand your way of thinking. You like those pretentious noble airs, right? Truly the face of a petty person. Strange... Normally, humans should evolve with the changing world, but why are you still garbage like this?]
The argunt below spiraled into a ss.
The trigger, the main reason that provoked so many top players to comnt, was an imdiately following reply.
[（Reply）Edwardv (World Ranking Third): No, Noel, your argunt is fundantally wrong. In such a world, there is no distinction between nobility and commoners; everyone has the right to fight for their own position, and it’s their freedom to choose the way. As a leader, one must be fair, just, and transparent. Therefore, I have publicly disclosed my identity background and my goals. My intention was to give everyone full confidence in , and the reason for the dispute was due to the concealnt by others, their failure to win the public’s trust...]
[（Reply）Noelv (World Ranking Second): Don’t talk, I have a germ phobia, and you just happen to be trash. ]
...
"Pfft."
Mizushima Kawa Sora couldn’t help but laugh at Noel’s straightforward response.
She continued to read and quickly figured out why the top players were crowding to post here.
Since Edward had entered the fray, many who could not stand being left out wanted to make their presence felt.
Players had long figured out the connection between the heat in a livestream and the accumulation of Points, there was a stair-step trend to it. The top-three hottest livestreams garnered the highest Live Streaming Points, which dropped precipitously after fourth place, and it was even worse further down the rankings, with those beyond several million barely receiving subsistence levels.
This led many capable yet topic-deficient players to still strive for their mont in the heat.
Even showing off in public for a mont, scraping so of the heat, could satisfy their vanity.
The Number One Player didn’t need to worry about heat and topic; they did.
They couldn’t be like others, always the center of attention, their nas brought up in every post.
Showing so presence at tis like this by flaunting a guild na behind you is always easier than showing off your strength in an instance of the ga.
[Flora v (Top Ten in the World): Damn it, I seriously worked on my reply to the serious human self-rescue topic for twenty minutes, only for little Noel’s comnt to make laugh it all away. How adorable, little Noel, do you need a big sister type girlfriend who’s a few years older than you?]
...
[Bei Wang v (Top Seven in the World): Well said (well said).]
...
[Nata v (Lighthouse Guild Certified Administrative Manager): My dear guild leader hasn’t shown up for a long ti, which is indeed our oversight. But how co we now need a bunch of "regulation" from you people? (smile.jpg)]
...
[Adolf v (Top Fourteen in the World): No matter what, the Number One Player is always the Number One Player, all strength originates from himself, and we all watched it unfold, so no one else should have a say.]
...
[Eni v (Top Sixteen in the World): Hey, what the hell, I haven’t even had a chance to curse yet, and you bunch of netizens started cursing first? Su Ming’an is my destined enemy, you think you have the right to denigrate him before I master the Fire Mystery and truly defeat him? Do you?]
...
[Yamada Machiichi v (Top Twenty-three in the World): Su Ming’an...is not a bad guy.]
...
[Lin Jiang v: It’s hilarious, rabid dogs everywhere, but it’s rare to find soone who can recognize true quality.]
...
I don’t know what set off these top-ranking players.
...They actually started to collectively defend Su Ming’an.
Although their words varied, not a single one of them joined in to slander him.
Mizushima Kawa Sora watched this unprecedented show of unity among the top-ranking players.
She had already known that there were no deep-seated hatreds amongst them; at most, Edward and his group had had run-ins with Su Ming’an, but she didn’t expect them to co together like this in a ti like this.
She continued to scroll down.
The situation was gradually fernting.
Mizushima Kawa Sora slowly understood... people are ultimately different from one another.
So are passionate about participating in voluntary service, while others only turn their heads to stir up discord among the top players.
Humanity is always full of variety.
But strangely, this ti, most of the top-ranking players were not provoked; instead, they were defending the Number One Player.
Noel’s first retort was two hours ago, and Edward was lured into the trap half an hour later. The timing of other peak players voicing their opinions varied, but it had been a while as well.
During this period, the front page has seen a host of posts starting to broadcast this issue. Clicking on any rant post revealed a crowd enjoying the spectacle.
Mizushima Kawa Sora couldn’t understand why a single retort from Noel could suddenly lead to such a big uproar, almost pulling in all the peak players from around the world as audience to the drama.
But upon reflection, she sohow ca to terms with it.
After all, this was a rare long interim period, and many players who just returned liked to browse the forums for a while. Seeing this kind of drama, it was not strange for them to join in.
Sotis, a trend just rises that quickly.
She scrolled down again and suddenly a whole bunch of hot topics popped up.
These posts, as if on cue, erupted one after another, and their popularity soared into the hundreds of millions in no ti.
She looked at this series of posts and her eyes widened.
"Weird, how could these people..."
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