[Zone Eleven, Eastern District, Freedom Faction, Beacon Shelter.]
A sticky sweetness floated in the air—the scent of a porridge made from sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Inside the sanctuary, people dressed in cotton clothes chatted and laughed loudly, while flas crackled in the fireplace.
Here a few vendors were selling snacks and strong liquors, people finished their rice paste and sweet potato porridge, so of them would buy a small bottle of alcohol, chatting with those next to them.
Suddenly, the chattering people beca quiet, even the sound of soup spoons clinking against pots and bowls could no longer be heard.
A woman carrying a gun walked in.
Tretiya’s wheat-colored hair fluttered behind her, and as the bloody light of the sunset faded from her bit by bit, a faint sll of blood emanated from her.
She was the "Arbiter" of the Beacon Sanctuary, responsible for killing those who contracted the [Missing] disease.
Once she discovered anyone with a mory lapse or unclear mind, to prevent the spread of infection, she would decisively kill them.
She had the right to execute directly and could shoot first and report later, firing her gun within the sanctuary at any ti.
Under the chilling gaze of the people, they saw that beside Tretiya was a young man in a white coat. He was handso and approachable, holding a bright red knot in his hand, fluttering like a butterfly.
It was only after Tretiya and Su Ming’an left that people gradually began to speak:
"The Arbiter is back. Why did she return so early today, shouldn’t she have inspected a few more people?"
"Maybe it has sothing to do with that newcor, he looks like a scholar."
"Why is the Arbiter smiling today... It’s terrifying, the last ti she smiled, she had just shot twelve people in a row."
Su Ming’an heard these voices.
He turned his head, looked at Tretiya, who had a very sweet smile on her face, eting his gaze.
Wherever Tretiya walked, people would make way for her, as if avoiding a truck recklessly charging through.
They were so—fearful of Tretiya.
"What are you looking at?" Tretiya’s voice ca.
She and Yasa Acto, a Scholar Player who Su Ming’an knew, looked very alike, both possessing a sagacious and composed temperant.
"Why do you call teacher?" Su Ming’an asked.
In the air, the scent of at was growing stronger, it was dinner ti, and many mbers would co back to eat.
The lights of the Underground City shone on his face, he still bore the face of Lewis, although his eyes were also a deep grey, they were completely different from Yasa’s visage, appearing much younger, not so gaunt and haggard, as if touched by a soft blood color.
—And Tretiya just stared at him intently.
Su Ming’an blinked, and Tretiya seed to awaken from a trance.
"Because... no matter what your face becos, no matter what mask you wear, I can recognize you. You are my teacher, don’t you rember?" Tretiya said seriously.
"I hibernated for thirty years, are you from thirty years ago?" Su Ming’an said.
"Yes, I lived through the ’Century Catastrophe’." Tretiya said: "At that ti, you, , and seven others, we all experienced the ’Century Catastrophe’, and in the end, only you went missing, don’t you rember?"
"I woke up from the hibernation capsule, with my mory lost." Su Ming’an said.
"Have you forgotten everything?" Tretiya asked.
She bowed her head slightly, and her nearly pale wheat-colored hair fell down.
As if contemplating, she curved into a smile:
"This way... it’s also good."
She reached out her hand, covering her face.
Between her fingers, her eyes almost shed tears. Her shoulders shook uncontrollably, her emotions suddenly becoming extrely agitated.
"Ha, hahaha, hahahahaha... I should have understood earlier. Why did I still have hopes..." Her laughter beca very disturbing, sounding frantic, like the laughter of utter despair.
"..." Su Ming’an found these NPCs were sohow prone to acting up.
The white-haired Lin Guang obviously had so ntal issues, and now even the seemingly composed Tretiya began to act up.
"..."
Tretiya released her grip.
She sorted out her sowhat disheveled bangs, tucking stray strands behind her ear. Monts later, her expression returned to normal.
"Sorry, teacher."
Her smile returned, the barely visible bloodshot in her eyes the only evidence that her emotions were not calm.
"The Century Catastrophe... we’ve all lost our mories, no one rembers it. As for who you are," Tretiya said softly, "teacher, look up."
Su Ming’an lifted his head—
Through the dark red sunset’s bloody light, there stood a spire-like building rising up, resembling the ruins of Central City’s skyscraper.
It was like a cross reaching into the sky, completely white. High above the building, where people looked up—there hung a clear, large portrait on the screen.
The face of the man was all too familiar to Su Ming’an.
The slightly sharp eyes faintly hinted at an organic sense, and his deep grey irises, with pale spots resembling butterflies, rested upon his firm nose and lean cheeks.
The man was slightly tilting his face, smiling at the screen, as if facing everyone who gazed upon it. The smile was faint and restrained, his profound gaze seemingly piercing into the hearts of the onlookers.
—That was Yasa Acto.
Ti eternalized on his face, his eyes always resolute and weighty.
This high-hanging screen was sufficient for every person who looked up to see him.
Although this was only a portrait, not the actual person, to erect soone’s image as a city’s emblem spoke volus about the individual’s importance.
He was like a deity overlooking this gathering place.
"..." Su Ming’an couldn’t describe his feelings at that mont.
Back in the City of asurent seventy years later, he understood that Acto was a once-in-a-millennium genius. Acto rose to prominence in Doomsday City, leading people to victory in the Dawn War, and then reford the Dawn Brain, sustaining the lives of a million people. He was rightfully humanity’s Savior.
Given the current scarcity of resources, if not for Acto, humanity really wouldn’t have lasted seventy years before extinction.
Su Ming’an had originally thought that Acto was impressive enough, single-handedly averting the fate of civilization’s discontinuation.
But it turned out that even before the Dawn War had begun—Acto’s image was already deeply ingrained in people’s hearts.
Tretiya, likewise looking up, gazed at the portrait: "Although you disappeared for thirty years, thirty years ago, just after the end of the Century Catastrophe, people were saying you’re—the Hero."
"Why?"
He hadn’t expected to inhabit the body of such a person.
Great, wise, strong, hailed as a hero in any era. Acto’s radiance was too dazzling, making others feel it’s insolent to even look upward. Even thirty years after his disappearance, his image was displayed on tall buildings, like a spiritual leader.
"We don’t know what you did back then. Because of the Century Catastrophe, we all have no mory of it." Tretiya gave such an answer:
"Although people don’t rember anything, there’s this vague idea—that Yasa saved us from the catastrophe.
We sculpted statues, engraved your likeness, wrote your na, and sang praises to your poetry—although we don’t know what you did, everyone recognizes you as a hero."
A wave of alcohol scent from the street hit him, and Su Ming’an coughed a few tis, turning his face away.
"It should be that the mory erasure was not thorough enough, people forgot what the Century Catastrophe was, but they vaguely rembered who saved them." Su Ming’an said: "Maybe, it was the scientific technology I possessed, that created a safe environnt during that catastrophe and saved everyone."
"Maybe." Tretiya said.
The silence between them lasted for a while.
As the blood-red sun set, everyone dashed into their buildings as if fleeing for their lives, tightly closing doors and windows, leaving no gaps.
"It’s getting cold at night..." Tretiya said.
Her olive-colored scarf fluttered in the wind, two snowball-like pom-poms swinging back and forth.
"Teacher, you’re probably the only mory preserver of the Century Catastrophe," she said.
Su Ming’an didn’t speak.
Pity, he wasn’t Ya Sa, and he couldn’t extract the specifics of the Century Catastrophe from Ya Sa’s mind.
If only Ya Sa had sothing similar to "Su Rin’s mory Stone," it would at least let him know what happened during the Century Catastrophe.
"Teacher, I’ll take you to et the leader here," Tretiya said, "If you tell them you are Ya Sa Acto, everyone in the Sanctuary will respect you."
"It depends," Su Ming’an said, "I’m now called Lewis."
Tretiya’s gaze beca distant again.
Her emotions were very unstable; ever since she first saw him, she would often laugh for no reason, and sotis she would stare at him lost in thought.
The two stopped in front of a four-story building that resembled a large tavern, with the sound of people coming from inside.
"Currently, the Sanctuary’s water resources are extrely short, and we must find new water sources promptly... otherwise, once the water runs out, it will be a devastating crisis for the Sanctuary."
"But if we send more people out to explore... more will die."
"We can’t let everyone sit in the Sanctuary waiting to die; we need water..."
Tretiya intentionally waited at the door, letting Su Ming’an listen for a while, before knocking.
"Co in," ca the voice from inside.
"Creak—"
As the door opened, a fragrance of wine wafted out.
This building had a rare retro-style decoration, with cherrywood fras around the main door wrapped and fixed with iron wire, into which stained-glass windows like those in churches were set.
The Beacon leader, draped in a blood-red cloak, sat on a high stool, his eyebrows thick but the lines of his eyes soft, with a hint of red circuitry flowing in his eyes.
When Su Ming’an entered, the leader was sowhat surprised to raise his eyebrows, taken aback by this newcor’s thin attire.
—And as soon as Su Ming’an saw the Beacon leader, he also paused.
The blood-like cloak trailing behind the leader; Su Ming’an had seen it in a war band seventy years later.
Che Kylstia, the spirited leader of the war band, always had that blood-red behind him.
Su Ming’an’s eyes moved slightly, and after a mont, he asked softly,
"...What is your full na, Beacon leader?"
"How rude! When does a newcor ask the leader’s na first!" soone next to the leader, also wearing a blood-red cloak, scolded.
At that mont, many people were seated in the tavern area, gathering here for warmth.
For a mont, it was as if he had not traversed the long seventy years, but had co to the war band’s tavern in The Fringe.
"It’s okay, never mind," the leader raised his hand.
His eyes, sowhat soft in outline, curled into a kind smile as he said to Su Ming’an:
"Sen."
"My na is Sen Kylstia. Greetings, young newcor."
...Indeed.
If it was seventy years prior, there would inevitably be generational succession within the ranks.
Su Ming’an had t Che’s grandfather, or perhaps great-grandfather.
They shared similar features and similar status as leaders.
"Since Tretiya has brought you here, your identity mustn’t be simple," Sen said with a smile, "Co, tell us, are you a scholar of so kind? Or perhaps a doctor? Beacon is in dire need of all sorts of talents now."
"Neither," Su Ming’an said.
"Neither? Are you kidding ? With that attire, you surely can’t be soone who cleans sewers, right?" the man with a quick temper beside him spoke aloud.
"No," Su Ming’an said, "I probably know a little about everything."
...
[January 27, 2022 · World Forum]
[(Hot) Discussing the major puzzles of the Ninth World.]
In the World Forum, speculation about the Ninth World was rampant.
Around the exposition of Kaius Tower, Players hopped between different live-streaming rooms, seeking minor clues and fragnts of the story.
Among them, the most popular post was a compilation of the current information.
This post was made by the well-known forum Player "Hubert," and it was very substantial.
...
[Hello everyone, today is the eighth day since the World opened, and we have already learned quite a bit of information.]
[Feel free to add more in the sub-thread, and I will highlight the most reliable information.]
[Piecing together live broadcasts from top-ranked Players like Su Ming’an, Mizushima Kawa Sora, Bei Wang, Aiden, and Flora, we can see that the City of asurent is a system that combines human intellect with the pure rationality of a brain network.]
[Currently, it seems only Su Ming’an has acquired the identity of Yasa Acto...]
...
"...Hm?" Lin Yin paused as she was eating a doughnut.
She was sitting on a swing in the garden, with desserts and milk tea placed beside her.
This was the Guild Headquarters, nad "Milk You to Death," a gathering place for healer Players. As a top-notch healer Player, she acted as the vice president here.
She chose not to participate in the Ninth World and rested in the Main God World instead.
"Lin Yin, what are you looking at?" asked a blonde woman nad Fani, who was a friend from Gran Country that Lin Yin had t by chance.
"A post analyzing the Ninth World," Lin Yin said. "These kinds of posts are very popular right now."
"Hmm..." Fani tilted her head, raising a question:
"Why aren’t you with Su Ming’an’s team? I rember that in the Seventh World of Pulaya, you were still a team, right?"
"Because Su Ming’an simply doesn’t need a healer," Lin Yin said as she snapped the doughnut with a "crack." "Besides, he prefers to work alone, and I’m not cut out for that. Now he’s tead up with people from the Peak Alliance, which is good."
"But you’re known as a brutal healer," Fani said with a smile. "Not teaming up with Su Ming’an is one thing, but not even with Lv Shu? I rember you two are quite close."
"It’s not... that close," Lin Yin said.
She stared blankly at a red butterfly fluttering over the flower beds, coming to rest on a white lily.
"Just... we knew each other when we were kids."
Previously, soone suggested allowing ntally strained Adventurer Players to take a break for one World cycle. After all, three days of rest was indeed too short.
But in the end, this proposal remained just that—a proposal—as the difficulty of instances grew by the day, and no one wanted to fall behind.
Even Edward, who was deed mad, chose to join the Ninth World.
It was commonly acknowledged that the longer one stayed in the Eighth World, the worse their ntal state beca.
Given that Su Ming’an and Su Rin had stuck it out until the last day of Qiongdi, logically, their conditions should have been the worst.
In the Ninth World, Su Ming’an’s role was central, manipulating an entire City-State’s situation and wavering between the Dawn System and the Rebel Army. It was hard to imagine the extent of his stress.
A high position might seem glamorous, but the challenges faced were starkly different from those with ordinary statuses. A slight mistake could lead to irreparable disaster.
"Su Ming’an, he should be fine, right..." Lin Yin thought.
She seed to have never seen Su Ming’an lose his mind.
Reviews
All reviews (0)