"On a cold winter night, a young man wanted to invite the girl he secretly adored to dance. He needed a red rose, but despite his long search, he could only find white roses,"
"A nightingale perched on the branch was moved by his affection. It pressed its breast against the rose’s spikes and sang throughout the night under the moonlight. The white rose was dyed red by its blood, and the young man finally got the red rose he needed to court her."
"The nightingale died clinging to a hope for love, yet the young man was rejected by the girl for his poverty. In his anger, he threw the red rose into the gutter, and the wheels of a passing chariot crushed its petals."
"’Look, look!’ the great tree cried, ’The rose is ready.’ But the nightingale did not reply, for it lay dead among the bushes, with the thorn still lodged in its heart."
"...That is the end of the story."
Before her were a microphone and a receiver; the girl read the fairy tale, which she had heard from the players, with emotion and expression. A large group of children gathered around her, listening to her storytelling.
This place was Border City—since Doomsday City was not safe, many children had been sent out of Doomsday City early, waiting in areas distant from the war for humanity’s final outco.
A fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl raised her hand to ask a question: "Sister Xiao i, if the nightingale had known the ending beforehand, would it still have chosen to et that young man?"
Xiao i paused briefly:
"This... I’m not sure."
Since her return to Kaius Tower, she had stayed in the relatively safe Border City. She didn’t want to cause any trouble for Su Ming’an, so she had been very good, not daring to wander about.
After discovering a signal tower here, her longing for an emotional radio station was reawakened—at the City of asurent, where she had listened to the broadcast, she had always dread of becoming a radio host.
So, during this ti, she sat at the signal tower, telling stories to the children through the audio equipnt.
"Then, Sister Xiao i, if you were the nightingale, would you choose to et that young man?" the girl asked in another way.
"I..." Xiao i pondered for a mont, and facing the children’s expectant eyes, she spoke hesitantly, "I probably wouldn’t do that... Although that act is touching, I’m a very timid person, I’m afraid of pain, and I’m afraid of death, I couldn’t dye the rose red with my blood while praising love, that’s just too painful..."
"I wouldn’t do that either, the nightingale is too foolish, why should it die for soone else’s love?" a boy said.
"Doesn’t the text contain a sentence? ’Yet love is greater than life, and how can the heart of a bird compare with the heart of a man?’" the girl said: "But I’m curious... Sister Xiao i, I often hear people talk about love, what is love, anyway?"
What is love?
Xiao i subconsciously clenched the pages of the book in her hands. The question was too complex; poets and philosophers had exhausted opulent diction and lengthy paragraphs to describe it, full of romance and tragedy, yet no one could accurately define its aning.
But upon hearing this question, the first thing that flashed in her mind was just one person.
In the early hours of the morning, he passed by her in a wheelchair.
On a rainy day, in a pool of blood, he was the one reaching out to her.
On a clear afternoon, amidst the bustle of the city, he walked with her into the cinema.
In the private room, at her most desperate mont, he was the one who broke in.
His gaze was always full of acceptance and respect; even in the coldest downpour, she saw sunlight in his eyes.
People say when a person thinks of another upon hearing the word "love," that other person embodies what love is.
So, in her eyes, "love" was...
"ow~" The heavy white cat on her shoulder was purring, its fluffy tail brushing against her cheek. Xiao i, as if suddenly awakened, trembled in her fingertips, not answering the question.
If in the fairy tale the "young man" was him, and the "nightingale" was her, would she dye a rose red for him?
Would she?
It seed like she... still didn’t dare.
"The story for today is over, you all should go back to sleep," Xiaoi promptly stood up, tidying up the scripts on the table.
It was already late, and the children left the Signal Tower, yawning. Only Xiaoi remained, staring blankly at the reflective glass in front of her as the surrounding microphones flickered with a rustling static noise.
At that mont, a series of footsteps approached.
"Xiaoi—I heard you’re quite close to Su Ming’an. I want to give him a New Year’s gift, can you help choose sothing? Do you know what he likes?"
The speaker was a female Player. She had dyed brown-gold hair and wore huge crystal earrings, looking very mature. When Xiaoi lived in Border City, it was this female Player who had always offered her friendly protection.
Players’ actions are always purposeful, and this female Player was no exception. She knew Xiaoi was Su Ming’an’s mission target, and she wanted to help Su Ming’an, so she protected Xiaoi.
Xiaoi said subconsciously, "Why do you want to give him a gift? Do you like him?"
The female Player was taken aback, then quickly laughed and said, "No, I just want to give him a gift, that’s all. The Kaius Tower is about to end, he should rest for a few hours, and maybe I can give him the gift while he rests."
Xiaoi asked in confusion, "You don’t like him, but you want to give him a gift? He doesn’t even know you."
The female Player responded, "Does that matter?"
In Xiaoi’s puzzled look, the female Player sat down on a chair next to her, looking down at Border City’s peaceful tranquility through the sowhat blurry glass. The Signal Tower’s screen data flickered, casting a cold, pearl-white sheen on her sharp-profiled face.
"Indeed, many people like him, but unrequited love is too sad, so I gave up," the female Player said.
"Then why..." Xiaoi began.
"Do you want to hear it? It’s not a very interesting story," the female Player said.
"I want to hear it," Xiaoi said.
She wanted to hear everything related to him.
The female Player smiled and lowering her head, said:
"Three months ago, I was deep in depression, crying day and night. I was afraid of zombies, of skeletons, afraid of all the monsters in the instances.
When I was sitting in the park crying, a small group of missionaries passed by , and they gave a ’Lighthouse moirs.’ They said that everyone can shine with their own light."
At this point, the female Player smiled, very lightly and slowly:
"I didn’t take it seriously at the ti, I just went ahead and looked up Su Ming’an’s live stream. The more I watched, the more addicted I beca. I thought if he, a person of my age, could be so powerful, why couldn’t I..."
"On the day he was teaching in Constantine, my mother had been ntally ill, and I had already been in despair for half a month. But his piano playing woke up... At that ti, I thought, if he could play such beautiful music despite his heavy burdens, why couldn’t I bloom as well?"
The female Player lifted her head, looking at the dancing white light on the ceiling, warm mist swirling at the tip of her nose:
"He never helped in a mont, but he was always helping invisibly, encouraging to keep going. No matter where he was—if I just looked up, I could see him.
I think that’s what a lighthouse is like.
At least, I was illuminated."
As she told this long narrative, Xiaoi felt as if she were witnessing a flower blooming. The brilliance in the female Player’s eyes was very bright.
"You seem... to understand him well," Xiaoi said.
The female Player smiled, a bit embarrassed.
"He’s a very attractive person to ."
She fiddled with her fingers, as if filled with longing or reproach:
"He often doesn’t say what he feels. Sotis he’s clearly in pain, but he always bears it silently on his own.
Though exhausted, he always liked to push himself to the limit, not sleeping for several days in a row, and saying, "Just leave everything to ."
Though he feared losing his companions, he always purposely displayed a cold appearance, not letting anyone get a hold on him.
His most common phrase was, "It’s fine. I’m not tired. Just do as I say"... but how I wished he would say "I’m so tired, help , please help " more often. That way, people would see his fatigue. But he never did."
When the female player said this, she paused, her eyebrows dancing:
"But many people like him because that’s just the kind of person he is.
I think, if I could et him, I would definitely want to say these things to him, I want to give him gifts, and I want him to know that actually, soone loves him very much."
Hearing these words, Xiao i lowered her eyes, speaking in a suppressed tone as if tearing through the thick air:
"...Love."
She looked at the spirited female player, clutching the script in her hands, a heavy feeling in her chest, as if sothing was stuck there.
She suddenly didn’t want to wait any longer.
Despite being out of reach, despite it being her humble yearning... but she wanted to tell him everything that was in her heart.
Tell him to rest more.
Tell him she was willing to face everything with him.
Tell him that actually, many, many people love him, and among these many people, she was included too.
Countless words mingled in her throat, as if the fog before her eyes had suddenly been lifted—
—she must tell him.
Since she was considered the "key figure for passing the level," she would no longer fret over her uniqueness; she wanted to use his regard, to go before him in person, to tell him directly—
In her eyes,
He was the most perfect, dazzlingly colorful dream.
She liked him very much, really liked him.
...
"Shua!"
The vibration spread, and the entire building shook violently.
"Clang——!"
The Sword of Yarman shimred with a brilliant golden light, its blade ringing as if resonating with the wielder’s soul.
This Gold Level weapon, still ranked first in the world ga, finally unleashed all its strength in Su Ming’an’s all-out battle. Each strike, dealing 200~500 points of True Damage, rendered the chanical Army’s Defense Shields as good as nothing, shattering them like broken eggshells, like searing magma slicing into icy waters.
...
[Absolute Suppression: Your attacks have the "Absolute Initiative" effect against any entities with Combat Power below 5000, negating all their later attacks and damage control.]
...
Under the bug-level passive of "Absolute Suppression," each sword strike from Su Ming’an had the highest priority in judgent. As long as the opponent’s Combat Power didn’t exceed 5000 points, his blade automatically acted as a Block, negating all incoming attacks—including bullets, explosions, lee weapon strikes, and even the turbulence of wind and fla.
As if erecting a golden shield made of blades, he stood in knee-high rainwater, his pupils reflecting a sharp golden luster, his arms numb from continuous sword swinging, yet he did not stop the forward slashes for a mont.
It was now 9:22 PM, and control of the Dawn System had advanced to 85%.
"Boom——!"
The corridor ahead had turned into a gaping hole, strewn with tal debris and blue viscera. The remains of the chanical Army rained down from the glass walls on either side. From a distance, every second saw large chunks of chanical Army carcasses falling, like a torrential tallic downpour.
After casting the last Spatial Vibration, Su Ming’an’s Mana Points, standing at 4760, were nearly depleted.
He could no longer rember how many mbers of the chanical Army he had slain. They were like endless locusts, reaping one batch after another.
"Ding dong!"
The pleasant sound of the system prompt rang out:
...
[You are about to be promoted to rank (Fifth Order I) player! Please complete the advancent tasks to advance.]
[Fifth Order Advancent Tasks:
1. Individual Alliance Residence construction degree reaching 2000 Points (pending)
2. Combat Power reaching 3000 Points (completed)
3. Publish a post on the World Forum and receive (one billion/player’s personal world ranking) in popularity (pending)]
...
With a notification, Su Ming’an’s Level was forcibly stopped at the Fifth Order, but the experience he gained wasn’t stuck there; it would be tallied up and added in one go after his level up.
The "Individual Alliance Residence" was a section he had never heard of before, probably opening after his return to the Main God World. The world ga was updated from ti to ti, perhaps... the version 0.03 of the world ga was about to launch.
"Buzz, buzz, buzz——"
He stared at the chanical Army in front of him, nearing his limit—his Mana was nearly exhausted, and the wheelchair’s Shield had also disappeared. The Deity’s calculations for him were very precise; indeed, he would struggle to last until the end.
But then—
He suddenly heard the sound of birds’ wings fluttering.
"Swash——"
—How could there be the sound of birds’ wings here?
Like a vast light shimring in the midst of red warning lights, the sound of shattering glass resounded, crackling loudly,
He turned his head, and above the corridor—there were hundreds of white birds clustered together, their wings as pristine and white as lilies. They smashed through the windows, rushing into the corridor bathed in scarlet warning lights, like a mix of red and white roses flowing between rivers.
Countless flocks of birds stord into the room, screeching wildly, their feathers sharp like blades, stirring up a storm of blades. Amidst the flurry of white feathers, they desperately attacked the chanical Army, relieving so pressure off Su Ming’an.
"Squeak squeak—"
"Whoosh——"
Sounds of fluttering wings, feathers flitting about, glass being struck... So of them flew past Su Ming’an, resolutely crashing into the room where Noah was, using their sharp beaks and claws to block the shadowy attacks for Noah.
Feathers scattered and fell like fireflies in broad daylight.
"Swash——!"
Thousands of white feathers fluttered, like a magnificent and vast snowfall.
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