"Ah! A ghost!"
As a ga developer, even if this "Myriad Realms" wasn't exactly the sa as the one she had created, Ye Bai had always felt that she was at least familiar with all kinds of scenarios in the ga.
But now, seeing this scene, she realized there were indeed things she had never encountered before.
Seeing Ye Bai visibly startled, the humanoid silhouette waved its hands and quickly spoke to reassure her.
"Please don't be afraid. I'm not an undead, and I truly an no harm."
If you were an undead, that would be fine!
Ye Bai steadied herself. If a lich or a death knight had popped out from behind the white stone, she wouldn't have been this shocked.
What truly unnerved her about this humanoid silhouette was that its existence defied everything she, as the ga's creator, knew.
When it ca to the Divine Realm map, Ye Bai had never felt the sa sense of control as she did with the Myriad Realms. The "Shattered Pantheon" expansion was content that would only be developed after the ga's public beta.
Even as the ga's lead developer, before being cryogenically frozen, Ye Bai only had access to the basic background settings of the Divine Realm.
Ye Bai knew the appearances, traits, strengths, and weaknesses of various high-level races... but aside from the core faction conflict storyline, other plotlines hadn't even been designed yet.
The world-building was complete, and the powerful, unique races had been placed into the vast map of the Divine Realm. It was like setting up a stage, but the performance hadn't started yet.
Moreover, the full-imrsion version of the Myriad Realms wasn't identical to the one Ye Bai had created. The most obvious difference was the intelligence of the NPCs. Currently, Ye Bai didn't see any distinction between their intelligence and that of real humans, aside from being constrained by system paraters.
In the version Ye Bai had created, the behavioral code for NPCs in the Divine Realm was different from that of the ordinary world—more intelligent. The full-imrsion version was even more advanced.
This level of "intelligence" was likely enough to allow the Divine Realm to evolve on its own, even without players.
So, as for what was actually happening in the Divine Realm at this mont, Ye Bai was completely in the dark, as if she were experiencing a "brand-new version" of her own imagination, filled in by this advanced intelligence.
This strange, eerie humanoid figure before her wasn't part of the ga's original design. Clearly, it was sothing "filled in" by the system.
Calming herself, Ye Bai tentatively asked, "So... what are you?"
The figure, seeing that Ye Bai had cald down, retracted its hands and replied with a hint of helplessness, "A cursed person."
"A curse, huh..."
Ye Bai pondered this, her mind racing. From this statent, she gleaned an important piece of information: to cast a curse, one must possess "divinity."
"Divine beings" were unique to the Divine Realm, characterized by their connection to deities or demigods—either through bloodline or by acquiring divinity actively separated from such beings.
Given the bizarre effects of this curse, Ye Bai imdiately suspected it was the work of a deity or demigod.
And for soone to be cursed by at least a demigod-level being, this person's identity must be extraordinary...
"Why were you cursed?" Ye Bai pressed.
"I don't know," the figure replied, as if anticipating Ye Bai's next question. It politely added, "I'm sorry, I'm not intentionally hiding anything. It's just that my entire existence has been erased, including my na."
Ye Bai was stunned... To have one's entire existence erased—what kind of deep-seated hatred would drive soone to cast such a curse?
"So, what's your situation now?"
A person carved into stone—how could that not be eerie? It was hundreds of tis more unsettling than an undead monster.
The figure answered, "The curse has trapped here, confining to text-based diums. Only those who can understand these texts can see . Earlier, I wouldn't have been able to communicate with you, but I didn't expect you to learn the dragon language so quickly. That's why I took the liberty to approach you."
Ye Bai couldn't help but laugh. "So, if I hadn't learned the dragon language, I wouldn't have been able to hear you?"
"That's right," the figure nodded. "Many creatures have passed through here over the years, but I haven't been able to communicate with any of them."
This was truly a first for Ye Bai. Intrigued by this strange figure trapped in text, she fired off a series of questions: "So, are you still confined to this stone? And what did you an earlier by 'Autofis'?"
"Not entirely," the figure replied. As it spoke, the carved lines of its form moved across the white stone. Ye Bai watched as the figure made a jumping motion.
In the next mont, to Ye Bai's astonishnt, the carved figure appeared on another nearby white stone.
"I can move between text-based diums within a certain range," the figure explained, demonstrating its ability. It then continued, "As for 'Autofis,' in the dragon language, it ans 'swift.' I noticed you seed to be struggling with naming sothing, so I took the liberty to suggest it. I ant no harm, but I see I startled you. My apologies."
"No need to apologize," Ye Bai replied, her tension easing as the figure's polite deanor reassured her.
From what she could tell, this figure was literally a "two-dinsional" being, unable to escape the stone and thus incapable of affecting her, a "three-dinsional" person.
Of course, just because she was no longer nervous didn't an she was no longer wary of this strange figure.
"May I sit here?" the figure asked, gesturing to a stone near the campfire, closest to Ye Bai.
Ye Bai raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Feel free."
The figure leaped again, landing on the stone closest to the campfire.
Ye Bai sat across from it, on the other side of the fire.
As the figure moved, Ye Bai glanced at the donkey. From its angle, it should have been able to see the movents on the stone wall, but its eyelids drooped halfway, and it barely gave a glance before showing no further reaction.
This donkey was no ordinary creature. Ye Bai felt it was sowhat friendly toward her, and seeing it show no reaction to the figure made her feel even more at ease.
The campfire flickered, and after a brief silence, both spoke at the sa ti.
The figure: "Actually, I..."
Ye Bai: "I wanted to ask..."
Both paused, and when Ye Bai didn't continue, the figure politely said, "You go first."
Ye Bai smiled slightly, successfully interrupting its montum!
From the mont the figure approached her, Ye Bai had sensed the scent of a quest.
But she knew all too well that quests in the Divine Realm weren't so easily accepted. This figure's strange curse likely originated from at least a demigod-level being—characters of level 80 or above. If it involved a deity, that would be a level 100 boss.
Accepting such a quest could an being tied up for who knows how long.
Although she had arrived in the Divine Realm, Ye Bai was well aware of her own strength.
In the Divine Realm, survival was the top priority.
So, just as this mysterious NPC was about to dive into the at of the quest, Ye Bai cut it off and took control of the conversation. She asked, "I'm looking for the fabrics of the Weaving Clan. Do you have any leads?"
This NPC was cursed and had a mysterious background. The higher-level the NPC, the more ga information they knew. Perhaps she could extract so useful knowledge about the Divine Realm from it.
Even if she couldn't, it didn't matter. After all, this was the only being she could communicate with at the mont. It was worth a shot.
The figure paused for a mont, then after so contemplation, said, "If you need fabrics from the Weaving Clan, I do happen to know where you might find so nearby. The Weaving Clan’s fabrics are the most sought-after textiles on the continent. I’ve heard that so descendants of the dragon race to the south might be wearing garnts made from such materials. However, they have now beco undead, guarding the treasure vault of the ancient dragon."
After a brief pause, he continued, "As for this treasure vault, if you’re interested..."
"I’m not."
Ye Bai interrupted him again upon hearing this.
What a joke! A dragon’s treasure vault? At her current level, there was no way she could even get close to such a place.
This NPC was acting suspiciously. Ye Bai, with her sharp instincts, sensed sothing familiar in his words—the unmistakable flavor of empty promises. As soone who was well-versed in the art of making such promises herself, she wasn’t about to fall for this trick.
If she had hesitated even a mont longer, a quest like "Dragon’s Treasure Vault" would have surely popped up.
"Wait a minute..." Ye Bai suddenly snapped back to reality and turned to the strange figure. "The dragon’s treasure vault? Why would descendants of the dragon race be guarding it? And you said they’re... undead?"
The dragonkin were a diverse group, made up of distant bloodlines and followers of the ancient dragons. They lived beneath the Sky City and couldn’t even ascend to it. How could they possibly have the right to guard the dragon’s treasure vault? And now they were undead?
But the next sentence from the eerie figure left Ye Bai utterly stunned:
"You really don’t know? The ancient dragon race has been wiped out."
The ancient dragons... wiped out?!
When she saw the dragon graveyard, Ye Bai had considered the possibility that the ancient dragon race might have faced so great calamity, forcing them to migrate or at least leave behind a remnant of their lineage. But she had never imagined that they had been completely eradicated.
This was one of the most powerful races in the divine realm’s lore, unmatched in individual strength—the ancient dragons!
So, what exactly had the divine realm beco now?
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