first player

Chapter 1565 Final Chapter - Crossing the Sea [41] - "He led the little animals out of the darkness."

—The world has turned upside down.

Su Ming'an was clearly aware of this.

He saw that the angry face of Tianying had turned into a bright, sunny smile the moment the "Reversal" prompt appeared.

The apple lying on the ceiling lay so quietly, as if that were the real ground, the place where it should have rested.

With a "whoosh," Tianying leaped up, grabbed the bright red apple, and handed it to Su Ming'an.

"You like it? Here, have some." Her smile suddenly softened, as if Su Ming'an's attack on her was merely offering her a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

The bright red scars on her cheeks remained, deep enough to expose the bone.

The apple lay on the ceiling like a bird. After landing in the girl's hand, it resembled a bright red bird's heart, quietly presented before Su Ming'an.

Hui Zi looked at Su Ming'an in surprise: "Why is she so happy after I scratched her? What kind of charm skill did you use?"

Su Ming'an shook his head and pondered silently.

The world has been "reversed," but only within certain limits. For example, the apple flew into the sky, but these people are still subject to gravity and stand on the ground. This shows that the "reversal" only applies to certain situations, such as the well-known story of Newton's apple. Moreover, the result of the "reversal" only applies to him. Even though it was Hui Zi who made the move, Tian Ying did not develop any goodwill towards Hui Zi, but only turned her anger into a smile towards Su Ming'an.

"I won't eat it." Su Ming'an threw the apple away, and it flew back up to the ceiling, drifting away into the distance like a bright red helium balloon.

Suddenly, Tianying gently pinched his neck.

"I'm growing to love you more and more..." Tianying gazed at him affectionately, "To be worthy of this wonderful affection, I will prepare the most beautiful way for you to die..."

……Neuropathy!

Without saying a word, Su Ming'an immediately punched her hard.

Tianying was knocked backward a few feet by the punch. Fortunately, Li Ziqi was weak. If it had been Su Ming'an himself, that punch would have torn her to pieces.

……

"Ding dong!"

[“Reversal Mode” has been triggered.]

[NPC (Sky Nightingale) Affection Level: 70 + 20 points!]

……

"I like you so much, I like you so much, I like you so much..." A chilling voice rang out, and Tianying touched the red marks on her face in a drunken daze, looking at Su Ming'an with a flushed face as if she were drunk.

"Ugh! She's so weird!" Hui Zi quickly touched her arms, smoothing out the goosebumps all over her body.

...Hui Zi, why were you just watching from the side?

Su Ming'an felt a toothache. Even though he was "very experienced" and "battle-hardened," Tian Ying's type of mental illness was still too much. She was simply the most mentally ill of the mentally ill, the most insane of the insane.

"What kind of death do you prefer? You're just what I want. I'll allow you to choose." The red-haired girl, her face flushed, uttered terrifying words: "Poisoned? Strangled? Decapitated... or..."

"She's completely absorbed in her art and can't pull herself out," Hui Zi complained.

...Were you originally a tsukkomi (straight man)?
Su Ming'an never expected that the dying soul would have such a personality after it recovered.

Su Ming'an immediately said, "If you think I'm so good, why do you want me to die?"

"Huh?" Tianying was taken aback and said, "Do you want me to live a life of suffering instead of dying?"

"Who said my life is painful?"

“Everyone suffers in this world.” Tianying walked through the mist, her sharp high heels clattering. “Every minute of living is boring, stressful, and suffocating… But wouldn’t we be happy once we die? I think there must be many people in this world who would press the button for painless death as soon as they encountered it.”

Su Ming'an said without hesitation, "But there are also people who want to live, and that shouldn't be the reason you judge their lives."

"Hmm." Tianying tilted her head, seemingly thinking. "Is that so?"

She counted on her fingers: "When I was little, my dad told me to die, and my mom threw me into a stinking ditch. They spent the money I earned by selling myself. When I got sick, they thought I was dirty, so they wrapped me in a sheet and threw me into a mass grave... If it weren't for a white-haired gentleman who fed me blood, I would have died long ago."

"The most common thing I hear is people complaining about why the world hasn't ended yet and when they can finally rest in peace."

“I use the money I earn to do charity, and the poor scold me for only giving me black steamed buns, and for using my charity money to buy brand-name mobile phones. I participate in life-or-death games and kill people every day, but I receive countless cheers and applause. They all say I am a star player.”

“You said…” She raised her head and looked at Su Ming’an: “Since ‘moderation’ has become a sin, what’s wrong with choosing ‘indulgence’? What’s wrong with me killing people and eliminating competitors in the game of life and death?”

“Geniuses can survive as a breath of fresh air, like that Strawberry Alliance Leader, like that champion of the Zeroth Disciple Game… How noble they are! With such powerful abilities, they can turn defeat into victory even when facing death. And what about us? Li Ziqi…”

Suddenly, with lightning speed, she reached out and, with a sweet smile, grabbed Su Ming'an by the throat:

"Your body is so frail, your only ability is to make fruit, you can't even hold a sword... You can barely survive, how can you possibly demonstrate your 'nobility'?"

Su Ming'an looked at her calmly.

As if provoked by his gaze, her eyelashes trembled, and she chuckled deeply, "Before I became strong, I did anything to survive in the game. In the first level, I shamelessly clung to the legs of several men, surviving like a toy. The humiliation I suffered is unimaginable... I knelt and spun around like a puppy, I ate my own severed fingers, and I witnessed them chopping off the limbs of other contestants. When the victims begged for mercy, I could only remain silent—do you think I wanted to remain silent? Do you think it's because I'm not noble enough?"

“Yes, I should have spoken noblely—'You shouldn’t have done this! Please let him go!' And then what? I would have had my limbs cut off, and be stuck in the past like a dead dog. Because I have no power, no power to match the sentiment of ‘nobility’.”

"In order to survive, humanity will eventually become unrecognizable. Those who used to pride themselves on being pure were only so because they hadn't been driven to the brink. Now that we've been drawn into this unsolvable game, we'll only become uglier, more disgusting, and more cruel."

"You're so weak, you can't even withstand poison gas. Wouldn't it be better for me to end your suffering and prevent you from falling into the hands of those evil people and dying without dignity?"

Amidst the pervasive poisonous gas, "Li Ziqi's" face turned ashen.

However, he slowly said:

"...But if that's the case..."

How will you witness my future 'nobility'?

Tianying's expression suddenly softened.

Her eyes froze for a moment, then she slowly released her grip.

If he dies here, his future potential will be lost, and his possibility of becoming noble will be eliminated.

That was the "nobility" that Tianying was willing to struggle and endure without dignity to earn.

She judged that Li Ziqi couldn't do it, but Li Ziqi's eyes were so calm...

Su Ming straightened his collar, remained silent for a moment, and then said calmly, "You just said that when you were a child, someone fed you blood? Was he white-haired and had golden eyes?"

Tianying paused for a moment, then nodded.

Do you know more about him?

Tianying hesitated for a moment, perhaps because her favorability rating was too high. She took out a pure white flower: "He gave me a bouquet of Isabella flowers to encourage me to live on. Other than that... there is no other information. If it weren't for this flower, I wouldn't have had the will to live to this day."

She curled the corners of her lips into a smile: "Anyway, I've become stronger now. If you want it, take it—just like he told me to live on that day, I'll tell you to live on today too."

"No longer having an attack?" Su Ming'an asked.

“Heh, I just noticed…” Tianying stared at him and smiled slightly: “You are not a delicate flower, but a fierce beast… You possess courage that rivals nobility.”

“You must have explored a lot of this level by now, do you know what kind of information room there is… cough, cough cough!” Su Ming’an suddenly coughed.

He looked at his palm and saw that blood was seeping from his skin.

...Li Ziqi's body could no longer withstand the poison gas.

"Heh, it seems you'll die here before you can match Gao Shang." Tian Ying retorted sharply, but she untied a bottle from her waist and hung it on Su Ming'an's waist.

"This is?"

“This is an ‘immunity bottle,’ which can protect a person from poison gas. That’s why I can walk on flat ground in the gas.” Tianying’s face quickly turned green. “There’s an imaging room on the third basement level. It should have some crucial information, but I’m not interested in looking at it.”

"Then how will you withstand the poison gas?"

"Heh, I'll go look for another way." Tianying pointed at Su Ming'an: "At least he's better at surviving than you, you 'little lemon.' Don't worry about your aunt. Just stay by your aunt's side and I'll protect you from leaking lemon juice."

Su Ming'an's eyes flickered slightly.

...Although she knew that Tianying's attitude was the result of a "reversal," and that she should have been angry and fired the gun long ago in her normal state, this undisguised attitude only revealed her true nature.

She was indeed an incorrigible murderer, a villain deserving of execution; she killed many people…

If it were the real Su Ming'an, seeing her so brazenly killing people, he would have killed her without hesitation and wouldn't have heard these confessions. But he's Li Ziqi now, an ordinary person who seems harmless. By a twist of fate, he's ended up talking for so long with Tian Ying, someone he would never normally approach.

If it weren't for the "reversal," he would have been faced with only a silent corpse.

"Hold my hand." The red-haired villain reached out his hand to him: "Thin arms and legs, don't fall."

Su Ming'an didn't tell her that if he didn't hide his true strength, his "thin arms" could demolish the building.

With a flick of his hand, Hui Zi transformed into a card and returned to his palm.

They walked through the pervasive poisonous gas, faintly hearing screams in the distance. The red-haired villain led the way, while the black-haired ordinary man followed behind.

"Your skill? Playing cards? That's quite interesting." Her shadowy voice came from ahead.

"Ah."

"You can't get a single word out of me even if you beat me with a stick, can't you say a little more?"

"Ah."

"Heh...it really does look like how I used to be. Oh well, I guess I'll just consider it as me protecting my past self."

"Aren't you worried I'll kill you?"

“I saw the hatred in your eyes… You hate people like me who kill indiscriminately. When you become stronger, you might really kill me. But so what?” The corners of her lips curled up: “I’ve wanted to die for a long time, but I just wanted to teach those villains a lesson. Now, my revenge is complete. If you want revenge on me, then come on.”

Her slanted eyes narrowed, and her rose-colored pupils, peering through the poisonous fog, stared at him intently, like two bright, yet dim, candle flames: "...In that case, you will become the next 'Sky Nightingale,' and I look forward to you becoming that best work, Ziqi."

"Do not."

"I'll still call you 'Little Lemon,' it's unique to you. You're the one who makes me care so much and happy."

She held his hand tightly, afraid that he would fall behind.

Su Ming'an's pupils flickered.

...A wrong reversal, a wrong dialogue.

She liked him so much simply because of a misplaced reversal of affection. The possibility between them should have ended with one of them becoming a corpse.

Now, the wicked man, however, still holds her hand tightly, as if she were holding something precious... Perhaps for her barren heart, which is full of thorns, no one can reach the level of 90 points of goodwill in her heart, but someone has mistakenly barged in, bringing her false joy and making her realize the joy of admiration and love for the first time.

So this is what happiness and love feel like.

If Su Ming'an hadn't gone back to look through the book, the last impression she left on him would have been nothing more than a nonsensical madwoman.

Amidst the poisonous gas, everything was quiet.

until--

“This is a non-toxic zone. There’s an argument going on.” Tianying stopped in her tracks.

Ahead was an open space, surrounded by a group of people.

"Brother Qi was the first to find this person, and his belongings should belong to Brother Qi!" A young man wearing glasses pointed to a person on the ground.

A blond young man lay on the ground, his face extremely handsome, but he had lost too much blood and was on the verge of death. Even before he died, people were discussing the whereabouts of his belongings.

Two or three trembling girls were squatting nearby.

"Huh? Isn't this the big star Zhou Sheng! I never thought such a superstar would fall here. Ha... The world has become absurd in games." A seductive woman lifted Zhou Sheng's face and stepped on his hand: "What big star? He's still under my feet now. Before, I couldn't even get your album even if I lined up."

Tianying's eyes flickered, and she crossed her arms playfully, watching this dog-eat-dog fight between humans.

"--stop!"

On the other side, a hoarse, deep voice came from.

A woman with a sturdy build stepped out, carrying a long sword. She had a full forehead, slender black eyebrows, a pair of very bright eyes, and wide, thin lips, exuding a charm that transcended gender.

Su Ming'an quickly recognized her—Qianqin.

The reason she's here is probably because her original self was pushed into the safe house, and the person who failed to enter became Li Ziqi. Qianqin didn't encounter her, so she came to rescue someone else. This knight truly adheres to her principles, putting out fires everywhere.

She looked significantly different from the junior sister from the sacred mountain that Si Que remembered. Gone was any trace of her former charm; she resembled a warrior more.

"It's that Dawn Knight who's always meddling in other people's business and saving lives..." The bespectacled youth had obviously heard of Qianqin's reputation. He clicked his tongue, immediately pulled Zhou Sheng over, and pressed a gun against his temple: "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill him right now!"

Qianqin stopped. Before she arrived, she hadn't noticed there was another hostage. She had come to rescue the girls nearby.

"Drop your weapons!" the bespectacled youth sneered.

Qianqin paused for a moment, then had no choice but to drop the sword in her hand.

"Clang—!" A crisp sound.

"I heard you've got a lot of free time. You meddled in Brother Qi's business before and saved more than a dozen piglets from a farm," the alluring woman said with a smile, then looked at a tall, burly man standing at the back. "Brother Qi, now that we finally have a hostage, what should we do with that bastard knight?"

The tall, strong man slowly walked out, looked at Qianqin, and said slowly:
“You come here and beat Zhou Sheng up badly. Make him piss his pants and kneel down to beg for forgiveness, shouting ‘Brother Qi, I was wrong,’ and then we’ll talk.”

Qianqin clenched her fists tightly. Of course, she wouldn't do that; she was there to save people.

However, Zhou Sheng scrambled towards her, pleading, "Please, hit me! Beat me up!"

Qianqin immediately said, "Don't panic, stay calm, I will save you."

Zhou Sheng cried loudly, slapping himself between sobs: "Hit me! Please! They know where my friends are. If I don't satisfy them, my friends will suffer!"

"You wicked knight, why did you come to save me?! If you hadn't come, I wouldn't be suffering so much. Maybe they would have let me go for fun!"

"Now, if I don't satisfy them, I'll be in a state of unbearable suffering, unable to live or die!"

"It's all your fault! Why did you have to be such a pushover in this game?! You've ruined my life!"

Qianqin's pupils contracted.

The scene before me seemed to have transformed into an absurd black-and-white drama, with black people dressed in white and white people dressed entirely in black.

The victim did not direct her anger at the perpetrator, but instead felt angry at the person who came to her rescue.

No one blamed the tram; they blamed the person pulling the handrail.

For a moment, it seemed like a product of “inversion,” where malice and goodwill were misdirected. However, this was not an inversion, but rather reality was far more absurd than any “inversion.”

Qianqin took a deep breath and looked at the several trembling girls beside her. There was no joy in their eyes, only numbness and emptiness. Even if they were saved, it wouldn't be long before they fell back into hell.

—If one has never seen the light, one will not fear the darkness. But the Knight of Dawn, who brought light with pride and benevolence, could not guarantee that the sun would shine forever.

"...You want to help?" At this moment, Tianying noticed Su Ming'an's movements.

“They’re blocking the way. We can’t get past them if we don’t take action,” Su Ming’an said expressionlessly.

"Heh... What excuse are you making? You want to express your 'noble' compassion, don't you?" Tianying pointed at the trembling girls: "If it weren't for me, you would be one of those people, waiting for others to do you a favor."

Su Ming'an couldn't guarantee that if he didn't have the abilities of the "Number One Player," he would still possess the same empathy and compassion, and be able to demonstrate his so-called "nobility" and savior spirit.

At least when he looked at the homeless people shivering under the bridge, he, who was still powerless, saved the money from his breakfast to buy a blanket.

He was once full of passion, and he was once helpless.

Now, he has it.

So he did it.

“If I had never seen the light, I would not be afraid of the darkness…” Su Ming’an said, “Some people say this to blame the light for not shining into the darkness they live in, making them unable to adapt to the darkness anymore.”

"However, to others, this sounds like a thank you for the rare sunshine."

"Having seen the light, even if they fall into darkness again... they already know what light is like, and that it is far better than darkness. They begin to know the appearance of light, its direction, and its path..."

He remembered the golden forest.

I was reminded of that fox standing quietly at the boundary between light and shadow.

I thought of the countless "humans" trapped in dark pits. They were born in darkness, grew up in darkness, fought against darkness, cried out to darkness, and slept in darkness. They thought darkness was the end, but then they saw a path of light about to fall at their feet.

That was a precious light that peeked through the sparse shadows of the trees, and that could only be seen after countless blood-stained footprints had been trodden upon it billions of times.

……

"If they have never seen the light, how can they emerge from the darkness?"

……

He stepped forward and summoned the cards.

Hui Zi darted out like a little fox, extending her sharp claws and scratching each of the bad guys. Instantly, the entire place fell silent.

A bespectacled young man, a glamorous woman, a burly man, and several other big men... They covered their blood-soaked faces and stared blankly at Su Ming'an.

The next moment, a thunderous roar of cheers erupted.

Under the influence of "reversal," they see pain as joy, hatred as love, and Su Ming'an, who attacked them, as a great man.

"So refreshing! I love it!"

"Ahhh, that feels so good, so amazing! Scratch me again!"

"Why would I follow Brother Qi? This guy is my true love!"

Amidst the utterly absurd cheers, several of the victimized girls looked bewildered, and even Zhou Sheng and Qian Qin stood frozen in place.

They watched as Su Ming'an approached, as if he were the central figure in this absurd black-and-white drama.

Faintly, one can hear the river "turning backward."

He waded across the river expressionlessly, walked to the center of the stage, and his black clothes seemed to transform into pure white.

Everything about him surged against the tide of his arrival.

"—Now, I'm in charge here," he said calmly.

No one objected.

Half the people were confused, while the other half were cheering.

A black-and-white drama with clear distinctions.

A scarlet apple floats silently on the ceiling, like an upside-down heart.

……