first player

Chapter 1569 Final Chapter - Crossing the Sea [42] - "I miss you, Lao An".

In the corner, Su Ming'an was bandaging Hui Zi.

This guy just started scratching without thinking, and didn't even bother to pick up a weapon from the ground. He scratched his hand raw.

“…Thank you.” Qianqin approached, glanced at Shi Ying who was standing with her arms crossed in the distance, and whispered to Su Ming'an, “Stay away from that person, she has killed many people. If you need help, you can walk beside me from now on.”

"Doraemon, are you this nice to everyone?" Su Ming'an asked, his face bandaged.

"More...more what?" Qianqin was stunned.

Before she could speak, suddenly, footsteps came from the ground.

A blue-haired man walked into the hall, looked around, and coldly threatened, "Quiet down, I have some questions for you."

"Who are you? Why should I listen to you?" a girl named Song Ziyi retorted.

The blue-haired man remained silent. The next moment, a bullet flew towards the wall, kicking up dust and ash, which frightened Song Ziyi so much that her face turned pale.

“I know some of you know the answer. Answer me, where is the file of Su Liujin, the champion of the zeroth Disciple Game? I’ll count to ten. If no one answers, I’ll shoot randomly.” The blue-haired man raised his pistol and began to count down: “Ten, nine…”

This sight terrified everyone present.

Su Ming'an recognized the blue-haired man as none other than Lu Licarbos.

Is this really the kind of person Lu is? Or is it that I'm standing too high up and only see the gentle and harmonious side of my teammates?
He recalled some highlight reels of top players he'd seen on forums, many of whom had cleared the Fourth Scourge through sheer violence. During the seventh dungeon, Noel hadn't taken the locals seriously, using them as guinea pigs. However, their subsequent cooperation had created a filter of sympathy among his companions, who gradually forgot that bloody scene, remembering only the sunflowers blooming across the mountains.

Just like now, asking friendly questions one by one would be too time-consuming, so Lu chose the quickest method.

"Five, four..."

"Does anyone know?"

"Tell me already, don't hide it!"

"She must know about that knight!"

As everyone grew anxious, Su Ming'an spoke up: "I know, it's underground."

The next moment, the flowing blue hair was inches away, the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against his temple, and those blue eyes, which had always only shown gentleness, stared coldly at him: "I'll swear on my life?"

I swear on my life.

“You’re coming with me.” Lu smiled. “If we don’t find it, I’ll smash your head and throw you into the pool.”

The next moment, Lu Yi tilted his head back, and the tip of the knife slid across his chest.

A red-haired girl suddenly appeared before them, blades flashing, eyes like a wolf's. With a flying kick, she sent Lu's pistol flying.

"Who gave you permission to get close to Little Lemon? She's my prey," Tianying said without batting an eye, uttering a rather corny statement.

Seeing this, Su Ming'an realized that this must be a form created by Lu, while Lu's original body was still outside. The strength of this form was only comparable to that of Tianying.

"Shi Ying?" Lu squinted.

"...?" Tianying narrowed her eyes. "How do you know my real name?"

"I never knew a person could change so much. A girl who loved money could turn into this." Lu turned around: "I don't have much time, so I won't get entangled with you anymore."

His figure quickly disappeared.

"Damn it, I hate pretentious people the most!" Tianying spat, "Keep up! I'm going to skin him alive!"

Without a word, she grabbed Su Ming'an and rushed forward. The rest of the people panicked and, seeing Su Ming'an as their key asset, all followed suit.

People rushed down to the basement and saw a heavy iron door at the end of the stairs.

Lu kicked it, the brick flying with great force, and the iron gate was sent flying.

This broadened Su Ming'an's horizons. He never expected that the path could be so simple and straightforward, and he witnessed the duality of his teammates.

What comes into view is a large hall with a circular turntable that can accommodate twelve people.

There was an iron gate directly opposite the hall. Lu kicked it again, but received a system message: "Explore the area ahead after you clear the level."

"Ding dong ding dong~"

The announcement came over the loudspeaker:
"—The new game mode, [Story Chain], has been activated. 30 minutes left. A 'demon' has infiltrated your ranks. He/she will make some logical errors in his/her storytelling. Please kill the 'demon' in time. After completing the level, you can enter the second basement level."

Su Ming'an looked around and saw that there were twelve people present, which was just enough to fit into twelve round rotating platforms.

...Supreme Lord, could you please stop playing your werewolf game?

Fortunately, the game is simple and can be completed quickly.

"Click!" Lu tried to fire, but the gun misfired. It seemed he couldn't leave the game until he finished it.

"Let's get this over with quickly, I'm in a hurry." Lu put on his gloves and tapped the table with his finger: "Tell each of you your story, no more nonsense."

People gradually sat down, and the three members of the Qi Meng group shared their experiences. They were all people who had struggled at the very bottom of society and would do anything for money, which made the people frown.

His life was utterly unremarkable, devoid of any logical flaws. Lu impatiently twirled his gun: "Next."

Next was Zhou Sheng, drenched in sweat. Qianqin treated him, managing to save his life, but even so, blood was still flowing from his chest. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
“I…I am Zhou Sheng.”

"Ah! It's Zhou Sheng!" a girl nearby exclaimed softly. It seems this big star is quite famous.

“I am a famous star in Rosa. I have starred in various well-known dramas such as ‘The Overbearing World Tree Falls in Love with Me,’ ‘Three Rin Tribe Brothers Spoil Me to the Heavens,’ and ‘The Cooking Chronicles of the Lighthouse Jellyfish.’ I have won three Golden Magpie Awards. Even… even some of Oliver’s fairy tales were acted in by me…” Zhou Sheng coughed.

"That's it?" Lu smiled faintly. "Don't hide anything. Explain clearly the reasons why you came here."

He was smiling, yet it sent chills down your spine.

Zhou Sheng was so frightened that he was completely at a loss: "I... I've been having a bad time lately because the world is facing a crisis and nobody is interested in following celebrities anymore. Instead, many of my resources have been taken away by the superior races."

"I'm just a Ragdoll cat. No matter how famous I am, I'm nothing more than a money-making tool in the hands of higher races... cough, cough cough! I can't fight back against them at all. They could crush me with a single finger..."

"Lovasa's fangirling is so pathological... cough, cough! To become famous... I have to do all sorts of ridiculous things... wear women's clothes, eat super spicy peppers, and sleep with high-ranking nobles... It's so painful..."

As he spoke, tears streamed down his face: "They never asked me if I wanted to be a star... Just because I'm a Ragdoll cat and people like me, I'm forced to participate in all sorts of activities. My real dream is to be an engineer... I don't like being stared at by so many people at all..."

He spoke with tears streaming down his face, and it didn't seem like he was faking it.

“A cowardly man,” Tianying said calmly to Su Ming’an. “My online friends have shared their daily lives with me, and he is watched by many people, but he never cries. Instead, he keeps thinking about how to start a new life. Unlike this guy, he’s practically rotten.”

……Um?

Su Ming'an glanced at her sideways... But according to the information from the previous cycle, this Zhou Sheng is Tian Ying's online friend, isn't he?
During their most difficult times, they communicated with each other online, comforting and licking their wounds. Tianying thought the person on the other end was a strong and resolute online friend, unaware that it was just a lie Zhou Sheng told her to console her. Now, even though the online friend is right in front of her, Tianying has no idea that connection.

"Next," Lu said calmly, glancing at the three girls who had been rescued.

"I...I'm Fu Wenwen." A black-haired girl's voice was barely audible, her shoulders slumped. "My brother passed away, and I'm here in his place to participate in the game...I met a kind person in the third level, and he helped me a lot...I...I've always been very lucky. I don't know anything, but I've always been saved by many kind people. Maybe...maybe it's my brother's spirit in heaven watching over me..."

"So annoying with all this dawdling," another girl said coldly. "My name is Song Ziyi, a daughter of a collateral branch of the Celestial Clan. If it weren't for the congenital defect in my wings, none of you would be a match for me. If any of you are willing to be my bodyguard, I'll give you enough Roll coins to overwhelm your eyes when I get back."

"Ha, if my bodyguard hadn't gotten separated from me, I wouldn't be sitting with these poor people. They're so dirty."

She dusted off her shoulders and looked at Fu Wenwen with disgust: "If it weren't for this game, a lowly race like you would never have the chance to sit next to me in your entire life."

Fu Wenwen lowered her head even further, almost shrinking herself into the table.

The last girl's life was even more ordinary; she was just an average female student with no distinguishing features.

Next was Qianqin.

She placed her hand on her chest, her voice hoarse: "I am Qianqin, the Knight of Dawn, disciple of Ijurel, and junior sister of Oliver."

The title was so intimidating that everyone stared at him in disbelief. Even the proud Song Ziyi looked on in shock.

"I didn't intend to intimidate you with my reputation, but this is a life-or-death game. If I don't have a sufficiently intimidating reputation, I'm afraid I won't be able to convince you," Qianqin said. "I hope you will all stay by my side. I will protect you. I have saved tens of thousands of people in my life, and I hope you will also be safe."

Her words were calm and composed, which put people at ease.

Su Ming'an trusted her quite a bit. Qianqin was the kind of classic knight who adhered to her principles, eliminated evil, and helped people from all directions. From the very first level, he had seen her saving people.

At that moment, a hoarse, cold voice rang out:

"—Saving tens of thousands of people? What about the murders? Why don't you mention that?"

A silent man raised his eyelids, a scar on his face, and gave a cold smile: "Knight, you fought in the name of the Radiant, killing tens of thousands of enemies and slaughtering soldiers in the War of Eden, and were known as 'Saintess Thousand Harps'. Is this not true?"

Qianqin's face paled slightly: "You are..."

"I am a veteran of the War of Eden. I witnessed you sever my brother's head with a single sword stroke... Hah, isn't the War of Eden still ongoing, albeit intermittently? Human conflicts will never end, and you are still fighting on the battlefield as a Knight of Dawn." The man touched the scar on his face and said fiercely, "Just a few days ago, you led a great victory. You confronted the son of the World Lord, rebuked the Crimson Pope, and killed thousands of Dark Side soldiers, earning praise from the Holy See... Do you think no one knows?"

Everyone fell silent.

If that's really the case... then Qianqin's number of kills is probably the highest among everyone present. Even the wicked Tianying and Qimeng can't compare to her.

Song Ziyi immediately distanced herself, feeling disgusted as she was covered in blood.

"A self-proclaimed knight of justice, turned out to be such an executioner..." She shuddered.

...The Lord's orphan? Su Ming'an was completely baffled. When did Su Wenjun have a child?
I've been hunting down the gods for the past few days, and I had no idea what was going on inside Rovasa. It turns out it's quite a scene.

Qianqin stroked a pendant for a moment, then said:

"I do not defend my killings."

"I am a knight, I am a soldier, I believe in the Light, and on the battlefield, I will fight for my faith and my kingdom."

"Perhaps in my country's eyes, I am a conquering saint, a hero. But in the eyes of my enemies, I am an executioner. If I said that my conquests were to end wars and bring peace, you would certainly scoff, but in truth, that is what my heart truly believes."

She pounded her chest with her fist:
"I killed the enemy's gas researchers to prevent the gas bombs from falling and causing widespread destruction."

“I killed the enemy’s messenger to prevent them from deploying their superior races and to prevent tens of thousands of civilians from being displaced by a single breath of dragon’s breath.”

"Killing is for the sake of protecting life—I adhere to this saying, yet I am deeply aware of my grave sins."

“I… am not a hero, and my actions are not just. I know that.”

"I'm done speaking, next one."

Next up is Hui Zi.

However, people remain immersed in their complex feelings about Chiharu.

Su Ming'an was very curious about Hui Zi's story, and he wanted to complete her "Twelve Stories: If I Had Never Seen the Light".

“...I am going to tell the story of a girl living in the countryside.” However, Hui Zi did not tell her own story, but told the story of the girl who was possessed by the awakened one: “I have an older sister named Tao’er. She believes in the only god on the mountain. The townspeople all say that it is an evil god, but Tao’er insists that it is a beautiful and powerful sea goddess named Nagasha.”

“Peach often told me that she didn’t like rain because it was sticky. So Nagasha wove a sachet for her. As long as she wore it, the moisture would be absorbed, and she would no longer be afraid of wet rainy days.”

“Peach envied the gorgeous dresses, so Nagasha wove an ice-blue dress for her, like a beautiful witch. After Peach wore it, even the most mischievous children would swarm around her.”

“Nagasha could recover from her injuries and leave the mountain by eating people. However, in order to protect the town that Tao’er loved, she insisted on not eating people and was willing to wait more than sixty years to recover her divine power, relying solely on Tao’er’s faith to survive.”

"The kindness between God and the girl is a mutual fulfillment."

"As the days went by, the townspeople gradually disappeared. They all said that an evil god was eating people, but only Tao insisted that it was not Nagasha who did it."

"Until one day, a girl named 'Little Lucky Star' held a meeting, gathering all the townspeople. She claimed that as long as you press a red button and send a signal into the universe, happiness and well-being will be brought. But in fact, she is an extraterrestrial visitor, and she sent the signal to locate the invaders."

“The dull-witted townspeople believed her, stepped forward, and prepared to press the button.”

"Just then, kind-hearted Tao rushed forward, blocking the button with her body and telling the townspeople, 'Don't press it! It's a trap!'"

"The townspeople ignored her pleas, instead believing her ice-blue dress made her look like an incarnation of a witch. Thinking of the recent disappearances of townspeople, their hatred for the evil god on the mountain, and with Little Lucky Star adding fuel to the fire... the townspeople raised their hoes and sickles, and hacked at the innocent girl..."

Su Ming'an nodded slowly. This story was exactly the same as what he had experienced. Next, Tao'er unleashed her witch powers, stopping the townspeople. Nagasha arrived in time to save Tao'er and sent her to the capital to be raised by Li Mingyue.

However, Hui Zi's next sentence was different:
"...How could a frail girl withstand a scythe? By the time Nagasha arrived, the girl was already dead in a pool of blood, her flesh mangled and her bones broken. Only her lonely purse remained intact, and only her tattered, ice-blue dress revealed her disfigured face as Tao'er."

"She was most afraid of rain, yet she collapsed in the rain, her whole body covered in dirt. Her hands, legs, and neck were all broken. She was the kindest person, even the gods on the sacred mountain pitied her, but no one believed her."

"The sickle fell again and again, severing her kindness."

"In the pouring rain, Nagasha retrieved the body. Having lost Peach as her only source of faith, she was forced to break her vow of 'not eating people' in order to survive. She fell from a benevolent god to an evil one, killing the jubilant townspeople and taking the body back to the ocean."

"He finally became a bloodthirsty evil god, just as the townspeople had said."

"After returning to the sea, He gazed at Peach's disfigured corpse and kept thinking: 'I used to insist on not eating people, living only on your faint faith. Yet, being the protagonist is so difficult. Wait a moment, when I become the antagonist, I will stop all the rain for you, send you to a place where the sun shines all day, and give you a long dress that will not be pierced by any sword or spear...'"

After Hui Zi finished speaking, all around fell silent.

Everyone was talking about their ordinary lives, and no one expected to hear such a story.

"Is this... why Nagasha fell from grace and became an evil god?" Lu murmured. He had merged with Nagasha, but he knew nothing of her past.

"So the later Peach was a replica created by Nagasha; the real Peach is already dead..." Su Ming'an never expected that the real history was different from what he had experienced.

He experienced a fairytale ending. Because Northwards manipulated Nagasha, Nagasha rescued Peach in time, the townspeople were freed, and Little Lucky Star received his due punishment. However, the reality was quite different.

Next up is Su Ming'an.

He was supposed to tell Li Ziqi's story. However, he knew nothing about this ordinary girl.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang in his ears—

……

"Hey! I've finally found you!"

"What are you doing here, my little emperor? Could this be the Shadow Clone Technique of the Hokage that you mentioned?"

…When did I mention this? No, this voice is… Su Ming'an was startled.

"The Emperor!?"

"It's me! Seeing how weak you are, the Great Emperor has come to deliver a cheat code to you!" A haughty voice rang out, carrying a distinct youthful spirit.

...The Emperor is actually a pretty nice person. Li Ziqi's only ability is "creating fruit," thankfully she survived.

"Shouldn't you be on Wang Xingkong right now?" Su Ming'an asked.

"Ha, he has it, and you have to have it too! After all, you're both 'you,' one from the past, one from the present." The Emperor said, "Hurry up and finish things here, then go back to the past to see me. I miss you, Lao'an."

Su Ming'an: "..."

The Emperor is really... a natural at making friends.

"Come on, hang up!" A loud voice was followed by a system notification:

……

Please roll the dice.

[Required points: 3 points (Reproduction successful if points > 10 points; reproduction fails if points < 10 points.)]

The number you rolled is 11.

……

The next moment, Su Ming'an saw a phantom.

The executioner, Hui Bi, wearing a mask, stood on the crimson magic circle, holding a blood-soaked chunk of flesh in her hands, staring at herself with a deep yet cold gaze.

...Is this Li Ziqi's perspective from the past?