Minecraft: Is this still the Minecraft I used to play?

It's that familiar system sound!

[A large amount of non-original consciousness energy has been detected. Host, would you like to collect it?]

"collect?"

[Keyword detected; energy collection for host has begun automatically]

"Wait! What the hell! Explain yourself!"

The last time Shi Qian noticed the term "consciousness energy" was when he first unlocked his Leader ability, back then...

I just came back from the taiga forest and this is the first time I've controlled a monster to kill a player.

But the conscious energy was useless at that time, so I stopped paying attention to it afterward.

This time, it was a long time before we met again.

Shi Qian quickly brought up the system panel, where the value of consciousness energy was increasing rapidly.

And the source...

It was a group of etched figures standing before him...

Those etched figures with physical bodies faded even faster, and they also emitted some starlight from themselves, which converged on Shi Qian's body.

"no, do not want!"

Shi Qian realized that he was stealing the original energy of these etchers.

This is unacceptable to him!

The system only targeted etched beings with physical bodies; those etched beings that hadn't yet eaten the berries remained completely untouched.

However, the etched human bodies, which had no physical form, kept flashing, and the frequency was getting faster and faster.

There is clearly no time left.

This left Shi Qian at a loss, unsure whether to continue giving them sweet berries or not. It was a dilemma of whether to help them or not.

If we don't save them, they will disappear into the river of time; if we do save them, they may die because our system is frantically absorbing their essence.

In an instant, Shi Qian's mind was overwhelmed by inexplicable emotions, and the mask kept feeling cold, trying to bring him back to his senses.

But nothing worked. Shi Qian's hands trembled, his eyes were glazed, and he was unable to make any further movements. He really didn't know what to do.

The etched objects revealed that people noticed something was wrong with their bodies; they seemed to have suddenly become very tired and felt their vitality being drained away.

They also discovered that Shi Qian was in an abnormal state, but they themselves were too weak to move.

The etched figures, their surfaces shimmering, looked at each other, bewildered as to what had happened.

They only saw several beams of starlight rise from their companions in front of them, slowly converging on Shi Qian to form a huge light screen.

They themselves began to feel nihilistic; time no longer allowed them to linger in the future any longer...

Shi Qian felt so helpless...

Could it be...

Could it be that I...

Is it really impossible for anyone to save them?

Could it be...

And now I have to look after people I've only just met...

Will it vanish completely before my very eyes?

He didn't want it to be like this...

He really didn't want to see one person after another die; he really wanted to save everyone...

Why can't I succeed even once? Is it really just fate?

Shi Qian looked down at his hands, which were trembling all over.

Even the ability to close the system panel and ignore the soaring numbers has been lost.

He knew perfectly well that around him, one after another, the Etching Man fell helplessly.

They sat or lay on the ground, with only a last vestige of life remaining in their bodies, keeping them from completely dying.

However, the markings on their bodies had faded, even though they were natural markings, caused by the strange energy within the Dark Moon...

Everything is gradually fading away, and Shi Qian really doesn't know what to do...

At that moment, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head.

His brain was crammed with a jumble of messy memories, and he recognized the people in the picture.

Those were the people being etched before him...

These memories...

It is a byproduct of the extraction of consciousness energy from those materialized etched figures.

Or, from the system's perspective, impurities...

Because it wasn't consciousness energy originating from the source of time travel, it was purified after entering the system...

Shi Qian could clearly see everyone from those memories.

Their memories of interesting events from birth, of listening to the elders recount history, of their daily lives, of farming, training, and battles, of how each person appears and smiles in the eyes of the other...

He saw everything clearly...

Those memories, it seems, have truly become what Shi Qian himself experienced.

The elder seemed to realize something, his eyes filled with deep sorrow.

He was the one closest to Shi Qian, and he knew what he looked like now.

He also knew that his true intention was...

But everything is beyond repair...

It is only hoped that this person from the future will remember his promise and add a significant chapter to the war memorial, marking their struggle against time...

The elder let out a heavy sigh, as if he had exhausted all his strength.

He glanced at Shi Qian one last time, then slowly closed his eyes.

 …

Ran Xiao has been quite free lately, with no one in the sea bothering him and his boss.

However, when he wanted to leave the seabed and go ashore to fight other players and do quests, the leader always stopped him.

Let him stay here and keep him guarding the gate.

He couldn't go against his boss's wishes, so he could only stay put.

I haven't been spending as much time in the game lately. Every time I log in, I basically just organize my boxes, spar with a few drowned zombies, or go to the ice layer to check if Feng Ning is dead.

He wanted to fight, but couldn't find any other players to fight, so he had to settle for playing with drowned zombies.

However, the drowned zombies raised by the boss are quite powerful, and they are still quite effective in sparring. He even feels that his own strength has improved recently.

However, there were no players available for him to practice with.

Feng Ning, who was in the ice layer, was not active; I didn't see him when I logged in several times.

Occasionally, after I catch him online, I'll chat with him for a few minutes, and then he'll log off.

The boss has been fiddling with the Ocean Heart he got from the players lately, and it seems he dug a hole somewhere.

They wouldn't even let me go over to see what was going on, and we've been seeing each other less and less lately.

He's bored, so he goes live every day to chat with fans or perform fighting with drowned zombies.

You don't need to worry about logging in. When you log out, just let your boss know in the message box. If you get a reply, you can leave.

He felt something was off; he and his boss weren't that far apart, but it felt like they were in several different regions.

But the boss must be busy with something important. Although I've been relatively free in the game lately, I'm always assigned to browse the forums every time I log off.

Sometimes it's fine, with a specific search target; other times there's nothing at all, and you're just left browsing forums.

Ran Xiao herself doesn't usually like browsing forums, but lately she's been doing it every single day.

He had heard about all sorts of things, big and small, on the forum, and one day, out of sheer boredom, he even watched a live stream and was actually there.