Is the person you sculpt as cute as me?

It’s hard to imagine these places being so realistic…

But there is no doubt that everything, including this servant, is constructed by advanced magic.

As far as Yu Man knows, there are probably only two types of people who can do these things.

"Are you a product of magical craftsmanship... or an illusion?" Yu Man did not ask for any hospitality, but just asked.

"My creator is a magical craftsman who has earned the title of 'Reaching the Truth,' symbolizing transcendence beyond the Tenth Order. He meticulously crafted me and this house... Our existence to this day is no mere illusion."

Yu Man was stunned. This description... could it be that person?

No no no, that would be weird.

The servant still invited them to sit on the sofa and welcomed them very attentively without showing any malice.

"I am a puppet made with magical craftsmanship. My master even captured a tenth-level demon and implanted it within me, rewriting it into an artificial soul. That is me. To take care of my master and his family, to protect this home, I exist until now."

This kind of thing... the more I listen, the more it sounds like that person.

Curiosity pricked Yu Man. "Excuse me, such a great magic craftsman must be very famous, even a master craftsman who created a great puppet like you... what should I call him?"

The puppet used magic power as ink and wrote an ID in the air: "Kazami, Yuuka Kitchen Life."

“…Fuck.” It’s really him.

"Huh, huh, huh, huh..." Unlike Yu Man who couldn't help laughing, Xiaolu was still confused.

Yu Man actually knew this person. He was a big shot in his round and a famous legendary player.

In order to make a certain equipment, Yu Man had met him once before, so they knew each other quite well.

He is indeed a true master craftsman, but in reality... he is just an old 2D artist who is already in his thirties.

In order to commemorate the fact that I was once young, I have always used the same ID, Yuuka.

Not only is Yuuka's craftsmanship unprecedented, but he is also extremely powerful and possesses an extremely abnormal talent for gaming.

Even though he has to take care of housework and children at home, and even though he is already in his thirties, various top teams at home and abroad still impatiently invite him to play professionally every year, and even offer him a nine-digit annual salary.

However, he had to take care of the children, do housework, and coax his wife - in the end, it never happened.

Therefore, there has always been an enduring topic in the player community: what kind of achievements can Yuuka achieve if he comes out?

The doll brought a rattan chair and sat gently by the window.

"In the beginning, the Maker brought his son to the Old World, hoping to distract him from his boring daily studies. One day, the young master heard the word bungee jumping in class, and the Maker created this house that could touch the stars."

The puppet's tone was full of nostalgia and tenderness.

"That was a really happy time. They called this place a secret base for men. When they were scolded by the mistress in real life or when they were happy, they would come here to have fun in their dreams after falling asleep.

Stargazing, jumping into the sea, going to see the Ice Prison Dragon...all kinds of beautiful dreams are constantly being realized under the great power of the maker.

But later, the young master shared this happiness... with his mother, who was having trouble at work, and used his New Year's money to buy her some equipment. From then on, the man's secret base naturally became another home.

People's souls can temporarily escape from the worrying reality - only here can they be free from worries.

Fortunately, at least in their dreams, I was lucky enough to be a part of them. And so... until today, long after they disappeared and never came back... I am still doing my best to maintain everything here.

——I just hope that one day... they will come back... to this dream home again."

It drifts alone and unknown across the sky of the entire old world.

In the vast expanse of loneliness and emptiness, this loneliness that appears to be home only occupies a small corner.

it--

"Laughter and joy once heard by the stars"

That's home.

and--

Endless waiting

That is the doll in front of me.

The little deer was extremely shocked and still hasn't figured out what happened.

Only Yu Man remained silent, burying his face in the shadow of his lowered head.

I pondered and quietly wrote down the ending of this story in my heart.

"They won't be coming back."

Yu Man also understood the reason why "lie" handed over this treasure map.

150 Forever

When the server was first launched, Yu Man met someone called GM3.

That is the god who controls lies.

One of the three supreme gods, the "Three Mysteries", who span the two worlds and control time, soul, matter, origin, and everything.

At that time, "Lie" came to Shimla Bakken to do one thing——

Erase the traces.

If Yu Man guessed correctly, it was to erase the traces of the players' past visits and to create a clean world for new players.

And the traces——

It is not passed on by word of mouth among the locals in the name of "foreigners".

It is not simply a background board, described behind the scenes of the story.

Not to mention the equipment that was once mass-produced and is now scattered around the world...

But it’s the real traces left behind, like this house and this doll.

The "Three Secrets" need to reset the world to a certain extent, so they need to be busy cleaning up these things.

It is obvious that everything here has slipped through the net.

Perhaps this is the meaning of the treasure map sent by "Lie".

Yu Man could also roughly guess the process——

While the gods were anxious to see Senior Cat and receive a reply, they were paying attention to Yu Man's game.

But accidentally discovered——

Above Yu Man's head, in the unreachable sky, there was actually a small building floating, a trace left by last week's players...

Alas - no wonder it is a zero-level treasure map.

……

"You two are also strangers... Do you know my creator? I heard he's quite famous..."

After explaining the whole story, the puppet asked, with anxiety hidden in his tone.

It was unknown how long it had been before someone finally visited this place. This was the only clue she had come across during her long wait.

"...I still don't understand the current situation." Xiaolu's brain was overloaded.

Yu Man remained silent, feeling uncomfortable.

In order to find as much hope as possible, the puppet tried hard to describe: "My maker... His appearance is also quite distinctive, he looks like this... Ah, I'll go get the picture."

She suddenly thought of something and ran to the cabinet to look for it.

After a while, she brought back a painting. To be more precise, it was a painting that could be transformed from screenshots into in-game artwork after the magic craftsmanship reached the highest level.

It was a photo of the whole family - including the dolls.

There were handwritings on the painting, two lines of ancient words.

"Commemorating Rainbow's Achievement: The First Tenth-Level Craftsman—Explosive Birth!"

Yu Man was in a heavy mood, but when she saw the picture, she couldn't help laughing.

The famous Yuuka - actually her character is designed to look like Flandre.

Obviously, my ID is to support this character all my life, but I made another female character... Ha. Old two-dimensional, sigh.

In the image, Yuuka is standing next to a handsome little boy modeled after himself, clearly their child. And the hostess of the house... is clearly the slender, handsome man behind them. I don't know which old otome film this was modeled after; Yu Man can't really tell.

Add the dolls, and they stand on the roof, with a starry sky and a cold star twinkling among them as the background, smiling happily.

However, this photo now only has one meaning.

"This is my maker—Excuse me... have you ever seen him? Or... have you even heard of him?"

"...Sorry, no." The deer shook his head, "And...it feels like...things are a little strange, I can't quite figure it out."

She didn't know that the world had been reset, and when she saw the traces of last week's episode...it was bound to be full of contradictions.

Yu Man was hesitant to speak, regret and entanglement kept wandering between her brows.

If I hadn't made a mistake back then... last week's story probably wouldn't have been rewritten like this, and I wouldn't have to give such a lonely answer now.

But it is difficult to say it out loud, and the words naturally change when they come to your lips.

"Have you ever guessed where the family is going?" Yu Man asked.

"...Should it be... Reality is busy? No, obviously not." The puppet didn't lie and said seriously, "Long ago, as its maker predicted, the rainbow light flowing backward from the entire world drifted towards the sky... the real sky. That day, we witnessed it here together."

Yu Man listened quietly without taking his eyes off the photo.

The puppet's thoughts were fragmented, and she tried her best to organize and narrate them.

"The Maker once said that the three gods were cultivating something and harvesting something... He believed that everything would eventually converge here... And that day, it happened exactly as he predicted. Then, a flash of lightning appeared, terrifyingly splitting the sky apart! From it flowed... flowed..."

Lightning? To the others in the special seats... was that what it looked like? Yu Man's expression grew even darker.

Old memories would occasionally surface, and the puppet spoke intermittently: "Right, we were witnessing this scene. After the sky was cut open... what gushed out? My maker called it—life? Yes, that's the word."

As expected of an old 2D person, this description is so accurate. As expected of a master craftsman, he can actually understand this.

Yu Man felt sorry. If he hadn't been a lone wolf last week... maybe...

That's it.

In short, it was all Cat Senior's fault. After chopping off the god with a few random moves, he flaunted his cat-like transformation and humiliated the other party, leading to all the tragedy. Even to this day, Yu Man has to bear the grudge and anger of "Lie".

"What happened next?" Yu Man asked.

"Nothing happened afterwards. Everything remained the same. After going offline again, no one came back. I tried my best to maintain everything until today... when I was awakened by your visit."

The puppet's tone slowed down considerably, changing from anxious to sad.

The bitterness that could not be concealed lingered on her face.

Yu Man stood up from the sofa in silence and walked to the doll: "Is your magic power running out?" she asked.

"Hmm." The puppet said helplessly, "It's been too long—no magic lasts forever."

"Yeah." No magic lasts forever.

"I've been maintaining the lowest power consumption on standby, but today... I thought... they were back."

Her expression brightened for a moment, and the illusion at that time was still lingering in her heart.

"So, using the little remaining magic power for my own activities... I thought... this would be a welcome change for them."

"I'm sorry... I'm also sorry, your maker is too powerful. I can't decipher his magic circle to replenish magic power."

"No, no, no—being able to entertain guests at the end is actually a dream come true."

The puppet shook its head sincerely.

"This family has never had outsiders visit. As a servant, I haven't fulfilled my duties of reception... but now it's complete. I've completed the final mission for this family..."

But her voice grew weaker.

"One day in the future... when they come back and find that this place is gone... they will probably be very sad."

"yes--"

Yu Man suppressed his heart and ultimately did not give the true answer.