Chapter 381: A Sense of Conviction |
The god told the priest: "A god has no emotions, no desires, no thoughts, no intentions. What mortals call the full spectrum of human suffering is merely a burden they place upon themselves."
By then, the priest had grown familiar with the god who had chanced to descend and knew of the deity's benevolence. He posed a question, his tone bordering on irreverence. "Then why do mortals struggle and suffer on account of your oracles?"
The god replied, "Because mortals are defined by their desires. What you call an oracle is nothing but the echo of their own wanting."
The priest asked, "Can you not deliver them from this sea of suffering?"
The god fell silent for so long that the priest, believing the deity had drifted back into slumber, rose to leave. Only then did a sigh echo from the void:
"Old desires are buried only for new ones to rise. As long as humanity endures, so too will sin."
...
In the East District of the Holy City, Vader stared at the side quest, muttering to himself, "I have no idea what this 'Kindling' reward is even for. Instead of carving off a piece of myself, I’d rather do a striptease in the main square..."
Asakura Yuko, utterly devoid of humor, retorted, "And then you’d be arrested as a 'heretic.'"
Docile as sheep, they sliced off their own flesh, seemingly impervious to pain. Their pace never faltered as they placed the offerings into a jar and walked away, as if they had just completed a mundane chore like eating a meal or taking a drink.
Asakura Yuko watched their wounds heal with startling speed, a thoughtful expression on her face.
To see such powerful regenerative abilities in ordinary NPCs... Combined with the information Flor had provided—that the Holy Lord "bestowed his authority upon humanity to be shared"—Asakura Yuko began to grasp the true meaning of being "closest to God."
"They no longer feel hunger, and non-fatal wounds heal almost instantly?" Asakura Yuko adjusted her glasses. "If we model this as a higher-dimensional being farming humans, then the Holy Lord has used his authority to 'pollute' these NPCs, creating an inexhaustible supply of flesh. In theory, it holds up."
Vader shrugged. "Sounds plausible, but I really don't think human flesh holds any value for a god-tier being like the Holy Lord. It’s like this: I love a good steak, but if you told me I had to chop off my own hand to keep eating it for the rest of my life, I'd go vegetarian in a heartbeat."
Asakura Yuko nodded in agreement. "Which suggests the donation is merely a pretext. The ones who need the offerings aren't the Holy Lord, but the priests.
"We know that night falls even in the Holy City, and it isn't completely safe. The believers came here seeking sanctuary, but given humanity's inherent greed, they're bound to grow dissatisfied with their situation over time. The Holy Lord's authority is waning. To maintain the stability of the existing power structure, the priests must resort to violence as a deterrent.
"At the same time, having made these donations—having incurred a sunk cost—the believers won't want to see the Holy Lord's authority collapse and their investment go to waste. In other words, the more they give, the more fiercely they'll defend the Holy Lord's authority, and the more stable the Holy City becomes."
She was explaining it just like a real-world religion. Vader clicked his tongue. "In an instance like this, I'd still rather believe the flesh has some practical purpose. By your logic, it's entirely possible the Holy City was destroyed not by monsters, but by an uprising of its own angry followers."
Asakura Yuko considered this with mock seriousness, then replied deadpan, "That is indeed possible. In fact, it’s more likely than being destroyed by monsters."
As if on cue, a line of silver-white text refreshed below the main quest on the system interface:
[Speculation on "The Truth of the Holy City's Destruction": Three centuries after its founding, the Holy City had become a vile place, rife with deceit and sin. Conflict and suffering had built up like a powder keg, needing only a single piece of kindling to ignite. One day, in the year XXXX, an enraged believer, no longer able to endure the priests' oppression, tossed the first piece of kindling into this powder keg... (Consume 1 Kindling to unlock more)]
[Note: Advance any speculated plotline to its conclusion, and that plotline will become the actual truth. The main quest will then be considered complete.]
The kindling, whose purpose had been a mystery, now revealed its connection to the main quest. A side quest that had seemed optional moments ago was suddenly critical. No matter how malicious or dangerous it appeared, players would have to grit their teeth and see it through if they wanted to complete their primary objective.
Vader finished reading the new text, his eyes narrowing. "If I'm understanding this correctly, the Holy City can be destroyed in multiple ways, and we need to collect kindling to unlock each of those storylines?"
"Correct," Asakura Yuko affirmed. "Completing side quests is one way to acquire kindling. Whether there are other methods remains to be seen."
"Let's hope there is. Too bad we don't know of any yet." Vader threw up his hands in resignation. "Speaking of which, are you going to do this side quest?"
"I'll wait and see for a day," Asakura Yuko said, shaking her head slightly. "I'm not yet certain if the donation has any negative side effects beyond the physical injury."
"Smart move. Instead of playing house with these NPCs, we're better off going back and trying to get more information out of Father Raki," Vader suggested.
He then asked abruptly, as if just remembering something, "By the way, what does your identity card do? Since we've agreed to team up, we should be straight with each other. I'm pretty curious about how these cards work, anyway."
Asakura Yuko was genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected a top-ranked player to be so blunt about fishing for information. Whether it was sheer arrogance or worldly naivete, she found it rather exasperating.
She suppressed a frown, her expression turning neutral. "There's no need. Even if I told you the truth, you might not believe me. It’s better to say nothing at all."
"Oh? Is it that outlandish? Now I'm even more curious."
"If you're truly that curious, you can join the Listening Wind Guild after we make it out of this instance alive. We share all information internally."
"Are you trying to recruit me?"
Exchanging meaningless banter, they soon found themselves back in the square outside the grand temple.
Without warning, a great "CLANG!" echoed from above. The deafening toll of a bell exploded in their ears before reverberating in all directions, accompanied by the panicked screams of the believers around them.
"The bell! Night is falling!"
"Quick, get indoors!"
Fear spread like wildfire. The crowd descended into chaos, scattering in every direction, trampling and shoving one another in their panic. The fastest among them kicked open the doors of the nearest buildings, scrambling inside and slamming them shut. The slower ones, some knocked to the ground, crawled after them, desperately seeking any low object to hide their heads beneath.
Neither Asakura Yuko nor Vader rushed into the temple. Instead, they both tilted their heads back, their gazes fixed on the sky.
"CLANG!"
The golden light that enveloped the entire city now had a distinct border—a stark white line dividing the sky. On one side was light; on the other, a pure, unblemished darkness.
It was like a poorly staged play, where day and night were controlled by the simple flick of a spotlight switch. There was no gradual dimming; at the appointed time, the curtain of night fell with an absurd finality, ready to catch the unprepared off guard.
"We should get back. I have no intention of breaking the rules on the very first day." Vader was already moving as he spoke, becoming a blur as he sprinted toward the temple. Before them, the white marble steps seemed to transform in the deepening twilight, taking on the pallor of tombstones. Asakura Yuko followed Vader from a distance, ascending the staircase of graves.
Vader pushed open the heavy doors and slipped inside. She followed close on his heels, stepping into the temple.
The long table was already surrounded by players.
...
Qi Si took a turn about the courtyard, admiring the ghastly spread of bones and corpses. He was, frankly, thoroughly disappointed in Father Raki's aesthetic sensibilities.
The authority of space and time remained elusive. The moment he had descended upon the Holy City, his perception of it had blurred.
More accurately, the authority that had been a concentrated beacon, drawing him from afar, had shattered into cosmic dust the moment he drew near. It had fused with the very air, so that even a simple walk down the street revealed faint traces of its power.
Of course, this hardly left him without recourse. If the authority was scattered throughout the entire Holy City, then he would simply have to devour the entire Holy City.
In the time he'd had since entering the instance early, Qi Si had already sown a great deal of interference and corruption. He now controlled most of the ordinary NPCs, including the believer named Flor.
Spreading false clues and misinformation, leading the other players down the wrong path—this had always been a favorite pastime of Qi Si, or rather, of Qi. To gently nudge the hands of fate, to guide the story toward his desired conclusion through a series of "accidents" and "coincidences"... that, in itself, was the real game.
Qi Si returned to the main throne in the temple hall, closed his eyes, and resumed his silent masquerade as an inanimate NPC statue.
His authority over souls had evolved to a point indistinguishable from possession. His mental sanctum was a vast ocean, his consciousness splintering into countless droplets that seeped into every corner of the Holy City. Innumerable believers and priests raised their eyes to the heavens, their lips moving in silent prayer:
"O Lord of Gods, exiled beyond the rules of the world, O Soul Master, who commands the authority of contract and trade, O Great One, more ancient than history itself.
I beseech you, turn your gaze upon me, I implore you, answer the prayer of your faithful believer."
Flor's corpse rose from a dark corner. With head bowed and limbs limp, it moved slowly through the crowd, heading for the cemetery on the other side of the Holy City. There, it lay down upon a pile of bodies and covered itself with earth...
The players gradually trickled back into the temple. Having grown accustomed to the sight of Qi Si perched on the main throne, they returned to their seats without giving him a second glance.
"Let's share the intel we've gathered," Asakura Yuko began as soon as she sat down. "In the East District, I interrogated a believer named Flor. I managed to piece together most of this instance's backstory, and I've recorded it..."
She passed the History Page to the player beside her. It contained the same information she had already shared with Vader.
One player read it and passed it to the next. Soon, everyone knew about the Holy Lord bestowing his authority, the believers donating their flesh, and the truth of the endings that could be unlocked with kindling.
The players showed little surprise. Everyone here had cleared plenty of instances; they were no strangers to bizarre game mechanics.
The discussion proceeded in an orderly, clockwise fashion.
The information they shared was largely the same: donations were collected in the East District, heretics were judged before the temple, and the bodies were dumped in the cemetery.
Two people, however, had obtained special records—not something they'd written themselves, like Asakura Yuko, but lines of text that had appeared automatically on their History Pages.
The short-haired girl's record read, [God said, thou shalt not forsake the assembly], and its corresponding skill was [Convene a new judgment outside of the scheduled sessions].
Fu Jue, meanwhile, had recorded [The Son of God was nailed to the cross]. According to him, however, it hadn't materialized into a concrete skill.
The representatives, who had just escaped the pursuit of some fleshy monstrosity, had been listless and disinterested throughout the discussion. Now, however, they finally perked up, casting suspicious glances toward Fu Jue.
A record without a skill? That sounded highly suspicious.
William listened to the discussion, doodling and scribbling notes on a piece of paper.
He put down his pen and spoke in a clear voice. "The mechanics of this instance are simple. We need to complete various side quests, explore the different areas of the Holy City, and collect kindling to unlock the endings. We don't yet know how much kindling is required to complete the main quest, but I imagine it won't be a small number.
"This means that if we want to complete the main quest, we all need to put our faction objectives on hold and work together to collect kindling. What does it matter if you're a believer or a heretic? Even if you complete your faction quest, you can't clear the instance until the main quest is done.
"Furthermore, as you all know, the strangeness in the Holy City is tied to the night, when monsters that can corrupt people into heretics appear. I personally believe that if we want to truly understand this world, we must investigate what happens after dark. Wouldn't you agree?"
No one objected. Only heretics could move about at night without being affected, making them the obvious choice for any nocturnal investigation.
"I hope our friends in the heretic faction can put aside their differences for the greater good and use their time at night to advance the main quest. After all, progress on this kind of objective is shared among all players."
As William spoke, his tone grew more earnest. "The Final Instance is about to begin. This is a struggle between the Weird Game and all of humanity, not just the twenty-two identity card holders. It concerns the fate of every single one of us. When the Watchers beyond the stars have already bared their fangs, isn't it laughable that we, the beasts in the cage, are still fighting over scraps?
"You've all heard the rumors since you were rookies: the Weird Game targets powerful players, deliberately engineering unwinnable scenarios to ensure that 'the strong die and the weak live.' It's all to grind down humanity's fighting spirit and weaken our strength. And what about the special treatment it gives to slaughter-stream players? Isn't that just another ploy to sow division among us?
"We are all top-one-thousand players, yet we've been gathered in an instance designed to kill us off. Our deaths won't be because we lack skill, but because of these ridiculous mechanics and rules... Without a doubt, the Weird Game has turned its malice upon us, using these faction divisions as a tool to drive us apart!
"We absolutely cannot afford to be weakened by infighting before the real war begins. We must be clear about one thing: we are not enemies. We are allies, united against this game. In this instance, we can't guarantee everyone will survive, but we can try to save as many as possible, to preserve our strength for the trials to come. Let's do it... for humanity!"
It was a speech straight out of the Kyushu Guild's propaganda playbook—a mix of truth and lies, with the deeper secrets of "sin" carefully glossed over. To think that a top-ranked player would actually believe such rhetoric, treat it as gospel, and deliver it with such earnest conviction...
The representatives present all knew the real story. For a moment, they could only stare at one another, their eyes reflecting a shared sense of awkwardness and irony.
Of course, no one corrected William. Instead, they all put on expressions of profound agreement, vowing to stand united.
"Children, it is time. I have prepared rooms for you all. Please, follow me," Father Raki's deep voice drifted from a corner of the hall.
He had reappeared in the temple at some point, holding an oil lamp that cast a hazy yellow glow. Against the gloom behind him, he looked like a figure in an ancient oil painting.
He enunciated each word carefully. "There is danger in the night. Please find your rooms quickly. I wish you all a peaceful evening."