Chapter 5 Indecisiveness: Will this system ever be reliable, even just once?!
Lan Qingju was puzzled. There had been too much turmoil in the past thousand years, and Felix's legacy was no longer complete. What they knew were just rumors and hearsay, and their authenticity could not be guaranteed.
"Are you friends with the Emperor?" Lan Qingju asked tentatively.
“No, we are enemies,” Asan said firmly.
Lan Qingju, “…”, was it his problem, or did he not understand the line between enemies and friends in this world?
"Little guy, your name is East Felix, right?"
In that instant, all of Lan Qingju's amusement, helplessness, and other emotions vanished. Only this question lingered in his mind: the system had said that he had a possibility of returning to Blue Star, but the system's unreliability was too deeply ingrained in his mind. But even if he could go back, could he leave without any worries? Besides, this was not something that could be achieved in the short term.
“Your Excellency Belial, yes, my name is Esther Felix.” Since he survived under this identity, he should identify with it more. After all, when he returns to Earth, he will no longer be under his former identity. This is not much different from adapting in advance.
Asan's gaze towards Lan Qingju changed slightly. He took two steps back, raised his scepter, and constructed a magic circle in the void. He cursed the twelve gods in his heart, especially the most wicked one, and also felt a bit resentful towards the early-deceased Emperor Felix.
Such incredible talent, what a waste. They deserve to die.
Lan Qingju, or more appropriately, Easter Felix at this point, was very confused. What had happened? Why couldn't he move again?
Asan stood in front of East, his face expressionless. "I have some less-than-good news for you. Your talent is very strong, even stronger than Patrick's, but unfortunately..."
East understood what Asan meant by "pity." Abandoned by the gods, he was unable to awaken, and no matter how strong his talent was, it was useless.
Asan tapped Ister on the shoulder with his scepter. "Seeing how pathetic you are, I won't take my anger out on you." A ruby was handed to Ister. "To express my gratitude, it can protect you once in the future when you are in mortal danger. Even if the gods themselves take action, it's useless for me to do so, so don't count on it."
East accepted the gem. In this deadly era, he wouldn't refuse something that could save his life out of politeness; nothing was more important than survival.
"Lord Belial, are you leaving?" Ister wanted to ask if he could be given a ride.
Just then, the system in my mind started shouting, "[Host, host, I've found Earth!]"
Easter's eyes flickered slightly.
“Providing you with protection once is already an act of kindness on my part; don’t expect more,” Asan replied. “It won’t do you any good for me to stay; trouble is on the way.”
Before East could even ask a question, he saw a pair of enormous wings unfurl from Asan's back, like black raven feathers, indescribably beautiful and awe-inspiring.
"Live well, and if there's another chance, we'll meet again." With a flap of its wings, it blotted out the sky.
In an instant, sunlight streamed down again, and there was no longer any demon in front of him, only the ruins of a burned-down house.
East had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but when he thought about the trouble Asan had mentioned, he was overwhelmed.
"System, is someone coming?" East asked. Asan's behavior clearly indicated that he had sensed something and had left in a hurry.
[Host, you can hide in that cellar.] The system wasn't in a hurry to talk about what happened on Earth; protecting the host's life was more important. [The ruby in your hand has a concealment function. Hide inside first, and I'll teach you how to use it later.]
East ran over and dug through the rubble, doing his best to cover himself before lifting the door panel and jumping down. This time, no accidents happened, and everything went smoothly.
The only unpleasant thing was the stench that hit you, almost making you faint.
A small ball of light appeared, illuminating the scene before them.
East unconsciously took a step back until he hit the wall, then stopped, closed his eyes, his temples throbbing, he felt nauseous, his stomach churning, his lips pressed tightly together, his instinct screaming to escape, his feet slightly moving, then frozen in place, "System, can you be reliable this once?" He was utterly exhausted.
East covered his mouth and nose and reopened his eyes. The center of the cellar was filled with rotting corpses, whose appearances were no longer discernible. However, it was still possible to make out that there were men, women, and children among them. From the overall observation of the cellar, the arrangement of the corpses seemed to follow a certain pattern.
The ball of light circled once, then said, "[It's fine, this was just an incomplete sacrifice, and it's completely useless now.]"
It's one thing for East to know from the original owner's memories, but it's quite another to see it with his own eyes. He couldn't hide the sorrow on his face.
Human life is so cheap, so cheap...
East slowly squatted down. "How do we use this gem?" Numb and repressed, the more he witnessed such scenes, the more he realized the preciousness of life. It would be more accurate to say that he was greedy for life and afraid of death.
The small ball of light circled around East, saying, "Host, don't be afraid, I've found Earth."
East forced a smile. "Let's survive first."
[Host, follow the little ball of light. This is only the first level; there's another level below.] The system didn't know how to comfort him. It was all his fault. If things had started better, the host probably wouldn't be so upset.
East leaned against the wall to stand up, followed the ball of light around the corpse, and arrived in front of a wall.
[Click here.] The ball of light stopped on a slightly protruding rock.
East reached out and pressed down, and a downward-facing door opened.
"Hurry, hurry!" The system's voice was urgency. Could that demon be any more reliable? What happened to not reporting back?
Easter ran down the stairs to the bottom, and the door behind him closed after he entered.
"Place the gem here." The ball of light stopped in front of the recess in the wall.
East placed the gem in his hand into the box. A flash of light appeared, and apart from the ceiling lights turning on, nothing else changed.
[Alright, alright, that's all right now,] the system seemed relieved. [Host, come and eat. I told you there was food here. If it weren't for that demon that suddenly appeared, you would have been eating already.]
East's expression changed, but he eventually calmed down. This really is a system. Any normal human being would not have said that here.
"No, let me rest for a bit." Easter casually sat down on the ground, the scene from earlier playing on repeat in his mind, impossible to shake off.
"I remember you said you found Blue Star?" Easter's face grew increasingly pale. He couldn't let his mind wander any further; if he kept thinking about it, he might go crazy.
[Wait a moment, host.] The ball of light spun a few times and stopped in front of East, transforming into a light screen. On the screen was projected a blue planet, fantastical and beautiful.
East instinctively reached out, wanting to touch that beautiful planet, but ultimately withdrew his hand helplessly. "And then?"
[Host, I have some bad news to tell you.]
"Speak," Easter said calmly. Since the accident, what could be considered good news? He was almost used to it.
[It's like this: your soul still retains the imprint of your original world. This is what allowed me to find Blue Star. But because of this, whenever I contact that world, its consciousness will detect your existence. This isn't necessarily a good thing, nor is it necessarily a bad thing. The world's consciousness can guide you back, but you are already dead. If you return, you will enter the cycle of reincarnation. It's up to the host to choose.]
"Didn't they say at the beginning that they wanted to deepen the soul imprint?" East asked doubtfully. Could this system ever be reliable?
That was indeed the case at first, something I hadn't anticipated. I knew long ago that your original world consciousness was very strong, but when I took you away last time, it was clearly asleep. This time, however, it was awake, and I was captured by it.
Generally speaking, those originating from the Dimensional Management Bureau, whether systems or other beings, won't be too difficult for the World Consciousness. But you know our situation, right? We're in an unknown world, and I can't use most of my abilities. The World Consciousness has its own rules; it can avoid making things difficult for me and might even help me to some extent. But you're different. You belong to that world, and according to its rules, guiding you back is its responsibility. I can't compete with that; how could I possibly calculate that? There's only a 0.00001% chance that we've encountered each other.
As he spoke, the system also began to break down. Generally speaking, he didn't care about the world consciousness of small worlds at all, and the world consciousness of large worlds was basically dormant. He could do some minor things without any problem. For example, when he took the host away from the original world, who would have thought that the world consciousness of the host's original world was so strange? It was dormant and suddenly woke up. And to make matters worse, he just happened to run into it. Why were he and the host so unlucky?
However, the world consciousness of the world they are in now seems a bit strange? It's elusive, like it's there yet not there.
"So you mean either I choose to contact Earth and die after returning there, or I continue to eke out a living in this world?" Esther asked curtly and calmly.
Upon hearing the host's question, the system dismissed its doubts. Since it wouldn't interfere with its activities with the host, it was fine. It began to explain in detail: "[Similar to what the host said, the choice means whether you want to return to Blue Star or stay in this world? Returning to Blue Star, just as the host said, means you will be reincarnated in your original world after returning;]"
If the host chooses to stay in this world, they must completely sever ties with their original world. Even if the host completes their mission, returning to Earth will be excluded from their achievable wishes. However, if the host chooses to stay, the matters we discussed can continue. Furthermore, because I have gained the attention of the world's consciousness, I will have considerable freedom in that world—basically, as long as I don't harm the native inhabitants, I can do almost anything. This refers to the concept of the "Fourth Calamity."
[This is not an option that requires an immediate response from the host. The host can consider it carefully,] the system added. [Because of my mistake, the Dimensional Administration will definitely make compensation. At that time, there is a high probability that the host's request to return to Earth will be approved.]
Lan Qingju, East Felix, thought he was well prepared. The system was too unreliable. He had actually thought he couldn't go back, but when he was actually asked, it seemed that his preparations were not enough.
Does he want to return to his original world and reincarnate cleanly, or does he want to stay in this absurd world and continue to survive?
In less than two days, he encountered all sorts of monsters, witnessed the existence of demons, and most importantly, saw corpses strewn all over the ground...
East hugged his calves with both hands, buried his head tightly in his knees, and curled up.
A note from the author:
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I don't want to spoil it, but I also want to spoil it [shut up]. It's actually related to the protagonist's identity. Let me lay the groundwork [droopy-eared rabbit head][clasped hands].
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