Chapter 76. Felix, this city represents new life and hope. ...
It was eight o'clock in the morning on the continent of Luomanjier the next day. After finishing his morning meeting with his officials, Ister sat alone in the study of the castle. He did not go to the Privy Council today; he wanted to see the grand spectacle of ten million players logging on.
The system conjured a light screen. There were too many players—ten million—so they had to log in in batches. The scene on the light screen was chaotic and disorderly, with large numbers of players crowding together and making a huge commotion.
If the system hadn't made prior arrangements, such a commotion would have attracted countless people.
Looking at the players who could barely fit on the entire mountain, Ister suddenly felt fortunate that the players didn't need to eat food and could live simply by absorbing magical elements from the air; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to support his players.
It was at this moment that Easter's fingertips, which were resting on the desk, moved slightly, and an invisible thread was stirred.
Easter covered his head, his face pale. The dark, viscous seawater swallowed the sun, abstract, chaotic, and indistinct. Was it the sun that was being swallowed, or... a person?
Accompanied by the faint cracking sound in his ears, East couldn't find a real point of contact. He couldn't be sure if he was real or just a remnant of a lonely soul's consciousness.
Empty, void.
East fell to the ground, curled up against the leg of the desk, trembling.
A thin white line flowed out from mid-air, converging into a long, thin white shadow, surrounded by white mist. It was none other than the "Source," its vortex-like black hole facing the curled-up East, "whoosh~ whoosh~" ethereal and illusory, seemingly real yet unreal.
East struggled to lift his head, his unfocused eyes unable to discern what was in front of him, only feeling that what he saw was terrifying and unbearable to look at.
East bowed his head in despair, but the image was still deeply imprinted in his mind, difficult to dispel.
Tiny blood droplets and small pieces of flesh, connected by thin white threads, were haphazardly pieced together to form a human figure, broken and teetering on the verge of collapse.
Easter felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, but as He drew closer, Easter's emotions became increasingly indifferent, until they were almost nonexistent, allowing the white mist to flow into his body.
East's mind went blank, yet someone stubbornly kept writing on this blank space, more and more, more and more chaotic, disorderly and disorderly, staining the blank space with dense, dirty marks, rolled into a tangled mess, tearing and destroying, whether trying to clear his mind or to sink into depravity.
"Sigh~" It was very light and faint, flowing in and out with the wind, leaving no trace.
Space is distorted and folded, and time is blurred and chaotic.
"Don't get lost in distorted knowledge and power. Remember, they belong to you and are destined to be under your control."
"..."
"Don't be afraid~..." The words were blurry and indistinct, as if they had never existed.
...
"Hoo~!" East seemed to break free from the depths of the sea, breathing heavily.
He rolled over and lay down on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, and spoke in a hoarse voice: "System."
The system then exclaimed in surprise: "Host, host, what's wrong with you? What just happened?"
Easter didn't even have the strength to force a bitter smile when a strong hand landed on his arm, startling Easter so much he almost jumped up.
"Host, don't be afraid, it's me," the system said.
Easter turned his head to look back. At first glance, Easter felt familiar, but upon closer inspection, he couldn't quite put his finger on what made it familiar.
The human form conjured by the system was very handsome, gentle and refined. He was probably most familiar with the one from East, whose human form also had soft white hair, but whose eyes were the sapphire blue of his rabbit form.
The system carefully helped East back to his room. [Host, is there any way to stop this?] This kind of thing has happened more than once or twice. Although it has always ended without any real danger, who can guarantee that it will always end without any real danger?
East lay on the soft bed, staring thoughtfully at the system's face. Was it the white hair that gave him a sense of disorientation? Why didn't he think so?
Easter curled up her hands. "Don't be afraid, everything will be alright. I've got some ideas."
He wasn't lying. He discovered that after the second "source" entered his body, he gained some vague, ineffable knowledge. The system couldn't notice his changes each time because at that moment, he and the system were in two different spaces. This situation arose because...
Easter tucked his eyelashes, unsure whether to laugh or cry. The power of the gods was controlled by mortals; anyone in that situation would go mad. Yet, it was Easter who received this power and this favor. He could only feel that disaster was imminent, that too many stakes had been placed on him. If he had no desire for anything and attributed it to good luck, only a brainless person would think that way.
The system poured East a glass of warm water. He didn't know whether he should ask or not. Looking at the host's current state, so tired and exhausted, he felt that whatever he said would be a disturbance.
Easter slowly drank the water, the warm water soothing his parched throat and making him feel much better. He said to the silent system, "My body is too weak to bear this power that shouldn't belong to me..."
The system looked at East with its inorganic, sapphire-blue eyes, awaiting what would come next.
East placed the water glass on the bedside table. "The second 'Source' modified my body, and this will never happen again."
The system frowned in a human-like manner; something was wrong, but its knowledge in this area was too limited, so it couldn't pinpoint what was amiss.
East is hiding something... huh?
Easter looked at the system, blinking slowly. Why should he hide it? Weren't he and the system bound together by fate? Besides, what if the system had a way?
A question mark slowly appeared above the system's head.
Easter organized his thoughts and revealed the other half of what he had been hiding.
In summary, he must gather this power. If he fails to gather all the scattered power, he will be overwhelmed by it and die. There are a total of six scattered powers, meaning that from beginning to end, there have only been six "sources." As we can see from what has happened, the "sources" are attracted to him and come to him on their own.
But there's another possibility: humans simply cannot bear the power of gods. If all that power is concentrated in one person, they will be overwhelmed and burst.
So the truth is, his life began its countdown the moment the first "source" was delivered to his door.
The system and its host stared at each other, wondering how the host had managed to activate his own power before it even started to cheat.
Easter asked in confusion, "Huh?" He watched as the humanoid system turned into a rabbit. What was the system's reaction?
The system jumped onto the bed. [Human form really isn't suited for me.]
East sat up halfway, pinching the System Rabbit's ears. If it were anyone else, they might not be able to accept it and would feel awkward if they were close to him after switching between human and rabbit forms. But the System was different; he didn't feel uncomfortable at all. It was quite amazing.
The system nestled comfortably in Easter's arms. [I sensed something was off earlier, and sure enough, my feeling was right.] It nuzzled Easter's hand with its head. [Host, don't worry, I'm here. "Humans cannot bear the power of gods," host, have you forgotten? I can make you a god.]
Easter rubbed the system rabbit. He hadn't forgotten what the system had said, but his thoughts hadn't changed. Becoming a god wouldn't be a good thing, but if there really was no other way, it wasn't impossible to survive.
"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. We can discuss any further developments." After calming down and feeling much better, East got out of bed with the System Rabbit in his arms.
Following East's lead, the system changed the subject: "Host, the players want to name the city."
East placed the System Rabbit on the cabinet, bent down to scoop water to wash his face, and answered the system in his mind, "We haven't even started building it yet, how come you've already thought of a name?"
"Actually, they started making a fuss as soon as the promotion was released," the system replied.
East wiped the water off his face with a towel. "Let them decide for themselves. Whichever name gets the most votes will be used. It's their city, and I won't interfere."
The system issued this announcement as instructed by Easter, both in-game and out-of-game, with a three-day deadline.
Easter carried the System Rabbit to the study. Forget about it; he was already lucky to be able to squeeze in a few minutes of rest. There was a huge pile of work on his desk waiting for him to deal with, especially with a bunch of lords eyeing him covetously, always ready to play tricks and make the already unstable country even more turbulent.
East thought to himself, "What time is it? Why are you still arguing over such trivial matters?"
The system rabbit obediently lay on the desk, while its several subsystems kept an eye on the players to ensure nothing went wrong. With so many players, it was afraid something might go wrong.
New players' primary task upon logging in is to grind or mine, ensuring they have a certain level of self-defense before engaging in monster battles. This is just a suggestion, not a mandatory task. Players can choose to develop their own strategies, and how well they actually do so is entirely their choice.
The power of ten million players should not be underestimated. Even if they are at the lowest level and have not yet awakened their magical elements, their sheer numbers, combined with their immortality, make them incredibly efficient at everything from fighting monsters to building houses and farming.
After the open beta, due to the large number of players, restrictions were placed on the number of players entering and leaving the Royal City, the Royal Palace, and other cities. Players were bound to complain about this, but considering the size of the Royal Palace, they had no choice but to hurry up and enter.
So every day, Easter welcomes a new batch of players, each one staring at him with bright eyes and asking questions he can't answer.
After a few more days, the players felt that their king was indeed an NPC, as his daily work was repetitive and boring, and they gradually lost interest and replaced him with another group of players.
East didn't dislike the players' visit; in fact, he quite liked it. In his eyes, the players were all very novel, interesting, and energetic. They were the only source of relaxation in his tiring daily life.
[Host, the name has been chosen.] The system spoke six days later, on the morning of the next day.
East paused, stopping his work of reviewing documents. "What name?" He was a little curious. Given the players' wild imaginations, what kind of name would they give their city?
"Felix," the system said.
"Huh!?" East was surprised and puzzled.
The system stated, "The players' reasoning is that Felix represents new life and hope."
“It’s good,” East said, his feelings a mix of emotions. “It’s good.” He repeated it again.
-----------------------
Author's note: Volume 3 is finished. The next three volumes will be about love and revelations. [Sprinkling flowers][Heart][Lower-eared rabbit head]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com