Chapter 223
"Speaking of which, you seem much more relaxed now than before." Ghost Duke rested his head on his hand, looking at her. "Even after I mocked you like that, you didn't hang me up and slice me into pieces."
"Would that be useful?"
"Why didn't it work? It hurts so much!" Ghost Duke made a face. "You can't get used to that stuff. It really hurts."
“I really can’t tell you’re in pain,” she said, a little annoyed. “I find it ridiculous that you didn’t even groan or cry. Let alone beg for mercy.”
"How do you want me to beg for mercy? I'll find a way to kneel down for you to see." Ghost Duke tilted his head, seemingly unconcerned: "I threw away the concept of dignity a long, long time ago."
"As a human being, is this really okay for you?"
"Who knows? Not many people really treat me like a human being. Thank you so much for still treating me like one." Ghost Duke said, rearranging the chessboard. This time, he didn't remove his own pieces. "Alright, at least one game is over. You should be familiar with how to play now."
“Of course.” The benevolent one smiled, then picked up a chess piece and tapped it on the chessboard.
For Ghost Duke, it was just another afternoon, and he was playing chess with a girl. This routine had been going on for half a year, and he, like a cockroach, had adapted.
It's great. Although it sounds a bit strange to say this now, he really feels that it's good to continue living like this.
After all, he had never experienced such a comfortable dungeon before. He hadn't stayed in the previous spot for long; after cutting off his arm and throwing it out the window, he tried using the arm outside as his main body, and soon his entire body was restored outside.
It sounds disgusting, but it's actually even more disgusting. It even scared passersby.
When the third round ended, another guy appeared at the door.
"Hi, what a rare guest." Ghost Duke looked at Benedict and said with a smile, "I'm really lucky today. Two beautiful girls actually came to visit me this afternoon."
"You really like to talk about good luck."
"Yes, I'm grateful for every bit of good luck I've had. I always try to convince myself that being transported to another world is a good thing. And it really is. I've been here for hundreds of years now, which is much better than where I used to live." He opened his notebook, flipped through a few pages, and showed it to Benedict: "Take a look and see if you want to? I heard you and that guy Ark are a couple. I ship them! Look at the fan art I drew for you two."
The image depicts Benedict and Ark fighting back to back. Due to the materials used, the drawing is not complex, but it is still quite lively.
“You’re still as cheerful as ever.” Benny was taken aback, feeling that the tone of the conversation was a little different from what she had imagined.
It's not about the art style, but the style of this guy; he really doesn't look like someone imprisoned here.
In her mind, it should be a guy who's broken down and huddled in the corner, completely oblivious to her arrival.
But what's up with this guy who still looks so cheerful?
"Your welcome speech was stolen. Are you here to see me or this guy?" the Benevolent One asked casually, toying with a chess piece. "If I'm bothering you, I can leave."
"Do as you please."
“Then I will take this as an invitation.” The Benevolent One stood up and opened the prison cell door. She walked in and hesitated for a moment beside the blood-stained axe at the entrance.
"This is?"
"It's for chopping people up. If used well, one strike will cut me in two." This was Ghost Duke introducing it. "It's so heavy, I can't even lift it."
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward for a moment, but she just smiled and it was impossible to tell what she thought about Ghost Duke's evaluation.
“It seems you two are getting along well,” Benny said, looking at the Benevolent One. “Are you interested in recruiting him into your servants?”
"I can't do anything," Ghost Duke said, resting his head on his hand as he arranged the chessboard. "I can't do anything except be a useless piece of trash."
He placed the chessboard there, looked at Benny, and said, "Interested in playing chess with me?"
"What is this?" Benny tilted her head and asked curiously.
“A game,” Ghost Duke said, looking at her. “I remember someone telling me that your ability is to trigger all sorts of miracles to help you win. But I don’t quite understand. If you make a mistake in a game of chess, can you use your ability to turn back time to before that move?”
“Don’t exaggerate too much, but the former champions certainly could.” She sat down and picked up a notebook next to her, which contained the rules of chess: “But now the timeline is blocked, not only to target the demons, but also to target us. The disruption of time is a terrifying thing, and we may not be able to withstand that kind of disaster, so we set time as a one-way street.”
"I still don't understand what you mean. If we can really go back to the past, can't we change the future?" Ghost Duke asked hesitantly.
“You can’t go back, no matter what method you use, you can’t go back unless the Guardian dies.” She looked at the rules and set up the chessboard accordingly, while the Benevolent One sat beside her, holding a teacup and smiling as a backdrop.
"This kind of treatment really makes me happy." Ghost Duke rested his head on his hand while playing chess. "Speaking of which, how is Ark doing?"
Benny's whole body suddenly trembled, but she quickly calmed down and followed suit.
This guy seems to have no problem playing by following the rules; it's clear that he understands this kind of game very easily.
“I don’t know, I haven’t looked at that guy for a while,” she said softly. “Maybe he’s dead, I’m not sure. In that situation, I can’t see any possibility that he could have survived.”
"I remember you cared a lot about Ark back then, wasn't he your old friend? I mean before you became a saint?" Ghost Duke asked casually. "That's great, that guy was really nice."
"What do you mean?" Benny didn't seem happy with the somewhat sarcastic tone.
"Literally, I think that guy is lucky to have a girlfriend as beautiful as you. Is there anything luckier in the world?" Ghost Duke didn't care that her expression was getting colder because of his words: "When I transmigrated to another world, I hoped that a blue-haired goddess would give me a bunch of options to choose from, and I could pick a cheat code to defeat the demon king and save the world."
"Destroying the Demon King won't save the world."
"To me, Demon King and Demon God mean the same thing. Aren't they just those scenarios where the world faces a huge crisis because of someone? Then a high school student from another world is transported here, gains some kind of power under the guidance of a goddess, and then kills anyone who gets in his way. He adds all the cute girls he sees to his harem. If they were recruiting a male lead for this kind of scenario, I'd be more than willing to volunteer." Ghost Duke looked at her and said, "But thinking about it, I'm just a shut-in otaku. I'm not even a high school student anymore, I'm already a college student, and I've left behind the strongest profession for humans."
“I now think it’s true that you said this guy has gone mad,” Benny said softly, and the Benevolent One smiled helplessly.
That's just how this guy is. He'll suddenly start saying nonsensical things as if they're absolutely true. It's the girls who don't understand him who are abnormal.
"Haha, yeah, right." Ghost Duke scratched his head, then said while playing chess, "But that girl named Lady is really pretty. Looking at it this way, maybe Ark is the protagonist after all. So far, it seems like the guy I've met who most looks like the female lead has something to do with him..."
He stopped. Even if he couldn't read faces, he could still see the dagger pointing at him.
“Say one more word and I’ll cut your tongue out,” Benny whispered.
"It's not like I haven't been cut before, and it didn't hurt." Ghost Duke tilted his head, looking somewhat puzzled. "Why don't you learn from this older sister next to you? At least make it like she's ripped out my brain and intestines, mashed them up, and fed them to me, right?"
Benny glanced at the benevolent one, and she reluctantly acquiesced.
“The last time I got angry with this guy was because of his age. If you want a good day, you’d better not come looking for him.” She looked at Ghost Duke and said, “He’s very good at angering people.”
Benny remained silent, put down the dagger in her hand, and looked back at the chessboard.
Ghost Duke picked up his car and ran it over, then whistled as he sat back down.
He had already won after completing this step.
Speaking of which, he finally felt like the protagonist this afternoon, being one of the two most skilled players in the world. But even in chess, he was defeated by himself. It's shameful to admit, but Ghost Duke still feels he could brag about it for centuries.
But in the end, since I'm not the main character, this kind of thing seems more like a plot arranged for a third-rate supporting character.
If you're the main character, there will definitely be some bets or something, and you can also take advantage of the situation.
But I'm not like that; I just have someone playing chess with me. And later, they might even use that axe lying nearby to chop me up.
So what if you cut it? It's not like I've never experienced it before.
He started setting up the chessboard again; that's all I could do this afternoon.
“I lost,” Benny said softly, then turned to leave.
"This is the first time in decades that you've admitted defeat to someone. Are you really that willing to accept it?" The benevolent one suddenly started talking from behind: "Aren't you going to beat this idiot? He seems pretty smug. I think we should make him understand what defeat is like."
"You can do this boring stuff yourself," she said without turning her head. "I'm not interested."
With that, she left, leaving only the two of them sitting there.
“Don’t look down on her, she’s a good person, at least more so than me.” The benevolent person said with a smile, “Don’t mind her.”
Why would I care?
“Alright, let’s play one more round. I think I have a complete grasp on this one. We can bet on something.” The benevolent one said with a smile, “Since you don’t have anything to bet on, just symbolically use your arm to bet on. It can grow back anyway.”
"Just like when you used to stick stickers on your head when you played cards?"
"Yes, if you win, you can make a request. I won't refuse if I feel there's no problem." The Benevolent One tilted his head: "Didn't you say you were reincarnated for cute girls? So what do you think of me? You can suggest things about me, as long as they're not too unreasonable, I'll agree."
"No way, I've memorized the chess scores." Ghost Duke hesitated for a moment and said, "You can't possibly win. Taking advantage of someone's vulnerability is something people will hate."
"A chess manual?" The benevolent man was taken aback and looked at him.
He hesitated for a moment, scratched his head, and said, "Because you've seen it too, there are many similar situations. So as long as you can memorize a lot of sure-win situations, you only need to secure the victory in the middle stage. In those situations, you have no chance of winning."
“I’m starting to believe you really did live somewhere before,” the Benevolent One said. “I’ve never heard of anyone putting in so much effort to play a toy well.”
“There are people who make money by playing games. I’m really envious of those streamers and game players.” Ghost Duke stopped abruptly, his expression turning somewhat sad. “But now hundreds of years have passed since my reincarnation. How is the original world now?”
"what happens?"
"Maybe a plot from Star Wars will emerge." He scratched his head and said, "It's possible that all of humanity has become artificial intelligence, or perhaps they've already gone extinct."
"That sounds really unsafe."
"Actually, living in that environment feels quite safe, that's what many people say. Although I know it's not very likely, many things are beyond our prediction." Ghost Duke scratched his head: "You've been talking to me a lot today, aren't you free today?"
“Actually, I’ve always been quite free,” she said softly. “I used to have someone to keep me company, but now even she’s gone.”
"Is it that guy named Bai? White hair is the best! And the emotionless white cat fox girl is even more my favorite!" Ghost Duke suddenly became excited, pinching his chin and looking at her, saying, "Let me tell you, if a white-haired animal-eared girl were in my original world, she would definitely be a male idol! The appearance of such a character in real life makes one want to appreciate the beauty of the world."
The benevolent man was stunned, looking at him with the expression one would use to look at a patient.
"Do you really think the world is a wonderful place?" she repeated, looking at him.
The idea that the world is a beautiful thing is a naive concept only someone who has never seen the dark side of life could utter.
But this guy has seen more than just the dark side; he's become dark inside and out!
"Yes, this world is so beautiful." Ghost Duke stretched and then slowly lay down on the ground: "This place meets all my requirements for another world! Magic, steampunk, cute girls, humanoid girls, and a really good church... How should I put it, I can only offer my blessings to this wonderful world! (This is a reference to an anime, the name of the anime.)"
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