The real world.
10:30 PM, subway station.
Gao Fei was waiting for the train outside the safety gate with a box of butter cookies in her hand. There weren't many people in the subway. She waited for everyone to get off before slowly walking in. Just as she was about to step onto the train, a young couple in a hurry jumped onto the train from behind her, bumping into Gao Fei and causing her to sway to the side.
The butter cookies were spilled all over the floor, but the two didn't apologize. They just laughed and got on the bus to find seats.
"So eager to be reborn?" Gao Fei cursed, then held her breath and told herself to love the world before taking a tissue to clean the floor.
She kept her head down and didn't see the subway lights go out the moment it left the station, and the blurry, strange ghostly shadows projected onto the windows.
In another world, Fu Guan dragged his heavy steps toward the classroom, a book on ancient maritime history tucked under his left arm and a thermos cup in his right.
It's truly remarkable that he, with all his wealth, hasn't resigned from his job in order to maintain a normal worldview and values, despite being so rich.
Once the door was closed, he decided to take revenge on society.
"Come on, I'm going to take attendance today."
Just as he finished speaking, a clap of thunder sounded outside the window, and the classroom door clicked shut and locked itself.
A chilling wind swept through the classroom, and a plaintive, weeping female voice echoed from an empty seat in the first row.
In another world, Qi Yuping got up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water. As she passed through the living room, she habitually looked out the window.
A blood-soaked man fell headfirst at high speed, his eyes meeting his through the glass. The next second, there was a knock on his door.
The same thing happens in the first 10 percent of the world.
The troubles that the world will face later are much more complicated.
After resigning, Manager Zhang closed all the windows in his home and sprayed peppermint oil everywhere.
The animals outside went berserk, attacking anyone they saw. A strange zoonotic disease appeared out of nowhere. Those bitten were covered in pustules and bleeding profusely. They weren't dead, but they were worse off than if they were.
On the high seas, a businessman surnamed Huang and several friends sat on a yacht, their stomachs rocked by the waves until they vomited acid.
Just minutes ago the weather was sunny and bright, but the ocean suddenly went berserk. Huge, turbulent waves nearly tore the ship apart. When the waves crashed over again, the severely tilted ship was completely swept into the waves.
In the pure white space, Sher moved a row of cubes in front of him, like turning prayer flags, and walked around twice to the left and right.
"If you don't give it to me, I'll escalate the situation, and it won't be just this much then."
"...You're threatening me with the safety of other worlds."
"Yes, you've given me such a big title, so I have to make sure it's implemented. I think you wouldn't want a tsunami to completely push the coastline, or an infectious disease to become incurable, would you?"
These worlds should not be used as tools for you to threaten me.
"Then how could you treat her like a tool?"
Shi Jinzhe did not stop Sheh's actions, but simply kept his skills ready at any time.
“Sacrificing me might be the solution that maximizes my interests.” Shekh randomly selected a cube and said, “Luck is part of strength, but unfortunately there is no luck in this world, only suffering.”
The suffering attracted by the card with the character "disaster" converges into an invisible spiritual tentacles, and people are unknowingly brainwashed, indulging in a sorrow from which they cannot escape. The world's emotions are out of control, and no one can extricate themselves.
Shekh previewed the future of this world to the system: "Crying will trigger a chain reaction that will bring society to a standstill. Therefore, sadness will be defined as a serious crime that endangers society. People will wear emotion monitoring devices from birth. Children are not allowed to cry. Funerals must be attended with a smile. Unemployment cannot lead to depression. Being bullied cannot lead to complaining. Happiness is not real happiness, but only because of fear of committing crimes. In order to avoid trouble, society will only be hypocritical. Do you like this completely deformed world?"
She moved her little finger, pushing forward the future she envisioned.
"You care about these worlds, so why haven't you made a choice yet? Will you hand over management authority, or let all worlds be afflicted by my wrath?"
Shi Jinzhe fanned the flames, saying, "Are you going to hesitate for so long? I saw you use every means possible to make Shekh pay the price?"
"Please make a choice while I still have compassion, don't force me, okay?"
Shekh tried to reason with her, but the system felt that her words left no room for negotiation compared to her direct threats.
After a short wait, no response came from the system in the pure white space.
Shekh didn't ask any more questions, and his loosely clenched hand instantly tightened.
The towering waves swept away the seawater, and people on the shore witnessed the tide receding in an instant, shifting a great distance backward.
Someone took off their sunglasses, squinted, and saw the tsunami rushing towards the shore from the sky. They swore and ran away.
The crashing waves blotted out the sky, and the distance between the running crowd and the waves was shrinking. Amidst panicked screams, the system shouted, "Stop! I'm granting you permission!!"
Shekh slowly released his grip, and the waves receded little by little.
The only advantage of her being treated as a threat is that the system genuinely believes she will do something to destroy the world.
[I'm granting you permission; you can retract the skill...]
The system dared not gamble anymore; it compromised.
Shekh remained expressionless. "Authorization."
The glowing pyramid deformed and shrunk back to the size of a palm. Then, two cards appeared in the air, and the three items fell into her palm together.
The pyramid is my other skill, my "brain," and the core of keeping the game running. The two cards correspond to the management permissions for functions and data, respectively.
Shekh went to look at the two skill cards, which were [Time] and [Adjustment].
Where is your [combination] card?
That's my original card...
"Give me."
[...]
The system as a whole has a sense of sluggish operation followed by a shutdown.
Perhaps this is what people mean by "it's beyond saving."
Its voice softened: "[Then you must promise me that you will no longer threaten the world, and that you will deal with things promptly. Sometimes, even a second of hesitation can have serious consequences. There are also some very important dungeons that must be cleared no matter how many players are involved. In particular, the worlds where the anchor point has been lost must be recovered. Also, you can intervene in dungeons appropriately...]"
These words sound like its self-hypnosis, rambling on and on, even going so far as to remind Shekh not to be prejudiced against mosquitoes.
[One last thing: Shi Jinzhe, you absolutely must not join the wicked and oppressive forces.]
Shekh had intended to listen quietly to its instructions, but now its impatience was written all over its face.
Fine, she's the world-destroying demon queen, and from now on she'll drag Shi Jinzhe along to be evil.
Without even blinking, she asked, "Is it ready?"
The answer Shekh received was a pure white card that fell to the ground.
"I thought its meaning was 'harmony' for world peace." She caught the card and tossed everything in her hand to Shi Jinzhe.
"It takes it upon itself to stabilize the world, and peace is not out of the question."
"This game..." Shekh suddenly felt it was unreal, "...will it be just the two of us running it from now on?"
"Um…"
Shi Jinzhe thought to himself, to be precise, it should be him; Sheh, with his lazy nature, would definitely not care about these things.
Are you thinking to yourself that I'm lazy?
"Since you already know, don't expose it. It'll make us both lose face."
Shekh got annoyed with him again and pushed him aside.
Shi Jin put his arm around her shoulder and said, "Let's rest for a day before dealing with other things. I'm a little tired and want to go home and get some sleep."
The major issue that had been weighing on my mind has been resolved, but one trivial matter after another has arisen. Now that all the tension has been released, I'm exhausted and have no energy left.
“I’ll take you back to Mu Bai.”
"Okay, so you took all the strange creatures from other worlds with you?"
Shekh opened a spatial passage and casually replied, "When I collected the skills, I packed up all the demons and monsters from various worlds and took them with me. The torrential rain in the original world stopped, and the broken world barrier was also plugged up."
"Any specific clues about the black fog?"
"No, the black fog doesn't seem to have a source. I don't think this is something that can be solved in one go. The system also said that it will be born wherever there is darkness, so it should be very troublesome to completely eliminate it."
After much deliberation, Shi Jinzhe said, "It's unrealistic to try to eliminate it one world at a time. Let each world monitor itself first."
Shekh asked uncertainly, "You want to delegate this task to the players?"
"Yes, you and I are both here, so there's no need to worry about the black fog contaminating the players. Besides, every world has people with decent strength and character. As long as the benefits are right, it's not difficult."
"Can it really work?"
"The game is all yours now. What boss does everything himself and doesn't delegate tasks to others? How am I supposed to get any sleep if you're chasing after the black fog all day?"
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