Chapter 245
The golden light flew all the way to the twenty-fourth floor of the Black Tower, sweeping across the rooftop of the building amidst the howling cold wind.
The magician sat on the rooftop, looking at the Divine Favored Emblem that had appeared on the back of his hand without him noticing. He poked at it with his finger and muttered to himself, "Xie Xubai, Xie Xubai, you said before that you would be my assistant in a performance, to help me complete a grand show. Could it be that you meant this?"
The emblem gleamed, seemingly confirming his doubts.
The magician's eyebrows twitched violently, his face filled with disbelief. He waved his hand, pointing to the dark, approaching horde of monsters on the horizon, and his accusation rose sharply: "Are you kidding me? You want me to deal with such a huge group all by myself?"
The emblem flashed again, and a ray of golden light emerged from it, seemingly innocently making a large question mark.
The magician immediately gasped, as if his dignity had been severely challenged, and retorted without hesitation in a booming voice, "What do you mean I can't? How could I not? It's just a few thousand S-rank elite monsters and a demigod-level mini-boss! I, the fifth strongest in the Central Continent region, can handle them with one hand—"
"No, no, no! Don't go! I may be strong, but even a novice can be overpowered, and accidents can happen, right? You wouldn't be so heartless as to just stand by and watch someone die, would you?"
"Why not bring teammates? In such a dangerous situation, how could I possibly let fans participate... Please, please, my dear God Xie, Boss Xie, Ancestor Xie, please stop teasing me and give me a powerful cheat code, otherwise your followers will really lose their lives here today."
A golden glow emanated, conveying the message: "Therefore, I suggest you retreat first."
The magician paused abruptly, then fell silent.
The lord of the twenty-fourth floor is an opportunist, unwilling to offend either the rebels or the Black King, and therefore allows all who pass through to leave the city gates wide open.
This means that as long as someone comes, they can directly ascend to the 25th floor, and no player will stay on this floor for long. Even if the trial dungeon is fully upgraded, you won't get many reinforcements.
With the magician's skill, he should have reached the 24th floor much earlier and moved on to higher levels.
However, he arrived too late because he had to accommodate the fans who were unfortunately selected by the All-Out War mode.
It was at this point that the system, in a fit of rage and desperation, maliciously altered the settings of the Lord BOSS.
The 24th-floor lord, who originally intended to pretend to be deaf and dumb, suddenly changed his personality as if he had been corrupted by demonic pollution, and immediately led his troops to attack the kingdom's gatekeeper BOSS.
So the magician was unlucky; no matter how late or early he arrived, he could avoid this wave of conflict.
But he happened to appear just as the lord launched his final attack.
In order to resist the lord's attack, the gatekeeper BOSS decisively closed the passage to the tower, causing the magician to be caught off guard and trapped between the closed passage and the attacking army, unable to move forward or backward.
No, it's not like there's absolutely no way out.
The magician's obsidian playing card earrings are an extremely rare S-class escape gadget, allowing him to blend into the enemy ranks undetected.
“But then,” the magician suddenly said, “the fans in front of the camera will know that I’m a complete coward, a coward who ran away at the last minute.”
If other players were in the same situation as the Magician, most would probably choose to tactically avoid him.
As the saying goes, "Where there's life, there's hope." When facing an invincible enemy, the wise choice is to avoid direct confrontation and plan for the long term.
But Xie Xubai still remembers that there was always an insurmountable obstacle in the magician's heart.
So much so that even though he is so timid that he gets terrified at the sight of snakes, rats, insects, and ants, he always stubbornly puts on a bold and arrogant act in front of the camera.
Even back in the hospital instance, Xie Xubai said, "Listen to me, or I'll tell your fans that you're actually a coward who's afraid of everything."
That would allow them to thoroughly subdue this seemingly fierce but actually cowardly fifth-ranked fighter.
The magician asked, "Is the situation on the twenty-fifth floor also very serious?"
The emblem flashed, telling him that although the situation on the 25th floor was dire, the kingdom's reinforcements were on their way at breakneck speed, and if they could hold on a little longer, the situation would turn around.
"Oh? It seems everyone's taking this really seriously." The magician stroked his chin thoughtfully.
It wouldn't make sense to withstand an attack of this scale without going all out.
In contrast, in the past, most top players were not very proactive in clearing the trials because they knew that clearing it 10 times for the first time was a lie. They usually spent their time conserving their energy and honing their skills. Participating in an A-level Ghost King dungeon was considered diligent.
Therefore, everyone's all-out efforts at this moment precisely illustrate one point.
—They received some kind of instruction or information that they believed they had a very high chance of winning this trial, so high that all the big shots hidden behind the scenes had come out and stood here to fight to the death.
The magician pointed to the overwhelming horde of monsters and asked Xie Xubai, "If these monsters were to reach the twenty-fifth floor, would the people guarding there still be able to wait for the situation to turn around?"
The emblem remained unmoved.
The magician smiled knowingly: "It seems that's not possible."
Battles are never simply a matter of one plus one equals two. The situation on the battlefield is ever-changing, and even the slightest change can lead to catastrophic destruction.
If the lords of the 24th and 25th floors join forces, the destructive power will likely increase exponentially. At that point, including the magicians, they will have no choice but to retreat upwards, again and again.
They might eventually win, but the price they pay will be absolutely devastating.
This is the magician's understanding.
Magician: "If I ask again, I want to stay and hold off these monsters, burning my life force and using the divine blessing you bestowed to buy time. Could you perhaps tilt the tide in our favor a little more?"
Before Xie Xubai could speak, he said confidently, "I guess so."
The magician, seeing this as proof of his wit, became visibly excited and thrilled: "Yes! You really weren't lying to me, this is going to be a spectacular show!"
Without a doubt, he had made up his mind.
...Perhaps even earlier, long before he watched the lord's massive army surge towards him, his heart racing with tension and fear until he felt dizzy and his legs trembling, yet he didn't move an inch backward, his timid heart had already found the courage to overcome his inner demons.
Just before restarting the live stream, the magician suddenly remembered something and said with a wink, "Let me tell you a few secrets. When I was a kid, my parents were fighting. They were overturning tables and smashing bowls. I was so scared that I ran away and hid until dark before I dared to go home. But the house was empty, and there was blood all over the floor. They never came back."
“When I was in junior high school, some thugs extorted money from my classmates and threatened me not to tell the teachers. I didn’t dare to say a word until I graduated.”
“I couldn’t go to high school, and no one would support my education, so I took odd jobs. I didn’t dare to say anything when I saw my boss molesting his employees, I didn’t dare to say anything when I saw my boss cutting corners, and I still didn’t dare to say anything when my wages were deducted.”
Before becoming a renowned magician who never flinched in the face of danger, he was just a cowardly and timid man.
No one knows that he was actually brave once when he was very young, when he tried to break up a fight, but ended up getting a double beating from the couple. To this day, the magician still can't understand why he became the target of his parents' attacks.
Perhaps, as my parents often say: if it weren't for him, the two of them, who loved each other, wouldn't have ended up like this.
Heaven showed him a moment of mercy. As he cried out in pain from the beating, the door was kicked open, and someone outside roared in a muffled voice: "Are you done yet? Can't a man get any sleep at night? Are you abusing a child? I'm warning you, if you keep this up, I'll call the police!"
Listen closely, and you can also hear the sound of a sharp object smashing the door.
So the couple dared not move.
Even after they realized what had happened and considered the severity of the situation, even if they called the police, the first person to be arrested would have been a stranger outside the door with some unknown tool, but they remained as quiet as chickens.
The day after that night, the magician ran into a strange older brother downstairs. The man grabbed him, repeatedly checked the bruises and swellings on his body, and finally patted his head and sighed, saying, "Next time something like this happens, just run."
While escaping is shameful, it is extremely useful for self-preservation.
The magician gradually tasted the sweetness of self-preservation and smugly regarded it as the survival rule of the rats.
Then Infinite Game arrived, and Peak, the top guild in the Central Continent at the time, issued an announcement to summon the first batch of players to participate in the front-line battle, but he ran away again.
After that, the players suffered repeated defeats, but he kept his head down and pretended not to see it.
Billions of people disappeared without a trace, and he turned a blind eye and ignored it.
The Apostle Guild, touted by the media as the last hope, suddenly erupted into civil war. The First Apostle, White, betrayed them, turning away indifferently amidst the noisy crowd, seemingly oblivious to their presence.
Then came a thorough investigation into White's background.
At that time, the magician was working in logistics for a large guild, hoping to use the guild's top-notch intelligence network to find his former savior, his older brother.
Incidentally, he also received divine blessing, which is why he was able to retain his memories and live to this day.
As for who the deity he contracts with is, other advanced players probably never would guess in their lifetime—the Rat God.
How can a stinking rat, which everyone hates, become a god?
The magician found it utterly absurd, but the large gray rat stood on the cupboard, cawing loudly.
He told him triumphantly that there were only a handful of truly brilliant heroes, but there were plenty of cowardly people in the world who were afraid of getting into trouble.
Without the darkness of the Rat Man, how could the brilliance of His light be highlighted? Therefore, He is far more powerful than any renowned deity!
The magician thought He was using a fallacy, but when his gaze swept around and fell upon the dimly lit room, the moss and mushrooms crawling on the walls, the mountain of household garbage, and his own unshaven, listless self in the mirror, he suddenly laughed with relief.
Too many players had disappeared by then, and the deadline for completing the Infinite Game was approaching. He had searched through the intelligence network but found nothing, and he had given up hope of finding his benefactor. He even thought: Forget it, that guy is probably already dead. It's not so bad to suffer less.
Then, an anonymous apostle member revealed at the height of the controversy that, based on the accent of the first apostle, White, when he first joined the guild, he might be from a certain district or county in the Central Continent.
And that is the magician's hometown.
Upon hearing the news, the magician's mind went blank for a moment. His first thought was: "Impossible! How could it be such a coincidence?"
But the big gray rat, always eager for drama, came out and poured cold water on his enthusiasm: "Why not? You have to trust a rat's instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm. If you have a strong feeling that the actual outcome is probably not going to be different."
He was right.
No matter how despicable and incompetent the Rat God may be, he is still a god.
As the magician gathered as many reports as possible about White and read them one by one with unprecedented seriousness, his heart trembled as he read, as if a voice deep within him was constantly telling him: This is the older brother he has been looking for.
He then reviewed those reports.
What "a rising genius," what "a young commander once in a century," what "a brilliant and outstanding savior," "the hope of the great catastrophe"...
The media couldn't wait to use every beautiful word to praise that person's unparalleled talent, and the person in the photo seemed to live up to those praises, dignified and composed, with an imposing presence, as if standing on a cloud for a nobody like him.
But the older brother in the magician's memory was skinny, a bean sprout who would pant even when carrying a bucket of water.
White's intelligence information is classified as top secret, and his true appearance is unknown.
The only flaws that were exposed were the accent, verbal tics, and behavioral habits when they first joined, but these were quickly corrected by the etiquette teacher.
The magician needed to prove his intuition was correct, so he asked the Rat God to find the other party.
Stealing and finding things happens to be a rat's specialty, so the magician met White faster than anyone else.
At that time, White was all alone, walking unsteadily through the overgrown wilderness, covered in blood, exuding a menacing aura.
The magician impulsively rushed to meet the person, but was so terrified at first glance that he froze on the spot, like a mouse seeing a cat, his hair stood on end and his hands and feet went weak involuntarily.
Even if White showed his true face, the magician might not recognize him, since that was a long time ago.
Now that he has run into White in person, he feels even more terrified and refuses to believe that this is the older brother he knows.
As the young man walked towards them step by step, even the roadside flowers and plants bowed down in submission, and the large gray rat was so frightened that it disappeared in an instant.
He finally remembered the rumors of the other party's brutality and terror, his vision blurred, and he lost the courage to run away. The words of begging for mercy trembled and came out of his mouth.
No, please don't kill me, please, please...
"Where did this little mouse come from? It's willing to risk its life just to watch the excitement."
A blood-stained hand fell and pressed down on his head. A mocking laugh came from above: "You don't even have a divine core. I'm too lazy to kill you. Get lost. Run as far away as you can."
His blood-stained hands were as hard as iron, and a surge of divine power reverberated within the young man's body, with each finger bone brimming with a chilling explosive force.
But whether it falls or passes over the magician's head after being removed, it is as gentle as a spring breeze.
The magician failed to notice.
Even for a fleeting moment, a strong sense of déjà vu did flash through his mind.
Just as he was being beaten to the point of despair, a muffled, angry roar came from outside the door.
Just as he was sitting blankly at the top of the stairs, contemplating suicide, someone stuffed a fragrant meat bun into his dirty palm.
Next time something like this happens, just run away.
The man said to him.
Under the threat of death, the magician's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground. He then scrambled to his feet and fled in a frenzy.
He ran away again, without looking back.
White tirelessly ran around, trying to dig out the divine cores of all the players who had become gods and swallow them before the final battle began.
The magician and countless other unsuspecting players suddenly saw a golden light rise from the ground.
The light was as brilliant as the sun, and the power that devoured countless divine cores caused it to collapse and deform, bursting out with astonishing brightness.
Everyone immediately closed their eyes, but the light was so intense that it could penetrate their retinas.
They couldn't help but shed silent tears, not because the light stung their eyes, but because the light contained an indescribable longing and reluctance that pierced their hearts and brought tears to their eyes.
However, it was only a farewell that lasted less than half a second.
Immediately following, a beam of light shot up from the ground, passing through bungalows and high-rises, winding through streets and alleys, and finally piercing through spatial barriers, plunging straight into the vast and dangerous void, hanging high in the sky like a signal tower—
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