221 In vain
◎Vivid memories◎
"Aqing, how did you get here?" After ending this long yet short hug, Qi Qiuxue looked into Li Yiqing's eyes.
"I won the game," said Li Yiqing.
"The god I fought possessed the ability to replicate himself infinitely, and the copies were identical to the original, without any difference."
"In that situation, I couldn't accurately find her real body and kill it, so I ended up killing all the enemies present until she ran out of energy and could no longer replicate."
How long did it take?
Li Yiqing couldn't remember clearly. She only remembered that she summoned skeletons four times in total. The first time, she lost her hearing, and then her right hand, left leg and sight. She was in a terrible state.
Perhaps she could use god-level props, just as Qi Qiuxue analyzed at the meeting. No matter what kind of props, they would be able to exert 100% effect on her, and as long as she used them, she would be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
But...what about her Axue?
She hoped that she could give Axue as much help as possible and fight for her chance of survival as much as possible. Of course she wanted to live, but not alone. She wanted to live in a world where Qi Qiuxue existed. Without her, everything would be meaningless.
"It must be very hard to win this game." Qi Qiuxue's brows gradually frowned.
"Not bad." Li Yiqing did not talk about her difficulties. She just raised her lips and smiled softly, raised her hand to smooth Qi Qiuxue's brow.
"Then the system declared my victory," she continued. "At the same time, a beam of light suddenly appeared from the sky, piercing my heart and reducing my remaining health to zero."
"When I woke up again, I had been forcibly taken away from hell." She lowered her eyes, her voice filled with heartache and guilt. "I tried many ways, but I couldn't leave here, and I couldn't go to help you."
"But fortunately, you survived."
As if he had found something he had lost, Li Yiqing held Qi Qiuxue's hand tightly: "It's great that you survived."
Yeah, that’s great.
Qi Qiuxue held Li Yiqing's hand again. At the same time, she subconsciously looked around. Heaven was holy and beautiful, with flowers everywhere. The humans who lived happily here passed by them one by one. It was very beautiful.
But to be honest, Qi Qiuxue doesn't like it here.
——Because it is too quiet here, without the friends who used to chatter around her.
"Have you waited for them?" Even though she had already guessed the answer, Qi Qiuxue still held on to a glimmer of hope.
But soon, she received an answer that made her extremely sad.
Li Yiqing shook his head and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking again: "...No."
"I waited for a long, long time." She said softly, "but I didn't see anyone except Axue."
"Not one."
“…”
Perhaps now, Qi Qiuxue could accurately summarize the two necessary conditions for passing the level: 1. Win the game, then be killed and leave Hell. 2. Firmly believe in your innocence, accept the trial, and live towards death.
It is true that death is a necessary condition, but before death, two other prerequisites must be met.
But Liu Ge and others didn't.
They all died truly and were left in the copy forever, with no possibility of survival.
Qi Qiuxue clenched her fists. Ever since she entered the final copy, she always felt so powerless. She couldn't keep everyone and couldn't save everyone's lives. Just like the coin she had tossed, the coin spun a few times and finally stood upright on the table.
Did they win?
Maybe.
But their victory was neither complete nor beautiful.
"I want to wait a little longer." After a while, Qi Qiuxue said stubbornly, "Maybe Liu got stuck, Shanyue got lost, or Wen happened to come across a dessert he liked on the way here and was so engrossed in enjoying it that he forgot about time."
"We're companions, aren't we?"
"I have an obligation to wait for all of them to come back to me."
Even so, this result is no longer possible.
Very stupid, isn't she? But she is not the only stupid person in the world.
"Okay." Li Yiqing nodded, willing to wait with her until a long, long time later -
A god came up to the two of them and smiled kindly, "Please allow me to lead you two to the awarding office."
“No one comes here anymore,” she said.
“…”
-
The medal awarded by heaven is small, shiny and golden.
Qi Qiuxue took a quick look at it and put it directly into her pocket. At this moment, countless applause rang out around her, congratulating them on becoming the first gods and being able to go to the temple.
Soon, the scene changed again. They came to a more sacred and magnificent place and met the legendary god.
She was a beautiful and dignified woman with an aloof air. She first greeted Li Yiqing and congratulated her on finally completing all the copies and returning to the temple.
Then, she turned her gaze to Qi Qiuxue.
"Congratulations to you too, Qi Qiuxue," she said. "Although this is our first meeting, I've been following you for a long time."
"You are an excellent human being, calm, brave, and unwavering. You have a very strong heart and a group of capable companions who are willing to lay down their lives for you. Therefore, I am not surprised that you can make it to the end."
"Have you decided what you want to wish for?" She propped her chin on her hand and looked at the two of them with interest. "You now have two chances to make a wish. Compared to the first worldline, this one will undoubtedly have a better ending."
"I want to restart the world line again." As soon as she finished speaking, Qi Qiuxue said firmly.
This was a decision the two had made together when they came. Just like what Li Yiqing had done before, Qi Qiuxue also wanted to go back to the past to save her deceased companions.
But what’s different from before is that this time, not only Li Yiqing will become a god, she will also become a god. With them around, the probability of everyone surviving will definitely be higher, and they will definitely be able to have a better ending.
"Of course." The Lord God nodded, "But before that, I must remind you."
"What?" Qi Qiuxue met her gaze.
"Have you heard of the butterfly effect?" The Lord God tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. "The development of any thing is subject to constants and fluctuations. Even under similar conditions, the outcome may take a different turn due to some minor changes. Everything will be rewritten and move forward along a path you could never have imagined."
"It's like the difference between this world line and the previous one." The Lord God laughed. "Perhaps you don't know that in this world line, your encounter with several other players is much later. In fact, it wasn't just Liu Ge. You could have met Su Wen and Wu Shanyue in the first dungeon."
"You will go through two dungeons together and soon form a guild because of your shared interests. However, in this world line, you don't finally establish your Hope Guild until the end of the sixth dungeon."
"Similarly, the time of the disaster has also changed. After the second world line opened, the disaster was obviously advanced."
"To be frank, the third time will be the same. This time, disaster will strike before you complete all the dungeons. By then, it won't just be you players who will die, but all of humanity."
"We still have one wish, don't we?" Qi Qiuxue said quickly, "I want to wish for the disaster to disappear immediately."
"Well, that's a great strategy." The Lord God nodded gently, "But have you ever thought that this time, perhaps you will never meet again from beginning to end."
"In the foreseeable future, they will die before they meet you, and you will lose your memories and your most capable companions. Even if you are a god, you will not be able to survive and successfully complete all the dungeons."
"But unlike before, it was Li Yiqing who died in this third worldline, not you, Qi Qiuxue." The Lord God looked at the person before him calmly, and then said, "And this time, with only one chance to make a wish, you are powerless."
"Even if you wish to end the game, you won't be able to bring back your lost companions. Of course, you can choose to restart the world line for the fourth time, but this time, the disaster will strike at the very beginning, leaving you no time to buffer."
"Qi Qiuxue, I know what you're thinking," the Lord God said, slowly standing up and walking towards the two of them. "Humans always pursue perfection, insatiable and insatiable. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned. You will never achieve the perfect ending you desire."
"This world line is your last chance."
"Do what you should do." Her tone was indifferent and cold. "The person is gone. No matter how much you struggle, it is in vain."
"I think you understand."
“…”
-
Qi Qiuxue and Li Yiqing returned to the Hope Guild.
They brought back exciting good news. In the last copy, they successfully passed the level and ended the game. At the same time, the disaster had been wiped out by the Lord God and all alarms had been lifted.
"Really?"
"Is this true?"
"We don't have to worry anymore, and we don't have to suffer anymore, do we?"
"Very good!"
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
Qi Qiuxue felt genuinely happy at the sight of everyone's smiling faces, but even so, she couldn't smile with them. The deaths of Liu Ge and the others were like a blunt knife, repeatedly slicing her heart, leaving her unable to escape or let go.
She felt as if she was soaked in water, and everything around her was unreal. Her brain was blank and her thinking was slow. She just mechanically answered everyone's questions and forced herself to cheer up.
"So you are gods now, right?"
"Yes." Qi Qiuxue nodded slightly.
"Will we never see you again?" Everyone's tone was filled with reluctance.
"No," Qi Qiuxue said, "The Lord God allows us to return to the temple after completing our lives in the human world."
"very nice."
"That's great."
As they spoke, they quickly looked around. They were so overwhelmed with joy that they forgot to ask a very important question: "So...where are A-Liu and the others?"
"Did they... manage to survive?"
The atmosphere seemed to stagnate for a moment, and perhaps after a long while, Qi Qiuxue finally spoke.
"I survived." She lied to everyone.
"They had other things to attend to, so they didn't come."
"Oh, that's how it is." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"I hope the guild will disband now, and everyone can pack up and go home," Qi Qiuxue said. "It's all over."
“…”
Yeah, it's all over.
The guild was soon vacated, and everyone packed up their bags and headed back without stopping.
Only Qi Qiuxue and Li Yiqing stayed behind to do some simple cleaning.
“Ding Dong.”
Someone rang the doorbell, so Qi Qiuxue walked over and gently opened the door.
There was a stranger standing outside the door. He was a delivery man from a certain express company.
"Hello, is this Ms. Su Wen?" the man said enthusiastically, "Here is a package for Ms. Su Wen that needs to be signed for."
"I'm her friend." Qi Qiuxue paused, raised her hand to take the package, and said, "Just give it to me."
"There is a valuable item in the package. Please open it and check it. If there is no problem, just sign here." The deliveryman still had a smile on his face.
"Okay." Qi Qiuxue nodded and cooperated to open the package. Just as the deliveryman said, it was filled with bubble wrap and various fillings.
Qi Qiuxue rescued this "valuable item" from layers of wrapping.
——It’s a camera.
Su Wen bought a camera in advance.
The memory becomes vivid at this moment, surging like a tidal wave, unstoppable—
"Don't forget we still have to go to the sea together!"
Su Wen was laughing happily at that time, and so was everyone else.
"Now is the perfect season to go to the beach. To be honest, I even ordered a camera online yesterday. We're going to take lots of photos, eat lots of delicious food, and buy lots of souvenirs!"
"It's a deal." Even now, Qi Qiuxue could still remember the determination and expectation in her tone, "None of us can be absent."
“…”
"Are you okay?" Obviously she noticed something and the delivery person in front of her became flustered. She took off her gloves, quickly fumbled around her body, and finally took out a brand new pack of tissues.
He opened it and handed it to the person in front of him: "What happened? Why are you crying?"
She asked in concern and panic.
【Author’s words】
Here it comes! The next chapter ends, he, he!
Special thanks to zzzkx baby for his deep water. Ahhh, I really appreciate your continued support and care. Thank you also to all the babies for their overlord tickets and nutrient solution, and for leaving comments and reading. I love you all so much!!!
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