The moment the dimensional gate opened, the oppressive feeling was like a tangible hammer slamming into every inch of space.
The job changers kneeling in the ruins groaned, spiderweb cracks appeared in the armor of the front-line warriors, and the aura of the mages' staffs behind them dimmed abruptly; the little girl holding the rag doll was shaken and fell to the ground, the rag doll's cotton wool drifting out from the cracks, but freezing in mid-air—time was compressed like syrup about to freeze.
Chu Yao's projection, which had already collapsed into a data stream, miraculously reformed into a human form against the oppressive force. Her fingertips, glowing with blue light, trembled uncontrollably: "M-Master!" Her voice cracked, a quality unbecoming of a mechanical life form. "Behind the door is not a physical space, but a conceptual dimension... Your consciousness will be shredded by fragments of rules!"
Lin Yi's golden-red wings were pressed backward, but they still steadily supported him and kept him suspended above the observation deck.
He could clearly feel countless threads wrapping around his sea of consciousness, as if trying to pull his whole body out of his body.
Those threads carried a bone-chilling cold, yet radiated a familiar warmth—exactly the same temperature as when the data particles entered his sea of consciousness as Su Qing finally dissipated.
"Peeping into the divine realm?" He chuckled softly at the nothingness behind the door, the Anchor of Time burning in his palm. "I'm here to take someone home." As soon as he finished speaking, his consciousness was suddenly ripped apart, and the scene before him began to distort: the city ruins turned into flowing ink dots, Chu Yao's shouts became a buzzing sound coming from the far distance, and even the weight of the Anchor of Time became erratic.
"Master!" Chu Yao's data stream suddenly surged, forcefully wrapping around his wrist. "The conceptual dimension has no physical laws; your body will become a burden—"
"Then don't let me go in alone." Lin Yi grabbed the cluster of blue light with his backhand, the golden-red light leaking from between his fingers intertwining with the data stream. "All job changers, link your faith!"
This sentence is like a drop of water thrown into a pot of oil.
The crowd below, who had been kneeling on one knee, all looked up at the same time, their eyes flashing with various colors: flames ignited in the warrior's blood-red pupils, a star map appeared between the mages' brows, holy light emanated from the healer's necklace, and even the crafting player on the very edge, who was always ridiculed for being "useless," had his kitchen utensils buzz and shaken off the dust.
The power of faith, like thousands of luminous streams, surged into Lin Yi's sea of consciousness, following the energy network he had previously laid out using the spacetime rift.
In the space of consciousness, the threads that were originally being stretched suddenly straightened.
Lin Yi felt countless warm consciousnesses squeezing in: the passion of the boy he saved in the newbie village, the heavy weight of the old commander's pat on his shoulder when he first formed the Time Legion, and the obsession of the support master who was still shielding his teammates before being torn apart by the alien monster... These emotions condensed into golden chains deep in his sea of consciousness, snapping shut on the cold threads that were trying to drag him away.
"Well done." He chuckled softly, and liquid starlight began to flow from the patterns on the Anchor of Time. "Now, I'll show you what—"
"shut up."
The voice from the shadowy figure was like an icicle piercing the eardrum.
Before he knew it, the high-level civilization law enforcer, who was always shrouded in shadow, was standing beside him. His fingers, hidden beneath his black robe, gripped the back of his neck, and a talisman gleaming with silver-purple light sank directly into the skin of his nape.
The moment the talisman entered his body, a star map exploded in Lin Yi's sea of consciousness, with each star engraved with unfamiliar yet majestic runes.
"This is the last anchor point of advanced civilization." The shadowy figure's voice rarely carried emotion, and a dark red glint flashed in his pupils beneath the shadows. "In the conceptual dimension, even the 'self' will be eroded by the rules. Remember—" His hand pressed heavily on Lin Yi's chest, "Don't believe any voice, including your own."
Before the words were finished, his consciousness was violently pulled again.
This time, the darkness before Lin Yi's eyes completely shattered, and he "saw" the world behind the door: there was no up, down, left, or right, no past or future, and all existence floated in the form of "concepts"—war was a cloud of blood mist, life was a tree that kept sprouting and withering, and even "time" was like a snake swallowing its own tail, with each scale engraved with the history of the demise of different civilizations.
At the very center, the entity he regarded as the "shadow" now revealed its true "form": it was a giant cocoon of countless intertwined data streams, with each thread repeatedly playing Su Qing's memories—the game helmet she handed him when they first met, the light in her eyes when she first awakened, and the shape of her lips as she smiled and said, "This time, it's my turn to protect you," before she disappeared.
"So..." Lin Yi's consciousness trembled, and the cold threads wrapped around him suddenly turned scalding hot, "You are a rule entity formed from the data residue of Su Qing?"
The giant cocoon suddenly trembled violently, and the data stream surged wildly, eventually coalescing into half a human face in front of him—it was Su Qing's face. The left eye was a jumble of data, but the right eye was so clear that you could see her eyelashes.
"Lin, Yi..."
This voice, crackling with electrical noise, made his heart pound more wildly than any divine oracle.
He tried to reach out and touch it, but was pulled back by the golden chains in his consciousness—the faith of the job changers was reminding him of the danger.
"Don't rush." He smiled at the giant cocoon, and the Anchor of Time transformed into a golden-red longsword in the consciousness space. "I've come to pick you up."
Just then, the talisman on the back of his neck suddenly heated up, and the voice of the dark figure, mixed with electricity, drilled into his sea of consciousness: "Be careful! That's not Su Qing, it's a manifestation of the conceptual dimension based on your obsession—"
But Lin Yi could no longer hear clearly.
He stared at that half-familiar face, at the recurring memories of Su Qing in the data stream, and suddenly remembered the first time he saw her in the game. She was standing under the cherry blossom tree in the starting village, smiling and saying to him, "Want to play through the game together?"
Deep within my consciousness, something stirred slightly.
It felt like a pair of gentle hands were stroking his face.
The moment Su Qing's fingertips touched Lin Yi's consciousness, his pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints—the sensation was too real, carrying the unique coolness of data, yet it made his heart tremble more than any temperature in reality.
In the fragments of memory, she was wearing a light blue dress from the beginner village, with the ends of her hair dusted with the pink of virtual cherry blossoms, but at this moment, the right half of her face was still churning in the data stream, as if being forcibly torn apart by an invisible hand.
"Qingqing." Lin Yi's consciousness leaned forward uncontrollably, and golden-red light condensed into a semi-transparent shield around him—a defense spontaneously formed by the faith power of a job changer.
He could hear Chu Yao screaming deep within his consciousness, but those sounds were drowned out by Su Qing's words. "You said this time it would be your turn to protect me." His voice was choked with emotion he himself didn't even realize. The Anchor of Time hummed in his consciousness space, and the originally flowing starlight suddenly froze into golden-red chains. "Now it's my turn."
Su Qing's face suddenly trembled violently, and tiny silver lights seeped out from the data stream, as if some kind of rule was resisting her manifestation.
Her lips moved, but the rest of her sentence was torn to shreds by the static of the electricity, yet a sliver of her clearest consciousness pierced Lin Yi's mind: "Go...don't stay for me..."
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over my head.
Lin Yi's consciousness suddenly stopped, and the golden pattern at the corner of his eye suddenly burned—it was the black shadow's mark warning of danger.
He gazed at Su Qing's face, half of which was ravaged by the rules, his Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he suddenly laughed: "Back in the newbie village, you said we'd clear the game together. Now that we haven't even finished this level, how can I quit first?"
Before he finished speaking, he raised the Anchor of Time and slammed it heavily into the void beneath his feet.
Golden-red light sliced through the darkness like a knife, and fragments of rules from the conceptual dimension emitted a piercing shriek.
Lin Yi's consciousness was thrown backward by the recoil, but it spun in mid-air and used the force to rush straight towards the giant data cocoon.
He could feel the chains of faith stretching straight behind him, with countless fragments of consciousness following him like shadows—the beliefs of the job changers were becoming tangible anchors, firmly fixing his "self" in this chaotic dimension.
"Open for me!" he roared, pressing the tip of the Time Anchor's sword against the surface of the giant cocoon.
The data stream instantly boiled over, exploding outwards like a punctured hornet's nest.
The moment the giant cocoon cracked open, a dark blue portal appeared directly in front of Lin Yi. Behind the portal lay an even deeper darkness, with countless firefly-like fragments of consciousness floating about.
Chu Yao's data stream suddenly surged from the depths of his consciousness, condensing into a semi-transparent barrier before the portal: "Master! The core area of the conceptual dimension has no physical rules; the strength of your consciousness will be infinitely diluted—"
“But they are here.” Lin Yi grabbed the chains of faith that stretched behind him, the golden ribbons of light, condensed from countless emotions, leaving a dazzling trail in the void. “The beliefs of those who change jobs are the most steadfast rules.” He smiled at Chu Yao and stepped into the portal.
Darkness instantly enveloped his entire body.
Lin Yi "saw" it.
Countless fragments of consciousness floated around, like a disturbed star map.
There was the novice boy he first saved, smiling at him with a rusty iron sword in hand; there was the support character torn to pieces by an alien monster, his dying figurine still shielding his teammates, floating among the fragments; there was even himself—18-year-old Lin Yi squatting in his dormitory, hesitating whether to click "confirm binding" on his gaming helmet; 22-year-old Lin Yi standing under the flag of the Time Legion, pinning the silver-blue armband representing "time and space" on new members; and an even blurrier figure, covered in blood on the alien battlefield, the tip of the Anchor of Time pressed against the Night Owl's throat…
“These are…” He subconsciously reached out, his fingertips just touching “himself at 18”, when the fragments suddenly twisted into a blood mist, and when they condensed again, they became the face of a night owl.
The interdimensional leader's pupils gleamed a nauseating purple, and his mouth stretched to his ears: "You think you're saving people? You're nothing but a hunting dog raised by an advanced civilization."
Lin Yi's consciousness jolted violently, and the Anchor of Time automatically rose up to protect him.
The moment the golden-red light swept across, Night Owl's face was burned to ashes, and he reverted to being a support character's figurine.
He had just breathed a sigh of relief when a cold whisper suddenly came from his left: "You think you're fighting? No, you're just a variable in our game."
These words struck my consciousness like a hammer blow.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on Lin Yi's protective shield, and the chains of faith emitted a humming sound as if they were on the verge of breaking.
He turned his head sharply, only to see a pair of eyes floating in the deeper darkness—not human eyes, without pupils or whites, but pure vortexes of rules, "looking" at him in a way that transcends language.
"Who is speaking?" He gripped the Anchor of Time tightly, its golden-red light surging into a blazing sun. "An advanced civilization? Or an even higher being?"
His response was a distortion of space.
The darkness surged like a living thing, and countless fragments of consciousness were swirled into a vortex, pulling his consciousness forcefully inward.
Lin Yi felt icy tentacles wrap around his "ankle," the sensation exactly the same as the cold silk that had dragged him before, but with a stronger malice—to crush his "self" into another fragment in this dimension.
"Don't even think about it." He hissed, and the hilt of the Time Anchor suddenly became hot.
Deep within their consciousness, Su Qing's final words, "I believe in you," suddenly resounded. The beliefs of the job changers surged like a tidal wave, and the golden chains snapped taut, tearing off the entangled tentacles.
The pull of the dark vortex paused for a moment.
In that instant, Lin Yi saw the center of the vortex clearly—there floated a mirror, its surface covered in blood, yet it clearly reflected his face.
But the "he" in the mirror had no golden-red light, no anchor of time, only empty despair in his eyes, and was slowly raising his hand to press on the mirror surface.
“That is…” Lin Yi’s consciousness froze instantly.
He suddenly remembered the shadowy figure's warning: "Don't believe any voice, including your own." But at this moment, the person in the mirror's eyes were too real, just like one late night when he knelt where Su Qing's data had disappeared, clutching her remaining hair ribbon, feeling as if the whole world had lost its color.
The force of spatial distortion suddenly intensified.
Lin Yi was swept up by the vortex and crashed into fragments of consciousness. The face of his "18-year-old self" reappeared, but this time it spoke as he approached: "Give up, you can't protect anyone." Black blood seeped from the assistant's figurine, dripping onto his consciousness and burning black holes in it.
"Shut up!" Lin Yi's pupils ignited with golden-red flames, and the Anchor of Time burst forth with unprecedented light.
The chains of faith suddenly taut, weaving a golden net in the void that completely enveloped the vortex.
He could feel his sea of consciousness burning, the price of overusing the power of faith, but he couldn't care less at the moment—the "self" in the mirror was still tapping on the mirror surface, each crisp sound like it was shattering his reason.
"I am the master of time and space." His voice pierced through all noise, exploding in the conceptual dimension. "Time, space, rules, all should be under my control." The tip of the Time Anchor sword pointed at "himself" in the mirror, and golden-red light slashed down like a sharp blade, "including my own fears."
The mirror shattered instantly.
But the darkness did not subside.
On the contrary, even more violent tremors came from the depths of the vortex, as if some slumbering entity had been awakened.
Lin Yi's consciousness was thrown backward by the shock, leaving a golden-red trail in the void.
He barely managed to steady himself, only to see the shattered fragments of his consciousness begin to rearrange. The pattern that formed this time made his blood freeze—it was the image he least wanted to recall: Su Qing's data particles dissipated in his palm, her smile still on her face, but she hadn't even finished saying her last "goodbye."
"No—" he blurted out, his consciousness rushing forward uncontrollably.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch Su Qing's afterimage, all the fragments suddenly turned into a black tide, completely engulfing him.
In the darkness, he could hear his own heartbeat, each beat more rapid than the last.
A voice whispered in the deepest recesses of her consciousness, clearer and colder than before: "You think you can defy the rules? Look around you, everything you cherish is nothing but a puppet of the rules. Including her..."
Lin Yi's consciousness struggled in the black tide, and the light of the Anchor of Time gradually dimmed.
He could feel his "self" being peeled away little by little, like his soul being polished with fine sandpaper.
Just as his consciousness was about to slip into chaos, he suddenly remembered the cherry blossom tree in the beginner village, and the pink cherry blossom that was stuck to the tip of Su Qing's hair when she handed him the helmet.
"I promised to take you home," he murmured through gritted teeth in the darkness, "so..."
The Anchor of Time suddenly burst forth with a blinding light.
A crack was torn open in the Kuroshio Tide.
Deep within the crack, a pair of eyes, swirling with regular patterns, revealed a predator-like smile.
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