Chapter 170 The Fifth Day After the God's Departure (7) Congratulations, host, on successfully logging in...
Xie Tan was stunned. The phrase "I want you dead" should be the same phrase that Wu replayed when he said it to the family head, but it was blurred by the group audio.
Does this count as...helping him edit and splice the footage?
[Is the "blade" really that powerful? Isn't it part of the Eye of Observation? It's part of God, yet it can harm a god?]
[This is so important; without it, no wonder Mommy failed.]
What's the underlying principle behind this?
I don't know.
[The leader is right about one thing: the Smoke Mirror should shatter in the future, but he was too confident, not because he replaced Lu Lu as the new god.]
[Holy crap, so the smoke mask was punctured by a knife? If it wasn't the cult leader, then who was it?]
This is not only gouging out the tongues from the eyes, but also gouging out the eyes of the sun...
[Ahhh, thank goodness it didn't work! I was so scared! So Director Jiang betrayed us? Well done!]
Wow, this is Director Jiang and Ah Tan working together!
[How spectacular! I've never seen so many demons and monsters in my life, all obsessed with one person.]
The true flower of evil...
[Ouch! The way the leader died... I'm in phantom pain! This is a drawing of hell! Ah Tan has practically summoned the deepest hell to the human world!]
So, Ah Tan's willingness to become whole was probably for this reason; the ritual could force out all of the cult leader's clones, thus allowing him to be killed completely.
Yes, the power of collective speech is divine! There's a unique aspect to it; the cult leader and the cult leader's "if" scenario are essentially the same person.
[Holy crap! That line, "I'll kill you!!" Ah Tan, are you still there? Waaaaaah!]
[Ah Tan said the same thing to the head of the family through the mirror.]
[I suddenly remembered that when Ah Tan summoned the spirit through the Ouija board, he told Wolf Dad, "I want him to die," but he never said who "he" was.]
[He is both the head of the family and the leader of the cult!]
[Ah Tan was indeed not fooled by the cult leader. Just like Director Jiang said, he knows everything, waaaaaah!]
[“To avenge someone” - sob sob sob sob]
[Hiss, looking at it this way, it seems that it was Director Jiang who was constantly contacting and testing Ah Tan. These two extremely intelligent people getting together, could it have been for...]
[To get rid of the Black Goat and the cult leader! Holy crap!]
Director Jiang didn't think Ah Tan was going to follow in her mother's footsteps and start the ceremony even if it wasn't complete, to take away a large group of black goats. She was fully aware of Ah Tan's plan.
So, while Director Jiang seems to be preparing for the cult leader's ascension to godhood, he's actually conspiring with Ah Tan to murder the cult leader. My god, the intelligence of our library team... is just too high...
Where is the head of the family?
[Definitely! Even the cult leader said he couldn't escape the ritual, and he'll probably perish along with all the burning "what if" scenarios. The cult leader's confidence comes from the patriarch, haha.]
[Agreed. If Ah Tan says he wants him dead, he will definitely die.]
[I understand now. The patriarch must also die here. Because the ritual was delayed on an inauspicious day and not fully completed, the patriarch still possesses the incomplete Eye of Observation and the unique divine qualities! Killing him now is the only way to eliminate any future threats!]
So Ah Tan's ritual was also to completely eliminate the family head and the cult leader. How amazing!
[I thought it was a boss, but it's just one after another, haha. They couldn't even be bothered to draw a Death God with a deadly technique. How low-class, Master.]
Was the ceremony cut off in the last five seconds?
Yes, the ritual is trying to digest the opinions of the crowd, but it's stuck.
[Ahhh, so Ah Tan, are you still there? You still have a backup plan, right?! Please, take me with you!]
Although, alas, Ah Tan's line "I want you dead" was presented in the same way as when the group of people opened their mouths.
The eyes swallowed the tongues, which means Ah Tan is the eyes...
So it's still that obsession that's getting to me, sob sob sob.
[Ah Tan's journey so far has been marked by obsession; love and hate are both part of it, otherwise he would have died long ago.]
[Yes... from the moment he first appeared, he was just a vengeful ghost wandering among humans... Waaaa, our Ah Tan!]
After the cult leader was swallowed up, the black flames on the entire Four Seasons Mountain burned even brighter in the comic.
As it was blown by the gale, the enormous eye seemed to blink slowly, and the black mist shifted wildly, like a revolving lantern.
His eyes slowly closed.
It looked as if it were asleep, and there was a sense of peace about it.
It's as if they're waiting, waiting for the time to come, so they can return to God's embrace.
【Ahhhhhh, don't go, Ah Tan!!!】
[Don't close your eyes! I'm going crazy! Don't sleep! Don't sleep! Don't sleep!]
Come back, kitty. I've been crying with Leopard every day since you left.
[Please, don't force me to burn paper money and write long essays for you every day—it's even more annoying than Rui Rui's!]
Actually, well, it's a kind of relief, I guess.
Finally, Ah-Tan can rest...
[Yes, but I still don't feel right, sob sob, where's the class counselor?]
In the end, they will return to God's embrace and merge with Him. How can that not be a happy ending?
[But Mommy clearly wanted everyone to have a happy ending. Ah Tan, you didn't consider yourself. How can you say you've fulfilled her wish? Waaaaaah!]
[That's right, Ah Tan has clearly made so many friends, so many people are waiting for you, loving you, and there are still so many miraculous days ahead!]
You deserve all the love, don't you believe it? *sobs*
【Ah Tan——】
At the end of the comic, the clock struck midnight, the calendar moved to a new day, and the inauspicious day was finally over.
Black flames shot into the sky, and mist filled the air, all returning to the heavens.
The sun, moon, and stars were all buried.
In the dim light, there seemed to be a black sun with a golden edge.
That's all for this episode.
When Xie Tan switched to the comic, this was the third time the forum had crashed. He remembered that on the 7th, the forum had been upgraded because of the previous two times... but now it had crashed again because of his "death".
Xie Tan was completely out of the loop.
Until cat number 7 jumped onto his lap, tilted its kitten head up and said, "Congratulations, host, on successfully reaching the top of the popularity character ranking! Meow wow, we did it! We are the champions! Meow meow meow meow!"
Cat number 7 excitedly raises its paw, waiting for a high five with its host.
Xie Tan gave it a high five, but his mind was still reeling.
He looked at number 7; the black panther cub had completely lost its color and now looked like a jaguar cub.
"...Is it over?"
"Yes, meow! Real-time popularity monitoring shows that our host baby has reached the top of the popularity charts! Reaching the top counts! That's amazing! Meow meow!"
"So I'm actually already dead?" Xie Tan asked uncertainly.
The cat tilted its head in confusion: "No, host, aren't you right here, meow?"
It chased its own tail, ran around twice happily, and said with starry eyes, "I've been stuck in second place for a long time. I used the death escape method to maximize my popularity score. Host baby is amazing. I knew I didn't choose the wrong person. Meow!"
"Then what happened next..." Xie Tan wanted to ask what happened next, but then he realized that his character was already "dead" in the eyes of the forum readers, and whatever happened next was irrelevant to the character "Xie Tan".
Cat No. 7 misunderstood him, thinking he was referring to the subsequent procedures. Seemingly recalling his incompetence in making the host an unregistered person when they first met, the cat felt a little guilty and actively followed the system procedures.
“That’s right, that’s right, now it’s reward time, meow!” The little leopard sat up straight, blinked its golden eyes, and said, “Just like we agreed at the beginning, if the host becomes the number one most popular character in the comic ‘Strange Tales,’ the system can grant the host one wish. So, host, what is your wish?”
Xie Tan was momentarily dazed.
Yes, he died unexpectedly, but he didn't actually die. Because of an absurd interactive question in the comic, he came into this world.
Xie Tan: "What will happen after the wish is fulfilled?"
"Of course, host baby should continue with their own life! The system's energy recovery is complete, the mission is over, meow." Number 7 tilted its head, realizing what was going on. "Meow! So that's what host baby was asking. The mission is over. You can stay in this world or go back to your original world, it's up to you!"
"The original world?" Xie Tan's voice was somewhat ethereal, as if he were talking about his past life.
"Yes, in the original world, the system has blurred the perception of people in the host's original world who have causal entanglements with the host. If the host wants to go back, the cognitive blur can be lifted, meow!"
Xie Tan's mind had never been this slow, even slower than when his pheromones went out of control.
Cognitive ambiguity.
Ah... I just forgot he existed.
Or rather, he never existed in that world.
He felt empty inside.
Feeling somewhat lost, yet also as if something had been lifted from my shoulders, I felt a sense of relief, which made it even harder to refocus my wandering mind.
"Can wishes also have an effect in the original world?"
"Anything is fine, meow!"
"I remember when you chose me, it was because you heard my wish."
"Yes, meow, so is it still the same wish?"
Yes, what other people and forums said is actually correct.
His journey to where he is today is indeed "driven by obsession."
He came into this world seemingly with a goal, yet also seemingly wandering aimlessly, all because of that wish.
He wanted his pheromones to disappear.
He wished that the source of all his pain and suffering would disappear.
He wanted to live a normal life, like those betas.
Yes, that was his wish.
He doesn't care because he doesn't believe it will come true.
If there were truly a fairytale-like magic that could grant it, he thought, he would eagerly shout out this wish, "This is it!"
But.
He opened his mouth.
But it can be achieved right now, so why is he speechless?
He hopes...
What exactly is it that he hopes for?
Xie Tan swallowed awkwardly, and said in a hoarse voice, "Can a wish be changed?"
"Of course, your desire to inspire me is just a trigger, allowing me to choose you. The only constant in this world is change. System, I'm very human, meow. After the mission, verification is a necessary procedure. As agreed, anything you wish for can be granted, meow!" Number 7 looked at him earnestly. "So, host baby, have you thought it through?"
A long silence.
"I don't know," Xie Tan said blankly.
"After all, it's a rare opportunity to make a wish. What should I wish for? It's really troubling, meow." Number 7 nodded its little head understandingly, raised its paw to pat Xie Tan's hand, and comforted him with a somewhat comical tone, "Don't worry, host baby, take your time to think about it. Anyway, we can't get out now. You can come out as soon as you think of it before this series ends, meow meow!"
Xie Tan was enveloped in black mist, as if floating in space, and the mist was constantly changing its appearance.
At times like this, his mind is usually blank, and he doesn't think about anything.
Because he had known for a long time that if something couldn't be solved, repeatedly thinking about it would only be another form of self-torture.
What does it have to do with him anyway?
Whether it was his father, neighbor, classmate, or even a complete stranger, none of them had anything to do with him.
In his own time, he didn't want anyone else to "intrude," but he had nothing himself, so he just let his mind wander.
Empty your mind, think of nothing, wait for time to pass, until the next time you have to connect with the outside world.
But now, the entire smoke mirror is so empty that you can't see the boundary. There has never been a time when he was more "alone" than this, but his mind is filled with all sorts of thoughts.
Did he die? No, he didn't. How did he escape the patriarch's predetermined path? Did he become the complete form? If not, who became the Eye of Observation in the manga?
Has the cult leader died completely? What about the patriarch? Su He is also unique; having been refined into a blade, he probably wouldn't survive in the normal timeline either, right?
Director Jiang collaborated with him? Her past is connected to the Black Goat; she may have had reasons to kill the Black Goat, but what about the cult leader? Why did she betray the cult leader and try to kill him? Did she initially guide him and collaborate with him just to kill the cult leader? Does she want to seize power within the cult, or is the cult merely another Black Goat in her eyes?
Has time moved beyond the true last ominous day and into the "new year"? Or have we returned to the correct timeline? What time is it outside the mirror? How are the main characters? Are they in any danger?
The ritual is complete, and the eyes have returned to the sky. Shouldn't that mend the shattered sun? When did the sun break in the first place? Is the end of the world imminent? Will this line become the only one, or will it face destruction once more?
besides……
And then there's today.
Is he still trapped in that fourth day? What will happen to him? Will he return to his omniscient state, reject the bet, and continue his playful life? If he knew he was dead, would he be sad? Would he forget him?
Xie Tan's head ached from thinking about it, and he finally realized that his mind, which should have been empty, was now filled with so many people and so many things, making him even more bewildered.
He couldn't think about it anymore. He suppressed these thoughts in an attempt to escape, his mind wandering with the ever-changing scenery in the mist.
Even though he tried not to think about anything, the unease still lingered, and he subconsciously tried to fill the void with something else.
So what Number 7 had said resurfaced. What had previously gone in one ear and out the other finally got into his head this time.
He suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Number 7, can't we get out now?"
The cat appears: "Yes, meow."
"Your power comes from the power of this world, so this place, inside the Smoke Mirror, is considered part of the system space? You can only leave when I make a wish?"
"No, meow. There is no system space. If you need anything, just tell me directly. This is the inside of the smoke mirror and has nothing to do with the system, meow."
Xie Tan confirmed again: "So it's not the system that's trapping me."
"Wow, I wouldn't do such a thing! That's restricting personal freedom! My dear host, please understand! Meow meow meow!"
In other words, he was indeed not dead, and someone knew he was alive and locked him in a complete smoke mirror.
He opened the forum again, and amidst the pages of lamentations for him, he saw a post about surviving in the cracks asking what the new daily blind boxes meant.
Xie Tan switched back to the comic, opened the new blind box, and found that there were only two images.
The pointer covering the Four Seasons Mountain, after passing midnight, returns to the initial time of the fifth day cycle.
But at the end of the latest chapter, time breaks through the cycle of the ominous day and arrives at a new day...
Xie Tan immediately understood; it was indeed the next day.
But he's stuck in the fifth day's cycle!
Who is it?
A wisp of fog drifted in, creating a new scene.
The person inside is Jiang Linji.
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