Chapter 34: Dawn Piercing the Night
Reality, an apartment in some unknown city.
Bailing woke up in bed, feeling sunlight spilling through the window onto her cheeks, carrying a faint warmth.
She raised her hand to touch her own face and pinched herself hard.
Pain!
She hadn't died.
The Final Gate was real.
Alive again!
Joy flooded her features first, and she giggled aloud. But then the smile froze on her face before slowly dissolving.
Her eyes stared blankly at the snow-white ceiling.
"Why did you choose Him?"
Cheng Shi's question kept circling in her mind. She still remembered her own answer.
"Isn't it because I like it?"
Yes, wasn't it because she liked it?
But what exactly… did she like?
She rose slowly, just as she had after every previous trial's end, peeling off her clothes and standing before the mirror without a shred of cover. She turned in circles, surveying the marks [Defilement] had left on her body.
The feeling of embracing desire wasn't unpleasant. But did she truly like it?
Perhaps.
Bailing smiled self-deprecatingly and walked toward the bathroom.
This was an aging, poorly maintained apartment building, but thanks to the collective wishes of nearby players, the hot water supply was still reasonably adequate.
She turned the showerhead to maximum flow and maximum heat, letting the scalding water pour over her body, turning her skin an angry red.
Her hands scrubbed relentlessly at her body. Even though nothing could be scraped off the reddened patches, she kept rubbing with all her might.
Only after she collapsed from sheer exhaustion inside the bathroom and fell into an exhausted sleep did this "torture" finally end.
In her dreams, she seemed to return to the day [The Gods] descended. Staring at the only choice before her, Bailing asked innocently:
"To worship You, what should I do?"
That captivating voice, she remembered it to this day.
[Flesh, power, money, selfishness, greed, sloth… everything can be a desire for you to pursue.]
"But I… don't want to hurt anyone."
[Then bring pleasure to others.]
Pleasure?
From that day forward, a Sensory Tracker who pursued "physical debasement" was born.
She had never harmed anyone. She only ever brought others…
Pleasure.
After who knows how many hours, Bailing slowly drifted awake.
A smile once again appeared on her face. She rose, dried her body, selected a brand new skirt outfit from her wardrobe, and put it on at a leisurely pace.
For players, old clothes had only one destination: the trash.
But Bailing never threw away her clothes. Each dress was like a video tape of memories, letting her recall every detail of every trial.
She carefully hung up the dress, meticulously smoothing it out while reminiscing about every scene that had just occurred.
But as she was pressing out the hem, she suddenly discovered a letter tucked within the fold of the skirt.
A letter written on a page from a book.
Bailing gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. Incredulous, she drew the letter out and unfolded it with trembling hands.
The elegant handwriting on the page entered her vision, character by character.
"Fire… light… Bearer's… invitation?"
…
Reality, a classroom in some unknown city.
Fang Shiqing picked up a piece of chalk and expertly drew a symbol on the blackboard.
The instant the chalk touched the board, the blackboard warped into a pitch-black door. Without hesitation, she walked through it with steady resolve.
Beyond the door lay endless void.
The moment she stepped in, invisible stairs materialized beneath her feet, carrying her toward her designated destination.
After only a few dozen steps, Fang Shiqing saw a "person" sitting across from her, a "person" who sat suspended high in the void looking down at her, outlined entirely by burning candlelight.
Feeling this "person's" gaze, Fang Shiqing shook her head with a wry smile:
"Must you always be this theatrical?"
"Qingqing, this is the treatment I deserve. I carved out this passage, one that even [The Gods] can't see, to help you all relay messages. Shouldn't you praise me every time we meet?"
"Stop, stop, stop. Praise be to you, praise be to the great [Fire of Hope], but please stop calling me Qingqing. It's cloying enough to make my skin crawl."
"Understood, Qingqing."
"…" Fang Shiqing rubbed her forehead helplessly. "Did he arrive?"
"He's here, just ahead."
Fang Shiqing nodded and started walking. After two steps, she stopped and turned back, face full of curiosity:
"By the way, why don't you call him 'Xin Xin'?"
"…"
The Candlelight Person's tone stalled. He answered stiffly:
"I'm afraid he'll hit me…"
"Pfft." Fang Shiqing couldn't hold back and laughed out loud. Even her footsteps afterward felt noticeably lighter.
Before long, in a brightly lit hall, she met the imposing man.
"So happy. Good news?"
"You're hurt?" Fang Shiqing frowned.
"Minor wound. No matter. Ran into [Defilement]'s [Chosen], exchanged blows twice."
The man spoke casually, but the danger inherent in that was terrifying to contemplate.
The trial difficulty at that tier was almost beyond an ordinary player's imagination.
Fang Shiqing didn't press further, simply nodding.
"Speak. Time is precious."
"Mm. I've sent out two new invitations. One to an Amnesia Doctor, one to a Sensory Tracker."
The man raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised: "A follower of [Defilement]?"
"Mm. A follower of [Defilement]."
"And?"
"The Doctor refused. The Tracker… probably won't refuse."
"Oh?" The man's interest was piqued. He smiled: "Why?"
"Because her heartstring symphony is just like ours, filled with notes of compassion, leaping with runes of hope."
"Are you certain this is a follower of [Defilement]?"
"I'm certain."
"Mm… You're the Ember Seeker, so you have the final say. In that case, may I start preparing a welcoming ceremony for our new companion?" [1]
Fang Shiqing seemed to think of someone, but she shook her head and cast the stray thought aside, smiling as she nodded:
"She'll come."
…
Reality, a room in some unknown city.
Xu Lu woke up screaming. She surged to her feet from beside her desk, knocking crystal balls and cards scattering across the floor.
She kept struggling for a while as though someone had her by the throat. Only when her back hit the wall did she come to her senses and realize she was no longer in the trial.
This was…
A rest area?
When [The Gods] assigned every player a fragmented living zone, the word "home" had gradually faded from people's vocabulary.
Most players called where they lived a rest area. Others called it a foothold, or a survival hole.
Xu Lu stared at her own two hands in disbelief, then rapidly patted herself down.
But when she discovered that she was indeed alive and completely unharmed, the fear on her face deepened.
Why!?
Why had she been dragged through the wrong Final Gate by that Cheng guy, yet still survived?
Why had he clearly had the chance but chose not to kill her?
Why had [Fate]'s decree told her not to trust the follower of [Time]? But looking at the results, the follower of [Time] was clearly right!
Why was that?
Could it be that [Fate]'s decree was meant to send her to her death!?
On what grounds!!??
Ever since she began worshipping [Fate], not a single day had she failed to revere Him. Not a single day had she failed to praise Him. Not a single day had she dared disobey Him.
Yet in the end, He… actually guided her to die?
On what grounds!?
Is this my fate?
I refuse to accept it!
Fear and anger intertwined in Xu Lu's eyes. Resentment and hatred festered. She clutched the Die of Fate in her hand, her face shifting through darkness after darkness, her expression changing again and again.
Xie Yang on the rooftop seemed to have heard the commotion below. He draped himself over the roof's edge, peering down, and called out anxiously:
"Lu Lu, Lu Lu? Are you okay? What happened?"
Xie Yang's call pulled Xu Lu's reason back, fractionally. She stayed the hand that had been about to hurl the die, and swallowed her fury.
Then, quickly reverting to her usual tone, she replied in her cutesy voice:
"Brother Xie, I'm fine. I just accidentally bumped into the desk."
But from start to finish, she didn't take a single step toward the balcony where Xie Yang could see her face.
"Glad you're okay, glad you're okay. You weren't hurt in the trial, were you?"
"Thanks to Brother's potion, I'm fine. But the potion… seems to have run out."
"Huh? Oh! No problem, I'll get another bottle from Cheng Shi. He might still have some."
Cheng Shi!!
Cheng Shi again!!
Who knew what was running through Xu Lu's mind. Loathing flashed across her eyes several times before she finally said in a soft, weak voice:
"Will that… be too much trouble for Brother?"
"Nah, no trouble at all!"
…
Reality, a suburb of some unknown city.
A Ming lay on the ground, staring up at the blazing sun, his emotions churning.
After he received [Order]'s decree to eliminate the follower of [Chaos] only to be countered by Huang Bo, he had known he was going to die.
Pinned to a wall by blood nails, subjected to inhuman torture, feeling his life drain away bit by bit, he had even reached the point of despairing surrender.
But to his shock, just when he felt his life about to extinguish, a fingertip snap from the depths of the void had pulled his consciousness back to reality.
He woke up on the wall, completely intact.
Exactly as he'd been when he first entered the trial.
A Ming looked at himself in peak condition, filled with nameless awe.
He tore free from the blood nails, struggled off the wall, and checked the time. Two hours remained.
Time?
A Ming had an epiphany.
It was the Amnesia Doctor's doing. A trick of [Time]: State Rewind.
That doctor named Cheng Shi had saved him.
Praise [Time], letting him scrape by alive once more.
Afterward, he searched everywhere for the Memory Gate and his teammates' traces, only to discover that the others had already left the trial.
Not only that, but outside each Memory Gate, they had left him guidance toward the answers.
It was as though he'd had a dream, dreaming of being tortured and nearly killed.
But upon waking, the trial had cleared itself automatically.
"Cheng Shi… thank goodness for you…"
…
[1]: "Ember Seeker" (寻薪人) is a title that literally translates to "firewood seeker." The character 薪 (firewood/fuel) is used metaphorically in Chinese to represent carrying or sustaining a fire, directly connecting to the Firelight Bearer organization's fire and torch imagery.
Sign up to join the discussion...
Already have an account? Log in
No comments yet. Be the first to discuss this chapter.