It wasn't clear whether KP had deliberately blocked everyone's reactions or if it was for some other reason. Aside from Ai Qing suddenly looking up, everyone else continued to stare at the charts on the table, clutching dice, without any response.
Ai Qing stared at the table, saw the bloodstains Yue Jun had spat out before he exited, and after a while, slowly raised her head. "Are they dead?"
"Don't think of me as so evil, ma'am," KP smiled, looking towards Ai Qing's back. "After all, I didn't set such harsh rules for everyone else."
Ai Qing turned around abruptly and saw two figures on the shabby sofa in the corner of the room: Yue Jun and his Inspector. They were still alive.
But apart from being alive, nothing else remained.
Their eyes no longer held their former luster. Their pupils were dilated, dull, and lifeless. They just sat there on the sofa, motionless, drool slowly dripping from the corners of their mouths.
They were as good as walking corpses.
"See, I said they were still alive," KP smiled. "They've just lost all their 'sanity'…"
Ai Qing retorted, "What difference does that make from being dead?"
"The difference is significant. Compared to the immense cost of losing one's life, this is only a sacrifice of some sanity and dignity. They haven't even suffered Soul collapse. If they find a good sanatorium, they might recover in five or six years. I think the price I've exacted is quite merciful, don't you agree?"
KP nonchalantly glanced at Ai Qing's Character Card. "Compared to others, you should worry more about yourself. After all, if they die, they only lose their sanity. But you…"
"Tch." Ai Qing made a sound of displeasure but said nothing more.
Just as KP was about to continue the game, his phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
"Hm?" He picked it up and looked, raising his eyebrows. "Ah, it seems quite a few viewers are dissatisfied with this slow-paced gameplay..."
"Viewers?" Ai Qing frowned.
"Didn't I mention it?" KP said with a smile, as if just remembering. "This match is being broadcast live on the Darknet Border. Global viewership has already reached 30,000, and the number of paying viewers is about to break 3,000! Quite the joyful occasion! Ah, no need to worry. I've taken measures to protect everyone's personal privacy, of course... but I still need to respect the opinions of the viewers."
He pondered for a moment, as if weighing a difficult decision, and after a long while, he finally sighed in resignation. "Alright, alright. Then let's update the version. After all, my goal is for you all to better appreciate the fun of this story, not to have people quit due to cumbersome numerical calculations and lengthy Rule Books."
He paused, then flashed his signature smile. "So, in accordance with our viewers' demands, starting now, the game will omit all tedious dice rolling and judgment processes. These will be handed over to the 'Autonomous Probability Judgment Terminal' for determination, fully simulating reality! Everything is to bring the most realistic gaming experience to all players and viewers!"
With that, he snapped his fingers, announcing with a smile of mock pity, "Ladies and gentlemen, the gentle tutorial level is about to end. Next, the game will enter HARD mode."
.
.
.
Huai Shi fell asleep.
Huai Shi had a dream.
He could distinctly feel himself sinking into darkness, falling deeper and deeper.
Pain, cold, hunger, loneliness, despair, and numbness.
In this seemingly eternal darkness, countless emotions emerged from his chest. He felt as if abandoned by the entire world, unable to find even a single inch of land to call his own.
But in the midst of this icy despair, a crack seemed to open in the Sky Dome of the Dark Abyss.
From within, sacred light shone through.
Like a beacon from a Lighthouse, it illuminated the figure standing in the deepest part of the darkness.
Huai Shi couldn't make out the person's face, for its features were too handsome and solemn. He couldn't guess their age, as they seemed to possess both the worldly wisdom of age and the innocence of a child. He even couldn't determine the person's gender, for that pure beauty seemed to have transcended the confines of gender, entering a sacred domain.
However, upon that solemn robe were stark, incongruous bloodstains, defiling its sanctity. Thus, fallen from Paradise, he plunged into the Abyss.
Yet even the most profound darkness could not defile that pure white Crown.
It seemed forged from all the light in the world. Boundless majesty and tyranny adorned it like gemstones, searing the eyes of any who dared to look upon it.
In that moment, Huai Shi saw the figure slowly lift their eyes, gazing up from the Abyss Land towards the boundless world.
And so, the darkness surged like a tide.
Countless hoarse voices overlapped, merging into a deafening, thunderous roar.
"Listen! For this is the edict of the supreme White Crown King! Revere! For this is the majesty of a god among men!" the Abyss seemed to roar. "The ultimate decree is hereby proclaimed: you need only Listen! This is the Fate ordained by Heaven: you need only obey!"
Immediately after, all things came to a standstill.
It was as if the entire world was obediently Listening to the words of that figure. Therefore, a deep yet gentle voice rose. Its tranquil words echoed in the Abyss, stirring up a tempestuous surge, like the wake left by the revolution of stars.
"Today, I shall erect a monument in a land of desolation.
"Vanquished ones who have not yielded to adversity, who still cling to a sliver of hope for the Future—if you still possess courage, then prove your Power and Talent, and venture forth to this new continent! Then, together with this rebellious monument, I shall await your esteemed arrival here."
In the eternal, deathly silence, the supreme King laughed and proclaimed:
"—Our era is about to begin!"
In that instant, Huai Shi awoke from the dream, drenched in sweat.
His head throbbed faintly, and waves of dizziness washed over him. It wasn't just him; all the Inspectors suddenly gasped, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.
A faint sound of dice rolling persisted, forcibly deducting one point of sanity from all players.
What was terrifying, however, was that the moment they awoke, the memories from the dream blurred rapidly, swiftly fading. In the end, apart from a few vague fragments, it was difficult to recall the dream in its entirety, except for Huai Shi.
"White Crown King?" Ai Qing asked in disbelief. "Are you sure he called himself the White Crown King?"
Huai Shi read the record from the Book of Fate again. "Yes. Is he an important figure?"