Chapter 129 - · NE · Incomplete

Chapter 129: Chapter 127 · NE · Incomplete

Su Ming’an received a series of system prompts.

Logically speaking... after the prerequisite task, there should be a series of follow-up tasks.

But he didn’t hear any further prompts, as if the task had suddenly been interrupted.

In front of him, the plainly dressed girl with braided hair was still staring at him, her eyes carrying a haughty air.

"...Do you want to marry me?"

Seeing Su Ming’an hesitate without responding, Moli patiently asked again.

Her voice was somewhat low, and the eyes that looked over were very deep, as if they were coercive.

"Hold on." Su Ming’an tapped his fingers on the table: "Are you sure you want to marry me? Just because I am Poli?"

His question made Moli pause slightly, and then her body, which had been very close, moved a bit away.

"Number one traveler." Moli’s words proved that she had seen through his identity, her hand twirling her hair end, looked somewhat relaxed as she moved away: "...First, state your answer."

Su Ming’an sat up straight, he saw the screen full of comments like "Agree to her!" "Agree to her!" "Congratulations to the man and woman holding hands successfully!", a bunch of useless words jumbled together, none of which were helpful suggestions.

...or rather, there were very few useful ones.

These viewers... seemed to be quite happy.

"I need to understand your thoughts." Su Ming’an still avoided a direct answer, realizing this might be a diverging point for a bad ending, where one wrong answer could lead to irreversible changes.

He stared into her eyes, trying to use his past experiences to guide her emotions: "...Moli, do you wish for the person in front of you, to marry you?"

The girl was still twirling her hair end.

A little something extra appeared in her eyes as she looked over.

Under such cautiousness of Su Ming’an, he suddenly felt that the imposing aura from the girl in front of him was gradually fading.

...As if she had let down her guard around him a bit.

But he still hadn’t heard any favorability prompts from her.

"You do seem to care about Moli’s feelings a lot." She said, then stood up, walked to the two tablets, and hovered her hand over them:

"...It is very difficult to live in such conditions... I am grateful, although it seems hypocritical, I still hope someone can empathize with her."

She said, turning her head back.

A blood-red light began to emit from her hand.

That color... was exactly the same as the werewolf’s eye color.

Su Ming’an once again saw the fine downy hair on the back of her hand.

"Number one traveler, you have passed my test." "Moli" looked at him as the tablets began to glow.

Her gaze, icy and focused, was piercing:

"...Go to that night, and respond to her."

"Ding-dong!"

System prompt sounds rang in Su Ming’an’s ear.

[Task description: She was driven to a desperate situation without knowing anything, yet still harbored a broken longing, praying for dawn.

——Please let her witness the dawn.]

Brilliant white light shone, with "Moli" in front of him looking at him, her eyes carrying a faint hope.

Su Ming’an realized—perhaps neither agreeing nor refusing was the correct answer.

...This daytime Moli, who looked exactly like the nighttime Moli, just wanted to see his attitude.

Now, it seemed he had passed the assessment and successfully entered the subsequent task.

The transport white light gradually dissipated.

The first thing he felt was a sudden drop in temperature that jolted him, a cold sensation sliding down his cheek, and his clothes were so light that they couldn’t withstand the extremely low temperature at all.

When he looked up again, he saw a vast expanse of white snow everywhere.

...and Terrily Town, wrapped in snow and ice.

Despite the snow-fallen rooftops, he could still recognize it as Terrily Town in winter. There were still pedestrians on the streets, while he stood in the alley wearing extremely thin clothes.

...So cold.

Since the age of ten, Su Ming’an hadn’t felt this kind of cold, as if all the world’s chill was seeping into his clothes, with nothing but monotonous white wherever he looked.

He quickly opened his backpack and put on a piece of clothing. After feeling slightly relieved, he began to think about the mission at hand.

—As he expected, this indeed was a personal instance, just like a small space.

After he completed the mission, he would return to the original place.

The background of this small instance seemed to be Terrily Town during winter time, that is, a certain period of time in Terrily Town.

He glanced at the sky, and it was close to dusk now.

The mission required him to let "her" witness the dawn.

...Dawn, but what is dawn really?

Just the early morning?

He was somewhat puzzled, but his immediate task was to find "her," who must be Moli. Perhaps he should try going to the Mayor’s house.

Once he made up his mind, he was about to step outside when, at the very moment he moved forward, he suddenly felt himself become still.

It was as if the time around him had completely frozen, leaving only his thoughts flowing. He saw the people who were walking come to a standstill in that moment, and suddenly a panel appeared before him.

The first line that jumped out was in white characters.

Su Ming’an watched as the white characters appeared one after another, realizing that this must be Boli’s own story.

And looking at this description... it seemed like he was the one playing Boli?

The white characters continued:

The white characters slowed for a moment.

Then they started jumping out faster than before:

The panel before him disappeared.

Time resumed, the pedestrians continued walking, and everything went on as if nothing had happened.

But Su Ming’an, he suddenly felt himself move.

Not of his own volition, but as if he were a puppet on strings, his steps were leading straight out of town—when clearly he must go to the Mayor’s house to find Moli!

This was the first time he had encountered a situation where his body acted against his will. He tried to alter his stride, but it was useless; the step grew lighter and more joyous, heading straight out of town!

He didn’t know what he might encounter if this continued, but if he just let it take him outside, he definitely wouldn’t find Moli before the mission time ended.

Useless or not, he immediately spoke out:

"—Wait."

His stride didn’t pause for a second and continued merrily outward.

"...If you walk away like this, will you truly be happy?" Su Ming’an spoke to the air with rapid speech: "You left initially because you couldn’t change anything, and now when you’ve come back, it’s still the same. If you still walk away now, you are just repeating your own futile act... Boli, from start to finish, your escape has been a joke! If you want to change something, then stop always running away!"

The steps paused slightly.

Su Ming’an suddenly felt he had more control over his body.

"—Do you want to die?" Su Ming’an continued: "If you want to die, to die worthlessly in this snow without anyone knowing, then just rush out— that’s your real capitulation, you have succumbed to destiny, you don’t want to struggle; death is the easiest thing. You know there’s a glimmer of hope and yet still choose death, but who are you dying for? What can you change, who can you save?"

His pace finally came to a complete halt.

Next, a panel unfolded before him.

Then, Su Ming’an discovered that three options had appeared beneath the panel.

A glimmer of understanding flashed through Su Ming’an’s mind.

So... is this actually a game of choices?

Moli is Mayor Mitchell’s adopted daughter, and after Bolli ran away, she appeared at the Mayor’s house.

His primary goal should be to find Moli, so he should go to the Mayor’s house first.

But years of gaming experience were telling him that things were never that simple.

He tapped on option C.

Option C began to fade away, and then, he discovered he could no longer control his body.

It was like watching himself in action; his body walked out onto the street and headed straight for a garment shop.

"Bolli?" The female shop assistant saw him and seemed to recognize him. She immediately packed a thick piece of clothing for him free of charge, "You’re back! That’s truly wonderful news... Go find your father; he has been waiting for you for a long time. May the Deity bless you... Today really is a day of double happiness..."

He took the clothing, put it on, and then walked towards the Mayor’s house.

Su Ming’an noticed a strange pattern mark on the clothes, which looked like Sanskrit.

He realized—if he hadn’t chosen this option, if he hadn’t put on this piece of clothing and had gone directly to the Mayor’s house, he might have faced a deadly crisis.

"Hee hee, come chase me, come chase me—"

"Hey, slow down, slow down, don’t fall..."

The sounds of children frolicking and the concerned voices of their parents came from behind.

It seemed that Terrily Town was abuzz with celebration; the town was a hive of jubilation with everyone immersed in the festive atmosphere.

"Hurry up, hurry up, don’t miss the timing!"

The cloth-making girls laughed and played, the bright red fabric catching the eye, seemingly for a well-matched couple’s lucky wedding day.

"The big ox at the village entrance, he got betrothed to my family a while ago."

They chattered among themselves, like a flock of happy magpies.

"Ah, that’s wonderful, you childhood sweethearts finally made it!"

"What are you talking about, it’s still days away from the wedding, and the bridal gown isn’t even finished yet... Alas, still no match for the Mayor’s daughter’s fortune..."

The needles shuttled back and forth, as the cloth-making girls piled up the red fabric.

Fresh fruit was laid out on the street, seemingly free for anyone to take.

Red lanterns were hung one by one at doorways, looking resplendently red against the grand snowfall.

...Su Ming’an observed that Terrily Town at this moment was quite different from what he had seen before.

The distant liveliness was missing, and the stiff townfolk had suddenly come back to life.

...This looked more like a normal town.

He watched himself pass through the square, and saw the bustling market there—there were no gallows for hanging people, no mahogany tables for casting out one another, it was all peaceful.

As he arrived in front of the Mayor’s house, he noticed it looked much the same as before.

The high walls still tightly encircled the house and those two red lanterns were still there. An old man leaning on a cane was waiting at the door, seemingly expecting someone.

As if he had not been waiting for anyone in particular, the old man sighed, preparing to turn back, but his eyes suddenly lit up.

"..." Su Ming’an approached him, "Father."

"...Bolli."

The Mayor looked somewhat conflicted.

He welcomed the person inside, said little, and prepared tea for him.

The tea leaves swirled on the water’s surface, but Su Ming’an saw no sign of Moli, who should have been at home.

The Mayor seemed to have some urgent matters to attend to, made a cup of tea in a hurry, and left without saying much.

Su Ming’an observed the room’s layout but suddenly noticed the two ancestral tablets were missing.

Options appeared before him.

Options gradually emerged below:

Su Ming’an needed to find Moli.

The event tonight might be related to her.

He chose B, reasoning that there must be some clues in this house no matter what.

Option B started to fade and then began to turn red.

A deep, blood-like red, an exceptionally dark red, in an instant turned the entire panel blood-red.

Su Ming’an regained control of his body.

He immediately got up to go to Moli’s room as he remembered it, pushed the door open——

Inside the room, a blood-red pattern mark smeared on the wall, like a face of blood.

He felt someone watching him.

He felt his body somewhat stiff, as if he was back in the endless heavy snow, the dense sunset outside the window began to fade, and the ink-like night gradually permeated in.

He seemed to hear a soul-shaking sound of music, piercing and loud, like a suona, yet like a person’s sharp wail.

The red in front of him, so bright it dazzled.

He heard a person’s faint sigh, as if a pair of arms were wrapping around him.

The next moment, he saw the text that appeared in front of him.

After a pause, the text reemerged:

Su Ming’an lifted his finger with a fading hand,

and without hesitation, pressed it to his temple.