Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Chapter 162: "Sing before My Grave" (Thanks to Alliance Hierarch Muyu Chengfeng Buchengfeng, Silver Rank)

Su Ming’an was quite surprised.

He had originally thought that Hui Shuhang’s basic favorability of 50 and Holy Initiation’s favorability of 95 was already something.

However, this leader, who obviously held a high position in the Revolutionary Army and who was also quite rude in his speech, turned out to have a basic favorability of 60...

Higher than Hui Shuhang at the beginning?

Despite being in opposing camps and each holding high positions, the favorability was staggeringly high.

He suddenly heard a system notification:

[Acquired Qin Wang·New Self-Narrative:

"On the day I turned ten, I learned that His Majesty wanted to sacrifice me, and I felt I couldn’t just sit and wait for death."

"He seemed too confident and too dismissive of me. He agreed to all my demands, provided me with all the experimental materials I needed, and even when I said I wanted to recruit students and start lectures, he agreed—what a fool, I don’t know how he managed to sit so securely in the highest position for so long."

"I toured nearby and took the opportunity to meet many people from the Revolutionary Army, taking them on as students. I brought some of them into the lab and secretly told them about the subsequent steps in the Talent Awakening experiment."

"Aside from my blood, they could carry out the subsequent experiments independently. After my death, they could also use my deceased body to complete the entire experiment."

"The Great Commander of the Revolutionary Army, Chen Yang, is a good man, though he is temperamental, he learns earnestly."

"Although he always says I am a man of the Regular Army and wants to assassinate me, I can tell it’s just lip service. In fact, he venerates me excessively, and don’t think I don’t know that he often prays for me."

"After I die, I hope that he becomes the one to spread the experimental results throughout the entire continent."

"I will go to sleep, perhaps never to wake up again, but my name will be remembered by all—I want everyone to remember that I was their hope."]

After reading through this long series of system notifications, Su Ming’an saw all the clues gradually come together.

Indeed, he had guessed correctly, Qin Wang was a being coveted wherever he went.

He felt somewhat conflicted because this self-narrative indeed unsettled him.

This Qin Wang, this person who died before he could open his eyes... proud, conceited, fond of fame, like a child who never grew up, always proclaiming that he wanted everyone to remember him.

But all his actions were for the sake of giving.

He wanted people to be grateful to him, yet it was only after he closed his eyes. He wanted people to remember him, but only for a name left behind.

He wanted people to sing for him, yet it was to sing a dirge. He wanted people to kneel, but it was in front of his grave.

All his desires appeared after his death, all the gratitude he wanted was because of his death.

From the moment of his birth, he was prepared to die, and as he walked the path to his inevitable end, his eyes saw nothing but the plot of land beneath that tombstone as if from the moment he opened his eyes, he was destined for eternal rest.

But before he closed his eyes, he wanted to leave his mark.

Brief yet brilliant, his fleeting eighteen years existed solely to change the situation of the entire continent.

Living was a disaster for the world, yet in death, he was everyone’s hope.

This was a person who refused to bow to fate, incessantly demanding affirmation, selfish yet magnificent, to the extent of burning himself fiercely and madly.

Su Ming’an turned off the system interface, realizing why he had taken over Qin Wang’s identity in this world.

...It was somewhat similar.

But only slightly so.

Qin Wang, who was born with limitless wisdom, was a great man from the start. Su, however, still had a long way to go to reach such greatness.

Qin Wang was far more magnificent than him.

Su Ming’an looked up, watching the suddenly quiet Chen Yang.

The Great Commander had originally been imposing, as if to say, "Are you going to leave on your own, or should I make you leave?"

Unexpectedly, under the Ruler’s skill, it had drastically changed in just a moment.

The Great Commander stood there, his energy gradually calming down, his lips grinding together, and then his gaze slowly became more serene.

"Great Commander, it’s him! He’s the one from the Regular Army!" the Player next to him shouted excitedly, trembling as he pointed at Su Ming’an, aware that he was under the gaze of countless people.

"Yes, absolutely! I saw him earlier under the protection of a few hundred soldiers, and there was also a noble little girl following him..." another Player chimed in.

"I know," Chen Yang said.

"Right... it seems you also know him..." the Player, receiving feedback, was immediately ecstatic.

"He is my teacher."

The air seemed to quiet down instantly.

The Player’s smile froze on his face, his hand suspended in mid-air, creating an exceedingly awkward scene.

Finally, it was Su Ming’an’s light laughter that broke the silence.

"Are you still going to take me back?" he asked.

"..." Chen Yang’s imposing aura had completely dissipated. He looked at Su Ming’an, and even though the "Sharing Weal and Woe" favorability was clearly visible, his tone still carried a hint of sarcasm, "You ran out from the Regular Army and ditched that girl, wasn’t it just to find us?"

"Indeed," Su Ming’an nodded.

"I’ve been saying... Holy Initiation is unreliable. He has wanted to kill you for a long time, yet you stubbornly refused to come with us, always staying in your lab waiting for him to kill..." Chen Yang’s gaze was as sharp as a knife, seemingly mocking Su Ming’an’s earlier behavior, "Now, with only four days left until your coming of age ceremony, there’s still time. Since you are here now, I will definitely take you away and won’t let you go back to your death."

"...I’ve always wondered why Holy Initiation wouldn’t wait a few more days, knowing the experiment was nearly complete, yet he insists on setting it on the day of the ceremony to have me die..." Su Ming’an said, suddenly noticing a few Players seemingly trying to sneak away.

Chen Yang also noticed his gaze. With a slight tap of his pitch-black umbrella, the Players were frozen in place as if a Paralysis Spell had been cast on them, unable to move.

He was about to go further and slay all five, but Su Ming’an raised his hand to stop him.

One of the leaders among the five watched the scene, his eyes lighting up.

"Number One Player, Number One Player!" This tall, skinny young man with an Asian face was very affable as he pleaded. Although he couldn’t move his body, his eyes were spinning around, "You won’t kill us, will you? We are high-end Players with Combat Power of five to six hundred, ranking in the top thousands in the world, with a lot of Points on us. If you kill us, all our Points will be wiped out!"

"Yeah, Number One Player," the short girl next to him chimed in immediately, "And once we die, our power will be wiped out too... All our previous efforts will have been in vain. Spare us, and we can still earn Points — isn’t this all for the sake of all humanity?"

Su Ming’an didn’t smile; however, the barrage found it hilarious:

Su Ming’an didn’t bother to lecture such a group when even the audience understood.

His words were reserved for those he deemed valuable.

Not everyone could be like Mizushima Haru, worth his persuasion.

For idiots who sought attention and intended to usurp his position, repeatedly appearing before him, all he could do was let them understand their own "position."

He didn’t want to waste another word and simply pulled out the dagger he wore, cutting their throats one by one while they were immobilized.

Since he cut them one by one, his actions were not fast, giving those at the back time to react.

Seeing their comrades suddenly bleeding from the throat and dying so miserably in front of millions scared those at the back.

"You—you call yourself the Number One Player!" the fifth in line, a short girl, suddenly screamed, her face covered in freckles popping out like twisting black worms: "You have no tolerance at all, treating your fellow humans so cruelly. The second-ranked Noel is better than you; he never once killed his own kind—"

Her voice was hoarse and shrill, exuding a thick sense of despair, like the wail of a witch tied to the execution stake just before death.

"Besides, we helped you too. You’re the Number One Player, can’t you consider that we are all from Dragon Country..."

"Swish!"

The fresh blood from someone beside her splattered into the sky, dots of blood gushed onto her face, her eyes wide open, her body trembling involitarily, only seeing a blurring bloody patch sliding out of the corner of her eyes with a strong scent of blood.

"Sometimes, I wonder why always such people appear before me," Su Ming’an flicked the blood off his dagger, moving closer to the fourth person.

The fourth person was a tall black man, silent at this time, seemingly resigned to the fate of the defeated, unlike the first three people who cried and begged for mercy.

"I once thought there wouldn’t be such foolish people in the world," Su Ming’an raised his dagger. "Later, I realized it was because I had never really stepped into society— it was you diverse people who showed me the vast scenes outside the Ivory Tower as an ordinary student. Thank you very much."

"You, what are you pretending to be—" The short girl was scared but also angry, not understanding how during any moment, he could maintain such a pristine, unstained demeanor so effortlessly.

"You’re right, Number One Player," the black man spoke up facing the dagger, his voice deep yet firm. "...you are right, we took the wrong path in this instance."

"Smart," Su Ming’an remarked, yet showed no mercy as he cut through his throat.

After hearing the alert for increased Experience Points, he picked up the Green Level Equipment from the ground and walked toward the short girl.

"You, you... okay, wait! Su Ming’an!" The short girl seemed to have been holding back her words for a long time. Seeing he wasn’t hesitating at all, she blurted out immediately, "I recognized you in Zhai Xing!"

Su Ming’an’s movement paused slightly.

"I used to go to the same high school as you! You were in class one, I was in class thirteen, I saw you during the flag-raising speeches, and we even had PE class together, I don’t know if you remember..." The petite girl spoke hurriedly, as if she wouldn’t get another chance to speak, "I even lent you a correction tape! Although I know you definitely don’t remember, but..."

"But what?"

The petite girl pursed her lips, facing the dagger that had killed three schoolmates, her voice trembling.

She couldn’t move, but her eyes, looking over, carried the thirst of a person parched for water:

"...Please, spare me this once, just this once, I beg you, I really don’t want to be stripped of my strength... for the sake of us being schoolmates in the past..."

Ms. Zhu and the others always praised you as a good student, before the world started, we even chatted in a group, they said you were obedient and sensible. If the teachers are watching the live broadcast, they wouldn’t want to see you turn into what you are now..."

Her eyes flickered, and tears quickly appeared: "Just for the sake of that correction tape, please spare me this once, okay? My mom is also watching the live broadcast, I don’t want her to see me getting my throat slit... it would break her heart..."

"Okay."

Su Ming’an said, retracting the dagger and rummaging through his backpack for something.

"Thank you, thank you..." The petite girl immediately overflowed with thanks, the joy of narrowly escaping death welling up in her.

She saw the Number One Player in front of her seemed to be putting on gloves, and then, she saw his hand slowly stroking upwards.

Her consciousness blurred for a moment, and by the time she felt a warmth at her temple, she hadn’t even reacted yet.

"This method, compared to others, isn’t painful, it’s a very decent way to die," Su Ming’an said. "Experience it."

His fingertips turned pitch black.

The petite girl was momentarily stunned.

Then, incomparable pain stabbed through instantly, a strong suffocating sensation enveloped her.

Her vision plunged into a black sea, surrounded by intense pain, her whole body started to feel weightless as if she were a whale sinking into the deep sea.

She wanted to gasp for air, but she couldn’t even breathe, she wanted to open her eyes, but all she could feel was layer after layer of thick fog burying her bit by bit.

She could see nothing, feel nothing.

...It was too terrifying.

...It was too terrifying.

...She never wanted to experience this kind of helplessness and fear in death again.

The other person, he had no compassion, no empathy.

The Number One Player is a devil... he’s not like what they say in the fan circles, cold on the outside but warm on the inside, he’s just cold.

She should not have provoked him, she shouldn’t have even appeared.

She thought desperately, losing consciousness.

Su Ming’an withdrew annihilation, turned his head, and looked towards the man in black who had been watching him calmly.

"Has Qin Wang really died?" Chen Yang asked.

His tone was calm, yet it carried a tinge of regret.