Chapter 197 - One Hundred Ninety-Five - ’We All Have a Bright Future

Chapter 197: Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Five - ’We All Have a Bright Future"So you’re saying it’s useless?"

"Useless, completely useless. I heal the body, not the heart! I’m not an angel who heals the soul! I’ve already said that mental states can’t be adjusted through healing. Even if you feel some relief after a treatment, it’s just a physiological stimulus. That’s not something I can change by simply boosting your health bar."

"What about Moli? I remember her healing seemed to really adjust my mental state."

"Moli might have a talent for healing that aspect, which makes you feel a lot more comfortable, but she’s also only making physiological adjustments – like taking a hot bath in the dead of winter. Anyone would feel more mentally comfortable. It’s just that my water is cooler, and hers is warmer, so you find her more soothing!"

"...You talk funny, Miss Lin."

"I think the feeling is mutual."

Lin Yin crossed her arms, turned around, and with a whoosh, yanked open the sealed curtains to reveal the scenery of the Main God Space’s retirement area outside.

Middle-aged men sat by the streets playing chess, while bent-over women watered their gardens with laughter, and from here, one could even hear the loud exclamation of "I’ve won!" as if some Majong-playing individual from Dragon Country had entered into a brief triumph of joy.

Small animals scampered across the street, and since the game world wasn’t kind enough to bring all the creatures from Zhai Xing, some of the old men and women had to spend Points to buy pets.

But no matter how you looked at it, this area was a retirement district.

It seemed utterly cut off from the intense world of gaming, an untouched paradise like Peach Blossom Spring, as if these people were still living on Zhai Xing, spending their days here safely away from danger.

Lin Yin knew that staying in such a place could help relax the mind, but it was just too remote... Every time running over from the central plaza it would take a long time to see this Number One Player in person.

The legendary Number One Player now stood in the room, looking innocent.

By his side stood two shy lolis, one on the left and the other on the right, one clinging tightly to his sleeve, the other holding his hand.

On the floor, two cats lay, one black and one white. The white one was so fat that lying there, it was like a flat dough spread out, its excess fur spilling across the floor like white paint.

Outside the window, a ray of light suddenly fell from the sky, lighting up the round, white patches on the ground as if they were glowing.

"You have such a nice place in the Adventurer Player area of Dragon Country, yet you choose to live in this remote retirement service..." Lin Yin sighed as she took in the scene.

Although the rest period now made everything look wonderful, she still remembered the Underworld of the Fifth World.

Underworld, Underworld, it was just too Underworld!

And it wasn’t the kind of Underworld that was blatantly obvious, not the kind that scared you like a ghost movie plot. It was just a normal Otherworld that made you place all sorts of expectations on it, made you long for it, made you feel peace and tranquility.

...Then it would perform the tearing apart of all those beautiful things right before your eyes.

It would tell you that the beauty you hoped for was false, the enemies you hated were false, the backstory you carried was false, all that you had been working and striving for your entire life was false... false, everything was false, only the pre-written ending was real.

In the end, apart from the Number One Player, all of them had no sense of participation, like tops being spun by the various plots, struggling to survive within the cracks of different powers, worn out from running around.

Although in the Fifth World they supposedly teamed up, they really didn’t play much of a role. Apart from Lv Shu going off to play the villain and extort Points, she pretty much existed in an idle state. She had a chance for a Perfect Pass, and yet, winds up being scolded by Lv Shu instead.

Now back, they gathered in this retirement area house belonging to the Number One Player, watching him bring another little loli with him.

Moli, Qingqing.

Plus the three followers idling in the guest room...

If this continues, Lin Yin suspects this place will soon become a gathering spot for NPCs.

"So, the only way to ease mental strain is really just by sleeping..." The Number One Player in front of him actually seemed somewhat pleased.

"What are you happy about?" Lin Yin asked suspiciously.

Next to her, Lv Shu spoke indifferently, "This is a Cloning. Once the original goes to sleep, it can roam around freely."

Lin Yin was startled.

She took another careful look at the young man before her; no matter how she looked, he seemed no different from the original entity.

...How did Lv Shu figure it out? This person didn’t spout any of his typical cringeworthy remarks, did he?

"So," Lv Shu looked at the Cloning, "is Su Ming’an sleeping now?"

"I am also Su Ming’an. If possible, I hope you can refer to him as the original," Ming responded with a smile.

"You don’t seem like a good person," said Lv Shu. "I’m not too keen on acknowledging you as Su Ming’an."

"Is that so? I thought my image would fit better with your notions of a ’good person.’" Ming spread his hands, "After all, it seems like everyone prefers that version of the Number One Player."

"Answer my question," Lv Shu was unmoved.

"He is indeed sleeping now—but don’t worry, without his orders, I can’t move freely," Ming said. "So all my actions now are following the orders he gave before he went to sleep, you can all relax."

"What did he ask you to do?"

"To take this little follower girl and join our big family," Ming patted Qingqing’s shoulder with his hand.

The girl with black eyes looked more in line with the aesthetic preferences of Dragon Country people. After gaining abilities, her skin was no longer as rough, and even her eyes sparkled with a divine light, easily evoking a woman’s affection for children. Lin Yin approached, extended her hand, and shook hands with Qingqing, making "wow wow" sounds.

"I never thought NPCs could really be taken out like this." She touched the little girl’s hand as if it were a movable figurine, clamping Qingqing’s hand between hers as if warming a hot water bottle, feeling her warmth.

Qingqing looked at the strange big sister with some fear, and then silently withdrew her hand.

Lin Yin didn’t mind and straightened up, her eyes slightly squinting.

She thought of something and laughed:

"It’s so easy to bring NPCs back. And NPCs generally trust him so much... He must have a special status like those Observers, unlike us." Lin Yin speculated, thinking of Su Ming’an.

"At least not helpless killing upon meeting, like this dangerous status." Ming hinted pointedly.

Lv Shu stood aside, silent.

He had always been very cautious of this Cloning that looked exactly like Su Ming’an.

Lv Shu had been very sensitive since he was young; he could naturally discern the good from the bad. Even before his clan was annihilated, he could tell which clan members were kind to him and which had ill intentions...who hid malice behind their smiles, and who were genuinely good to him.

His grandfather told him what a good person was, what a bad person was, what the world outside the clan was like, and what the normal values of people should be. But he didn’t listen at all; he believed that what others saw was just the surface, while only what he saw himself was real.

He trusted his own judgment of people.

And now, this Cloning that, on the surface, looked exactly like Su Ming’an—even a likable version, he felt was not a good person.

"I will, as promised, take Moli to our Healing Guild," Lin Yin shifted her focus from the somewhat rebellious Qingqing, pulling out the timid Moli. "Some of them have been frightened by the Fifth World and are planning to rest for one world cycle; it’s a good time to teach Moli."

"Is there a fee?" Ming asked.

"I won’t charge," Lin Yin laughed. "If there were a fee, you wouldn’t have let Moli go learn, right?"

Ming smiled but said nothing.

The main body wanted a companion with combat power, not a burden.

If the teaching was not cost-effective, it would be better to leave the person at home.

"Oh, there’s another task." Ming took out a bag and shook it, the bag made a crisp clinking sound, like a bunch of stones.

Lin Yin could tell right away that it was a bag of gemstones that required the help of an adventuring player to set them into equipment.

At this stage, each piece of equipment could only be set with one gemstone, meaning a total of nine gemstones for the whole body.

"Setting gemstones, right." Lin Yin said, "That will need an adventuring player."

"How do we find these people?"

"Hehe..." Lin Yin covered her mouth and sniggered, looking very much like a little fox, "Did you never imagine that you’d need to rely on these players you once looked down on?"

"Don’t say that." Ming’s smile was gentle, and he wasn’t the least bit offended by Lin Yin’s words, "I’ve never looked down on them; they are all shining stars in their own right."

Lin Yin’s eyes darted around.

She put her hands behind her back, spun around in a half circle, and leaned close to Ming.

"Do you know? I really like one of the things you said," Lin Yin’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

Ming smiled and looked at her.

"—’Boss Rabbit is the host of the organizers, Su Ming’an is the strongest Number One Player, I am the barely surviving points accumulating tool, and others are the trash that died in the last instance clad in nothing but white.’ We all have a bright future,"

Lin Yin spread her hands, smiling with a hint of sarcasm.

This violent healing player had never given any leeway in her actions due to the Number One Player’s status. The awe, fear, and distance from others were not at all evident in her. In front of Su Ming’an, she acted as if facing an ordinary male classmate, with a proper and equal attitude.

Ming was silent for a moment: "Even the main body never said that."

"It doesn’t matter, as long as everyone says it was you who said it, then it might as well have been you," Lin Yin declared firmly.

"—And another thing." She smiled and shared a friend request with Ming.

"There’s a peak player who has wanted to talk to you for quite some time."

After sleeping for more than a day, Su Ming’an woke up, slowly sitting up in bed.

After glancing at the system time, he wondered if he had developed hypersomnia.

But as he felt the fatigue fading from his body, he realized that sleep was one of the most important physiological needs of humans.

No potion, no array, no energy transfer... none was as simple and quick as a good sleep.

He received feedback from his clone.

Now he could flexibly switch between the senses of the main body and the clone. Even if sometimes it felt strange, like his hand was immersed in hot water but feeling the coldness of holding a weapon, akin to being touched by an illusion. But once his attention shifted, the sensations from the clone began to fade away.

So much so that he could sleep peacefully here, while his clone ran around there without causing much trouble.

"Someone wants to add me, to chat with me?" Su Ming’an rubbed his temples, "...Who is it now?"

Such requests were all too common.

However, since it was a person recommended by Lin Yin, there should be some value in talking to them.

As long as it wasn’t an idiot like Mizushima Haru who would suddenly charge up to him demanding, "Why don’t you like my sister?" he wouldn’t refuse a reasonable conversation.

The name that came through surprised him a bit.

The world’s second-ranked, Noel?

He remembered this person: although he had only teamed up briefly with him in the Second World, the title of being number two was too resounding and also very popular. When browsing the world forum, he would often see this name.

Noel’s strength must be significant, with a focus on the mental aspect, using threads that could bind enemies and were also effective in causing harm. Although this method of attack was overly fancy, from his usual information gathering, he understood that when used properly, it was unexpectedly deadly—a slight inattention could lead to one’s throat being cut.

Noel’s combat power mustn’t be low, and the person must be very intelligent; otherwise, he wouldn’t have maintained his position as the second-ranked in the world, except for that time in the Second World where he missed the opportunity for a perfect pass.

...If he hadn’t encountered him before, Noel might have become a lighthouse-like existence.

Compared to idiots like Edward who were clearly cultivated by others, Su Ming’an preferred to communicate with someone like Noel, who to this day, no one could tell who was backing him.

Behind Edward and Eni stood the United Group. Behind Mizushima Kawa Sora and Mizushima Haru were the Ancient Martial Families. For others, even if he hadn’t delved deeply, he roughly knew who was standing behind each of them.

And now, he wanted to know... who was standing behind Noel.

But before that, he needed to check the world forum.

After the update to the human progress bar, the casual players seemed to be striving harder. He heard from the bullet comments that the forum had updated with many valuable contributions, including a table compiled by someone with mathematics knowledge, listing the most cost-effective props and equipment for adventure players to reference.

Some had summarized the key routes for several worlds, which might also help with future progression.

He was also quite interested in the recent updates to the Main God Space, as the progress of secondary occupation players was closely related to him.

It had to be said... even though humanity had just faced a crisis and was still in confusion, they were very adept at adapting to new environments and promptly adjusting themselves for self-rescue.

After all, if one could have companions, who would want to fight alone, dragging along teammates as useless as pigs?

He surfaced a smile and clicked on the world forum.

The icon of Boss Rabbit spun on the interface, seemingly being adorable. After the icon disappeared, he saw a series of hot posts on the homepage of the forum:

Su Ming’an’s smile faded away.