Chapter 266

Chapter 266: Chapter 263: "The Measure of Destiny"Splash—"

A basin of cold water suddenly splashed up, abruptly shaking Suzuki Masami’s eyelashes, and his consciousness instantly returned.

The cold, wet clothes clung tightly to his freshly healed spine—a spine that had just been nicked with a knife in the instance, nearly reaching his bones.

He sprang up like a spring.

"Who—"

He saw a young woman with delicate features and black hair, silently sinking into the sofa.

In her hands, she held an emptied basin.

His hand, which was about to draw a knife, abruptly stopped.

The girl lifted her eyes.

The dim orange light spilled from the edge of the ceiling into the room, falling on her. Half her face glowed in the warm light. She wore a pretty floral dress that was clearly not suitable for combat, without a trace of murderous intent, appearing as harmless as a casual player.

She was Suzuki Kanko, his sister, a pure casual player whose occupation was painting.

In the real world, she always had that talent and had dreams of attending a design university... But before her dream could come true, the whole world changed... And ironically, she realized her dream here.

Through painting and designing merchandise, she had earned quite a few points.

The siblings, one an adventurer player and the other a casual player, and both of their parents were lucky enough not to be chosen.

"Brother," the black-haired girl, Suzuki Kanko, began, "You’re back."

Suzuki Masami’s body abruptly shook.

He still bore the blood and battle spirit from fighting in the Sixth World, and although his body had been healed by the system upon returning, the mental illusions continued to torment him. At the moment, he resembled a fierce beast ready to burst forth at any moment, poised to strike at any seemingly vulnerable prey.

Facing his sister, who had no combat power, he closed his eyes and took a gentle, deep breath.

He forcibly suppressed the violent urge within him.

Upon reopening his eyes, his emotions gradually calmed.

"Kanko, I’m sorry," he said softly. "I failed again..."

"Yes, I saw it on the forum," Suzuki Kanko placed the empty basin aside, brought out a towel she had prepared beforehand, slowly stepped forward, and carefully wiped Suzuki Masami’s cheeks, drying the residual cold water with her extremely gentle voice, "The difficulty of the Sixth World is indeed extraordinary. Just having you come back safely, without much problem mentally, is enough to make me very happy."

"I had promised to at least bring back some points..." Suzuki Masami turned his head. "And they’ve been reset again... I’m sorry. I really am useless, having to rely on my sister’s points to survive in the end."

After all, unlike adventurer players, casual players have a very stable situation in gaining points. As long as they choose not to actively participate, they face no risk of suddenly having their points reset. They can steadily accumulate from the beginning and thus stay away from battles and dangers... and then safely live out the game.

"What’s wrong with that?" Suzuki Kanko asked gently. "Being supported by your sister, that is."

Suzuki Masami looked up at her, then smiled. "Yes, there’s nothing wrong with it."

"What you do is the most honorable, involving risks I cannot take, the most dangerous tasks," Suzuki Kanko said. "It’s precisely because there are people like you, brother, that someone like me, who can’t stand on the front line, can live comfortably—this logic, I understand it well. So, having you safely back is the happiest thing for me—because we still have countless opportunities."

Suzuki Masami looked at his sister again.

Her eyes always pure, with a unique emotional quality of an artistic nature, like a well-protected, pure white princess living in a fairy tale castle.

Different from people like him.

Having been through the novice level, having survived his first battle, he understood—

He could never go back.

The moment hot blood splashed across his cheeks, and he felt the recoil from piercing another body, his heart still thumping wildly, he knew—this was the world he loved.

His heartbeat had never thumped so fast as it did then, his blood coursing through his body as if it could audibly sing, and when it pierced the other’s body, he thought he could hear every cell in his own body cheering.

...What a wonderful world.

"I should start preparing for the next world," Suzuki Masami took the towel from his sister, and wiped his face haphazardly, "but... actually, there’s nothing to prepare. I’m completely broke now."

He stood up, took a step, but his body suddenly shook, almost causing him to fall.

"Damn... I’m really weak, just like the useless me back on Zhai Xing."

He took a breath and walked forward, gritting his teeth.

He felt his body was so weak it didn’t seem like his own, as if an adult was controlling a child’s body, which was very uncomfortable for him...

Those who had enjoyed great strength could not bear this kind of weakness.

He must, find a way, to regain his strength...

No matter the cost.

No matter what world he had to go through.

After all, he liked such thrilling adventures... a game where one wouldn’t really die and could still gain real power... There was no better game than this in the world.

"Brother."

A soft voice came from behind him, "Where’s Xingbu Wenhai?"

"Him," Suzuki Masami frowned, "You can’t form teams in the Sixth World, I don’t know where that rascal has gone, but he’s probably not dead. In a world filled with madmen, he enjoys such places the most, maybe he has even blended in already. Plus, even if he failed, Qiao’s people would help him out, there’s no problem."

"By the way," he turned his head and looked at his sister, "you actually didn’t cry this time."

He vividly remembered his sister’s character. If she had seen him die, she would have cried like mad, to the point of making her eyes blind. Seeing how gaunt he looked when he just returned, her tears would have been unstoppable, like a flood breaking through a dam. Not to mention now she was calmly dousing him with cold water to prevent him from falling into nightmares.

"..." Suzuki Kanko was silent for a moment.

"Because I saw his live stream."

"Him?"

"Him."

Suzuki Masami realized.

"What did he do again?"

"What he said," Suzuki Kanko spoke softly, "What he said to Dong Xue—Brother, what kind of person is Dong Xue in your Sixth World?"

"Dong Xue..." Suzuki Masami bristled at the mention. He knew this NPC; her death had caused them to reset the instance once, and then they had all been wiped out in Flax. He had commited suicide in time to prevent his sanity from running out, thus falling into madness.

"She’s just a damned NPC, I guess. I’ve interacted with her, complete introvert, I don’t have the patience to talk to her properly."

"Hmm," Suzuki Kanko nodded, "But to her, he said, ’Even the most ordinary people have the right to choose their own lives.’

Suzuki Masami raised an eyebrow.

"’We are never anyone’s shadow,’" she said, "’and we have the right to never regret,’ those were his words.

Brother, I understand, you must also have something you want to pursue. And whether brother has succeeded or failed, what I should offer is not just tears—they would only dishearten a hero like you."

"That guy... really has become a life coach for many, hasn’t he?" Suzuki Masami smiled, "Even though it was all just for the sake of gameplay."

"But he stands on a high enough ground, doesn’t he?" Suzuki Kanko tilted her head.

Warm light spilled onto her face, making her flawless cheeks glow warmly: "...and when someone stands high enough, any word they say carries great weight and influence—so, someone as easily swayed and undecided as me was influenced by him."

"It’s good that you’re not brainwashed,"

"I just want to quietly paint, I probably won’t respond to those loudly promoting the Lighthouse Church in the center of the square."

"Those noisy madmen... Isn’t there some sort of order maintenance team to pull them away?"

"You know, brother, the United Group doesn’t care about us on the back-end servers because we have no influence."

Suzuki Masami touched his forehead.

Suzuki Kanko sank back into the sofa, her head drooping and her black hair scattered, like a doll suddenly quieted down.

In her hand was a live broadcast playing.

"Brother."

She suddenly spoke.

Suzuki Masami stopped halfway through opening the door, standing in front of the narrow door crack without turning back.

"Brother... have you ever thought about what the world will be like after the Sixth World ends?" Suzuki Kanko asked softly.

"So many people gone mad, yet there’s nowhere to treat them," she said:

"And the organizations willingly offering treatment are few, the power of public organizations like the United Group is also limited."

"Humanity’s level of mental illness treatment is not high, ultimately still adopting a method of slow and steady treatment."

"Back on Zhai Xing, the medical conditions, medications, materials... none of it was brought in. If you want to manufacture medications on site, you still need the experience points of a secondary occupation, as well as materials sold in the main god store."

"The treatment course is long, the cost of treatment high, and unpaid medical staff few."

"The demand is vast, the supply too little."

"It’s like rebuilding after a disaster, and we have no support."

"This situation... so many problems, so many difficulties, we can’t solve them."

"Merely draining, draining costs, draining personnel, to treat those most likely beyond saving, and the result can only be disappointment."

Suzuki Kanko said this, her whole body trembling.

Her usually gentle eyes fluctuated, her voice also gradually began to tremble.

Well protected, the princess of the castle, would slowly realize the worsening situation, slowly understand the sharp issues in such a world.

"Then, then, the best method might as well be..." she said, closing her eyes.

"—Then, it might be better to give up on those who can’t be saved, to completely abandon this bunch." Suzuki Masami took over her almost heart-wrenching words in an instant.

Facing the light outside the door, his voice was as decisive as a knife: "Give up on those who should be given up, save those who should be saved, those who cannot be saved, leave them behind, look forward to those who can move forward—by doing this, conserve precious material and human resources to maximize the efficiency of resource utilization."

Suzuki Kanko opened her eyes, looking at him.

"In times of war, famine, natural disasters... humanity has survived those extremely difficult times like this." Suzuki Masami said, "Giving up those who should be given up, not undertaking humanitarian rescue, so they can use those remaining resources to save more lives—choices, judgments, measures, this is a kind of sacrifice in a macro sense, an unappreciated sacrifice."

"...What about those suddenly sacrificed?" Suzuki Kanko suddenly said.

Facing her brother’s suddenly sharp words, her usually soft emotions became somewhat agitated: "—Those who suddenly went mad, what about them? Just abandoned like this?? They were clearly heroes!"

"...There’s no way around it." Suzuki Masami said: "Because the world game is just such a disgusting thing. It won’t respond to the cries for help, only coldly watching us ants huddle together in the frying pan, then watching the ants on the outer edge die first, watching the innermost ants endure a bit longer."

As he spoke, he saw the gradual breakdown in his sister’s tender eyes, tearing open the bloody truth before her.

He, at this point, couldn’t bear it and added another sentence.

"However, Kanko." He said almost comfortingly, "...you don’t have to worry, our kind of people, we will be part of those inner layer of ants."

"For people like us, the best approach is to go with the flow, catch the big trend."

"The rest, you don’t have to worry."

"—Because there will always be people on the outside, and always people who will raise the banner at such times."

As he said this, suddenly, he saw his sister pick up a bucket of water from the side and violently threw it at him.

"—I need to go down!"

Suzuki Masami’s expression changed: "What nonsense are you talking?"

"I need to go down! If you can go down, why can’t I!"

"—Stop this nonsense! Your temperament is not suited for facing these things!"

Even though he said this, Suzuki Kanko simply didn’t listen.

With a tap of her finger, the panel flashed.

She disappeared from his view.

Su Ming’an stretched out his hand and completely removed the necklace from Dong Xue in front of him.

He looked at the beautiful red gemstone crystal in his hand, swung hard, and threw it out of the cave.

The firelight danced before his eyes, he closed his eyes, and sighed slightly.

Realizing that his emotions were excessively exposed, he chose to reset once again.

He continued the previous path, starting from White Sand Paradise, killing Mizushima Haru, blocking the bridge, arriving at the cave, persuading Dong Xue.

But unlike before, inside the cave, he took off Dong Xue’s pendant.

...Everything was over.

He watched as the pendant was flung out of the cave, dropped into the river, and swiftly swept away by the current.

"...Where do we go now?"

Dong Xue raised her head, her face streaked with tears.

Su Ming’an turned his head, looking towards the heavy rain outside.

He seemed to be able to see through the dense raindrops, the thick forest, thereby seeing the landscape of another world.

"We’re going back," he said.

A glint of light gradually emerged in Dong Xue’s eyes.

"—We’re going back, to destroy that place," Su Ming’an said.

This all had to end.

The Sixth World ends, a whole new scenario for humanity.

...Perhaps still waiting for him.