Chapter 353

Chapter 353: Chapter 350: "Christmas EveLarge snowflakes were falling from the somewhat dim sky.

From the early morning of the sixth day since the instance started, it had begun to snow in Pulaya.

At first, the snow wasn’t heavy, and the players thought they were seeing things wrong, but as the sky remained dark, they slowly realized the seriousness of the situation.

The bright, warm sunshine of Pulaya had disappeared.

On the streets, residents began to move away in batches, as if making way for the Maritime Banquet. They carried their luggage and left their homes, either to live on large oil tanker passenger ships or temporarily reside in coastal homes.

Pulaya gradually became emptier, with the street-side pubs shutting down one after another, while some special areas, such as the church, Soul Hunt headquarters, the slave market, and the auction venue, remained uninhabited.

In the channel chat, the conversations among players became even more dense.

Perhaps because of the reputation as "timely snow," or maybe because the West also considers snow on Christmas Eve a good omen, the players in the channel chat were especially cheerful at this time.

They claimed they were ready to enjoy Christmas thoroughly. Some even suggested not starting conflicts and celebrating a true holiday free from harm and death.

Some people took the opportunity to bring up Su Ming’an—indeed, no matter what was said, this group could always find a way to bring him into the conversation.

This time, someone suggested that he join their "Party." They would prepare the most delicious turkey and red wine for him, and there would be beautiful ladies inviting him to dance. Many directly posted their coordinates, indicating they had finished decorating. It would be a joyful Christmas Eve; they planned to dance from day to night, dancing the whole night through.

People are always good at finding joy in hardship and seeking happiness from ordinary things. Even in an instance fraught with dangers, they still knew how to create an enjoyable environment for themselves.

Su Ming’an wasn’t surprised or disdainful of this; it was quite normal behavior. If a few days passed and it was the Dragon Country’s turn to celebrate the new year, he expected to see a similar scene.

People have accompanied festivals ever since they started to grow.

In such a world, nostalgia isn’t something shameful; it shows they haven’t forgotten their past. Memories of culture and festivals deservedly should accompany them.

They shouldn’t become player machines who only knew about plundering and perfect passes; they were human, people rooted in memories, emotions, and culture, and there’s nothing wrong with using the name of a festival to link everyone together.

...But this "everyone" didn’t include him.

If he attended such an event, the originally joyous celebration would instantly sour, pulling the people back into their disputes in an instant.

Because in the people’s memories, he was the "Number One Player," a player, not just an ordinary person.

He stood at the intersection of the 13th Street for a while, seeing the house he used to own next to the Gerald Family start to be covered in snow.

...The snow felt quite cold.

The temperature in Pulaya began to plummet, the previously slightly hot sensation vanished. He walked through the light snow, feeling the snowflakes glide across his cheeks, bringing a chill that penetrated deep into his body.

Logically, with the Physique of the Bright State, one shouldn’t be too affected by such weather.

...So it could only be that the weather itself was unusual.

After all, the Princess Tulip had said the Barrier was on the verge of collapse, and a storm was about to come...

He took out a jacket from his backpack and put it on, swiftly leaving the street.

Behind him, a loud "clang" echoed.

At the old lady’s front door, the empty clothes rack had fallen over and was gradually being buried by the snow.

Upon reaching the Southern District, Su Ming’an spent a day repairing in the Soul Clan city to prepare for the ultimate Maritime Banquet.

The forces of the Soul Clan had already begun to assemble under his command, and Shadow had started to rise to power among the Soul Hunters.

With the bolstering of his S-ranked Soul Hunter and human identities, Shadow’s ascent was remarkably swift, and with the princess’s support, he quickly took over the position of the Soul Hunter leader.

It was impossible for Su Ming’an to play as an ordinary Player, chasing monsters all day— he needed to control the game.

Because his difficulty would only be higher than a normal Perfect Pass.

As a Ruler, he was often assigned to some of the most critical plot characters, starting right in the eye of the storm; if he chose to dodge, it would undoubtedly lead to an unsolvable Bad Ending.

...like Su Rin.

Even if he kept playing the role of a Soul Hunter calmly, the Soul Clan would seek him out sooner or later. Being someone with children all over the place, he would inevitably have to make choices when the conflicts started.

Even if he chose the Soul Clan, it’s likely he couldn’t escape the church and the Royal Family, and if he didn’t know even a bit of additional information, he couldn’t get through.

Therefore, from the start, he began plotting.

He became a Soul Hunter, secretly contacted the Soul Clan, took control of the Soul Clan leader Sevya, then connected with Archilev, killed Aelas, and afterward reached out to the Pope, to the Royal Family... until both the original and the Cloning stood at the very top, achieving simultaneous control over the pieces, only then he could rest a little easier.

To prevent even a hint of accidents, he would also make a point of staying a while longer with the Royal Family to obtain the princess’s promise.

...And now, at last, he had accomplished all this.

Compared to other players who started killing from the get-go and did various quests for benefits, his gains were more long-term and slower, only reaping the rewards at the end of all the plots.

If one were to draw a comparison, ordinary players were like a reckless natural disaster, while he was more like an npc fully integrated into the story.

As night approached,

standing in the tallest building of the Soul Clan city, Su Ming’an looked out.

There seemed to be some players in the Soul Clan city as well, because he saw colorful lights hanging on the street corners, and even Christmas trees.

This group of players even brought a whole tree over in their inventory slots, evidently well-prepared.

In the team chat, Noel also seemed to be celebrating; he was very keen on the joyous holiday.

"Knock, knock, knock."

And just then, someone began knocking at the door.

He opened the door and saw a twin-tailed girl.

He knew her; it was the player Mia who had impersonated Yuanyuan.

In her hands, she held a bouquet of flowers, strung with lights.

"Today is Christmas Eve." She handed him the bouquet, "Blessings to you, Number One Player."

Su Ming’an didn’t take it, even with the pretext of the festive season, he wouldn’t accept things from a stranger.

Seeing that he wasn’t taking it, Mia wasn’t upset but instead took out something else from her embrace.

It was a bracelet, completely translucent and crystal-clear, resembling glass but shining much brighter, with a small Lighthouse in the middle.

The system interface popped up, displaying information about the bracelet

[Lighthouse Chain (Red Level): "Blessings to you, Number One Player."

Spell casting range of area-of-effect spells increased by 100%]

Durability: 10/10

Equipment Requirement: Minimum of 100 Mentality Points.]

Su Ming’an was captivated by the attributes of this equipment.

...It was as if the equipment had been custom-made for him.

No, it was likely made especially for him. It must be the work of a forging class player, whose hallmark is the ridiculous equipment requirements that often set the bar too high for others to meet.

But now, it seemed like this piece of equipment was a perfect fit for him.

His current bracelets were the Mist Chain, with the effect of "Erasure Attachment to Weapons," and the Yellow Rose Lock, with the skill "Next Physical Attack Cannot Be Dodged"—both very useful. This bracelet could be an extra, perhaps useful during moments that required clearing a large number of enemies.

"Which organization are you from?" he asked.

"I only represent myself." Mia’s face was slightly red, "Do you remember me?"

"Who are you?"

"I am..." Mia said softly, "I am Su-style."

Su Ming’an remembered her in a flash.

If it were some other person who was always hopping around the forum, he probably wouldn’t recall, but Su-style was truly too conspicuous.

The praise and insults aimed at her on the forum were like a torrent; following the initial home-bombing incident, her popularity rivaled that of those top-ranked players.

She leaned against the door, her hand flat against the wall, her bright eyes gazing at him.

Although Su Ming’an knew that Su-style’s affection was purely personal and not mixed with any ulterior motives from any organization.

She was an overly fanatic fangirl, willing to go so far as to "judge" others on his behalf, condemning others’ real lives with bombs. She even chased all the way to the United Group’s headquarters of the human self-rescue meeting, standing at the door, clinging to him.

This kind of affection was crossing the line.

She should be dating someone of her own age, someone she likes, and who likes her back. Not following him with self-sacrificing emotion, almost humbly begging him, as if burning herself up for him.

This was not equal love.

At the time, the live chat was in an uproar, with some encouraging him to "go with the flow" during the holiday, while others were hostile.

The live chat was in utter chaos.

Su Ming’an watched Su-style leaning against the door, waiting to reject her request.

"...May I draw a picture for you?"

"Hm?" Su Ming’an heard an unexpected request.

In front of him, the girl leaned by the door, a transparent pen appearing in her hand.

"Today is Christmas Eve," she said, "I want to capture you in a drawing, I want to draw for you, may I?"

Su Ming’an hadn’t expected her request to be like this.

It was simply too pure.

"How long will it take?" he asked.

"An hour, I draw fast and it’s simple," said Su-style.

Su Ming’an glanced at the time, perfect, there was still about an hour left until nightfall.

The idle time for a Red Level equipment, this deal was worth it.

"Go ahead," Su Ming’an said.

Su-style burst into a smile.

"Let’s go to the rooftop, I’d like a vast backdrop," she said.

After climbing to the rooftop, Su-style set down two small stools, had him sit down, and then began to draw.

It was still snowing at the time.

Su-style held her breath, watching the white feathers of snow gently fall, watching Su Ming’an sitting in front of her.

Her hand holding the pen trembled slightly as she moved it across the transparent drawing board in front of her.

Su Ming’an watched the interface in front of him, tallying his props, waiting for the time to pass.

Suddenly, he heard the joyful shouts of players celebrating the holiday coming from the streets.

Looking down, neon lights were twinkling below, bursting forth in a myriad of colors, their brilliance surging through the nearly transparent snow like a scorching torrent.

... until it gathered behind the people.

He watched those celebrating below. The live chat floated through the upper right corner of his vision like snowflakes.

The progress of the World Game was approaching its fourth month.

Today is Christmas Eve.

"Done."

About an hour later, Su-style suddenly stood up.

In front of her was an exquisite, yet unfinished colored draft.

A black-and-white Su Ming’an sat within this draft, and behind him was a brilliantly colored, almost dazzling light.

She stood and handed him the bracelet, "Happy Holidays."

Through her interface, she shared the drawing with him:

"I hope that when the New Year comes, more people will be able to spend it with you."

She finished speaking.

... then turned and left without a backward glance.

Snow settled on her shoulders.

Her steps were light, scattering a flurry of white snowflakes on the ground.