Yuanyuan walked towards the tavern, munching on a cookie.

Su Ming'an looked at Yuanyuan's hand: "Wait, are you eating..."

Yuanyuan immediately hid the cookie bag behind her, eyeing Su Ming'an warily, like a hamster guarding its food.

...No, that's not right.

Su Ming'an stared at Yuanyuan, his suspicions growing larger and larger.

This isn't Yuanyuan.

The original Yuanyuan was indeed like this; she was afraid her cookies would be taken away, cautiously guarding her few possessions, yet she could also sacrifice herself selflessly for him on the world chessboard. She feared losing but could bravely lose for his sake.

But the now fully mature Yuanyuan wouldn't be so alert over a bag of cookies; she would just smile and share them with him.

Su Ming'an quickly realized something, circled behind her, and looked at her wrist.

—A small crimson mark.

The monkey-head mushroom cookies Yuanyuan was eating contained fungi, which could infect her. If the crimson mark developed further, she would rot and die.

This is... the story of the First World.

So she is...

Su Ming'an met her thin and bright eyes.

—[Yuanyuan from 2021]...?

"What's wrong?" Yuanyuan looked at him, her eyes as thin as a sheet of glass, reflecting not the colorful variety of life, but only her mere teenage years.

"What year is it?" Su Ming'an asked.

"Hmm..." Although it was a strange question, Yuanyuan didn't hesitate and quickly replied: "2021."

"Which instance is this?" Su Ming'an took a deep breath and continued to ask.

Yuanyuan looked at him: "The first one."

Upon receiving this answer, Su Ming'an felt a chill in his chest, yet his mind was extraordinarily clear, thoughts turning like gears in his brain.

...Alright.

Alright, alright.

He's already figured out the situation.

He himself is the only real one, this is beyond doubt. Be it the organizers, Dieying, or the deity's information, they all confirm this. Even if there's another version from 2021, it's merely a simulation, bionic body, data, or other illusory things.

The world game indeed took place in 2024, which is his year, this is indisputable too. As for why he meets the 2021 version of Xiao Xiao, Wang Zhenzhen, Yuanyuan, and others in this Eleventh World, he's come up with three reasons.

First, in some "possibility," the world game happened in 2021 instead of 2024, hence this crowd appeared.

Just like the existence of "Shadow" and "Ming," there exists a "possibility" from 2021. But what doesn't make sense is, if it were true, then the 2021 version of Su Ming'an should be 16 years old, and Xiao Xiao and Wang Zhenzhen's ages would decrease by three years.

Second, these 2021 versions of people are NPCs simulated by the Disciple Game. Because the Disciple Game itself is a copy of the world game, a lower-end version of the world game, even the white-haired, red-eyed host girl doesn't seem as cute as the Boss Rabbit, so this is merely an imitation. Just like in the Tenth World, the millennium plan tried to create Hei Que, it's a mimicry of Su Ming'an.

Third, infinite nesting dolls. Su Ming'an did indeed participate in the 2021 world game, but ultimately didn't achieve the desired result, so he made a certain wish, causing all participants to lose related memories. And let the world game descend again in 2024.

His previous participation in the 2021 world game scene was replicated by the world game, serving as the Eleventh instance's Disciple Game scene, showing before people. It's now.

This explanation sounds rather far-fetched, but the logic chain is actually quite reasonable—it can even explain why there's a woman who gave him a black card in a coffee shop at the start. Because the woman knew what he did in 2021 and wanted to recruit him early.

"So reasonable..." Su Ming'an almost believed it himself. But this means that even in 2021, the organizers should have seen he had Death Rebound, and wouldn't test further. But if the organizers were always acting, this explanation would definitely hold.

Moreover, the time for this Yuanyuan is "the first instance of 2021," while the time for Xiao Xiao and Wang Zhenzhen, whom he just met, clearly falls in "the eleventh instance of 2021," because Xiao Xiao and Wang Zhenzhen met after experiencing the third instance. Therefore, the players from 2021 have time confusion, with some thinking they're in the first instance, while others think they're in the eleventh instance.

This can also be corroborated—these players from 2021 aren't real but are chaotic products created by the Disciple Game. Or perhaps: the World Tree used the summoning cards technology, slicing these players' time, creating players from different times. Including the puzzled Yuanyuan before him, although her essence is unknown, whether she's a piece of data, a replicated image, a seed implanted with the Life Source Stream, or a transformed bionic human, she is merely a product of the Disciple Game, not Yuanyuan herself.

He looked at the black-haired girl before him.

She quietly ate the cookies, one after another, crunching. Her bright black eyes always watching him, not interrupting his thoughts, always silent and calm.

When she found him staring at her, her expression clearly went through hesitation and struggle, seemingly making some massive decision, and after a moment, she took out a cookie from the bag and offered it to him.

"...Here you go."

This decision must have been very hard for her, as her eyes stayed glued to the cookie.

Su Ming'an sighed and waved his hand.

He felt a strong time disparity, as if some sticky, invisible thing was churning in his mind. Clearly situated in the Eleventh instance of 2024, yet overlapping like broken threads with the first instance of 2021. One is later, one is a distant beginning.

"Stop eating, the fungi likely contain the virus, I'll soon find a zombie antidote for you."

He realized, no matter what, there's still a tiny chance this 2021 version of Yuanyuan is a true person, so it's best not to leave her alone. After all, his guessing isn't one hundred percent accurate.

He was certain that this time he wouldn't find the zombie antidote in the same location. Because the Disciple Game had been slightly adjusted, "Henggang City" turned into "X City," and the city's structure was completely different, everything needed to start from scratch.

He suddenly noticed that the nearby tavern had a clue in a red circle, indicating that there was a hint inside.

"Wait here for a while, I'll send the black cat to listen in." Su Ming'an crouched down, attaching a camera to the black cat, and let it enter the tavern.

"You still like cats," Yuanyuan said, watching the black cat slowly sneak into the tavern.

"It's not that I like them, it just happens to be a cat." Su Ming'an looked down at her. "You've seen all my pets, Goldfish Du, and that jellyfish that can't really be called a pet."

"Jellyfish... do you remember? The jellyfish on that bluestone slab," Yuanyuan said.

Su Ming'an paused slightly.

He remembered that when he was in elementary school, after receiving pocket money from Uncle Zhao, he was coaxed by the stall vendor at the school gate to buy a bottle of jellyfish, hoping to raise it forever.

At that time, both he and Yuanyuan were very happy, lying on the bluestone slab during lunch break, watching a small white jellyfish swim around in the bottle, and she even sang to it. But for some reason, the jellyfish became fainter and fainter... until it vanished completely.

"Back then, I always thought the jellyfish had ascended. Later, I realized it was dissolved by the sunlight," Su Ming'an lowered his gaze. "It wasn't a dangerous creature that killed it, just the dazzling sunlight. It melted away, leaving no trace... nobody remembered."

"I remember," Yuanyuan said. She always remembered. She found it hard to forget everything about him.

Su Ming'an gazed at her, momentarily puzzled by her nature.

Just then, his ears perked up as the black cat picked up some sounds from within the tavern.

He opened up Du to see, and the monitoring screen showed—Mizushima Kawa Sora.

The tavern owner was already lying in a pool of blood. Mizushima Kawa Sora stood with hands folded, watching her subordinates rummage through the cabinets looking for clues. Prophet Alan, Boxer Yuriklu, and Necromancer Erwin stood by her side, these top players seemed to have formed an alliance. Beside them stood a white-haired young man, smiling with narrowed eyes.

"Miss Divine Beast, I have something to discuss with you, shall we find a room?" the white-haired young man said with a smile.

Mizushima Kawa Sora nodded and went into a room with him.

The black cat silently stopped at the door of the room, its figure extremely stealthy, blending in like an abyss in the night.

"—Miss Divine Beast, regarding the [War of Eden], you should have gathered quite a bit of information by now," the white-haired young man said.

Mizushima Kawa Sora nodded, recounting the process of the [War of Eden].

The [War of Eden], renowned as a war between Order and Chaos, initiated by the Goddess of Life and the God of Doom. Throughout the war, a third-level god, the trickster demon Evelyn, enslaved the entire Black Dwarf Clan, attempting to forge a Holy Sword capable of slaying deities. As long as this Holy Sword was pointed at the Goddess of Life, she would be severely wounded, and the millions of wraiths from Asasi Hell would break through the planar barrier set by the Order side, flooding the surface and causing a catastrophic scene of devastation.

Finally, after a thousand and eight dawns and the sacrifice of seven races' lives, the Holy Sword was forged successfully. Yet, at this pivotal moment affecting the survival of thousands of races, the Fun Demon found it amusing and, out of nowhere, stole the Holy Sword and used it as a fire poker, abruptly ending the War of Eden. The God of Doom lost his weapon, the Great Demon Pollo was betrayed by his son Amber, retreating to the Twilight Realm to recuperate, and the Goddess of Life ceased the war. Only the Dragon Clan and Celestial Clan continued their blood feud, battling high in the skies...

"Alright, alright." The white-haired young man rubbed his temples. "I know Miss Divine Beast is knowledgeable, but there's no need to go into such detail. I just want to ask, do you know why the Fun Demon wanted to steal the Divine Sword?"

Mizushima Kawa Sora slightly frowned. Kasadia's move was a stroke of genius, cleverly halting this massive war sweeping across Luo Washa, making countless historians discuss it eagerly to this day, with over a thousand theses published...

"Though Kasadia himself said he did it for fun, he surely didn't come up with it out of thin air. Can you guess, who incited him?" the white-haired young man said with a smile.

Mizushima Kawa Sora was incredulous: "Someone actually managed to incite a deity?"

She was already aware of the power of deities. Each deity was formidable in their respective domain. For instance, the originally weakest God of Intelligence had grown increasingly powerful with the development of the era, with followers like Meme Talker⑨ and Hammer Iron Man⑩ spread throughout the continent.

If not for the [Day of God's Fall] in 487 of the Fourth Century—where the God of Intelligence was forcibly split into the God of the Internet and the Steam God by the gods, diluting his strength and authority—he would have become the fourth Level 1 God in history.

But even so, Mizushima Kawa Sora dared not challenge the authority of a third-level god directly. If faced head-on, just the authority and rules the deities wield could kill invisibly. Yet the white-haired young man claimed... someone incited such a powerful Fun Demon?

"Who is it?" Mizushima Kawa Sora asked.

"You must have heard of this person's name," the white-haired young man said with a smile. "He is hailed as the Savior of Genesis, a peer of the gods, the beacon of life, the brilliance of the world and the shepherd of time, the most intelligent and spiritual creator in millennia—"

"Sique."

Mizushima Kawa Sora's eyes lit up: "It's him..."

She had heard this name.

This name was legendary, known throughout Luo Washa by everyone.

He once wrote stories so astonishing that even the World Tree was captivated, becoming the most formidable creator with an SS rating. Because High-level creators could turn some of their writing into reality, he alone had stopped several large-scale wars that could have destroyed Luo Washa with just his pen; he had even devised a thoroughly logical defense system to keep distant civilization invaders at bay from Luo Washa; he also invented hundreds of scientific technologies, advancing Luo Washa civilization by several levels, amazing the entire world with his wisdom and talent.

He was called the beacon of life, a figure as prominent as the Supreme Lord. But for some reason, after being summoned by the Supreme Lord, he disappeared without a trace. Some speculated that he was promoted by the Supreme Lord to a civilization ruler of equal standing, while others speculated that the Supreme Lord was jealous of his astounding talent and killed him.

Hearing the conversation between Mizushima Kawa Sora and the white-haired young man, Su Ming'an was shocked.

...Sique Olivius.

So this prodigy was that formidable. But people seemed to only know Sique, not Olivius. Perhaps "Sique" was a disguise for "Olivius."

Sique sounded very fitting as Su Ming'an's alter ego, but for some reason, Su Ming'an became the simple and harmless jellyfish Su Liujin.

——

⑨Meme Talker: Network hot memes that are spread to a certain frequency, condensed into inorganic network life. They often appear in inappropriate situations, also known as "meme ghosts."

⑩Hammer Iron Man: Devotees of the God of the Internet. To maintain the god's authority, they oppose every topic with opposing viewpoints, forcibly maintaining their authoritative status, this type of divine envoy is also known as "argument trolls."

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