Glorious God Throne

As the game was completed, the entire instance world shattered into pieces.

Bai Yi fell through the cracks of the crumbling world. Surrounded by deep, intense darkness, his consciousness kept sinking, sinking, sinking, until that familiar sensation of suffocating in the deep sea emerged…

He sank into the deep sea he encountered in every dream. In the pitch-black, profound waters floated fragments of stars.

However, compared to when Bai Yi first entered the nightmare, the number of starlight fragments floating around had significantly decreased.

He still remembered when he first gained consciousness as a child, opening his eyes in the “deep sea” for the first time. Countless star fragments filled the ocean, enough to make anyone with trypophobia scream in terror.

It was like the remnants of fallen stars from the sky, burying him in this starry graveyard beneath the sea.

Now, without the density that could make one scream, the star fragments floating in the deep sea were spaced just right, like stars scattered across the sky. The starlight shone through the gaps between them, illuminating the surrounding lightless waters.

Bai Yi swam upwards with all his might through this starlight.

The moment he broke the surface, he saw the pitch-black sky above. In that sky hung a single star.

This once-empty black curtain he had seen hundreds of times before – hollow, ugly, and void, as if nothing existed in that black hole – had imperceptibly gained a mysterious star.

This was the biggest change in the depths of the nightmare in seventeen years.

His gaze was inevitably drawn to it, staring intently.

Before Bai Yi could investigate further, having only glimpsed the mysterious star for a moment upon surfacing, the surrounding scene began to rapidly dissipate. The starlight faded from his eyes.

“Ah, it seems it’s time to wake up,” he thought.

With that thought, he opened his eyes.

The next instant, the light from the incandescent lamp in his room filled his vision, completely dispelling the dreamlike illusion.

Bai Yi couldn’t help but wear a contemplative expression.

“What does that star represent?” he wondered.

In the past, Bai Yi had never encountered such an anomaly. Usually, the nightmare would end the moment he struggled to surface from the deep sea. And there was nothing to see in the lightless sky above the ocean.

But recently, he would occasionally face this scene – in the instant of surfacing, in the moment before waking, he would see a star suspended high above the sea.

Even after returning to reality from the nightmare, Bai Yi could still subconsciously sense a faint, almost imperceptible stirring, as if in some mysterious way, he had formed a hidden connection with that star deep in the nightmare.

Its intangible starlight seemed to still illuminate his soul.

“What exactly is this…” he mused.

“If I remember correctly, this anomaly started appearing a few days ago… It seems to be related to Pei Hefeng…”

Feeling an unusual reaction from a certain character card, Bai Yi’s motionless eyelashes suddenly trembled slightly as he pondered.

He murmured in an almost inaudible voice.

“The Ancestor of Martial Arts…”

“Martial arts, huh…?”

The snow-white quilt nearly covered his chin, revealing most of the young man’s face that looked pale yet docile. Lying in bed, his pupils were unfocused, his mind seemingly still immersed in that mysterious starlight illuminating the sea’s surface.

The game completion prompts slowly scrolled across Bai Yi’s vision.

[Successfully completed nightmare fragment [Innocent Person]]

[Instance level: ★★]

[Completion rating: S]

[Points earned: 20]

[Achievement unlocked: [Clearing One’s Name is an Art]

[Description: As everyone knows, without evidence of guilt, there is no crime.]

[Beginning special reward draw.]

[You have obtained a special drop: Nightmare Crystal (Green) x5.]

“So it’s cleared…” Bai Yi slowly blinked, finally coming back to his senses. “Hmm, another instance taken care of. As expected, no character card drops this time either…”

He thought to himself that character card drops after clearing an instance were extremely rare occurrences, and he had gotten used to results like this by now.

Just as he was thinking this, another line of text refreshed before his eyes.

[…You have obtained “Principle of All Things” fragment x1.]

“…?” Bai Yi was stunned at first, then sat up in bed, reaching out to catch the invisible fragment falling from midair. His eyes suddenly blazed with an exceptionally bright light. “Oh my, what a pleasant surprise!”

“For such a high-level reward to be drawn from an ordinary game instance, System, you didn’t adjust the probabilities, did you?” he sincerely doubted, though the corners of his mouth were rising uncontrollably. “…If you did make such an adjustment, please feel free to do so more often.”

[The system does not have the function to autonomously adjust probabilities.]

[Considering the number of instances the player has cleared, and the number of draws earned after completion, drawing three “Principle of All Things” fragments from random rewards is within reasonable probability.]

[Not counting the fragment obtained from the newbie gift package, and the second fragment obtained from deciphering the world view, this is the first time the player has drawn a “Principle of All Things” fragment through random rewards.]

Bai Yi: “???”

…So you’re saying I’ve just been unlucky?

I have reason to suspect you’re mocking me, but I have no proof.

Hmpf!

Suddenly, Bai Yi grasped the key point. “…It’s not that you don’t have the function to adjust probabilities, but that you can’t do it autonomously? So, does this mean you can adjust the draw probabilities, but you must receive instructions or have certain permissions activated?”

…Sharp observation!

Sure enough, new text slowly appeared in midair.

[After the Nightmare Game version update, the system will also upgrade, and the player will unlock creator permissions. This includes, but is not limited to, certain adjustments to draw probabilities.]

“Version update?” This phrase sounded familiar. Bai Yi thought for a moment and immediately recalled the related memory.

At that time, he had asked the system about the purpose of game points. If he remembered correctly, the system’s answer was like this—

[Game points have two uses. One, to purchase items produced by certain special instances. Two, when game points accumulate to a certain level, the player can choose to update the version.]

“Accumulate to a certain level? What a vague statement.”

Bai Yi couldn’t help but pull up his basic stats panel.

**

Name: Bai Yi

Age: 17 Talent:

Rhythm of All Things lv20 (20% awakened)

Life Skills (lv1 and below not shown):

Bewitch lv8

[Note: More than enough to become a cult leader.]

Iron Stomach lv5

[Note: Able to smile while drinking poison.]

Personality Mask lv8

[Note: Lying is as natural as breathing to you.]

Acting lv10 [Note: Deceiving the whole world is no problem at all.]

Extraordinary Skills: Dark Cuisine lv5

The game completion prompts continued to scroll across Bai Yi’s vision:

[Note: Through the ruthless method of feeding cats to gain experience, your Dark Cuisine skill proficiency has greatly increased. You can easily pass as an extraordinary being of a special system.]

Praise of the Blind lv10

[Note: Whether blending inconspicuously into crowds or gaining others’ favor, it’s as easy as breathing for you. This passive aura skill level increases over time. Now, even if caught red-handed doing something bad, people can’t help but wonder if you have extenuating circumstances.]

Web of Thoughts lv20

[Note: A special skill related to the Rhythm of All Things talent, leveling up as the talent awakens. Currently able to forcibly link everyone’s thoughts and indiscriminately infuse information.]

Points: 410

Card Slots: [Ghost in the Rainy Night★] [Flower Speaker ★★☆] [Puppet Master★★] [Lawless Person★★★] [Depressing Artist★★★]

Inventory: Nightmare Crystal (Green) x80, Nightmare Crystal (White) x130, Puppet Master’s Diary

**

After reviewing the information displayed on his basic stats panel, Bai Yi’s gaze lingered on the game points and nightmare crystal quantities. He slowly got up from the bed and stretched.

“Have I really accumulated this much already?” he mused.

Thinking carefully, it had been four months since the spiritual energy revival, when he had used up all his nightmare crystals to exchange for the [Martial City] scene template, thus starting the #Lord of the Heavenly Capital Returns# storyline.

Going back even further to when he cleared the [Artistic Republic] instance and spent all his points on items, it had been more than four months.

During this long period, Bai Yi hadn’t been idle. He had been unlocking new instances in the nightmare almost daily, clearing each instance in three to seven days. So accumulating this many points and nightmare crystals wasn’t particularly surprising.

“So, do I have enough points now?” he raised an eyebrow, looking at the text floating in midair. “To choose to perform a version update, that is.”

[…Special prerequisite item not yet obtained.]

“?” Another unknown element appeared.

Bai Yi: “What’s this special prerequisite item?”

…Curious cat.jpg

[The special prerequisite item must be obtained through a special real-world task. Do you want to spend 100 points to upgrade the system in advance, thereby unlocking the real-world task release permission?]

Special prerequisite item, special real-world task, real-world task release permission… the amount of information seemed a bit overwhelming.

The sound of running water passed by his ears, and cool water splashed on his face, instantly dispelling the drowsiness from just waking up.

“Interesting. So it’s not limited to nightmares, but can also issue tasks in reality? I wonder what the rewards will be?”

Bai Yi slowly raised his eyes, staring at the mirror in front of him.

The young man in the mirror also looked up at him, streams of water running down the mirror’s surface, fragmenting the youth’s hazy features.

The curve of his mouth, blurred by the water, grew increasingly larger.

“Ah, I’m so excited!”

****

[System partially upgraded. Real-world task release permission unlocked. The system will randomly trigger real-world tasks based on the player’s stance and inclination, helping the player correct the direction of the world line and assisting you in winning the final victory of the Nightmare Game.]

[Real-world task completion rewards include points or “Principle of All Things” fragments. Distributed according to the degree of influence on the world line.]

The moment the system prompt appeared, invisible threads seemed to spread outward along with the distorted text in midair, as if extending and expanding endlessly until they enveloped the entire world.

Bai Yi suddenly felt a strange sensation in his heart.

It was as if, the moment he agreed to unlock real-world tasks, he had made some kind of promise, gently nudging an invisible world line. He seemed to have formed a deeper, indescribable connection – or perhaps, a cause and effect relationship – with this world.

[You have obtained a special aura buff title.]

Along with the system’s reminder, Bai Yi’s basic stats panel refreshed, adding a new section below his name and age:

Name: Bai Yi

Age: 17

Title: Pseudo World’s Son / ???

[Passive Aura: Luck buff]

[Note: Until you abandon your current stance, you will always have this title’s aura buff, as if you were the world’s spokesperson, gaining the fortune of an entire world.]

[—At this moment, the world favors you.]

“Could this be the legendary protagonist’s halo?” Bai Yi couldn’t help but quip. Just after creating a false child of destiny in Pei Hefeng, he himself became the chosen one of the real world? How reasonable was that?

…Well, it wasn’t too surprising, come to think of it.

Since the system’s step-by-step guidance was aimed at dealing with the future return to chaos, that is, preventing this world from stepping into destruction… then no matter how much this world invested in him, it would be worth it.

— Let alone just a bit of luck, even if the entire world was offered up to him… it was nothing more than the price that should be paid by those being saved!

In the misty mirror, the youth’s face was clearly marked by the reckless flow of water. His long eyelashes were moist with damp fog, making his pitch-black pupils appear even deeper.

The next moment, the young man in the mirror blinked.

The terrifying aura from earlier disappeared like an illusion, replaced by a lively and cheerful demeanor.

“…But why ‘son’ of the world?”

Noticing this odd title, Bai Yi pouted in frustration, expressing his protest.

He poked his own face in the mirror. “Taking advantage of your lifesaver, aren’t you, world? That’s going too far.”

“Not just taking advantage, but casually adopting someone as a son, and a fake adopted son at that. How stingy!”

He complained with a long, drawn-out tone, then stepped into the living room feeling refreshed after washing up. He curled up on the sofa, motionless. “It’s too much, too much. I’ve completely lost the desire to save the world — Perish, world!”

As Bai Yi let out this dramatic cry, the entire world seemed to fall silent for a second, as if hearing the sound of some gear turning.

In midair, a line of distorted text slowly coalesced.

[Random real-world task triggered.]

[Please follow the system’s guidance to open your phone and check the task details.]

“Oh my, is this a brand new task mode?”

Bai Yi curiously looked down at his phone, indeed finding a ghostly arrow pointing directly at it in the space above the screen.

He opened his phone.

A small black arrow, like a child’s simple drawing, moved slightly in midair, accurately pointing to the Extraordinary Forum app on the screen.

Bai Yi clicked on the Extraordinary Forum app with a sense of novelty.

…

Following the little arrow’s guidance step by step, Bai Yi, like a child discovering a new toy, tirelessly clicked his way through until he finally reached a certain post.

The title read: [Seeking a master, seeking like-minded individuals. Chenxing Empire martial arts enthusiast online seeking help. Empire censorship, colleagues don’t believe in martial arts cultivation, no one to talk to, can’t find ways to practice martial arts. Should I find a way to join Yao Country?]

The post was dated January 30th, about 20 days ago.

Wondering how this related to the real-world task, Bai Yi surprisingly opened the post and scrolled down.

The post wasn’t particularly popular, but not too obscure either. No one had responded to the original poster’s request for a master.

After all, most people are wary of strangers online, especially when it involves extraordinary powers like martial arts cultivation.

Instead, newbies who, like the original poster, aspired to martial arts, were actively commenting. They had been communicating with the poster during this time.

Skipping some meaningless replies, Bai Yi picked out potentially valuable clues:

About a week after posting, the original poster excitedly told fellow enthusiasts that they had met a real martial arts practitioner in real life, also from the Chenxing Empire. This person was kind and willing to teach them martial arts.

Immediately, other martial arts enthusiasts became envious and asked for more details. The poster revealed some information bit by bit, though they were careful not to disclose the person’s identity in too much detail.

Although many parts were vague and hard to verify, it wasn’t difficult for Bai Yi to guess. After summarizing and speculating, he gathered:

The poster had a car accident in a remote area and was nearly killed, but was saved by a passerby.

This person almost ripped off the car door barehanded and smashed the window with one punch, displaying superhuman strength that the sharp-eyed poster noticed. Seeing that concealment was futile, the person revealed their identity as a martial arts practitioner. The poster promised to keep it secret, and the person agreed to teach them after persistent pleading.

— This person was R.

As Bai Yi scrolled to the bottom of the dense text, a line caught his eye.

Posted ten minutes ago:

M (Original Poster): Help! Something happened to R, they’ve disappeared!

Others chimed in asking what happened, some guessing that R no longer wanted to teach the poster, others suggesting calling the police.

M (Original Poster): No, we just arranged to meet yesterday. They wouldn’t disappear without reason. They mentioned feeling uneasy before. They’ve been hiding well, it must be because they saved me… I don’t dare call the police or tell anyone else… I suspect their disappearance is related to the Empire!

At the same time, the real-world task finally refreshed before Bai Yi’s eyes:

[Beneath the dawn of the extraordinary, darkness surges. The hope you brought has instead brewed misfortune for some.]

[— To abandon or to save, that is the question.]

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