SB Ch124: Log out of the game

Chapter 124: There is a hidden instigator of this game.

“Fifteen minutes?”

Wu You felt that this demand was completely unreasonable. “You simply don’t want us to win.”

But even though he protested, it still couldn’t change the decision of the altar. A fifteen-minute countdown had already appeared above their heads.

Noah thought for a moment, “What exactly is the second task?”

Nan Shan recalled what the Holy Voice had said earlier and told them, “I remember it was said that we need to rescue all the citizens of the Water City from danger and confusion, giving them a free and peaceful future… I think the danger mentioned here refers to the disaster of the Blood Moon Werewolves, and the confusion probably refers to the religion here. Giving them freedom means liberating them from this cannibalistic religion.”

“Peace should just mean peace,” Noah guessed.

At first, when they had just initialized and entered this instance, everyone thought it was just a somewhat primitive place. But as they learned more, they realized that this so-called Water City actually had a tradition of live sacrifices. The people here would wage wars, bring back prisoners for sacrifice, and even their own citizens, including children, were not spared.

Thinking of this, Noah sighed softly, “It seems that the Snow Fairy sister I helped that day was giving us a hint. The shackles and chains on her body indicated her status as a prisoner of war.

She said she had escaped. When we freed her from the shackles, she even asked if we could really do that. It was because she knew we were on opposing sides. We are priests, and she is an enemy prisoner of war, destined to become our sacrifice.”

Wu You nodded, this made sense.

“I feel like everyone who has appeared here has brought some clues. The citizens Nan Shan and I encountered, the Snow Woman Noah and Zhou Yijue met, the person who posted the bark paper, the fortune-telling old woman…”

“Yes.” Nan Shan looked at the dwindling time and said, “So we shouldn’t rush. Let’s see if there’s anyone or anything we missed.”

An Wujiu felt a shadow flash through his mind.

Omission.

Indeed, every person who appeared in this instance was a carrier of information they needed. None were superfluous, and they had all obtained information from them.

Except for one person.

An Wujiu raised his eyes, looking at the stone wall. Through this impenetrable barrier, he gazed at the eerie and terrifying statue.

The High Priest.

An Wujiu turned around and decided to leave the temple.

“Wujiu?”

An Wujiu lowered his eyes and saw the obsidian sacrificial dagger on the ground. He picked it up, put on his cloak’s hood, and gestured to the others that he was going out.

Nan Shan nodded, “We’ll go together.”

With time running out, An Wujiu rushed towards the tall tower in the fierce wind. Everything happening here seemed absurd but very real, as if it had really happened.

This building, its location, and the customs and common foods and crafts of the past, all made An Wujiu think of ancient South America.

If the altar really used real historical events as the game’s plot setting, then these characters were all carefully designed, without any mistakes.

Looking up at the tower, An Wujiu knew that the answer he wanted was definitely here.

He kicked open the stone door of the tower and went up the spiral staircase to the glass room. There was only one translucent obsidian door.

Just as An Wujiu’s fingers touched the door ring, the Holy Voice appeared.

“The High Priest is meditating in seclusion.”

But he didn’t care, grabbed the door ring and opened the door directly.

“The High Priest is meditating in seclusion.”

The Holy Voice repeated once again.

An Wujiu didn’t bother with this, he tried to open the door and found resistance inside, so he turned sideways and used his shoulder to ram it hard.

The Holy Voice kept repeating that sentence, like a glitched prompt, but An Wujiu didn’t care and continued to ram.

Until he really used his body to push open the door.

As the door opened, a blue beam of light horizontally shot out from the middle towards An Wujiu.

Feeling something was wrong, he immediately dodged, and the beam cut the opposite wall in half.

It seemed that even if they found this place, the Holy Voice had a hundred ways to prevent the players from winning.

After confirming no similar beams appeared, An Wujiu rushed into the glass room alone with only four minutes left.

All the walls here were made of glass, and there were many glass mirrors inside, crisscrossing and blocking, like a mirror maze. An Wujiu was the first to enter it alone, the inside was strange and colorful, reflecting many of him.

Every An Wujiu in the mirrors looked full of vigilance, as if they were each other’s enemies.

Winding and turning, he searched for the High Priest’s figure in the mirror maze. Just when An Wujiu heard a sound and was about to investigate, he felt a chill behind him.

In the mirror appeared a guy in a red cloak, holding an obsidian dagger identical to An Wujiu’s. The blade was already pressed against An Wujiu’s throat, a line of blood oozing from his side neck.

But An Wujiu’s reaction speed was astonishing. He backhanded the dagger and stabbed backward, turned around, and karate chopped the opponent’s right wrist. The intense pain and impact made the opponent loosen his grip, and the obsidian dagger fell. An Wujiu reached out, caught the dagger, and fiercely kicked the failed assailant, the High Priest, away.

The opponent fell heavily onto the mirror behind him.

His face was covered by the wide hood of his cloak, shadows obscuring his features, but his whole body emitted a faint blue glow.

Is this the High Priest?

An Wujiu thought to himself, unable to speak.

The opponent, as if able to hear his thoughts, smiled at him and said, “Yes.”

There were only three minutes left on the countdown above his head.

An Wujiu heard the voices of Wu You and the others, not far away. He stepped towards the High Priest, gripping two daggers.

The blade in his left hand was against the opponent’s throat, while his right hand was raised, ready to stab the opponent’s heart.

“You think you’ve won this way?” The opponent seemed to mock him, but An Wujiu didn’t think much and still plunged the dagger into his chest.

The only thing that felt strange was that the High Priest didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping his actions.

But there was no time to think too much. Unable to speak and not wanting to, he simply drove the dagger into his heart.

When Wu You and the others came in, they saw this mad scene.

Blood splattered on An Wujiu’s face, making him look like a cold and taciturn killer, or like a heretic here to slay a god.

“Wujiu? What is this…”

An Wujiu stared coldly at the person in front of him and reached out to lift his hood.

The High Priest under the cloak had an ordinary face, just like him.

Wu You was a bit puzzled, “Why kill the High Priest?”

An Wujiu couldn’t tell him the reason.

All along, he had a bit of confusion about this game. With the altar’s level of game design, the appearance of the Blood Moon crisis in the Water City, and the High Priest delegating all his powers to twelve ordinary priests while hiding himself—what was the point of setting up such a High Priest character if the altar could just make the players twelve priests in the game?

According to the game’s plot, the appearance of the Blood Moon in the Water City was due to heretic werewolves, and the High Priest, knowing this, didn’t show up.

This indirectly led to the priests killing each other.

There was a hidden instigator in this game.

He was clearly the most beloved person in the Water City, but he did this for only one reason: he didn’t want to be the High Priest at all. He just wanted to watch the priests kill each other and see them fail. Even if they killed all the heretics, it would still be a loss.

The altar had given many hints, the biggest being the obstructed statue. A true believer would never block a deity with a stone wall.

Unless he wasn’t sincere at all.

The High Priest was the biggest heretic.

“Very clever.”

The supposedly dead High Priest actually laughed, his teeth overflowing with blood, “You did the right thing. If you didn’t kill me, even if you eliminated all the heretics, you couldn’t win. I’ve had enough, enough of everything here, these rituals and sacrifices, the repetitive plot. I’ve had enough. I should thank you for freeing me.”

Nan Shan frowned, “Free?”

Blood was gushing from the High Priest’s heart, but he was still smiling, “I didn’t do anything wrong. I took over the divine power here.”

An Wujiu suddenly thought of something.

He moved his lips and found he could speak.

“You’re a player too,” An Wujiu stated without much doubt.

The opponent raised an eyebrow and praised again, “Very clever.”

“I am a player, almost a successful player in this game. I also discovered the terrifying live sacrifices here and tried to resist, overthrowing the original control of the Water City. But guess what?”

He laughed somewhat maniacally, “I didn’t solve the final task, didn’t think I should kill the biggest representative of divine power. In the last fifteen minutes, I watched success slip away. When the game ended, as an NPC, I became the new High Priest.”

As the new divine power representative in this round, an unseen ultimate Boss.

Wu You frowned. He hadn’t thought the altar would have such an inhumane design, making a player who once bravely resisted divine power but failed become the new symbol of divine power, disgusting and unable to escape such a position.

The High Priest spoke, his smile turning bleak, “After becoming the High Priest, the game restarted. Everything began again. I watched another group of players enter, take the wrong path, make wrong choices, but I could do nothing. They failed the levels, and the game restarted, one group after another. There wasn’t a single person who could replace me and let me leave smoothly. Honestly, I almost gave up.”

Here, the endless cycle of the game made him see clearly the control of religion over people. He was like a real statue, unable to live or die, standing as an immortal symbol.

His once hopeful heart, believing he could win and save everyone, had been extinguished by the endless restarts.

“But I waited for you, and you succeeded.” The High Priest looked at An Wujiu, “I am finally eliminated.”

Nan Shan asked, “What about the new High Priest?”

“Who knows?” The opponent said indifferently, “There will definitely be another unlucky NPC to take the position.”

An Wujiu found it hard to imagine that the person in front of him had once single-handedly stopped the grand ceremony and destroyed the divine power here. At this moment, he had long lost his original spirit.

“The game is over,” the High Priest said with a smile, and the countdown above their heads stopped at the last minute.

An Wujiu suddenly spoke, “What about the people here?”

“People?” The High Priest smiled, “The game will restart. You don’t think this isn’t a game, do you?”

An Wujiu didn’t say anything.

“Even if it’s not true, yes, this is indeed based on real historical events. This is Tenochtitlan①, modeled after the Aztec civilization.” The high priest walked toward him with a mocking smile on his face. “So what? In history, they believed in the existence of gods and sacrificed countless lives. They believed gods had white skin, so they warmly welcomed the invading Spaniards, only to be slaughtered in the end. You are just a player in a game. What do you think you can change? History? Or the future of the NPCs in this game?”

He mocked An Wujiu, as if mocking his former self.

“Ah, perhaps you can. The people here, seeing your white skin, might also welcome the enemies of the future, only to be entirely massacred.”

Wu You told him to shut up, but the other had no intention of stopping.

“You can save some people, but you cannot change the ending of the game, nor can you change the fate of this world. Understand?”

This sentence suddenly reminded An Wujiu of his father’s words before he died.

No one can be a savior.

After saying his final words, the high priest left him with a sneering smile and then dissolved into a cloud of blue particles, scattered by the wind.

“Game over.”

“Congratulations to all survivors for achieving the ultimate ending of this round of the game, ‘Blood Moon Sacrifice.’ All players in the Good Camp will survive.”

Even after hearing these words, An Wujiu still asked, “What about the players in the Werewolf Camp?”

“All players in the Werewolf Camp have died.”

An Wujiu knew this would be the answer.

“Congratulations again. Now we will proceed to the points settlement screen.”

Even though they had won, An Wujiu’s mood did not improve. The high priest who had just died seemed like a shadow imprinted on his heart.

But the thought of seeing Shen Ti soon allowed An Wujiu to breathe a little easier.

As he expected, moments later, the countless mirrors around them shattered with a crash. Everything around them broke into blue light particles and eventually disappeared completely.

As usual, they entered a white space. A mass of particles next to An Wujiu gradually formed into a human shape; it was Shen Ti.

This scene made An Wujiu feel somewhat unreal, as if Shen Ti really was just a virtual character, so he froze for a few seconds.

Until Shen Ti held his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

“What are you daydreaming about?”

An Wujiu shook his head.

Besides Shen Ti, the Good Camp’s Lao Yu, Andrew, and Zhou Yijue also returned alive to the settlement space. An Wujiu felt both fortunate and regretful for the departed Matsubara Mori and Toudou Sakura.

This kind of competition forced them to kill each other. No one was at fault, and An Wujiu had no position to give up the game because he had so many teammates behind him.

Including Yang Ce.

An Wujiu didn’t know how to tell Yang Erci what had happened, nor could he predict if Yang Erci would break down upon hearing that his father had died at the altar.

But he believed that even if they hadn’t been matched together, Yang Erci must be alive.

And Zhong Yirou. The thought of them possibly surviving alone in the altar made An Wujiu very uncomfortable.

He hoped they were all safe.

The altar distributed the points.

“The reward pool for this round of the game totals 120,000 points. The four players who survived to the end—An Wujiu, Wu You, Noah, and Nan Shan—will each receive 20,000 points. For the same camp players who died during the game, the four of you will receive 10,000 points.”

After the distribution, the sacred voice continued.

“Survivors, the altar gates are about to open. The system will now log you out of your game accounts. We hope you enjoy and succeed in the real world.”

An Wujiu frowned.

Before he could express his doubts, he suddenly felt a rapid descent, and then a hard landing.

He opened his eyes and found himself back in the game pod.

Pressed by the breathing mask, An Wujiu felt his breathing was particularly heavy. The wounds he had inflicted on himself in the dungeon had completely disappeared, leaving only the initial scars on his wrist.

In his daze, An Wujiu suddenly wanted to know why he had sustained such severe injuries. Clearly, he was just an experiment living in a sterile environment, a product meticulously sculpted by perfectionists.

They shouldn’t allow any flaws in him.

As the pod door opened, An Wujiu saw Shen Ti. At the moment they met, he noticed Shen Ti’s furrowed brows.

“You think it’s strange too,” An Wujiu said.

Shen Ti nodded. “Yes.”

Before An Wujiu could speak, a familiar voice filled with amusement came from behind, “This time, they didn’t mention any time limit for returning to reality.”

He turned his head and saw Zhou Yijue smiling with his fox-like eyes.

“Maybe this damn game ‘The Altar’ has ended,” Zhou Yijue said lightly.

“So happy, huh,” Shen Ti jabbed at him mercilessly, “If it’s really over, you might be a widow for the rest of your life.”

An Wujiu quickly tugged at his arm, but Shen Ti continued muttering to himself, “No, in this situation, should it be widow or widower…”

An Wujiu elbowed Shen Ti and whispered, “Stop it.”

Zhou Yijue raised an eyebrow, seemingly indifferent, but as he walked past Shen Ti, he lightly said, “Be careful you don’t jinx yourself.”

Shen Ti curled his lips.

Indeed, a bad seed.

“I won’t be a widower,” he said to An Wujiu. “My wife is so strong.”

An Wujiu unceremoniously pinched his face. “Where did you learn these words?”

“I don’t remember,” Shen Ti smiled. Seeing Nan Shan and Wu You walking toward them, he waved and then lowered his head, hugging An Wujiu’s waist, forcing him to lean closer.

“I was sacrificed. Were you very sad?”

“What do you think?”

Shen Ti studied An Wujiu’s face. “It looks like you were a bit sad.”

An Wujiu was too lazy to argue with him and didn’t complain.

But Shen Ti didn’t continue joking. Instead, he apologized sincerely and adorably, “I’m sorry. This time I made such a risky decision on my own. You must have been very worried and stressed. But if I told you, it would have been against the rules, so I couldn’t tell you.”

An Wujiu shook his head. “It’s okay.” He raised his hand and touched Shen Ti’s cheek. “It’s good that you’re alive.”

Nan Shan, smiling, suddenly appeared beside them, hands clasped. “Wujiu-ge was really worried about you. He didn’t leave you for a moment the night you were sacrificed.”

An Wujiu suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. “That’s not…”

Nan Shan continued, “He even cried.”

An Wujiu looked puzzled.

When did he cry??

Shen Ti was deeply moved and pulled An Wujiu into his arms. “Really?”

“In your dreams. The Taoist is tricking you! When you died, Wujiu-ge didn’t shed a single tear.” Wu You, looking quite upset, tried to pull Shen Ti away, but he didn’t budge.

Shen Ti stared at Nan Shan.

Nan Shan’s usually squinted eyes opened slightly wider, and then he gave an awkward laugh.

“I heard that when people are really sad, they can’t cry.”

Shen Ti pursed his lips after hearing this. “Next time, you have to cry for me.”

An Wujiu was utterly confused.

“What kind of strange request is that? I can’t cry.”

Shen Ti smiled. “I’ll find a way to make you cry.”

The usually slow Nan Shan suddenly moved swiftly to cover Wu You’s ears.

“Inappropriate for children, do not listen.”

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