CHAPTER 815: CHAPTER 813·“TE·REBIRTH OF ALL THINGS (8)”

The line of golden text flickered in Noel’s vision.

He took half a step back, his eyes full of shock: "..."

"Did you see it?" Su Ming’an’s voice was very light.

"No." After a brief surprise, Noel immediately responded, "It’s an illusion. It’s not real."

Noel had indeed seen the text [Ninth World·Zhai Star] on the screen. But he had to say in front of Su Ming’an that this line was just an illusion.

"Du." Noel hinted for Du to immediately turn off the screen, to stop using this line to provoke people.

However, Du did not understand Noel’s look and instead said blankly, "Why are you calling me? The data has already been found. Didn’t you both see it?"

Noel sighed.

They stood under a huge electronic screen, their postures stiff, like prisoners resigned to their fate, with only the sound of the wind turning the pages of a book in the air. Su Ming’an slightly lowered his head, and no one could see his expression.

In the live broadcast room, the bullet screen had already seen the text on the screen, churning like a hurricane:

[???]

[Does this mean even if we end the World Game, Zhai Star will still become like the Ruined World?]

[So there’s no perfect ending for us at all? What is the meaning of our journey then...?]

[Viewers just shut up, you haven’t been the ones advancing, it’s always been the adventurer players bearing the burden for you, don’t try to glorify yourselves.]

[I don’t believe it! The Ninth World must be a parallel world.]

[No, not even a parallel world! It must be fictional, and it never said that worlds with the same name couldn’t exist, right? If the Ninth World is really Zhai Star, it would mean our civilization already lost, and we wouldn’t be here sending bullet screens, let alone becoming players.]

[Right, and the name Yasa Acto sounds like a foreigner, or maybe a mixed-blood. Su Ming’an is a pure Dragon Country person, Su Ming’an and Acto surely don’t match.]

[I think the Ninth World is just a simulation... like Kaius Tower, everyone doesn’t need to panic so much, it’s just an instance.]

[But what if we’ve already been copied?]

[But what if we are also ’Electronic Heart’?]

...

"Okay, I’ve seen it." Su Ming’an said to Noel. His voice was very calm, his face neither smiling nor sad.

He quietly stood under the screen and looked at that line of text again. In his eyes, there was only the reflected light of the screen, and nothing else.

"Su Ming’an..." Noel did not believe Su Ming’an was really as calm as he appeared. A person’s "self" is like an iceberg, only a small portion can be seen, while the larger internal world remains hidden at deeper levels, unseen by others.

The burden he carries is heavy, with no one to share it. Except for someone like Noel, who can glimpse the secrets of rebound, no one else, no matter how much they like him in their hearts, has the ability to help him. It’s an extreme solitude engraved into the bone.

"I need to think it over." Su Ming’an said in a low voice.

Upon pondering, there were many hints about the Ninth World. As early as the instance start at Constantine University, AI Xike had already told him.

...

["I always believed AI has no soul. But, you and the Dawn System seem to have human emotions, Dawn even fears being shut down." Su Ming’an said to the watch, "Xike, do you have desires too?"]

["I want to have a body."]

["Why?"]

["To hug you, Doctor."]

["But I am not..." Su Ming’an said.]

["It doesn’t matter." Xike said, "It’s all the same to me."]

...

[To me, it’s all the same.]

...

Su Ming’an’s sight dropped, he remembered on the night of the final battle two days ago when he wanted to commit suicide to rebound, the Deity also said similar words to him.

...

["Su Ming’an, you’re really lucky, what gives you so many chances..." The Deity injected the life-sustaining potion into Su Ming’an’s arm, trying to save his life.]

["I don’t understand what you’re saying." Su Ming’an always denied it.]

["You must not die, don’t die..." the Deity said softly,]

["Su Ming’an, how can you die, what gives you so many chances, if you go back, how will I win..."]

["What gives you, obviously we are the same..."]

...

[Obviously, we are the same.]

...

Besides, the Ruined World and Zhai Star also have many corresponding places.

The Night Nine Thrones are the companions who have always followed Acto, they fight together, live together under the name "Night Nine Thrones". Su Ming’an already remembered he also had a similar "Nine Thrones".

——Peak Alliance.

An alliance formed by nine top-ranking players, the nine members look after each other, trust each other.

The nine members of the Peak Alliance are: Su Ming’an, Lv Shu, Lu, Bei Wang, Luna, Isabella, Alger, Shiyi, Yamada Machiichi.

The nine members of the Night Nine Thrones are: Yasa Acto, Lin Guang, Qi Kylstia, Beili Sier, Yue, Tretiya, Rong Yuan, Xi, Noah.

Su Ming’an found that if forced to match, they actually corresponded.

The similarities between him and Acto need not be elaborated, Acto was also 19 years old in the memory, even the age matched. Acto could even play the piano.

Lv Shu and Lin Guang were also the same, having similar appearances and dispositions, both liked Hanfu and could play flute tunes. Their stubbornness and steadfastness were virtually identical, enduring humiliation all the way until they exploded with action in the end.

Lu and Qi both had blue hair. According to Acto’s memory, Qi was also a gentle young man, adept at communication and interaction, handling the "diplomat" role beside Acto, which matched very well with Lu, who was skilled in social dance.

As for Bei Wang, Su Ming’an didn’t have much contact, only knowing Bei Wang was a Peak player who was always sleepy, with the occupation of a Frost Mage. But upon deeper thought, Beili Sier was also in a long-term half-awake state. More chilling was the fact that Beili Sier’s ability was also controlling frost.

The similarity between Luna and Yue lay in that Yue was also a person who liked the same sex. Besides, their names were themselves a kind of correspondence, with both having straightforward personalities.

As for Isabella, it seemed unclear to find a direct match. But if forced to compare, Tretiya and Isabella were both scientists who loved academics, showing stability and wisdom when not insane, matching Isabella’s temperament.

Tretiya actively infiltrated the City of Gods as an undercover agent at the time, finally chose to voluntarily be killed by Su Ming’an, securing many years of survival space for humans. Although there was an element of personal love in everything she did, there was truly a noble ideal and consciousness. Su Ming’an didn’t quite understand Isabella, but perhaps if it really came to that point, Isabella might do something similar to Tretiya.

Both Rong Yuan and Alger, these two people Su Ming’an didn’t know well. But the most obvious thing, they were both Flame Mages.

Shiyi and Xi, about the player Shiyi, Su Ming’an had never even met, only knew she was a female player skilled in hacking technology, with black hair and black eyes. Maybe she would have similarities with Xi.

As for Noah... it’s obvious that the player corresponding to Noah is Noel. Both the golden hair and blue eyes, and the personality that craves freedom like a white bird, are very similar. But Noel is not part of the Peak Alliance, which creates a difference—namely, NPC Noah and player Yamada Machiichi have no corresponding individuals.

Su Ming’an suddenly recalled when he established the Peak Alliance, he did consider bringing Noel into it, but because Noel was backed by the New World Guild, Su Ming’an abandoned the idea. If Noel had joined the Peak Alliance back then, instead of Yamada Machiichi... wouldn’t the members of the night meeting and the Peak Alliance’s nine have completely corresponded?

These similarities are neither too many nor too few. Some are terrifyingly similar, while others are similar to a forced extent. But it can be seen there’s indeed some kind of chilling "correspondence" among these individuals.

Thinking this, Su Ming’an broke out in a cold sweat.

So then?

—Why are they so alike?

—Why exactly are there so many similarities, why so many "correspondences"?

The scene before him blurred into indistinctness, as if every sound seemed absurd. Su Ming’an grasped the table, like clutching at a straw.

He breathed rapidly, and his stagnant thoughts began to turn again. He fixedly stared at the screen displaying [Ninth World·Zhai Star], his fingers pale.

Homophones? Coincidence? Parallel worlds? A simulation akin to the Kaius Tower’s system? A probe from the organizers? The Underworld instance with unsettling intentions? Errors in the Dawn System documents? Part of the timeline copied by Zhai Star?

There are many possibilities, and the Ruined World may not truly be Zhai Star. If it were truly Zhai Star, these players wouldn’t be here. If there was never a chance of redeeming Zhai Star from the start, then this World Game would be purely theatrical, devoid of fairness.

But...

What exactly is the meaning it represents?

"Su Ming’an." Noel’s voice was low, he put a hand on Su Ming’an’s shoulder, comforting: "As long as we haven’t reached the end of the road, it isn’t the present..."

"As long as we haven’t reached the end of the road, it isn’t the present reality." Su Ming’an said.

He watched the black and white text in front, repeating:

"As long as we haven’t seen the exact ending, it’s not the end."

"As long as Zhai Star’s destruction isn’t placed in front of me, this isn’t Zhai Star."

Do not believe, do not give up.

Let it be an optical illusion, let it be a trap, let it be a psychological tactic.

Back in the Eighth World Dome, the instance had already disturbed his mindset. Deceived by Xiber’s Reincarnation Authority, making him think of his own Death Rebound authority, it once led him into maddening hallucinations.

If defeat is accepted without seeing the ending, then the real tragedy would inevitably play out.

If it’s determined this is Zhai Star’s ending, then there’ll be no room to change destiny.

Su Ming’an doesn’t believe he could become as mighty as Acto; he’s just an ordinary person, not destined to become such an awe-inspiring hero. Acto will not be his future.

So even if it’s numbing, even if it’s deceit—

Do not believe.

Do not believe.

Do not believe.

"Su Ming’an."

The wind lifted Noel’s golden hair, brushing across Su Ming’an’s cheek. The young blond boy took off the rose-tipped hat on his head, taking a deep breath.

Su Ming’an looked back at Noel.

Their gazes merged in the warm virtual light, like converging streams, like spiraling white birds.

It’s the trust spanning thirty-three cycles.

It’s the flying birds and the solitary island.

"I am an adventurer of the new era, I believe only when I witness with my own eyes can things be verified." Noel looked at Su Ming’an:

"I will raise the highest sail, pass the mightiest structures, and climb the sunniest High Tower."

"Only what has passed through my eyes can be considered real by me; only I can build the future and ideals I aspire to with my own hands; every brick and tile must pass my hands to stack my hometown’s city walls."

"If someone tells me, only through sacrifice can I construct a spring for a new world, I wouldn’t agree to sacrifice."

"So—"

Noel paused, softly saying:

"I am not Noah."

"Noah is not me."

"He is greater than me; he is willing to sacrifice his life for a Ruined World’s spring. But if it were me, I definitely wouldn’t want to—I wouldn’t exchange my life for those unseen, nebulous things."

"So—"

Under virtual sunlight, Noel’s golden hair seemed to shine:

"Su Ming’an, you are not Acto either."

"You are not like him; you are not the Sea King, you don’t love researching those Artificial Intelligence technologies, nor do you like white hair as he does. There isn’t a ’Tretiya’ to be slain by you in this world, nor a ’Lin Guang’ to disappear, nor a ’Noah’ dying from emotional resonance, nor a ’Beili Sier’ frozen in ice. We eight players are still alive, and we will all be with you."

"Zhai Star will not be the Ruined World."

"Su Ming’an, you are unique."

"You are the only one."

While narrating, Noel’s voice was warmer than ever.

His palm was warm, like energizing flames. At the end, he curved his lips, extending a hand to Su Ming’an:

"Su Ming’an."

"Our fight isn’t over... how can we lose, you will win for sure."

"..."

Su Ming’an stared at the ever-warm golden-haired boy ahead, extending his hand: "Noel."

...Thank you.

Thank you for being someone who understands him, standing by his side at such times. Even though he still...

"Click."

Right then, a soft sound came from the doorway.

Su Rin’s form appeared amidst the spatial fluctuations, covered in blood and bruises.

He stepped over, standing between Su Ming’an and Noel.