Chapter 931: Chapter 928: "From lifetime to lifetime, eternal life forever.
"Today is a celebration of your birthday, no need to steal the spotlight." Su Mingan shook his head.
"But, Detective, do you know what my birthday wish is?" Alice curved her lips into a smile.
"What is it?"
"My birthday wish is—" Alice leaned closer, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered softly by his ear: "I hope the Detective can have a happy birthday."
Her voice was light, but she articulated each word clearly, like when she was twelve years old, holding his hand, stepping forward step by step in the falling snow.
Su Mingan’s gaze flickered slightly.
At this moment, it felt like a flock of birds flew in through the open window into the room, crashing into the depths of his heart, with wispy clouds weaving and colliding, filling his chest.
He didn’t know how he felt. All the warmth of the Tenth World seemed to have gathered here, colliding with the cries of the mortal world, with the cruelty of human nature, and the swirling snow in the city.
People always say, fairy tales are always beautiful, reality is always cruel. But in this game named "Girl’s Dream Plan," is this warmth limited to "fairy tales"?
People successively gave gifts to Su Mingan.
The red-haired boy was the wild child, Part. He had his hands in his pockets, slightly awkward, handed Su Mingan a Sunny Doll: "Hey, Detective, thank you for giving the children 39 Kel two years ago and saving their lives. This is a Sunny Doll the children made together for you."
The golden-haired youth was the knight, Wendell. He wore a white shirt today, looking reserved and clean. He carefully handed a stack of postcards to Su Mingan: "Detective, these are scenic postcards of all the lakes in Burg Castle, wishing you a happy birthday."
The brown-haired man was the hunter, Diff. He seemed a bit aloof as he handed several bullets to Su Mingan: "These are bullets I made, they can be loaded into your gun later, protect Alice well."
The blue-haired boy was the only son of a baron, Yixi. He smiled gently and gave Su Mingan a golden pocket watch: "Detective, this is a collectible antique I bought at the auction, I heard you really like antiques, maybe this can help you."
The short brown-haired one was the fighter Josh, she brazenly patted Su Mingan’s shoulder: "Detective bro, when you encounter bad guys in the future, put on the gloves I gave you and punch, strong force!"
Lastly, there was the gardener’s sister from next door, Mei Mi. Her face was rosy as she gave Su Mingan a bouquet of beautiful white lilies, timidly saying: "Detective, may you find peace and joy in the future, and have a smooth life."
Facing such enthusiastic people, Su Mingan thanked them all individually.
His eyes gradually filled with warm light, and the loneliness, oppression, and pain regarded as Exotic Species during the day were gradually suppressed.
"Detective." Alice tilted her head: "It’s my turn, guess what gift I prepared for you?"
"...Spring Heart Cookies?" Su Mingan pondered for a while.
Alice chuckled: "Spring Heart Cookies, again Spring Heart Cookies? Am I only Spring Heart Cookies in your eyes?"
"No, because I haven’t tasted anything so delicious..." Su Mingan shook his head: "The culinary skills of some people I’ve met are just not good. But your Spring Heart Cookies are really delicious."
He guessed a few more answers, but Alice shook her head and said they were wrong. Just when Su Mingan truly couldn’t guess any longer,
Alice smiled lightly and suddenly extended her hands—
"Flap flap—"
Su Mingan seemed to hear the flapping sound of white doves.
He looked down, as if seeing snowy wings clustering together, as white as fine snow. Alice held them, raising them high for him.
They were Morning Glory flowers.
—White Morning Glory flowers.
"Detective, I heard that white Morning Glory flowers signify the birth of miracles, the blessings of the mortal world will be eternally engraved on your soul." Alice loudly said: "I give you white Morning Glory flowers, I bless you—bright life, health, and smooth eternity, life after life, eternal life. I wish you could receive all the happiness the world offers, that everyone will give you kindness, and may goodness always accompany you."
Su Mingan’s gaze quivered intensely.
...Wait, these words sound familiar.
Familiar words, along with this familiar flower name—
"Morning Glory..." Su Mingan started.
"Hm?" Alice tilted her head.
"No, Alice." Su Mingan took the flower, the white petals softly grazed his chin: "Sorry, I just called someone else’s name. Thank you, Alice."
Morning Glory was the little orphan girl from a small village in "Louyue Nation," Alice is the girl from "Girl’s Dream Plan," one from an ancient Eastern background, the other from a Western steam background, they couldn’t be the same person.
"Alice is just Alice." Alice smiled and held Su Mingan’s hand: "Alright, Detective, let’s cut the cake."
She led Su Mingan by the hand, taking him to the candlelight.
The two closed their eyes, made wishes, and blew out the candles. Nun Rita helped them cut the cake. During this era, the quality of sugar and salt wasn’t good, so the cake wasn’t too tasty, but everyone ate it happily.
Wendell specifically chose the part with strawberries for Su Mingan, while Diff didn’t eat much, got smashed with a cake by Part, and the two wrestled. Nun Rita and Josh hurried to stop the fight, while Mei Mi sat watching and laughing.
Amidst the lively atmosphere indoors, Su Mingan bit into the cake, as Alice sat beside him smilingly watching the scene between the candlelight, cherishing everyone in her heart.
Yixi quietly sat next to Alice and asked softly: "Alice, can I continue teaching you violin in the future?"
"Forget it, I’m a violent girl, often breaking the strings, I better continue learning fighting with sister Josh." Alice laughed.
Yixi listened, feeling a bit saddened.
He didn’t understand why Alice always pushed herself so hard, she basically practiced swordsmanship from morning to night. As for the instruments and paintings she truly liked, she didn’t dare to touch them, as if there was a monstrous beast chasing her, forcing her to become stronger quickly.
Yixi had seen her when she studied violin, her eyes were bright with light at that time, she really loved the instruments. But when she broke the strings, the light in her eyes quickly dimmed. Many people said she was a muscle girl, she just listened plainly and then immersed herself back in practice without giving herself any rest.
"Alice..." Yixi said.
"I think this is good." Alice’s voice was calm.
She sat on the chair, her gaze subtly lingering on Su Mingan: "I want to become strong, I want to protect the Detective, that’s my wish. It’s hard to fulfill both wishes, if I want to be strong, I must abandon dreams. I’m not ashamed of being skilled in combat."
Yixi listened and could only respect her decision.
Until nearly two in the morning, the birthday party ended. Su Mingan and Alice returned home.
Alice lay in bed, tucked under the covers. At her request, Su Mingan read her a bedtime story for the first and last time.
Because—when she opens her eyes again, the Detective will have vanished, she then has to endure a long and lonely half-year, living alone, going to school alone, coming home alone, cooking alone, until he reappears. By then, she will be fifteen, no longer belonging to the age of a little child, unable to ask for bedtime stories anymore.
—Time for him was just a brief instant.
—For her, it was a long half-year.
Su Mingan sat by her bed, amidst the crackling sound of the fireplace, gently reading her a fairy tale story:
"Long ago, there was a beautiful long-haired princess. Her kingdom suddenly experienced a tsunami, and her kingdom along with her friends were submerged."
"As a survivor, she climbed to a Lighthouse to wait, hoping to see her friends again. She used the Lighthouse to guide passing ships, requesting the sailors to look for her friends on their way."
"She waited and waited, for a very long time, yet her kingdom remained submerged, and there was no news of her friends. She yearned desperately for even one survivor among her friends to come before her and say, ’I survived.’"
"Years passed by, and the long-haired princess gazed at the sky, talking to herself: ’I beg of you, don’t leave me waiting alone. I fear loneliness the most, please take me with you or come to me alive.’
"Until one day, a white dove flew from afar, and told her—’Princess, do not wait any longer. Winter has arrived, and the snow has buried everything. Your kingdom has become an ice-sealed place, all the bodies lie beneath the ice. Your friends are all dead; no one will return.’
"Such despairing news hit the long-haired princess’s heart, eventually leading her to make a choice..."
Su Ming’an read until this point, lifted his head, and found that Alice was already asleep.
"Good night, Alice." Su Ming’an closed the book and walked out of the room. He was about to exit the game when he suddenly saw someone standing at the door.
It was a young man wearing a mask, dressed in a minstrel-style robe, with a flute attached to his waist.
"Are you Xiao Hei?" Su Ming’an saw the minstrel and remembered this name. Alice once met a minstrel named Xiao Hei.
"Detective, take Alice away as soon as possible." Xiao Hei said, "Keep her away from everything related to deities. Otherwise, you will encounter great danger."
"What is your identity, why do you say this?" Su Ming’an asked.
Xiao Hei shook his head and simply repeated, "Please hurry and take Alice away from here, the farther the better."
Su Ming’an suddenly heard a "ding-dong" sound. At that moment, he finally received the long-awaited Main Quest of the game—
Su Ming’an knew early on that this was not just a nurturing game.
It had a main storyline.
In this main plot, Alice, marked by the Eye of the Old Days, would face the impending disaster.
...
[Main Quest: Investigate the truth behind the frequent occurrences of Exotic Species in this world with Alice and kill the Exotic Species King.]
[Quest Reward: Game completion.]
...
"Is a disaster going to happen?", Su Ming’an’s voice was very light. Seeing the appearance of the main quest, his heart sank slightly.
At this moment, in his mind, there was only a feeling of "finally here".
"Probably." Xiao Hei said.
Su Ming’an nodded.
The warm days here were over.
The heavy darkness was about to sweep both the present world and the game simultaneously. He could only raise the lamplight in his hands, clinging to a faint hope, advancing without retreat until the abyss is glimpsed.
"Thank you for your reminder, but neither she nor I will choose to evade it. We will not leave." Su Ming’an said, "Neither of us can allow a tragedy to occur."
Xiao Hei said nothing, just turned silently and left.
Su Ming’an, holding the white Morning Glory in his arms, stood under the streetlamp, looking up at the vast snow drifting in the sky. The snowflakes fell softly and brushed past his black hair.
"Dang—dang—dang—"
Under the sound of bells, he sighed:
"Such heavy snow."
Suddenly, he noticed his vision beginning to turn red, the warning light flashing before his eyes. The bright red system alert popped out:
...
[Someone in reality intends to harm you, please immediately exit the game!]
...
Su Ming’an’s heart tightened, and he promptly exited the game. As he opened his eyes, a flash of cold light appeared before him, with someone standing at the bedside striking at him.
"Swish!"
Su Ming’an grabbed the opponent’s wrist with one hand, the crisp sound of bone soon following. The opponent was very strong; the blade constantly lowering, coming close to Su Ming’an’s throat.
The next moment, white tendrils sprang from Su Ming’an’s back, pinning the opponent firmly to the wall like squashing a fly.
"Is the Old Day Church’s security so poor?" Su Ming’an slowly rose from the bed. He was being assassinated while asleep.
The opponent seemed to try to struggle: "Matrix Orders— Thorny Flower!"
In an instant, crimson vines pierced the white tendrils, causing Su Ming’an to feel a pang in the tendrils.
The combat power of the white tendrils was limited, both hardness and strength lacking. However, it was an additional attack method that allowed him some melee ability in the Shadow State. Su Ming’an gently pinched his fingers, intending to use Spatial Vibration to subdue the opponent.
"Su Wensheng, the Ancient Martial Families will kill you sooner or later—" the opponent suddenly said.
Su Ming’an was startled.
After saying this, black blood flowed from the opponent’s mouth, committing suicide by poison. But Su Ming’an immediately stepped forward, driving a blade into the opponent’s chest before they could breathe their last.
In an instant, as with Liu Xuanxuan and Ming Luo before, since the opponent was killed by Su Ming’an, their memories surged into Su Ming’an’s mind.
...
In front of him was a clear sky, with pavilion buildings covered with yellow tiles and a grand hall of red gold supported by nine long pillars, shining in a transparent glazed color under the sun. Judging from the ancient-style scenery, this should be Dragon City of the present world.
Two figures sat in a high pavilion. One appeared slightly mature, the other slightly youthful.
Su Ming’an noticed one of them was Yi Zhongyu, and the other was the Assassin. It seems this Assassin had a close relationship with Yi Zhongyu.
"Brother, I’m here to say goodbye." the Assassin said.
"Brother, do you still insist on infiltrating the Old Day Church?" Yi Zhongyu said.
"Yes. The Lv Family of the Ancient Martial Families was exterminated, I suspect the Old Day Church did it." the Assassin said.