Chapter 902: 899th Chapter · "You will die before dawn.
Su Ming’an opened his eyes to the opening animation of the game "Girl’s Dream Project."
In the camera lens, a locomotive from the Steam Age stirred up dust. On the bustling street, a detective wearing a monocle lowered the brim of his hat and walked into an alley.
The camera didn’t linger on the detective but lifted upward, stopping at a white bird in the sky. The white bird flew over the bell tower, past old trees, over the luxurious Royal City, and past the glass-colored church. The camera followed the bird, viewing this beautiful Steam Age—until an indistinguishable male or female voice sounded in narration:
"Persevere, cultivate her well. In the end, look forward to the birth of the idealized country."
The scene shifted back to the detective, holding a necklace, followed by a black-haired little girl.
"From now on, I’ll take care of you." The detective spoke lightly, and his voice was extremely magnetic.
The little girl nodded.
Su Ming’an focused his eyes and saw that the detective’s necklace was a live eyeball—isn’t this the "Eye of the Old Days"?
Before he could delve deeper, the animation used montage techniques to quickly cut through dozens of scenes. There was a knight adopting an orphan, a laundress picking up a baby, a child being baptized in the chapel... Finally, the camera returned to the detective, with the black-haired girl beside him having grown into a young woman. She looked up in the sunlight and asked the detective:
"Detective sir, what do you think life is?"
"Detective sir, do you trust me?"
"Detective sir, would I kill you with my own hands?"
"Detective sir, is just smiling enough for us?"
The detective didn’t answer these questions, merely clenching the Eye of the Old Days in his hand.
Then, the church bells rang, the clock’s hour and minute hands on the bell tower began to spin rapidly as if symbolizing the swift passage of time. The color tone of the animation dimmed, the originally warm and harmonious rhythm abruptly twisted, with all the scenes stained with blood.
"—Scarlet snake! It’s the scarlet snake!" A fear-laden scream echoed, the voice was terrified.
"—If I go, can you continue to research the artifact?" A pleasant voice rang out faintly, evoking the sound of a nun’s chant in the chapel, quickly fading away.
"—If one day, killing one person could save the world, would you support me?" A youth’s clear voice sounded, its source unknown.
"—Kill them... kill them! Judgment—judgment of your crimes!!!" This was an anguished voice, indistinguishable male or female, already hoarse.
After countless overlapping voices, the cuts grew faster, the background music suddenly rose with epic solemnity, orchestrations and grandiose trumpet sounds intertwined, the drums rumbling, resonating as if with Su Ming’an’s heartbeat.
It was obviously just a game opening animation, yet despite not understanding the words nor perceiving the meaning of these scenes temporarily, it felt as if he were immersed within, resonating with each game character whose face was unseen.
Another shift in scene occurred, battling swords and magic continually intertwined across a vast plain covered in yellow sand, tens of thousands of soldiers glaring hatefully at one another, sworn to slaughter the enemy.
"Kill, kill, kill the witch, kill the witch—!"
The scene shifted again; the blood hue deepened, a village burned with flames, and a frail silhouette knelt amidst the ruins weeping, clutching a charred corpse.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Saint Heir..."
The scene shifted again; a man wore a mask standing at a cliff’s edge, laughing wildly as he faced thousands of soldiers raising torches, and then plunged into the abyss.
"Your forehead... too dazzling..."
Then came various scenes of slaughter, betrayal, plunder, assassination, raging fire, war... Countless blood-soaked scenes flashed by, even civilians began to wield hoes and swords. The world had already fallen entirely into never-ending combat, akin to the bloodiest Hell.
It was clearly just a game opening animation yet created deep immersion.
The animation’s blood hue thickened gradually, Su Ming’an could no longer make out any scenes, as though blood gushed palpably from within the screen, making him feel like he had been doused in it himself. He gradually felt breathless.
And at that moment—
The twisted and dark background music abruptly ceased, the visual extremely quiet.
At this moment, the screen suddenly became light.
Under warm, silent, dim lighting, the detective dressed in a warm orange cotton wool coat stood in the swirling snow, holding the black-haired girl’s hand and stepped, step by step, into the snow-covered valley.
"Crunch, crunch." Footsteps on snow.
The entire screen contained only the two of them, nothing else.
The ubiquitous flames, swords, blood, and ugliness did not appear within this scene, as though they had never touched them.
"Detective sir, the war has already started, where are we going?" The girl said.
"To the end of civilization." The detective said.
"Detective sir, where is the end of civilization?" The girl asked.
"It’s..." The detective paused for a moment: "... it’s my untouched homeland."
"Detective sir, when that time comes, will you still hold my hand?" The girl said.
"Yes." The detective replied: "This journey. It is not for a final farewell but for meeting again. It is not for an ending but for a new beginning. Remember our promise."
"Mm." The girl nodded heavily: "I promise, definitely will keep the promise to meet you again. When that time comes, the war will definitely end."
Footprints extended across the snowy ground, the scene of the detective and the girl trudging through the snow played for a very long time, monotonous and dull, with only the scene of two people advancing through snow and the few lines of dialogue replaying continuously, like an endlessly replayed slideshow starkly contrasting with the previous war scenes, even the live broadcast room viewers felt bored.
Until—
"Hereafter, you will endlessly despair and endlessly hope." The narration suddenly sounded.
The scene remained monotonous, with the detective and the girl trudging through snow, no change whatsoever. Su Ming’an even felt as though the narration was addressing him.
"Hereafter, you will lose everything and gain everything." The voice continued.
"Crunch, crunch." Footsteps on snow.
"Hereafter, you will redeem everyone and kill everyone." The narration said.
"You will become the kindest you."
"You will become the most evil you."
"You will write down every name."
"You will erase every name."
"Crunch, crunch." Footsteps on snow.
"No one alongside you, no one to accompany you." The narration said.
"Unable to speak, unable to confide, unable to trust."
"Measure all destinies, unveil history’s dust."
"Experience all destinies, chase the Dawn of the future."
"The whole world will despise, misunderstand, and not comprehend you. Your love will become obsession, your pain will become Eternal. Only Death will provide warmth and respite."
"Once you tread this path, you can never turn back. Even if you do, you’ll be crushed by the weight of the world and your guilt."
"You’ll remain chained, engulfed in agony."
"You’ll lose many companions, eternally solitary."
"You’ll forsake many important individuals, who will eventually die for your ideals at the eve of Dawn."
"You will no longer be you, but an obsession named ’you.’"
"Until the end of the world and civilization. There the flowers bloom, no way to retreat, no one to welcome you."
"Afterwards, you will experience loneliness piercing to the bone, bearing a long era of billions of tombs. The expectations of old days no longer belong to you. Joy and happiness also have nothing to do with you anymore."
"Your life was supposed to have many futures, each future would be happy and fulfilling, flowers blooming, countless friends accompanying, far better than now."
At this moment, the epic feeling of the music suddenly intensified, the orchestral tones grew increasingly Gao Ang, the heavy drumbeats resounded, each one like a knock on the heart.
The voice of the narration also suddenly became much more serious, the pace quickened, as if wave after wave crashing against the shore, urgently questioning the listener.
"Even so—" the narration’s tone was extremely heavy, as if knocking on the heart gate of Su Ming’an outside the game:
"—do you still want to choose this road of redemption without looking back?"
At this moment.
The detective and the girl in the animation suddenly simultaneously looked up, the monotonous sound of stepping on snow stopping, a beam of dim streetlight shining on their faces, making their blurred faces completely indistinguishable. The animation froze at this moment.
—"The Girl’s Dream Project."
The game name appeared in the center of the screen with golden patterns.
Three lines of text slowly appeared, the font stained with blood:
["Yes, I will choose this road I will never regret over and over again." (Start Game)]
["I will bring a bright future to everyone. Regardless of their good intentions or ill intentions." (Live Broadcast Management)]
["I sometimes also want to consider my own happiness." (End Game)]
...
Su Ming’an was a bit stunned, realizing the opening animation had ended. As a player, he could start the game now.
He looked at the still detective and girl in the animation, suddenly noticing that the girl’s skin was still fair, but the detective’s exposed back of the hand was already covered with purple bruises, looking as if he were very old. It should have been this snowy path that brought them changes, for reasons unknown.
He chose ["Yes, I will choose this road I will never regret over and over again." (Start Game)].
The game started.
"Thereafter... the years will be long." The narration with an epic sense slowly faded, as if a thrilling story was about to begin. The solemn background music also faded with it...
Busy sounds gradually filled his ears, accompanied by free and relaxed daily bagpipe music, the game began.
Su Ming’an’s eyes were on a steam-style street background. A detective dressed in a worn-out robe stood by the street, holding a black felt hat in hand, a pipe in his mouth.
There were some bouncing street kids running past the detective, an old man selling newspapers, a small vendor selling vegetables, an iron armor chariot spraying steam raced by. But the detective just stood quietly by the street, smoking a pipe, like enjoying today’s night scene. The game’s overall art style is realistic, with a very bright tone style. It seems to be a peaceful and tranquil Steam City, the background music in the ear is relaxed and pleasant.
A line of text appeared above the detective, an arrow pointing at the detective, like a newbie guide in the game: [The game has started! This is the character you will be controlling, please give your character a name!]
Su Ming’an thought about it and named it [Su Ming’an].
[Naming completed! Please start controlling your character!]
In an instant, Su Ming’an felt his perspective change from third person to first person. There was a weight of a coat on him, the choking smell of smoke wafting into his mouth.
Su Ming’an coughed, looked down and found that he had already become the detective himself, wearing exactly the detective’s outfit.
[Detective: Cough, cough, cough! (Choked by the pipe)]
As he coughed, a line of text also appeared in the lower right corner, indicating the detective was making the sound.
Game cues continued to pop up:
[Please follow the game’s instructions to complete the main story plot of the game!]
[In addition to the main story plot of the game, you can also explore this Steam Country, take other side quests. You can even learn additional skills such as cooking, blacksmithing, alchemy, tailoring, ancient characters, etc., and become a new occupation here. Any mechanism can be explored.]
Su Ming’an threw away the pipe, coughed out the smoke in his mouth.
He still didn’t understand what the game’s main plot was, a green arrow appeared in front of him, pointing to a small alley across the street, presumably he had to go over there to start the main plot quest.
An old man with white hair passed by him, seeing his coughing appearance, suddenly laughed heartily.
[Morgan Maxey: Young man, can’t even smoke a pipe? (Laughing heartily)]
The NPC’s way of speaking is textual, with text floating in the lower right corner. But there’s also sound, so it’s okay not to look at the text.
Su Ming’an placed the black felt hat on his head, lowered the brim, not wanting too much communication.
But at this moment, an interface popped up:
[Morgan Maxey (Age: 68)]
Occupation: Retired High Level Knight
Character: Kind and Steady
Combat Power: Four Stars
Intelligence Value: Four Stars
Skills: Whirlwind Slash, Lone Rider Charge, High Level Horsemanship, High Level Diplomacy, High Level Swordsmanship, High Level Gun Technique.
Overall Evaluation: A+
Favorability: 20 (Friendly) (Due to your Ruler identity, the initial favorability of all NPCs is at least 20)
Note: A retired High Level Knight from the Royal City, who served the Royal Family’s Princess in early years, refused the Princess’s plea due to his love for the fireworks of civilian life, returned to the Civilian Area after retirement. He possesses many high-level skills and will only teach those who match his criteria.
...
Su Ming’an was stunned, looking at the old man in front of him. The old man looked kind and amiable, his full head of white hair. His back was very straight.
Su Ming’an looked at the vegetable vendor beside him.
...
[Matthew (Age: 32)]
Occupation: Vegetable Vendor
Character: Simple and Hardworking
Combat Power: Half Star
Intelligence Value: Half Star
Skills: Basic Planting, Vegetable Selling Techniques
Overall Evaluation: E
Favorability: 20 (Friendly)
Note: An ordinary vegetable vendor who likes strong alcohol, enjoys planting.
...