Chapter 69

Gu Yi'an looked at the black text in the pure white space.
[Game Clear Status: Perfect Clear.]
[Reward: (What reward do you want?)]
[The God Says to You: (Due to the excessive amount spoken by the God, it is omitted here.)]
Gu Yi'an: "..."
She never expected it could be like this.
Was the black text always this mischievous?
As soon as she thought this, the form of the black text could no longer hold, turning into black mist and dissipating within the pure white space.
Immediately after, new black text appeared in mid-air.
[The God Says to You: Want to go on a date.]
Gu Yi'an: "..."
That really isn’t necessary.
Was the God no longer planning to hide behind any disguises?
Gu Yi’an averted her gaze and remained silent.
The black text vanished with a sulky demeanor.
Then, the pure white space tore apart, and a familiar scene appeared before Gu Yi’an.
She had returned to the room she rented.
In the pure white space, Dai Qi looked at the black text in the air.
[Game Clear Status: Acceptable. Your ruthlessness at the end amused the God, who looks forward to your performance in the next game.]
Too much time had passed, making Dai Qi feel somewhat dazed.
It had been a long time since he last returned to the pure white space.
Now, he had finally returned.
He could finally go back to his own world.
Uncle Wu stood in the pure white space, gazing at the black text in mid-air.
[Game Clear Status: Failed. Your carelessness this time amused the God, who has decided to reward you with another chance. Please praise the God’s mercy.]
This outcome was within Uncle Wu’s expectations.
He didn’t have many other thoughts, only sighing at his own aging, thinking he should have avoided the situation but failed to do so. In the end, a life-saving item had saved him.
Then the pure white vanished, and Uncle Wu entered a new round of the game.
Like Uncle Wu, the female player Xiao Yu also failed.
[Game Clear Status: Failed. Your ignorance amused the God, who has decided to reward you with another chance. Please praise the God’s mercy.]
Xiao Yu was stunned when she saw the words in mid-air.
Immediately after, she watched as the black text completely dispersed, replaced by numbers that changed every second.
[3]
[2]
As Xiao Yu watched the numbers disappear, the world before her eyes split apart, and a new world appeared in front of her.
She had entered a new game world.
The female player Xiao Ling looked at the black text in mid-air.
[Game Clear Status: Acceptable. The god finds your ruthlessness amusing and looks forward to your next game.]
Xiao Ling stared at the text.
Was the god encouraging her to be ruthless in the game?
Hesitation flickered across her face.
She didn’t think that could be the case.
After all, Senior Gu, whom she had met in the game, wasn’t that kind of person.
She was a genuinely kind-hearted girl.
Though she appeared young, she was surprisingly strong-willed.
Xiao Ling knew she could never be like that, but she enjoyed being friends with such people.
That senior must have already cleared the game, right? The online public opinion she had spearheaded likely led to a favorable outcome.
Xiao Ling gazed at the black text floating in mid-air, her expression conflicted.
If it meant surviving, she was willing to be ruthless.
Others’ opinions didn’t matter, she just wanted to live.
The novice male player scratched his head as he looked at the black text in the air.
[Game Clear Status: Barely Passable. Your quirky personality suited this game. The god looks forward to your next game.]
“That’s it?”
He glanced down at the text below.
[Reward: The god has graciously granted you ten days of lifespan and one item. Do not hesitate, praise the god sincerely from your heart.]
[The god says to you: (The god has nothing to say to you.)]
The novice male player scanned his surroundings, nothing but endless whiteness, with no trace of anyone else.
He couldn’t help but voice his doubt.
“Where’s the reward item?”
At the same time, many other players stood in their own pure white spaces, staring at the black text floating before them.
Their expressions varied, but most showed relief.
Only one man wore a deep frown.
Even as the text stated he had been rewarded with ten days of lifespan, he showed no sign of joy.
Dejectedly, he addressed the black text in the pure white space, “Send me back to reality.”
No one in the pure white space responded.
But the whiteness before him silently cracked open.
The man felt no anticipation and casually looked ahead.
At that sight, a glimmer of light sparked in his previously vacant eyes.
It was a familiar living room. A woman sat on the sofa watching the news on TV. As if sensing something, she stood up and looked toward the man.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
She saw the man gazing at her with shining eyes. Even though they were an old married couple, she couldn’t help but feel a rare shyness, reminiscent of their dating days.
The man rushed over and hugged her tightly, saying, "Let’s have another child."
Hearing this, the woman seemed to recall something, her eyes reddening slightly as she nodded gently.
"Mm."
The man held her close, murmuring to himself, "Thank the merciful God."
He thanked God for letting him return to this world.
Even if he could never go back to his original world.
He was still grateful to God for allowing him to return to his beloved.
This time, his gratitude was genuine.
Gu Yi’an returned to her room, and the first thing she did was survey her surroundings.
No extra people were there, but a few dolls had appeared beside her pillow.
Gu Yi’an remembered, these were the ones Lu Zize had won for her at the arcade in the game world.
The notebook, this time, made no attempt to hide itself.
Gu Yi’an’s gaze swept over her desk, where she spotted a familiar notebook.
Beside it sat a transparent glass jar containing a red sphere.
Gu Yi’an recalled, that jar was the ant farm Lu Zize had given her.
Before she left the game, Lu Zize had said, "See you soon." She had thought he meant in his human form.
Thankfully, it was only the notebook version of him.
A palm-sized fire dragon suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Beating its wings, it circled Gu Yi’an with a pitiful whimper.
Gu Yi’an asked, "Little Fire, you didn’t come along?"
She remembered placing the fire dragon inside as well.
The fire dragon hovered in the air, its small head nuzzling Gu Yi’an’s arm as it whimpered again.
From the sound, it was clear it hadn’t stayed behind willingly, it had wanted to follow Gu Yi’an into the game.
Gu Yi’an raised her hand and gently touched the fire dragon’s head. "It’s alright," she said.
The fire dragon being left behind was likely the notebook’s doing.
Probably, the fire dragon had offended the notebook at some point.
Gu Yi’an made a rough guess but didn’t dwell on it.
Just then, the hanged ghost and the little girl, hidden in Gu Yi’an’s coat pocket, heard the commotion and flew out.
The hanged ghost floated mid-air, exclaiming with joy and excitement, "I’m so moved, Your Highness! You brought me back! You must have recognized my loyalty and reliability as your subordinate, which is why you couldn’t bear to leave me behind."
If its sunny doll form had hands, it probably would have burst into tears on the spot.
Watching the hanged ghost’s dramatic performance, Gu Yi’an felt a bit helpless.
She would have preferred to leave it behind, but in the game world, the hanged ghost and the little girl had been clever enough to stay hidden in her pocket the entire time.
Compared to the hanged ghost, the little girl was much quieter.
She flew pitifully in front of Gu Yi’an and said, "An’an, next time, don’t leave me behind."
Her eyes were both pitiful and adorable.
Hard to refuse.
Gu Yi’an nodded gently.
Satisfied with her assurance, the little girl flew contentedly back into her small coffin.
The hanged ghost stared, dumbfounded by the little girl’s smooth move.
It watched as the little girl flew away, then immediately drifted forward and looked at Gu Yi'an, saying, "Your Highness, next time, please don't leave me behi, mmph."
The hanged ghost could no longer make a sound.
It immediately realized that someone had silenced it.
And that person, the hanged ghost glanced around and spotted the notebook on the desk, which looked all too familiar to a ghost.
The hanged ghost understood.
It quietly drifted away from Gu Yi'an's line of sight, floated over to Gu Yi'an's backpack, and silently hung itself on it, pretending to be a cute little accessory.
With the hanged ghost gone silent, the room suddenly became extremely quiet.
Gu Yi'an then pulled out the chair from the desk, sat down, and faced the notebook on the desk.
She had a few questions she wanted to ask the notebook.
The fire dragon tilted its head in confusion as it watched Gu Yi'an's actions.
Although it didn't understand, it could sense that the atmosphere had turned a bit strange.
The last time the atmosphere felt off was when a player had tried to kill it.
The fire dragon spread its wings, flew over to the backpack where the hanged ghost was, stretched its head forward, and immediately widened the small zipper opening. Then, it slipped through the gap into the backpack, leaving the white sunny doll swinging outside.
Gu Yi'an didn't miss the fire dragon's movements.
With the three little ones gone, Gu Yi'an's gaze fell on the notebook.
The notebook seemed to be waiting for Gu Yi'an to speak, as it made no move of its own.
Gu Yi'an hesitated for a moment, unsure whether she should address the notebook as "God" or call it "Lu Zize."
To a god, a name was nothing more than a label.
But to Gu Yi'an, it wasn't.
After a moment of silence, Gu Yi'an finally spoke, "Lu Zize."
The notebook opened on its own.
Words appeared on its lined pages.
"I'm here."
Gu Yi'an looked at it and asked, "Did you know me in my past life?"
She had thought for a long time about why the god was so kind to her, but she couldn't come up with a reason.
She had met Xiao Ze in the first game, and he had promised to protect her. Since then, she had been under the god's protection.
Gu Yi'an remembered what Tang Jiu had said.
They were different from gods.
To a god, everything was just a toy.
To humans, they are merely toys for His amusement.
Gu Yi'an wondered if it was her mostly forgotten past life that had drawn the god's attention.
She remembered being a transmigrator, but when she tried to recall the details of her past life, it was like peering through a fog, nothing came into clear focus.
She wanted to know the reason for the god's special treatment.
Under Gu Yi'an's gaze, a large block of text appeared on the notebook.
Gu Yi'an had a gut feeling that the excessive text was suspicious, but she continued reading anyway.
"I know you. In your past life, you were my most devoted believer. You had faith in me, worshipped me, and even aspired to become my pope. I intended to appoint you as my subordinate god..."
Gu Yi'an couldn't read any further.
He was lying again.
At first, when the notebook fabricated this identity of a believer, Gu Yi'an had tried to believe it, as it could explain why the god treated her differently.
A believer should hold a special place for a god.
But as the text went on, it mentioned absurd terms like "pope" and "divine war."
The story grew more and more outrageous, claiming that a single believer had triggered a chaotic war among the gods.
Was Lu Zize treating her like a fool, or did he think she was easy to deceive?
Couldn't he at least put a little more effort into his lies?
"Lu Zize, I want the truth," Gu Yi'an said seriously.
Her tone was cold.
The notebook immediately sensed Gu Yi'an's attitude.
The large block of text on its pages vanished.
Only one new word appeared.
"Whimper."
Gu Yi'an was no longer swayed by such cuteness.
She remained silent, simply staring at the notebook.
Seeing her reaction, the notebook quickly erased the word.
A new line of text appeared on the page.
"I've seen you before, but you didn't know me."
So, did that mean she had no connection to the god in her past life?
Gu Yi'an was puzzled.
She had never been one to procrastinate.
She asked, "Then why did you protect me in the game?"
She wanted to know the answer.
Why would he treat her so well for no reason?
The notebook paused for a few seconds before responding.
"Because it's you."
Gu Yi'an stared at the line of text.
She didn't know what to say.
The god's way of thinking would always be different from hers.
It was a beautiful and pleasing answer, but it wasn't the one Gu Yi'an wanted.
Gu Yi'an said, "Lu Zize, for humans, there are generally two reasons for treating someone well: either because of their identity or because of some purpose. We don't treat people well for no reason. I believe it's the same for you."
So, she wanted to know the reason.
The notebook took Gu Yi'an's words to heart.
It offered a new response.
"You told me to believe in myself."
Had she said that?
Telling a god to believe in himself?
Urging a god to have faith in himself?
Gu Yi'an couldn't recall.
Had she really said that?
It seemed like she had said it to Xiao Ze.
Gu Yi'an found it hard to believe.
"Just because of that one sentence?"
Just because of one sentence, she had received treatment different from other players.
Upon hearing this, a new line of text appeared in the notebook.
This time, the words appeared one by one, and each character seemed heavily stroked, as if reflecting the god's serious attitude.
"No. Because it's you."
Because it's you, no other reason.
Gu Yi'an was completely at a loss with the notebook.
It always knew just what to say.
Gu Yi'an stared at the text, her mind blank for a moment before thoughts slowly began to form.
Come to think of it, the notebook had never actually admitted to being a god.
Gu Yi'an looked at the notebook and said, "Can I call you a god now?"
She felt somewhat confused inside, how should she interact with a god from now on?
Unexpectedly, the notebook immediately denied it upon hearing this.
"I am not a god."
Gu Yi'an: "..."
Just moments ago, the notebook had answered her question about why it protected her while assuming the identity of a god.
Now it was denying being a god.
Something so obvious, and the notebook still wanted to deny it?
Gu Yi'an felt a bit helpless.
At this point, the notebook still insisted it wasn't a god.
She sighed inwardly and asked, "Why won't you admit you're a god?"
Could there be some hidden reason?
But what possible reason could there be?
The notebook seemed to realize that its forced concealment had upset Gu Yi'an.
All the previous text on its pages vanished.
New words appeared.
"You humans don't like gods."
Gu Yi'an: "?"
She thought of Tang Jiu and their Deicide Organization.
Some people indeed didn't like gods.
But what kind of reason was that?
Gu Yi'an didn't quite understand.
She watched as a new line of text surfaced on the notebook.
"But I want you to like me a little."
You don't like gods, but I hope you can like me.