novelraw Chapter 372-1: The Real Final Event, A Choice That Rewrites the Ending (1)
Chapter 372-1: The Real Final Event, A Choice That Rewrites the Ending (1)
[The Core of Extreme Evil (Special Item) has four usage methods…]
[1. Sacrifice. Requires the Shell quality to reach mythic grade, and Shell Level to reach Level 100. Resulting effect unknown.]
[2. Devour. Requires the Shell quality to reach mythic+ grade, and Shell Level to reach Level 130. Resulting effect unknown.]
[3. Fusion. Requires the Shell quality to reach immortal grade, and Shell Level to reach Level 180. Resulting effect unknown.]
[4. Destruction. Requires the Shell quality to reach immortal+ grade, and Shell Level to reach Level 250. Resulting effect unknown.]
[No matter which method you choose to use this item, the Shell will irreversibly enter a state of decay until it is erased from the Shell Slots.]
“Hm? The divine rank above mythic grade is called immortal grade?”
When Lin Xun saw the final line of the item’s description text, his pupils suddenly shrank.
He still remembered what Flanda had said. Using this core would exact an extremely terrible price. He had not expected that price to be the erasure of the Shell.
He quickly opened the Shell Panel to check the attributes.Flanda’s Shell quality was mythic+ grade, and the Shell Level had reached as high as Level 128.
Strangely, although the Shell Compatibility had clearly surpassed one hundred percent, the game had not displayed that it had broken through the critical threshold. The Shell quality still remained at mythic+ grade.
“Could it be that for demi-god or god Shells to break through their original Shell quality, the requirement on Compatibility bonuses is much higher?”
He recalled the text of the system prompt about the final event that appeared when he had just entered the Sacred Nest Ninth Layer.
Many conjectures immediately surfaced in his heart.
Lin Xun attempted to manifest Flanda’s Shell in reality.
[Are you sure you want to manifest this Shell?]
[Manifesting this Shell will be considered an interruption of the final event’s progress. You will be unable to actively control the Shell for subsequent plot developments until the final event ends!]
[Moreover, you will not receive any rewards or interpretation rating in the final event!]
There were only two explanations for such text appearing.
The first was that the Cursed game simply did not allow Apostles at the current difficulty to obtain rewards and Shells that far exceeded the difficulty rank.
Flanda’s Shell was destined to be the sacrificial offering used with the Core of Extreme Evil.
Therefore, the Apostles were not allowed to interrupt the final event, exit the chapter, and manifest the Shell.
Because none of that counted as rewards that should be given to an Apostle.
If an Apostle attempted to leave the chapter with Flanda’s Shell, the game would even continue driving the subsequent events forward in the form of default plot progression, like making the Apostle watch a cutscene CG, but without the ability to control the Shell.
In that CG, the Cursed game would definitely use Flanda’s body as the price to activate the Core of Extreme Evil until the final event concluded and the chapter ended.
The second explanation, however, sent a chill crawling up Lin Xun’s spine.
Every chapter in the game, such as the Blood Sun world and so on, could be repeatedly cleared.
It was not a single player repeatedly clearing them, but the group of Apostles as a whole repeatedly clearing them.
Some people would hit a wall and quit halfway at Chapter 323, some would brazenly skip content to clear with the lowest rating, and some would never touch the hidden plot and, even after clearing, would at most obtain an S rating.
Most people achieved different endings, but regardless of which of the above, it all showed that The Book of Salvation was just a game and that the events of its chapters were not things that truly happened.
Or rather, none of them were things that were currently truly happening.
Just like a game whose settings had long been determined, every ending was predestined. Every step the Apostles took and every choice they made, as well as the endings those choices led to, were all within the prewritten game text.
Yet the explanation Lin Xun arrived at this time completely overturned all of the above.
The special final event unfolding before his eyes gave him the feeling that the Apostle had leapt out of the originally preset plot, stepped outside the ‘simulation’ that the group of Apostles had repeatedly experienced, and was thoroughly rewriting all the original endings.
It was as if he were personally living through it.
As the protagonist of the story, how could he quit halfway?
The Cursed game had gone so far as to impose all sorts of restrictions to bind the Apostles and prevent them from interrupting the final event precisely because all of this was very likely a series of events that were truly happening.
It was precisely because the events were in the process of happening that you could not exit halfway, and even Flanda’s Shell could not be manifested into reality, because if Flanda were removed, the ongoing events would no longer be able to continue.
Lin Xun stared fixedly at the Core of Extreme Evil’s item description, trying to analyze more information from it.
The item had four usage methods; sacrifice, devour, fusion, destruction, and the resulting effect for each option was displayed as ‘unknown.’ This further proved that the game could not predict the course of events that were currently unfolding.
He had stepped outside the game’s original framework. The right to turn a false script pre-simulation into a real series of choices lay in his hands.
“This also means that Flanda really died…”
Flanda’s Shell quality and level could only satisfy one usage method: sacrifice.
For the devour option, the Shell quality was sufficient, but the Shell Level was short by two levels, causing the option’s text to appear grayed out and unselectable.
As for fusion, it not only required immortal grade Shell quality, but also Shell Level 180. It was completely impossible to meet those conditions with Flanda’s Shell, not to mention the destruction option afterward.
“A single-choice question, is it?”
Just from the word sacrifice, he knew that the result triggered by that option would hardly be a good one.
Sacrifice it to whom? The Wet Nurse? The Primordial Firefly? Or… the Extreme Delusion Fruit?
No matter who it was sacrificed to, none of the resulting endings were what he wanted.
“I still have a sliver of chance!”
As long as he raised the Shell by two more levels, he could meet the requirements of another usage option.
For a top demi-god like Flanda, the experience value provided by small mobs could basically be ignored.
To raise two more levels on top of the high mark of Level 128, even if he slaughtered angel warriors to level up, the number of kills required would be unimaginably large.
Only monsters whose strength was similar to hers, or beings even stronger, could provide enough experience to jump up two levels at once.
[You control the new body of the young girl demi-god and turn your gaze toward the grand temple at the center of the island…]
[Endless malice flows from the sea beneath the island, all surging toward that Desire Wet Nurse’s Temple of Flesh and Blood not far from you!]
[Do you want to head to the Temple of Flesh and Blood?]
Lin Xun had no idea what the situation inside the Temple of Flesh and Blood was, and choosing to enter the temple right now was not the optimal option.
There was another method, which he was unwilling to put into words, that might allow the Shell Level to rise again.
That was to use the Writ of Audience and bring Kim to the Ninth Layer.
Then… kill him.
By making use of the level-up from killing Kim, he could devour the Core of Extreme Evil in advance, seize control of the endless malice to amplify his power, and defeat the Wet Nurse.
“If saving the world must come at the price of sacrificing comrades, then this world… is not worth saving.” Lin Xun let out a self-mocking laugh and, without any hesitation, pressed ‘Yes’ in his hand.
Flanda’s death was already a foregone conclusion, and he absolutely did not wish for Kim to follow in her footsteps.
[You stride toward the grand, magnificent temple at the center of the island, your steps firmer than ever before!]