By the time Ji Xiaodao regained her senses, everything was over.
More than A dozen knights and their warhorses lay in A vast pool of blood, red and horrifying like A painting from hell. Mo Tan stood in the center of this abstract painting he had woven himself, his hood down. He smiled, spreading his hands towards the sky As if to embrace something. The upper half of his face was hidden beneath A black mask that only covered his eyes, which were filled with an unsuppressable madness and A profound, abyss-like calm.
Contradictory yet harmonious…
For some reason, looking at the man standing in the blood, his expression one of utter enjoyment, Ji Xiaodao suddenly felt A strange, unreal pang of pain. This girl, who since birth had barely been close to anyone other than her parents and sister, felt As if she could see the soul of the person not far away, and there was nothing but loneliness and emptiness…
She wanted to turn and leave, afraid that the soul, seemingly roaring silently, might swallow her whole at any moment.
But she didn't want to go. Heaven knew why.
She just didn't want to leave him like that.
“What’s wrong with me…?”
She rubbed her forehead, inwardly complaining about her sudden, unusual behavior.
By then, Mo Tan had returned with the only surviving knight among the common ones. He was A young man with short, chestnut hair. Although he hadn't sustained any injuries in the battle, which could only be described As A massacre, he still seemed utterly distraught, his face devoid of color, and his right hand, clutching his longsword, trembled violently. Clearly, he couldn't accept the reality that his companions, with whom he had spent day and night, had been slaughtered in an instant.
“I'm going to do my own thing now. I hope you'll leave immediately.” Mo Tan looked at the cold-faced but seemingly dazed dark elf girl before him and said softly, “My patience is very limited. Very limited.”
Ji Xiaodao bit her lip and shook her head gently. Although she had been half-dragged by her sister to play many mental simulation games before, such A terrifyingly realistic scene was A first. A girl from an ordinary family might not be able to bear it and be forcibly disconnected, but she quickly overcame her psychological barrier and shook her head, saying, “I don't think I can leave safely after something like this. Although I don't understand this land, these knights are probably not ‘all’ of the inspection personnel. And given that my alignment is chaotic evil, I might very well be killed without question if discovered, so staying here for now is the wise choice.”
After she finished speaking, Mo Tan, who claimed to have little patience, didn't raise his hand to send her to respawn As expected. He merely shrugged and said indifferently, “Alright.”
Then he ignored her…
“Look at me.” Mo Tan turned to the survivor he had intentionally left and commanded, “If you don't want to experience A death process lasting several tens of minutes, you'd best comply.”
The soldier, his mental defenses completely shattered, looked up and stared blankly into Mo Tan's eyes.
They were indescribable eyes, seemingly swirling with the most fundamental and terrifying existence, like… materialized Original Sin.
“Watch her here.” Mo Tan pointed to Ji Xiaodao standing beside him and said softly to the young soldier, “Don't let her disturb me. Of course, you don't need to stop her from leaving. When I return, commit suicide.”
Original Sin
Innate Skill
Remark: The Original Sin you represent can also corrupt others, allowing you to disregard any conditions and make the target obey one of your commands. Cooldown: 24 hours. Cannot be used on the same target again permanently.
Although it stated ‘one command,’ after Mo Tan’s test during his last login, this talent had many hidden effects. For example, when the target’s mind was very fragile, activating it could make the target obey all of his commands issued in A series within A short period, As long As they could understand them. It was very useful.
Ji Xiaodao saw the soldier stiffen, then nod naturally and say obediently, “Understood.”
He then held his sword and walked over, standing there meticulously, watching her.
Mo Tan, meanwhile, dragged the Knight Commander, whose right forearm had been blown off at the start, into A side path and disappeared from the girl's sight moments later.
Ji Xiaodao instinctively wanted to follow, but A longsword blocked her way.
“You cannot pass, Elf.” The young man with chestnut hair said to her seriously, “You can stay here or leave, but you cannot pass.”
Ji Xiaodao glanced at the knight, who had been so distraught just moments ago he was on the verge of collapsing: “Are you alright?”
“I am not.” The other party replied briskly, “My squad was completely wiped out, Banse City is said to be destroyed, and the captain seems unlikely to survive. He always took care of me like an older brother, but…”
He looked calmly at Ji Xiaodao: “You still cannot pass.”
“You're insane.” Ji Xiaodao looked at his calm, unwavering eyes, completely unable to imagine what psychological state this person was in.
“Insane?” The soldier shook his head: “No, of course I'm not insane. In fact, I've never been so clear-headed.”
…
“If you don't mind, Sir Knight~” Mo Tan leaned over and smiled at the almost dying Knight Commander, “Please share any information you have with me.”
The response was A mouthful of bloody spit and A cold, “Why don't you ask someone else? How about those souls who died by your hand, you bastard!”
“I made A mistake.” Mo Tan spread his hands, “My first stop was the banquet hosted by the City Lord, and unfortunately, almost all the people with valuable information were present: the City Lord, the Minister of Finance, the Hereditary Count, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, beautiful women, too many… In short, when I thought I needed some information for reference~”
His eyes flickered with Chaos and something else, and he grinned: “They're all dead.”
“Pure evil…” The Knight Commander sighed, “Kill me. I won't tell you anything.”
“You will.” Countless intricate runes appeared on Mo Tan’s fingertips, and he chuckled, “I have good news for you. There’s A large Black Wizard association in Banse City. Those clever people reportedly caused A lot of trouble for local security. Now that problem has been solved. Oh, by the way, do you mind telling me your name?”
“Owen.” The middle-aged knight’s face was almost transparently pale now. He stared intently into Mo Tan’s eyes: “I swear I will curse you!”
Mo Tan merely whistled and nodded, “I believe you will, but before that, we have plenty of time to try out those good things I found in the Black Wizard association…”
…
You have exited the game. Mental connection disconnected. Good morning.
A familiar sensation of dizziness. Mo Tan sat up from the gaming pod, clutching his head, and immediately looked at his phone.
AM 7:00
“If the first time was an accident, then the second time is A problem or an incident.” He muttered softly, then quickly showered in the bathroom, put on his shorts, washed A few clothes, hastily ate A couple of slices of bread, and rushed out the door.
To feed the cats.
The community Mo Tan lived in was rather low-end; not only was the environment poor, transportation inconvenient, and the buildings old, but many stray animals also liked to congregate nearby. Whenever he had the chance, he would squat by the community entrance in the morning to feed the cats, and if there were any plastic bags, empty drink bottles, cigarette butts, or similar items on the road, he would dispose of them As well.
From this, we can see that upon waking, he was currently in his lawful good persona. After all, in the other two situations, Mo Tan would be extremely unwilling to go out early in the morning and freeze, let alone do public service incidentally.
This shift in personality is difficult to explain. As mentioned before, his dissociative identity disorder does not involve so-called independent personalities; all personalities are Mo Tan himself. He always knows what he has done and why he has done it, it's merely A difference in mindset.
Perhaps each of us suffers from this condition to A greater or lesser extent. To give A simple example, perhaps one day when you're on A bus, you see an elderly person get on, and influenced by your personality, moral values, and habitual thinking, you naturally give up your seat. But perhaps in A slightly different situation, encountering the same thing and the same person in the same scenario, you might make A completely different decision~
You might even get into A fight with the other person, and if you're unlucky enough to encounter someone clever, you might even have to pay A fine.
Perhaps this example is enough to prove that our mindset and personality are actually in A subtle state of flux at all times. This change is not very obvious, but sometimes it can lead to completely different outcomes.
The same person, taking the bus or subway A hundred times, might give up their seat ninety, eighty, or seventy times to the elderly, infirm, or disabled, but Mo Tan is different~
His personality has never subtly changed like an ordinary person's; instead, it is thoroughly divided into several modes.
To use the alignment classification of the game Wu Zui Zhi Jie…
lawful good Mo Tan will give up his seat one hundred percent of the time, no matter the situation.
chaotic neutral Mo Tan will decide based on his mood and the other person's appearance, among other factors, but this is absolutely not random; in completely identical situations, his choice will always be one hundred percent consistent.
Absolute Neutral Mo Tan will one hundred percent choose to give up his seat under the influence of what is considered standard morality in the eyes of ordinary people. Perhaps he will have some reservations in his heart, but in fact, he is simply A conformist personality. He will do what most people consider correct, and vice versa.
In short, Mo Tan was currently surrounded by A group of stray cats, happily patting and feeding them. Occasionally, he would greet passing neighbors, help an old man carry groceries, or dance with an old lady…
He was truly A model youth.
Then, As noon approached…
“Oh no!” He slapped his forehead, muttering to himself, “My Mo Tan character didn't even log in yesterday, so I don't know what happened with the caravan. But I hope the caravan members managed to break through… I wonder what situation I'll be in when I log in again…”
He suddenly felt A bitter taste in his mouth, sighed, and stood up: “Black Vatican’s character has to rush to A gathering, and Tan Mo’s character has just started setting things up. It should be A protagonist-level good thing to be able to create several more characters because of this illness, but why does it feel so tragic for me…? It’s so tiring to play, and…”
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
“As expected…” Looking at A on the screen, Mo Tan answered the phone: “Hello, Yi Dong, what's up?”
His friend on the other end chuckled happily: “What, you’re an honest person right now? Feeding cats?”
“You're the honest person, your whole family is honest people.” Mo Tan replied As he threw the empty cat food bag into the trash can, “How did you guess my current state? I’ve always been curious about that.”
Yi Dong said quickly, “Simple, because only when you’re like this do you properly call me by my name in the first sentence after answering the phone, instead of A or some other nonsense. By the way, why couldn't I add you As A friend after logging in yesterday? Weren't you playing?”
“It’s A long story.” Mo Tan had nothing to hide from him. As he climbed the stairs, he said, “It wasn't convenient to talk yesterday. Actually, I ran into A bug…”
He then told Yi Dong about being able to create three characters, even switching personas once during the process. However, the other party was used to it; besides A change in demeanor, there wasn't anything else different.
“So that’s pretty much what happened.” Mo Tan said, swiftly switching computer systems, “You must have created A character too, right? Let me guess, it’s A chaotic neutral alignment, isn’t it?”
Yi Dong exclaimed, “Holy cow, you really are A god, you guessed that right!”
“It’s nothing…” Mo Tan typed quickly on the keyboard, replying casually, “You’re too transparent and too open-minded. A little deduction should be enough to guess.”
Yi Dong gave A dry laugh and said helplessly, “Alright, anyway, you and I are completely at opposite ends of the spectrum. I’m called Rin Dong in the game, planning to go the ice mage route. I’m currently A level 3 mage, Eternal Clan, and my current location is Icewind Fortress. I haven’t found out anything else.”
“What the hell is the Eternal Clan?” Mo Tan laughed, “Zombies?”
“You could say that.” Yi Dong replied with A sour tone, “Anyway, theoretically, my character’s soul is attached to my character’s corpse. Luckily, it looks pretty much the same As when I was alive… But let’s not talk about that for now. Should we meet up in the game?”
Mo Tan rolled his eyes: “I still haven’t figured out where my characters are specifically.”
“Player Independent Space.” Yi Dong said, “Didn’t the official website post an announcement about it earlier?”
“We’ll see.” Mo Tan narrowed his eyes slightly at the screen: “I have to hang up now, I’m A bit busy here…”
Putting down his phone, he pressed his hands on the desk, leaned forward, and brought his face close to the monitor, muttering to himself, “I seem to have underestimated you too much… Shuang Ye!”
Chapter 12: End