Chapter 135: The Redeemer
Gareths was left behind.
He inevitably contracted the Plague, and was even 'kindly' taken by Zhou Si and others to Hofur City's North Gate for a thorough check, where he was naturally deemed to be infected beyond recovery.
Then, Zhou Si and the others, still healthy, cheerfully left Hofur City and headed towards the northern blockade.
If nothing went wrong, they would leave Misha County within a day, and then…
There was no 'then' needed anymore.
Gareths could no longer leave this place, so he naturally couldn't go find them.
Moreover, according to Zhou Si and the others, if Gareths ever let them encounter him again in Innocent World, that group would beat him in reality, the kind that sends you to the hospital…
A terrifying world, a laughable human heart.
“So tired,” Gareths sighed softly, lying in an unknown alley.
His intellect was unimpaired, and his emotional intelligence was fine.
Although his personality was somewhat dull, he was not a person devoid of emotion or unusually slow…
His constant forbearance, his so-called 'cowardice,' was merely because he was well aware of his 'place.'
He needed good grades to secure his various competition slots, which would earn him scholarships, so he couldn't be low-key in this regard…
He needed to continue studying at this school with excellent faculty, so that his future could be better, making transferring impossible…
He knew he was powerless to resist, he understood his role in this society, so he gritted his teeth and bought this expensive gaming pod, just to seek two more years of peaceful life.
He knew his personality wasn't likable, but he still tried hard to integrate into his surroundings.
However, neither his classmates nor Zhou Si and the others could accept him; the former dared not, the latter simply didn't want to.
Gareths felt a numbness in his body, then he looked down at himself with an even more numb gaze, noticing that his exposed arms and calves had started to blacken, subtly emitting an unpleasant odor…
Due to his 'Frail' talent, the Plague's lethality was greater for him than for others.
In just about half an hour, it had already fully invaded Gareths's limbs and bones.
Although he wouldn't die on the spot, he was basically beyond recovery.
His whole body itched, his head throbbed, his eyes were bloodshot, his skin tingled…
It was so uncomfortable even with the pain reduced by several times; he couldn't imagine what his normal five senses would report.
He would probably be tortured to death…
Gareths smiled weakly, then staggered to his feet and walked out of the alley.
He wanted to find a random place to die, but preferably not in this particular spot.
After all, Hofur City didn't have few people right now, and it would be better for him, suffering from three severe Plagues, to die somewhere further away, so as not to implicate others.
“No, I don't want to implicate others, I'm not that noble…”
He moved slowly, head bowed, several pustules having sprouted in his mouth at some point, and festering sores gradually appearing on his arms, the eerie blackness beneath his skin surging more frequently.
“I just don't want to be 'unneeded' by others first.”
Gareths laughed nervously, suddenly finding this world, which he once quite loved, a bit boring.
Hmm, both the game world and the real world were very boring.
“Perhaps Zhou Si wasn't wrong, no one will accept me, no one will care about me.”
His mind gradually began to wander…
Was he truly not angry? Was he truly not resentful? Was he truly not hateful? Did he truly not care?
Of course not.
Ultimately, Gareths was just an ordinary person.
Even if he could clearly see his place, even if he could easily suppress his emotions, it didn't mean his negative emotions had disappeared.
That indescribable flame was merely suppressed beneath his dull exterior and resilient heart, merely confined by the shackles of rationality, merely hypnotized by phrases like 'a wise man submits to circumstances.'
He wove a safe and warm cocoon for himself, enclosing the negative emotions that could not be vented, and absolutely must not be vented, deceiving himself in the name of 'correctness' to ignore all the pain and torment outside the cocoon.
A great man is not bothered by trivialities.
Gareths didn't think he was a great man, but he felt he should at least be able to 'not be bothered by trivialities.'
There must be many people in this world who are even more in pain than he is…
Just a few more years of enduring will be fine…
Even an idiot knows what to do…
It's nothing…
He had always thought this way.
In loneliness and darkness.
But even Gareths himself didn't know that outside the warm cocoon he had woven for himself, some parts of him had gradually twisted, only to be firmly bound by a proper framework.
And after Zhou Si uttered the words, 'No one will accept you! No one will care about you,' in his current state of severe illness and mental disorientation, his cocoon had developed faint cracks, and his proper framework, like the contents within, began to slowly twist.
Compared to physical pain, the pain of not being accepted by anyone, not being needed by anyone, not being treated gently by anyone, not being cared for by anyone, was ten thousand times more terrifying!
Gareths subconsciously wanted to refute, at least in his mind, Zhou Si’s words, but the terrible thing was…
He found he seemed unable to refute!
Everything seemed to have irreversibly gone bad…
Logically speaking, for him now, there were only two possibilities for the future.
First, a complete breakdown, leading to extreme and terrifying acts of revenge: revenge on Zhou Si, revenge on society, revenge on everything that had never treated him gently, ultimately being sent to some place, either living out his remaining years there or directly receiving a bullet as release.
Second, re-weaving the cocoon that firmly protected his inner self, correcting the gradually distorted framework, allowing his life to return to 'normal,' living through the foreseeable two years of high school, then slowly integrating into society, eventually being assimilated by it, forever remaining a person 'fitting his place.'
From an outsider's perspective, neither of these possibilities seemed very good…
But reality is just that; if everything were perfect, it wouldn't be reality.
Just like 'Snow White,' which was still popular until 2049, it is indeed a beautiful story, but how long can this beautiful time last?
Snow White and the Prince lived happily ever after, without worrying about mother-in-law issues; everything seemed beautiful…
But did she still have to observe postpartum confinement? Did the Prince have to work, and would he lose hair due to excessive stress? Would the European princess become fat and round after ten or twenty years? Would she go through menopause? Would the couple argue? Would the children resemble neither father nor mother? What if the little prince went astray? Would the magic mirror still praise Snow White as the most beautiful when she was eighty? Would it be smashed if it said the wrong thing?
These are reality…
Of course, if you say the handsome prince will become a bald king, and Snow White will become a jealous queen, then change the protagonists and let the two, as villains and backdrops, compose another beautiful fairy tale… then pretend I didn't say anything.
However, Gareths's reality didn't seem to plan on following the usual script, because just as he knelt on the ground in a daze, spitting out a mouthful of murky, black blood with many small fragments, a fair, small hand appeared in his vision.
In the hand was a light pink handkerchief, carrying a faint fragrance that he couldn't tell if it was simulated by the system or imagined by Gareths…
“Don’t move, please relax.” A voice like a heavenly melody came from very close by.
Although Gareths, being of too low a level, had lost all his stamina and couldn’t even lift his head, he could still imagine that the owner of the voice must be a beautiful girl.
Then he heard…
“I will help you.
I won’t let you die here.”
The heavenly melody rang out again.
A light as gentle as the melody enveloped his thin body, which was no different from his real-life self.
“I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong! She is a perfect girl, she is… she is…”
For the first time in his life, Gareths experienced another kind of 'warmth' unrelated to sunshine and hot water.
“She is my redemption!”
It felt like only a few seconds, yet also like an endless, long time had passed…
Gareths suddenly felt his body lighten.
The effects of the three Plagues had disappeared at some unknown point.
Not only that, his health and stamina had all returned to their optimal state.
He could move…
If he could move, he could see her!
“Thank… thank you,” Gareths murmured softly, as if in a trance.
Then he slowly raised his head, looking at his Redeemer, at the person with the heavenly, gentle voice who was willing to help him.
It was a young girl dressed in a magnificent priestess robe, with clean black long hair, eyes as clear as crystals, and a face as pure and flawless as an angel.
Her small face was a bit pale, and her hands, clutching a long staff, trembled as if from exhaustion, yet she still gave him a gentle smile.
“You’re fine now.” The girl dressed as a priestess nodded at Gareths, then smiled shyly and said softly, “If you can, leave here as soon as possible.
Although there won’t be any problems for a short time, you still need to be careful, okay?”
With that, she turned around and trotted away.
And then…
“Oh dear!”
She tripped over her somewhat loose priestess robe and fell to the ground.
Gareths, who had been in a daze, immediately snapped out of his trance and ran to the girl's side at the fastest speed he had ever moved in his life, carefully helping her up from the ground, anxiously asking, “Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine!” The girl flinched as if touched by electricity, then gave Gareths an apologetic smile: “I was too careless.
Well, goodbye…”
The latter nodded blankly and said softly, “Goodbye.”
The girl turned again and left…
“Please wait!”
Gareths called out to the slender figure with a trembling voice.
His hands were shaking, his steps were unsteady, and his mind was blank.
The girl seemed startled, turning back to look at him curiously.
“Why did I call her?”
Gareths himself didn't know, but he didn't want her to leave just like that; if possible, at least…
“Thank you!” he shouted, his voice suddenly a little off-key for some reason: “I want to know your name!”
The girl paused, then after a moment, she nodded gently and smiled, “My name is Yu Cheng.”
“Yu Cheng…”
Gareths nodded, firmly engraving the name in his heart, then mustered all the courage he had ever possessed and loudly declared, “My name is Gareths!
I want to follow you!”
“Ah?” Yu Cheng was startled again, asking flustered, “Um, follow me… what do you mean?”
Gareths knelt on one knee, performing an ill-fitting gesture that he didn't know where he had seen, and said in a deep voice, “I want to follow you… to save everyone together… to save those harmed by the Plague.
Although I can’t do anything, and my strength is low, and I don't have much energy, I can definitely be useful!
So, I beg you!”
“What am I saying…”
Gareths thought with some self-mockery.
This kind of thing couldn't possibly happen, no matter how he thought about it, right?
But even so…
He wanted to follow her.
This had nothing to do with complex emotions, nor was it love at first sight.
Gareths simply wanted to follow the girl in front of him.
Whether she was an NPC or a player…
Regardless of her identity, status, or strength…
“She is my Redeemer, so no matter what, I want to be closer to her!”
“I beg you…” Gareths bowed his head deeply.
Just then, a team of knights in silver heavy armor suddenly appeared.
Their cloaks were embroidered with various colored holy emblems, and they carried golden cross-swords, suddenly separating Gareths from the girl in front of him.
“Holy Maiden!” Gareths saw a middle-aged knight bow to Yu Cheng, his voice deep and steady: “Why did you run out? Lady Xia Lian is frantic!”
“Holy Maiden?”
Gareths was stunned, then remembered the news he had heard not long ago when he had gone to great lengths to gather information for Zhou Si and his gang…
Holy Church United had sent two highly revered Holy Maidens to combat the Plague.
Which meant…
His Redeemer, the girl named Yu Cheng, was one of the few Holy Maidens of Holy Church United?!
Gareths’s heart immediately sank to the bottom…
He had originally thought the other party was at most a powerful priest or cleric, but if Yu Cheng was a Holy Maiden, if she was a God-blessed one, one of the rare few in millions, as others said…
“Excuse me, please stand back, sir.” A young man with a serious, square face walked over and bowed to Gareths: “We need to escort Holy Maiden back to the church.”
“Sure enough…”
Gareths was gently pushed aside.
“I can’t reach her…”
Chapter 132: The End