Chapter 27: God Said
【You have actively disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect.】
“Thanks, but not needed for now~”
【Execute wake-up program?】
“Please do~”
【Received. It is currently January 3, 2049, 22:15. You will awaken in one minute.】
After leaving the game pod, Mo Tan took about two minutes to adjust to the sudden onset of night. After all, it was still sunny in the game when he logged off. This experience is no longer rare in this era of prevalent mental simulation devices, but each time it still brought him a hazy sense of unreality.
It was like being in a crevice between spirit and reality, novel and intoxicating.
“Too bad time is precious~” Mo Tan quickly dispelled that wonderful sense of disharmony in a very short time, sighing with regret, “And since two days ago, time under the night sky has become even more precious to me…”
He made himself a cup of coffee with only sugar and no milk, but he didn't drink it immediately. Instead, he placed it on the table beside him, then went to the soft sofa and fell straight back onto it.
He closed his eyes and began to think~
【Who am I? Do I truly exist?】
【I can control my own actions, like gently raising my finger… 】
【But does this process truly exist in 'reality'?】
【Do my joys, angers, sorrows, and delights come from my 'true self'?】
【What does 'true self' mean? How does one prove their existence?】
【Is this life a predetermined script, or a pure product of chance and necessity without position?】
【Do I really exist? Why am I me?】
…
This seemingly somewhat chuunibyou thought process was not Mo Tan suddenly going crazy, but a subconscious self-hypnosis process. His focused and meaningless thinking had only one goal: to actively initiate a personality shift.
And this method was the only way he could guarantee a sufficient success rate so far, and it didn't cause much harm to himself.
Thought is wonderful, and humans are wonderful. We often enter a wonderful 'transcendent' state under certain circumstances, as if observing ourselves from a God's perspective that no one knows where it is.
This is not an exaggeration. At least some people (the one currently typing on the keyboard in front of the monitor) have had similar experiences. During a bout of insomnia and random thoughts, they conceived of the strange attempt to 'question and deny one's own existence'.
In short, it was to find various pieces of evidence that could prove one's existence, such as wanting to move a finger, then commanding oneself to 'move a finger', and then questioning it from another angle, from action, thought, dimension, destiny, all the way to existence.
And at some point in this process, a perplexing feeling would descend, as if a layer of water film covered oneself and the outside world, isolating thought and action. Although one could still control their body, there would be a temporary delay…
A somewhat frightening, yet very interesting state.
I call it 'Upper Level Thinking', and in subsequent deliberate experiments, I successfully entered this state several more times. To be honest, the experience wasn't very good. It was like isolating myself from everything around me, unable to even confirm my own existence.
【Note: This is the author's personal experience and it is unknown whether it is widespread. Friends who are interested can try it, but please don't take it too seriously. Perhaps I might really be mentally abnormal, but you all might not be.】
So, the detour ends, let's get back to the main topic.
After many years of attempts, Mo Tan discovered that this state he accidentally found could greatly help him with 'shifting'. Although it consumed a large, even massive, amount of energy during this process, it was still his best choice so far. Among them, the process of shifting his personality to the Absolute Neutral state was the most practiced.
After all, it was his most normal personality in daily life, and his character was relatively moderate (not mediocre), at least not as extreme as the other two, so switching wasn't too much trouble…
So after a while, when Mo Tan emerged from that somewhat strange feeling, the chaotic and always smiling look in his eyes had faded, replaced by a gentle and slightly languid demeanor.
“Coffee…” He walked to the cup of coffee on the corner of the table, hesitated for a moment, then took out a small packet of instant sweet milk from the drawer and poured it in, sighing, “It's better with a little milk.”
Mo Tan, who had chugged the entire cup of coffee, immediately felt much more energized. After stretching, he lay back in the game pod, noted the current time, and logged into the game.
…
【Your mental connection has been detected. Personal information is being synchronized… 】
【Connection complete. Character information is being read.】
【Welcome back, Absolute Neutral Black Vatican. Innocent World is about to load. Good night.】
“Sure enough, no one noticed~” After Mo Tan regained consciousness, he found himself sitting on a long bench on the central avenue of Dieyan City. At this time, there were quite a few pedestrians around, but no one noticed a living person appearing out of thin air. This made him sigh, “What trick did the system play on the perception of these NPCs? Or is my own sense of existence too faint?”
In fact, this was of course the system's influence…
Mo Tan thought this way simply because he knew how flamboyant or righteous he could be at times, but compared to other people, Absolute Neutral Black Vatican was still very normal.
He slowly got up and continued walking towards the city church after a full day (he had originally planned to go to the church before logging off yesterday). Walking among the crowds of people with different skin colors, professions, and even races, he was quite content.
Although he had already experienced the bustling Anka Market and the large, vibrant Patuo City, Mo Tan, now in Dieyan City, felt no dissatisfaction with its relative quietness. He could always easily integrate into his surroundings, and no matter where he went, he could keep up with the pace like a local citizen. This was not some extraordinary talent, but simply enough adaptability…
If Mo Tan's personality at this time were singled out and thrown into a 'Metamorphosis' show, he would probably say, “So delicious!” at his first meal in the village.
He is the neighbor who smiles at you when you meet eyes during a morning walk~
He is the bystander who laughs until he can't close his mouth when he hears a funny joke, just like you~
He likes playing games, reading comics, reading novels, and doesn't like vegetables, just like you~
He feels guilty, he fears, he sympathizes, he pities, he looks before he leaps, he is indecisive~
He usually doesn't talk too much or too little, but when he encounters an interesting topic, he will enthusiastically chat with you for a long time~
He won't install reflectors on the back of his shoes or secretly take pictures under people's skirts with his phone, but when he sees long legs on the street, he will unconsciously take a second look~
He is just such a guy, found everywhere in this era of population explosion, a 'normal person' who is not at all rare.
However, with sufficient intelligence, and also possessing two other personalities that are always dealing with trouble, no matter how 'normal' or how Absolute Neutral, his moderate self could not be too mediocre.
No matter how fuel-efficient a lamp is, if it comes into contact with too many messy things, its fuel consumption will naturally soar…
“Why didn't you log in today?”
“You can only play for 12 hours a day!”
“That magic emission technique you mentioned is quite useful, hey!”
“By the way, even if there's no assembly, at least show your face at the barracks~”
“Why does Yinna look at me so strangely? What did you tell her?”
…
Probably due to boredom, a certain high-fuel-consumption female hacker started sending him harassment messages when she didn't get a reply from Tan Mo…
Mo Tan carefully replied to her, the gist being that he often worked at night and his online time might not be fixed. If she had ample time, she should level up quickly so she could carry him later. It was all pretty meaningless stuff.
Then he left Shuang Ye an email address, one with very ordinary encryption. With Sun's skill level, a little investigation would probably confirm his true identity, and then further equate 'Black Vatican' with 'Mo Tan'. This way, 'Black' and 'Tan Mo', his other existence, would be even safer~
As for the similarity between his real name and Tan Mo's game nickname, in this era of massive population, it could almost entirely be attributed to coincidence. Even if Shuang Ye became suspicious, at most it would only make her more confused, so what?
As a result, not long after he finished replying to Shuang Ye's message, and before he had even reached his destination, a message box popped up in the corner of his vision.
【Player: Chen Wangyu (Absolute Neutral) has requested to add you as a friend.】
He didn't need to recall to remember that this was the girl named Yu Cheng from the gathering with Yi Dong. She was very introverted and seemed a bit shy.
Uh, it seemed like they had agreed to add each other as friends later, but none of them ended up adding each other. On one hand, Black Vatican's online rate was too low, and on the other hand, everyone was quite new to the game in the early stages and probably too busy with many things. Even Yi Dong hadn't bothered him much after Mo Tan stood him up…
The game Innocent World indeed possessed a unique charm.
“Hi~”
After confirming, Mo Tan casually sent a greeting through the friend interface's mail system, and received a reply in no time.
“Hehe, finally caught you online O(∩_∩)O~ Mo Tan Tong Xue, what are you doing? I've already added everyone's friends now!”
Mo Tan replied simply as he walked, roughly stating that he had been a bit busy recently and hadn't been online much. In the game, he had just joined the Autonomous Army of a certain territory, and a while ago, the priest in town had swindled him out of 20 copper coins for a scripture.
“Σ(⊙▽⊙! No way, my Holy Maiden told me scriptures are free~ Mo Tan Tong Xue, were you scammed?” Yu Cheng replied quickly. Although sending messages during a mental connection didn't require tedious typing, this speed was still a bit startling. The cheerful and vibrant tone in her words also surprised Mo Tan slightly.
This girl has a bit of a contrasting cuteness…
Although Mo Tan didn't like to communicate too much with others in reality (for fear of unexpected shifts in style), the situation was different in the game. After all, even if he suddenly split, at most he would just log off and switch accounts, neither scaring others nor causing trouble. So he didn't mind chatting a bit more and replied, “Your Holy Maiden clearly belongs to the wicked exploiting class. As a God-blessed one, you'll probably soon become a middle-level church member, while this old priest I met in a small place is clearly low-level church, and I'm the exploited class… So, I paid…”
“What you said makes so much sense. My condolences ORZ~” Yu Cheng replied instantly.
Mo Tan had now arrived at the church, so he chuckled dryly, sent Yu Cheng a dusty-faced emoji, and then strode inside.
Now he wouldn't cause resentment among the clergy. After all, as long as there wasn't the influence brought by the Incredulous talent, it wasn't easy to be shunned by these believers at first glance…
What's more, the character Black Vatican was a true Dawn Goddess believer and a priest himself. The Dawn Sect church was practically his own home.
“Oh~ It's so good to see you, my child.” Although there were many people in the church, the old priest who had previously led him into the faith noticed Mo Tan immediately and greeted him with a beaming smile, “No matter where you are, you must not forget the grace of the Goddess.”
Mo Tan nodded: “I'm here to pray, and afterwards I have something I'd like to discuss with you, Father~”
The other party nodded very readily, not sure if it had anything to do with Mo Tan's readiness to pay for the scripture at the time…
Mo Tan then went to the Goddess statue, closed his eyes devoutly, and clasped his hands together, wanting to quickly go through the motions and then talk to the priest about skills, but unexpectedly…
【Do you wish to pray to Dawn Goddess Pakesi?】
???
Is there really such a setting in the game?
Then pray, anyway, trying won't make you pregnant, and maybe there are benefits.
Mo Tan immediately chose to confirm…
Immediately after, he felt as if he was in a warm, boundless sea. The omnipresent light around him enveloped his entire body. In his originally dark (because his eyes were closed) vision, a hazy female phantom appeared, gradually approaching him.
“I shall shelter you.” The phantom whispered, “May you spread my gospel, and may all that your eyes can see be filled with light and holy radiance.”
I'll do my best…
Mo Tan thought to himself. This was not a lie, after all, he was already her believer, and spreading the Goddess's gospel was part of his duty.
“Piety.” The other party's voice rang out again, “Shall be rewarded.”
【Your Intelligence +3, Constitution +3, Faith Cap +10, and you gain the Talent: Piety.】
This is getting serious!!
Mo Tan was overjoyed, and then he heard the phantom's voice ring out a third time…
“Temper your spirit and flesh, let your faith and yourself grow strong…”
And then?
“And then, if you encounter a follower of that madwoman Diliya, a follower of that idiot Savile, a follower of that lying scoundrel Izanael, or any other chaotic and evil heretic, beat them up, blow them up!!!”
???
Chapter Twenty-Six: End