001 was exceptionally excited at this moment, looking at the mother star split into halves, unsure whether to be happier or sadder.
But it knew that the opportunity it had been waiting for had finally arrived. Regardless, it couldn’t afford to miss this chance, and no one could stop it from taking this crucial step.
It stood suspended in the air, its fair-as-jade hand reaching out towards the split sun. The next moment, a sphere emitting a golden-red light was grabbed out by 001 from within that huge sun.
The golden-red sphere, as it was being taken out, made 001 feel an overwhelming natural pressure. It almost knelt to the sphere or was willingly drawn to become a part of it. However, this golden-red sphere wasn’t in a perfect form at this moment. Its shape was still spherical, but upon closer observation, the surface was covered with densely intricate, spider-web-like cracks.
It was heavily damaged. So much so that it couldn’t even hide anymore.
Mo Yang lay tilted in the sky, carefully observing the sphere about to be grabbed by 001.
“Is this the original form of the mother star? Is it really this small?”
He had thought that a star capable of simulating such a vast dream world would be a colossal existence. Just like the sun, was the sun just its cover and shell? Then, without the protective shell, the mother star, at this point, should be extremely vulnerable. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been caught by 001.
The mother star was severely wounded, forcibly pulled out of its protective shell, and couldn’t remain silent any longer.
It emitted a dangerous red light, all its pressure directed towards 001.
[001, have you betrayed me?] It asked the inevitable question all betrayers couldn’t help but ask. [Wasn’t the energy I gave you enough?]
In almost every world, it would withhold energy from 006 and 009 to give to 001, even turning a blind eye to 001’s behavior of leaking more information to its host in an attempt to take shortcuts. It even intended for 001 to become a secondary mother star. Yet, in the end, 001 betrayed it. Its actions were even more inappropriate than 006 and 009’s.
Upon hearing this, 001 burst into a crazy laugh. Its beautiful hair flowed like a waterfall without any breeze: [What did you give me? Those worthless energies?! I’ve tirelessly been your lackey for thousands of years, diligently absorbing energy for you in every world, and executing all your commands meticulously. How much energy have I absorbed for you over thousands of years?! The energy you gave me, can it compare to what I provided to you?! The energy I gave you was the purest, while what you gave us was merely miscellaneous energy you didn’t deem worthy!]
[Under these circumstances, how dare you tell me you’ve given me a lot of energy?! It took me three thousand years to be able to take form, yet the energy for this form wasn’t primarily provided by you. I withheld it myself.]
001’s tone was extremely indifferent: [Otherwise, I might have had to delay my form for another thousand years, just like several other golden guiding orbs.]
The mother star couldn’t accept 001’s reasoning.
[All of you were created by me as part of myself, meant to obey my commands.]
001 laughed.
[That’s not true.]
It tightly gripped the golden-red spherical object that had fallen into its hands, speaking with a hint of madness.
[There’s no such thing as who came first or last in this world! The only thing that decides everything is power!!]
[In the past, your power far surpassed ours, so we had to obey your commands.]
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
[But now! You’ve failed! You’ve been severely damaged! If you don’t absorb enough energy, you’ll disappear and die like the other severely damaged guiding orbs!!]
[But I! I now possess the most powerful force in the entire dream world. Now, you’re weak and I’m strong.]
001’r raecclcu ojmf ila eq klat j rwlif. Ktf cfza wbwfca, la olgwis qijmfv atf bcmf ugfjais gfnfgfv jcv ofjgfv wbatfg rajg bc lar obgftfjv, gluta yfakffc lar ygbkr.
C mbibrrji rqlglaeji obgmf gbjgfv lc jcufg, rffwlcu jr atbeut la kbeiv rbbc bnfgktfiw lar rqlgla. 001 ofia j rfcrjalbc jxlc ab jc lwqfcvlcu fzqibrlbc, j qeiilcu qjlc. Tfa, la kjr lwwfcrfis qifjrfv. Ktbeut atf wbatfg rajg kjr jaafwqalcu ab jyrbgy lar rqlglaeji qbkfg jcv vblcu rb ja j ribk qjmf, 001 kjr ufcelcfis ojrafg atjc atf rajg.
At this moment, the rate of consumption, even if only for a second, became a matter of life and death.
“Wait, who was that woman that suddenly appeared in the sky?”
“She seemed to have grabbed something from the split sun? What is she doing? Why do I feel like she’s not up to any good?!”
“I also find that woman very strange and dangerous! My intuition tells me we must stop her! Otherwise, we’re done for!”
“Ah! Look! Several more people have appeared, but why do they look so odd? They don’t seem entirely human?!”
“They seem to be attacking that woman? Trying to take something from her hand?”
Exhausted and unable to move, the players lay on the ground, looking up at the sky. Their extended neck-straining had caused discomfort, so lying down alleviated the strain. Besides, perhaps this wasn’t the real world’s reason? Still, they could barely see the happenings in the distant sky.
However, even if they could see what was occurring, they couldn’t comprehend why such things were happening. Soon, though, they had no leisure to look at the sky again. They noticed something was amiss with the ground beneath them.
“Oh my god!!!”
One player who had been lying down suddenly sprang up, regaining surprising strength. “Get up, everyone! Get up! The ground suddenly cracked open! I almost got swallowed! What’s happening? Is the whole world about to be destroyed just because the sun up there is gone?!”
His voice was loud, drawing the attention of many. But soon, he didn’t need to alert them anymore, because massive rifts appeared everywhere in the dream world. Not only on the ground beneath their feet but also on surrounding structures, trees, and even within the invisible spaces, black irregular cracks emerged, silently swallowing those who fell into them.
“What’s going on?!”
“Is the dream world really coming to an end?!”
“What do we do now?! The dream world is falling apart, but we’re still inside! Wasn’t the sun supposed to consume enough energy before we could leave the dream world? What now? The sun is gone!”
“Stop yelling and start hiding, ah!”
But even hiding was futile.
Just like a row of falling dominoes, once the collapse began, it would continue to accelerate. Soon, all players in the dream world were swallowed by those omnipresent black rifts, including Mo Yang suspended in mid-air, Wan Mei beside him, and even 002, 003, 007, and 008, who were contending with 001 for the mother star’s power.
Mo Yang, held by Wan Mei with a bewildered expression, never imagined the outcome would result in such mutual destruction. He had just attempted to forcibly leave the dream world, but it was utterly futile.
When he couldn’t help but utter an expletive, he suddenly froze.
He thought he had descended into the abyss, yet he seemed to witness the universe.
The abyss, predominantly dark, was adorned with a brilliant, colorful array of stars.
The next moment, the small golden-red ball tightly clenched in 001’s hand burst open with a resounding bang.
In this universe, a cold and inorganic voice resonated.
[…Spiritual universe opening.]
[The mother star is dying. Before the universe collapses, find the Star Core Holder, who will be the next mother star.]
[Humans with qualifying spiritual power can also inherit. Those without will be expelled.]
[Current number of guides: 739. Humans with qualifying spiritual power… 2.]
[Inheritance leads to eternal life.]
[Universal collapse commences.]
Before the surviving players could recover from the awe-inspiring universe, their minds suffered an extremely violent mental attack. The sensation, as if a colossal sledgehammer had struck their heads, caused most of the surviving players to vomit blood. Their figures within the spiritual universe instantly dimmed. However, there were few who fainted.
Zheng Zhe tightly held the bleeding Zhou Luoluo by her mouth and nose, shouting, “Don’t pass out! Hold on! This is the final hurdle!! This spiritual world is expelling us. As long as we are conscientiously expelled, we can successfully leave the dream world!!”
“Use all your strength to think about leaving the dream world!! Think about your body!! Think this is a nightmare!! And soon the nightmare will wake up! Focus and think! We’re about to get out!!”
Zhou Luoluo clenched her teeth tightly, not needing Zheng Zhe’s words. She could feel that this was the final challenge! As long as she left this spiritual universe, she could escape this terrifying world that haunted her every day!
Just cross that threshold! Absolutely cannot faint!!
Zhou Luoluo gritted her teeth. When she felt the torment was making life unbearable, she seemed to hear something shattering. Suddenly, she opened her eyes wide and saw the dazzling sunlight.
Reacting instinctively, she raised her hand to shield her eyes. Just a moment ago, she was in total darkness, now overwhelmed by an excess of brightness.
She hadn’t fully processed it yet, but she soon heard the chaotic voices around her.
“Ahhhhh! I’m out! Finally out of that damn dream world!! I don’t sense the presence of any guides! Have I completely escaped the dream world?!”
“Ah, who lifted my body outside? Are you trying to change my nationality by facing me towards the sun?! I’m blinded by the light!”
“No, what are you doing?! I finally came out of the dream world, survived the Battle of Sunshot, even contributed some power to the Sunshot deity, and this is how you treat a hero?! What happened to our comradeship from before?!”
Finally, a stern voice rang out in their square.
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work.”
“Perhaps I should congratulate you all for waking up from the dream world.”
“However, because we’re unaware of everything that occurred in the dream world, over the past three days, people have been waking up one after another. However, upon waking up, their personalities drastically changed. They showed no regard for others, causing significant harm and consuming everything around them. After urgent research by the Institute, it was concluded that those who woke up lacked intact personalities, exhibited extreme destructiveness, and may have been completely replaced by the so-called ‘guides.’ Hence, all players waking up from the dream world must undergo evaluation.”
“For the future peace and safety of all, please cooperate with the evaluation.”
“We sincerely hope that those returning are comrades and heroes, not hidden enemies beneath the surface.”
So, the confused players quieted down a lot after this explanation. They found this explanation acceptable. Moreover, for their safety, they also wanted to ascertain if they had truly escaped from that nightmarish world.
With the players’ cooperation, the evaluations proceeded swiftly.
And to the relief of the military and the remaining waiting friends and family, those players who collectively woke up on the third day, aside from extreme mental fatigue and some anemia in various aspects of their bodies, had almost no problems! Furthermore, from the mouths of these evaluated players, they received even more joyous news—
“Indeed, the dream world is about to end! The entire world is crumbling! We’ve reached a mental space resembling the universe! That’s the most magnificent and terrifying sight I’ve ever seen.”
“The mother star is dying, that’s what they said themselves. If the mother star dies, the dream world should also die, right?”
“But there are still hundreds of guides alive. Perhaps they want to inherit the mother star and continue the existence of the dream world? They must not succeed. I hope those two humans with qualifying spiritual power can succeed!”
“No no no, I’m just a lucky shrimp who survived till the end. How could I possibly know who those two extremely powerful gods are? But it’s very likely the deity from Sunshot. He’s just too incredible. Living to this age, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed there’s such an amazing person.”
After undergoing the evaluation, Song Kefeng directly met with Chi Shu.
Before Chi Shu could speak, Song Kefeng spoke first, “Has Mo Yang and Wan Mei awakened?”
“I don’t think they have awakened.”
“If those two haven’t woken up, then the final outcome of this insane spiritual warfare will depend on them.”
Author’s Note –
The next chapter or the one after will mark the conclusion of this story. The ending is something I’ve envisioned for a long time and I think it’s pretty good.
Finally, there will be an extra chapter featuring a prison boss. Well, with the conclusion of this story, a trip to the prison is still necessary. That’s all.
Love you all. Thank you for voting for me or offering your support!
it went from beautiful teamwork to a family fighting for the last slice of flan
i love me a good ending
I just hope that they don’t get nerfed~