Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
The situation was dire, with the risk of being contaminated by the Old Ones being a real possibility.
While these girls wouldn’t die upon contamination, players, due to safety mechanisms, would enter a state of death the moment their minds were fully corrupted. This would allow them to quickly escape the Old Ones’ influence, but it also meant players could be exposed.
Watching the players’ conditions from a god’s-eye view, Xi Wei grew anxious. “Lori, Ruo Yi, do you have any way to help these foreigners resist the Old Ones’ contamination?”
Upon hearing this, Lori activated a seed of purification from Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken’s backpack. The divine power of life’s purification spread silently, holding its own against the encroaching power of the Old Ones. However, the Old Ones’ corrupting influence this time was too overbearing and was quickly defeated.
Lori shook her head helplessly. “To further repel that encroaching power of the Old Ones, more must be invested. One seed of purification has very limited effect. I need to get closer and confront that power directly…”
“No,” Xi Wei immediately refused. He would never let Lori and Ruo Yi put themselves in danger. He then turned to Ruo Yi, “You try. See if you can solve it by combining your power with Lori’s.”
Ruo Yi nodded. She walked gently to Lori’s side, took Lori’s small hand, and used it as a conduit to channel the divine power of time to influence the seed of purification.
***
Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken was already in despair. Her San Value was dropping too rapidly, so fast that she couldn’t even run. But just as it was about to completely deplete, a warm, soft energy quietly bloomed around her.
[You have received the blessing of the Goddess of Life. Your resistance to the Old Ones’ corruption has increased.]
As the system prompt appeared, Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken noticed the speed at which her San Value dropped significantly decreased. However, this only lasted for less than half a minute, and her San Value continued to fall steadfastly.
Buzz!
[You have received the blessing of the Goddess of Time. Your resistance to the Old Ones’ corruption has increased.]
The blessings of two great goddesses! Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken’s heart immediately calmed down. If death is inevitable, she decided she would take a screenshot and post it on her social media before she died.
While Cain Continent didn’t have social media, players had their own communities for sharing their lives, similar to independent forums. It’s just that this forum wasn’t online but existed within the game system. Players could visit each other and view shared aspects of their gaming lives.
Unfortunately, the buffs from the Goddess of Time didn’t last long either. The slowing effect on the Old Ones’ corruption by the two goddesses was limited, only extending the time before falling into depravity from ten minutes to half an hour. Who knew how long this disgusting thing would continue its dance before them? If she died, so be it. Even if the mission failed, there was still the sacrificial altar on the male players’ side. The missions undertaken by the female players were merely like adding fuel to a fire, while the male players’ shoddy engineering was the true solution. Therefore, Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken wasn’t worried at all. Just as she decided to give up, another system prompt, unyielding, popped up.
[You have received the blessing of the God of Death. Your resistance to the Old Ones’ corruption has increased!]
“What the f***?!” Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken’s eyes widened. She could understand the Goddess of Life and the Goddess of Time siding with them, the players. After all, they knew that these two goddesses had ascended. She could even encounter them outside Winter Fort occasionally, and representative players like her could even greet them, receiving their sweet, warm smiles and kind greetings. But what was this God of Death? Did one of the maids in Winter Fort secretly ascend? There was no news at all.
With the addition of the God of Death’s divinity, the seed of purification had completely changed its appearance. It was originally milky white, emitting a soft divinity. After being enhanced by the Goddess of Time’s divinity, it turned golden with a hint of mystery. Now, it had become a black seed, containing milky white representing life within. Outside, it had a golden shell. As the three divine powers permeated outwards, the Old Ones’ corrupting influence completely halted. The rapidly dropping San Value finally stabilized, even showing signs of being tempered by the God of Death’s divinity.
“The difference is clear!” Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken looked at her HP Bar and San Value bar, which had stopped dropping so rapidly. The three divine buffs acted like three layers of shields, protecting her tightly. This feeling of her own body becoming a battlefield was incredibly strange, like watching her own cells fighting a virus.
[Notice: The Old Ones’ corruption is spreading. Please distribute the enhanced seed of purification to other players!]
If the system hadn’t prompted her, Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken wouldn’t have realized it. She had been so engrossed in examining the three divine powers that she forgot about the other players who were still struggling. Fortunately, distributing the seeds of purification to other players didn’t require the tedious process of begging them one by one like with NPCs. The seeds of purification could be set up for one-click distribution or free pickup directly in the Team Channel. Soon, every female player received a seed of purification, and under its protection, their San Values slowly recovered. However, the other girls around them weren’t so fortunate.
As the Son’s dance became increasingly wild and bizarre, the surrounding girls also began to dance along with its movements like puppets whose heartstrings had been bewitched. And as the dance progressed, abnormalities began to appear on their bodies. For instance, an extra arm sprouting from under their armpit, a row of eyes appearing on the back of their heads, five fingers twisting into tentacles, or fungal hyphae growing on their bodies like mold. These abnormalities were not static; they were in a state of constant, twisted change.
“We’re doomed!” Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken’s heart skipped a beat. “Now that these girls have mutated, will our mission be judged as failed? And since the players are fine… won’t this be too obvious?” As soon as this thought arose, Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken found her nose turning into a tentacle, twirling and leaping with the Son’s dance.
[Ding! To prevent the Son from discovering the players’ abnormalities, temporary modifications and disguises have been automatically applied to your bodies. If you find extra organs or parts growing on you, please do not panic. This is required by the plot.]
Ms. Round-Faced Fatty Chicken’s mouth twitched. If it weren’t for this timely system prompt, she might have actually drawn her sword and cut off her unnaturally long nose. Such a long nose would probably taste delicious braised!
