VIP Chapter 559 Anle (1)
The third question—
What is death?
If you think you have answered the previous two questions, this one will be very simple.
That is wrong.
After answering how to die and why one dies, you will find that you still cannot answer the question, “What is death?”
To this day, have any “beings” truly been able to define “death?”
Commonly, it is believed that when the “physical body” can no longer function, leading to the ultimate disappearance of the “consciousness” attached to the body, and you cannot use your consciousness to change the real world, that is called “death.”
Of course, there are also more “optimistic” people who believe that death only truly occurs when the last person who remembers you also dies, and no one in this world remembers the traces you left behind.
Perhaps there are some theologians willing to teach others using “theological” theories, telling you that consciousness will have another world after death.
So, according to this statement, if your physical body dies, but your “consciousness” remains, can that truly be considered “death?”
Therefore…
What exactly is “death?”
And who defines it?
The gods?
Or perhaps Daisianwei, who sits in the final chamber of this magnificent Death Hall and is said to understand “death” the most?
Or perhaps…
A collective entity of Reviers and Daisianwei, who is both the god who created this world and a symbol of this world’s impending demise, having transmitted their consciousness for hundreds of years?
The worst answer—
The gods and the person who knows death the best cannot define it.
Then…
What precisely is death, which everyone fears, faces, dares not touch, and considers the most noble “sacrifice” a person can make?
“It’s a shame. Here, all I can offer you is my definition of ‘death.'”
Daisianwei spread her hands.
“The most primitive, the simplest, the easiest to understand death. When the physical body can no longer sustain life, and the consciousness attached to it ultimately disappears, unable to be preserved like that of a God-Attuned.”
“The moment what you pursue, what you cherish, what you create, what you connect with disappears, that is death.”
Within the guillotine, with the blade already halfway down, the team of only two people did not stop advancing.
The descending blade was caught on the backs of the two, who had overcome trials one by one and walked forward.
In Daisianwei’s twisted amusement, it was as if these two people had already been “cut in half.”
Death Hall, Floor 199.
Although the Death Hall has many floors, the further one goes, the more Daisianwei’s cruel riddles are left behind, rather than BOSS battles to clear the dungeon.
Besides the recent puzzle of “marching towards the end despite hypothermia,” there were puzzles involving dodging a swinging great axe, and walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss…
Of course, as a slight diversion, there are also some strange “monsters”—
Giant bugs wriggling their tails and burrowing through the desert.
“Treya, pfft… Lure it over there!”
“Roger.”
Engulfed by the desert storm, the bug charged towards Treya.
Then—
Treya lowered her stance, stepped back slightly, gripped her sword hilt tightly, and in an instant…
Drawn it.
Treya’s black blade descended.
Several afterimages of her flashed, and in the next moment, the giant bug was cut into pieces by her.
Although she had transformed her dungeon into a place for “angels,” she had not abandoned her black blade.
The black shadows flickering amidst her silver-white hair held a rather cruel aura.
“Hah… hah… drink some water. Remember to stay hydrated in the desert.”
Within two days (they had exited the dungeon to rest after clearing the first hundred floors), Will’s team had cleared nearly two hundred floors, an absolute feat considering all Adventurer teams.
“Mm.”
Treya took the cup of water.
The two exchanged glances in silence. In the desert night, only moonlight shone, and their shadows on the flowing sand appeared exceptionally distinct.
Drinking water, setting down the cup, eating a few bites of compressed food for energy, and putting it in a pocket.
Even now, Treya was not one for many words.
Especially when…
She tidied her pockets and looked at the “door” erected in the desert, leading to the next floor.
—This, considering that the two people most capable of livening up the atmosphere had already “died.”
“Let’s continue onward.”
Will tipped his water flask, and the last drop of water slowly trickled out.
He held his palm vertically, not to lick the last drop, but let it fall onto the gravel—unfortunately, before it could even touch the sand, it had already dried up in the wind.
He threw the water flask away.
Of course, he had more than just this one flask of water, so discarding the bottle after finishing a flask was the best way to reduce body weight.
“Okay.”
Treya nodded and followed.
The lingering footprints of the two, sinking shallowly and deeply into the sand, were covered by the midnight wind.
Then, opening the next door—
“…”
*Click.*
The moment the door closed, even Daisianwei’s guillotine plunged into darkness.
“Why… can he continue to advance?”
Daisianwei’s words were tinged with a hint of gritted teeth.
“Don’t you… don’t you feel any regret for your teammates leaving, no unease for their loss, no discouragement for their disappearance?”
She could not understand.
Why could Will, after losing two teammates, and the woman he loved the most, continue to clear the dungeon so calmly?
Daisianwei, who had initially been completely uninterested in this person, was now not only interested but also scrutinizing him with a sense of “indignation.”
Eighty percent of those who attempt the Death Hall leave with their first fallen teammate, carrying their corpse.
This is because the ways of death in the Death Hall are often terrifying. Even knowing that true death does not occur on the hundredth floor, seeing the corpse of someone by your side can be enough to scare the soul out of you.
Of the remaining twenty percent, when the second teammate dies, they either experience a thorough “total wipe” or eventually retreat as a team.
Everyone clearly knew that they wouldn’t truly die after the hundredth floor of the Death Hall.
Everyone clearly knew that leaving here would result in improvement, even becoming “healthier” than before entering.
Everyone clearly knew that the Death Hall could be entered countless times, and the first time, in particular, was often just a “test.”
Will would definitely know this too.
But…
Daisianwei still watched him, resolutely walking into the next floor.
This was Will’s first attempt, and judging by his expression, he could clearly feel the “weight” of each person’s death.
But he did not look back.
His brown figure, like the average of all Adventurers in the dungeon, swallowed all his sorrow and complex emotions without hesitation, moving forward, forward, forward.
“If everyone by your side were to leave you, Will, would you still keep moving forward?”
“If you truly do so. You will be able to face my final challenge.”
Daisianwei tapped the guillotine with her finger.
As if changing channels on a television—oh, this “world” hasn’t seemingly invented that yet—the image above flickered, eventually cutting into a bright and dazzling scene.
“Know this, that ‘dreams’ and ‘illusions’ are not solely the patent of demons and angels.”
“Before death, the things everyone can dream of and the illusions they see are always more numerous than heaven and hell.”
