Chapter 1 Li Ang slowly raised his hand from his pocket. For some reason, a black handgun appeared in his palm—the very one from the nightstand in the bedroom on the Spirit Realm’s second floor.

The moment they saw the gun, Steven’s parents’ expressions shifted from shock and astonishment to terror and despair, then finally to a kind of helpless resignation.

The couple embraced each other tightly, standing silently, ready for what was to come.

Barbara, on the other hand, still looked conflicted, her lips pressed into a thin line, the muscles in her face tense.

"...Are you really going to do this?"

Barbara spoke slowly, the crucifix in her hand glowing brightly, dispelling the black mist that filled the house.

To be precise, the mist didn't need dispelling; it was Barbara herself who had deliberately released it, forcing Steven to act.

"Isn't dreaming nice?

In the real world, you're a failure, utterly defeated. No one loves you; you have no lover.

Mediocre, ordinary, numb, and lost, like a walking corpse, dwelling in an insignificant corner.

But here, you have a respectable job, a generous salary, parents who adore you, children who admire and love you."

Barbara asked in a deep voice, "The real world can give you what this world gives you.

What the real world can't give you, this world can.

Your life has meaning again.

Why wake up?"

"Why wake up..."

Li Ang held the handgun, slowly tapping the grip with his thumb, and said calmly, "That's a good question.

For ordinary people, the ultimate goal of a lifetime of toil is to find happiness.

Physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, self-actualization, and transcendence needs.

I don't know what Steven in the real world is like.

Maybe he's a wandering youth with no skills and a meager intellect,

who likes to ride his motorcycle, rushing through the wind on the highway, seeking a surge of adrenaline in speed to stimulate his numb nerves.

Maybe he's a shy, introverted high school or college student,

who initially harbored dreams of changing the world, but gradually recognized reality, recognized his lack of talent, admitted his mediocrity, and became lost, melancholy, and sadly resigned.

In any case, he is at a lower level in the hierarchy of needs in the real world, otherwise he wouldn't have woven such a sweet dream.

In worldly terms, he's a...failure, a loser."

Li Ang paused, and said softly, "But if we use the hierarchy of needs to judge a person's worth,

then most people in the world aren't worthy of being human.

Different growth environments, different innate conditions, different levels of education,

determine that there are all kinds of differences between people.

The oil paintings on the walls in this room are just cheap modern prints.

The books on the bookshelf are also a mess, only having beginnings and no endings.

Even in the dream world,

Steven can only imagine that he is very rich, but he can't imagine that he is very cultured.

Like an ordinary young man who likes to follow trends and read popular books, likes to pursue some niche subcultures, and likes to recite a few classic songs and famous works,

using so-called 'niche' things to decorate himself and show off his unique aesthetic taste.

However, that's not a problem, nor is it the point.

The point is, he's a good person.

In the new world, with better starting conditions, he works hard, takes care of his family, accompanies his wife, and raises his children.

Within his capabilities, he has done everything he can.

And a good person will not continue to deceive others,

erase other people's free will, and let everyone act as his dolls in his little game."

Li Ang paused, looked at the expression on Barbara's face, and said in advance, "I know what you're going to say.

If Steven wakes up, everything in the dream will cease to exist.

Steven's 'parents,'

Steven's children,

will all disappear at the dream level as he wakes up."

"...Robin and Lynn are two very lovely children."

Barbara was silent for a long time, and said, "My death doesn't matter.

After realizing that I don't really exist,

that the seventy years of life I experienced before,

the people I met, the things that happened, the experiences of love and being loved,

were all imagined and fabricated by someone,

I became indifferent.

But, are you really willing to let Robin and Lynn disappear?"

"I'm not the creator of this world, and I can't fathom Steven's state of mind when he dreams."

Li Ang said softly, "However, I can do what Steven needs to do but can't.

For example, redemption.

In the upper reality, there is a person who is about to die and needs me to save them."

"Who... who exactly are you?"

Barbara finally realized something belatedly, looked at Li Ang, and her eyes were filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

"Just a passerby doing it for fun."

Li Ang twirled the handgun, strode out of the living room, came to the front door,

raised the handgun, aimed at the door handle, and pulled the trigger heavily.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Six shots rang out, blasting the door handle to pieces.

A soft, goose-yellow light, completely different from the moonlight outside, seeped out of the holes in the wooden door handle.

"Hoo."

Li Ang blew out the wisp of smoke rising from the muzzle, pushed open the wooden door, and walked toward the endless light.

————

"Beep, beep, beep—"

The sound of electronic instruments echoed in the hospital room.

An elderly nurse with Barbara's face was remaking the bed when she heard a rustling sound.

On the hospital bed, the patient, wrapped in bandages, sat up.

"You..."

The elderly nurse, with a name tag that read Barbara pinned to her chest, looked at the patient in shock and bewilderment. The patient's medical record, detailing multiple fractures, flashed through her mind.

"Hello, Barbara, it's nice to see you again."

The patient nodded politely, showing no signs of broken bones.

As he threw back the blanket and got out of bed,

he casually tore off the bandages, revealing muscles that looked somewhat relaxed from not being used for a long time.

"Where is the patient in the bed next to me?"

"In... the operating room upstairs."

Barbara didn't rush forward to stop him from his suicidal actions. Instead, she answered his question as if in a trance,

as if she couldn't lie when looking into his pale blue eyes.

"Okay, thank you."

The young patient nodded,

casually pulled the bed sheet off the bed, and tossed it behind him.

The sheet suddenly changed color and shape in mid-air, transforming into a high-end suit as it landed on the young man,

even including the underwear, pants, and leather boots.

"Goodbye, Barbara."

The young man snapped his fingers and casually released spirit energy,

smiling gently at the elderly nurse, who had suddenly fallen into a state of distraction, and strode out of the hospital room, into the hallway.

The hallway was filled with a faint smell of disinfectant.

The handsome young man in the high-end suit casually looked around.

Wherever he went, the surveillance cameras in the hallway sparked and temporarily went out of order.

He took the elevator upstairs,

looking carefree, yet no doctor, nurse, or patient's family member gave him a second glance.

It was as if he didn't exist in this world.

"Operating room, operating room..."

The young man murmured to himself, walking past one hospital room after another, finally stopping in front of one operating room.

On the bench in front of the operating room door sat an elderly couple dressed in formal attire, their faces all too familiar to the young man.

The elderly couple's eyes were red and swollen. They clutched each other's hands tightly, anxiously awaiting the results from inside the operating room.

Beep—

Along with the sound, the red "Operating" sign above the operating room door slowly went out.

The door was pushed open, and the middle-aged doctor who came out of it shook his head sadly at the elderly couple who rushed over.

The old woman burst into tears, and her husband, with red eyes, held his wife tightly to keep her from fainting.

Separation and death were too common in hospitals.

No one noticed, or rather, everyone ignored,

that the young man walked into the operating room, ignored the medical staff who were cleaning up the operating site, came to the bedside, and looked at the young girl on the bed.

"It's nice to see you again, Mavis."

The young man tilted his head, his palm releasing countless extremely thin plant vines toward the girl.

The plant vines pierced her skin, collecting data and reshaping her body.

Brain activity was reactivated, the heart beat strongly, and even her pale, bloodless face regained its former radiance.

The young man slowly withdrew his palm and turned to leave. As he entered the elevator again,

he could faintly hear the incredible shouts of the medical staff from the distant operating room, as well as the joyful cries of Mavis's parents.

The young man's mouth curved into a faint smile as he walked out of the elevator, came to the hospital building's front courtyard, found a bench and sat down,

admiring the flowers and plants in the courtyard,

while waiting for the countdown to end.

Perhaps as time passes, the awakened Mavis will meet, get to know, and fall in love with Steven again?

But that was no longer Li Ang's business.

"Hello, may I sit here?"

A voice came from the right.

Li Ang raised an eyebrow and looked over.

The person speaking was an unremarkable middle-aged white man, wearing a hospital orderly's uniform.

"Your Excellency is..."

Li Ang tilted his head, tapping the back of the wooden bench with his fingers.

He had already released a wide area of spirit energy, and everyone in this area would ignore him, or rather, Steven's existence.

Unless, the other person wasn't human.

"Leopold Christian."

The white orderly pointed to the name tag hanging on his chest and smiled gently, "Of course, you can also call me by another name.

Shibi Wang." (King Shibi)

"..."

Li Ang slowly retracted the smile from the corner of his mouth and looked at the other person calmly.

The white orderly who claimed to be Shibi Wang said with a smile, "You don't seem too surprised?"

"Why can you appear here?"

Li Ang said softly, "Or rather, when."

"Hehe, don't be nervous."

Shibi Wang smiled and said, "You should be able to sense it, I'm just an ordinary person without any extraordinary power.

A transcender like you could destroy me with a single breath.

I'm not clinging to you.

In fact, at this moment, I'm simultaneously appearing in the script missions of a total of fifty-three players in the real world."

"Appearing simultaneously?"

Li Ang frowned. The moment he uncovered the truth of the Spirit Realm, he regained the extraordinary abilities sealed by the Killing Game. Even if the other person was the real Shibi Wang, he might not be without a chance of fighting.

Moreover, he had repeatedly tested the other person's spirit energy and divine power just now. The Leopold Christian white orderly standing in front of him was indeed just an ordinary middle-aged white man.

The only special thing might be that the other person's soul was slightly stronger than ordinary people.

"That's right."

Shibi Wang sat down on the other side of the bench as if he were familiar with him, crossed his legs, and said casually, "In the real world, my remaining body should have triggered some kind of large-scale mutation,

attracting a large number of players.

In the end, my body was destroyed by you, or rather, self-destructed.

This triggered the Killing Game's identification mechanism, allowing the players who participated in the action of destroying Shibi Wang's body at that time

to simultaneously receive a script mission based on me as the prototype."

"Based on you as the prototype?"

Li Ang narrowed his eyes, accumulating divine power while calmly asking, "What do you mean?

What exactly are you?"

"Me? I'm just one of the countless souls that Shibi Wang left behind in the world."

The white orderly named Leopold grinned and said casually, "Steven is me,

Leopold is me,

Barbara is me.

You might see one of the millions of me while walking on the streets of the real world."

"..."

Li Ang narrowed his eyes, and the mystical books about the essence of the soul that he had obtained from the Side of Truth flashed through his mind. He slowly said, "You... in order to avoid the Killing Game's pursuit, actively split your soul and reincarnated?"

"That's right."

Shibi Wang nodded and said calmly, "As you know, I am indeed King Shibi of Devavati in ancient India's Jambudvipa,

dating back more than four thousand years.

You can understand it as, I'm the ancient player from many, many generations ago.

In my era, there really were gods, immortals, Buddhas, demons, and ghosts.

At that time, the Killing Game didn't intend to separate the cohabitation of humans and gods.

I became a player in the body of a king (although we didn't call ourselves players back then),

and like you, I walked on the edge of life and death, becoming stronger step by step, possessing power comparable to gods and Buddhas."

Shibi Wang paused and said calmly, "Like those transcendents who were also at the pinnacle of the world in other eras of the Killing Game,

our gods and Buddhas at that time were also facing the test of death.

Even if you possessed the power to move mountains and fill seas, when your lifespan was exhausted and the Killing Game wanted you to die, no one could survive.

The only way was to rely on the power of faith of countless living beings,

to reshape oneself and continue to survive in the form of gods and Buddhas.

At first, that's what I thought too.

I accepted the invitation of the so-called god (you call them Indra and Vishvakarman) and became a Buddha in heaven.

But soon, I discovered a problem."