first player

Chapter 1670 Final Chapter: Shigemi [14] "Gods can die for these lives."

Chapter 1670 Final Chapter: The Shore Crossing [14]: "Gods can die for these lives."

"This is His Holiness the Pope's room. He's the big boss, so there's bound to be some very exciting news..." Zhao Yuan raised the camera, looking left and right.

...Wow, there are so many books here. No wonder it's His Holiness the Pope. Books truly are the ladder of human progress; it's no accident that Huichi was able to climb to the pinnacle of power.

The text in these books is all written in the ornate and complex ancient script of the First Age, the Rovasa script, which only the nobles at the top of the food chain could learn. Due to its long history, very few people have mastered it.

Fortunately, Zhao Yuan possessed a rare skill.

……

"Ding dong!"

You have activated the purple-level skill "Universal Unity of Writing".

[You can understand all texts below the level of gods.]

……

With his eyes turning a shimmering blue, Zhao Yuan immediately looked at the book titles.

She ventured into dangerous territory not only to gather information for Su Ming'an but also for her own career advancement. As a "photographer," she needed to uncover a major news story "capable of impacting the entire civilization."

"Big news...big news...it must be here!" Zhao Yuan searched quickly.

Players are making rapid progress in Rovasa's game, but unfortunately, achieving godhood in her profession is incredibly difficult, as everything revolves around "news" and "photos." The world game is nearing its end, and there will be no more opportunities to quickly increase her strength. However, if she could uncover a major news story that could impact civilization, she could break through her limitations and glimpse the gates to godhood! Without achieving godhood, a hundred years is inevitable; which top-ranked player is willing to stop at an ordinary life?

Just one step away, just one big news story!

"Sigh... I should have published Shi Ying's news and Su Liujin's secret earlier." Zhao Yuan had actually collected some news that met her criteria, but she had three main principles: First, she wouldn't publish news that could potentially harm others' lives. Second, she wouldn't publish news that was far more harmful than cautionary. Third, she wouldn't publish news that would affect the progress of key players.

This instance is about to end, and she hasn't made any big news yet. Is she really going to live a life of ordinary existence, like a person who lives only a day and dies at night?

This time, Hui Chi's room was her last "all-or-nothing" gamble!

Her gaze swept quickly across—"Annotations on the Genealogy of the Holy Light Canon," "A Study of the Genealogy of the Rovasa Pantheon," "Sin and Punishment: A Study of the Seven Deadly Sins in the Wars of the Gods," "The Whispering Records"...

These books perfectly matched her image of an unfathomable pope—learned, mysterious, and profound.

The wall was adorned with a portrait of the pope, his figure draped in a pure white papal robe symbolizing supreme divine authority. He was somewhat slender, with intricate gold thread embroidered on the cuffs and hem, which trailed on the ground. In his hand, he held a heavy white jade scepter.

"This person is holding a scepter, but it doesn't seem like he's displaying power. It looks more like a scholar holding a pen or a shepherd holding a staff... Hehe, not bad, but I still prefer a camera." Zhao Yuan glanced at the portrait.

After the Lord disappeared, this Godfather, who had always been by the Lord's side, no longer concealed his brilliance, and everyone who saw him could hardly forget him.

—A near-perfect ruler and spiritual leader who simultaneously possesses divine compassion, the erudition of a wise man, the majesty of a ruler, and the wisdom accumulated over the years.

Wherever he stood, it became a pulpit. His voice was deep and resonant, soothing restless souls as he recited scriptures. Strangely enough, before the Lord disappeared, he was as dim as dust, and people never noticed his brilliance.

Zhao Yuan glanced around. The books covered a wide range of subjects, including theology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, history, arithmetic, and more. Each book showed signs of careful reading and was accompanied by detailed notes.

"Sigh... It's hard to imagine how powerful someone like that could be." Zhao Yuan shook her head. She actually felt a slight fear of Hui Chi. If such a person were to ascend to godhood or a higher dimension, he would undoubtedly be an extremely terrifying being. Fortunately, Hui Chi was merely a being within Rovasa, unable to even touch the boundaries of godhood. Thinking about it this way, Zhao Yuan felt a little regretful. If this guy were a player, who knows how terrifying he would become...

Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she froze for a moment.

As she walked along, her mind was filled with the image of Hui Chi as perfect, dignified, mature, and wise. But when her gaze drifted to a corner, she was surprised to see—

"……Um?"

Her lips twitched; she thought she was seeing things.

She immediately rubbed her eyes.

Beside a stack of solemn and serious theological books, a series of incongruous titles caught the eye—"The Cold-Faced Duke's Runaway Sweetheart: After Running Away with a Baby, He Chased After Her in a Crematorium," "The Whole World Knows I Was Reborn"...

"Uh." Zhao Yuan was momentarily stunned, but quickly reassured herself, "It must have been accidentally placed here by the maid while cleaning the room..."

...My foot!

Which maid can read classical Chinese?

She walked around the pile of books on the floor and picked up the nearest notebook. Turning to a page, the gold ink was gorgeous and elegant, with trembling lines and vine-like trails between the lines, making it seem at first glance to be a solemn and sacred scripture.

The smell of disinfectant was so strong it was pungent. Wei Chi leaned against the cold wall, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Captain, are you alright?" the shield warrior asked worriedly.

Wei Chi instinctively dodged, waving his hand: "Keep moving forward, we must find the clues for this level as soon as possible, our team's score must remain in first place..."

Zhao Yuan quickly flipped through several more notebooks.

Some stories depict a poignant class-based love, with the male protagonist being an ambitious member of a lower race and the female protagonist a noblewoman who dares to challenge authority.

Some of them tell bizarre and fantastical adventure stories, where the protagonist travels through many different worlds and faces all sorts of indescribable horrors.

What is this?

Did she open it incorrectly?

What about the conspiracy? What about the scheme to overthrow the world? What about the Mother Goddess, the sacrifices, and the evil plan to use the Holy Sword and the Son of God?

What she saw was a guy obsessed with weaving all sorts of melodramatic, dark, and grand stories. He would even seriously agonize over whether the plot twists were reasonable, the background he designed, and his inner thoughts.

She immediately reassured herself that there must be more. Sure enough, after a careful search, she found a notebook locked in a cabinet, filled with the truth about the Rovasha gods—

……

"Initially, Rovasa had only one primordial god, the god of chaos, Clementus."

Within the void, the sword spirit, resembling Lun Xue, began to narrate.

Su Ming'an listened attentively like a primary school student, his gaze focused.

"He was born at the time of the planet's birth, and lived as long as heaven and earth. Later, the radiant mother goddess Kritsens and the demon mother goddess Isabel came into being."

"If Rovasa had always been ruled by three emotionless and desireless gods, with no love, friendship, desire, or hatred among them, there would be no epic tales of the gods that people talk about. Civilization would lack distinctiveness. It would be monotonous, flat, and boring, and would be destroyed by the annihilation of the universe's rules."

"Therefore, the original three gods created two 'false gods'."

"The Radiant Mother Goddess Krystens took the power of 'birth' and created Lothar, the goddess of life, endowing her with the power to control intercourse, memory, air, and the stars, and to protect elves, celestials, priests, and druids."

"The Chaos God Augustine took the power of 'Fate' and created the Annihilation God Clements, endowing him with the power to control souls, death, black mist, and the afterlife, and to protect the undead, liches, zombies, and summoners."

"Subsequently, they 'created' the god of inspiration, Veridodo, who controls thought and wisdom; the god of reincarnation, Möbius, who controls the gaps in time and space; and the god of the unknown, who controls mystery. They also set up the idea that they were irreconcilable enemies, giving them false memories, hatred, and bonds, causing them to fight each other, thus foreshadowing the War of Eden."

"The five 'false gods' that were created are called 'second-level gods.' In order to expand their respective powers, they imitated the actions of the three true gods and created more than a dozen lower gods, called 'third-level gods'..."

“Lotasha took life and created the angel of nature, Tiffany, and the angel of harvest, Candice; Clements took death and created the demon of disaster, Pero, and the demon of plague, Alexia; Veridodo took wisdom and created the angel of wisdom, Daya, and the demon of cunning, Evelyn; Mobius took space and created the goddess of contracts, Nalandos, and the goddess of trade, Yuri; the god of the unknown took mystery and created the angel of love, Lav, and the angel of luck, Laura…”

"—They commanded 'life' to hate 'death,' made 'covenant' and 'trade' eternal allies, made 'love' fall in love with 'luck,' and made 'disaster' hate 'plague'..."

"First-level gods, second-level gods, third-level gods—the difference between them is not actually the strength of their divine power, but rather [who created whom, who set whom in this endless 'chain of creation']."

"Thus, there were hatred, conflict, alliance, betrayal, division, love, and fusion among various gods and demons throughout four entire eras."

"In the War of Independence, the confrontation between the God of Inspiration and the Angel of Wisdom was a script designed by the God of Inspiration from the very beginning. In the War of Eden, the hatred between the Goddess of Life and the God of Annihilation, the battle between order and chaos, and the annihilation of countless races were also developments designed by the three true gods..."

"In order to make this civilization seem 'grand and sophisticated' and create a grand backdrop of 'the rise of many gods,' Rovasa was actually supposed to have only 'three true gods'... Compared to 'twenty-seven gods,' it's not that epic at all. The number twenty-seven was just added to make it sound grander, more sacred, and more magnificent."

"In the end, the so-called myths are not so sacred at all; they are just a high-dimensional means to deal with the law of entropy increase in the universe. However, these gods have done too much of it, which is as bad as overdoing it."

Su Ming'an was stunned.

Standing in this quiet space, he glimpsed for the first time the emptiness and mockery behind "god." The sword spirit's words were like a cold scalpel, dissecting everything that people knew... prayers, faith, epics, miracles, layer by layer, revealing a dizzying emptiness.

The deepest mysteries of the universe are always fraught with temptation and danger. When people learn truths beyond their comprehension, they experience a sense of utter devastation. In this story, humanity's existence is as insignificant as an ant.

They were merely chasing after a phantom of a god, believing themselves to be the entirety of the epic, and sincerely praising the concepts represented by the deity. Whether it was wisdom, life, inspiration, the spirit of covenant, nature conservation, war, love, luck, a successful voyage, favorable weather, or anything else, they offered themselves with utter devotion.

The first-level god designed the second-level god.

The second-level god designed the third-level god.

"Have you ever heard of the Seven Deadly Sins?" the sword spirit asked.

"The original three gods (first-level gods) established the 'Seven Deadly Sins' for the five 'false gods' (second-level gods) and the fifteen 'false gods created by the false gods' (third-level gods) to create a complex epic."

"The sin of pride bestowed upon Lotasha, the goddess of life."

"The sin of sloth is bestowed upon Clementus, the god of obliteration."

"Imbue the War Angel Kenneth with the sin of [Wrath]."

"Imbued the sea angel Nagasha with the sin of envy."

“The sin of greed was bestowed upon Yuri, the god of trade.”

"Imbue the calamity demon Perlo with the sin of Gluttony."

"Imbue the cunning demon Evelyn with the sin of [Lust]."

"Gods who possess these sins, no matter how sacred and noble their outer shell, are still human at their core. They inevitably have desires, conflicts, and weaknesses, which makes the stage even more exciting—thus, the arrogant goddess of life despises the human prince who is in love with her; the lazy god of death willingly dies at the hands of a human; Nagasha kills countless people to compete for a supporting role; Kennini stirs up wars everywhere; Yuri makes a deal with the sober ones for money, introducing the Rovasa no-guarantee gacha system to trap players; Perlo is betrayed by his own son because of his heavy drinking, leading to the dramatic end of the War of Eden; Evelyn's lust... hehe, you should have seen it."

Su Ming'an closed his eyes.

Ignoring the sword spirit's strange final words, he truly sensed that the world seemed to be sliced ​​into tiny cross-sections before him. Everything high above suddenly became something at his fingertips.

Humans are human because they have sin and desire.

If God has human sin and desires, then what is God?

Defined by the monk Evagrius Ponticus and proposed by St. Thomas Aquinas, the Seven Deadly Sins are a classification of human vices in Christian doctrine.

But how could the "gods" be given the seven deadly sins of "humans"?

The Fall of God, the War of Independence, the War of Eden, the Alliance of Gods, the Death of the Devil, the Sin of the Twin Sisters, the Disaster of the Sea... These epics and conflicts between gods that people talk about are simply because the sins and desires of "human beings" were created by the gods, making this civilization rich and colorful.

Humans cannot truly imagine what gods look like. Like a prisoner describing the sky beyond the high walls, Zeus's passion and irritability, Odin's wisdom and cunning, Athena's gentleness and tenacity, none of them can escape the underlying human nature.

Using oneself as a yardstick, one measures the immeasurable. Incomprehensible forces are molded into characters of the story. Hats are placed on them, masks are put on them, human clothes are draped over them, human shoes are clothed on them—and they are named "Gods."

Upon seeing thunder, people imagine a fierce deity who wields it; knowing life and death, they conceive of two opposing gods: "life" and "death." Furthermore, they imagine the desire to live and the fear of death as a war between these two gods.

If God cannot be defined by humans, can God be defined by God?

In the truth about Rovasa, this seems to be a reality that has already occurred. Those in power define those in lower positions according to their own interests. Is a god defined in this way still free in terms of "divinity"? Or is it merely an attribute prescribed by a more powerful force?

Moreover, there is a paradox here.

Su Ming'an quickly noticed a problem and slowly said:

"If the 'true gods' Klitschko, Augustine, and Isabelle can define other gods, then who defines these 'true gods'?"

"Feeling desperate?" The sword spirit raised an eyebrow. "The Lord of Dreams you are pursuing may very well be a true being beyond the reach of gods and humans. He may even surpass true deities like the Radiant Mother Goddess, and the Lord of the End of All Things and the Supreme Lord as you know them."

"No, I just find it interesting." Su Ming'an laughed after hearing this.

"The most interesting thing is that the sum of the three original gods, the five false gods, and the fifteen false gods should have been twenty-three. However, the number of the Rovasa gods was twenty-seven."

"Moreover, according to what I've learned, Lotasha claims that she was written by Si Que. I don't know who is right, but it shows that the truth is not singular."

"There are also gods who exist outside the system. For example, Casadia, the Lord of Lies, and Skatalia, the Omnic God."

"In this way, I also fully understand the [Sun of God's Fall]."

"[The gods feared the potential of the Omnic God, fearing His ascension to a first-order god, and thus attacked Him en masse, splitting Him into the Internet God and the Steam God.] This history, in other words, is: [The gods within the narrative system feared the outsider, the Omnic God Dawn System, replacing the three supreme writers, and therefore forcibly targeted Him.]"

"Human beings pray to the 'Goddess of Life' for fertility, which is essentially an expression of reverence and praise for the propagation of life; humans follow the precepts of the 'God of Contracts,' which is essentially an expression of integrity in maintaining social cooperation; I never regard human desire as Cupid's blessing, but rather as a product of people's hearts, which, even if controlled by the secretion of dopamine and oxytocin, is still the human body's own."

His toes spun half a circle, his eyes showing no confusion:

"Even the epic conflicts sparked by the Seven Deadly Sins still represent courage, sacrifice, and love in the eyes of humanity. This is why so many historians like Rovasa are willing to dedicate their lives to frantically exploring these historical facts from fragments of historical records, following in the footsteps of their predecessors. Countless bards are willing to compose poems and dedicate their lives to their legacy. Even ordinary people, like Lin Hejin, have quoted many words, allusions, and legends of deities in their poems. Could this also be seen as 'gods' being used by 'humans'?"

"—Even if it was a false story that was originally set up by the three gods?" the sword spirit asked.

Su Ming'an smiled and answered without hesitation:

Even if it's a fabricated story.

"It is also a true epic."

The story of God may be fictional, but by defining God, humans define themselves.

The "Creators" of Rovassa created for the sake of brilliance, and this brilliance was created so that the vast majority of life on the entire planet and in the entire civilization could survive.

“From this cunning perspective—” Su Ming’an said firmly, his expression calm, showing no doubt about his words:

"—'God' is clearly there to serve these 'people'. He serves the vast majority of life that exists on this planet."

"Therefore, the gods love, embrace, kiss, hate, betray, fight, kill gods or be killed... Regardless of their own thoughts or willingness, they essentially protect this civilization from the rules of destruction. And the most important life within this civilization is human. Here, 'human' refers to all races."

"I still hold the human-centered view that the majority of lives are the masters of this civilization. This applies to Rovasa as well as Zhai Xing."

The golden space was extremely quiet.

The sword spirit stared at Su Ming'an in surprise, even the weariness in its eyes faded a little.

"Hehe..." After a long while, it laughed, seemingly incredulous, yet also as if it understood. "You yourself are the most prominent figure in this civilization, the protagonist who is the center of attention, yet you believe that the majority of people, as insignificant as dust, are the true masters?"

“Because gods are willing to die for these lives,” Su Ming’an said calmly.

……

"—Me too."

……

"Drip!"

"Vroom—" A deep engine roared as several heavily armored vehicles charged out, crashing into the wave of mutants like steel behemoths, tearing open several bloody passages.

"Haha! This is the real deal, it's awesome!" The tall, burly player Xining laughed, swerving the steering wheel and crushing the tide of blood. "Charge! Charge! Protect Su Ming'an on the platform!!!"

"Protect Su Ming'an! Prioritize eliminating the units that are most aggressive against the Black Wings!" Krish raised his whip, his expression stern, and held a chain that looked like a giant python, sweeping across all directions.

The golden flames flowing from the holy sword, the multicolored attacks of the players, the golden light of the mutated beings, the flames of explosions, the dark red of blood...

Dust and blood mist lingered, making the entire square resemble a broken kaleidoscope. The situation was already so chaotic, yet the two key figures—Pope Huichi and Imperial Tutor Huibi—had yet to arrive.

As Lü Shu gradually succumbed to his weakness, and the mutated beings were about to completely engulf the isolated island—

"Crack...crack..."

A faint sound came from the young man in the wheelchair.

A crown materialized on his forehead, its base a dark gold shimmering with mithril, lightly adorned with pure white feathers. A fur robe cascaded from his shoulders, its color a blood-red hue, as if soaked in the blood and fire of countless years.

Dust and blood mist surged around him, yet seemed to be separated by an invisible boundary. All the chaotic colors and sounds that touched him within a foot of his body turned into a still background.

He opened his eyes.

Deep within the dark pupils, Lu Shu's blood-stained profile was reflected, along with the mutated fanatics surging in like a tide beyond the wings.

Then, the reflection in his eyes ignited.

Like the phantom of a sword, carrying endless evil, it rose in his eyes.

“That’s fine,” he said.

He raised his silver-threaded hand and clenched it.

The instant the fingers gripped the hilt of the sword—

"Om-"

Centered on him, a golden halo suddenly expanded!

Like a dormant volcano awakening, the rising sun leaps over the horizon and roars outwards!

"laugh--!!!"

Wherever the light barrier passed, all hands, eyes, and limbs were swept away, like snow meeting the blazing sun or butter meeting a raging fire. The clouds parted, the fog cleared, and all the chaos vanished!

The players' skill effects all dimmed, the flying fireballs and frost vanished silently, leaving only the stillness after the storm. They stared in awe at the radiant platform, where, under the blazing sunlight, a slender, long shadow rose to its feet.

The black-haired youth, gripping his sword, stood up from his wheelchair.

The white feathers of his crown moved without wind, shimmering with a soft glow. The blood-red trim on his fur robe seemed to come alive under the light, making his figure appear as upright as a pine tree.

His hair flew backward amidst the raging energy turbulence, but his crown remained as steady as a rock. He raised his sword and swung it!

A line.

A black line, seemingly devouring all light, extended from the tip of the sword and silently swept across the scene before our eyes.

Where the black line passes—

The cascading golden light broke in half, the fracture as smooth as a mirror.

The frantically rushing eyeballs and palms were neatly sliced ​​in half, like grease cut by a hot knife.

Countless figures vanished, like melted butter.

"Buzz—!!!!!"

The world was like shattered glass, suddenly covered with countless spiderweb-like cracks! The stars dimmed, the sunlight distorted, and the air groaned under the weight of the storm!

Countless pale hands convulsed as they tried to cover the cracks, but to no avail.

One sword strike, and they are all gone!

"Shh-!"

The square was instantly cleared, and silence fell abruptly. Bodies fell to the ground, gradually losing their sound.

Su Ming'an lowered the tip of his sword and looked down again.

They looked up at the gods and demons in the sky, each with a different expression.

He looked at Aland, whose expression was frozen in the shadows.

He looked at the players' ecstatic expressions.

He looked at Lü Shu, who was covered in blood.

His voice rang out calmly:

The sacrificial ceremony is complete.

"The Holy Sword has awakened."

"I, Su Ming'an, am here—"

"To receive all the evil, all the hatred, all the unfulfilled wishes and the final path of this world."

"Using the name 'Su Ming'an' to actually 'wield the sword'."

"This sword—"

Su Ming'an flipped his wrist, pointing the sword at the giant eye in the sky and the faintly visible void beyond the crack.

"—When the 'gods' are slain."

……

Su Ming'an himself didn't want to say these words, feeling extremely ashamed. However, the sword spirit believed that this was an oath that had to be uttered.

Thus, the hero who slays the evil dragon, the savior shining brightly under the sky, raises his holy sword and swears to kill the god.

This scene resembles the final scene before the climax of a story.

In this epic tale adorned with flowers, the savior is about to step onto the final stage. The crowd admires his glory and praises his heroism.

When the hero raised the holy sword high, when all the fervent, awe-inspiring, fearful, and hopeful gazes were fixed on the young man standing with the sword—

Just when everyone thought this "son of the world," who had suffered discrimination, bullying, and control, was about to raise the blade of revenge against the Imperial Tutor Huibi and the Pope Huichi—

……

"—The Pope killed the Imperial Tutor!!!"

A guard covered in blood scrambled out of the palace.

……

The train of fate, which everyone had high hopes for, suddenly took a turn.

We drove towards the unexpected end of a cliff.

……