Chapter 15: Pride And The Saviour

In the dead of night, countless people were jolted awake by this sudden notification sound.

Upon reading the content, they were instantly covered in cold sweat.

The nightmare had swept back.

It lurked in the darkness, sneering at their naivety.

All players realized one thing—the game wasn’t over.

It had simply returned to them in a different form.

Young men screamed awake from nightmares.

Girls had to face reality, hugging their knees and crying.

Elderly people’s hands trembled.

And there were even a very few players who showed surprise and delight…

Some felt fear, while others applauded its return.

Countless people opened their phones and computers to search for the Land of Desire Amusement Park.

They knew nothing about it.

This had all happened too suddenly.

“New players??”

“What is this?!”

Unlike the former group, who thought they had escaped the game’s clutches only to tragically return, the latter group didn’t even know what the Land of Desire Amusement Park was, becoming fresh blood for the game.

The night breeze blew through the curtains on the unclosed window.

The dark green gossamer fabric slid across the floor.

Cold moonlight and frigid frost poured into the room together.

Xiao Zhang was hit by the wind and sneezed.

Then, his gaze shifted to the air in surprise, because something had materialized there out of nowhere.

“Land of Desire…

Amusement Park?”

Xiao Zhang’s voice trembled as he stared into the air, muttering the words.

“Congratulations, Mr. Zhang.

You have been selected as a third-wave player to join the game.

‘Here, there are unspeakable things, horrifying and deranged people, and mysterious, unsolvable events.

Here, you can achieve glory, realize your ambitions, and be reborn from reality—but the prerequisite is: survive.’ ”

Panic filled his limbs.

His expression became incredibly stiff.

“What is this?

Teacher Ziyu, are you trying to scare me?”

Xiao Zhang let out a dry laugh.

But this forced laughter echoed in the silent villa for a few seconds.

With no one to echo it, it eventually faded away.

Only then did he notice that Yu Ziyu had been silent all along.

His delicate face was cold as stone, as if he were thinking about something.

This demeanor was too terrifying.

Xiao Zhang fell silent.

Despite his intense confusion and panic, he didn’t dare disturb him.

“…”

Yu Ziyu had no time to care about what others were thinking.

Nor did he care what this so-called new map in the game was about.

The only thing he cared about was his current identity.

His fingers traced in the air.

With a cold face, he pulled up his character panel.

Sure enough, he saw that they had also lit up again.

Now, beneath this, a long passage of bleeding red text had appeared.

[Character Identity One:

You are the boss of the seventh floor, Pride, master of the Land of Desire Amusement Park.

All monsters are your loyal servants.

Most honored master, don’t you want to hold a grotesque show in the real world to announce your existence to the world?

Your descent will infect more subjects and bring new vitality to the kingdom.]

[Panel data details have been folded]

[Limited-time mission: Hold a grand gathering of monsters in the real world (Time remaining – Unknown) (Reward points: 1000)]

[Character Identity Two:

You are the chosen savior, the human rumored to be able to end all supernatural forces.

People will cheer for your birth and look to you as their leader.

What could reassure all humanity more than manifesting your existence?

Your declaration will influence the development of the world line and provide new possibilities.]

[Panel data details have been folded]

[Limited-time mission: Announce to the world that you possess the power to rival Pride (Time remaining – 7×24:00) (Reward points: 1000)]

[Hidden mission triggered:

Pride and the savior must fight to the death.

This is the style of a proper fairy tale and perfectly fits the positioning of the Land of Desire Amusement Park game.

Therefore, struggle with your fated enemy and kill each other, for you are destined to lead one side to victory!

Darkness or light, it all ultimately depends on your choice.

(Time remaining – Unknown) (Reward points: 10000)]

Yu Ziyu: “…”

He said expressionlessly, “So, what you’re saying is, wouldn’t it be faster for me to just kill myself?”

“…”

Ten thousand points.

That would be enough to empty out all the items from all dimensions in the points exchange mall.

Included in there was something he had wanted for a long time—a cancellation item that could erase his identity as a character in hell.

Exactly ten thousand points.

But the crucial thing was, the game now determined both the “Dark Lord” and the “Savior” as one person—himself.

What could be funnier than this?

When it came down to it, it was all that guy Lou Chen’s fault.

Why did he think he was the savior?

Just because this stupid damn game recognized him as the savior?

He thought of himself as an ordinary person too, so why didn’t the game obediently remove him from this whole mess?

Yu Ziyu thought irritably, he shouldn’t have gotten involved with him in the first place.

He could have cleared the Land of Desire Amusement Park with someone else.

Lou Chen wasn’t his only choice back then.

Now he had become the most annoying root cause…

However, he knew this was just misplaced anger.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Xiao Zhang noticed that his expression had changed from icy to merely cold.

That terrifying, eerie aura had disappeared.

“What did you want to ask earlier?”

Xiao Zhang swallowed his saliva, frustrated.

“I originally wanted to ask about that apartment where the body was bricked into the wall—did it really crawl out?

Because I don’t remember exactly how things unfolded, and you were there, Teacher Ziyu…

But now, I don’t think any of that matters anymore!!”

“What the hell is the Land of Desire Amusement Park?!”

“A game.”

Yu Ziyu tapped his fingers on the desktop.

His gaze fell on the email.

A line of text he had initially overlooked flashed across his eyes.

—Due to various reasons, I regret being unable to attend the Jealousy ritual in person, but I will wait and look forward to meeting you in a brand new world.

His movement paused.

He narrowed his eyes.

This guy… did he know this was going to happen?

“Game…”

Hearing this, Yu Ziyu said casually, “Also a ‘home’.”

What?

Xiao Zhang was stunned.

What did he mean by home?

He looked at Yu Ziyu in confusion, but the other clearly had no interest in explaining.

Instead, he stood up.

His slender figure walked towards the window.

His long fingers parted the dark green curtains.

The night wind lifted his black hair.

His dark, deep eyes gazed out the window.

A glimmer of scarlet light flashed in his eyes.

At that moment, Xiao Zhang felt as if an inhuman aura seemed to linger around him.

“Did something happen…”

“Don’t talk.”

Yu Ziyu coldly interrupted him.

[X] slithered up along the wide sleeve of his windbreaker.

Its dark green form wove between the expensive, exquisite fabric, creating soft wrinkles.

Finally, it tightly coiled around his body.

The snake head came to rest on Yu Ziyu’s shoulder.

Its cold scales slowly rubbed against his cheek.

Xiao Zhang covered his mouth and quickly nodded, indicating he would be obedient.

“BANG BANG BANG——!”

The next moment, a violent knocking sound erupted like a storm.

It made the door shake helplessly like a leaf adrift on water.

Xiao Zhang looked over in panic. “Wh-who’s coming?”

Yu Ziyu gave him a pitying look.

His agent, already in a state of shock, was clearly no longer fit for mental work.

“Who do you think would hike up a mountain in the dead of night, walk to the only villa with its lights off in this desolate wilderness, and knock on the door with the intent to break it down?”

“Uh, Captain Lou Chen?”

Xiao Zhang racked his brains.

“…You’re a genius,” Yu Ziyu paused strangely.

After a moment, he said, “Suddenly, I think what you said might also make sense.”

Xiao Zhang felt a bit flattered. “Really?”

“Really what.”

Yu Ziyu gave him a cold look. “Can’t you tell that was sarcasm?

If you’re not using your brain, you can donate it to someone who needs it.”

Suddenly hit with this retort, Xiao Zhang was instantly: “…………”

Although they had worked together for a long time, he still couldn’t get used to his photographer’s unpredictable personality.

Given that he might be a wizard—like in the Harry Potter novels, Yu Ziyu loved dark green, so he must be a Slytherin.

Or, thinking positively, a dark wizard—having a bit of a temper was normal.

“Can you stop your wild thoughts?

If you want to be fired right now, be my guest.”

“Then what’s… outside the door?”

“You know the answer.”

Yu Ziyu said.

Xiao Zhang was stunned: “…”

Indeed, deep down he knew.

Although initially it was just a vague thought…

But in such a gloomy villa, in a dimly lit living room, those terrifying thoughts bred like a virus, impossible to eradicate.

He became more and more certain, and could no longer escape a fact—supernatural forces truly did exist in this world.

That thing knocking outside the door… in any case, it was definitely not human.

“Why… has it come here?”

Yu Ziyu could sense what they were thinking.

The door was already cracking under the impact.

Eerie screeches pierced through the spider-web-like cracks.

They were mindless, yet desperately trying to enter this villa.

Their only goal was to take the life of the human “savior” inside.

To offer victory to the master they served.

Hoping that Pride would be pleased.

“Because of me.”

After a long moment, Yu Ziyu said gloomily.