Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Finale
After changing his name, Duan Fei felt like his body was on fire.
Even with the game’s pain sensitivity greatly reduced, Duan Fei still felt a searing pain.
This was the result of trapping an Evil God within a mortal body.
Thankfully, Duan Fei had a special card: Contempt for the False God.
This card reduced the Evil God’s influence on him, but it still left Duan Fei in agony. Jack’s pain, however, would be several times worse—a feeling Duan Fei didn’t even dare to imagine.
Activating his Spiritual Armor, Duan Fei felt his Spiritual Power surge once more. The bonus Attributes from surpassing his limits boosted his Spirit to four times that of a normal person and his other Attributes to over twice the norm.
In addition, the Spiritual Armor reduced the damage he took, allowing him to withstand the Evil God’s destructive flames. It also gave him enough strength to pick up a nearby ritual knife and plunge it forcefully into his own chest.
The pierced heart let out a deafening scream. Even with the Spiritual Armor acting as a buffer, Duan Fei was struck with immense fear.
On his heart, the Evil God’s face began to form. This black Evil God flew directly out of Duan Fei’s chest, gritting its teeth as it spoke. "It’s you! It’s you! This is the second time!"
"Have we met?" Duan Fei asked curiously, continuously casting Rough Healing Technique on himself to stay alive.
"We met before, at Rongge Company! You damned crawler! You tricked me with unnatural power back then, you sewer-dwelling cockroach!"
"So your worldviews are connected after all! It turns out you’re the Evil God I scared off back then! No wonder you have such bad taste!"
"Shut up! My failure almost got me killed by the Great Evil God! I finally managed to revive here, only to run into you again! This time, I won’t let you die so easily. I will..."
"Uh, I know this might sound like I’m stalling for time, but I still think you should take a look out the window."
The black heart turned around in confusion and saw the most terrifying sight imaginable.
The morning sun had arrived. The first ray of light pierced through the Mist of Xuanxiao Mountain like a sharp sword, causing the Mist to dissipate.
Failing to capture all the sacrifices before dawn—this grave error made the Evil God shudder from the depths of its soul.
Bathed in that ray of sunlight, the black heart erupted in a bloodcurdling scream. The face on its surface twisted and contorted, trying several times to break free and escape, but it couldn’t. In the end, it was incinerated by the sunlight, fading into nothingness.
Picking up the heart that had fallen to the floor, Duan Fei turned to Jack Rabbit and asked seriously, "Do you think we can still use this thing if we wash it?"
"I think so. I’m not sure," said Jack Rabbit. "Besides, you’re disappearing."
Looking down, Duan Fei saw his legs slowly starting to fade.
The Evil God was finished, which meant the dungeon instance was coming to an end.
Knowing he was about to leave, Duan Fei looked at Jack, wanting to say something but not knowing what.
It wasn’t until only his head remained that he said seriously, "Goodbye, friend."
"Goodbye."
After Duan Fei had completely vanished, he found himself once again in a white room.
The others had already arrived in the white room ahead of him and were waiting for him to rejoin the team.
Little Fatty shared some of his snacks and said to Duan Fei, "Brother Duan is mighty! Brother Duan is awesome! With Brother Duan around, even getting to the white room doesn’t seem so special anymore. Hey, you antisocial freak over there, aren’t you going to come over and thank my Brother Duan?"
The Lone Ranger shot Little Fatty a cold glance and said in a low voice, "Next time, I’ll definitely kill you."
In the white room, players couldn’t attack each other. This was a special rule of the space.
After all, this room was a reward triggered by making an outstanding contribution in a dungeon and achieving a perfect ending.
If players could attack each other, those with grudges might be too busy guarding against their rivals to properly enjoy this moment, which would go against the developers’ original intent.
Because of this, Little Fatty became especially arrogant.
After thoroughly provoking the Lone Ranger, he saw the walls begin to turn transparent and finally quieted down, sitting with Duan Fei to watch the show.
But almost immediately, a cold glare from Jinghong sent him scurrying into a corner.
He didn’t know why, but provoking the Lone Ranger didn’t feel like a big deal. The worst that could happen was getting killed by him a few more times in the game.
But when he provoked Jinghong, he felt like she could actually track him down through the internet and tear him to pieces.
On the walls, the follow-up story began to play.
With the Evil God gone, all of Xuanxiao Mountain returned to normal.
Everyone awoke from their madness, their memories of the past few days completely gone.
Except for a few who were surprised to find that more than half the snacks and drinks in their shop were gone, and that they had somehow gotten married—to their own dog.
’What a score!’
The otaku Jack also returned to his old life. Other than his name changing to Jack Rabbit, his life didn’t seem to have changed in any special way.
He still went home after his part-time job every day. His notebook had been torn to shreds, but he had already decided to write a new one.
With the help of a new friend.
Strangely enough, the horror movie protagonists and urban legends summoned by the Evil God had all vanished after its temporary defeat, but this new friend hadn’t left.
The man had a sickly appearance, his facial skin old and sagging, but his eyes were bright and wise.
He called himself Saw, a being who had made a pact with a Descender and gained freedom through the power of that pact.
According to Saw, his current Race was not human, but Pseudo-man.
Saw looked no different from a human, but the people around them couldn’t see him. This made Jack Rabbit feel as if the man were just a figment of his imagination, a presence meant to remind him of what he had been through.
"This world is teeming with countless Pseudo-men, and they all feed on humans," Saw explained. "I feed on humans too, but I’m special. I feed on your Spirit."
"My Spirit?" Jack Rabbit asked, confused. "Is it special?"
"You just haven’t noticed it yourself, but the strength of your Spirit is extraordinary. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have become a vessel for the Evil God. If you’re willing, I will help you develop your potential and guide you, step by step, to become a special being."
"...You don’t really seem like Saw to me."
"Although I was born from *Saw*, I am not entirely him. I have merged with a part of the Evil God itself and some chaotic thoughts. You could say I’m a special version of Saw."
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"Don’t trust. Use reason to verify. You need to remain skeptical of me at all times, until you have gathered enough evidence to accept me. This is the first lesson I will teach you, my friend."
"Just because you called me ’friend,’ I’ve decided to trust you!"
"...Then the second lesson is: don’t be so quick to trust those who call themselves your friend."
"Okay, friend!"
"...Sigh. Come on, let’s just start the training."
「Game Dungeon, "Night of Horror Movies," Fin.」
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