Chapter 1742: Chapter 86: What Are Sinners?
Yamada Machiichi opened his eyes.
The fear of being pierced by Mizushima Haru still lingered. Yamada Machiichi quickly touched his chest, feeling a cold emptiness where his heart should be. His heart was shattered, lodged in his chest. Yet, miraculously, he was still breathing.
He found himself lying among a group of players. Before his eyes was a hazy sky, like a painted firmament, with colorful hair and eyes. Dozens of white cranes flapped their wings, desperately flying them forward. As Yamada Machiichi opened his eyes, numerous gazes immediately turned toward him.
"Yamada’s awake!" Cynthia exclaimed with joy.
"Thank goodness Tiantian is okay." Flora smiled.
"How are you feeling?" Wei Yaxin asked with concern.
"Awake? Our Host." Qin Chunyao turned back, her eyes flickering, "Your heart was pierced, and Flora used the ’Combat Continuation’ skill on you, but you can only live for fifteen minutes. You’ve been unconscious for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. We’ll find the healing series player Miu Wen within ten minutes to keep you alive."
...Ten minutes?
Yamada Machiichi quickly glanced at his watch. 23:46...
It’s been a long time since he left the Creator Conference stage! A drama, with the Host gone for so long, the curtain would become increasingly thin... until it completely collapsed!
"Mizushima Haru... Where is Mizushima Haru?" Yamada Machiichi croaked.
"Mizushima Haru? Wasn’t she already dead in White Sand Paradise?" Qin Chunyao asked, confused. When they arrived at the scene, only Yamada Machiichi was left dying.
This damned fellow... did they escape? No matter if it’s her or not, right now he must go back... go back!
"No need to find Miu Wen! I want to go back..."
"Go back where?"
"Creator Conference..." Yamada Machiichi coughed up blood, "Host... Host!"
"You’re crazy! You have ten minutes before you die, don’t you know? You’re going back as Host, how will you receive healing? You were supposed to be dead, now you must be taken to find the healing group!" Flora immediately opposed.
"How much longer until Su Ming’an defeats Radiant Mother God!?" Yamada Machiichi asked directly.
"According to the situation from the barrage, about ten minutes..."
"Send me back! The curtain can’t last ten minutes, unless I go back!" Yamada Machiichi grabbed Flora’s sleeve, "I’m a player! Players can resurrect...! If I die in the Creator Conference in ten minutes, Su Ming’an’s side would also be almost done... We can’t waste time here! At worst, I start again!"
Flora’s eyes sparkled, she looked at Yamada Machiichi in a daze.
Daring to sacrifice everything and start again, becoming an ordinary person who lives, ages, and dies... it’s not something a normal person can do.
"What?" Yamada Machiichi smiled bitterly, "Don’t look at me like that, I’m afraid Su Ming’an’s side will fail, and we’ll all end up doomed! I go back to help, at least after resurrecting I’ll be able to survive!"
This is the truth from his heart, he truly fears death. Instead of everyone ending with no chance of rebirth, it’s better that he dies once, so he can live afterward.
"...Have you ever thought that High Dimensions might have a way to kill souls?" Erwin rasped softly.
A moment of silence fell over the white crane.
Dozens of players turned their heads. Erwin, Cyrus, Kristin, Wei Yaxin, Cynthia, Qin Chunyao, Flora... different hair colors, different eye colors, all reflected in Yamada Machiichi’s fatigued eyes. He blinked his lashes, and a drop of blood fell from the corner of his eye.
The cold wind at high altitude blew through their hair, everyone’s eyes were tired, suffused with blood threads, staring directly at their only Host — who had a gaping hole in his chest, a shattered heart, wearing a colorful clown wig.
The clown’s red nose had long disappeared, leaving only green and red face paint, mixing with sweat, rain, tears, and blood... making his features blur, only the faintly trembling lips visible, showing a hint of pallor, stained with cheap lipstick, like a spilled palette.
He looked back at these complexly emotional eyes, seeing the longing for home, seeing the desire to survive...
Returning, returning to the Creator Conference, stepping again onto the stage watched by all, becoming the host. This means once more facing all the dangers and traps. Not only from assistants like Bairan, but real High Dimensions.
Ten minutes... can they really endure for ten minutes?
Yamada Machiichi won’t force them to face death with him. He knows he must die, but these people are different.
He raised his head, the colorful clown headpiece almost hiding his lashes, blood flowing down from his eyes, and his pale lips trembled —
"I want to return."
He uttered the words.
The white crane paused slightly.
People looked to the sky, the "curtain" covering the entire firmament had begun to thin, no matter how Bei Wang and Laine maintained it, the drama had to end prematurely, the Host’s disappearance broke the logic.
Looking at Yamada Machiichi’s eyes, Flora realized he was serious. This guy, who often wore a smile, meant it.
He was mentally prepared and had thought through the possible consequences. But he had also given the choice to these players riding the immortal crane. If they didn’t want to go back and face the most dangerous battle... the weakened Yamada Machiichi couldn’t force them.
Therefore, he said "I want to return," instead of "I must return."
The "clown" covered in smeared face paint trembled with cold, his clothes wet and sticky on him, he gazed silently at the people, waiting for their decision.
—This time, moving "forward" means survival, "returning" instead means death.
Forward, or backward?
This seemed like an eternal question.
Once, it was Su Ming’an facing Su Liujin’s invitation to make a decision, moving forward or returning. Later, it was Violet and the group inside the Source Point deciding whether to risk entering danger or return home with honor. Subsequently, it was Wang Xingkong facing his own life and death to make a choice, staying at the door or returning. Finally, it is here, Yamada Machiichi and the others deciding whether to move peacefully towards tomorrow, or return to danger.
The path lay here, how the traveler walks, the golden leaves on both sides silent, not uttering a word, waiting silently.
Then, the first response—
"Return."
It was Flora.
She didn’t even meet Yamada Machiichi’s eyes, didn’t hesitate, she had decided her answer the moment he spoke.
The tall and slender female mage Flora raised her Elemental Staff, her star-purple robes fluttering, raising her hand high as if she were a waving flag, standing atop a white crane with spread wings, full of heroic spirit.
The red rain soaked her meticulously groomed curly hair, and her beautiful face. She turned around, her misty gaze looking in a direction completely opposite to their advance—the Creator Conference.
Then came a second, third, and fourth voice.
"Turn back!"
On other white cranes, the players all shouted their decisions.
"—Turn back!"
"—Turn back!"
"—Turn back!"
The loud shouts passed on one after another, and dozens of white cranes turned in unison, their wings flapping, white feathers flying.
The first, second, and third cranes... from front to back, from left to right, the well-trained white cranes turned in succession, like a vast reverse avalanche of snow.
First, the captain leading the cranes made the decision, and then the team members made their decisions. One by one, the cranes that were originally flying forward turned, their wings drawing graceful arcs. Like rows of turning aircraft formations.
Perhaps some were driven by passion, some by conformity, but regardless, such voices shouted again and again... spreading through the white crane group.
"Whoosh—whoosh—" The white feathers fluttered, and people changed course one after another.
Yamada Machiichi watched them with his eyes.
Flora pressed her lips tightly, looking down at the map to confirm the retreat route.
The always gloomy undead mage Erwin nodded slightly to Yamada Machiichi, with his staff charging.
The tall and robust man Cyrus wiped the blood and rain from his face fiercely, slowly putting on the iron gauntlets, preparing for battle.
The players who were originally resting on the white cranes slowly took out their weapons and shields. Wei Yaxin, Cynthia, Qin Chunyao... Faces with lingering combat grime and fatigue, eyes bloodshot, lips chapped.
They were originally here to escort Yamada Machiichi away; now, they would send him back.
Yamada Machiichi was not the protagonist, not even an "important supporting role" in Luowasha’s judgment. But when he stepped onto the Creator Conference, becoming the host, the logic for the play’s continuation was in his living.
Yamada Machiichi thought he was used to covering up his real emotions with humor and sarcasm. But before these people, battered yet resolutely choosing to turn around, he felt like crying.
It turns out... being watched like this, being recognized like this, being entrusted like this, feels like this.
The group of white cranes completed their turn, like a reverse meteor shower, skimming across the red rain-stained sky curtain, charging heedlessly back the way they came.
The red rain poured, the white cranes flew in reverse.
Under the blood-red firmament, the ones embracing death and their companions rushed toward the high platform.
The young man with chestnut hair fluttering looked into the distance.
In his chest, a broken heart quietly beat.
...
["What do you think a sinner is?"]
[Amidst the turbulent black water, a silver-white sparrow gazed at the purple figure opposite.]
["They do what ordinary people cannot, becoming what ordinary people cannot," the figure said.]
["The same as a saint?"]
["Quite the opposite of a saint. A saint walks the path no one dares to, facing the abyss as they go. Sinners walk the same path as everyone else, avoid the abyss when they see it, put up fences prettifying peace, and are even happy to wall off the abyss."]
["So, those who go with the flow, protect themselves, or even collude with evil, are sinners?"]
["Sinners anchor themselves on a path requiring the least thought. This path is often defined by society’s ’common sense,’ ’rules,’ or ’majority interest.’ They find peace therein, uphold it as a guiding principle, and judge all saints who depart from that path, labeling them as obsessive, mad, sinful."]
["Therefore, a sinner isn’t necessarily a notorious villain. They might be the most dutiful officials maintaining world order; loving parents pruning a child’s wings to ensure they blend in; or the devout believer burning heretical books in the name of God... They might even truly believe in their hearts that they’re doing good and fulfilling responsibilities."]
[The silver-white sparrow fell silent for a moment, the black water silently churning: "So to speak, sinners are everywhere, saints a solitary star."]
...
Inside the Source.
Purple-black gas frantically overflowed, enveloping Su Ming’an into an airtight cocoon. His consciousness engaged in a tug-of-war with the residual consciousness of Demon Mother Goddess Isabel.
—Yi Song’s "Lock" trapped Isabel following the inverted causality, yet the foundation of a First Level God is extraordinary. Even though Yi Song deceived the Awakener once, Isabel’s consciousness still lingered, remaining clear despite being absorbed by "Devour".
(Child, my child...) Her beguiling voice echoed, (To become one with me is something I’ve always longed for. I shall become the most deadly ’poison’ in your bone marrow, coexisting with you until you too belong to me...)
Once, the Inorganic God devoured Su Ming’an but was countered. Now as Su Ming’an devours Isabel, she still harbors the thought of countering.
—With Su Ming’an’s current state attempting to devour her, who ultimately opens their eyes is uncertain. She is eager to take over this body with infinite potential, to wield his unmatched two Authority in his stead and continue living.
"Shut up." Su Ming’an wouldn’t give her this chance.
Mother Goddess, true to Her name, even though Yi Song died before Her very eyes, She was merely angry for a moment before quickly forgetting it like mayflies. The inherently different essence of love and hate in life couldn’t stir even a ripple.
Without the "Devour" Authority, advancing purely by "eating" would be utterly impossible. Acquiring this Authority was like wings to the swift-growing Number One Player, with no one more suitable than him.
He closed his eyes and ears, refusing to listen to Her temptations.
White tendrils frantically spread from within him, and he gradually transformed in a certain direction... stepping step by step into the realm of "High Dimensions".
...
