Chapter 61: Night Falls

Mo Tan's current state of mind was hard to describe. He was equally panicked, lost, and at a loss for what to do, yet time was running out. The insurmountable strength of Banny was obvious to all. No matter how much Salazar delayed, he could not erase the absolute gap in power between the two. The threat of death had never vanished; temporarily slowing down only made it all the more terrifying.

If Ned had not spoken those words earlier, perhaps Mo Tan would have chosen to stay behind like Yiye and face the situation together with him. But upon learning that the other man wanted the intelligence detailing the Marshall family's crimes to be brought to light, he ultimately decided to choose what was 'right,' cruel though it may have been...

It was not cruelty toward the one remaining behind to die, but rather a profound cruelty toward himself.

Forcing oneself to loosen a companion's grip and depart alone often required far more courage than recklessly stepping forward.

Mo Tan actually had no idea what he should do. After all, like most of us, he was always so wavering, easily swayed by too many things. Therefore, he forced himself to put himself in someone else's shoes...

If it were himself at another moment, how would he judge the situation?

If it were himself in another state, what decision would he make?

He found his answer and hesitated no longer.

"We have to leave!" Mo Tan forcefully tugged at Yiye's slender arm, trying to restore a shred of sanity to the girl whose emotions were already spinning out of control. He had originally thought this girl would be calmer than himself, never expecting that the inner self hidden beneath the codename 'SUN' was far from being as resilient as that outer shell.

Yiye violently shook off his hand, shaking her head desperately. "I don't want to leave. I've had enough, truly. Just run..."

[I can't let this go on. I must find a way to make her leave with me, but with my current self, it's hard to persuade her in a short time. If it were me back then... if it were the me who excels at guiding or confusing others' emotions...]

Mo Tan endured a sudden wave of dizziness, trying hard to think and feel how he would act if he were in the state of one of his other personalities.

At the same time, he had to maintain his current 'self'.

Put yourself in another's shoes was not difficult, but for Mo Tan, simulating the thoughts of another version of himself was no easy task...

Furthermore, since the system judged him to be in combat, he could not forcibly log out of the game. The consequences would be even more unthinkable if he got kicked offline due to a personality switch. One had to know that players had no way to reasonably vanish in front of NPCs. Heifan's body would most likely remain in the game under system protection, much like when he used the character 'Mo'. But that kind of protection was only effective against harassment and other malicious behaviors; preventing death was utterly impossible...

Otherwise, wouldn't it be wonderful if people could just log off the moment they encountered mortal danger?

Although he had never experienced it firsthand, he could easily guess...

Therefore, he had to remain 'Heifan'. He must absolutely not log off due to a personality shift, and on top of that, he had to think using the mindset of another personality under these circumstances!

It was difficult, but not impossible. If it were himself...

If it were his most ordinary self right now, this self with practically no distinctive traits or 'personal style,' there should still be a chance!

...

Painful moments always felt exceptionally long. When the dizziness that seemed to have lasted for a very long time receded, only a few seconds at most had actually passed in the outside world.

A system prompt seemed to ring in his ears, but Mo Tan paid it no mind. He merely gave Yiye a gentle shake of his head, a mocking curve playing at the corners of his mouth.

"So you're only capable of this much..." His slightly elevated tone was filled with sympathy and grating malice: "Hypocritical, impulsive, childish, and utterly clueless. Tsk tsk, I'm almost moved to tears by this innocence~"

Yiye, however, remained completely unfazed. She indifferently pulled out two scrolls, turned around, and turned her back to him. "Say whatever you like."

"Hmph, truly noble. Is this what they call sacrificing one's life for righteousness?" Mo Tan lazily cast Heal and Sturdy Prayer on Ned and Yinna respectively, his mouth not stopping for a second as he muttered in Yiye's ear: "Yapping on about data and AIs, yet in the end, you're even worse than these guys. Or is it precisely because you consider yourself a lofty 'player' that you choose to render their deaths utterly meaningless?"

"Stop talking..." Yiye blocked her face with her sleeve, sobbing in a low voice: "Leave me alone."

"Don't flatter yourself; I have no desire to manage you." Mo Tan let out a sneer, leaning closer to Yiye and whispering: "I just find those intelligent data constructs that are dying for nothing rather pitiful. After all, even a used tissue has some value manufactured out of it these days, whereas Crab and Salazar—oh, and Ned and the others who decided to stay here and wait for death—have been reduced to absolute meaninglessness by you."

Yiye spun around abruptly, staring at Mo Tan with red-rimmed eyes, her voice somewhat hoarse: "Their existence is not mean—"

"Their existence is utterly meaningless!" Mo Tan coldly interrupted her. "As weaklings who can be bullied at will, as data that will probably be tossed into some recycle bin upon death, as insignificant nobodies who struggled desperately yet ultimately failed to stir the slightest ripple, where is their meaning?"

He covertly made a gesture to Ned and Yinna, who were looking over, signaling them not to speak for the moment, and then continued to gaze at Yiye with an icy look.

"You leave right now, and then find that object and hand it to that whatever-chieftain!" Yiye shouted aloud, fully capable of understanding the implication behind Mo Tan's words. "Then everyone won't have died in vain!"

"Yeah, I actually planned to do just that." Mo Tan rolled his eyes, genuinely turning to walk into the distance, and laughed without looking back: "Of course, you might as well calculate for a moment and ponder what my actual survival rate is, and whether there are any other choices... that could make those sacrifices worth a little something..."

Other choices—were there any?

Merely thinking subconsciously, Yiye immediately reached a conclusion. Leaving together and then fleeing in opposite directions was the optimal choice. As long as one person could survive, without even needing to completely shake off Banny, as long as one of them could leave combat and successfully log off... then they would have succeeded...

Only in this way could Crab, Salazar, Ned, Yinna, and these data-driven, AI-driven NPCs... be made to retain some value...

...

"I'm sorry," Yiye whispered softly to Ned and the two others. "I might not be able to accompany you to the end..."

"Thank you." Ned smiled from the bottom of his heart. "Hurry and go, there isn't much time left."

...

Walking forward alone, Mo Tan heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind, finally managing a trace of weary laughter. He knew that girl had figured it out after all.

"Walk a bit further ahead, and we'll split up and run in different directions." Yiye, who had caught up to him using a speed-boosting spell, said at a rapid pace: "I'll use magic to create a large trail along the way. You move in a straight line as much as possible. If my estimations are correct, as long as we avoid attacks for about ten more minutes, we'll drop out of combat status, and we can log off immediately at that point."

Mo Tan gave an awkward chuckle and rubbed his hair. "Well, thanks a lot then. Though when it comes to leaving a trail, I can al—"

"I'm better suited for it." Yiye shook her head while lightly waving her staff to maintain the movement speed buff on Mo Tan. "That bastard probably cares more about me. I can tell the previous scrolls seemed to have caused him quite a bit of psychological impact. Theoretically, he'll choose to come after me first. Of course, if he decides to save me for last, I'll trouble you to buy some time for me."

Calm, sharp, and rational—that hard outer shell had clearly returned to Yiye once again.

"Alright, I'll do whatever you say." Mo Tan nodded, then said with some embarrassment: "Uh... what I said just now might have sounded a bit..."

Yiye glanced at him. "You were pretty cool just now, though I kind of want to tear your mouth apart."

Mo Tan gave a dry laugh, taking it as a compliment from her.

...

Three minutes later, after refreshing the acceleration spell for Mo Tan once more, Yiye ran off toward the east without looking back, small fireballs and ice shards constantly scattering from her staff to leave a massive trail in the surrounding area.

As if she were deliberately provoking.

As for Mo Tan, he began to head in the exact opposite direction of Yiye. According to their prior plan, he needed to put as much distance behind him as possible, and log out right on the spot the very microsecond he dropped out of combat.

His stamina was nearly at its limit. The time he had spent hesitating earlier hadn't been entirely meaningless; without that pause, he probably wouldn't even be able to walk by now...

Yiye's situation was likely about the same...

Come to think of it, he actually pulled it off, thinking like an entirely different personality. Although there was still plenty of awkwardness and inner turmoil during the process, the results seemed pretty good...

However, was that it?

Only he himself would survive?

Although this was still the correct choice, if Yiye were caught by that guy, she would probably suffer quite a bit of torture. Even though pain in the game wasn't intensely sharp, for a young girl...

Was it right?

Unconsciously, Mo Tan began to think from another perspective...

The conclusion, of course, was—it was not right!

He stopped in his tracks and calculated the time briefly. There were still five or six minutes left before Yiye's estimated combat-drop time. If he pushed himself to the absolute limit and fought desperately, could he hold out against Banny?

Impossible. But Yiye should still be moving around right now... Thinking about it this way, there was still some hope...

He did possess a few healing methods, and he still had the healing potion he obtained at the very beginning that he hadn't used yet. From this perspective, a player who could directly restore health points had an advantage over NPCs who had to wait for potions to take effect gradually.

Let's gamble on it. If it meant Yiye could survive...

At worst, it was just wiping the character and starting over. No matter how miserable he got, could he possibly end up more miserable than Cordova?

Having made up his mind, Mo Tan stopped pressing forward and instead slowly walked back in the direction he had come from.

What he failed to notice was that at this very moment, his health and stamina were recovering at an astonishing speed...

Another minute ticked by...

Mo Tan, who had just walked a short distance, suddenly halted his footsteps, catching sight of a dark shadow plunging rapidly toward him from midair.

He instinctively sidestepped, and then he saw...

A bloody, mangled corpse. That face stained red with blood clearly belonged to Ned, who had been smiling freely and casually not long ago...

An accomplice who cooperated with the Fire Claw Tribe, a victim of the Marshall family's atrocities, the captain of the Fenrir Squad.

Dead...

No miracles occurred, no plot twists saved the day...

He had died so reasonably, so expectedly. The corpse, still oozing fresh blood, lay limply right beside his feet. Yet his expression was filled with peace and calm, carrying even a trace of lingering affection—whether that was a reluctance to part with life, or...

"Killing that elf wasn't much effort, but in the end, this piece of trash still kicked the bucket first. Heh~" A shrill voice giggled from above. Banny, covered in blood, nimbly flipped down from midair without making a single sound. He grinned at Mo Tan. "Don't get me wrong, this isn't my blood; I just got a bit too carried away playing around earlier~"

Mo Tan did not answer him. He simply squatted down and gently closed Ned's still wide-open eyes, then lowered his head in silent prayer. It involved no deities whatsoever; he merely wished that this 'insignificant nobody' could find a sliver of peace...

"Boring priest." Banny walked up to Mo Tan with a chilling aura. "I tortured this poor traitor as much as I could. His death was both long and painful; it wouldn't even be strange if he turned into an undead creature now~"

"What is the point of all this..." Mo Tan shook his head with a bitter smile, murmuring in a low voice: "In the end, I still couldn't do a damn thing."

"You can go keep him company." Banny rubbed his shoulders, his face full of impatience. "I'm about done playing. Before I go find that little girl to finish the final interrogation, please hurry up and die..."

"Incomprehensible—the meaning of your existence in this world." Mo Tan slowly stood up, looking at the sadistic butcher before him, preparing to buy whatever time remained.

At the same time, he was desperately suppressing his emotions, which were beginning to spiral out of control. If he disconnected abruptly right now, Banny would most likely hunt down Yiye before she dropped out of combat...

Yet that desperate attempt at control still showed little effect...

"Meaning?" Banny let out a sneering laugh, shaking his head. "Only weaklings need meaning to sustain their lives. I have no need for such things."

His smile was ferocious and morbid; his body was covered in the blood of the innocent...

His sins were so ugly they were difficult to look upon...

Mo Tan stood stunned for a moment, finding it hard to accept that everyone had died at the hands of such a person...

There was truly no saving this world...

His head felt a bit dizzy, yet his consciousness was clearer than ever before...

[Ah... so that's how it is...]

[It's truly ugly beyond measure...]

[This reason is even worse than having no reason at all...]

[Because...]

"You... are you strong?"

Mo Tan's originally clear and bright eyes suddenly drooped listlessly as he muttered softly like a sleepwalker.

Banny no longer wished to waste words with the fellow before him. He raised his hands, embedded with razor-sharp blades, leaned forward, and lunged for the kill, eager to dispatch this boring prey as quickly as possible!

And then...

He was gently pressed down right where he stood!

An indescribable fear and pressure made Banny practically suffocate. The formidable Lord Buffy, who had once left him incapable of generating even the slightest thought of resistance, was practically an ant compared to this entity. The assassin, whose name carried considerable weight in the upper echelons of the Violet Empire, found his mind completely blank at this moment. Although every single cell in his body was struggling frantically to resist, he could not move his feet a single millimeter!

His soul had already surrendered...

"Then, can you tell me now?" The 'priest' before him raised his head, those abyss-calm eyes blinking gently...

"As a 'weakling,' what on earth is the meaning of your existence?"

The sky... went dark.

Chapter Sixty-One: End