One hundred and fifty-nine: Footprints of regret

"Oh, I see." The troll witch doctor, Carlson Sr., used his cane to gently flick the pile of charcoal that had been mapped into the room out of nowhere, and nodded indifferently, as if he had just heard a message that had nothing to do with him.

"Haven't you understood?" I yelled anxiously, "Here, the whole fortress, will be replaced by something new!" They say that everything here will disappear! Do you understand......"

As soon as I heard the news of the impending upheaval on the continent from my friends who were Skywaders, I made an excuse to say goodbye to them, and in the shortest possible time, I rushed all the way to the Gravel Fortress and told the old Carlsen the terrible news, but his reaction was completely unexpected—to be exact, I don't see any reaction to it at all—he still looked like the same old troll man who was calm and peaceful, guarding an empty house all day with nothing to do.

His calm attitude even made me feel a little angry, and made me feel like I was spending all my care and worries on unnecessary things. I have to stress again and again how important this is and how closely related it is to him:

“…… You don't understand, they say this time...... This...... The version upgrade - who knows what it is - will bring about a big change like never before! The power of the gods will descend directly on the whole world...... The whole world ...... Including here...... All...... Do you know?! I waved my hands and shouted at him incoherently, trying to make him realize the danger of all this, but as I spoke, I felt a palpitating fear myself—the horror and confusion of a man who was helpless in the face of an irresistible force.

"Don't be so nervous, my friend......" Seeing my excited look, Carlson Sr. slowly paced in front of me and patted me lightly on the shoulder, trying to calm my emotions...... In fact, I've known all of this for a long time. ”

“…… They said it was going to start next week, and it was about twenty days for us...... What did you say? I was babbling on about it when I suddenly realized what my troll friend had just said:

“…… You already know? I asked, surprised.

"Even if it......" Carlson Sr. waved his hand and conjured a blanket on the ground, and he asked me to sit down, and then he sat down in front of me, and said slowly:

“…… Arthur? Of course you know that there is a hole at the top of that crazy woman's tower in Dengot, and you have used it once to push her under the tower and fall to her death. The hole has now been closed, probably a few months ago - not long before you were able to freely enter and leave the Source world - when a couple of adventurers summoned a creature they called 'GM' and demonstrated it to him live. As you told me before, that GM rewarded them. Interestingly, I noticed the source code of the GM, and I found that he was just amazingly superior to other adventurers in terms of stats and equipment, but he didn't have more advanced divine powers, such as those like ours. In other words, they are not direct servants of the gods or low-level gods as you might think, but at most high-level vasers......"

“…… At that time, the adventurers had asked about this change of world, and the GM had given a limited answer. They talked about the dramatic changes in the continental plates, and also about the fact that some places will disappear in a row. At that time, they mentioned the gravel fortress. I know it's going to happen, I just don't know when. Since then, I've been ready to take it all on......"

“…… At first, I was worried, worried that no one after me would have that special ability, no one would further observe and explore the origin of the world, and no one would understand the world in this way...... We will forever remain in this world of stagnation and repetition, without progress, without change, until the end, you know, there is nothing more desperate for those who are born and raised in this world! At that time, I really felt hopeless. But, thankfully, just when I was at my wit's end, Jeff, you came, and told me that you had managed to break through the Table World and be able to enter the Source World freely......"

“…… This is simply a gift from the Most High God, my friend, and you appeared at the right time. So over the past few days, I've tried my best to teach you everything I know as quickly as possible. I've been worried these days, afraid that we don't have enough time, that the day will come too early and you will learn too little. But now, I have nothing to worry about. I'm completely sure I'll teach you everything I know. ”

I see!

I finally understood why the usual unhurried old troll man had been so anxious and irritable all these days, why he had chosen such a brutal and direct way to teach me about the origin of the world, and why he was always eager to teach me everything he knew, rather than letting me explore it myself.

And what am I doing when he is desperately competing for time with that catastrophic future that will come at any time?

I'm complaining that he's not a good teacher......

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I jumped up and yelled at him, "You should have told me all about it earlier!" ”

"Tell you sooner? Why? Old Carlson looked at me serenely, like an elder with a vexatious child, and his voice was as calm as a deep old well:

"What's the use of knowing all this earlier? Can you stop all this from happening? Can you delay the day? Can you think of a better way to learn everything I'm going to teach you? No, you know very well that we can't do it. I'd rather you learn it all intently and without knowing it, and then use it better than I do. I don't want you to be upset by this news, and it's easy to go wrong when you're studying. ”

"But...... But ...... "I would have liked to find something to refute him, but we all knew he was right."

"What would you do if it all happened......" I took a deep breath and finally asked the question I wanted to know the answer to the most, but was the most afraid to know...... You...... Are you going to die? ”

Even though I could close enough to make my voice sound calmer, even I could hear the shiver in it as business came out of my mouth.

"Dead? No, I'm not going to die......" Carlson Sr. shook his head and explained softly, his eyes avoiding mine...... Jeff, it seems that you didn't fully grasp what I taught you. I'm not going to die, at least not in this fortress. We all know that death is nothing but a state of soul existence, and as long as our soul exists, there is not much difference between life and death. Within the rules I can control, I can do ......"

"Don't play these lame and awkward wordplay with me, you know what I mean!" I shouted at him as he tried to change the subject, and my eyes met his eyes.

He was stunned for a moment, then sighed and shook his head slightly:

"I don't know, my friend, I don't know what I'm going to do. Optimistically, I guess that maybe this fortress is gone, but I will come out of it, and walk freely on this land like you; Or rather, the fortress has not disappeared, but has been placed in another plane by the gods, and I will migrate with it; But ......"

He paused, looked at me, and continued, "...... But, most likely, I disappeared with this fortress, was obliterated, leaving no trace in this world. It was as if my own existence was an illusory bubble, and everything I experienced was a fictional story, and darkness came, and I disappeared completely—you know, this is not death, this is a much more complete elimination than death, no body, no equipment, no soul, no resurrection......"

"No!" This is something I have known for a long time, and it is something I have always refused to admit. Compared to this most terrible ending, the chances of the first two scenarios are negligible.

"You have a way, don't you?" I took Carlson Sr.'s right hand and asked eagerly. I don't know if I'm looking for comfort or relief, I just want to hear an affirmative answer – even if I know it's a lie, I'd rather he deceive me at this time.

I just feel that I have never been weaker than I am now, so weak that I have to rely on lies to support my fragile will.

However, Carlson Sr. reached out his left hand, patted the back of my hand gently, then pulled his right hand out between my fingers, smiled and shook his head at me!

"It can't be!" I lowered my head and said in a loud voice. Even I couldn't tell if I was telling him or myself, "You can't help it." Haven't you always had a good idea, old fellow? You can control this space, you can change the rules of the world, you ...... You can even deceive the eyes of the Most High God. You are supreme and unsurpassed in this fortress, you yourself are the god of this space, how can you not do anything about it......"

"Perhaps it is because of this that I have lost my awe, my awe of the world, the rules that hold it together, and the gods who make all these rules. I used to think I had touched the throne of the Most High, and this is probably a kind of punishment, Jeff, and the gods may be reminding us not to lose their reverence for it. ”

"Fuck the awe!" There has never been a moment when I have such hatred and hatred for the gods who are far above the heavens. I would like to ask them why they decide the workings of this world, why they decide the life and death of countless living beings, why they can't let us deal with everything in this world by ourselves, but we must show our power irresistibly in this way.

I gritted my teeth, and suddenly I reached out, grabbed Carlson Sr. by the arm, and using the ability that Carlson Sr. had taught me, I moved to the gate of the fortress in an instant, and dragged him out of the door.

Inside the fortress gate, the magic vortex that symbolizes the magic of the "dungeon" spins endlessly. Normally, as soon as I walked into the whirlpool, it would immediately envelop me, and then push me out of the other side in an instant, as if the whirlpool didn't exist.

I had imagined what would happen if I took Carlson Sr. through this gate: whether the magic in the vortex would be pulled by Carlsen Sr. and would make it impossible to get out, or would the life in the fortress change the place where the magic gate leads, or even the entire magic vortex would become violent and dangerous, causing great damage to all the creatures who entered it.

However, the truth is that as long as I hold on to Carlson Sr.'s arm, I can't enter this vortex at all, it is like an invisible wall, completely blocking my way, no matter how hard I struggle, I can't let my body fit into it even the slightest. I tried to smash, tear, and even draw my sword to swing and slash, but to no avail. The whole vortex was as empty as a cloud in the sky, as if it did not exist even in the world beyond it.

The complete barrier is unimaginable and powerless. Carlson Sr. was locked in this fortress by this feeling, and had never seen the outside world.

"Give up, Jeff, it's useless." Old Carlson was dragged by me, and stood silently, neither breaking free nor helping, but still admonishing me in his old voice, "I have tried more tricks than you." ”

"Shut up!" I yelled at him angrily, my eyes frozen, and I entered the Source World. Looking at the vast sea of numeric symbols that symbolized the magic of the dungeon, I tried to find the field commands that limited the life in and out of the dungeon. I think I found it, a string of characters that might be tens of thousands of words, and embedded in a space-based rule. It's an incomparably correct and perfect way of saying it, and I can't strip it out, let alone fool it with a trick. The only way I can think of is to tick it off and remove the rule entirely.

I've never deleted such a long and critical field once, and I've never brute-forcedly deleted the rules of the world without any disguise. I don't know what the effect of this will be, but I'm going to give it a try!

Just as I was about to delete it, the entire source world space suddenly distorted, and everything around me was full of color. In just a few moments, I was back in the figurative world of the table, in front of the gate of the fortress that shimmered with magical light.

It was Carlson, who dragged me back here a split second before I could do it.

"What are you doing!" I'm thundering!

"What are you doing!!" The old troll roared louder than I did. His expression was so serious that it seemed to be able to condense a layer of metal, and his mouth was wide open as if it was about to bite me to death.

"I'm getting you out!" I still screamed hard.

"You're killing me! And kill yourself by the way! If you do, we don't have to wait twenty days at all, just in the next moment, in the blink of an eye, the gods will know what has changed, the heavenly punishment will come and everything will be undone, and then the whole fortress will be restarted and restored! There's no you, there's no me, there's no damn old troll man, human war warriors, just a bunch of mindless and soulless walking corpses! Do you understand!!! "I've never seen old Carlson so angry, he grabbed me by the collar so desperately that I almost suffocated, and a layer of turquoise blood broke out of his two huge eyeballs:

"Don't risk your own soul! Don't face the threat of being obliterated! You idiot doesn't know how terrible it all is! ”

"I know......" I cried out loudly, and at some point my face had become damp, and a liquid called "tears" kept pouring out of my eye sockets, obscuring my vision. In my eyes, the figure of old Carlson became vague, as if he were no longer there.

“…… I know what's going to happen, that's what you're going to face, and I can't just watch you disappear and do nothing...... I can't do ......."

Old Carlson let go of his hands, and I sat down on the floor, crying loudly, helpless as a child.

I could sense that not far from this dungeon, the young Baron Bink yelled at a group of adventurers who had just killed the Black Jazz, "Kill me, this is my last request...... For the last dignity of a human being...... Kill me! ”

It was a life that we could not save, and it was repeating its fate for the umpteenth time. I tried to save him and bring the news of his survival to my sister, who loved him dearly, but I failed.

Just like this time, I couldn't save Carlson Sr.'s life. Our power is so powerless in the face of the fate arranged by the gods, we can only obediently submit, leaving countless regretful footprints behind us.

……

January 31, 1465 in the Gregorian calendar, this is destined to be a date that will go down in history. After this day, the Falvi continental plate, which has been inseparable since the creation of the gods, will be divided into two parts in the north and south by the great force of the gods, and the shattered continental shelf will be scattered on both sides of the comet sea like a scattered pearl necklace, becoming the four island chains that defend the two continents. Mountains were razed to the ground, plains cracked into hills, and magma fires poured out from deep underground, burning the previously verdant and fertile Sacred Fox Heights into a parched wilderness.

This huge plate movement is destined to become a catastrophic memory buried deep in the abyss of the Falvi continent world: seven cities and nineteen castles of the Continental Alliance will be destroyed in an instant, the end of the world empire will also pay the price of five cities and twenty-seven outposts, millions of continent natives will die in the process of this spectacular and magnificent giant plate movement, and a total of nine special areas that have been released with dungeon spells will be destroyed.

And in the midst of it, there is a nondescript ruined city called the Gravel Fortress, which is inhabited by a man of a different bloodline than mine, and his name is "The Troll Witch Doctor Carlson".

On the night before this inevitable catastrophe struck, Carlson Sr. kicked me out of the Gravel Fortress and closed the castle gates with his powers, unceremoniously throwing me out whenever I tried to enter.

He feared that I would disappear with him in the midst of this catastrophe, and that our existence would be exposed under this great change that the gods had watched.

I didn't go far, just stood on the hillside opposite the fortress and looked in the distance. The translucent distorted space created by the magic of the dungeon, Black Sir Arthur? The tower where Dengo was located was faintly visible.

I knew I couldn't see old Carlson from here, but I still stood stiff on the hillside, looking at it stubbornly, as if for every second I watched, I stayed with my friend for an extra second.

Through the endless void and the vast sea of numbers, a message hidden in the depths of the world's code is looming. This message exudes an incomparably divine aura, indicating that it comes directly from the irresistible will of the Most High God.

This message jumps all the time, telling us that there is still 1 minute and 15 seconds left before the world completely sinks into darkness again.

That old thing with blue fangs, are you watching this message now? Are you enjoying the last and hardest moment of your life? Or are you still interested in cracking the hidden secrets of the gods in this world, contented and happily busy, not caring what happens when this great pointer of history is over?

…… 54 seconds, 53 seconds, 52 seconds......

You have no idea how lucky I am to have you as a friend in my life. You have taught me a lot, not just those miraculous abilities, but more of that wise peace. You made me feel like I was able to face a lot of things that I couldn't face otherwise, and you made me stronger. More importantly, your presence makes me feel ......

…… Don't feel lonely......

…… 27 seconds, 26 seconds, 25 seconds......

I still want to say sorry to you, not for anything, but I suddenly feel that it should be like this. I have always known that you envy me and that I seem to have a whole soul that can walk freely on this continent, constantly satisfying and enriching my life. Sometimes I'll use some of my experiences out there to arouse your interest, and then I don't talk about it anymore, pretending not to see the eagerness and eagerness in your eyes. I don't know if all this has hurt you, but I'm sorry.

…… 1o seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds......

Oh, I forgot to tell you, I left you a letter, and it will be delivered to you tomorrow at dawn. You'll see it, won't you? Promise me that you must see it, promise me that you will write back, okay?

…… 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second......

An overwhelming darkness swept over the world, engulfing everything visible and invisible. In the less than a microsecond before I lost consciousness completely, I watched as the long piece of code that symbolized the Gravel Fortress fell apart, turning into nothingness.

In this moment, I lost not only a friend, but also a teacher, a father, a soul that allowed me to support each other in this absurd world and walk through loneliness together......