Chapter 25

After the ice sculptures shattered, someone was already stumbling out onto the snow. It wouldn't be long before everyone else woke up too.

For now, these people seemed to be in a dazed state of post-trauma confusion—pretty normal, all things considered.

But the mayor's earlier warning kept Luo En from relaxing.

The mayor had lied about a lot of things, but the part about the Evil God driving people insane? That much, he was sure, wasn't fake.

Drian had acted perfectly normal when he first woke up, but everything he'd done after that was completely off the rails.

"You're underestimating these small fry right now—you don't need to worry about a few stray cats and dogs," the guy calling himself a mentor interrupted Luo En's train of thought.

He positioned himself right in front of Luo En and said, "Listen to me carefully."

"That System of yours? It won't turn you into the strongest on Earth, and it sure as hell won't make you a hero."

"You've probably already sensed it by now—it's pushing you to become some kind of tool."

"But the System does have its perks, as long as you push back against it a little."

"For starters, it's a damn good search engine."

"And there are a few things you need to keep in mind at all times." The mentor's finger reached toward Luo En's eyes.

But since he was just an image, even as his finger passed right through, it had no effect on Luo En.

"What things?" Luo En asked.

"That getting stronger comes from you, not the System," the mentor said earnestly. "The rewards it gives you? They're legacies from certain people, not some gift from it."

"Don't think surviving in this Bicolor Realm is going to be easy."

"Think back to what you heard during that resonance—this world's already got a terminal illness."

"Who the hell are you, really?" This time, Luo En genuinely wanted to know the guy's name.

"Ahahahahaha! Didn't I tell you!? I'm the Logistics Department Head!" The mentor threw his head back in a booming laugh, though he'd only just called himself a mentor moments ago—clearly, he'd forgotten his own setup.

"The stuff you know, the System knows too, so for now, let me play the riddler." He shrugged. "If you want to see us, seek out places where time is all messed up—like this town, for example."

It was only in places where time was chaotic that Luo En kept seeing visions of the past and future.

In spots like that, the chances of him resonating with a parallel version of himself went way up.

Either way, places like this were nothing but beneficial for Luo En.

"Though, honestly, I don't mind being the riddler—your every confusion will get cleared up by the System anyway." The mentor waved his hand dismissively. "They won't let you stumble around in the dark."

"Wait—did you just say 'we'?" Luo En caught the key word sharply.

"Yeah, 'we.'" The mentor grinned slyly. "I never said I was in this alone."

"That said, normally they wouldn't throw you into a place this dangerous right from the start." He rubbed his chin. "This feels like forcing growth way too soon."

He smoothly shifted the topic, leaving Luo En no room to press about who "they" were.

"But otherworlder lives don't mean much to them, so this isn't all that surprising."

"Bottom line: what you trust, what you don't— that's all up to you."

The mentor didn't have a watch on his wrist, but he still made a show of checking the time. "Looks like our time's about up."

As soon as he said it, the System's garbled code started fading away. It wouldn't be long before it fully recovered.

"You're an otherworlder?" Luo En blurted out a sudden hunch.

The mentor let out a guilty whistle. "What're you talking about? We're all backward folk here—we don't get trendy words like 'otherworlder.'"

Luo En was speechless. He was certain now: this guy was an otherworlder.

But hadn't all the previous otherworlders died off completely? So why was there a live one right here?

Just then, the people breaking free from the ice around him were cheering and jumping for joy, thrilled to be saved.

But their eyes burned with savagery, showing they'd lost even more of their sanity than Drian had.

To Luo En's ears now, their cheers sounded like ritual dances before a sacrifice.

And the sacrificial piglet? That was probably him.

"Why are you scared of them?" the mentor said unhurriedly. "Didn't you just win once already?"

"Luck, that's all," Luo En murmured, staring at his burned hand.

Even if you asked him to pull off that feat again right now, he couldn't.

"Before coming here, we were all just ordinary people." As the mentor spoke, he swept his hand across Luo En's field of vision. "Once you know how to win once, you'll know how for the second time."

With that swipe from the mentor, the System—still filled with garbled code—cleared up into readable text.

[Name: Luo En]

[Strength Assessment: Warrior First-Rank / Death Herald First-Rank]

[Ring Fragment: None]

[Remember, for you, this world is already terminally ill.]

"Lighten up—there's no point in living if you're not enjoying it." The mentor gave a meaningful smile.

The mentor hadn't given Luo En any power; he'd just clearly explained what he'd actually gained—info the System wouldn't normally reveal.

"The essence of parallel possibilities isn't turning you into another version of yourself. It's letting you share something from that other self."

[Apologies, otherworlder. The System was temporarily offline due to an incident.]

[All System functions have now resumed normally. We are at your service.]

The moment the System came back online, every vision Luo En had seen since entering the town vanished completely—including the man calling himself a mentor.

"At your service, huh?" Luo En muttered to himself.

[Task System Updated.]

[Quest Name: Brave Battle]

[Quest Description: Kill Evil God Spawn (1/12)]

[System Reminder: You are in extreme danger. Multiple high-energy reactions detected nearby.]

A townsman who had revived from the ice sculpture shuffled up to Luo En. "Was it you who saved us?"

Luo En shot him a sidelong glance but didn't answer right away.

"If you could save us, why didn't you do it sooner?" The man's tone started out polite enough, but it gradually took on an edge.

A low murmur rippled through the crowd, soon joined by more voices.

Luo En suddenly grabbed the townsman by the chin and let out a long sigh.

These past few days, he'd been nothing but a stranger in a strange land, inexplicably dragged into some shadowy conspiracy. He couldn't trust anyone—not a soul, not even the so-called golden finger he'd been handed.

But that guy who called himself a mentor? His words actually made a lot of sense.

"Lighten up a bit. What's the point of living if you're not happy?"

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