Feast of Gluttony

"You all say that, based on the intelligence collected so far, how exactly was the Thirteen City Alliance destroyed? (212 replies)"

"Amulet Owl: Initially, everyone thought the Alliance fell to the 'Feast of Gluttony.' After all, more than half of the bosses at level 180 and above appeared, and the entire Alliance, from top to bottom, was treated equally and devoured by the gods."

"Amulet Owl: But after the update for the fifth major version, 'Desire Moon,' the lore enthusiasts further discovered that the Alliance's God Banning Barrier was broken first, which then led to the 'Feast of Gluttony.'"

"Amulet Owl: From the scattered textual descriptions about the God Banning Barrier, it can be inferred that if the God Banning Barrier were still intact, the bosses shouldn't have been able to breach the Alliance's defenses."

"Amulet Owl: But the bosses seemed to have foreseen the disappearance of the God Banning Barrier, gathering on the Bountiful Continent in advance. Clearly, someone notified them."

"Amulet Owl: That's why I believe the destruction of the Alliance is directly related to the greatest hidden mastermind in the game."

"Give Me a Cup of Hachimi: I recall Apep, who guarded the Alliance, didn't gain anything in the first playthrough and was even crippled by bosses passing by. It probably doesn't have much to do with it, right?"

"I Love Both Ice Cream and Dark Chocolate: We still don't know the principle behind the God Banning Barrier. Maybe it's like a battery. The bosses actually knew when the barrier would run out of power, so they came at the perfect time for a buffet."

"Doujin Valley: Seniors, do you guys feel like the plot of the first playthrough is like the world will awakened, suddenly realized it was corrupted, then summoned players to blow up everything before the world collapsed."

"Doujin Valley: Now in the second playthrough, that seemingly very weak Creator God is probably the embodiment of the world will. He also summoned players, but the number of summons is very restrained."

"Doujin Valley: It feels like we players are like dirty bombs. The world of the first playthrough was already finished, so we could throw them around carelessly. The world of the second playthrough can still be saved, so we can only tentatively throw a couple to see."

"Magical Girl Hu Yan Zhuo: Hearing you say that, it feels like we're quite cool."

"Wind of Dawn: The Alliance was likely breached from within. They had many internal problems: discrimination against non-human races, persecution of true god worship, cultists with complete catalogs, conflicts between different cities, factional struggles between Magic and Scroll Divine Arts... all excellent production lines for human traitors."

"Good Luck Come Quickly: But the Alliance was wiped out in the end, wasn't it? Except for those few people in Broken Sword Valley, there were no other survivors?"

"Tribal Tribe Encountered Obstacles: You think human traitors ≠ I won't eat you."

"..."

After reading all the replies in one go, Li Li felt a tightness in his chest.

Although he hadn't personally verified it, after browsing the forums a few times, he was convinced that the game called Despair Expedition was almost identical to his own world.

He speculated that the essence of the game was a projection of this world onto Earth, but due to temporal distortions between the two worlds, events that occurred in the "future" here were projected onto Earth in the "past."

Could the "future" be changed?

It should be possible.

He summoned people from Earth on January 14th, Alliance Year 1104.

And the Earthlings of the "first playthrough" appeared on July 31st, Alliance Year 1104.

The exact start time of the 'Feast of Gluttony' is unknown. It's said to have lasted for more than half a month, coinciding with half a year after he summoned the "players," around July 14th.

If he didn't intervene, the Alliance's 'God Banning Barrier' would collapse, and the Evil Gods gathered on the Bountiful Continent in advance would swarm in, devouring all life, including Aer.

He was confident he could take down the Evil Gods blocking the way before he completely went mad.

But after that, who would deal with the "Creator God" who had fallen into madness?

Li Li had thought he had plenty of time to slowly deal with the corruption, bit by bit, like a scalpel. But now he realized a timed doomsday bomb was hanging over his head.

It was now January 18th, Alliance Year 1104. He had to find the cause of the Alliance's destruction within the remaining 178 days.

And prevent it all from happening.

It was like splashing a bottle of blue ink onto a blank canvas, then switching to a black ink pen to add details, thus forming the dream world of [Melancholy].

This was an anomalous space condensed from the negative emotions of millions of people.

Today's theme was—

Melancholy Circus.

However, the name of this circus seemed to have a problem somewhere.

Because compared to a fleeting melancholy, in today's dream world—

Fear was the main course.

The melancholic little horses on the carousel were engulfed by purple energy cannons: the melancholic lions jumping through blue hoops were engulfed by purple energy cannons: the melancholic magicians hiding in cards were engulfed by purple energy cannons...

After all beings with "life" took a direct hit from a purple energy cannon.

A lively girl in a pink dress slowly descended onto the ground composed of blue ink and paint. She walked up to the melancholic clown crouching in the corner, hugging his knees and trembling, and said, turning her head, "Li... Li Yuan senior, she's the last one."

The lively girl, codenamed [Red Falcon], timidly looked at the small purple figure slowly descending from mid-air.

Li Yuan.

This elementary school student, who claimed to be from the future, had passed Lord Kachu's test and become her junior and senior in [Magical Girl].

She was very cute. Even in the prestigious young ladies' school she attended throughout the Alliance, you couldn't find a more exquisite child than her.

She was very active. Once she started an action, she never wasted time.

She was very lazy. Because once she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake up until she had slept for a full day. Even if I secretly kissed her, she didn't notice.

She was very powerful. The dream worlds that had buried senior [Canary] and made me hesitate had all become her hunting grounds.

"Sizzle—"

Li Yuan gathered magic power expressionlessly. After charging her power to the limit, a dazzling purple beam of light erupted from her small wand with a heart on it, melting the melancholic clown who had lost the courage to resist.

"Chestnut Kite" put away her magic staff and shot a displeased look at "Red Falcon".

"Why were you facing away from the dream monster?" she asked sternly.

"Heh heh," the fourteen-year-old red-haired girl scratched her head and chuckled sheepishly, "Because you seniors are here."

"WHOOSH—!!!"

A purple beam of light zipped past the red-haired girl's face, singeing her crimson hair and emitting a faint smell of burning.

"Red Falcon" was so terrified that her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground.

"Do you think the concept of 'death' is very far from you?"

"Riyuan" said with a cold expression, pointing her small, heart-adorned purple staff at the girl who was half a head taller than her. She looked down and continued, "If you treat being a Magical Girl like playing house, and think you're superior for fighting for others, then I advise you to end this game right now. You're already an unattainable young lady in other people's eyes."