The True Old Otaku

Bai Zhi's sudden action caused a brief silence in the room, which was quickly broken by OriginDeficit.

"... Does furniture, like those organs, also possess Life?"

West Pavilion Gardener glanced at OriginDeficit Que, who was rushing over to check on Li Changyu's condition, and then looked at the two ruined tables. His expression changed drastically.

"If that's the case, then the disappearance of Li Tong and..."

Without uttering many words, West Pavilion Gardener let his actions speak for themselves.

A silver-white Knight Longsword emerged from the Void before him and was gripped tightly in his hand. Accompanied by several dazzling, high-speed sword lights flashing in the air, the two beds where the World's End Singer and Li Tong had lain collapsed directly from the ground.

However, the two figures were not seen among the ruins of the collapsed beds. The World's End Singer's bed was quite clean, while Li Tong's bed clearly had a lot of bloodstains and more than a dozen pieces of torn clothing in the middle.

"You deliberately damaged public property. Remember to pay for it later."

With a slight pursed lip, Bai Zhi tucked the Handgun back into his sleeve.

"Also, aside from Fireworks of Romance, and a certain pair of Panties, everyone else is better off not touching anything. Otherwise, if you get swallowed or injured, you're on your own."

... You even allow public gun ownership... Your country doesn't allow gun ownership, right? There aren't even any gun shops...

His eyes twitched slightly, and West Pavilion Gardener spoke in a deep voice, asking Bai Zhi a question.

"Where are Li Tong and the World's End Singer? If they really were eaten by the bed, why aren't they here?"

"Why isn't it here? Look, these are fragments of Li Tong's clothes and pants from before, and there's even a missing finger with obvious bite marks... Strange, where did this tooth come from?"

As Bai Zhi examined the bloodstain that had appeared in the center of the bed, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Being swallowed whole without warning, although he reacted immediately, he was still just a Mortal and suffered considerable injuries... Well, who would be wary of the bed they're lying on?"

So where is he now?

Looking at the pool of blood still mixed with some severed limbs, West Pavilion Gardener frowned.

"Hmm... they must have gone inside Noah's Ark."

Bai Zhi clapped his hands and stood up.

"Noah's Ark isn't a hotel; it's just an incarnation of the Ark... You seem to know a lot. Let me ask you a question."

Turning his head, Bai Zhi asked West Pavilion Gardener with great interest.

"Noah's Ark is a world's last means of escape, and the Manager is its chosen representative in the world. Do you think Noah's Ark itself could have its own consciousness?"

Actually, the origin of this question had been brewing in his mind for a long time.

--The Noah's Ark that landed and docked in the Binhai City had previously intended to kick out its originally chosen representative and unilaterally declare itself the owner.

What does Noah's Ark itself truly represent?

Is it the last Seed of Fire of hope for the world's revival? Or perhaps something entirely different?

Do you know about Alaya Consciousness and Gaia consciousness?

After a moment of silence, West Pavilion Gardener spoke up and asked a question.

"Yes, I know. I've watched FATE too."

Bai Zhi nodded very seriously.

"Will it reach the pinnacle of power?"

West Pavilion Gardener: "..."

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, West Pavilion Gardener turned his head and began to speak.

"... Generally speaking, these two terms refer to the so-called World Consciousness. What Noah's Ark carried was the last Seed of Fire of a world, and the last hope after despair."

So, the world itself has World Consciousness?

Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Does our world also have what's called World Consciousness?"

"In most worlds, World Consciousness exists in a state of chaos, except for worlds that are completely dead. Otherwise, World Consciousness exists in all worlds."

The West Pavilion Gardener began to explain.

"In fact, not only in the West, but also in the Myth and Legendary passed down in your country, there are descriptions of World Consciousness, which is the so-called Heavenly Dao, the Way of Heavenly Dao is manifest."

"Hmm... I understand."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi nodded thoughtfully.

"So it seems like those two are in grave danger... Never mind, let's not talk about that now. Let's deal with this terrible situation first."

"Alright, now it's my turn to ask you a question, right?"

Taking a deep breath, West Pavilion Gardener saw him.

"Where did you get this conclusion? Is there really anything written or illustrated on the guitar?"

"Oh, no, I was just kidding."

Bai Zhi casually slung the guitar over his shoulder and spoke calmly.

"As for the deduction... didn't Fireworks of Romance just lose their chicken leg?"

"Chicken leg? What chicken leg?"

Turning her heartbroken gaze away from the scattered food on the ground, Fireworks of Romance seemed somewhat lost.

"It's that chicken leg you complained about getting stolen. Come to think of it, the bone was gnawed pretty clean..."

Chang Xi squatted on the ground and looked at the pile of wood fragments with interest, with a look of emotion on his face.

"So the table likes chicken legs too?"

"... The process of elimination?"

After a moment's thought, West Pavilion Gardener Xige exhaled.

"The chicken leg that was placed on the table disappeared without a trace. Since no one stole it, the chicken leg couldn't have decomposed on its own. So, the thing that could have stolen the chicken leg is the table... Break with convention, break through Inertia Thinking. In this absurd world, you have to use absurd conclusions. Don't be afraid that the inference you find is wrong; what's scary is being like a headless fly without any direction. There's no harm in trying any possibility, no problem... I've learned something."

Bai Zhi suddenly discovered that West Pavilion Gardener also had the potential to be the class representative for Chinese language.

"No, you're overthinking it. I just suddenly felt like Handgun."

Rolling his eyes, Bai Zhi turned and walked towards Panties and OriginDeficit.

"After all, men should do men!!"

West Pavilion Gardener: "???"

"Um!?"

The Fireworks of Romance who was squatting next to Chang Xi, deeply reminiscing about his lost chicken leg, quickly raised his head.

"The things that need to be done!!"

The man's words were forceful and resounding.

"..."

"Cut..."

Fireworks of Romance lowered her head again with a look of disappointment, while Chang Xi, who had been watching the whole scene from the side, narrowed her eyes slightly.

(Indeed, the more you understand humans, the more interesting it becomes...)

In a sense, Li Changyu's current situation is quite bad... although his previous situation wasn't much better.

After being eaten by the desk, not a single patch of skin on his head was intact. His white gums were completely exposed, his eyelids were gone, and his eye sockets were empty. Coupled with the gruesome state of his head, he looked extremely gruesome.

If it weren't for the faint breathing that was still present, OriginDeficit would probably have thought the other person was dead.

"Put it in a box and take it back; there might still be a chance to save it."

After a moment of contemplation, Bai Zhi spoke to OriginDeficit.

"Even though only half a head is left, as long as he's still conscious, the Infirmary should be able to save him."

"Since even tables and beds can come to Life, surely suitcases can too... Do the Suitcase gifted by the system have this kind of Special Effect?"

After a slight pause, OriginDeficit quickly realized what was happening, and his expression changed slightly.

"Wait a minute, if that's the case, then the clothes we're wearing might suddenly come to Life and eat us... The Change of Clothes have this kind of deeper meaning?"

"I don't know, it's hard to say, but to put your minds at ease, you could switch."

Bai Zhi reached up and touched his chin, looking thoughtful.

"Speaking of which, it started with human limbs gaining independent Life, then these purely Inanimate Things —tables, beds, furniture—gained Life... So what will come next?"

"No... you can say whatever you want, but could you please put me down first? I feel quite dangerous right now..."

While twisting and struggling in the chair, a certain forgotten Panties looked like she was about to cry.

"I feel like this chair is biting me!!!"

"Relax, just think of it as a way to lose weight."

After offering a few words of comfort, Bai Zhi turned to look at the West Pavilion Gardener.

"I'm not very comfortable using a gun, could you please... what do you need?"

Bai Zhi couldn't help but feel a little strange seeing West Pavilion Gardener carrying something in his hand as he entered the restroom.

"..."

As a silver Knight Longsword flew past, slicing the rope in two and embedding it in the ground, West Pavilion Gardener entered the toilet, his feigned calm voice coming from inside.

"Change your clothes."

Although changing clothes or not was actually unimportant to Bai Zhi, after witnessing so many things gain Life, and knowing that even more things would gain Life in the future, West Pavilion Gardener felt that seeking peace of mind was still very necessary.

After all, if his clothes really malfunction later, he'll have to fight naked... Just thinking about that scene makes his life bleak.

Just as a pair of Panties jumped up from the chair as if electrocuted to check their body, on the other side, the head that OriginDeficit had carefully placed in the Suitcase was suddenly enveloped in a faint white light. A miracle was happening on this half of the head.

A moment later, when the light faded, the head returned to its original state.

Opening his eyes, Li Changyu uttered his first words upon waking.

"Lil’Deficit! Hurry up and get the Figurine out of my Inventory!! I've finally waited for this day!!!"

OriginDeficit: "???????"