The End of The First Story

Xia Wen was actually quite familiar with the concept of Shadow Guard.

Because in their Seaview Villa, the Shadow Guard is an all-rounder in their daily lives, doing everything from laundry and mopping to washing dishes, cleaning, and taking out the trash.

Aside from not being able to cook, the Shadow Guard is practically Perfect.

--The Perfect Tool Person.

Although she preferred to call these very useful household helpers the Shadowkhan" rather than the more formal "Shadow Guard "...

"Hmm... Come to think of it, apart from Bob, who died mysteriously at the very beginning, it seems that everyone else just disappeared?"

Lost in thought, Xia Wen suddenly turned his head and looked at the "corpses" that were also being fished out of the water.

Then she saw a row of... Shadow Guard.

These Shadow Guard, dressed in the clothes of those people, swayed back and forth in the Gale and snow. If these Shadow Guards had their own consciousness and could speak... Xia Wen thought they would definitely want to say "mmp" (a vulgar expression).

If we think about it this way, then the mental fatigue and Divine Movement someone had been showing earlier become understandable, considering they were constantly doing remote micro-management...

... However, looking at the long string of Shadow Guard in front of her, each one seemingly devoid of life and hanging there as a corpse, Xia Wen almost burst out laughing.

"Hey, you're playing Dead Person right now, please be a little more serious."

Suddenly, someone's slightly helpless voice rang out beside her.

"Hey? What brings you here?"

Turning around and seeing Bai Zhi, who had suddenly replaced the Shadow Guard next to him, Xia Wen was slightly taken aback.

"Isn't the story not over yet? How can you...?"

"Shadow Clone Technique, Multitasking."

Rolling his eyes, Bai Zhi replied to the other person.

"I'm not saying this lightly, but none of these Teammate are easy to deal with..."

A few hours ago, Bai Zhi and Instant went to the Third Floor to get the Hunting Rifle.

"You want to save them? You need to understand, they're just NPCs."

Stopping in the empty corridor, Bai Zhi suddenly spoke up and asked the other person a question.

"It's human."

He spoke coldly in Instant.

"I can't do something like playing Clown in a story just to entertain Anomaly, or watching others die to protect myself."

"To play the Hero, you need to have the strength to back it up. Without the strength, you're just talking the talk... But it's alright, at least you've discovered a potential problem in advance."

Slightly rubbing his forehead with a headache, Bai Zhi turned to face the other person and began to speak.

"My thoughts are basically the same as yours, but I'll do them better. I shouldn't have revealed my plan to you, but to avoid any unforeseen circumstances, it's better to tell you a little..."

"So you reached an agreement around that time?"

Letting his body sway in the wind was like swinging on a swing, Xia Wen looked on with curiosity.

--Attributes that exceed human limits allow her to endure snowy weather for longer than the average person.

"That's right. I thought that would be the end of it, but I didn't expect an even bigger problem to pop up later, that is, that Ye Moonlit."

Bai Zhi looked on with a sigh.

"I was already exhausted from risking my Monster to find and defeat the Monster outside using shadow clones, and then impersonating Monster. And those two just kept causing me trouble... Am I really that Trust?"

"Pretending to be Monster... aren't you Monster?"

Xia Wen blinked.

"I thought you were the Monster in its true form."

"No, I was just pretending. I've already killed the real Monster."

Bai Zhi rolled his eyes, slightly speechless.

"To be honest, figuring out the Monster's identity and the cause really took a lot of brainpower... Luckily it was nighttime, otherwise I don't know if I could have made it through."

"Hmm... so what exactly is going on?"

Xia Wen turned his head to look at the person next to him.

"Who is the real Monster?"

"Let's tell you after this story is over. I don't want to have to go back to the Library and tell it all again... Is there anything else you want to know? I can tell you."

Bai Zhi yawned.

"There are some pieces of information I can't possibly reveal to them, since it concerns my own strength, Skill, and items. But I'm also worried that you might try to trick me later, so I'd better come and clarify things with you in advance."

"Hmm... how did Bob die? And what about that...?"

"He's not dead, he's Monster."

"Huh? He's not dead?"

"It's pretty much the same as being dead... at least it turned from a human into Monster."

"And what about the finger that Eric ate later...?"

"One of my Skill allows me to swap the positions of two objects, specifically for catching pigeons to roast and eat, you forgot? Since I'm playing the Monster, I need to add to the horror atmosphere."

"So the reason why Eric suddenly appeared in the car, and Bob's body appeared in the room...?"

"That's right, it's the same principle."

"Then why is the car behind... Ouyang Xiu?"

"Yes, it returns to normal during the Skill's duration, but if the Skill is manually terminated, it becomes scrap metal."

Where did those missing people go?

"They were all knocked unconscious, one by one. They'll probably sleep until... tomorrow afternoon."

"So, Shadow Guard... okay, I'm fine with it."

Xia Wen's lips twitched slightly.

"Alright, once we get back to the Library, just... don't say anything that might reveal my Skill."

Bai Zhi yawned and waved at the other person.

"You can continue swinging here. This story will probably end in a few minutes or so. Don't cause any trouble at the very end."

"... Can't you just put me down first?"

"No, because I don't have enough Spiritual Energy to summon another Shadow Guard."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Zhi's figure vanished, replaced by the unconscious Rohard.

Not only him, but all the other missing and knocked-out people were replaced here.

Xia Wen: "..."

"The Monster... when did you discover it?"

Shawn narrowed his eyes slightly, and his expression suddenly became quite strange.

"I had my suspicions before, but I only just realized... Are you crazy!?"

Unconsciously clenching her fists, Victoria spoke loudly.

"We are human beings, not Monster!! If we trample innocent people under our feet for survival or some other reason, then what right do we have to call ourselves human beings!?"

"Humans? Ever since the four of us faced the Gift of God that night, we have ceased to belong to the human race. Haven't you realized that?"

Shawn smiled and spoke.

"As time goes by, our strength is increasing, our senses are becoming more acute, and we've even acquired some strange and powerful abilities. The four of us are the most Perfect Apt Candidate; no one else could ever reach our level... We were meant to be gods, but you and Annie are too foolish."

"..."

Victoria opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she held back.

"You and Annie are always like this. Why don't you want to accept this Strength? Instead, you subconsciously resist it. You could just accept the Strength like us..."

With a soft sigh, Shocker turned to look at Abel, who remained silent to the side, Shawn waved his hand with a knowing look on his face.

"Abel, you tell the story, I'm tired."

"..."

He turned and glanced at Victoria, and after a long silence, Abel finally spoke.

"Join us, or die here. The choice is yours."

"Join you, and then become a Monster?"

After a moment of silence, Victoria spoke, her words carrying a barely concealed hint of sarcasm.

"Not Monster, but gods; we are Life of a higher Level than humans."

Shocker glanced at Abel with a slight frown, then held up a finger and shook it, Shawn completely at ease.

"Only incompetent beings like Bob would turn into such ugly Monster, but you and Annie are different. You are absolutely Perfect of becoming Perfect Life forms like me and Abel. Originally, I wanted you to complete the transformation quietly, just like Annie, but now there's no difference."

Shocker extended his hand toward Victoria and extended an invitation to her with Shawn elegant tone.

"Come here, Victoria, accept Gift of God, I will give you new life. From now on, you will be just like us, and your power will be second only to God."

"God? I didn't see any God, just a slightly Strength lunatic."

With her hands gripping the axe tightly, Victoria spoke coldly.

"Really? That's such a shame."

With a hint of regret, Shawn withdrew his hand, sighed, turned around, and spoke coldly.

"Abel, kill her."

After a long silence, Abel faithfully carried out Shawn's orders, but instead of rushing towards Victoria, he lunged at Shawn, who had his back to him.

But as if the other party was prepared, they turned around and kicked Abel away.

"So, I'm the only one with the most Perfect Life form after all...?"

Watching Abel slowly get up from the ground, clutching his chest, not far away, Shawn sighed softly.

"Abel, I'll give you one more chance. Kill Victoria, and I might let you go."

Abel answered with his actions.

He continued to pounce on Shawn, but as he approached, he suddenly unleashed a speed and Strength several times stronger than before. Caught off guard, Shawn was slammed headfirst into the villa.

"Damn it, how dare you defy my will..."

Shawn's slightly exasperated voice came from the ruins of the villa, followed by Abel's usual emotionless voice.

"Monster deserve Monster fate; this world has no need for gods... This is the burial place I've chosen for us."

"You..."

Just as Victoria, standing in the snow, was still reeling from the series of events unfolding before her, a series of Explosion suddenly erupted from inside the villa. The deafening Explosion and the towering shockwaves of blood and energy drowned out any sounds coming from inside the villa.

Affected by the shockwave, Victoria was thrown several meters backward, while the series of Explosion coming from inside the villa continued.

No one knows how much explosives Abel secretly planted beneath the villa.

Seemingly impacted by the sound of the Explosion, the ropes snapped, and all the "corpses" hanging in the air in front of the villa fell down.

"..."

After glancing one last time at the villa where the intense flames were erupting, Victoria turned and ran with all her might toward the villa's entrance, heading toward the light.