A Lonely Soul

When Ji Xiaodao came back to her senses, it was all over.

A dozen knights and their warhorses lay in a pool of blood, as scarlet and ghastly as a scene from hell. Mo Tan stood in the center of this abstract painting he had woven himself, the hood of his cloak down. He smiled, raising his hands to the sky as if to embrace something. Half of his face was hidden behind a black mask that only covered his eyes, his gaze filled with unrestrained madness and a calm as deep as the abyss.

Contradictory yet harmonious...

For some reason, watching the man standing in the blood-soaked ground with no expression of enjoyment, Ji Xiaodao suddenly felt a strange, unreal pain. This girl, who had rarely been close to anyone other than her parents and sister since the moment she was born, felt as if she could see the soul of the person not far away. There was nothing but loneliness and despair...

She wanted to turn and leave, afraid that the soul, which seemed to be silently screaming, might swallow her at any moment.

But she didn't want to go, because deep down, Ji Xiaodao couldn't bear to leave that lonely and desperate figure behind...

That person seemed to be rejecting the world, or perhaps... hating it...

In any case, she didn't want to just leave him alone!

What am I thinking... This is just a game, okay? That person is just a player like me. Am I overthinking things? Is my delayed chuunibyou finally kicking in or something...?

She rubbed her forehead, blaming herself for suddenly becoming so abnormal.

At this moment, Mo Tan had returned with the only survivor of the ordinary knights, a young man with chestnut-colored short hair. Although he hadn't been injured in the battle that could be called a massacre, he still seemed to have lost his soul. His face was devoid of color, and his right hand, which held a long sword, trembled violently, clearly unable to accept the reality that his companions, with whom he had spent day and night, had been slaughtered in an instant.

"I'm going to do my own thing now. I hope you can leave immediately." Mo Tan looked at the dark elf girl in front of him, whose face was cold but who seemed to be in a daze, and said softly, "My patience is very bad, very bad."

Ji Xiaodao bit her lip and shook her head gently. Although she had been dragged by her sister to play many mental simulation games, this was the first time she had seen such a terrifying and realistic scene. An ordinary girl might not be able to handle it and be forced to disconnect, but she quickly overcame her psychological barriers and stared stubbornly at Mo Tan's eyes behind the mask. "What I do is none of your business!"

However, after she finished speaking, Mo Tan, who claimed to have very little patience, didn't raise his hand and send her to respawn as she had expected. He simply shrugged and said faintly, "Okay."

He ignored her...

"Look at me." Mo Tan turned to the survivor he had deliberately left alive and commanded, "If you don't want to experience a death process that lasts for several minutes, you'd better do as I say."

The soldier, whose mental defenses had been completely destroyed, raised his head and stared blankly into Mo Tan's eyes.

They were indescribable eyes, as if the most fundamental horrors were swirling within them, like... the personification of... sin.

"Watch her here." Mo Tan pointed to Ji Xiaodao, who was standing aside, and said softly to the young soldier, "Don't let her disturb me, but you don't need to stop her from leaving. After I come back, commit suicide."

[Original Sin]

Talent Skill

[Note: The Original Sin you represent can also erode others. This allows you to make the target follow one of your orders regardless of any conditions. Cooldown time is 24 hours and cannot be used on the same target again.]

Although the description said 'one order', Mo Tan's tests during his previous logins had revealed many hidden effects of this talent. For example, when the target's mind was very fragile, activating it could allow them to follow all the orders he issued in a short period of time, as long as they could understand them. It was very useful.

Ji Xiaodao saw the soldier stiffen, then nod very naturally and respectfully, "Okay."

Then he drew his sword and stood there, staring at her intently.

Mo Tan dragged the knight captain, whose right forearm had been blown to pieces from the beginning, into a side path and disappeared from the girl's sight after a moment.

Ji Xiaodao subconsciously wanted to take a step and follow, but a long sword blocked her way.

"You can't go there, elf." The chestnut-haired young man said to her seriously, "Stay here or leave, but you can't go there."

Ji Xiaodao glanced at the knight, who had been so distraught that he almost collapsed on the spot. "Are you okay?"

"No." The other party replied briskly, "My squad was completely wiped out, Banse City is said to have been destroyed, and the captain probably won't survive either. He always took care of me like a brother, but..."

He looked at Ji Xiaodao calmly, "You still can't go there."

"You're crazy." Ji Xiaodao looked at the other party's calm eyes, completely unable to imagine what kind of mental state this person was in.

"Crazy?" The soldier shook his head. "No, of course I'm not crazy. In fact, I've never been so clear-headed."

"If you don't mind, Sir Knight~" Mo Tan leaned over to the knight captain, who was on the verge of death, and smiled. "Please share the information you know with me."

The response was a mouthful of bloody saliva and a cold, "Why don't you ask someone else? Like those dead souls at your hands? Bastard!"

"I made a mistake." Mo Tan spread his hands. "My first stop started at the banquet held by the city lord, and unfortunately, almost all the people who had valuable information were there. The city lord, the finance minister, the hereditary earl, the head of the chamber of commerce, the beautiful women, too many... Anyway, when I thought I needed some information for reference~"

His eyes flickered with chaotic light, and something else. He grinned, "They're all dead."

"Pure evil..." The knight captain sighed. "Kill me, I won't tell you anything."

"You will." Countless fine incantations appeared on Mo Tan's fingertips, and he chuckled. "I'll tell you some good news. There's a large black wizard association in Banse City. Those clever people are said to have caused a lot of trouble for the local security. Now this problem has been solved. Oh, by the way, do you mind telling me your name?"

"Owen." The young knight's face was almost transparent at this time. He stared at Mo Tan's eyes. "I swear I will curse you!"

Mo Tan just whistled and nodded. "I believe you will too, but before that, we have a lot of time to try out the good things I found in the black wizard association..."

[You have exited the game. The mental connection has been disconnected. We wish you a good morning.]

With a familiar sense of dizziness, Mo Tan sat up from the game pod, clutching his head. He looked at his phone immediately. "If the first time was an accident, then the second time is a problem or an incident." He muttered in a low voice, then went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. After washing a few clothes while wearing his boxers, he hastily ate a few slices of bread and rushed out the door.

To feed the cats.

Mo Tan's residential area was low-end. Not only was the environment poor, the transportation inconvenient, and the buildings old, but also many stray animals liked to occupy the area. Whenever he had the chance, he would squat at the entrance of the residential area in the morning to feed the cats. If there were any plastic bags, empty beverage bottles, cigarette butts, or other things on the road, he would also take care of them.

From this, we can see that he was in the [Lawful Good] personality at this time, just after waking up. After all, in the other two states, Mo Tan was extremely unwilling to go out early in the morning and freeze, let alone do some public service.

This kind of personality change is difficult to explain. As mentioned before, his personality split doesn't have the so-called independence. All personalities are Mo Tan himself. He knows what he's doing at all times, and he also knows why he's doing it, it's just a difference in mood.

Perhaps we all suffer from this symptom to some extent. For example, maybe one day when you're on the bus, you see an old man coming over. Under the influence of personality, moral values, and thinking habits, you will naturally give up your seat for him. But maybe after changing to a different situation, encountering the same thing and the same person, in the same scene, you will make a completely different decision~

There was even a possibility of getting into a fight with them, and if they were smart, they might even have to pay some money.

Perhaps this example is enough to prove that our state of mind and personality are actually in a subtle state of change at all times. This change is not very obvious, but sometimes it can lead to completely different results.

The same person, taking the bus or subway a hundred times, might give up their seat to the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled ninety, eighty, or seventy times, but Mo Tan is different.

His personality has never changed subtly like ordinary people, but has been completely divided into several modes.

Using the camp classification of the game [Innocent World]...

Mo Tan, who is [Lawful Good], will give up his seat 100% of the time in any situation.

Mo Tan, who is [Chaotic Neutral], will decide based on his mood and the appearance of the other person, but this is definitely not random. Under completely identical circumstances, his choice will always be a 100% certainty.

Mo Tan, who is [Absolute Neutral], will choose to give up his seat 100% of the time under the influence of the moral values of ordinary people. Maybe he will have some complaints in his heart, but that is such a conformist personality. He will do what most people think is right, and vice versa.

In short, Mo Tan at this time was surrounded by a group of stray cats, happily patting and feeding them, occasionally greeting the neighbors passing by, helping this old man carry groceries, and accompanying that old lady to dance, etc...

He was completely a model youth.

Then, near noon...

"Oops!" He slapped his forehead and muttered to himself, "My Tan Mo character hasn't logged in yesterday. I don't know how the caravan is doing, but the caravan should be able to break through successfully... I don't know what the situation will be with my Hei Fan account..."

He suddenly felt a bitter taste in his mouth, sighed, and stood up. "The Hei Fan account has to go to the market, and the Tan Mo account has just started the layout. Being able to create several characters because of this illness is obviously a good thing worthy of a protagonist, but why does it feel so tragic to me... It's so tiring to play, and..."

The phone in his pocket vibrated.

"Sure enough..." Looking at the screen displaying "Buddy A," Mo Tan answered the phone: "Hello, Yi Dong, what's up?"

His friend on the other end of the phone chuckled: "What, are you being an honest person right now? Feeding cats?"

"You're the honest one, your whole family is honest people." Mo Tan threw the empty cat food bag into the trash can and replied, "How did you guess what state I'm in right now? I've been keeping this a secret pretty well."

Yi Dong said briskly: "It's simple, because you only call me by my name properly in the first sentence after answering the phone at this time, instead of some 'Buddy A' or other messy things. By the way, why couldn't I add you as a friend after I logged in yesterday? Weren't you playing?"

"It's a long story." Mo Tan didn't have anything he couldn't reveal to him. He climbed the stairs and said, "It wasn't convenient to talk about it yesterday. Actually, I encountered a bug..."

Then he told Yi Dong about his ability to create three characters. The process also involved a personality switch, but the other party was used to it. Anyway, apart from the change in art style, there was nothing else.

"Anyway, that's roughly what happened." Mo Tan switched the computer system nimbly while saying, "You should have created a character too, right? Let me guess, it's a Chaotic Neutral alignment, right?"

Yi Dong exclaimed: "Damn, you're really amazing, you can even guess that!"

"It's nothing..." Mo Tan typed on the keyboard quickly and replied casually, "You're too shallow and too open-hearted. A little deduction should be enough to guess."

Yi Dong chuckled dryly and said helplessly: "Alright, anyway, you and I are completely two extremes. My name in the game is Rin Wintercrow, and I'm planning to go the ice mage route. I'm a level 3 mage now, an Eternal, and currently located in Icewind Hold. I haven't found out anything else."

"What the hell is an Eternal?" Mo Tan laughed: "A zombie?"

"You could say that." Yi Dong replied in a bad mood: "Anyway, the theory is that my character's soul is attached to my character's corpse. Fortunately, it doesn't look much different from when I was alive... Let's not talk about this, let's meet up in the game?"

Mo Tan rolled his eyes: "I still haven't figured out where my characters are specifically."

"Player independent space." Yi Dong said: "Didn't the official release an announcement before?"

"We'll see." Mo Tan narrowed his eyes slightly at the screen: "I'll hang up first, I'm a little busy here..."

Putting down his phone, he placed his hands on the desk, leaned forward, pressed his face close to the monitor, and muttered to himself: "I seem to have underestimated you too much... Shuangye!"

Chapter 12: End