230. The Cost, Insignificant

"The stories I write will become a certain degree of reality through His dreams. These stories have their own will and will seek out the most suitable person to be the protagonist and continue to be staged. So, if I keep writing those terrifying, horrifying, and bizarre stories, this world may gradually become terrifying, horrifying, and bizarre."

The Gudu seemed somewhat helpless.

"Will writing stories lead to the destruction of the world, or will not writing them also lead to the destruction of the world?"

Xiya seemed to be deep in thought, as if she was thinking of the Night Country.

Although the Night Country is frequently attacked by the Black Forest's Demon Tide, it manages to survive thanks to the resistance of the Gray Tower and the Black Tower, though life is a bit tough for them.

Compared to the already destroyed wasteland and this ruined Ruined City that was destined to be destroyed anyway, the Night Country was simply paradise.

"Impossible, there must be other ways. Why can't we kill Him?"

Trist found it hard to believe. He had always thought that although the Ruined City city had all sorts of problems, at least most people in the city were able to live quite well.

But now the Gudu is telling Trist that this world will be destroyed after a period of time no matter what, which completely overturns Trist's worldview.

Either it will be destroyed by more and more monsters, or it will be ravaged by the awakening of that Unnamable Great Being; there is no hope in this world.

Lu Ban's first thought was of Harmony Island.

The Harmony Island is tainted by Corrupted Ones, and monsters are constantly devouring humans and destroying civilization. Only the purifying fire of the Wa Island Grand Shrine can extinguish it, but the purifying fire itself cannot be extinguished. In the end, the world will only be swallowed up by an inextinguishable flame.

No matter how much they struggle, the Harmony Island's fate is already sealed.

The two are so similar.

Or perhaps, Lu Ban thought, that all alien realms might be like this. The seemingly hopeless wasteland and the Night Country might already be gradually being destroyed in some places he was unaware of.

As for one's own world.

Lu Ban didn't think too much about it.

Because the world I live in is certainly not the most special one.

The answer is self-evident.

"You are the protagonists of ' The Mouth of the Madman ', and that mercenary may be the protagonist of ' The Shadows of Terror '. Stories will find the most suitable protagonist for themselves. If there is no suitable protagonist, then the story will gradually fade away and lose its effect. I will need to create new stories to continue to satisfy it."

The Gudu seemed indifferent to the impending destruction of the world, or perhaps he had lost his humanity during his long coexistence with an indescribable evil god.

Only by losing all reason and emotion as a human being can one possibly contend with that mad and incomprehensible Great Being.

"But don't worry, at least for now, He won't wake up. In the past twenty years, besides writing, I have also been researching some methods to temporarily achieve the seal."

Gudu pointed to that door.

"Simply put, the stories I write become His dreams. Through these dreams, He interferes with reality, causing it to move in an irreversible direction. The stories, in turn, will find their own protagonists, beyond our control. That's why I created this town."

"This town will become the main area of influence of His dreams, and all the stories will converge here. Although there may be some leaks, at least most of the horror novel plots will only take place in this town."

Hearing Gudu's words, Trist felt slightly relieved, but then suddenly felt something was wrong.

If it were that easy to seal away an Unnamable Great Being, then the Gudu wouldn't have needed to be trapped here for twenty years.

"What price will this come at?"

Therefore, Trist inquired.

"The cost is negligible."

Gudu smiled.

"To accomplish this, the first problem is that the most suitable protagonists for these stories need to appear in this town. Otherwise, they will still leak to other cities and other regions. Secondly, each story will be accompanied by the birth of some monsters and anomalies. After a period of time, this area will be full of abnormal monsters, making it difficult to meet the first condition."

"In addition, my personal factors are also one of them, and very important, which is whether I can continue to create stories that are pleasing to Him. In fact, as time goes by, it becomes difficult to create a good story, and to completely imprison Him in this town, a more ingenious and interconnected story is needed."

Listening to the description of the Gudu, even Lu Ban felt it was extremely difficult; it was an attempt to use the power of mortals to fight against the gods.

How did Gudu achieve this?

"No need to rush. To accomplish this, all you need is one thing: to intertwine the illusory with the real. Although I am an ordinary person and cannot fully do what I'm saying, there is someone in this world who can. This is the technique my friend used back then."

The writer picked up his pen, as if he wanted to write something, but hesitated to put pen to paper.

"That's the guy behind the door."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ban suddenly understood.

"You yourself have become part of the story?"

With the conditions laid out, the answer is obvious.

"Yes, He is the guy in the world who is best at weaving stories, loves stories the most, and pursues the perfect story the most. So, just like how ' The Mouth of the Madman ' found you, I wrote myself into the story. In fact, your experiences are just stories recorded by the protagonist in ' The Mouth of the Madman,' stories within stories. The real protagonist of the story is myself."

The Gudu's tone was as flat as if it were discussing some unremarkable article.

"In ' The Mouth of the Madman,' I am a horror novelist, capable of continuously creating horror novels that amaze the world. After disappearing, I actually came to the door that seals a Great Being. Here, I will continue to create those horror stories, and these stories will actually play out in this town."

"In reality, I am just an ordinary novelist, but in the stories, I am a great writer who never runs out of inspiration and has endless ideas. Things that I cannot do myself will be done in the dreams of that Great Being."

"I used His own power to create countless stories for Him."

"These stories will lead to the destruction of the world and bring endless fear. I have turned the fear in reality into a weapon to fight against it."

His lips curled up like a child who had just pulled off a prank.

Lu Ban was wrong.

This is not a foolish act of mortals defying the gods, but a magnificent feat of imprisoning the gods with mortal wisdom.

"So, your arrival, your conversation with me, is the key to all of this. Our dialogue connects reality and the story, giving this story a true ending."

"Without you, my story would be nothing but a castle in the air, but with your witness, and with the witness of the Great Being behind you, this story has a true foundation."

Not only the deities behind the bronze gate, but also the being behind Lu Ban and his companions who manipulates and fools everything, have become part of the Gudu's works.

He was like a chess player, treating everything, even himself, as a piece, playing against indescribable deities.

And he actually won.

"Therefore, I say, the price is negligible, amounting to nothing more than myself."

Gudu spoke, seemingly having made up his mind, he picked up his pen and wrote down the ending of the story on the manuscript paper.

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