Garment of the Hidden World

"Your words dealt a heavy blow to the Fire-Stealing Priest. He screamed like a madman, 'Impossible! Before the ritual to summon the god, I checked the holy relic many times. It really was the Rag Stained with the Great Lord's Blood. There's no way it could have been switched.'"

"You said nothing more, not wanting to reveal the Blasphemous Raven's properties. You simply wore an obnoxiously smug grin."

"The Fire-Stealing Priest vanished before your eyes. His resentful roar echoed through the room. On the empty Evil Altar, only you and the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World, concealed within the pillar of light, remained."

"The scenery of Fire-Stealing Village grew even more distorted. He was using his divine authority, trying to draw this place into his divine domain."

"You waited,"

"You continued to wait."

"You saw the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World suddenly stop moving. His face twisted into a vicious grimace, and his gaze filled with venomous hatred. His belly also began to swell at a visible rate."

"You knew that the divine Great Lord before you was pregnant."

Another fork in the road of fate appeared before you. The Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World had already realized that you had foully and despicably conspired against him, and he was furious. He would make you experience a god's wrath.

So, bold adventurer with an even bolder imagination, would you stay and witness the fate of the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World?

Or would you choose to run?

The Mother Goddess Flower Seed of the Dream Realm had taken effect. Yang Qizhou couldn't sit still. He stood up instead, staring fixedly at the line after line of text as it refreshed.

Running away was undoubtedly the best choice.

Staying might let him fish in troubled waters, but the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World had already realized the game character was behind it and would certainly exact the cruelest revenge. It would be fine if a god's power killed the character. But if it trapped him, refusing to let him die or leave, making him an eternal prisoner, then this account would be as good as ruined.

But Yang Qizhou was different from the other players. His Doom-Bringing Raven ability was just the thing to keep him out of this predicament.

"I'd really like to see what it's like when a god gets pregnant. Too bad this is a text-based game."

Muttering to himself, Yang Qizhou casually chose "1."

The pale text continued to scroll.

"You foolish adventurer, who doesn't know your place! With your pathetic abilities, you dare stay and face the wrath of the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World? You're practically showing contempt for the gods."

"Phantom forces surged around you. You were imprisoned in the gap between truth and illusion. The Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World would punish you, blasphemer, in the cruelest way possible."

"At that moment, another lofty and boundless will descended."

"His standing was even higher than that of the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World, and his divine authority even greater. He was the embodiment of beauty, the mother of all things, an ancient king who had existed since the Second Era."

"The god of origins who dwelled in dreams and presided over 'beauty' and 'fertility,' the Mother of Beauty and Fertility, learned that the Mother Goddess Flower Seed of the Dream Realm had blossomed within an old god. She turned her gaze toward Fire-Stealing Village."

"You saw a gigantic eye open between dream and reality."

"You also saw the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World looking terrified. He was afraid of the Mother of Beauty and Fertility and frantically tried to escape the material world, but he could not resist the suppression of her superior standing."

"The Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's belly split open, and the Dream Offspring born from the Mother Goddess Flower Seed crawled out."

So it was a C-section.

Yang Qizhou shuddered, secretly relieved that he hadn't let himself be tempted by this "epic" item and become a male mom for the sake of power. Never mind the social death—given that birth had involved bursting out through a belly, would he even have survived?

Thinking about it, Yang Qizhou felt rather bad for the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World. The poor guy had never even offended him, yet he'd been tricked into experiencing what it was like to be a "mother."

Amitabha, Amitabha.

Yang Qizhou turned his attention back to the game.

"The Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World is dead."

"The Mother of Beauty and Fertility thinks you're an insignificant insect, unworthy of carrying her child. She leaves with the Dream Offspring."

"You witnessed a divine battle. Although you were terrified, the adventurer's greedy nature once again took over. You went to the place where the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World had fallen and began fishing in troubled waters."

"You discovered that the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's flesh and blood had all been hollowed out. The Dream Offspring had obviously done it. You shuddered, even more afraid."

"The Rag Stained with the Great Lord's Blood on your person sensed a similar property and flew out on its own, merging with the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's remains."

"You lost the Rag Stained with the Great Lord's Blood."

"You obtained the Garment of the Hidden World."

"You picked up the Key to the Shepherd's Field."

Staying had indeed paid off.

Yang Qizhou grinned from ear to ear. Sometimes, he wondered what would have happened if he hadn't had the Doom-Bringing Raven.

He would have ended up in the same predicament as the members of the Bureau of Occult Investigation: dying over and over every day. Getting even a common-grade item would be incredibly difficult, let alone tricking an evil god to death and getting all sorts of rewards.

He eagerly inspected the Garment of the Hidden World and the Shepherd's Field Key, his two spoils of war.

Key to the Shepherd's Field (Superb): A key belonging to the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World, representing part of his symbolism. Its bearer can open the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's pasture and make Root-Court Hounds serve them.
Effect: You can summon a Root-Court Hound to bite all your enemies to death.
Current number: 2/1.

Garment of the Hidden World (Quasi-Legendary—Olden Object): A remnant of the "secrecy" divine authority left behind after the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's fall, combined with the Rag Stained with the Great Lord's Blood. It is a living item.

Effect 1: Unless you permit it, no one can know your identity.

Effect 2: You can conceal your existence so that no one can discover you. This effect automatically ends when you try to interfere with reality.

Side effect: It will randomly "erase" things around its bearer, and the value of the things erased will increase over time. When there is nothing of value around the bearer left to "erase," it will erase the bearer himself.

Comment: In the end, the world will forget you.

Yang Qizhou's excitement ebbed like the tide. It felt as though someone had doused him in cold water; his heart turned ice-cold.

He'd thought he'd hit the jackpot,

only to discover things had turned out like this.

The Key to the Shepherd's Field was decent enough. It could summon a vicious, invisible Root-Court Hound. The character had nearly died in its jaws several times, so its ferocity was clear. And thanks to the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's blessing, he had exceeded the summoning limit and gained two Root-Court Hounds at once, greatly boosting his combat strength.

But the properties of the Garment of the Hidden World were just absurd...