Followers of the Old Gods and the Terror of the Night

The Doom-Bringing Raven has a daily usage limit of five times. I used it once when I looked at the sun and died, once to refresh Ding Xiaolan's snacks, and once when I obtained the Mother Goddess Flower Seed of the Dream Realm, so there are two uses remaining.

However, Yang Qizhou did not intend to reload his save this time.

The area around the Moonlight Ancient God's statue had already been thoroughly scoured, and since he had already obtained the "newbie starter pack" items—the Mother Goddess Flower Seed of the Dream Realm and Kanrui's Wizard Ring—there was likely nothing of value left. It was better to choose a normal resurrection.

"You choose to rewrite the ending of your death. The flame of fate's protection flickers in the eternal night, and you open your eyes once more in the desolation."

"You still retain the memories from before the fate reset. After looking around, you discover that the Moonlight Ancient God's statue has shattered, and there seems to be only one path laid out before you."

"Greedy and reckless arrogant explorer, do you choose to explore the village behind the gray-white fog?"

Only one option appeared this time.

The Moonlight Ancient God's statue had indeed shattered, which did not surprise Yang Qizhou. He had previously pondered the difference between the Doom-Bringing Raven's ability and a normal resurrection; the latter was a simple revival where the timeline continued to flow and past events remained unchangeable, while the former was a reset of the fate line, rewinding time to the moment the last choice was made while retaining the benefits gained before the reset.

The more he analyzed it, the more Yang Qizhou felt he had stumbled upon something incredible.

The game continues.

"You choose to head toward the village behind the gray-white fog."

"The hazy moonlight happens to spill onto this desolate land. Kanrui's Wizard Ring takes effect; you gain night vision, and your physical attributes are greatly enhanced."

"You are full of confidence, believing that with the blessing of the moonlight, you are no longer the weakling you once were."

"You set foot on the road leading to the village."

"A passing Ancient God believer finds the wizard aura radiating from you extremely repulsive and casually swats you to death."

"You have died."

???

Yang Qizhou was speechless for a long time. It was truly the Ancient Earth, surrounded by evil gods, teeming with mysteries, filled with grotesque entities, ravaged by terror, where the unknown and the mystical coexisted, and distortion and evil lived in symbiosis. He could run into an Ancient God believer just by walking around, and naturally, get swatted to death again.

But what the hell was this about the wizard aura being repulsive?

Was this Kanrui's Wizard Ring a newbie benefit or a death debuff, you jerk?

"You return to the River of Death, familiar with the route. The flame of fate's protection still flickers, and the Doom-Bringing Raven is still cawing."

"Do you choose to use the power of fate to rewrite the ending of your death?"

"Or do you use the power of the Doom-Bringing Raven to return to the moment you last made a choice?"

Yang Qizhou naturally chose a normal resurrection. There had only been one option last time, which wouldn't lead to other plot lines, so there was no need to waste a use of the Doom-Bringing Raven.

"You wake up from the desolation once again."

"Knowing that Ancient God believers find the wizard aura repulsive, you think it over carefully and decide to take off Kanrui's Wizard Ring."

"You set off again."

"You encounter an Ancient God believer again. He thinks you are trash and walks away after a casual glance."

???

I really thank you, Ancient God believer.

"The gray-white fog is too thick. You cannot see the road ahead clearly and can only rely on a faint lamp to head toward the village."

"You suddenly hear a cry for help."

"Do you choose to continue forward following the firelight in the village, or do you choose to follow the sound of the cry for help to take a look?"

"Greedy, despicable, and cheating explorer, please make your choice."

Although he had made a mistake once, Yang Qizhou, who felt he had a decent grasp of the Cthulhu-esque worldview, still firmly believed that it was best not to have too much curiosity, to stay away from buildings that looked problematic at first glance, and to avoid getting involved with strange people.

So his choice was... to continue forward.

"The explorer's caution finally pays off. Being timid, you decide that the cry for help is suspicious, choose to ignore it, and continue toward the village."

"You walk for half an hour."

"You walk for an hour."

"You discover that the distance between you and the village has not shortened. Refusing to believe it, you continue on your way."

"You walk for two hours."

"Night falls. You find that your vision ahead is getting worse and worse, the starlight and the afterglow of the moonlight are fading, and the outlines of the grass and trees are becoming increasingly blurred. You are completely swallowed by the darkness, and your body is devoured by invisible monsters."

"You have died."

????

Looking at the sun kills you, walking around gets you swatted by an Ancient God believer, and good grief, even strolling through the streets at night kills you. It really is just a game with a hundred thousand bizarre ways to die.

Yang Qizhou was numb, feeling the deep malice the [World of Weirdness] held for players. If it weren't for the fact that the game had major issues and the things inside could manifest in reality, he would have smashed his phone and quit long ago.

Trash game.

"You return to the River of Death, as expected. The flame of fate's protection still flickers, and the Doom-Bringing Raven is still cawing."

"Do you choose to use the power of fate to rewrite the ending of your death?"

"Or do you use the power of the Doom-Bringing Raven to return to the moment you last made a choice?"

This time, Yang Qizhou chose to utilize the power of the Doom-Bringing Raven to return to the moment the cries for help drifted out from the gray fog, analyzing that the reason he had failed to reach the village after two hours of walking was likely because he hadn't triggered this specific plot point.

Damn it.

Isn't the golden rule for survival in a Lovecraftian world to avoid excessive curiosity, stay away from buildings that look suspicious, and refrain from interacting with strange people? How is it that none of that works on the Ancient Earth?

"The gray fog is too thick; you cannot see the path ahead and can only rely on the faint lamplight to move toward the village."

"You hear the cries for help once again."

"Do you choose to continue following the firelight toward the village as you did last time, or do you choose to go and investigate the source of the cries?"

"Explorer, terrified by the horrors of the night, please make your choice."

Yang Qizhou chose the latter this time.

"You feel that as a kind and heroic explorer, you cannot leave others in peril, though you refuse to admit that you only chose to help the person crying out because you were afraid of the horrors lurking in the dark."

"You pass through layers of overlapping gray fog and see a beautiful young girl with an injured leg."

"You are captivated by the girl's charm."

"You pretend to be a gentleman and ask the beautiful girl if she needs any help."

"The beautiful girl is moved by your kindness and reveals her background: she is Aliceina, the daughter of Porter, the night watchman of Fire-Stealing Village. She injured her leg while picking yams and cannot walk properly. With night falling in two hours, Aliceina is anxious and terrified, and she begs you to take her back to the village."

"Hypocritical explorer, will you accept the request of the girl Aliceina, or will you refuse her and continue on your way alone?"

"Please make your choice."