The daily limit for using the Doom-Bringing Raven was five times. He'd used it once when he looked at the sun and died, once to get a second helping of Ding Xiaolan's snacks, and once when he obtained the Mother Goddess Flower Seed of the Dream Realm. That left him with two uses.
But this time, Yang Qizhou didn't plan to rewind and start over again.
The area around the Moonlight Ancient God's statue had already been thoroughly searched. He'd also gotten both of the new-player gifts, the Mother Goddess Flower Seed of the Dream Realm and Kanrui's Wizard Ring. Anything else probably wasn't worth much, so he might as well choose to be reborn normally.
"You chose to rewrite the ending of your death. The flame of fate's protection flickered in the eternal night, and you opened your eyes once more amid the desolation."
"You still retained your memories from before fate was restarted. After looking around, you discovered that the Moonlight Ancient God's statue had shattered. It seemed there was only one path before you."
"Greedy and reckless, you arrogant explorer. Will you explore the village beyond the gray-white fog?"
This time, there was only one option.
The Moonlight Ancient God's statue had indeed shattered. Yang Qizhou wasn't surprised. He'd already wondered what the difference was between the Blasphemous Raven's power and ordinary revival. The latter simply brought him back to life; time continued to pass, and what had happened couldn't be changed. The former, however, restarted the timeline, rewinding it to the moment he'd last made a choice while preserving the benefits he'd gained before the restart.
The more Yang Qizhou analyzed it, the more he felt he'd chosen something incredible.
The game continued.
"You chose to head for the village beyond the gray-white fog."
"The hazy moonlight fell just right upon this desolate land. Kanrui's Wizard Ring took effect, granting you night vision and greatly enhancing your physical abilities."
"You were full of confidence, convinced that with the moonlight's blessing, you were no longer the weakling you'd been before."
"You set out on the road to the village."
"An Old God worshipper passing by loathed the wizardly aura emanating from you and casually slapped you to death."
"You died."
???
Yang Qizhou was speechless for a long while. This really was the Ancient Earth, surrounded by evil gods, teeming with the uncanny, crawling with the bizarre, and ravaged by terror—a place where the unknown and the mysterious coexisted, and the twisted and the evil thrived. Just wandering around was enough to run into an Old God worshipper, who naturally slapped him to death.
But what was that about hating the aura of a wizard?
Was Kanrui's Wizard Ring a new-player perk or a death buff, damn it?
"You returned to the River of Death with practiced ease. The flame of fate's protection still flickered, and the Doom-Bringing Raven continued to caw."
"Will you use the power of fate to rewrite the ending of your death?"
"Or will you use the power of the Doom-Bringing Raven to return to the last moment when you made a choice?"
Yang Qizhou naturally chose to revive normally. Last time, there'd only been one option, so it wouldn't lead to any other story branches. There was no need to waste a use of the Doom-Bringing Raven.
"You awoke from the desolation once more."
"You now knew that Old God worshippers loathed the aura of wizards. After careful consideration, you decided to remove Kanrui's Wizard Ring."
"You set out again."
"You ran into an Old God worshipper again. He thought you were trash, glanced at you, then walked away."
???
Well, thanks a lot, Old God worshipper.
"The gray-white fog was so thick that you couldn't see the road ahead. You could only make your way toward the village by the faint light of your lantern."
Suddenly, you heard a cry for help.
"Will you keep following the light from the village and press on, or follow the cry for help and see what's going on?"
"Greedy, despicable, and cheating explorer, make your choice."
Although he'd gotten it wrong once, Yang Qizhou still firmly believed, given his understanding of the Lovecraftian setting, that it was best not to be too curious. He should stay away from buildings that obviously looked suspicious and avoid getting involved with strange people.
So his choice was... to keep going.
"The explorer's caution finally proved useful for once. You were too timid to trust the cry for help and chose to ignore it, continuing toward the village."
"You walked for half an hour."
"You walked for an hour."
"You realized you weren't any closer to the village, but stubbornly pressed on."
"You walked for two hours."
"Night fell. You noticed that the view ahead was growing worse and worse. The last traces of starlight and moonlight faded, the outlines of the grass and trees blurred, and darkness swallowed you whole. Invisible monsters devoured your body."
"You died."
????
Looking at the sun could kill him, walking could get him slapped to death by an Old God worshipper, and now even taking a stroll at night could kill him. What a collection of ten thousand bizarre ways for players to die.
Yang Qizhou was completely numb, feeling the deep malice the World of Weirdness held for players. If the game weren't seriously messed up, with things from inside it able to appear in the real world, he'd have thrown his phone down and quit long ago.
Crappy game.
"You returned to the River of Death, just as expected. The flame of fate's protection still flickered, and the Doom-Bringing Raven continued to caw."
"Will you use the power of fate to rewrite the ending of your death?"
"Or will you use the power of the Doom-Bringing Raven to return to the last moment when you made a choice?"
This time, Yang Qizhou chose to use the Doom-Bringing Raven's power, returning to the moment when he'd heard the cry for help in the gray-white fog. He figured he'd been unable to reach the village even after walking for two hours because he hadn't triggered this event.
Damn it.
Wasn't the way to survive in a Lovecraftian setting to avoid being too curious, stay away from buildings that obviously looked suspicious, and keep away from strange people? Why wasn't any of that working in the Ancient Earth?
"The gray-white fog was so thick that you couldn't see the road ahead. You could only make your way toward the village by the faint light of your lantern."
Once again, you heard a cry for help.
"Will you keep following the light from the village, like last time, or go see where the cry for help is coming from?"
"Explorer, your courage has been broken by the terror of the night. Make your choice."
This time, Yang Qizhou chose the latter.
"You felt that, as a kind and brave explorer, you couldn't abandon someone in danger. You refused to admit that you'd chosen to help the person because you were afraid of the terror lurking in the night."
"You passed through layer upon layer of gray-white fog and saw a beautiful young woman with an injured leg."
"You were captivated by the young woman's charm."
"You put on a gentlemanly air and asked the beautiful young woman if she needed help."
"Moved by your kindness, the beautiful young woman told you her story. Her name was Aliceina, and she was the daughter of Porter, the Night Watcher of Fire-Stealing Village. She'd injured her leg in a fall while picking yams and could no longer walk properly. Night would fall in two hours. Aliceina was anxious and afraid, and she begged you to take her back to the village."
"Hypocritical explorer, will you grant Aliceina's request, or refuse and leave her to travel alone?"
"Make your choice."
Before you continue