Secret Cultivator

Fire-Stealing Village is under the protection of the Ancient Fire-Stealing God; unless one has the guidance of the "Fire Kindling," it is impossible to find the correct path into the village from the vast wilderness. The last time, the character ignored Aliceina's cries for help and chose to head straight for Fire-Stealing Village, but because he lacked this key item, he failed to reach the village by nightfall and was ultimately torn apart and devoured by the offspring of the Lord of the Dark Night.

But this time, it was different.

The ability of the "Doom-Bringing Raven" not only rewound the timeline, but the "Fire Kindling" was also retained.

With the key to entering the village in hand, the character's plot line would inevitably differ from before when facing Aliceina's plea for help again. It was worth a gamble.

The pale text continued to scroll.

"You have returned to the moment you made your choice last time."

"The beautiful young girl Aliceina is moved by your kindness; she is once again recounting her origins and begging you to take her back to Fire-Stealing Village."

"You feel a bit dazed, as this scene has already played out once before."

"You know full well that the pretty girl before you is a terrifying existence, suspected of having ties to the unknown evil god, the 'Lord of the Dark Night.' Her request hides deep malice, as she intends to use your hands to bring disaster upon Fire-Stealing Village."

"The fork in the road of fate appears before you once again."

"Do you choose to turn around and run immediately?"

"Or do you play along, feigning agreement to Aliceina's request, and flee toward Fire-Stealing Village after obtaining the 'Remains of the Night Watcher'?"

"Hypocritical and cowardly Otherworldly Explorer, please make your choice."

Do you take me for a fool? If I chose to turn and run immediately, I'd likely be cruelly swatted to death by Aliceina the moment she realized her identity was exposed. Yang Qizhou didn't even consider it and chose the second option.

"You are exceptionally calm, choosing to agree to Aliceina's request. To avoid revealing any flaws, you once again express your concerns about the threats the wilderness might pose to you while gathering materials, and you inquire again about the horrors lurking in the night."

"I must say, your acting is superb—far better than your trash-tier strength. Perhaps you should consider becoming an actor."

"Aliceina is deceived by your exquisite performance and, just like last time, hands the 'Remains of the Night Watcher' over to you."

"You have obtained the Remains of the Night Watcher."

"You set off in the direction of 'Fire-Stealing Mountain'."

Holy crap, it's already eleven o'clock?

Yang Qizhou was startled by the time in the top right corner of his phone. He hadn't realized it had already turned dark outside. However, he was a night owl by nature, and the game [World of Weirdness] was so bizarre and intriguing, with a plot compelling enough that he had started to get hooked without even noticing.

Yang Qizhou refocused his attention on the game.

"You have traveled a great distance."

"You appear to be heading toward Fire-Stealing Mountain, but in reality, you are veering toward Fire-Stealing Village."

"You suddenly put on 'Kanrui's Wizard Ring.' Moonlight spills over you, granting you night vision, and your physical attributes are enhanced."

"You hold the 'Fire Kindling' high and sprint toward Fire-Stealing Village for your life."

"The twisted creatures wandering the wilderness fear the 'Remains of the Night Watcher' in your hand and do not launch an attack."

"Aliceina discovers your despicable behavior and is filled with rage. The shockwaves of her power kill the twisted creatures wandering within a hundred-meter radius, and she pursues you."

"You vaguely feel a terrifying shadow looming behind you."

"You feel as though you are about to be submerged."

"The 'Fire Kindling' takes effect. You step onto the correct path leading into Fire-Stealing Village, and you receive the protection of the 'Ancient Fire-Stealing God'."

"Aliceina cannot approach the divine domain of the 'Ancient Fire-Stealing God.' Helpless, she stops her pursuit, letting out a roar that echoes through the night, vowing to drown you in the darkness and feed you to the offspring of the Lord of the Dark Night."

Heh, it worked.

A smile appeared on Yang Qizhou's face. Choosing to use the ability of the "Blasphemous Raven" to rewind was definitely the right call; not only did he avoid the plot line where Fire-Stealing Village is destroyed, but he also got the "Remains of the Night Watcher" for free.

It's a pity that the stats are still quest items and cannot be brought back into reality. I wonder if I can trigger a hidden plot with the Night Watchers.

"You encounter a Night Watcher who arrived after discovering the anomaly."

"You are very excited, running up to greet him and intending to bring up the matter regarding Aliceina."

"The Night Watcher is very wary of the 'Wizard' aura on you and launches an attack. You are cleaved in two, your internal organs spilling all over the ground. The Night Watcher is quite surprised that you are such trash."

"You have died."

???

The guy had a lot of question marks.

Well, it is the [World of Weirdness]; having a bizarre cause of death is normal. Dying from looking at the sun is fine, being swatted by a passing cultist of an Old God is acceptable, and being devoured by monsters in the night is also understandable.

But hey, aren't Night Watchers supposed to be of the Lawful Good faction? Why would they strike him down themselves?

"What on earth is a Wizard? The cultists of the Old Gods loathe them, and the Night Watchers are hostile toward them. It really is hated by both gods and ghosts. I swear, even if I starve to death or die out there, I will never become a Wizard."

Yang Qizhou secretly vowed to himself.

The character's soul arrived at the River of Death once again. He still had resurrection chances, but the uses for the "Doom-Bringing Raven" were exhausted. Yang Qizhou thought about it—if he encountered a chance to exploit the game and couldn't reload, wouldn't he miss out? He decided to put the game down for now and wait until after midnight.

The moonlight tonight was exceptionally bright, but thinking of the great horrors existing in the night on the Ancient Earth, Yang Qizhou felt a sense of unease at the beautiful scenery before him.

Bored, Yang Qizhou decided to go online and search for [World of Weirdness] to see if he could find any useful information.

He opened his computer and began to look.

More than ten minutes passed, and Yang Qizhou had not found any information regarding the [World of Weirdness]. Several conjectures formed in his mind: first, he was currently the only player; second, the authorities had hidden the key information; third, all players of the World of Weirdness had chosen to keep this secret.

If it were the first possibility, then he was truly awesome—the Chosen One, the Star of Salvation—he could just go ahead and assign himself all sorts of high-sounding titles.

Hands on hips.

If it were the second... Yang Qizhou frowned. If the authorities were involved, that carried far too many implications.

As for the third, It was impossible to imagine. Even if there were only a hundred players of the [World of Weirdness], and ninety-nine of them were cunning villains hiding deep in the shadows, there would always be at least one who thought they were the Chosen One or the Star of Salvation, showing off on the internet or their social media feeds.

Just as he was pondering this, a post on an online forum caught his attention.

The title read: <This is a post that can only be seen by those who have set foot on the Ancient Earth.>

Poster: Secret Cultivator.

"As expected, I'm not the Chosen One. I wonder if this Secret Cultivator is a man or a woman, and if we could engage in some 'backdoor' dealings." His attention seemed to have drifted to irrelevant matters, so Yang Qizhou quickly reined in his thoughts and clicked the left mouse button.

The post opened quickly.

"If you clicked in and aren't seeing garbled text, then it means you are a player of the [World of Weirdness]."

"Congratulations on encountering an extraordinary game. Although it might cost you your life, I have to say you are lucky to have chosen the extraordinary at the crossroads of fate."

"I won't go into a walkthrough; I've only just started playing this game myself, and much of the information is still up for debate. Telling you might just lead you into a trap, so I'll just list a few points of caution."

"1: Never continue playing the game after your respawn count is exhausted. Sinking into the River of Death will not only make your character disappear, but you will also die along with it."

"2: Never recklessly use items from the [World of Weirdness] in reality; that could unleash something terrifying."

"3: You may know of the unspeakable existences on the Ancient Earth, but never speak their complete true names. Even if it's an abbreviation, it's best not to say it at all if you can avoid it."

"4: If you want to communicate with me, join this group. The group number is XXXXXXX."

"5: Never easily search for the keywords 'World of Weirdness' or 'Ancient Earth' online. Otherwise, if nothing goes wrong, someone will be knocking on your door within half an hour at most."

"Good luck, friend."

Someone knocking on the door within half an hour? What did that mean? A community welfare check?

Yang Qizhou had felt quite relaxed initially, but when he saw the fifth point, cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead and back. He glanced at his phone; it was 11:59, and the time he had searched for "World of Weirdness" was around 11:27.

Exactly half an hour.

"Bang, bang, bang."

The door was suddenly knocked upon, giving Yang Qizhou a start. Then, he heard:

"Sir, hello, we're from the community office. We're conducting a census, please open the door."