Chapter 229
"A toast to the past," Yuki said in a deep voice, then raised the wine bottle to Mai Sakurajima and the others who looked bewildered, a smile playing on his lips.
"To the future!"
Chapter Fifteen: Pioneers and Management Stations
For the next few days, Yuki enjoyed a very comfortable time, even more so than in reality.
There are no disturbances during the day, and it is in a state of absolute safety, but it is not too idle either, there are things to do every day.
Aside from living beings, the Reincarnation Game allows you to exchange for everything you need. This pure white space is boundless, and after replicating the room, there's always something to do.
Mai Sakurajima became dissatisfied with staying indoors, so she exchanged soil for soil and planted flowers outside the house. Without needing to fertilize or water them, the flowers bloomed rapidly.
Hayasaka Ai redeemed dozens of types of coffee beans, transforming herself into a professional every day, tasting and improving them.
Kaguya rarely comes out, and no one knows what she does in her room; as for Hiyori, she's the simplest—she's always with a book in her hand, and you can see her reading anytime, anywhere.
"Here, you can even exchange points for the real ocean, the sky, and the sun. Compared to that miraculous phenomenon, these points are nothing."
Yuki glanced out the window; even as a holographic projection, the Grand Blue brought a sense of tranquility, and he couldn't help but yawn.
This benefit is too extravagant; it goes beyond what is meant to help players relax.
"Is it really going to make us lose our ambition through frivolous pursuits? Is it really that insidious?"
Yuki's old habit has kicked in again; he's spent hundreds of points and can actually enjoy the sunshine and even have the weather automatically adjusted.
Reincarnation Game that can turn into a strategy game and even come with 'Minecraft' features? This is just too outrageous.
Yuuki glanced at the door to another room next to the entrance hall. There was a pig's head drawn on the door and a red bar, clearly indicating that someone was forbidden from entering. Yuki sighed again.
That's too much freedom. Why be so formal? Wouldn't it be better to share a room?
Finally, there's the huge conflict between the women's enthusiasm and their wallets. They want to exchange for everything, especially Hiyori, the bookworm, who's a major spender of points. Even Yuuki, the Yuki one, has been squeezed dry.
"I have 30 points left. If this continues, they'll drain me dry."
The side door made a sound, Yuki looked up. Seeing Mai Sakurajima hat gave him a headache. This hat cost 0.1 points, which was meaningless without being able to exchange for suns.
But the senior student said that a sense of ritual was needed, which Yuki couldn't understand their thought process.
"You idiot, I want to..."
"No, no, no, senior, who's really supporting whom here? You guys are always asking me for points, and then you just squander them pointlessly."
"You're the only one who still has points left, huh? And who said it's meaningless? This is a reconstruction of the appreciation of 'beauty'." Mai Sakurajima wrinkled her nose and said nonchalantly, "This game is quite fun, time flies by."
The 8K high-definition remastered version of Minecraft skips the crafting process, it's bound to be fun, but it requires in-game purchases.
Yuki became increasingly convinced that this was a conspiracy, and retorted, "Aren't we going to do something productive?"
"It's break time for the dungeon now, besides, aren't you doing serious business?"
Her confident tone left Yuki speechless. Just then, Mai Sakurajima leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "Hayasaka is planning to build a swimming pool. Don't you want to see swimsuits?"
His ears were itchy, and his heart started to itch too. He coughed lightly, and his whole demeanor became righteous.
"Five points left."
"Make a deal."
Watching his senior leave with a laugh, Yuki suddenly felt that he had been tricked, but there was nothing he could do. He then took out the black longsword.
"You're going to continue exploring?" Mai Sakurajima instantly turned serious. Everyone in the Reincarnation Game had learned the ability to change their demeanor. "Should I call everyone over?"
"No need, I can go by myself." Yuki didn't want to disrupt the rhythm of her rest.
"Then be careful."
"Don't worry, we've been at the Outpost for several days now, and there's really no threat here. Besides, there's nothing you can do to help with this."
Yuki simply said, and walked to the door that had changed its appearance. He gently patted his cheeks, switching himself into "conquest mode".
Looking at the hole in the door, it felt as if a voice inside was calling out:
Open it, open it.
I've been holding back for days, and the next dungeon is about to start, but I finally couldn't resist anymore.
Yuki glanced at the Black Blade in his hand, then, without further hesitation, he raised his hand and inserted it into the hole. As expected, the blade fit snugly into the hole, leaving no gap.
It really was a key; inside it must lie the secrets of the Outpost's deeper depths.
Driven by curiosity, I twisted my wrist and, without much effort, heard a 'click' sound as it unlocked.
Gurgle.
The ease with which the door opened caused Yuki to swallow hard. He placed his hand on the brass handle, gave it a gentle twist, and his blood-red eyes narrowed sharply.
This, this is...
As if captivated by the spectacle before him, Yuki didn't even greet Mai Sakurajima behind him before stepping inside.
Clatter
The door closed, but Mai Sakurajima ran over and twisted it open the next moment. The girl rushed out of the room and felt a soft touch under her feet.
She went straight to the corridor, quickly turning her head to look left and right. Everything seemed normal, but Yuki was nowhere to be seen.
"He's disappeared?" Hayasaka Ai's voice came from behind. The door next to the entrance hall opened, and the maid had obviously been hiding behind it all along.
"Well, to be honest, I'm still completely baffled. There are so many illogical things here." This was Mai Sakurajima's true feeling; too many things couldn't be explained by logic.
"But we are not lost, he will always find a way." Hayasaka Ai didn't think that much. A good maid should stand quietly by her side and watch her master create something new.
She looked around and realized that Yuki hadn't opened the same door as her, but had instead led her to another dimension.
The spatial structure is strange, and even if the Reincarnation Game couldn't imagine it, it's impossible that they would prepare an almost infinite private space for a mere few players like us.
She also had many things she couldn't understand, so she patted Mai Sakurajima on the shoulder and said, "Let's go back. I'll make lunch today."
"Hayasaka, aren't you worried?"
"There's nothing to worry about. Hiyori's regret is just creating trouble for herself. Think about it, if Yuki were just an ordinary player, could he have led us kittens to get ahead?"
Mai Sakurajima shook her head. That was impossible. She was just a high school girl. Compared to the players from different factions who were born extraordinary, she was not outstanding even in her hometown.
But she somehow managed to stand at the very front of all the players, surpassing those elites, those professional assassins, and those players who owned entire conglomerates.
"I noticed it when the game targeted me before, and it's become even more obvious here at this Borderlands." Mai Sakurajima looked towards the end of the corridor, as if searching for Yuki's figure. "That idiot must be extraordinary. Hey, Hayasaka, do you think he knows it himself?"
"He's not a complete idiot, he definitely knows, and the clues he gave were very clear." Hayasaka Ai wanted to laugh, but couldn't quite manage it.
Yuki must have had special privileges at the Outpost, but no one knew why; she was only very clear about the price of those privileges.
The Reincarnation Game twice almost dropped its pretense and intervened with all its might: once when Yuki entered the game, and once when he was on the verge of his physical Limit. Its purpose was very clear:
The game wanted him to stop moving forward.
No one knows when the next turning point will come; it's like a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, and the agonizing experience of surviving against all odds is yet to come.
"As long as he keeps moving forward and gets closer to some truth, the test will come sooner or later," Mai Sakurajima muttered to herself. Everyone wasn't stupid; they could all guess what was going on.
Yuki's enemy is the Reincarnation Game itself; just thinking about it for a moment is enough to make one feel despair.
"But we will stay with him. Sometimes despair is also hope, and this may be the only way to fulfill your wish."
"This is also your wish, Hayasaka," Mai Sakurajima emphasized. She didn't ask Yuki if he had found out any information about returning home from the Borderlands, because it was pointless.
The Reincarnation Game has no end; all that remains is struggle. Even with the power to destroy a star, one cannot escape the identity of a player.
"So, senior, we have no choice but to bet on him."
"Bet? What a rational word." Mai Sakurajima gently lifted her chin, her black hair cascading down, and walked past the maid.
"Whether in reality or in a game, all I want is to be by his side."
If the Reincarnation Game wants to kill me, there must be some motive.
This is the core of all the mysteries. In Yuki's eyes, the Reincarnation Game is more like a program, without any physical entity or representative.
"To eliminate someone just because they are a time traveler is incredibly petty."
After arriving at the Borderlands, Yuki dispelled this doubt. The transmigrator's knowledge was indeed extraordinary, like locking onto Frieren at a glance, but this advantage was not so conspicuous among the countless factions.
Knowledge cannot be used to kill enemies. Even with ten years of preparation, if he and Wu Raian entered the instance at the same time and used equal strength, the latter could crush him with one hand.
Is having those honed fighting skills useful? Just because I know someone doesn't mean they'll go easy on me.
"There must be other reasons, just like the call of the Blood God, just like this very moment."
Yuki stood in a very strange place, and was even at a loss for words, unable to accurately describe what he saw before him.
He was floating in the air, yet he didn't feel weightless, nor could he sense gravity. After his vision circled around, Yuki found himself standing in a glass room—or rather, a broken glass room.
The pitch-black world was deathly silent, riddled with cracks. These cracks were dense and irregular, stretching from overhead to around us and down to our feet, as if we were in a shattered mirror world.
What kind of place is this?
Yuki took a few steps forward and realized that the distance between him and the cracks was not decreasing, so he quickened his pace and started sprinting.
As before, the distance didn't decrease despite running. The door behind him seemed to follow him everywhere, and without any reference points, Yuki thought he was running in place.
The concept of space is vague, so what's the point?
Even a riddle needs clues. Given the current situation, he was completely baffled. He stepped on the ground and could feel its presence again. A thought struck him, and he looked at the Black Blade in his hand.
According to the senior students, the knife suddenly appeared in the pure white space, and they couldn't help but rotate their wrists and shove the knife into the ground with their backhand.
[Drop.]
Although it was very faint, it was the first sound to appear in the deathly silent space. Before Yuki could think, he suddenly looked up.
Light shone through the shattered glass, reflecting in his crimson eyes. Yuki forgot to breathe, his eyes wide open.
Each shard of broken glass reveals a scene, accompanied by strange murmurs.
[Welcome to the management office, Trailblazer]
[Permission Retrieval]
[Low-level]
That's what it said.
Chapter Sixteen: Thorny Rose (4K)
Sure enough, this Outpost held secrets.
The moment the murmured voice rang out, Yuki breathed a sigh of relief.
From activating the portal to restoring the Outpost to its former glory, it was clearly a chain reaction, and he was the one who triggered it.
The Trailblazers? In Frieren's words, they are the flag of a faction, which can be an individual or a team, leading the entire Outpost to nurture enemies in a closed world, and eventually break through the outer shell to connect with the Borderlands.
With this information, Yuki wasn't completely confused, but he was soon met with even greater doubts.
Why me?
His strength in the entire Reincarnation Game can only be described as mediocre, far from being qualified to lead a faction to overcome obstacles and enter the third stage.
But it can only be me.
There were no players at this Outpost, and as the only team leader, it seemed that only he could take over the flag.
Frieren once said that the Trail Blazers would fall, and then the next one would take up the banner and continue the journey. From this perspective, the current situation is quite reasonable.
"Could it be that the entire faction was wiped out, and I got the freebie?"
Yuki didn't know, and no one would step forward to answer him. Just like most vortexes in the sky had solidified, he hadn't visited the Outpost of other factions, but this was definitely not normal.
There are countless interpretations of a single question.
He touched the back of his neck, then turned his attention back to what lay before him. There were countless cracks, and countless images within them, but the more he looked, the more familiar they seemed.
"Hey, isn't this the Outpost?"
He paused for a moment, realizing that the management office was indeed real; from where he stood, he could monitor the entire Outpost as if he had countless surveillance cameras.
However, I can't see what's inside each room. Is this related to the permissions I mentioned earlier?
Yuki made a reasonable guess: he had always felt that his room was too unrealistic, as most player teams didn't have many people, and that kind of arrangement seemed like a waste of resources.