A Trial / One Sin Among a Hundred Virtues

"So I'm going to train Hua and steal your senior Lin away, then you'll be crying! Hahahaha!"

"No way!"

The joyful atmosphere, along with the pervasive smell of alcohol, gradually made the black-and-white world in Lin's eyes clearer and more colorful.

He could hear his own heartbeat and breathing; it all felt so real, no, it was no different from the real world!

"Seriously, what are you all shouting about? I haven't even come in yet and I can hear you yelling. Can't you be considerate of people who haven't had enough rest?"

A man with dark circles under his eyes walked in, yawning, and complained.

"And what's with Lin, standing right here? What are you arguing about?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the three who had been playfully bickering all turned to look at Lin.

"Hey, Lin, you're here?"

"Captain Lin, good afternoon."

"Lin, Lin, Team Member Lin... Did you hear everything?"

They all greeted him naturally. Lin gazed at their every smile and gesture, which gradually overlapped with the scenes in his memory. He couldn't find anything out of place. He turned his head and saw a man with tears in his eyes after yawning patting his shoulder. "There's a new piece of equipment for you to try out today. It'll be really interesting. Remember to come."

After saying that, he rubbed his shoulders and walked out of the room, muttering to himself, "Is my rheumatism acting up again?" as he headed towards the research department.

"What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well last night?"

The red-haired woman opened another bottle of beer, drank it all in one gulp despite the other two's objections, let out a satisfied burp, and tossed a bottle of beer to Lin with a smile.

"If you can't sleep well, have a drink with me, and I guarantee you'll sleep soundly tonight."

"Captain! How could you drag Team Member Lin along for drinks!"

"Oh my, you really are..." The red-haired woman pulled the girl with the inner highlights closer and whispered a few words in her ear. Soon, the girl's face turned bright red as the red-haired woman grinned wickedly.

The girl's rebuttal lacked conviction. "That still won't work..."

"What's wrong? What are you talking about?" At that moment, another boy walked in.

"Immer! Let's have a cocktail party!"

"So sudden?"

"Yeah yeah..."

Lin stood before them, turning to look at the Eighth Herrscher. The Eighth Herrscher looked up, his face reflected in her crimson eyes.

Chapter 122 A Trial

"...No."

The Eighth Herrscher thought she had misheard. Her smile vanished in an instant, and she looked at Lin with suspicion, at his cold face. "What?"

Lin Jingjing looked at Hua, who was smiling carefree. He rarely saw this young girl, who was still in the prime of her life, show such a smile.

Does he have the right to deprive them of their right to dream?

"..."

Can he stay in the eternal dream like them?

His gaze swept over the picturesque scene of the Squad Five celebrating together.

... Absolutely not.

Those standing behind him, those who have died, are always urging him forward.

"Alright then, in that case, let's decide in another way?"

The Eighth Herrscher stood still, and a cloud of mist instantly enveloped their bodies.

When Lin reappeared, he was surrounded by people.

The densely packed humans filled every space. They stood in different positions, looking at each other with confusion in their eyes. They surrounded Lin in a circle from top to bottom, like some kind of... judgment ritual.

"Everyone, I'm sorry to disturb your sweet dreams. I am the Eighth Herrscher, the one who provided you with this wonderful dream."

The Eighth Herrscher stood beside Lin, smiling as she transmitted her voice into the minds of everyone, including Lin.

"Excuse me, is there anything I can do for you? Have we made a deal with you? If we give you our bodies, you'll keep letting us dream about you."

One of them raised his hand and asked, while others followed suit, and some even shouted angrily, asking why he had been forcibly pulled out of his dream.

This crowd stretched as far as the eye could see, numbering at least tens of thousands. When they started arguing, it was an endless cacophony of noise in our ears.

"Quiet! You bunch of scum!"

Suddenly, a shout silenced everyone, who shrank back and looked at the Eighth Herrscher expression had become distant.

After everyone's eyes turned to her, she put on her sweet smile again, placed her hand on Lin's shoulder, and said in a low voice, "Next, I have something to tell you."

"This man is a warrior who has saved humanity countless times. He has fought countless battles in places you cannot see, each time teetering on the edge of life and death, and each time losing things you cannot even imagine."

"His life was nothing but suffering. From his ominous birth, he existed solely for the purpose of saving humanity. The word 'happiness' did not apply to him. He was a pitiful soul trapped in the graveyard of the dead."

"He is more noble than any of you, and he has more reason to live than any of you. In other words... it would be worth it to exchange all of your lives for his."

Beneath that sweet smile lay something chilling. Everyone held their breath, staring helplessly at Lin, who had her head bowed.

"And I, the Eighth Herrscher, have concealed my true identity from you. I am actually a 'non-human' born from the catastrophe of the Honkai that destroys human civilization. His past battles were against the Honkai. The 'Severe Winter,' 'hurricanes,' 'thunderstorms,' and 'fires' that most of you know about in recent years were all caused by Herrscher like me."

These words caused the crowd to stir even more, but the Eighth Herrscher's next words quickly silenced them.

"But I... do not intend to kill you just like that, nor will I kill other humans. I will grant you eternal dreams as I promised you, but the price is that humanity will never be able to go to reality again. Human history will end with your generation, and you will live in beautiful dreams until you die of natural causes."

"Only..."

The Eighth Herrscher changed the subject, smiling as she addressed everyone, "This brave and kind warrior wanted to save all of you from this dream that has brought humanity to stagnation and destruction, and couldn't bear to see his fellow human beings trapped in this illusion."

"This is very distressing for me. I have great respect for someone who could emerge from among you people who are no different from maggots. I am even tempted to agree to liberate you."

The commotion returned, and this time, the Eighth Herrscher shouted in an even colder tone, "Silence!"

"However, this respectable warrior is unwilling to deprive you of your will."

"But I feel that you are not as valuable as him, so I came up with a brilliant idea."

She tilted her head and said softly in a sweet tone—

"If he convinces all of you, then I will let you all go back."

"If he erases the consciousness of all of you, I will let him go back."

"Certainly--"

She raised her finger, finally revealing a cruel, bloodthirsty smile.

"If you kill him, you can stay in this eternal dream!"

"And the only thing you can use to attack him is the pebbles you have, one for each of you!"

"Then let us begin the trial of an unknown soldier!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the Eighth Herrscher whispered in Lin's ear, "Don't think that killing me will free them. I can destroy their consciousness with ease."

Then she smiled and disappeared from Lin's sight, leaving only him and the overwhelming, silent crowd.

No one spoke; they all stared blankly at the scene.

What exactly is this?

If this person can convince them to return to reality, then they will go back.

Even if he can't persuade them, he can still kill them all and go back.

All they could use to attack him was... these small stones?

Each of them had a small stone about half the size of a fist in their hand. The stone was not sharp and was nearly oval, which meant that it was not very lethal unless they had professional throwing skills.

Are you kidding me?

But when some of them tried to resist, they were horrified to find that they could do nothing except throw stones with one hand.

That man, according to the Eighth Herrscher, is someone who can fight monsters! If he wanted to kill them, who couldn't even move, it would be a piece of cake for him!

What should we do? If we throw stones at him, will he kill them? If we agree to his demands, will we be able to save our lives?

"Everyone."

At that moment, the man's voice also appeared in their minds.

A calm, unhurried voice.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of people, he slowly said:

"Please, come back to reality with me."

Chapter 123 One Good Deed, One Sin

"Please, come back to reality with me."

The scene was completely silent, with countless eyes fixed on him, this man who looked different from them just by his appearance.

His tone was calm yet forceful, and his gaze was sharp but not hurtful.

"I understand that for you, reality may be another prison."

"I understand that I do not have the right to deprive you of your right to dream."

"But I hope you can return to reality."

Lin slowly lowered his head and earnestly pleaded with these people.

"..."

Still, no one spoke.

After a long time, about fifteen minutes, someone finally asked him, "Do you know what we've been through in reality?"

"I know."

"Did you know that we can dream whatever we want here?"

"I know."

"So... you still want us to go back?"

"Yes..."

"Smack!"

A soft sound exploded on Lin's forehead. At the same time, everyone saw a stone hit his temple, leaving a shallow mark, before falling to the ground.

The consciousness entity, unlike his original body, can feel pain.

So, while feeling the pain, Lin looked up and saw a middle-aged man not far in front of him angrily making a throwing motion, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath, the stone beside him gone.

That person was the man Lin had seen through the first door before.

"Are you kidding me! How could you be so selfish!"

"..."

"You know perfectly well that we are nothing to that world! Yet you still want to drag us back to that awful world! What do we care about the lives of humans! Has anyone ever cared about us! And now you want us to sacrifice ourselves!"

"Feel sorry..."

"What's the use of apologizing! All you do all day is apologize! Apologize!"

Just as wars are often ignited by the first person to fire a shot, the man's signal, like pulling the trigger, was like another stone hitting Lin on the back of the head.

The stone wasn't very strong; it wasn't even enough to make him stumble.

Then came the third, fourth, and fifth pieces...

"What hero! Do we need you to save us?!"

"You're the murderer! At least we can live and die happily here!"

Another stone came flying, but this time it was fast and hard, hitting Lin's left eye socket with precision. He felt a pain in his left eye, covered his eye, and took a step back.

Blood trickled from between his fingers, the crimson liquid dripping onto the pristine white ground, like drops of red dye staining a piece of white cloth.

Lin lowered his hand and tried to open his eyes, but his left eye was completely black.

He is blind in his left eye.