Looking at the life he'd lived in the simulation, Li Ke didn't know what to say. Had he been too much of a womanizer?
He'd been cut down by a jealous lover.
Had he not been enough of one?
He'd still ended up in a love triangle, sleeping with both Ahri and Irelia.
And because he'd joined the war, the conflict in Ionia, which had lasted three years, ended in just two. That was honestly ridiculous.
But after thinking about Ionia's current state, Li Ke figured that if a professional political or military strategist came here, they'd defeat the Noxians even faster.
All they'd need to do was organize the powerful swordsmen into an army and reform this strange tribal nation. In a land full of mages, Noxus would learn what it meant to raise its own worst enemy.
There was no helping it. Magic was still the strongest force in the world. Even Hextech only let ordinary people use magic.
But in Ionia, practically everyone was a mage.
Everyone except him, Li Ke.
After a brief sigh, Li Ke chose to end the simulation and looked at the results panel.
Simulation ended.
Based on this simulation, you have earned the following rewards. Please select one:
1. Maximum health slowly increases by 32 points; vitality increases by 240 points.
2. A complete account of the two-year war in Ionia and an analysis of its aftermath.
3. Cause the following people in the real world to form a strong impression of you and randomly dream about events from your simulated life: Irelia, Xayah, Ahri, Zed, Kusho, Akali, Meimu, Yasuo, Yone, Souma, Karma, LeBlanc, Mordekaiser, Darius, Jarvan III, the Noxian Emperor, Jarvan IV, Garen, Xin Zhao, Sivir, Lux, Swain, Gangplank, and Tianna Crownguard.
"Hm?"
Li Ke looked at the final item on the reward panel, surprised.
In the simulation, he shouldn't have had much to do with Zed, Kusho, Akali, or Meimu. And that list was long enough to sound like someone reading out a menu. It covered practically everyone with any influence.
But after thinking it over, Li Ke roughly understood why.
"Is it because I actually led Ionia alongside Irelia in the simulation, and defeated Noxus from the ground up in just two years?"
Li Ke rubbed his chin. He hadn't considered that.
"Then the people included in the third option must depend on how much I affected their lives. Once I influence someone enough, they get added to the list?"
"That's pretty interesting. I'm getting more and more curious about what this ability really is. It can't be some mythic Great Dao Golden Immortal from a web novel, can it?"
He chuckled and dismissed the absurd idea, which was obviously impossible, then looked at the first two options.
He hadn't chosen to give Irelia her memories last time because he couldn't fall in love with a girl he'd never actually met. Giving her a romantic history with him just because she was pretty would have been unfair.
Free will deserved some respect.
The reason not to choose it this time was simple, too.
He didn't want to die.
If it had only been Irelia, Xayah, and Ahri, Li Ke might well have chosen it this time, given his flexible moral standards.
Three to one—that was an overwhelming advantage. And he'd be able to keep changing things, rewriting the simulation's tragic ending.
But the list also included Swain, currently the commander of Noxus's invasion of Ionia; Zed, who would turn to darkness in the future; the Noxian Emperor; Mordekaiser; and LeBlanc...
He didn't want to die.
Besides, if those clever people learned about what he'd done in the future, they'd have a one-sided view of him. They'd know everything about him, while he knew nothing about them.
He didn't think he was much smarter than Swain or Darius, who had risen to high positions in Noxus. In his view, the only reason he'd ended the war a year early was that they hadn't been approaching it from the same level of understanding.
But he could only take advantage of that once.
Ionia was still too weak.
So if they learned all this, the outcome of Noxus's defeat might not change, but Li Ke...
Would be as good as dead!
The emperor, the commanders, even the shadow cabinet would all remember him as an enemy. He was just a lone swordsman with no one to back him up. Li Ke couldn't see how this would end in anything but his death.
It'd be like someone watching hundreds of your games, then coming to gank you the moment you finally reached level three with Nasus. The enemy top, mid, jungler, and support would all be there, while your own jungler was farming in the bot lane, your mid laner was back at base, and bot lane was staring at a black screen.
Darius top, LeBlanc mid, Blade of the Ruined King in the jungle, and Swain support.
And you were just Nasus.
Oh, and maybe—just maybe—the ADC hunting you would be Draven, too.
Reality would only be more hopeless than that.
"Looks like I can't avoid this war after all."
Li Ke sighed softly as he looked at the simulation's record. No matter how much he resisted, he'd been drawn into the war both willingly and unwillingly in the two simulations.
So he...
Firmly chose the first reward: increased vitality.
It wasn't that the second option, a detailed account of the war, or a successful strategy he'd developed himself, weren't tempting. Li Ke was simply confident that if he'd done it once, he could do it again—as long as he didn't do something stupid like reveal the future.
So his own strength mattered most.
A fresh wave of pain swept through his body, followed by the warm sensation of vitality coursing through him.
The feeling was wonderfully soothing. Both the pain and the warmth made him feel that he was growing stronger.
An increase in maximum vitality would strengthen his body in every way, so the more, the better.
The extra vitality could also help him heal his injuries and make his training more effective, increasing his strength and speeding up his stamina recovery.
"This feels so good..."
Li Ke, trembling all over from the pain, said this. But the next moment, he heard another person's voice in his room.
"What feels good?"
He turned his head and saw Shen, the young man with the crescent-shaped hairline. Shen stared at Li Ke's twisted expression of pleasure, the corner of his mouth twitching, and couldn't help speaking up.
"Um, if you don't have a talent for alchemy, you can ask a Balance Order disciple for help. Don't take strange medicines and get hooked..."
Shen was sure Li Ke had bought fake medicine using someone's prescription, or messed up the proportions while mixing it. That would explain why, after taking it, he was muttering to himself, saying strange things, and wearing an expression that showed both pain and pleasure.
He looked exactly like an addict!
So, to make sure the medicines from his order didn't develop any strange side effects, Shen stepped in.
Li Ke looked at Shen, who'd suddenly appeared, then at the simulated results, where Shen had barely appeared at all. Under Shen's expression of, "You really did take the wrong medicine," Li Ke sighed again.
"Another variable..."
He was miserable. He was exhausted.
His heart was so worn out.
Before you continue