What If This Were the Real World?
Lu Xiu was not a scholar of souls.
Although she could recall all the text when Constructed Instance, it would likely be difficult for her to actually recount the various details of the Dark Souls story and piece together all the fragmented clues to reconstruct the story.
However, everyone has their own interpretation of Hamlet.
She certainly has her own understanding of the story of Dark Souls and its characters.
For example.
The Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight is about to be defeated.
Lu Xiu felt that this was a great king.
In the story, facing the impending doom of the First Flame extinguishing and the impending end of the Age of Fire, only he truly took action, as for the other King Soul holders.
The First of the Dead Gravelord Nito was truly a Nito.
The Witch of Izalith attempted to create a new First Flame, but instead created a Bed of Chaos.
The Furtive Pygmy, on the other hand, were never seen from beginning to end.
Only Gwyn, the founder of the Age of Fire, foresaw the fire's impending extinguishment and made a choice that truly belonged to a king.
He distributed most of his soul power to his people and descendants, and then, with his most loyal knights, resolutely stepped into the Kiln of the First Flame.
They began to burn themselves, using their own bodies as fuel to continue the Age of Fire.
This is also the starting point for passing on the fire.
Taking into account the actions of other King Soul holders.
The contrast becomes even more stark when considering those subordinates and offspring who received a share of Gwyn's soul power.
After the Four Kings of New Londo received the Lord Soul Fragment, they not only failed to take on any responsibility, but were also easily seduced by the Primordial Serpent Kaathe, directly surrendering to the Abyss and allowing the Dark Desire to spread, ultimately causing the entire New Londo to be submerged and transformed into a wailing ghost town.
His former ally, the Seath the Scaleless, after obtaining the King's Soul, immediately went into hiding and began conducting human experiments, constantly eyeing his own scales.
His son Gwyndolin, though possessing the name of the Deity, only dared to cower in the shadows of Anor Londo, exhausting all his strength to maintain a false illusion, guarding a doomed empty city through self-deception.
Because of the contrast provided by these allies and subordinates.
Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, truly appeared exceptionally tragic.
He gave his last drop of blood for his era.
Even by the third generation, almost everyone was tired of it and didn't want to pass on that B-pop anymore; they just wanted the world to be destroyed as soon as possible.
But that would be thousands of years from now.
The actions of the Lord of Cinder have allowed the world to linger on for thousands more years.
You could say he feared the coming of a dark age and thus went against the natural laws of the world.
But from the perspective of his own faction, and from the standpoint of those lives that depended on the First Flame, Gwyn undoubtedly fulfilled all the responsibilities of a king.
Therefore, Lu Xiu felt that this was a great king.
Such a ruler deserves the highest respect.
She tossed the Moonlight Greatsword into her backpack, then pulled out the most ordinary longsword before waving her hand to dispel the fog before her and stepping into the final scene.
A gentle, melancholic piano piece slowly began to play.
As Lu Xiu stepped into the mist, a figure in the distance slowly turned around.
Lord of Cinder of Gwyn.
His body was burned beyond recognition, and his once golden armor was so severely carbonized that its original color was no longer visible.
Even so, the moment he turned around, the sense of oppression still hit him like a tangible force.
The once mighty Sun King slowly raised the enormous sword in his hand.
Boom!
The greatsword instantly burst into flames.
The Kiln of the First Flame, which had been dimmed, seemed to experience a brief revival at this moment.
Immediately afterward, Gwyn charged forward, transforming into a raging fire meteor that instantly covered a distance of tens of meters, attacking Lu Xiu!
Quick!
Very fast!
It's really hard to hit without Deflect.
Deflect...
Then anyone can bully him.
Of course, this is the original game. This dungeon has been completely changed compared to the original game, and it is actually quite difficult to defeat Gwyn by simply Deflect.
Even without Deflect, Lu Xiu was confident she could win without taking damage.
And things turned out exactly as she had predicted.
A few minutes later, with the final blow.
Gwyn's massive body swayed.
Lu Xiu thrust out her longsword with her right hand, piercing his chest.
Pfft.
The blade pierced through his body, taking away Gwyn's last drop of blood.
Ultimately, he had been burned for a thousand years and had completely turned into a living corpse. His powerless, Ember could barely move, and it was impossible to imagine his former power.
The massive sword, engulfed in flames, crashed to the ashes-covered ground with a clang. The flames on its blade flickered for a few moments before finally extinguishing completely.
The towering the Deity slowly collapsed, kneeling on the ground, and finally transformed into Bai Guang dust that filled the sky, drifting away with the wind.
Only a faint but still flickering flame of the soul remained in the spot.
The melancholic piano piece also came to an end at this moment.
The wind has stopped.
As the First Flame in the furnace quieted down, Lu Xiu slowly sheathed his longsword and collected the fallen soul of Lord of Cinder Gwyn.
At this moment, perhaps because she had been playing for too long and was too exhausted, she even had the mind to feel sentimental and melancholic—suddenly feeling that the world of Dark Souls was truly miserable.
Upon closer reflection, Gwyn -sacrifice was merely a means to prolong the life of an era on the verge of extinction.
The player, as the Chosen Undead, endures countless hardships to reach this place, defeats the former the Deity, and ultimately chooses to touch the First Flame, only to allow the already ravaged world to linger on.
Then the torch was passed on from generation to generation.
Thousands of years later, even the burned Lord of Cinder were dragged out and burned again, but they could not dispel the approaching, irreversible Dark Age. The whole world inevitably came to a complete end and nothingness.
There was no way to reverse the situation.
Thinking about it that way, choosing the other ending doesn't seem so bad.
He turned around directly, ignoring the dying First Flame, and stepped out of the ruins, leaving the Kiln of the First Flame behind.
Let darkness descend, become the Dark Lord, and then await the arrival of the next era.
Since the so-called "passing on the fire" is nothing more than allowing this already ravaged world to continue its miserable existence, rather than being trapped in this hopeless vicious cycle, it would be better to simply let it be destroyed cleanly and decisively now.
Thinking about this...
Lu Xiu couldn't help but smile softly.
She gathered her scattered thoughts, took a step, and trudged through the thick layer of ash on the ground to the faint glow of the First Flame.
Destruction may be a form of liberation, but it is also an inevitable trend.
But how can a civilization willingly sit idly by and calmly accept its fate of ending?
The most primal instinct of life is survival.
Even if it's like a moth drawn to a flame, even if you know that all your efforts will eventually vanish in the face of relentless time, even if it's just a matter of prolonging your life, there will always be someone willing to burn themselves out without hesitation for that extra sliver of light.
Even if there isn't a player-controlled Chosen Undead, there will definitely be another immortal.
This is perhaps the most extreme struggle and heroism beneath the game's suffocatingly desperate undertones.
Lu Xiu stood in the center of the stove, then reached her hand into the flames.
Touch the First Flame.
Crackling sound.
The First Flame crackled and burned as if it had encountered the perfect kindling.
Almost the instant her fingertips touched, the already faint First Flame seemed to suddenly come alive, fiercely climbing up her fingertips.
From the fingers, to the wrist, and then to the entire arm.
The flames spread rapidly with unstoppable force, engulfing her entire body in the blink of an eye.
Lu Xiu let the flames engulf her body and slowly opened her hands.
Mad Fire----
wrong.
Pass the fire!
The flames began to spread outwards from her, igniting the entire stove.
The once lifeless, gray world was now completely illuminated by the dazzling, blinding light of the fire.
That was no ordinary flame, but the First Flame that could reignite the entire world and banish the Abyss and despair.
The violent light and heat emanated from Lu Xiu in a circular pattern in all directions, instantly burning away the seemingly inescapable gloom and ashes.
And in this raging fire, powerful enough to reduce even the soul to ashes.
Lu Xiu stood quietly.
As the flames reached their peak, the entire Kiln of the First Flame, along with the world before them, began to rapidly lose its color, like film exposed to intense light. Its edges gradually blurred and distorted, eventually turning into complete darkness.
A system notification popped up.
[Dear Architect! You have successfully completed the dungeon you constructed. Congratulations!]
[System is generating clearance rating -]
[----If your world were in the same predicament, would you make the same choice? To use yourself as Kindling to light the First Flame and eke out a living?]
Lu Xiu let out a long sigh of relief.
I finally beat the game.
She looked at the evaluation in front of her, already mentally prepared to be sarcastic by the system, but she never expected to see such a question-like statement—she was slightly taken aback.
What's the meaning?
Lu Xiu stared at the inexplicable question, utterly bewildered. Was this system really going to get involved? Even the text and background story set by the Architect were being used to interrogate the Architect himself?
Just as she was thinking this, the text above suddenly flickered.
Next.
The strange comment, as if suddenly triggered by some kind of error correction mechanism, began to disappear one by one, as if someone were holding down the backspace key, deleting the question bit by bit until it was completely wiped clean, leaving not even a single punctuation mark.
Immediately afterwards.
The evaluation is regenerated.
[System is generating clearance rating--]
[evaluate:
This is a solitary pilgrimage, a long and arduous journey.
There were no companions or cheers during the event.
The only companion you'll have is the faint crackling of the Bonfire.
As Architect, you have created a world filled with pure malice and despair: oppressive and dilapidated fortresses, swamps teeming with poison and blind spots, a treacherous Anor Londo fraught with danger at every turn, and those bizarre and oppressive mutated monsters—
From the Northern Undead Asylum to the Undead Burg, from the poisonous swamps of Blighttown to the intricate traps of the Sen's Fortress, and finally to the false Anor Londo.
Every inch of this land, every corner, is etched with malice.
It was meant to make it impossible for anyone to move an inch, and you should also find it difficult to move forward.
However, you are like a machine without emotions.
You skillfully dodge all the malicious traps and mechanisms, as if deliberately pushing yourself to the limit, almost obsessively pursuing the goal of killing any enemy without taking damage.
Whether it's an inconspicuous living creature by the roadside, or Gravelord Nito who holds the original Four Kings Souls, or Manus, the Lord of the Abyss, or even Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight.
In your eyes, there seems to be no difference.
Poisoned darts, massive swinging axes, Dragonslayer Greatarrow that blast people into the Abyss —you dodged all those malicious attacks that should have caught you off guard.
You tread upon the remains of countless the Deity, Demon, and zombies, wading through the mud of the Abyss, and with your cold sword and flawless maneuvers, you brought an end to the twilight of the old era.
If Oscar of Astora were alive and witnessed all of this, he would probably regret giving you the key for the rest of his life.
but----
You are an undead king who seems to have come to destroy the old era.
After a lonely journey, upon reaching the end of the road, they did not choose to stand idly by.
Instead, they sheathed all their sharpness and ruthlessness, and with reverence for that fallen king, unhesitatingly offered themselves as kindling in the Kiln of the First Flame, igniting themselves so that the ravaged world could continue.
[Evaluation Summary:]
[A heartless rolling machine, a ruthless king of the undead.]
[----The Lonely Firebearer.]
As Lu Xiu looked at the freshly written review, a subtle emotion flashed in her beautiful eyes.
This system has a pretty rich vocabulary.
But surprisingly, it wasn't overly sarcastic or sarcastic.
To be honest, Lu Xiu wasn't used to it at all.
but.
What bothered her most was the comment that had just been deleted.
Why ask that?
Lu Xiu fell into deep thought—was it because of this gamified world? Come to think of it, no one truly understands the reason for the World Gamification.
Where do goddesses come from?
Why gamify?
The system's initial announcement seemed to mention that all of this was to defend against some unknown external enemy.
Ordinary people cannot fight against this—so the system World Gamification, making everyone a player.
But that was several years ago.
Let alone what the enemy looks like, there is still no definitive conclusion as to whether it is a living being, a higher-dimensional concept, or a natural disaster.
The players in the Prison Rock are not considered external enemies; they are clearly also players controlled by the system.
Gamification is most likely not for the purpose of competitive matches.
So what is the purpose of World Gamification and turning everyone into a player?
If the system's instantly deleted comment wasn't just the system getting into character—could it mean that the real world is actually on the verge of collapse, like First Flame about to be extinguished?
The system World Gamification, forcing players to fight and evolve against each other—is it perhaps casting a wide net, searching for flammable Kindling?
Lu Xiu's expression froze slightly.
This idea is somewhat chilling when you think about it carefully.
But it can't be that much of a coincidence, right?