Clearing the Dungeon

"Dungeon: Plague Suppression Tower."

"Completed."

The game Prompt Box popped up again, its words drifting lightly across the screen.

Once everything became a game, nothing seemed quite so important anymore.

The ordeal that had troubled Seven Colors for so long was, from this perspective, nothing more than a dungeon.

Those NPCs and characters were not living beings, but merely scenery placed somewhere, waiting for the protagonist's arrival. The protagonist, viewing things from a higher perspective, passed through the backdrop spread before the stage, killing minor monsters, defeating the BOSS, completing quests, and saving the world with an air of transcendence.

Mo Ling's thoughts suddenly grew hazy. The void left behind after the cyst disappeared was pitch-black. Through that pure emptiness, he seemed to see many things.

What would one see after carving a hole into the world's backdrop?

His vision slowly probed toward that void. Before purple light could fill it again, he wanted to see what lay Beyond the Void.

Were there spectators beyond the screen?

Or eyes beyond the words?

The moment Mo Ling thought of peering outward, an inexplicable fear suddenly rose within him.

He did not know why he feared it, nor where that fear came from.

"What am I afraid of?"

Mo Ling did not know what he was afraid of either...

Was it fear of the unknown? It did not seem to be. It was merely a void, with nothing in it. What unknown could there be?

"I'm just taking a look."

As Mo Ling thought this, his vision drew closer and closer, nearly pressing against the edge of the void.

But at that moment, the Guardian's Sword in his hand trembled, directly breaking Mo Ling's concentration.

"Immune response number 1,038,207,754: successful."

"Immune organ self-check result: normal. Continue guarding."

So it was another announcement...