"Since there's no beginner level this time, let's welcome our Ruler to give a speech, everyone applaud!" The Boss Rabbit clapped enthusiastically. Perhaps because the World Game had already occurred many times, this time it didn't even bother to explain the rules.

"Snap." A light shone on Su Ming'an.

He showed no expression, his calmness devoid of warmth.

... What now.

... Why make him go through this again.

An invisible force pulled at him, trying to drag him up to give a speech. Six months ago, he succumbed to this force. But in this moment, he suddenly began to resist, drawing out the Amber Knife and stabbing it firmly into the ground, his black hair fluttering in the wind's pull, though his figure stood fixed like a post.

This time, there was no mask on his face, and everyone could see him.

"... Is that the God? So the God is also participating in this game."

"But isn't he a God? Why does he look just like us?"

"Even the God cannot resist the Organizers?"

Surprise, disappointment, awe, admiration... various expressions roamed over him, while he tightly gripped the sword's handle, as if struggling against some impossible force.

The next moment, the Boss Rabbit appeared beside Su Ming'an. Many people closed their eyes, fearing that Su Ming'an might be erased for not complying, as there were precedents before.

But the microphone was brought near Su Ming'an's mouth, and that pulling force halted.

Su Ming'an looked up and saw the blood-red eyes up close, like a pair of vivid rubies.

"... If you don't want to speak from the sky, just do it on the ground, it's fine." The Boss Rabbit offered the microphone to his mouth, showing gentleness that was reserved only for him: "Say something."

It made a concession to him.

Facing the stunned gazes of the surrounding people, Su Ming'an suddenly felt distanced from the group known as "humans."

The Organizers were always like this.

Differentiation. Dividing him from others, it had always been like this from the start: saving him from the United Group's bomb, the eccentric auction house room, the maid Little Na who attended him, the Boss Rabbit choosing to forgive even after being punched by Su Ming'an, the ever-responsive Organizers...

"I don't want to speak." Su Ming'an said softly.

His demeanor was overly calm, not because of a brief nightmare, but because the long-lasting collapse weighed on him like a crumbling castle.

"Ah? Don't want to speak? But weren't you eloquent at the beginning? A nineteen-year-old human who could speak impromptu with composure in front of a billion people." The Boss Rabbit blinked, its red eyes full of grievance: "What a pity... what extinguished your enthusiasm?"

Su Ming'an didn't want to speak.

His enthusiasm hadn't been extinguished; he just didn't want to pour his heart into such an absurd simulation play. It was meaningless; many things had been meaningless from the start.

"Alright, if you don't want to speak, then don't." The Boss Rabbit was very forgiving: "Then let's start the game."

The next moment, Su Ming'an was frozen.

Then came continuous streams of light and shadow. Passing before his eyes.

——It should be the instances in this World Game:

Amidst the northern lights, heavily equipped researchers carried bottles and jars, stepping over the blood flowing on the ice. A young man with black hair leapt from the sea, summoning fish shaped like jagged stones, as if he were the master of the ocean.

On a mechanical airship, a worker left after checking the last screw. A black-haired youth condensed from sludge into a humanoid form, like a pitch-black slime, slowly devouring the airship amid the sound of storms swaying outside the window.

Under the blue-purple sky, a black-haired youth in a Divine Envoy's attire walked past a white altar, looking toward the dense forest in the distance. The forms of fantasy creatures like rainbow-colored elves, hammer-wielding gnomes, and giant mountains vanished among various kingdoms.

In a house filled with potions, the black-haired youth lowered his head, adjusting the mechanical hunting rifle in his hand, with a street map full of strange writings hanging on the wall. He snapped closed a suitcase, pulled down his hat brim, extinguished the fireplace, and walked toward the bell tower under the night.

Scene after scene, all were unfamiliar sights to Su Ming'an.

He couldn't see them clearly; time was accelerating rapidly in his perception, and his figure seemed like a fast-forwarded movie thousands of times... Indeed, he couldn't experience the fourth World Game in detail, he could only know——The Old God had gone through the fourth World Game.

Until the end, as though a long time had passed, he felt something and lowered his head, finding that his hand was covered with pristine Pattern Marks, resembling sacred, white, beautiful tendrils.

His gaze was involuntarily drawn to them, as if they were the most beautiful things in the world.

"Dong——" A bell tolled.

Su Ming'an stood atop the sky. Everything around was hazy, isolated by a layer of perceptual barrier. He had no clear sight, no clear sense of touch, only one concept in his mind——[Now is the final wish time].

It seemed that in the fourth World Game, the Old God won in the end. It hadn't ended the World Game early, but instead went through all the instances step by step.

A faint hymn echoed in the surroundings, the burnt smell of joss paper reached his nose, he couldn't see the other wishmakers, only perceive their vague forms. As the music reached a climax, he felt his mouth open, lips moving slightly——

[I wish... to gain the supreme authority over "time"].

Su Ming'an's eyes widened.

He didn't expect to say such a thing. Neither reclaiming a civilization nor dedicating himself to high dimensions, but wanting an authority.

It seemed that in the wish sections of the previous three World Games, too many conflicts arose. Wishes like [I want to reclaim a civilization] and [I want to enter high dimensions] likely conflicted not just once, with situations being complex to the point where a single wish couldn't offset them, so the Old God didn't wish [I want civilization no longer to be disturbed by high dimensions], but rather wanted a time authority.

With the time authority, indeed, it could save the situation indirectly. As long as there's enough time, many seemingly irreversible wishes could gradually be erased. The Old God's wish was very clever.

So he felt his right hand lift, as though some sharp light were gradually coalescing at his fingertips...

[This is the materialization of your authority.]

He looked toward his fingers.

A bright blue ring lingered on his finger, flickering with a fine glow.

He flexed his fingers, the ring's glow darting in his vision, he closed his eyes, unwilling to see it. He loathed this sense of fate, this feeling of an Ouroboros connected front and back.

Ring of Time.

This was the Gold Level Equipment, the Ring of Time, that the Old God obtained in this World Game. Su Ming'an also had one. When the Old God acquired the time authority, the Ring of Time became one of its instruments.

"..."

Su Ming'an lowered his head.

But suddenly, a fluffy sensation came from above his head.

Su Ming'an looked up to see a white-haired, red-eyed boy. The boy was wearing a stage outfit that resembled a host's attire, with straight legs exposed below his shorts, faintly revealing white fluffy rabbit fur. The boy leaned towards him with a smile, and a pair of floppy rabbit ears dropped onto Su Ming'an's forehead with a soft pat.

"..."

"...How does it feel? Do you like this World Game?" the white-haired, red-eyed boy asked him, rubbing his fingers a bit more.

"I don't like it, didn't see anything." Su Ming'an spoke honestly, looking at the boyish appearance of the Boss Rabbit and closed the live broadcast room: "Moreover, to humans, you're like ants. Why bother assuming a human form? Aren't you lowering your rank? I saw many such images of your organizers on the World Forum, and you don't feel offended?"

The Boss Rabbit curved his eyebrows, a flawless face looking even more gentle.

His eyelids drooped, and it was a smile distinctly different from humans, cold and inorganic.

"...How could we?"

"Do you care how ants imagine themselves?"

Su Ming'an said: "Is that so? But there's another possibility, which is that we're actually... all the same. So you don't feel offended."

The Boss Rabbit said: "Not the same."

Su Ming'an said: "But your abilities are limited, restricted by many things. For example, right now..."

He suddenly reached out, grabbed the boy's floppy ears, and with a strong pull—

In the boy's slightly astonished expression, Su Ming'an yanked the boy's ears, flung him backward, performing a standard 180-degree backflip, slamming the boy heavily onto the ground.

Su Ming'an said: "For instance, when I attack you like this, you don't eliminate me. Because you also have things you care about. You're clearly restricted by the World Game."

The boy slowly got up from the ground, with an innocent expression on his face. Su Ming'an suddenly realized that the Boss Rabbit's appearance no longer had the slightest sense of distortion, disgust, or grotesqueness. Initially, when facing Su Ming'an, the Boss Rabbit's look was hideous and terrifying, capable of scaring a three-year-old child, but now seemed as cute as could be. It was as if it symbolized that its attitude towards Su Ming'an was becoming softer and more respectful.

"—And now you're saying these things." The Boss Rabbit said: "—Is it because you want to declare war on us?"

His voice carried a smile, but behind it lurked a terrifying darkness.

The meaning contained in this sentence was enough to affect entire civilizations.

The sound of the scale chimed, clack, clack. Su Ming'an made eye contact with it, separated by a small distance, less than forty centimeters, a very unsafe distance. The thin veil between them seemed about to be torn away, that layer... mixed with lies, fear, pressure, the Ruler, the Number One Player's wish, the organizers' favor.

The sky continued to resonate with muffled singing below, where millions of people stood watching, waiting for the Old God to finish granting wishes.

In this oppressive atmosphere, Su Ming'an suddenly laughed; he reached out and instead patted the Boss Rabbit's head.

It was soft, and the feel was quite good.

"No, I just wanted to feel your texture." Su Ming'an retracted his hand: "The feel is nice."

The boy looked at him, with nothing in his ruby-like eyes.

"I remember you can't meddle in the World Game, not even answer questions about it. But now, here you are appearing in front of me, pulling me into a world within the World Game, patting my head, and asking me about my feelings. Is it because... the World of Old Days is special, and the deities made a wager with you, allowing you greater involvement in the world, even setting traps for me? Or is it... because you're fake? It's just a simulation."

The boy pursed his lips.

"If you weren't Su Ming'an, just by hitting me, you would have been erased." The boy said calmly.

"Try it," Su Ming'an said: "I harmed you, haven't I triggered your [Instant Death Rule]? Just like that player who leaked your secrets was eliminated in broad daylight. Why don't you try erasing me?"

The Boss Rabbit stared at him silently.

Five seconds later, Su Ming'an clapped his hands: "Alright, you're fake, and a thousand years ago was a simulation, I got it. Thanks for your cooperation."

The Boss Rabbit chuckled and turned to leave. But Su Ming'an said:

"Organizers."

The Boss Rabbit stopped, his rabbit ears drooping.

"Whether you're real or fake, the real Boss Rabbit must be listening. So, listen to me." Su Ming'an looked at him and suddenly showed a gentle smile: "I have something on me that you particularly want. We can... cooperate."

He smelled a scent of blood.

As if the scale was dripping with blood.

The white-haired boy turned his head inch by inch, like a rusting music box puppet, until those bright red eyes aligned with Su Ming'an. At this moment, his expression became terrifying.

"...Are you admitting...?" the Boss Rabbit said.

Admitting you have something we particularly want.

Admitting you have...

This question was like a weight on the balance.

Click.

It fell on one end of the blood-red scale.

Su Ming'an abruptly laughed, spreading his hands:

"...I'm just extending a cooperation invitation, nothing else. What am I admitting to?"

"I heard the wager of the deities. Organizers, why put so much effort into testing me, even at the cost of a World Origin, just hoping I expose something? What's the necessity?"

"Although my Original is one such as Acto, Qin Wang, belonging to the category of altruists, I can also be an extreme altruist like Su Rin and Xiber. Mr. Su, to save the world, will go to any lengths merely because he cares for his homeland, then you could similarly shackle me in countless ways, couldn't you?"

"I remember the deities saying—[Zhai Xing is just a small boat sailing in darkness, a narrow skiff, alone in the long night, lighting a torch makes it easily destroyed. It's too insignificant and has no value.]"

"[A stable, strong, mature civilization. It should have ample survival resources and a stable social structure, it should calculate its possibilities.]"

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