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Chapter 1267: One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Four·"The Road Not Taken."

"Have some tea." Si Que snapped his fingers, and a magpie teapot appeared in the air. It poured black tea from its beak into the purple-gold porcelain cup in front of Su Mingan: "If it hurts a lot, drinking tea can relieve the pain."

"Why did you make the teapot like this..." Su Ming held his chest, his whole body still in pain as if it was being torn apart.

"Is this a problem?" Si Que blinked.

"Not counting."

"I call this tea 'Dying Dreams'. It has the effect of suppressing pain. If you are still in pain, drink a sip and it will make you feel better."

As the aroma of tea floated in the air, Su Mingan looked at the carefree Si Que and asked, "Why does the plot editor have a face like Lu Shu?"

"Don't you want to play turtle soup with me?"

"Never. I want to be more practical and answer questions quickly. I don't think you want Rovatha to fall."

Si Que laughed, his voice lowered: "...I really don't care."

He put down the porcelain cup, clasped his hands together, and placed them under his chin:
"That person is... the 2021 version of Lu Shu. Or, you might call him the Supervisor."

“What?” Although Su Mingan had already guessed that the man was inseparable from Lu Shu, was the 2021 version of Lu Shu so strong?

"Don't be anxious. Think carefully about how you and Lu Shu met." Si Que was like a hypnotist in a dream, guiding the guest's thinking.

Su Mingan recalled that he first met Lu Shu in the world game on the second floor of the Central Hospital, and Lu Shu stabbed him in the back when they met... Because Lu Shu's identity was [Supervisor], the mission required him to kill Su Mingan. However, later, influenced by Su Mingan's ideas, Lu Shu chose to give up the assassination, gave Su Mingan a pet egg, and became friends.

This is how it all began.

However, the butterfly effect caused by Su Ming'an meant that the 2021 version of Su Ming'an and Lu Shu did not meet, let alone follow. Therefore, the 2021 version of Lu Shu did not give up his role as an inspector.

"In the 2021 version, Lu Shu became a true Supervisor, that is, the plot editor of the Disciple game. He was no longer a player, and his strength was forcibly raised." Si Que spread his hands: "Now, do you understand the meaning of Supervisor?"

"So, the [Supervisor] is also called the plot modifier, and his responsibility is to correct people who shouldn't exist in the game..." Su Ming'an suddenly realized.

At this moment, a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind, and a shock arose spontaneously.

——At the beginning of the world game, after Lu Shu obtained the identity of [Supervisor], his first mission was to assassinate Su Mingan.

Does this mean that in the eyes of the world game... Su Mingan at that time, like everyone else in Luo Vasa now, are... [people who should not exist in the plot]? ?

Could it be that from the very beginning...

Si Que took a sip of tea and his eyes opened and closed slightly.

"Is he still alive?" Su Ming'an asked. He didn't expect that the person who risked his life against him was actually Lu Shu himself.

"Alive." Si Que said, "You didn't kill him."

"Is Siyi the Supreme Lord?"

Si Que smiled: "She is not the supreme master, oh... She is the supreme master of the plane of [Floating City in the White Sun], so it is not wrong to call her that."

Su Mingan noticed it keenly: "So, she is not Tosolius, the supreme lord of Lovasa."

Si Que said: "Of course not. Tosorius is not targeting you. She is just the ruler of the [Floating City of the White Sun], so she is called the Supreme Lord."

Su Mingan breathed a sigh of relief, and he said that he had never even seen the gods, so how could he fight against the Supreme Lord from the beginning. It turned out that this title refers to more than one person, as long as the strongest in the plane is considered "Supreme".

"So she asked me to stay away from the 2021 version of Su Ming'an. Was it really to avoid disrupting the protagonist's plot and driving away time travelers like us?" Su Ming'an asked.

Si Que smiled, looked at the swaying wisteria flowers outside the window, and raised his eyes:
"Let me think... can I tell you this part of the information... it should be OK at this stage."

"I'll use a metaphor, you see."

He raised a finger and drew a pink jellyfish in the air:
"It's a jellyfish, and its name is 'World Game'."

"Then, there is a bird here." Si Que raised the fingers of his right hand and drew a bird in the air: "Its name is 'Simulation Server'."

He waved his fingers, and under Su Mingan's shocked gaze, the jellyfish made a "puff" sound and ate the bird.

"The world game is above everything else, but some people are wondering... can we use our authority to imitate the world game and create a fake world game, that is, a simulated server?" Si Que pointed at the bird in the jellyfish with one hand:

"As you can see, someone has created a 'simulated server' that is included in the 'world game'."

"In this world, there are two kinds of game rules that exist at the same time - the first kind is the most eternal cosmic rules from the world game. The second kind comes from the simulation server and is the rules set by the producer himself."

"Because the bird is contained in the jellyfish, when the player walks inside the bird, they will think they are still within the scope of the jellyfish, and will not realize that they are already in the bird, that is, in a simulated server made by others - the 2021 version you see is this kind of simulated server."

"If we want to cut off Luo Washa's connection with the World Game and kill the organizer——"

Si Que said something extremely shocking:
"——We need to make this 'simulated server' that originated from the world game swallow up the world game, or compete with the world game."

"That's it." As he drew the picture, the next moment, the bird in the jellyfish suddenly pecked back - like sucking noodles, it sucked the jellyfish into the bird's stomach.

Su Mingan stared at the scene of the bird swallowing the jellyfish and said:

"Si Que, you mean, this is..."

“[Let bad money drive out good money, let pirated products kill genuine products?]”

Si Que meant that someone was trying to create a replica of the World Game in order to defeat the World Game. This sounded unrealistic. How could a replica defeat the original?

"It's a shameful statement, but that's the way it is." Si Que spread his hands: "Is it rare for pirated products to kill genuine products?"

He smiled and said, "This plan should have been in progress for a long time... The appearance of the 2021 version of Su Mingan indicates that initial progress has been made."

Su Mingan said: "[So what you mean is that the 2021 version of Su Mingan is a pirated version. And I am the genuine version? The guy who made the Disciple game wants to pirate and cover my genuine version? And then compete with the World Game?]"

Si Que remained silent, as if agreeing.

Su Ming'an thought about it carefully and found that the 2021 version of Su Ming'an was indeed different from him in many ways. For example, Xiao Su was too immature and too radical. Compared with the world game, the Disciple game lacked many plots and the copy background was very different. It was indeed more like a pirated version. For example, Xiaohan, the resistance army, and Alisa were not included.

So the Disciple Game is... a [pirated world game] deliberately made by someone, and the plots performed are all pirated, not real events.

The purpose is... to compete with the genuine world game.

Therefore, a plot reviser was sent to drive Su Ming'an out of the main storyline of the dungeon, allowing Xiao Su to take risks, face the Mechanical Mother Goddess, and stand under the spotlight, all in order to allow Xiao Su to cover Su Ming'an's status as the protagonist.

Although the specifics of how to fight back are not clear, the person's goal is clear:
——Let 2021 cover 2024.

- Make pirated copies and bring the legitimate world games to an end in people's eyes.

……

"Then you can start choosing." Si Que stretched out his hand and pushed three plates to Su Mingan.

"What to choose?" Su Mingan said.

"Your...path."

Si Que put the five fingers of his right hand together, with his fingertips tilted towards the plate.

"Next, you will choose to join their organization and work with them to create a pirated version of the World Game - that is, the Disciple Game, and try to find a way to compete with the World Game." The first plate was filled with colorful macarons.

"Or, stand on the side of the World Lord, follow the bugs in the world game he has researched, ignore the demonization crisis, and finally advance to a higher dimension." The second plate contained a strawberry cream pudding.

"Or, you can listen to the World Tree, become the true [protagonist], upgrade step by step, and take the most reliable path. In the end, you will gain the favor of the World Game and save the precarious fate of civilization." The third plate contained a piece of brown-black chocolate mousse.

Su Mingan clasped his hands together and stared at the three desserts in silence. He seemed to be standing at a crossroads of fate again, the same feeling as when he was deciding whether to join the Peak Alliance.

Three desserts, three options, three paths, three endings.

On his shoulders rested the weight of civilization and the lives of seven billion people. Yet, behind him there was no one.

In this dream, no one could give him advice.

The pointer-less wall clock chimed, time passed silently, and the host of the tea party picked up the porcelain cup.

The heat was floating, and his eyelashes were trembling between reality and illusion, like the wings of a magpie. He was extremely silent, and did not give any inductive words, because this responsibility did not belong to his shoulders. This kind of decision could only be left to Su Mingan himself.

"Make a careful decision." Si Que said.

Su Mingan stood in the garden where the paths forked.

The sunlight was blinding, so he looked up.

"...[He believes that time has countless series, and divergent, converging and parallel times weave into an ever-growing, intricate web.]" His voice sounded, reading the story that was once on Lin Guang's bookshelf:

“The network of time that converges, diverges, intersects, or never interferes with each other contains all possibilities.”

"[Most of the time, we don't exist; at some times, you exist but I don't; at other times, I exist but you don't; and at some other times, both you and I exist.]"

Because time always branches off into countless futures.

For an undefined period of time, I felt myself taking in the world in an abstract way: the blurry, vibrant fields, the moon, the evening hours, the easy descent.

All this makes me feel a lot.

I seem to belong to this world, but also seem to be free from this world, poor and painful, struggling and imprisoned. I don’t know if it should end at this moment, which is better for Zhai Xing, or flow to an unknown distance.

Then, he slowly pushed the three plates aside. The macarons tilted, the strawberry pudding trembled, and the chocolate mousse collapsed.

The 19-year-old youth who was responsible for the lives of seven billion people spoke:

……

"I choose you."

……

I choose your path, Si Que.

Si Que pointed his five fingers at the three plates of desserts, but Su Mingan saw that Si Que's other hand was placed on his chest, with his fingertips pointed inward. The fingertips were pointed at... Si Que himself.

This is the fourth option that is…hard to detect.

The purple-haired young man heard it, and the corners of his mouth moved slightly. His road was overgrown with weeds and too quiet. People often stood at the intersection for a long time, but never thought of setting foot on it.

"The Supreme Lord, the World Tree, the Twenty-Seven Gods, the Twelve Organizers..." Su Mingan said:
"They are too big, too far, and too high. But you don't seem afraid. I want to know your solution."

He raised his head and looked into Si Que's golden eyes that were like molten fire:

"The shepherd of the world's glory and time, the beacon of life, the most spiritual and wisest creator - Magpie Olivers."

“I want to know your path.”

The three options given by Si Que are all good, and they are also the three paths that Su Mingan thought of.

But what about Si Que's own thoughts? What path has Si Que taken?
The purple-haired young man slowly took back the three plates of dessert, and black tea flowed out of the spout of the teapot. His eyelids drooped halfway, and he stared at Su Mingan, and the wings on his temples moved slightly.

"You know you can't explore so many paths at the same time." His tone was long and rising, like chanting a poem.

"Ah."

“You know you took the path less traveled by.”

"Ah."

"You know this road has no end."

"Ah."

"You know it might be hard for you to come back."

"I know."

"【You know, there's no chance of 'see you another day'】."

"I know."

"[You can't look back on the past with a sigh.]"

"I know."

……

The host of the tea party stood up.

He leaned over and placed his palm in front of Su Mingan.

Swish, Swish.

Like the sound of wind blowing through grass, birds chirping, and butterflies fluttering their wings.

The snow-white light gathered in Si Que's palm and gradually condensed.

Su Mingan looked up.
He looked at the surrounding scene... It suddenly became dreamy, a dark blue whale carrying silver sand flew from the eaves, leaving a trail of rainbow bubbles. The ceiling turned into a drooping deep green ocean, and the lush trees were all chanting and dancing, like waves hitting the rocks, like branches shaking leaves.

Green flames were rising from the floor, pink raindrops were floating in from the window, flames were burning in the heavy rain, crescent yellow stars were falling in the vast and boundless waves, like broken spots of light, like lost moonlight.

Colorful bubbles slid across Su Mingan's cheeks, the soft touch felt like a fairy tale licking his face.

Then, the purple hair fluttered.

The light gathered and slowly turned into... a purple-gold feather pen in the young man's palm.