When I traveled through time and became a player, I just wanted to commit suicide

A few days later, at the lakeside manor, a girl with waist-length hair and red eyes stood by the lake and exclaimed, "I didn't expect you to buy such a large manor."

At this time, winter has gone, the snow has melted, spring is gradually coming, and the green is lush.

The clear lake water is dark blue, reflecting the clouds in the sky. If you look down from the sky, it looks like a sapphire deeply embedded in the ground.

The early spring breeze blows across the lake, creating ripples. Before the lake returns to calm, the fish swimming under the water flap their tails, causing shallow ripples on the surface.

"I like this place. Being here makes me feel peaceful." Li Shanren, who was standing next to her, smiled.

"So, you really don't plan to live in the city? With your status, you are qualified to be a magic professor at Byronvis College." Tifa's tone was a little regretful.

"Magic professor? Me? I'm afraid that's not appropriate. I just want to stop my journey for a while and rest in this place for a while."

Li Shanren was slightly speechless. He knew his own abilities very well. In terms of theoretical knowledge, he was at best a magic apprentice and was still far from graduation.

"Just stopping for a while..." Tifa's eyes flashed with a trace of inexplicable loss, "Are there other places you want to go?"

"Well, I'm going to take Alice to the northern capital in a while. Although her parents are gone, she may have other relatives. Even if she really has no relatives, at least there will be an inheritance left to her. From what I know, her family is actually very wealthy."

At this point, Li Shanren paused, as if afraid that Tifa would misunderstand him, and explained: "Uh... I'm not coveting Alice's family property. You know, I'm not short of money now. It's just... she has the right to inherit what her parents left her. If I don't take her to get it, she may never get it back."

Li Shanren knew very well that in a situation like this where all the family members died or went missing, it would be very easy for the whole family to be wiped out. In layman's terms, the property left behind would be divided up by nearby neighbors, fellow villagers, or even unrelated people.

If she didn't go back within a certain period of time, the things that originally belonged to Alice would most likely be taken away by others one by one.

"So... after you finish this, will you come back?" Tifa asked.

"Of course I will come back. Where else can I go if I don't come back?" Li Shanren smiled. "Don't talk about me anymore. By the way, did you find your master successfully?"

"Well, I found her according to the method my master left me. She was very happy to see me and recommended me to Berricklin College. When school starts in a few days, I will be a freshman there."

Tifa raised her head, revealing her snow-white neck, and said with her hands behind her back.

"From now on, I may have to live in the college dormitory for a long time."

"That's great. After all, it's one of the best colleges in the kingdom. You will definitely improve there." Li Shanren was pleased for her. "I will always keep a room for you in this manor. You can come back anytime. Jacob and the others are here too."

"They stay here... I hope they won't cause you any trouble." Tifa lowered her head slightly, looked at her toes, and said a little embarrassedly.

"No, they make this manor much more lively. You know, most of the children I rescued are rather boring, and they need children like Jacob to make them more lively." Li Shanren said with a smile.

"...Thank you for taking care of them for me."

"We don't need to talk about this between us."

......

At night, Li Shanren sat alone by the lake.

Insects chirp constantly and the evening breeze blows gently.

He did not turn on his waist lamp, set up a torch, or light a bonfire. He just sat there quietly, letting himself blend into the darkness.

This is his alone time.

Li Shanren looked up at the night sky.

Byrne is a plateau city, and this lakeside manor is naturally located on the plateau.

The night sky here is particularly clear, and the stars look like delicate gems spread on noble black velvet silk, as if waiting for someone to pick them up.

Under the starry sky, Li Shanren was thinking about what his future would be like.

After more than half a year in this world, he finally has a real place to call home.

Here, no one can drive him away, and no one will hurt him at will.

He no longer had to endure the cold and hunger, and no longer had to fear death.

If he wanted, he could do nothing, just live in this manor, slowly grow old, and live an idyllic life.

This kind of life is what he dreamed of when he first came into this world, except for the option of going home.

There are no waves, no adventure, no fighting, just like a stream without splashing water, it reaches the destination peacefully and quietly.

Li Shanren knew that he had never been an ambitious person. Compared to being the dazzling protagonist on the stage, he would rather sit in the audience and be a silent appreciative audience.

But he also knew that since he came to this world, since he was able to go to the border, since he had an enemy with the Cult of Sloth, since he met Aerith, Tifa, Eivor, Altaïr, Ezio and others... perhaps he had already stood on some unknown stage, exposed to the spotlight.

Whether he likes it or not, the expectations in the audience's eyes, the melody of fate, and other characters on the stage will push him towards a future.

"So, what future will it be for me? Follow the script that has already been written and become the so-called 'King of Elden'?"

He once again recalled the pictures of the end that the golden ball of fate presented to him.

Since then, he would think of those scenes from time to time, and finally, he discovered something.

In that so-called end of fate, there was almost no mention of anything in this world.

What will happen to this world when he becomes the King of Elden in the other world?

Where did Aerith and Tifa go?

Did Altaïr and Ezio finally achieve their long-cherished wish?

Did Eivor become the great alchemist he dreamed of?

Did all the children he saved grow up safely?

Does the Cult of Sloth still exist?

And...can he come back again?

Or will he remain at the border forever, unable to return to his original world?

In recent days, Li Shanren has thought about this problem.

To be honest, he has a deeper connection with this world than with the border area.

He has more friends here, more people he cares about.

At the border, he was more like a passer-by, without many familiar friends. Only a few magic teachers, the blacksmith and Roderica concerned him. The rest of the time, he just went through the motions according to the development of the game and improved himself step by step.

It was like performing in a stage play with a clear script.

What would happen if he finished the scene?

So, as a king, you can govern the border area that is in need of reconstruction?

Thinking of this, Li Shanren couldn't help but laugh out loud.

How could he rebuild a civilization from the ruins when he had to entrust the management of even a small manor to a few maids? How could he be a "king" who ruled everything?

Even Li Shanren himself found it ridiculous.

Some say that strength is the reason for being king.

Even if he has power, what does it matter? If he wins the world immediately, does he have to rule it immediately?

With this in mind, it is not surprising that he will end up like the one shown in the Golden Ball of Destiny in the future.

At those end points, one will either fall into decline, collapse, corruption, and degeneration, or be abandoned. Only in one seemingly happy ending will the person on the throne lose his humanity, leaving only the emotionless divinity.

Perhaps it is because in those future times, "he" did not think about this kind of problem carefully, and just followed the script and performed all the plays, and in the end he would only fall into those unpleasant results.

If, no matter what choice he makes, he will not be able to move towards a bright future, then is there any point in moving towards the future?

Not to mention, he might lose this world by arriving in those futures.

After thinking about these things, Li Shanren gradually became hesitant about pushing the development of events at the border area.

So much so that during the days on the road, every time he went to the border, he just calmly explored various places without pushing the development of anything, and did not even bring the pyroxene key to one of his magic teachers, Tops.

Tops was the second magic teacher he met at the border. He taught him the lighting magic called "Starlight" and was a very humble and gentle man.

The magic teacher once asked Li Shanren to bring him an unowned pyroxene key.

He used to be a student at the magic academy, but since the war at the border, the academy has been closed to the outside world, and he can never go back unless he finds a pyroxene key that can pass the seal of the academy.

In fact, Li Shanren had found a new pyroxene key in the academy a long time ago, but he had never brought it to Tops.

Because according to the script in the game, Topps will return to the academy happily after getting the key, and eventually... die alone in front of a workbench outside the academy building.

Some say that he died of overwork; some say that he died of some conspiracy; others say that he died a long time ago, but he persisted until now because of a dream.

But to Lee Sun-in, it didn’t matter how Tops died; what mattered was that he died.

As long as the events of Tops progress, Winson's magic teacher will die.

Even though Li Shanren used various means to reverse Tops' fate and let him survive, it is undeniable that if Li Shanren had not intervened, Tops would have died if he had obtained the pyroxene key.

This is what is called destiny.

Moreover, Li Shanren was not sure that he could guarantee Tops' survival through his intervention.

In addition, Li Shanren has actually interfered with the fate of people in the border area once, that is the father and daughter in Moren City. He seems to have really let this father and daughter who should have died survive.

However, after fate changed, the blind witch Haida, who should not have appeared, still appeared, as if she represented some kind of undistorted will.

Fate may not care about the details, but it has its own tough trunk, which is so strong that it cannot be changed by anyone's will.

These two things combined form a microcosm, making Li Shanren believe that he had glimpsed some secrets of fate.

Perhaps, the so-called destiny can be divided into destiny that can be changed and destiny that cannot be changed.

Perhaps the life and death of the father and daughter in More City is a changeable fate, but the appearance of Haida is an unchangeable fate.

Reasoning further from this point, Li Shanren had to think about whether the so-called "future" he glimpsed in the golden ball of destiny was an unchangeable fate, and whether he could create a new future and destination?

Li Shanren didn't know and didn't have such confidence.

It was precisely because he didn't know that he didn't dare to go any further. Even in the past few days, when he had time, he didn't go to the border.

Even though the blessed memory in his palm had already been restored.

Therefore, regarding the matter of the border, he chose to stop for the time being. He needed to think carefully about how to move forward in the future.

In contrast, in this world, Li Shanren has more plans.

If the future of the border area is somewhat foreseeable, then the future of the world on this side seems to have no predictable results, so we can only make our own way.

He planned to live in this manor for a while to rest, get familiar with the city, fulfill his duties as an Assassin mentor, and assist Altaïr and Ezio in putting the development of the Assassin Brotherhood back on the right track.

In fact, in the past two days, he has been pulled into several meetings regarding the development of the Assassin Brotherhood.

In addition, he also wanted to examine the abilities of the three maids in managing the manor. Although he had said that he would not interfere, he was still a little worried. At least he wanted to see the entire manor officially resume operations.

Then we have to observe the daily learning situation of the children in the manor, whether the hired tutors are doing their job conscientiously, whether the educational methods are too extreme, etc.

After everything is settled, Li Shanren will take Alice to the capital of the Caesar Republic in the north through the teleportation array.

Li Shanren was lying on the grass by the lake, thinking deeply. Suddenly, wisps of blue soul light floated up from his body and slowly weaved into a human figure.

A short moment later, a girl wearing a traveling cloak and with short pink-gold hair stood above his head.

"The Fader..."

The girl with golden eyes bent down and looked into Li Shanren's eyes, reflecting her beautiful face in his eyes.

"Why are you...standing still? Have you forgotten our agreement?"

"Melina..."

Hearing those words, Li Shanren's heart sank slightly.

------Dividing line------

I didn’t expect that after I came back from playing with Monkey Brother, this book became even less popular, and its traffic even has room to decline.

To be honest, I'm working on a new book recently. I'm planning to write a real fourth disaster novel, a western fantasy with cultivation. I don't know if it will work, but it will definitely be better than this book. I've saved tens of thousands of words. It's true that new ideas are written with enthusiasm, and original works can be made up, unlike fan fiction, which requires constant changes in settings and is difficult to follow the original work.

This is the author's first official fanfiction, and probably the last one. I will not touch the subject of fanfiction again, because I am still a writer who prefers originality. I have been writing several original ideas. Because I can only write once, I have put in all the fanfiction themes I want to write, such as Tamaki, Final Fantasy, Bone King, re0, etc.

Only about one-third of the book has been written so far. It is unlikely to be completed normally as it takes too much time. It is a torture for the author and also for all the readers who are following the book.

However, I will continue writing before I officially upload the new book, and I will finish writing the chapters related to re0, and then I will finish this book. Of course, the story will be finished, but it will be in a faster way (I won’t throw away the outline rudely, and in fact, there is no real outline). In any case, this book will be finished by the beginning of next year at the latest, which is also the promise I made to myself at the beginning of this year.

......

I have already written a lot of nonsense, so I will not list the number of words to thank you one by one. In short, thank you all readers for your company, whether you have been giving rewards, commenting on every chapter, or quietly urging for updates. Without your company, this book should have ended long ago.

Many readers’ names are very familiar to me. I wonder if I will have the honor to see your names again in the next book.

Looking back on the first book I wrote, I received almost no royalties and had few readers. I worked silently towards writing over a million words, but it ended in regret. At that time, I had enough food and clothing and did not have to struggle for a living. I relied entirely on my enthusiasm and the support of a few readers. But now I have to consider my livelihood.

I thought I would not make the same mistake as the first time, but after I started writing and published the book, I made the same mistake again. In fact, before I published this book, I had a feeling that it would be a flop, because the book was too heavily personalized and not marketable or popular enough. The result was naturally as I expected, and it was a complete flop.

But in the end, I continued to write slowly. Of course, there were many readers who encouraged and supported me, but a large part of the reason was that I wanted to write. As of today, my enthusiasm has gradually faded, the traffic has gradually declined, the updates have become less and less, I am getting older, and the burden of life has slowly pressed on me. I can no longer indulge in my interests as freely as before.

Especially the recent job transfer. Before the transfer, my boss promised me that my salary would definitely increase. In the end, not only did I not get a salary increase, but it was reduced by one-fifth. I felt even more stressed.

Therefore, I can no longer treat writing as a hobby, but must develop it into a part-time job that can produce considerable income. So I really can't spend another year or two wasting my time on a book with extremely low output that is entirely based on interest.

But no matter what, I will try my best to give this book a decent ending and will not stop updating or run away.