QT: LAC Chapter 50: Fourth World (9)

Chapter 50: Fourth World (9)
Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Sulo

They successfully unlocked the door that was sealed by the game company. Bai Duan was full of joy and excitement as he reached out to open the door, it was just like opening a door to a new world.

Behind the door was an empty hall with no decorations at all. There was nothing but a column with exquisite carvings and an icebound platform in the center of the hall. Unlike the other parts of the ruins which always had a certain amount of small monsters, there was no trace of enemies in this hall. Cold icy fog filled the hall, it was quiet and empty.

Bai Duan and Xie Yan carefully explored the place for a while, then finally determined that it was safe — no other traps were placed here by the gaming company — then they turned their focus to the abrupt and strange stone platform in the center of the hall.

Walking to the the stone platform, Bai Duan tilted its head, “This is also sealed up by ice, what was it again… a program lock?” Bai Duan asked, he was just going to touch the column, but was stopped by Xie Yan.

“This is not a program lock.” Xie Yan examined the thing alertedly, he stroked and knocked on the stone platform with his hand, then he said, “Do you think… that this platform looks strange?”

“… Hmn, it’s almost like… a sarcophagus?” Bai Duan replied having the same feeling.

Obviously, something like a coffin was bad luck, no matter what kind of situation it was placed in. They were in a huge hall at the end of the ruins, which means… This place was most likely the boss’s dungeon— If the boss had already been made.

“Stand back and I’ll open it.” Xie Yan used a bit of strength to push the coffin lid, only to find that the lid was already a little loose, then he quickly waved Bai Duan to fall back.

Bai Duan naturally didn’t object. He quickly retreated several steps, then used acceleration magic on Xie Yan, so that he could get away quickly if the situation was bad. After all, they had came into a dungeon where the gaming company didn’t want them to. No matter how dangerous the situation was, they would not be too surprised. It would already be a lucky thing if they could die and then respawn back at the village.

Seeing that Bai Duan was safe, Xie Yan took a deep breath, then stood firmly, he moved his arms and finally opened the ice lid.

All of a sudden, a gust of ice blue air rose up. Even though Xie Yan evaded quickly, half of his body was still numbed by the cold air, his HP also fell down a lot which scared Bai Duan. Just the entrance of this boss was so destructive, it seems that this boss was really something else, it didn’t look good for them.

Just when Bai Duan and Xie Yan were standing firm, ready to fight the boss. The icy blue air gradually formed a woman’s figure.

The woman had gentle and loving eyes, she looked down at Xie Yan and Bai Duan. Then she seemed to be stunned by Bai Duan and Xie Yan’s alert expressions, “You… my dear children, what’s wrong?”

The Boss’s (?) tone was rather concerned, being called ‘my dear children’ by an NPC for the first time, Bai Duan and Xie Yan were confused. However, since the boss didn’t seem hostile, they didn’t mind chatting with this ‘unfinished boss NPC’ either.

Xie Yan slightly restrained his fighting stance and asked, “You are…?”

The woman sighed and seemed lonely, “It seems that since I have been slumbering for too long a time, I have been forgotten…” Then she stopped abruptly and changed to introducing herself, “I’m Chaos.”

“Chaos?” Xie Yan inherited the original’s understanding of this world and he immediately guessed the woman’s identity. “Everything is born from chaos… you are that ‘Chaos’?”

“Yes, it’s me.” The woman nodded, “I made everything.”

Bai Duan vaguely remember hearing this saying before — if he remembered correctly, the phrase was engraved on the memorial column in the center square of the foxes’ novice village — that surprised him, “‘Chaos’… is a human?”

“I’m not a human, my child,” Chaos chuckled and shook her head. “I’m just the embodiment of this world’s consciousness.”

“If you are the world’s consciousness, why were you sleeping?” Xie Yan looked puzzled and tried to get more information.

“Even the world’s consciousness can get tired…” Chaos smiled bitterly, “I’ve always been lonely, and I want things to be lively, so I was greedy and created too many lives — it took a lot of my energy away, and in order to keep them alive, I also have to bear a lot of pressure. But even so, I was unwilling to destroy them. As such, I made myself fall into a deep slumber to slowly recover my lost strength.”

“Have you now regained your strength?” Bai Duan asked curiously.

“No.” Chaos sighed, “My condition right now is not enough to support me leaving the altar. I sensed your presence and only temporarily recovered my consciousness.”

“… Ah, I’m sorry. Did we disturb you? ” Bai Duan touched his own nose.

“No, on the contrary, I appreciate you awakening me.” Chaos smiled, “Can you tell me what it is like outside now? I’d like to know how everyone is.”

Because Xie Yan’s personality was supposed to be quiet, he left the job of describing the situation to Chaos to Bai Duan. Of course, Bai Duan didn’t know much about the world. If there was anything he got wrong or inaccurate, Xie Yan would correct him.

After listening to Bai Duan’s narration, Chaos’s face turned melancholic, “… Is that so? There are only humans and demons in the mainland now? This news is really saddening…”

Bai Duan and Xie Yan did not know how to comfort her, so they remained silent.

After a long time, Chaos finally regained her composure and turned her eyes to Xie Yan and Bai Duan, “I want to revive all the other races and I want them to prosper — would you help me?”

Bai Duan and Xie Yan’s hearts shook, they both thought in secret ‘This is the real deal’! However, they didn’t answer directly. Bai Duan frowned, “There are no other races on the mainland now, what can we do?”

“I know it’s difficult, but I still want to try.” In a flash, a cloud of ice blue liquid appeared on her palm, “This is the Nurturing Water of Life. Before, I used it to create all the different races — it still holds the same power now. Once a person drinks it, it will change their body features, turning them into another race.” After a short pause, Chaos who was obviously very ‘understanding’ said, “I understand your love for your own race, and you might not be interested in becoming another one, but if you drink the Water, you will have the strengths of both races at the same time. I think most people would yearn for this power to make themselves stronger?”

Xie Yan and Bai Duan’s eyes brightened a little, and then they understood Chaos’s meaning — in other words, the game was going to allow for players to have double races and double occupations? If that was the case, [Ten Thousand Realms] would definitely become an even more diverse game, allowing for more combinations.

This was such a major reform, yet they set it as a hidden quest? Bai Duan and Xie Yan had to applaud the gaming company for sticking to their morals of not interfering with the players. Were they not afraid that the players would screw up and make things difficult for everyone?

Or, was it because they had those concerns, so they locked the last dungeon of this hidden quest, just so that things wouldn’t go beyond their control?

Chaos appeared suddenly, and left just as quickly, which seemed a bit unnatural — but since this was an incomplete dungeon, Bai Duan and Xie Yan were not surprised. As Chaos still had not recovered all of her strength, after giving them the ‘Nurturing Water of Life’, she quickly returned to the coffin to continue sleeping, without even explaining their next task — how to use the ‘Nurturing Water of Life’ and how to revive the extinct races with it.

Holding the ‘Nurturing Water of Life’ in his hand, Bai Duan frowned and hesitated, “What should we do now? According to Chaos, we should drink it?”

Xie Yan replied, “Maybe not? This quest is incomplete. Who knows if the water will work or not, it might also have negative effects.”

“You’re right.” Bai Duan shrugged his shoulders, and regretfully put the supposedly great quest reward away into his backpack as it was complete garbage. But even though it was useless, it could still be regarded as a memoir.

Fortunately, Bai Duan didn’t have the ambition to get stronger, and Xie Yan already stood at the top of the game, and didn’t need to rely on other things to get stronger. If not, Bai Duan would probably die of depression, being given an inedible pie by the gaming company.

Xie Yan and Bai Duan both sighed, they finally got rid of their curiosity and were ready to leave the ruins. Although they didn’t get any useful rewards, they were quite satisfied with this ‘adventure’. After all, they saw Chaos who was said to have created the whole world, it could be said that… they’ve learned something new today.

While discussing about their views on Chaos and opening up the function of owning a second occupation, Bai Duan and Xie Yan soon returned to the entrance of the ruins. Just after they stepped out of the ruins, they saw a human Taoist rubbing his hands while walking in the snow, he was looking a little anxious and excited.

The stats of this human Taoist were obviously not very good. His equipment was the most basic of outfits. [Ten Thousand Realms] was quite friendly to non-paying players, except for the top-level equipment, the turnout chance of high level equipment was not too low. If one managed their own resources with a little effort, it was not hard to get a whole set of pretty strong amor. What’s more, it was impossible for a person with such low stats and rubbish amor to reach this place, as this place was filled with monsters and dangers, not to mention the weather here was very unfriendly.

Bai Duan and Xie Yan stopped, the human Taoist seemed to have noticed their gazes. He turned his head around and his eyes lit up.