Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 12: New Game Launch [Complete]

1531: The Judge and the Keeper of the Fire Seed

Lin Sanjiu quickly discovered that the gift Nüwa left for her was not only Ji Shanqing but also temporary control.

She couldn't guess what meant Nüwa might have used to plant such a feeling in her mind; she knew that she had taken control over this underground game launch space and knew that once she left, her control would disappear, and everything might return to normal. What happened after she left, she couldn't manage, nor was she inclined to— at least now, the grand prize was safe by her side, and that was enough.

When she knelt gently beside the grand prize, not even reaching out to touch his face, the grand prize woke up. His slowly opening eyes were like lakes and stars cleared of haze, cold and bright; when Lin Sanjiu's figure fell into his eyes, they immediately softened, bending gently, accompanied by a voice, "Sis."

Lin Sanjiu hugged him, burying her face in his hair, unable to speak for a long time. In his refreshing scent, she tightly closed her eyes, not daring to look, because she suddenly felt a fear—she had long felt that even without discussing suffering, life was always filled with small, suffocating discomforts, as life is such. Living in a human body is like having a foot in the wrong shoe size. So, in her misfit life, could owning something as absolute and pure as Ji Shanqing be explained only by dreaming?

Or perhaps she was real, and the struggles, sorrows, discomforts, and pains she felt were real, but only Ji Shanqing and similar comforts were added by a novelist, just to comfort people, just to give people a little hope.

"S-Sis," Ji Shanqing said, a hand stroking the back of her head over and over again, with a reassuring rhythm. "Sis, it's okay, you're just greatly shocked."

Was that so? But she had long known Nüwa's intentions; even without Nüwa, the Great Deluge that would end humanity—she already knew about it. She couldn't explain her uncontrollable trembling at this moment.

"You saw more than just Nüwa and heard more than just her words... What she represents, those indescribable things, all that has settled over who knows how many years and changes, in the moment she grasped you, all rushed over you." Ji Shanqing seemed to know her experience perfectly. "I was placed not far from you, watching you talk to her; I know. You were amazing, Sis."

Lin Sanjiu only realized she had soaked the grand prize's hair with tears when she lifted her head. "Are you okay?" she asked, plucking the hair from her face.

"I'm fine," Ji Shanqing said, smiling at her. He glanced at Yu Yuan before looking away. "Although there was a moment when Nüwa really scared me. She said, 'You're so like a person, you're right on the boundary line of becoming human'—but thankfully, she ultimately didn't see me as a human."

If Ji Shanqing was not seen as a human, Yu Yuan naturally had even less risk. Yu Yuan thought for a moment, then said, "So it seems that not reverting to human form is a good thing."

"You knew about what we were just talking about... and what I experienced before?" Lin Sanjiu asked the grand prize, stunned.

"I was initially caught by a young woman through a game. She couldn't figure out what I was and didn't want to let me go, so she kept me as something wrapped in text, trapped on paper... but before she could tamper with me, Nüwa took over," Ji Shanqing explained. "From then until you appeared, I was with Nüwa all this time... Sporadically, I saw and talked a lot with her, including about your affairs."

He suddenly lowered his head a little awkwardly and said softly, "But I couldn't send you any messages. I saw you looking for me all this time, and I couldn't make a sound, making you so worried."

'What a trivial matter.'

Lin Sanjiu gently stroked the back of his hand, whispering, "I... I really don't understand what Nüwa wants and why she chose me."