Ke Su acted on impulse and searched online for nearby hospitals. After quickly reviewing the routes, he planned to visit them in a few days.
Currently, he had a high-value medical insurance, a benefit given before the government canceled the survivors' subsidies. With just over a month until it expired, he decided to use it while he could. He specifically looked for a hospital where the insurance would cover 80% of the costs.
Although the online reviews for this hospital were not great, it was affordable. Ke Su glanced at his impoverished wallet, sighed, and felt that he had been quite unlucky recently.
Fortunately, he would be attending an interview on Monday. The company seemed to offer daily wages, which was perfect for someone like him, who was struggling financially.
Thinking about this, Ke Su began to reminisce about his previous life as a "salted fish" (a term for someone who is idle and unambitious). Despite the 996 work schedule, he didn't have to worry about food and shelter. Now, in this standard capitalist country, he felt as poor as ever.
After some worrying, Ke Su opened the game page, intending to pass the time with the game. Although it wasn't very interesting and had bugs, it helped kill time and was more suited to his gaming habits compared to other games in this world.
In this technologically advanced future era, most games were nearly immersive holographic experiences, and few computer games were well-made.
Despite its flaws, the Ancient God Simulator was at least playable.
He reopened the "Zerg" block where he had previously failed to save, and saw that the humanoid monsters had disappeared, leaving only Dell’s corpse behind.
Ke Su clicked the save button again and returned to the underground palace. After searching the underground palace, he only found a few iron sticks as weapons.
It was disheartening.
Ke Su covered his face and compared the iron sticks to his previous laser gun. It was pitifully inferior.
But there was no choice. With no other items available in the underground palace, Ke Su cautiously poked his head out, preparing to ambush the humanoid monsters when they arrived.
If positioning couldn’t be mastered, at least a sneak attack might work and potentially eliminate a few humanoid monsters.
After waiting for nearly five minutes, no humanoid monsters appeared.
“Didn’t trigger the hidden event?”
Finally, growing impatient, Ke Su bravely walked out of the cellar.
Looking at the empty garden, he searched around but still couldn’t find any humanoid monsters.
Realizing that there were no humanoid monsters in this game line, Ke Su felt a bit disappointed, considering all the preparation he had made.
He planned to play more to get the true ending and might need to replay several times to summon the humanoid monsters. His obsessive-compulsive nature didn’t want him to miss any game endings.
Dingdong—
While Ke Su was thinking about this, a notification email alert popped up on the main game page.
It was the first time Ke Su knew that the game had an email function. He curiously opened the email and found it was an apology letter from the game’s official team, apologizing for the bugs in the game.
It turned out that the humanoid monsters and the turning laser guns were due to a glitch in the game’s programming, not part of the original design.
Due to this programming flaw, the letter was filled with thousands of words apologizing, deprecating themselves with a tone so humble it was almost like they wanted to kneel before the players. Ke Su skimmed through it and felt a bit sorry for this humble official team. Such a small bug didn’t warrant such excessive apologies.
[……Although a million deaths are not enough to make amends, we still want to offer our sincere apologies. As the first high-level player in this game, we are compensating you with 10,000 game currency. We implore you to calm your anger!
Lastly, we hope you enjoy the game! We will continue to serve you wholeheartedly and bring you a better gaming experience! — Ancient God Simulator]
Ke Su read the information in the email again and checked his personal information page, finding that he had indeed received 10,000 game currency. The game’s official team was surprisingly generous.
Although the game currency had no use in the game, Ke Su was pleased to see these numbers. Seeing virtual currency made him feel slightly comforted in his impoverished real life.
Satisfied, he closed the personal information page and was about to return to the game when he noticed a new prompt on the main page.
[Game currency can be exchanged 1:1 with real money]
Ke Su: “……”
He felt something was off about this game. Games usually wanted players to spend money, but he had never seen a game like the Ancient God Simulator that gave out game currency for free and allowed it to be exchanged for real money.
The so-called two-way exchange meant that Ke Su could convert the 10,000 game currency given by the official team into real money.
The money came faster than stealing.
Ke Su stared at the computer, feeling like he had stumbled upon a scam, about to fall into a trap disguised as a game. Yet he couldn’t resist the urge to exchange it.
After some thought, he tentatively exchanged 5,000 yuan into a rarely used bank account. If there was a problem, he could abandon this account without money.
Five minutes later, Ke Su received a bank notification that the 5,000 yuan had been deposited.
Now he had money to see a doctor.
This was Ke Su’s first thought.
The game official was a naive fool.
This was Ke Su’s second thought. He found a customer service contact on the game page and inquired about the game currency, wanting to know if the money was legitimate.
The customer service replied almost immediately, explaining with great humility that Ke Su was given the game currency because he was the only high-level player in the game, and his experience was crucial for further improving the game. To retain him, the game currency was issued, and no other players would receive it. The source was completely legitimate, and exchanging it for real money was also fine.
Ke Su read the explanations and closed the customer service page with thoughtful contemplation.
In his previous life, when there were errors in the game, the official team would also compensate players with game currency, but it could not be exchanged for real money. The generosity of this official team made him suspect it might be due to a difference in habits between the two worlds, where the player’s status with the game officials was perhaps more important.
However… something still felt off, but it seemed insignificant. Ke Su was too lazy to investigate further, as long as the money was usable.
The sudden windfall made Ke Su’s mood much better. He returned to the game and, following the guide, controlled Dell to return to the manor, where the Nameless God would revive.
Ke Su’s character turned into a large figure in a gray robe, with no limbs, floating in the air and hunting down the protagonist, Dell.
[Zerg: Manor’s Old Tales]
The snowflake-dotted world was gradually retreating.
With the disappearance of the giant eye and arms in the sky, everything seemed to be returning to normal.
The seven people huddled in the corner, still stunned by the shock and fear, disappeared from the game instance world under the rejection of the snowflakes and returned to their own world.
After they disappeared, the snowflakes slowly vanished, and the world returned to its usual calmness. Only Dell’s corpse on the ground silently witnessed all the incredible events that had happened.
“Whoo! Whoo!”
After an unknown period, Dell awoke from the excruciating pain in his body. He fearfully looked down at his abdomen and relaxed when he saw that his internal organs were not exposed.
He had revived again, surviving the terrifying monsters.
Dell, dazed, stood in front of the cellar and realized he had revived before entering the cellar. He looked back at his brother, no, it should be his older brother, Ivil, who had already shown a zombie-like appearance.
Bang!!!
This time, Dell jumped down voluntarily, leaving Ivil stunned in front of the cellar.
Everything that followed was the same as last time. Dell, with a blank expression, listened to his father and brother’s introductions, broke free from the ropes, and clearly saw the tentacles behind him and the thick fog filling the entire underground palace.
“……”
Dell stood silently before his kneeling relatives. Amidst their trembling pleas and prayers, he raised his hand.
Though it was still his body, something seemed different.
Standing on the altar and looking down, Dell saw many scenes he had not seen before. The stone altars imprisoning livestock were not just one but several. In addition, there were countless layered stairs spiraling up to this place, creating an illusion of floating above the highest point in the world.
God……
The deity that kept him constantly resurrecting—was it the God of Light… or the Nameless God?
Dell, who had previously not believed in the existence of evil gods, was shaken in his faith for the first time.
Before his last death, he discovered the tentacles behind him and seemed to fall into an endless mist. Looking up, he saw the giant eye opening in the sky, with its magma-like scorching pupils burning his soul. Despite continuously praying for the protection of the God of Light, it was in vain.
Until the giant eyes slowly closed, he walked out of the misty hand and returned before entering the cellar.
Dell was so shaken by the terrifying eye that even now, after reviving, he couldn’t come to terms with it.
He held his aching head in distress and wandered aimlessly in the underground palace, leaving behind his father’s cries for help. This time, he didn’t escape to the mountain as he did last time.
Was that enormous eye and the fog-filled colossal arm the Nameless God?
It was probably this Nameless God that kept causing his rebirth, Dell thought in agony.
As a devout follower of the Light God, acknowledging the existence of heretical deities was an incredibly terrifying notion for him.
He couldn't believe that the Light God, whom he had always worshiped, might not exist, and that the only true deity in this world might be the malevolent god worshipped by their sickly, deformed family, possessing the great power to reverse life and death and time.
Dell looked down at his body, which continuously revived unharmed, and couldn't even imagine the strength of this Nameless God.
In the past, even when worshipping the Light God, he never considered that deities could casually reverse time. Yet, this Nameless God could easily accomplish what seemed incredibly impossible to mortals.
The nameless mystery and grandeur of this being made Dell increasingly shudder.
All his prayers over the past decade might, in the eyes of the Nameless God, be nothing more than a ridiculous joke.
In a daze, Dell wandered through the grand underground palace for a long time, inexplicably picking up an iron rod from the ground before leaving the underground chamber.
Above ground were the monsters that had suddenly appeared, and he needed to deal with them.
Climbing up the cellar ladder, Dell felt a sense of loss; the speed at which his long-held faith collapsed exceeded his imagination.
He had already admitted his past ignorance: this terrifying evil deity truly existed, not a falsehood. But even so, he still refused to surrender.
Because, from historical records alone, Dell could tell that this Nameless God was not a benevolent deity. Even if the Light God did not exist, he had to prevent the evil god from descending for the sake of the innocent people in this world.
Even if it meant sacrificing his own life.
With this thought, Dell gripped the iron rod tightly and waited at the cellar entrance, preparing to ambush the monsters when they arrived.
However, after waiting for a long time, the monsters did not come.
Dell cautiously emerged, searching for the whereabouts of the monsters, and found no trace of them, as if it had all been a nightmare that never existed.
If not for Dell's firm belief that he had endured immense suffering, he might have doubted his own thoughts, believing it was truly a nightmare.
But those monsters had indeed existed. Dell, on high alert, entered the manor’s hall and saw intact furniture and decor; everything was just as it was before he left.
Just as Dell relaxed his vigilance, he suddenly felt a shiver from deep within his soul.
What was happening?
Dell widened his eyes and saw that the tentacles behind him had detached, and an enormous gray-robed figure, composed of dense gray mist, formed a humanoid shape with only two arms, just like the vanished monsters.
“Ahhh!!!”
His sister, Vestilan, emerged from the room, looking up at the gray mist in the living room.
Upon seeing the gray-robed figure, Vestilan let out a piercing scream, her whole body breaking out in pustules, and she collapsed in pain on the ground.
“Sister!”
Dell, unable to think, ran to his sister and helped her up. The next moment, countless cold, piercing mists surged towards them.
Before he could escape, the mist engulfed his sister, and Dell found himself clutching at empty air; his sister had vanished.
Fearfully, Dell looked at the enormous gray-robed figure and eventually turned to flee. A moment later, Vestilan was expelled from the gray mist, her body wrapped in a cocoon-like silk, her form completely deformed, flesh covered in veins and blue veins, with no shell to cover her, as if a layer of skin had been stripped away. Only faint breaths indicated she was still alive.
After expelling Vestilan, the floating gray-robed figure grew even larger, almost reaching the ceiling, and the mist spread throughout the entire floor.
It pursued Dell’s direction, growing increasingly massive as it approached him, until the pervasive mist enveloped the entire manor.
The gray mist blocked out the sun, and the gray-robed figure looked down from the sky, its colossal form almost transparent, passing through buildings and the ground, with only its upper body close to the manor.
If anyone were to stand inside the manor at that moment, looking out over the manor’s low walls, they would see the bizarre, nameless mist swirling beneath the deity's hood, understanding the horror and unknown mystery within.
The figure bent down, observing the manor's block-like structures below. The mist from its arms coiled around the manor, and the figure's posture resembled a curious child, watching the ants fleeing within the manor with great interest.
“Wah! Waaa! Sister... wah!”
Dell ran and cried, his pace quick, but the mist behind him followed like a shadow, persistent and unshakeable.
Dell knew he couldn’t escape for long. Clutching the cross in his hand, he wasn’t sure if it would be effective against the Nameless God, but he had no choice but to try.
For the future of the Mist Continent!
Dell's eyes were resolute, though his fingers trembled slightly, and cold sweat had soaked his clothes without him realizing.
The sudden resurrection of the evil god and its terrifying true form still filled him with dread.
After an unknown amount of time, Dell heard a fierce wind blowing from behind, knowing he couldn't escape. Gritting his teeth, he turned around, holding up the cross, and shouted, “Nameless God! Your scheme will never succeed!!!”
Even in death, he would never succumb to the fear of the evil god!
Dell had always known he was overly naive and not particularly smart, having done many things that others might see as foolish.
Even opposing the Nameless God, in the eyes of others and his family, might seem utterly foolish.
He also understood that after witnessing the immeasurable power of the Nameless God, any rational person would choose to submit to it and become its loyal follower.
But Dell simply could not, and would not, do so.
Perhaps it was his long-time faith in the Light God and practicing its doctrines that filled him with hope and love for everything in this world.
He was destined not to conspire with such an evil deity and watch the world’s creatures suffer.
Though he was insignificant and small like a grain of sand, he knew his only advantage was his determination to fight for a belief until the end.
Even if the Light God did not exist, he would never abandon his long-held faith in the light!
He would continue to struggle against this evil god until his last drop of blood!
However, as Dell turned around holding the cross, he found nothing in front of him—only increasingly dense mist filling the corridor, visibility dropping lower and lower, and he couldn’t even see the paintings and decorations in the corridor.
Whoosh—
The wind howled outside the balcony.
Hesitating and unsure whether to venture into the mist, Dell suddenly had a strange premonition.
He stopped, staring blankly at the balcony, and approached slowly. Looking up, he saw the gray-robed deity’s head hanging down from the sky, the mist-filled face occupying the entire sky, blocking out even the sunlight.
Looking up, Dell felt as if he was in a box, with the gray-robed deity being the person holding the box and looking in.
His vision was now as narrow as a grain of sand in the box. Even with all his effort, he could only glimpse a bit of the deity’s face.
But this was already vast and indescribable, an ocean of endless mist, making him feel like he was underwater in profound darkness, suffocating and painful.
Seeing the deity’s imposing form for the first time, Dell stared at the chaotic mist swirling beneath the gray hood, numbly letting go of the cross and collapsing to the ground.
This scene, far beyond his imagination, completely shattered his spirit, making him scream in agony.
Compared to the deity, he was ultimately too insignificant, so insignificant that even a single encounter with the deity made his soul near dissolution.
“Ahhh—!!!”
His once steadfast will was swallowed by the mist, vanishing into the manor’s fog in moments.
Whoosh—!!!
The gray-robed deity, looking down at the manor, disinterestedly withdrew its hand, expelling the swallowed ants, and the mist slowly dissipated.
Until the sun rose high again, warm sunlight returned, and the colossal, majestic figure of the deity completely disappeared.
After an unknown amount of time, Vestilan awoke from her coma in the living room. Her previously deranged mind seemed to have regained some clarity, calmly tearing off the silk threads wrapped around her.
Upon tearing away the threads, she immediately noticed something unusual about her body—her flesh had grown shells, and her face was covered in pustules.
This bloated, deformed body made her shiver and scream, unable to believe how ugly she had become.
Compared to her previous derangement, Vestilan, after being engulfed by the mist, had regained her calm and had become the wise and composed noble lady she once was.
This horrifying, deformed body might have been bearable for the previous deranged Vestilan, but the current clear-headed Vestilan could not accept it at all. Her sanity shattered in an instant, and her screams were heart-wrenching.
The screams attracted the newly awakened servants.
These servants seemed unharmed, and upon seeing the young lady in the living room, they all looked at her with horror and disgust, exclaiming repeatedly.
Vestilan’s already shattered mind completely erupted under the strange gazes of the crowd. She glared at them with venomous hatred.
“Get away—everyone get away! Don’t look at me, aaaaah!!!”
With Vestilan's anger and despair, some power within her also erupted. Invisible waves spread through the living room, freezing all the servants who looked on with fear and disgust.
Poof—Boom, boom, boom!!!
In the next moment, the servants exploded, and the living room was filled with Zerg's shattered limbs and blood falling like a bloody rain.
At first, Vestilan watched in horror, shrinking back, not understanding what was happening. But soon, she realized that all this was caused by the power within her body.
Looking down, she was astonished to see her own deformed body, now infused with immense magical power. She suddenly curled up her lips into a bright smile, mocking the dead servants.
“Hahaha!!! It serves you right! It serves you right!”
Vestilan, laughing wildly, seemed like her mad self again, but the desire for revenge and hatred in her eyes showed her clarity.
This incredibly powerful force gave Vestilan hope for revenge for the first time. She wanted to take vengeance on those who had made her lose everything, who had driven her to madness to escape the painful reality—her family.
“Sister? You’re still alive? That’s wonderful!”
Outside the living room, a weak yet joyful voice could be heard. Vestilan recognized it as her brother Dell’s voice.
He was the only one in this repugnant and evil family who had not been tainted by sin.
☞ Chapter 34
Very intrigued. Can't wait for more uploads.
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