168. Beyond Authority
"Miss Bronya, a pleasure to meet you." Gray Serpent, holding an umbrella, greeted Bronya elegantly.
"Why did you do this?"
Bronya frowned. During a technological breakthrough, she encountered a major problem, and Gray Serpent had provided her with some technology, helping her solve her immediate crisis.
However, she hadn't expected it to use this method to quickly gain administrative authority, trapping ten thousand people in the game.
To prevent Bronya from regaining control, it even directly sealed off administrative privileges.
Then, this killing game began.
"Miss Bronya, don't you find this interesting?" Gray Serpent let out a slightly sinister laugh.
"Interesting? You're dragging innocent people into this!" A flash of malice crossed Bronya's face.
"This is merely one way I observe and learn about humanity. A month ago, the human death toll reached 2,179, and of those, only 12% were killed by monsters."
"What an ironic number, Miss Bronya. When the constraints of law are removed, power... becomes the rule-maker."
"They can arbitrarily exploit the weak, threatening them to do anything, but when it's all over, they can still return to their original lives."
"They don't even have to pay for their actions... so without the constraints of rules, humans are no different from beasts."
"But the rules in real life are still determined by the Supreme Power. Aren't the weapons and armies they hold also symbols of power?"
"And I'm simply shattering this constraint called rules, allowing humanity to embrace its own nature. Is there anything wrong with that?"
The Gray Serpent vented his emotions, uttering nonsensical words, appearing like a fanatical seeker of truth.
Bronya didn't waste any words, firing a beam of light from her 'Heavy Bunny 0019' at Gray Serpent.
The beam struck Gray Serpent's shield directly, and its health bar appeared.
'-0'
A blinding damage number appeared.
"It's useless, Miss Bronya. I'm invincible at the command level; I can't be killed by any means within the game," Gray Serpent explained kindly.
"Tch, a cheater," Bronya mocked.
"Someone with a homemade weapon doesn't deserve to talk to me like that," Gray Serpent retorted effortlessly.
"What are the conditions for clearing the level?" Yun Ling stepped forward and asked Gray Serpent.
"Hmm, as expected of someone who can follow Miss Bronya, you have a good grasp of the situation," Gray Serpent praised.
But Yun Ling remained expressionless, completely unaffected by his words.
"It's simple. My purpose is to observe human nature. I want to know what choices you... would make in the most extreme circumstances."
"You don't need to defeat me, just make a simple choice."
"The three of you, choose one person, and in exchange for data erasure, open the gate to the end."
Grey Serpent snapped his fingers, and a large gate appeared before him.
"Once you pass through this gate, this world will be cleared, and the price is merely the sacrifice of one person. How about it? One person saving thousands—what a worthwhile trade!"
Just as Bronya and Susannah were still furious at Grey Serpent's despicable act, Yun Ling had already placed his hand on the gate.
"Yun Ling, what are you doing!" Bronya scolded Yun Ling for the first time, immediately rushing to his side to stop him.
"Yun Ling!" Susannah also stepped forward, trying to pull Yun Ling back.
However, Yun Ling did not react after touching the gate.
"What an unexpected ending! Such touching selflessness! I thought it would be a spectacular battle... You thought I'd say that, didn't you? Heh heh..."
Grey Serpent seemed completely unsurprised by the outcome.
"Sorry, you were fooled."
He made a shushing gesture. Yun Ling seemed to realize something, then whirled around, only to find Bronya and Susana had vanished...
"Letting a selfless person watch the ones they wanted to protect die, hmm~ a nice seasoning."
Meeting Yun Ling's incredulous gaze, Grey Serpent savored the despair with satisfaction.
"Your gate to victory has opened. Go, I'm waiting for the next batch."
Seemingly having had his fill of admiration, Grey Serpent waved him away.
"Taixu Sword Qi - Divine Essence!" Yun Ling's hands formed a sword incantation, and a raging inferno materialized, a giant sword crackling with flames, slashing towards Grey Serpent's brow.
"A pointless attempt." Another shield appeared in front of the Gray Serpent.
This time, however, the shield was useless. The 'Divine Essence' passed right through it and struck the serpent.
A staggering amount of damage was dealt, but the Gray Serpent's health bar barely budged.
"Oh?" The Gray Serpent was successfully intrigued by Yun Ling.
"You seem unbound by the rules of the game? No wonder you walked out so readily just now… It seems you know you can't leave this world anyway."
The Gray Serpent curiously scrutinized Yun Ling, but couldn't figure him out.
"Your health bar moved, didn't it?" Yun Ling's longsword transformed into thousands of sword shadows, shooting towards the Gray Serpent.
"Aren't you being a little too naive?" The Gray Serpent narrowed its eyes, and then countless black flames erupted around it, swarming towards Yun Ling from all angles.
Yun Ling dared not be careless, his figure swiftly weaving through the gaps in the Gray Serpent's attacks.
At this moment, the once-dominant demon king of MOBA games reappeared in the world.
Precise to the millisecond level, a true god of esports.
Although Yun Ling's attacks dealt almost no damage to the Gray Serpent, as long as its health bar moved, it could be killed!
An hour passed, and the Gray Serpent's health decreased by 2%.
Ten hours passed, and the Gray Serpent's health decreased by 17%.
Twenty hours...thirty hours...
Yun Ling's spirit was already pushed to its limit.
But he couldn't stop, because the black flames continued to shift positions.
Not just to save those people, but also for revenge!
When the Gray Serpent's health dropped to 30%, something that nearly drove Yun Ling to despair happened.
The Gray Serpent's health suddenly surged to 100%...
This moment of surprise almost caused him to be hit by the black flames.
What drove him even more to despair was that all his equipment, composed of data points, had vanished, replaced by beginner weapons and beginner clothing...
Most fatally, his speed attribute had been drastically reduced, making dodging several times more difficult.
"Keep struggling, it'll add some fun to my life," Gray Serpent said unhurriedly.
Yun Ling gritted his teeth. Nearly forty hours of intense combat had left him exhausted, and now everything had to start all over again...
Yun Ling took a deep breath, adjusted his condition, and once again charged forward with his beginner longsword.
Fifty, sixty, seventy...
He mechanically moved his legs and arms, a numbness creeping into his eyes.
He was almost forgetting why he was persisting.
Even Gray Serpent admired Yun Ling's perseverance.
In the 125th hour, Yun Ling, following his body's instincts, slowly whittled down the Gray Serpent's dwindling health.
His arm trembled as he formed a sword incantation.
This was his final strike; he had no strength left to dodge any more attacks.
'Taixu Sword Qi - Divine Essence'!
The moment the black flames struck Yun Ling, the giant sword fell, reducing the gray serpent's remaining health to zero.
With their permissions restored, Bronya and Susannah reappeared on the 100th floor.
Bronya desperately tried to restore Yun Ling's condition using her permissions, but the message she received was 'Failure'.
Yun Ling's body began to disintegrate into data fragments, slowly disappearing.
"No...don't..."
Bronya desperately tried to grasp the dissipating data fragments, but he didn't belong to this world; Bronya's permissions were ineffective against him.
Susannah collapsed onto Yun Ling's body, wailing uncontrollably. The usually optimistic, clumsy bear was now sobbing uncontrollably.
Until all the fragments turned to fluorescent light and vanished completely beneath the sky.
...