Nighttime.
Nol returned to his residence in the Lost Tower first. The room's decor remained unchanged, and the blue roses in the vase were still in bloom. Although everything was very familiar, Nol felt something was different.
He rubbed his wedding ring and turned on the magic lamp in the room. In the warm glow, the fireplace automatically lit up, the flames gently flickering. The window was open, and the evening breeze from the forest stirred the curtains, already carrying the warmth of spring.
Teest hadn't returned yet, and Ben was temporarily with Teest, so Nol was alone in the room. However, there were traces of their life together everywhere.
On the desk was the book he hadn't finished last time. Teest's winter cloak was draped over the bed. Next to the fruit basket on the small round table, there was a shiny fruit knife—because Nol adamantly opposed him using the "Betrayer" that had stabbed monsters to peel fruit.
Nol walked over to the desk and found several cookbooks that Teest had impulsively bought. The guy was very interested in the slaughter and processing of livestock and fish and had made many notes in the blank spaces.
He picked up a book called "Tips for a Clean Kitchen" and randomly flipped through two pages. He noticed that Teest seemed to be analyzing dissection knowledge and contemplating tricks for dealing with large monsters.
Nol: "..."
He continued flipping through, and in the larger blank spaces, Teest had added many fierce illustrations in red ink. The illustrations were dense, one layer upon another, like the graffiti of a psychopath in a horror movie, which was rather frightening to look at.
But amidst those dark red scary drawings, a golden trace meandered.
At the top of the page, the gold line sketched out a round dragon, looking very much like Nol's small black dragon transformation. Compared to those curse-like graffiti, the lines of this drawing were fine and soft.
Nol pursed his lips, suppressing the corners of his mouth that were trying to curl up. He reached out a finger, blue ink flowing on the paper. Next to the dragon doodle, a fluffy-tailed cat quickly appeared.
The two little animals squeezed together, making the dark red become just a background, and the whole picture became a lot less ominous.
After doing this, Nol carefully put the book "Tips for a Clean Kitchen" back in its place.
Then Nol sat on the sofa, feeling a surreal sense of disorientation as well as belated tension. Everything was over. He really had married Teest… not for convenience, but a purely secular marriage.
Nol knew that the Mad Monk hadn't turned into some true, good, and beautiful sweetheart because of him. He also knew that Teest like this wouldn't fake his feelings.
Teest wasn't good at it, nor did he deign to—in a sense, Teest was perhaps the most honest person in the world when it came to emotions.
Snapping back to reality, Nol felt a warm satisfaction, as if he had soaked in hot water, though the water was gradually heating up.
Even though they had done everything they should, Nol still felt his skin burn and urgently downed two glasses of iced fruit juice.
It wouldn't work. He still needed to divert his attention.
He skillfully opened the system interface and began to officially modify the system. "Tahe World" was finally facing its first update. Nol clicked his tongue and stretched out his hands.
First, there was the issue of the Players return.
Before he began, he needed to confirm one thing—how much time had passed on Earth since the destruction of Joy Garden?
Nol calculated calmly.
Originally, he had defined a time ratio for "Tahe World": ten minutes on Earth was equivalent to one hour inside Tahe. According to this formula, the two hundred years in Tahe were roughly thirty years on Earth.
But this calculation was contingent on the game being live. If it was just in the internal testing phase, the time ratio could be adjusted at will, without any restrictions.
The destruction of Joy Garden occurred at the end of July. According to the Players, the game officially went live at the beginning of August. During this period, over two hundred years had passed in Tahe.
This also made sense. Before he completely took over the system, Star Stealer Sol surely didn't want too big a disruption on Earth, the "sample", like a civilization-destroying war.
But once the Players truly logged in, the system's ratio of "one hour in Tahe to ten minutes on Earth" couldn't be changed. Nearly a year that Players had been here translated to just under two months back on Earth.
There was still time.
Nol specifically pulled up the system's time-related data to confirm his deductions.
With the critical issue of time resolved… then there were the people.
Regularly logged-in Players were easy to handle. They could exit the game through the system and revert to their true appearances. For the Players deployed in Three Forks Road, Nol decided to let them return.
Of course, without his permission, they couldn't "log in again".
Nol typed away at the virtual keyboard, cautiously tweaking the system settings. The keyboard reflected characters not found on Earth, shimmering with Nol's touch.
As for those Demon Players at the crossroads… since Mentor wasn't planning to return to Earth, he'd ask him to screen and investigate them. If they were serious offenders harmful to Earth, he would revoke their Player rights and deal with them accordingly.
Nol wasn't sure if Teest was interested in those people. He took another sip of his juice.
For the neighbors, he would let everyone choose freely.
During his time in the Lost Tower, he had talked with them quite a few times. The young people tended to want to return home, while some of the elderly had different ideas. Rather than returning to endure illness and loneliness, they preferred to stay in Tahe as powerful monsters, hoping to maybe luck into developing human forms.
Nol's hands paused on the keyboard.
He had considered whether to keep a portion of the Player login system, allowing some to freely travel between Tahe and Earth.
But that approach was likely to cause complications. Not to mention that someone might slip up, even if perfectly secure, no system was without flaws. If a creature from Tahe accidentally ended up on Earth, or if an Earthling unwittingly stumbled into Tahe, the consequences would be disastrous.
Better to eat one bite at a time. For now, it was best to retain only the "highest administrator rights", Nol thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
...
Unconsciously, Nol straightened up and entered a deeply focused work mode. He continued until a familiar face crossed the screen and approached him.
Nol jolted on the spot, his heart skipping a beat, uncertain whether it was from joy or shock.
"Good evening, honey." Teest's eyes curved with a smile, still carrying the cold air from outside. "It's the first day after the war. Don't you know the word 'rest'?"
"Ah, um, good evening." Nol squeezed onto the sofa. "I just wanted to fix a few issues."
Teest raised an eyebrow.
"You see, the classification of gods is very chaotic right now."
Nol gestured. "The system calls all beings near or beyond its limits 'False Gods', and only the highest system administrator is called a 'God'… Such classifications are too primitive. Even if you're not an administrator, Teest, you are a very powerful god…"
"Mm—" Teest drew out a long note, which probably meant "keep the compliments coming", Nol thought.
Given the "Destruction" power borne from the ancient Demon King, and the "Vow" power that Teest himself had created, both were powerful enough to surpass the system.
If it weren't for the fact that there could only be one highest administrator, Nol wouldn't mind sharing half of the authority with Teest. Unfortunately, he could only offer the kind of "regular administrator" rights that Painter had, which Teest didn't really need.
"For ease of management, I'll have the system regularly scan Tahe to find creatures nearing full level. Such beings don't yet have powers and are defined as 'False Gods'." Nol said solemnly, "If there are individuals of poor character, eliminate them early or impose restrictions… If there are outstanding talents, I will lend them part of the system permissions to help them become true 'gods'."
"How does that sound?"
"Not bad." Teest casually sat next to Nol. "If they choose to fall after becoming gods, can I kill them?"
"If necessary," Nol answered cautiously.
"Good." Teest lazily lay on the couch, resting his head on Nol's thigh. His left hand rested on his chest, the moonstone on his wedding ring emitting a soft glow.
Nol noticed he was warming up again and quickly touched Teest's cool, smooth hair.
"Nol." Teest reached out, covering the floating system window. "Let me guess… Before considering the classification of gods, you surely handled something more urgent."
This time, he didn't use honorifics.
"You mean the matter of returning to Earth."
Nol looked down at those golden eyes, knowing what Teest was asking. "That went very smoothly. No problems at the moment."
Teest: "Oh."
After that, the two fell silent for a while. Suddenly, a soft light flashed, and the person on Nol's knee disappeared, leaving only a fluffy, big white cat. The cat firmly pressed down the fallen wedding ring, as if it would vanish on the spot.
After Teest turned into a cat, Nol found it hard to read his expression. The cat stared at him intensely, as if trying to dig holes in his face with its gaze.
"To come and go freely, a very precise design is needed."
Nol couldn't help but reach out, pinching the cat's ear tips. "In theory, only Player accounts can freely 'log in and out'. To create an account, valid identification from Earth is needed."
"This is the most basic system logic, not easily changed in a short time. Everything has rules. Even I can't just make whatever I want happen."
The cat's whiskers twitched, and its tail drooped.
Nol couldn't hold back a chuckle. He picked up the heavy white cat and kissed the cat's nose.
"But you've given me some inspiration, honey." Nol unnecessarily looked around, lowering his voice. "I could also get you a fake ID."
"As long as you have an account, I can take you back and forth… if you're interested in Earth."
"I will always stay by your side," he said.
The white cat leapt agilely, and the moment its paws hit the ground, Teest was back in human form.
The Mad Monk looked calm, with a demeanor of "this is how it should be". Unfortunately, his rapidly beating heart betrayed him. At this distance, Nol could hear it clearly.
"Good. I don't have to accuse you of neglecting your newlywed husband." Teest cheerfully headed to the kitchen. "So, to celebrate our first night of marriage, what would you like to eat?"
At this, he clapped his fist into his palm. "How about spicy roasted Star Stealer Sol with bewilderment dew? I kept some extra meat."
Nol: "..."
Nol: "…I don't have [Fallen Death] anymore. Just ordinary lamb is fine, thanks."
"What a pity." Teest pouted. "By the way, I've always been curious. Where exactly does the name [Fallen Death] come from?"
The system's skill names were usually straightforward or metaphorical of the skill's characteristics. Only [Fallen Death], with a name seemingly unrelated to its content.
"I thought it was strange at first too."
Nol couldn't help but summon the system window again, this time intending to ask the system directly.
The system quickly responded—
["Fallen Death" name is a direct translation of "Fallen Leavers", which originates from "Fallen Leaves". Explanation complete.]
"Its name comes from 'fallen leaves'," Nol muttered.
"Fallen leaves? Sounds like it still has nothing to do with the skill." Teest casually spun a kitchen knife.
"…Teest, in the future, we will travel many times between Earth and Tahe." Nol's voice thickened. "Trust me, you will understand."
Whether in Tahe or on Earth.
Fallen leaves would return to their roots.
The author has something to say:
Everyone's going home!!!
It feels like Teest can't kick his habit of picking up strange meats for Nol to eat…
Uninformed people: The horrifying Mad Monk is collecting terrifying souvenirs again!