Chapter 599: The Pieces of the Truth

The player forums exploded.

News about the Carnival of Desire spread like wildfire—from the harrowing accounts of the few survivors who had managed to escape alive, to expert analyses of the dungeon's structure, and anxious discussions among the artist community.

[Has anyone heard of the Carnival of Desire? I heard only a handful of people survived!]

[I heard the members of the Themisia Guild were almost completely wiped out. Julian and Lily were both turned into candy.]

[Dungeons are getting more and more dangerous... Remember when we first started? The death toll was nowhere near this high.]

[It feels like Happy TV Network is deliberately increasing the difficulty to weed out the weak.]

But the comments drawing the most attention weren't about how dangerous the dungeon was.

[What about the Erebus Guild? I heard they participated too.]

[The Erebus Guild? The guild of that new god?]

[They're not new anymore. Their abilities are terrifying. I heard Adrian is a Priest of Erebus, and he faced the dungeon master all by himself.]

[Who's Adrian? I've never heard of him.]

[He's a Priest of Erebus. Apparently, Erebus favors him greatly and has bestowed extraordinary power upon him.]

[Could it be that Erebus is actually stronger than the other gods?]

[Don't jump to conclusions. But if a Priest of Erebus can accomplish something like that, then that god must be truly extraordinary.]

[Natalia lost to Adrian in the dungeon. What is Abyssus going to do to salvage their reputation?]

...

Inside the God Realm.

Endless darkness enveloped the space. There was no ceiling, no floor, no walls—only darkness and silence.

At the heart of that darkness sat a man. His jet-black hair fell loosely to his shoulders, slightly longer than usual, while his deep green eyes gleamed like precious gems trapped within the endless night.

Silvanus.

He sat cross-legged amid the darkness, his slender fingers resting lightly upon his knees. His gaze remained fixed ahead, calm to an almost unsettling degree.

Beside him stood a black swan.

Matt.

Matt's eyes widened, but he wasn't looking at his master. Instead, they were fixed on the small black cat sitting directly across from him.

The black cat shrank back, its round golden eyes staring at Matt with an innocent expression. It was so small that it could fit perfectly in the palm of a hand. Its ears stood upright, while its tiny tail curled around its frail body.

Matt took another step forward.

The black cat backed away, its body trembling.

Silvanus raised a hand and gently tapped Matt on the head.

Bonk.

Matt stopped immediately. Its eyes blinked several times before it slowly averted its gaze, pretending as though it had never looked at the black cat with murderous intent in the first place. It pressed itself against its master, stretching out its long neck and obediently resting its head on Silvanus's shoulder.

Silvanus glanced at Matt, the corners of his lips curling into a faint smile.

"Don't pretend you're innocent."

Matt let out a small cry, as if protesting. It couldn't speak human language, but the expression on its face was enough for Silvanus to understand.

I was only looking.

Silvanus shook his head, then extended his hand toward the black cat.

The black cat stared at his hand for a long moment. Then it cautiously approached, taking one tiny step at a time, as though checking for traps. Finally, it leaped into Silvanus's palm and curled up there, its tiny body trembling slightly before gradually relaxing.

Silvanus looked at the black cat, his gaze softening slightly.

"Don't be afraid," he said gently.

Another protesting cry came from Matt behind him.

The black cat remained silent, but the fear had disappeared from its wide golden eyes.

Then, a familiar voice echoed through the darkness.

[Welcome back, Silvanus.]

Silvanus did not look up. He continued gazing at the black cat resting in his palm, his voice calm.

"Nine."

The system's voice rang out, carrying a satisfaction it could barely conceal.

[I have to say, you have far exceeded my expectations. What you did in the Carnival of Desire has attracted a great deal of attention. Your reputation is spreading at an astonishing rate. People are beginning to compare you to the other gods.]

Silvanus said nothing. He merely continued stroking the black cat's soft fur.

[In fact, I've been waiting for you to return for quite some time. There are a few things you need to know.]

Silvanus raised his eyes. His emerald gaze fixed itself upon the empty space before him.

"What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

Nine was silent for a moment. Then his voice grew deeper.

"About Happy TV Network. About the gods. And about you."

Silvanus showed no emotion. He simply sat there, one hand resting on the black cat, waiting.

"Happy TV Network was originally exactly what its name suggested—a television network. It was created for entertainment, to bring joy to people. But then, everything changed."

"Three gods appeared."

"Vaelthor, Abyssus, Themisia—the three of them aren't true gods. At least, not in the way people think of gods. They are entities from somewhere else, from another world. And they seized control of Happy TV Network, turning it into a tool for their own purposes."

Silvanus narrowed his eyes slightly. He had always harbored doubts about the true nature of the gods, but hearing Nine say it outright still caught him off guard.

"They imposed new laws—laws that the Artists never knew existed. Whenever an Artist dies inside a dungeon, the fear and negative emotions they experience are harvested and transformed into power for the gods. At the same time, they created what are known as Gods and Heirs, giving the Artists hope so that the supply of emotions would never run dry."

A brief silence followed.

"I once tried to save Happy TV Network." Nine's voice grew heavier. "I used to be part of the system, one of its founders. But I failed. The true master of Happy TV Network was imprisoned and has been unable to escape."

Silvanus lowered his gaze to the black cat in his palm. The cat looked back at him, its round golden eyes seeming almost as though it understood everything.

"You've already figured it out," Nine said. "The cat you saved from that interview last time... it's a crystallization of Happy TV Network's master's energy. It was trapped in that form, unable to free itself."

Silvanus couldn't hide his surprise. He looked at the tiny black cat resting in his palm, its round golden eyes gazing back at him with absolute trust.

"It's... a crystallization of energy?"

"That's right. It contains everything that remains of the true master. Without it, Happy TV Network will remain in the hands of those three gods forever."

Silvanus was silent for a moment. He looked at the black cat, then raised his eyes toward the empty space before him.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

Nine fell silent for several seconds, as though carefully weighing every word.

"I want you to kill them."

Silvanus wasn't surprised in the slightest. But he still asked, "Why?"

"Because those gods are searching for something. I don't know what it is, but I do know that those things only began appearing after you emerged. You are the key, Silvanus. You are the only one who can do this."

"And if you agree," Nine added, "I will use the supreme authority of a System to support you."

Silvanus didn't answer immediately. He looked at the black cat in his hand, then at Matt resting his head against his shoulder.

He remembered the rumors that viewers had once spread—that there had been another New God who rebelled in the past, only to be crushed by the true gods.

"Does that mean I'll become the next rebel?"

Nine answered, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"You've been a rebel for a long time already. From the very first moment you appeared, the Gods tried to kill you."

Silvanus fell silent. He remembered the girl with the strange energy fluctuations in the first dungeon. Clearly, the members of the Guilds belonging to the Gods—or even a Heir like Natalia—didn't possess that kind of energy.

It was only a speculation, but what if... what if... the God was also a fragment?