Chapter 244 - 243: I’m Not Done Playing Yet...

Chapter 244: Chapter 243: I’m Not Done Playing Yet...

"Huh? What’s going on? Why did it suddenly freeze?"

Seeing the motionless ’Weiya’ in front of him, Lloyd quickly reached out and tapped her on the forehead.

Immediately after, his vision began to blur and shift. He started returning to reality, gradually moving away from the Arkham town he had so painstakingly crafted.

"Aaaah! No! My Arkham! My giant robot! My super-aircraft carrier!"

Lloyd let out a desperate cry, watching helplessly as his pride and joy, ’New Arkham Town,’ drifted further and further away, ultimately dissolving into a burst of illusory bubbles—

It was an artificial planet floating in outer space, equipped with all sorts of advanced sci-fi weaponry and escorted by a dense fleet of various starships.

A few seconds later, Lloyd returned to his original room, dejected. His face was a mask of misery and unwillingness, and his heart felt hollow, as if his inventory in a Krypton Gold Mobile Game had been completely wiped.

While others escaped the [Story] with lingering fear, he was filled with reluctance—

He had painstakingly managed Arkham Town for so long, yet in the end, he never got to meet that ’mysterious existence’ and test his mettle against it.

It was the kind of frustration a lonely young man might feel after training his whole life in the remote mountains to master the art of dragon-slaying, not even bothering to find a girlfriend, only to die of old age before a single dragon ever appeared.

Lloyd sat dejectedly in his room for a while before he heard the commentary of the three big shots in his ear:

"Still haven’t had enough? Have you seen what time it is?"

First came the butler’s voice, then it was replaced by a woman’s, who said with a seductive laugh:

"Hee hee, little cutie, was that a future world you imagined just now? How interesting! If you’re still not satisfied, you can come play in big sister’s [Story] later, okay? Big sister will teach you lots of fun things..."

Finally, there was the last big shot’s comment:

"That last giant Iron Man, why didn’t you develop a successor model? Don’t give up! I feel like that’s the future path for humanity! It’s way cooler than those flying ships you imagined!"

’Ugh... I got carried away and forgot there were people watching...’

’Good thing I didn’t create anything even weirder...’

Lloyd lamented internally, then stood up, stretched his limbs, and turned to look out the window, only to realize it was already dark outside.

He quickly took out his pocket watch and discovered he had been in the [Story] for eight hours, which was pushing the limit.

If he had stayed any longer, it likely would have caused irreversible damage to his mental state, which was why the butler had forcibly pulled him out.

’But I feel fine, don’t I? I’m not dizzy, I haven’t suffered any mental trauma... I’m just a bit sore, and I used up some Spiritual Power to bypass the plot... Oh, right, and I’m starving.’

With that, Lloyd rubbed his stomach and went downstairs to find something to eat.

As he reached the hallway, he activated his Spiritual Vision and secretly peeked at the condition of his two opponents.

Good heavens. They were both pale-faced and covered in a cold sweat. Traces of blood lingered at the corners of their mouths and the tips of their noses. They lay unconscious on their beds, veins bulging on their foreheads as if they were enduring some intense agony. It looked a bit like the symptoms of complete Spiritual Power depletion.

’Ugh... Is the [Story] really that dangerous?’

’I thought it was pretty fun, though?’

’Maybe it’s because I’m just a hardworking young man who strives to get ahead.’

Lloyd grumbled to himself again. Without playing the good guy and checking on the others, he headed downstairs to find food.

Dinner was quite simple, but there was meat and wine. Lloyd never drank, so he just filled his stomach and also grabbed a box of fruit candies for a snack.

The packaging for the fruit candies was rather exquisite, printed with colorful, vibrant little animal-shaped candies. It seemed like something girls would like, so he decided to give it to Elolo as a small gift tonight.

’It’s such a cheap thing, though. I wonder if Elolo will look down on it?’

With that, Lloyd returned to his room and began his daily physical exercises while browsing through the knowledge that had sprouted in his mind.

After leaving the butler’s [Story], the analysis progress of the ’Unknown Fragment’ had skyrocketed again, reaching 57.5%. This caused another batch of knowledge from the [Manifestation] system to sprout in his mind.

But at the same time, he had also suffered over a thousand points of Spiritual Contamination...

’Even though I haven’t formally studied the knowledge of the [Manifestation] system, based on my personal feelings and past experience, this all seems to be knowledge related to [Projection]. It’s mainly techniques for controlling and strengthening [Projections], which should be pretty basic stuff. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with it, does it?’

’Why is there Spiritual Contamination, then?’

Lloyd really wanted to ask the butler, but he was a little afraid. If this knowledge really was problematic, he’d have a hard time explaining himself.

’I’ll wait until I’ve been exposed to more knowledge from the [Manifestation] side of things. I’m not confident enough to say anything right now...’

Lloyd decided to set this minor detail aside for now. After finishing the first phase of his exercises, he entered his [Thought Realm] to take a look.

As soon as he entered, he felt the giant flower bud radiating with life and vitality once more. He reached out and brushed against it, and just as he expected, a huge wave of Spiritual Contamination rushed over him.

[Ding! Madness Value +1000]

[Ding! Madness Value +1000]

After gaining 5,000 points in one go, Lloyd was even closer to his next level-up. He should be able to level up after spending some time with Elolo tonight.

Of course, it was also mixed with some miscellaneous, useless fragments that were automatically swept into the ’recycling bin.’

As he absorbed the Spiritual Contamination, a gentle power emerged from within the flower bud, forming a slender, delicate hand that softly caressed Lloyd’s cheek.

Though he couldn’t see or hear it, Lloyd could clearly feel that the presence on the other side was distressed for him.

So he smiled and responded aloud:

"It’s okay. I can handle it. It’s not hard at all."

He felt the slender hand stiffen for a moment, then press tightly against his cheek until it dissipated.

The flower bud fell silent as well, returning to its lifeless appearance.

’So this [Consciousness Body] really is something the Saint is using to make me share the burden of her Spiritual Contamination.’

’This is great. It helps the Saint and it helps me. A win-win!’

’It’s just a shame about all these miscellaneous fragments. If only I could make use of them or piece them together into some kind of skill...’

As Lloyd pondered this, he reached out one last time to touch the flower bud’s surface, which was as smooth and soft as a young girl’s skin.

’Speaking of which, it seems like the Saint is getting more and more intimate with me, isn’t she?’

’Could it be that she... toward me...’

’Ugh... No, no. She’s the high and mighty Saint, while I’m a ’lawbreaker’ who possesses the Taboo System. Better not to overthink it. Don’t Ask Too Much.’

Lloyd shook his head forcefully, left the [Thought Realm], and resumed his physical training to push aside the wild thoughts in his mind.

He continued exercising until it was about time for bed. Then he washed up, flopped onto his bed, and went to ’Night Raid’ Elolo.

Of course, he didn’t forget to bring along the box of fruit candies as a small gift.

.........

"Well then, my final duration was 21 hours and 8 minutes. You were supervising the entire time, so there are no objections, correct?"

On the third floor, the butler asked, wearing a victor’s smile.

The great Olga waved his hand in annoyance.

"Hmph. What’s there to calculate?"

He had, of course, already lost. His time was nearly 10 hours less than the butler’s—a complete defeat.

The great Inesha didn’t think she could win either and added:

"My Story couldn’t stop my little cutie, either. Sigh... If it weren’t for the restrictions of the [Contract], I would have just conceded directly."

Although the outcome was no longer in doubt, this ’wager’ was part of the [Transcendence] ritual, so the three of them still had to patiently see tomorrow’s proceedings through to the end.

"Sigh... Losing itself doesn’t really matter. It’s not like this is my only [Story]. It’s just that the loss was so ugly, and the junior from my family performed so shamefully. When I get back, I’m bound to be ridiculed by those gossips..."

The great Olga said this with a pained expression, then suddenly glared at the great Inesha, looking like he wanted to start another argument.

The butler quickly intervened.

"Alright, alright, didn’t we already agree? After tomorrow’s proceedings are over, you will each have one chance to approach Lloyd alone. I will not interfere. It will be up to you to see if you can persuade him. Until then, we will not bring this matter up again."

"Hmph."

The great Olga snorted coldly and began mentally calculating how many more bargaining chips he could offer.

The great Inesha seemed a bit calmer than him and said with great interest:

"Alright, let’s put my little cutie aside for now, although he is indeed dazzling... Let’s look at the other two youngsters’ performances. You can’t say they were bad, can you? Especially the little one I brought."

The three then briefly reviewed the performances of the other two ’readers.’

The beginning of the Story was the same for all of them. Under the influence of the ’narration,’ they first experienced a period of warm, mundane daily life, then were gradually drawn into the town’s abnormal events, and were finally forced out of the town to encounter that powerful, mysterious existence.

After that came a battle of wits and courage against the mysterious existence. During this process, the protagonist would lose their lover, family, and friends, one by one, until they finally, unfortunately, perished after a bitter struggle...

This was the butler’s ’main storyline.’ The pacing was tight, and the mood was oppressive. After an initial slow pace to make one lower their guard, a rapid succession of events would follow, leaving the ’reader’ overwhelmed and exhausted.

In that state, coupled with the ’narration’ constantly echoing in their ears, the reader would become deeply engrossed and unable to break free.

If they couldn’t escape the [Story] in time, they would truly die inside...