Chapter 334 - 309: The Origin of Twist

Chapter 334: Chapter 309: The Origin of Twist

Although this page of Forbidden Knowledge seemed a little too safe, it contained brand new information Lloyd had never encountered before—

It described the developmental history of the [Twist] system.

’It doesn’t even touch upon any substantial knowledge, yet it can cause Spiritual Contamination?’

Lloyd was rather surprised by this.

However, he had always been curious about his own system. ’Who discovered a system so obviously not designed for humans? And how did they practice and explore it?’ These were questions that had troubled him for a long time.

So, he didn’t scorn the knowledge for being too basic and began to read and learn with great focus.

The developmental history on this page could be briefly summarized as—

A man went mad, and he also grew strong...

Although this simple record didn’t mention what kind of foundation this person had, and even their name was blotted out, leaving only ’■■■■’.

Lloyd could only call him ’Square Man’ in his mind...

This "Square Man" lived in the past Era of Brilliance, but he wasn’t some [Radiant Gold]. He was just a mediocrity at the ’Third Stage of Fighting Power’ who, due to his lack of talent in all areas, could only pursue the field of paleontology.

Later, during an excavation of ancient fossils, he unexpectedly obtained the power of [Twist], similar to how Lloyd had completed his [Enlightenment].

At that time, he lived in an era of ’Sword and Magic’. The term ’Extraordinary Being’ didn’t exist, let alone ’Extraordinary System’. So, in a sense, this Square Man was likely the first Extraordinary Being by modern definition.

After completing his [Enlightenment], it was as if Square Man’s mind had suddenly opened up. All sorts of knowledge appeared in his head, and he began to follow its guidance, gradually improving and growing stronger.

In that beautiful era before Spiritual Contamination, relying on the various forms of Magic and technology of the time, the rituals of the [Twist] system didn’t seem so dangerous. At most, they were just a bit grotesque and disgusting.

So, aside from his mental state deteriorating and his madness growing, Square Man managed to live on just fine.

Furthermore, his power surged in a short period. Soon, he could defeat top-tier Mages or Warriors in one-on-one combat, and later, even the [Radiant Gold] were no match for him.

His situation immediately aroused the curiosity and attention of many [Radiant Gold]. They took advantage of his madness, set an ambush, and after paying a heavy price, captured him alive.

What followed was all sorts of investigation, research, and inhumane experiments. The earliest form of the [Twist] system was born from this.

After that, numerous powerhouses and scholars plunged into it one after another, tirelessly working to gradually perfect it. They optimistically believed this new power held the potential to change humanity’s Destiny and bring about a brand-new future.

But before they could achieve more results, an apocalyptic catastrophe suddenly descended, and Spiritual Contamination began to spread...

The ’knowledge’, which had once been safe and serene, started to become volatile and dangerous, capable of ’airborne transmission’ without a physical medium, in a way humans could not comprehend.

It was with this drastic change in the world’s environment that the once-viable research related to [Twist] rapidly became a dangerous, suicidal act.

Even the knowledge associated with it all turned into terrifying Forbidden Knowledge...

Those who had already dabbled in it swiftly descended into madness under the influence of Spiritual Contamination...

At the same time, because the [Radiant Gold] fell at the speed of light, humanity lost its greatest reliance and was completely unable to resist this change.

Afterward, with the death of the last related personnel, the development and improvement of the [Twist] system came to a complete halt.

The entire system was as if it had been ’sealed away’...

It wasn’t until many years later, through activities like ’archaeology’ and ’revivalism’, as well as the ’spread of knowledge’, that [Twist] saw the light of day again.

Reading up to this point, Lloyd paused for a moment to organize the information in his mind.

’So [Twist] is a power born in a past era? Does that mean [Twist] was the first Extraordinary System humanity ever came into contact with?’

’I always thought the first Extraordinary System was [Redemption]...’

’No wonder the power of [Twist] seems so unbalanced, and no wonder it’s so self-destructive—’

’It’s all because no one was able to research it anymore, so it was never optimized or improved. It still retains those ’death-courting’ and ’suicidal’ elements, making [Twist] completely out of sync with the current era.’

’Without the support of the Magic, Fighting Qi, or even the Magical Technology and Alchemy Technology from the Era of Brilliance, this system is completely unsuitable for humans.’

’Uh... wait a minute. Could that apocalyptic catastrophe be related to [Twist]?’

Lloyd couldn’t help but think of a terrible possibility...

But he immediately tried to reason it away in his mind:

’That can’t be it. The timeline doesn’t add up at all. From the time Square Man was captured by the powerhouses and the research began, to the arrival of the catastrophe—although there’s no specific timeframe, the descriptions suggest it was at least a hundred years.’

’And even though [Twist] seems to have been ’sealed away,’ it wasn’t the only thing that was banned. Didn’t other forms of ancient knowledge also become Forbidden Knowledge?’

’It’s just that, by comparison, knowledge like [Ancient Magic] also became extremely dangerous. But ’Magic’ itself was the core mainstream of that era, having been improved, supplemented, and optimized by countless people over who knows how many years. It was treated completely differently from a ’nouveau riche’ system like [Twist].’