The village before them was but a microcosm of the world.
Yet as the underworld drew ever closer,
One day,
The entire world would become this very sight.
Civilization would vanish, the living would cease to be, leaving only wandering spirits upon the silent earth.
"Great Wizard," Servia, hidden beneath her cloak, suddenly spoke. "If I ever get the chance to meet the one responsible for all this, I want to strike him with my sword."
Xu Xi replied, "When that time comes, strike him once for me too."
To better observe the land,
Xu Xi chose to settle near the edge of the mountaintop.
With another step forward,
The thick soles of his boots crunched against the gravel, accompanied by the crisp sound of shifting stones. Beside him, the valiant Servia followed closely, fulfilling her duty as a guardian knight.
The yellow wind howled through the gaps of the ruined buildings,
Tearing away the thatch,
Dislodging the bricks.
In this desolate and barren village, only the footsteps of Xu Xi and Servia echoed, amplifying the eerie solitude.
The parched earth bore scarcely a weed, as if this place had been forgotten by the world itself.
And this—
Was under a sun that had returned to normal.
Had it been the pitch-black sun, the scene atop the mountain would have been far more unsettling.
Yet it was in such an environment that
Xu Xi and Servia encountered someone entirely unexpected—two elderly peasants, their life force nearly extinguished, frail and weathered.
Their expressions shifted from shock and confusion to fear and hesitation.
Instinctively,
They began to kneel.
Xu Xi reacted swiftly, using his wizard's hand to steady the two elders, helping them back to their feet.
"How is this possible? Survivors here?"
...
[You descended upon the nameless mountain peak with the undead girl, prepared to wait for the world's changes, adapting to the unknown with stillness.]
[In your heart, you quietly planned how to strengthen yourself and study the girl's body.]
[Your footsteps rang clear, echoing through the abandoned village.]
[You never imagined]
[That in such a ruined village, there would still be humans alive—two elderly peasants at that.]
[Farmer Hansen and peasant Mina]
[Commoners living in Baron Toregu's Territory]
[The nameless mountain you now stood upon was once part of the baron's domain.]
[Once, this mountain and the lands at its base were ruled by the baron, taxed and governed—until the tide of undead grew too fierce, and the baron perished decades ago.]
[The villagers either fled or clung to survival atop the mountain.]
[Now, only the trembling elderly couple remained before you, dressed in tattered hemp clothes, their hands and eyes fidgeting nervously, addressing you as "lord" and "master."]
"You needn't do this. I am neither a noble nor a lord," Xu Xi said.
"I am merely a passing wizard."
The elders' deference was excessive.
Xu Xi felt nothing toward it.
He explained, urging them to speak normally. Yet the elders' address merely shifted.
"Great Wizard Lord!!"
Xu Xi: ?
With no other choice, Xu Xi patiently reassured the terrified elders.
He assured them he was not here to collect taxes or take anything from them.
With Servia adding her own gentle words,
Eventually,
Hansen and Mina calmed, though traces of their subservience lingered. Still, they became certain that Xu Xi was a kind wizard lord and Servia a noble lady of good heart.
They would not harm them.
Experience had taught them that
Nobles with ill tempers—like the late Baron Toregu—would have lashed out with whips long ago.
They would never have explained so patiently.
"Great Wizard Lord, what brings you here...?" Hansen, his temples long gone white, voice trembling, mustered the courage to ask.
He cautiously offered his services, should Xu Xi require anything.
Only, he pleaded, let it not involve his wife, Mina.
"You needn't worry," Xu Xi said, gazing at their weathered faces and the ruins around them. The scene reminded him of the people of Qingniu Town from his third simulation.
His voice softened in reassurance. "I only wish to stay atop the mountain for a time."
"Live as you always have. Pay me no mind."
"If there is any help I need..."
"It would be answers to some questions."
The world was broken. The mountaintop was barren.
The liveliness of the past had long faded.
The village was now but an empty shell.
Xu Xi wondered—how had these two elders evaded the undead? How had they survived here until now?
Faced with these questions,
Hansen and Mina exchanged glances, their rough, humble faces carved deep with the marks of time. They were puzzled, unsure why such a great figure would ask such things.
Yet they answered truthfully.
A natural spring lay halfway down the mountain, their source of water.
With it,
They managed to grow just enough crops to sustain themselves.
And because the mountain path was rugged, littered with obstructing rocks, the mindless undead often stumbled and fell from the heights.
Without lifting a finger, the two elders had been granted a natural sanctuary.
Loneliness was inevitable.
Fear, too, had its place.
Of those who had remained in the village, only Hansen and Mina were left.
They had once considered ending it all.
Taking their own lives.
But in the end, they chose otherwise.
For they realized—their lives were nearing their natural end. The limit of their years.
Strangely, knowing death approached had stripped away their fear of the dark.
Hansen and Mina made a pact.
They would live out their remaining days in peace.
In this lonely world of theirs, they would await death together.
As they spoke, their timeworn, wrinkled faces briefly softened with a faint smile.
"So that's how it is..."
Xu Xi rose slowly.
He hadn't expected to stumble upon such a story on this nameless peak he'd chosen at random.
It was small.
Far from grand.
Yet in this world of wizards, Xu Xi doubted many could claim greater happiness or contentment than these two elders.
They dwelled in a world of darkness,
Yet walked a path of light.
With his questions answered, Xu Xi looked upon their aged faces, marked by time, and bid them farewell.
"Thank you for your answers. May you find happiness."
"Servia, let's go."
On the way to the mountaintop's edge,
Servia was unusually cheerful.
Her emerald-green eyes, bright as jewels, conveyed all her emotions, replacing the need for words.
"Great Wizard," she said.
"Grandpa Hansen and Grandma Mina's story—it's so touching!"
After years of travel, the once-stoic warrior now seemed to revert to her youthful self, endlessly praising the love story of the elderly couple.
"Yes, it truly is touching."
Xu Xi smiled.
He understood Servia's joy.
The world of wizards was far too heavy, too oppressive—a place of endless killing and death.
To witness the existence of Hansen and Mina was, indeed, a rare and heartening sight.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
ress Kneels to Admit Wrong] [Dealing with Love-Struck Fools] [Forced to the Throne] Ren Tianye transmigrated into a female-oriented novel world, only to find everyone in it was utterly insane. He risked his life to save a young girl from barbarians, but was accused of arriving too late and branded the real murderer. He held a knife to a military officer's neck, demanding the troop tally, but the officer only cared about questioning his wife: "Do you not love me anymore? All these years of affection and time together, they were all a mistake, a mistake!" After seizing Yunji City, the original defending general, to save face with the Empress, knelt on the ground: "You must give Yunji City back to me, or I'll hang myself at the city gate and let everyone know you're a villain!" The young lord of the Duke's mansion, to please a woman, directly ordered a merchant: "The menstrual pads you buy for her must be studded with diamonds. Loving her means giving her the best." Having become a great general, he was about to marry a merchant's daughter, who set a pre-nuptial rule: "I can divorce you anytime. When that happens, you must give me half of your troops and soldiers!" Even the Empress was a severe love-struck fool, who ordered the execution of 70,000 elite troops simply because they stood in the way of her romance. Ren Tianye was speechless. He was done. Let it all burn! This deranged female-oriented novel world! ...
