Chapter 103 He is a deity
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
A huge shadow cast a dark cloud over the gathered crowd.
Compared to the enormous monster, the people on the ground seemed tiny and insignificant. They could only wait silently for their fate to unfold.
“Will it smash my house?” a young girl asked in a quiet voice.
No one answered. An old man beside her gently patted her head, trying to calm her down.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, except for the sound of snowflakes falling softly from the sky. Lin Zhaohe’s breath formed a white mist as he suddenly felt a chill.
Everyone looked up, their heads held high, as the shadow in the sky grew larger and larger. The monster was on the verge of collapsing, crashing onto the remaining patch of untouched land. The area of the fusion zone was shrinking rapidly, and the buildings it crushed were the only homes left for many unfortunate souls.
“Can the divinity appear again?” The same voice spoke with caution, as if whispering a forbidden desire. It longed for the monster to disappear, as if asking fate itself.
A hiss broke the silence, releasing the air from the monstrous, blood-stained creature. In the gaze of the onlookers, it transformed into a massive balloon, its wounded body shrinking rapidly. It floated towards the sky, leaving behind a flurry of colorful paper confetti, which gently landed on people’s hair and shoulders.
The sudden scene stunned everyone. Lin Zhaohe reached out and caught a piece of the colorful paper, revealing a radiant smile drawn on it.
Without knowing why, upon seeing the smiling face, Lin Zhaohe’s eyes welled up with unexpected sorrow. He rubbed his eyes and muttered softly, “Why laugh when everything is so grim?”
After the initial shock, the crowd erupted into joyful cheers. The contrast between their previous suffering and the festive display of fireworks in the sky was striking. The monster had become nothing more than a false alarm, replaced by a delightful surprise.
“It’s the divinity!” someone shouted, overcome with excitement. They gathered the fallen paper from the snowy ground, convinced that the deity had granted their wish. “He is real—”
Others shared the same belief. Tearful mothers pleaded desperately, “Please, Divinity, bring my daughter back to me—”
The prayers echoed relentlessly as people knelt on the ground, bowing before the empty void.
Lin Zhaohe stood out among the crowd, feeling out of place. Standing beside him were several characters from the Fruit Magical Team. They clearly hadn’t fully integrated into the three-dimensional atmosphere, appearing lost and awkward. Fu Li approached Lin Zhaohe and whispered, “What are they doing?”
Lin Zhaohe asked, “Haven’t you played the game?”
“I have,” Fu Li replied, “but recently, I’ve been less involved due to real-life matters.”
Lin Zhaohe thought to himself that “real-life matters” were the true enemies of games. He pointed to the people kneeling on the ground, their faces twisted with madness, and said, “In the game, there’s a deity who loves humanity and can fulfill all their wishes.”
Fu Li asked, “Without any cost?”
Lin Zhaohe responded, “None.”
After a moment of silence, Fu Li made a startling statement, “Doesn’t that mean the deity could destroy humanity?”
Lin Zhaohe was taken aback and asked, “Why would you think that?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Fu Li said, “Free things are often the most expensive. If every person on Earth had a button that could destroy the world, the Earth might be destroyed ten thousand times over.” Human desires were always twisted and peculiar.
Lin Zhaohe hadn’t expected himself to deliver such a logical explanation, but it aligned with the future Fu Li had speculated based on the game’s storyline.
Despite the temporary relief from the crisis, Lin Zhaohe’s nerves didn’t relax. Instead, he became even more worried.
The monster suddenly disappeared, and Lin Zhaohe couldn’t shake off the feeling of its connection to Zhuang Lao. The thought of Zhuang Lao truly being a deity made him feel anxious and unsettled.
Zhuang Lao didn’t show up. Instead, government personnel arrived, providing medical assistance to the injured, allocating housing, and quickly evacuating the survivors.
Lin Zhaohe stood in the snow, wearing his little yellow skirt, and watched the orderly scene. Unable to hold it back, he sneezed. He took out his communicator and called Zhuang Lao, but instead of hearing Zhuang Lao’s voice, he heard music coming from not far behind him. Lin Zhaohe felt perplexed and followed the sound until he found Zhuang Lao standing in a corner, seemingly lost in thought, not even noticing Lin Zhaohe approaching.
Lin Zhaohe waved his hand in front of Zhuang Lao and called out, “Boss?”
Zhuang Lao suddenly snapped back to reality and said, “Xiao He…”
“What are you doing standing here lost in thought?”
Zhuang Lao said, “No… I just came from over there.” After saying that, his expression froze for a few seconds, as if he had suddenly spaced out, leaving his eyes and face blank.
His appearance frightened Lin Zhaohe, who quickly grabbed Zhuang Lao’s hand and asked, “Boss? Are you okay?”
Zhuang Lao said, “I’m fine…”
Despite claiming to be fine, he didn’t look okay. Zhuang Lao rubbed his temples and forced himself to perk up. “The situation is resolved. Let’s go.”
“How did the monster disappear?” Lin Zhaohe felt that things weren’t that simple. The killer snow suddenly vanished, and the monster turned into a balloon toy. These things were undoubtedly related to Zhuang Lao. Lin Zhaohe warned, “If you’re lying to me again, I won’t be friends with you anymore.”
With the unexpectedly effective tactic of a child-like threat, Zhuang Lao found himself caught off guard. Now, he was fearless, except for the fear of his little dog not being fond of him. Zhuang Lao said, “Perhaps… it has something to do with me.”
Lin Zhaohe: “You might as well speak confidently.”
Zhuang Lao: “There are too many people and prying eyes here. Let’s talk when we get back.”
Sure enough, Lin Zhaohe generously agreed.
They had a vehicle when they arrived, but now they had to walk back through the heavy snow. Lin Zhaohe and Zhuang Lao strolled home. Without the previous chaos, there was a touch of romance in the air. Zhuang Lao asked Lin Zhaohe if he liked the snow. After thinking for a moment, Lin Zhaohe said he used to dislike it but now he enjoyed it.
“Why do you like it now?” Zhuang Lao asked.
Lin Zhaohe lowered his head and said, “Have you ever heard the saying… ‘If we face the snow together, this life will be considered a shared white head’?”
Zhuang Lao smiled and tightened his grip on Lin Zhaohe’s hand.
When they arrived home, Lin Zhaohe sneezed and enjoyed the hot soup brought by Little Red Square. Little Red Square had been sleeping before and was awakened by the commotion caused by the two. Seeing them arguing, it didn’t dare make a sound and hid in the guest room, pretending to be a silent puzzle game. Later, the two hurriedly left the house, and Little Red Square prepared ginger soup, thinking it would be cold outside. It wanted Lin Zhaohe to have it when they returned.
It had to be said that it truly was an essential item for the home. Using it only for generating electricity was an understatement.
Lin Zhaohe drank the steaming ginger soup and sniffed his runny nose. “Little Red, you can go to sleep first. I need to talk to the boss about something.” He had intended to have a serious expression while talking to Zhuang Lao, but with his nose turning red from the cold, it was hard to appear serious. This magical girl was surprisingly resistant to bullets and fire, but not to the cold. He felt like a quail walking in the snow while wearing a skirt.
Zhuang Lao saw Lin Zhaohe’s red nose and moist eyes, and felt a slight urge to laugh. But he knew if he laughed, Lin Zhaohe would get angry. So, he covered his mouth with his hand and pretended to cough, managing to conceal his amusement.
However, Lin Zhaohe caught onto Zhuang Lao’s little act and angrily said, “What are you laughing at? Why didn’t you laugh when you turned the monster into a balloon?”
Zhuang Lao felt a bit wronged by Lin Zhaohe’s harsh tone and said, “I was trying to surprise you.”
Lin Zhaohe didn’t expect him to admit it so readily. The words of reproach were stuck in his mouth, leaving him with a feeling of powerlessness. He sniffed his nose and said, “So, you really are that deity?”
Zhuang Lao looked puzzled, hesitating as he replied, “Seems like it.”
Lin Zhaohe: “Seems like it?”
Zhuang Lao: “At some moments, I really could hear the prayers of the believers, but I also feel… that something is not quite right.” His confusion seemed genuine.
Lin Zhaohe: “What’s not quite right?”
“I can’t quite put my finger on it.” Zhuang Lao shook his head.
He couldn’t explain it himself, so naturally, Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help him either. The ease with which they had determined Zhuang Lao’s identity as a deity left Lin Zhaohe feeling lost and worried. He recalled the scenes that had occurred in the game and expressed his concern, “The events from the game won’t repeat themselves, right?”
Zhuang Lao said, “Of course not.” His tone was firm, exuding confidence. “Firstly, people won’t know the exact identity of the deity, and secondly, I won’t fulfill all their requests.” As he spoke, his expression appeared somewhat cold, a stark contrast to the compassionate and gentle deity described in “Holy Light.” Lin Zhaohe couldn’t understand why the deity described in the book, who was depicted as benevolent, kind, and approachable, had transformed into Zhuang Lao, someone who seemed indifferent to human beings.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Lin Zhaohe said, “But you’re a deity, right? Shouldn’t you fulfill all the wishes of your followers?”
Zhuang Lao was bewildered. “Why should I? I never wanted to become one in the first place.”
Lin Zhaohe had no response. He felt that Zhuang Lao’s words made sense, but at the same time, he found it strange to think this way. If the future they were about to experience mirrored the events in the game, then how could Zhuang Lao’s attitude be so different? The deity in the game appeared gentle and accommodating, seemingly unable to oppose the requests of the followers. Could it be that Zhuang Lao had changed because he knew about the future?
Lin Zhaohe pondered over this perplexing question.
Zhuang Lao said, “It’s been a busy day. How about getting some sleep?”
Lin Zhaohe initially wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t help but sneeze forcefully, feeling like his brain was about to burst out of his mouth.
“See, you caught a cold,” ignoring Lin Zhaohe’s refusal, Zhuang Lao pushed him down and tucked him into bed, enveloping him entirely. “Go to sleep right away.”
Lin Zhaohe tried to struggle, but his hands and feet were held down. After a brief struggle, he started feeling tired. Letting out a yawn, he said, “Let’s talk tomorrow.” Then, in a drowsy state, he fell asleep.
Zhuang Lao reached out and gently touched Lin Zhaohe’s forehead to ensure he didn’t have a fever. Once he confirmed this, Zhuang Lao felt relieved.
He turned his head to look outside the window. Suddenly, several dazzling fireworks burst in the pitch-black night sky. Zhuang Lao’s expression slightly froze, and his gaze fixated on the bright moon.
The next day, the snow continued to fall.
Lin Zhaohe woke up in the warmth brought by the heater. As he got up, he felt a splitting headache. He wondered if he had caught a cold. Glancing around the room, he noticed that Zhuang Lao wasn’t there, but Little Red Square, who heard the commotion, came over. Seeing Lin Zhaohe’s pale complexion, Little Red Square exclaimed, “Brother Lin, you look terrible!”
Lin Zhaohe attempted to speak but was startled by his hoarse voice, “I have a terrible headache. Where is Zhuang Lao?”
“Zhuang Lao left after receiving a phone call,” Little Red Square replied.
Lin Zhaohe’s head felt heavy. He thought Zhuang Lao must have gone out for something. Without dwelling on it, he planned to sleep a bit longer. However, just as he lay down, he heard noisy voices coming from outside the window. Perplexed, Lin Zhaohe asked, “What are they doing outside? Making such a racket?”
Little Red Square said, “It started a while ago. I have no idea what they’re up to. They seem agitated.”
Lin Zhaohe got up and walked to the window. The sight that greeted him startled him. He saw hundreds of people in matching outfits on the street. They held massive banners with the emblem of the game “Earth Online”, evidently promoting the game…
[A/N]:
Lin Zhaohe: Capitalist turned out to be a deity…
Zhuang Lao: ?
If you enjoy this novel, support the Translator ginevre on her ko-fi account :))
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
