Chapter 108 The things that happened
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Lin Zhaohe couldn’t remember, but Zhuang Lao remembered.
Those memories that were once unclear gradually became clearer because the God Creation Project was successful.
In another memory, Lin Zhaohe was the deity, and he was a devoted follower who fell in love with the deity.
Unlike the current reality, the God Creation Project was remarkably successful in the memories, and the deity created by people turned out as wonderful as they had imagined.
He was kind and gentle, and he had love for all humanity. When he first came to this world, his black eyes were pure and untouched, without any worldly desires.
Zhuang Lao was responsible for the God Creation Project and naturally became the guide for the deity’s arrival into the world.
He believed at that time that the God Creation Project was a brilliant idea. No one seemed more powerful than a beloved character, whose strength was said to have the ability to change the entire world. However, this power, once uncontrollable, could lead to the world’s destruction. Hence, there were no negative descriptions associated with the deity.
He was the deity, embodying all the beautiful emotions.
Zhuang Lao thought that perhaps the plan was destined to fail from the beginning. A deity who couldn’t refuse the desires of the people was destined to ruin the world.
He watched the screen before him, but all he could picture in his mind was Lin Zhaohe’s pale face.
Just like in the game, when everything spiraled out of control, Lin Zhaohe was exactly as demonstrated in the game, wearing a white outfit and sitting in a simple, almost empty room.
The room and its surroundings were heavily guarded within a radius of a hundred miles, but even so, he couldn’t prevent those dreadful desires from seeping into the depths of Lin Zhaohe’s mind.
Lin Zhaohe’s pale face exhibited confusion and bewilderment. He was pure white, a stark contrast to this dirty world. Even on this irreversible day, he still couldn’t fathom why humans harbored so many dreadful thoughts that he couldn’t resist. He could only fulfill them, one after another, witnessing the hard-won world being riddled with holes due to these desires.
“Why?” Lin Zhaohe would ask Zhuang Lao back then, resembling a lost child, pitifully questioning, “Zhuang Lao, what do they truly desire? Why can’t I understand?”
Zhuang Lao couldn’t answer. How could he possibly know what humans truly wanted?
Lin Zhaohe’s condition was already deteriorating at that time, but it hadn’t reached its worst point yet. Given a little more time, even his remaining sanity would have vanished. His face and eyes would have lost all traces of confusion, becoming empty and hollow. His mind would have been filled with crazy desires, unresponsive to Zhuang Lao’s calls.
The outside world was already in chaos.
The small Earth couldn’t contain humanity’s desires, which could consume the entire universe. The world was still being destroyed, but it was different from their expectations. It wasn’t because of the deity but because of humanity itself.
Before the world plunged into complete darkness, Zhuang Lao made a decision. He wanted to fulfill his beloved deity’s final wish.
As you wished, my love.
Tears streamed down the deity’s face, but he was powerless to stop it all.
The world line restarted, and this time, Zhuang Lao decided to personally become the sorrowful deity.
Through an identity swap, even without memories, Zhuang Lao found a puppy on a rainy night, holding an umbrella. The puppy sat on the roadside, soaked, with wet head and eyes, resembling a newcomer to this world. Zhuang Lao held the umbrella above its head.
The world restarted as he desired, giving Lin Zhaohe a fresh start.
However, this time, an unexpected event occurred. Lin Yan, who also carried memories of world destruction, attempted to halt the God Creation Project, resulting in the loss of Lin Zhaohe’s loved ones and friends. Zhuang Lao hadn’t foreseen these circumstances. At that time, his memories were incomplete, but he had a faint intuition that the person before him was important.
“Is your name Lin Zhaohe?” The boss’ voice was gentle and soft, like a compassionate deity. “Would you like to work at my company?”
Lin Zhaohe looked up in response, and their lives intertwined once again.
This time, it was Lin Zhaohe who wrote about the deity, while Zhuang Lao became the compassionate, gentle, and kind-hearted deity in his words.
Of course, Zhuang Lao himself didn’t quite fit the descriptions of compassion and gentleness…
Lin Zhaohe couldn’t figure out why they were both deities when he and Zhuang Lao were so different. Perhaps it was because his expressions were too obvious, making Zhuang Lao couldn’t help but burst into laughter. He jokingly said that Lin Zhaohe was a good baby, while he himself was a big villain…
Lin Zhaohe: “Where are you being bad?”
Zhuang Lao: “I make my employees work overtime every day.”
Lin Zhaohe: “…Well, then you’re a little bad.”
They exchanged glances and burst into laughter together.
The world was improving, while the deity was becoming mischievous. Unbeknownst to Zhuang Lao, it had been over a month since he first appeared on TV. During this month, the number of his followers had decreased significantly. The devotees who used to promote the deity on the streets were much fewer in number, and even if they existed, there wouldn’t be any pictures of Zhuang Lao’s face. Perhaps they believed that putting the image of a balding middle-aged man would have an adverse effect.
Zhuang Lao’s influence was so profound that even Gu Xuyu, who lived upstairs, couldn’t escape it. Previously, Gu Xuyu would stay at home playing games every day, but today he actually went downstairs for a walk. Lin Zhaohe saw him and greeted him, “Hey, Friend Gu, not gaming today?”
Gu Xuyu said on the forum that he was about to reach level 100 in the game. It was said that reaching level 100 required completing some main quests related to the duvinity. A few days ago, he watched an interview program, and his mind was filled with images of the deity spitting everywhere. It was truly unnerving. Not to mention the quests, he didn’t even feel like logging into the game anymore. He even began to suspect that the game was intentionally created by that unlucky deity just to gather more fans.
Lin Zhaohe listened with great interest and asked, “So what are you planning to do?”
Gu Xuyu shook his head and said, “Take a break from playing for a while. The real world is quite beautiful too.”
Never in his wildest dreams did Lin Zhaohe expect that Zhuang Lao could actually help people overcome gaming addiction. It left him both crying and laughing.
Humans have always had a low tolerance for things they dislike. Once they learned that this deity demanded money from the government to eliminate the fusion zones, the negative reviews from humans overwhelmed the positive ones. If before, people simply despised him for his lack of manners, now there were those who wished he would disappear as soon as possible.
“I suggest not increasing his popularity by following the main questline while playing the game. Otherwise, this guy will surely become even more outrageous in the future.”
“Can’t someone take matters into their own hands and get rid of him? Demanding so much money just to eliminate a fusion zone, isn’t that extortion?”
“Enough already. If we kill him, who will solve the fusion zone issue? The world is already destroyed, what’s the point of demanding so much money?”
“But seeing him smugly flaunting his money is really infuriating…”
“I dislike him too. I hope he disappears soon.”
Under Zhuang Lao’s deliberate instigation, some extreme opinions began to emerge. It was different from the initial online venting. Now, people started taking real-life actions.
After Zhuang Lao participated in a certain event, someone actually threw rotten eggs at him, but he managed to dodge them. However, it was captured on live television and broadcasted to a global audience.
Naturally, Zhuang Lao, being the target of the attack, didn’t respond with grace. He immediately started swearing and using vulgar language towards the person, leaving Lin Zhaohe, who was watching on TV, stunned.
A’Yao and Gu Xuyu were also present. Lately, their gaming time had significantly decreased. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to play, but as soon as they entered “Earth Online,” Zhuang Lao’s face would appear in their minds, instantly dampening their desire. So they switched to playing something else and gathered four people, including Little Red Square, to play mahjong at Lin Zhaohe’s home.
“Four dots,” Lin Zhaohe played a tile.
“Five characters,” A’Yao said, “I can’t take it anymore. When will this person disappear? Having to face that face every day makes me not want to go online anymore.”
Gu Xuyu remained silent, with a gloomy expression, playing a tile. Lin Zhaohe exclaimed, “Hu!” and casually added, “What can we do, should we kill him?”
The room suddenly fell silent.
Lin Zhaohe happily counted the money. As he counted, he noticed that something was off with the atmosphere. He looked up and saw Gu Xuyu squinting as if contemplating something. Lin Zhaohe’s eyed widened. “Hey, I was just joking around. You guys didn’t take it seriously, right?”
Gu Xuyu: “Why not?”
Lin Zhaohe: “……”
“You’re not the only one with such thoughts,” A’Yao said softly. “Don’t you know? There’s a player organization called the Godslayer Association on the internet…”
“Godslayer Association? What do they do?”
“It’s Godslayer, of course they’re out to slay gods,” A’Yao stated matter-of-factly. “There are more people who can’t stand him, not just Gu Xuyu.”
Lin Zhaohe was speechless. He hadn’t expected such a drastic change among everyone in just a month. They were the ones who created the god, and they were the ones who wanted to get rid of him. The original savior had easily turned into a villain…
“Isn’t that going too far?” Lin Zhaohe said.
“Too far? I don’t think so,” A’Yao said, rubbing the mahjong tiles. He smiled and continued, “With his terrifying abilities now, it’s not just the public who are wary of him. Today he demands a house, tomorrow it could be something else. The number of people afraid of him will only increase.”
The sea king truly understood human nature. As Lin Zhaohe listened, he also began to grasp the situation. This organization was probably more than just a simple grassroots organization. There might be some other elements mixed in.
Lin Zhaohe fell into deep thought.
In the evening, after Zhuang Lao returned home, Lin Zhaohe told him about this matter.
Zhuang Lao wasn’t surprised at all after hearing it. These things were already within his expectations, although slightly different from what he had imagined.
Lin Zhaohe reached out and gently tapped Zhuang Lao’s eyelashes, removing a snowflake. As he felt the snowflake melt on his fingertips, he said, “How different indeed.”
Zhuang Lao said, “I thought they would tolerate me for at least six months. I didn’t expect them to give up after just a month.” He abused his power every day, dancing on the nerves of the government. It wasn’t just the public who couldn’t bear it. Even the higher-ups were growing impatient.
Lin Zhaohe laughed and sighed, “Isn’t this happening too quickly?”
Zhuang Lao: “It does seem a bit fast, but it won’t have much impact. It’s not a big deal.”
Lin Zhaohe: “What do we do next?”
Zhuang Lao whispered something in Lin Zhaohe’s ear. After hearing it, Lin Zhaohe’s eyes widened in disbelief. He said, “Isn’t that too…?” Zhuang Lao asked, “Too what?”
Lin Zhaohe wasn’t sure what it was “too,” so he pondered for a while before saying, “They wouldn’t be that wicked, would they?”
Zhuang Lao said, “What do you think?”
Lin Zhaohe fell silent. In truth, he didn’t have much confidence either, but if Zhuang Lao’s plan could truly be realized, it would be a perfect climax to the God Creation Plan.
The snow outside was getting heavier. When Lin Zhaohe looked through the window, everything was blanketed in a pure, white expanse. It resembled a heavenly realm on Earth.
In another half month, it would be the Lunar New Year. Lin Zhaohe thought that the festive atmosphere, which had disappeared in previous years, had miraculously returned this year. People celebrated their survival after the disaster, looking forward to a better future.
At the same time, they also cursed the deity who had brought all this upon them with the most malicious words.
The deity couldn’t hear the curses, nor did he care. He would rather be a deaf and blind evil god than fulfill the desires born out of those temptations one by one.
Suddenly, Zhuang Lao remembered that Lin Zhaohe’s parents’ anniversary was just a few days away. He looked at Lin Zhaohe and softly asked, “Xiao He, for this year’s New Year, would you like your parents to be with you?”
“No need,” Lin Zhaohe naturally couldn’t make such a wish. The departed have passed away, and he wouldn’t exploit Zhuang Lao to fulfill his personal desires. He reached out and held Zhuang Lao’s finger.”Having my boss by my side is enough.”
Let the past remain in the past.
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