Chapter Twenty-Six: Thus Spoke the Divine

【You have voluntarily disconnected. Would you like to reconnect?】

"Thank you, but not for the moment~"

【Would you like to initiate the wake-up procedure?】

"Yes, please~"

【Acknowledged. It is now 22:15 on January 2nd, 2049. You will awaken in one minute.】

After exiting the gaming pod, Mo Tan spent about two minutes adjusting to the sudden arrival of night. After all, the game world had been filled with bright sunshine when he logged off. In this era where mental simulation devices are ubiquitous, such an experience was no longer surprising, yet every time it happened, it still brought him a vague sense of unreality.

It was as if he were suspended in the gap between mind and reality—novel, yet intoxicating.

"A pity that time is precious~" Mo Tan dispelled that wonderful sense of dissonance in a very short time, sighing with some regret: "And for the past two days, time under the cover of night has become even more invaluable to me..."

He brewed a cup of coffee with sugar but no milk. Instead of drinking it immediately, he placed it on the table beside him and collapsed straight onto the soft sofa.

He closed his eyes and began to think~

【Who am I? Do I truly exist?】

【I can control my actions, like lifting my finger gently like this...】

【But does this process truly exist in 'reality'?】

【Do my joys, angers, sorrows, and delights stem from my 'true heart'?】

【What does 'true heart' even mean? How can a person prove their own existence?】

【Is this whole life a preordained script, or is it a purely coincidental and inevitable product with no stance?】

【Do I really exist? Why am I me?】

【...】

This seemingly "chuunibyou" thought process was not Mo Tan suddenly acting strange, but rather a form of subconscious self-hypnosis. His focused and seemingly meaningless reflection had only one goal: to actively initiate a personality shift.

This method was the only one he had found so far that could guarantee a sufficient success rate without causing much harm to himself.

The mind is a miraculous thing, and human beings are equally miraculous. We often enter a strange state of "detachment" under certain circumstances, as if observing ourselves from a god's-eye view that no one else knows exists.

This is no lie. At least some people (the one typing on the keyboard in front of the monitor right now) have had similar experiences—a bizarre attempt to "question and negate one's own existence" that sprouted from aimless thinking during a bout of insomnia.

In short, it means finding various pieces of evidence to prove one's existence, such as wanting to move a finger, then commanding oneself to perform the "moving finger" action, and then using another perspective to question everything from movement, thought, and dimensions, all the way to existence itself.

At some point during this process, a bewildering sensation descends. It feels as if a thin film of water has been placed between oneself and the outside world; thoughts and actions become isolated. Although one can still control their body, a brief delay occurs...

It is a state that is somewhat frightening, yet also very interesting.

I call it "Upper-Level Thinking," and I have successfully entered this state several times in subsequent deliberate experiments. To be honest, the experience is not very pleasant; it feels as if I have been cut off from everything around me, to the point where I cannot even confirm if I exist.

【Note: This is the author's personal experience. I do not know if it is universal. Interested friends can try it out, but please don't take it too seriously. Perhaps I am truly mentally unstable, but you might not be.】

Anyway, the digression ends here. Back to the main point.

After years of trial and error, Mo Tan discovered that this state he stumbled upon could effectively help him "shift." Although it consumed a significant, even massive amount of energy, it remained his best option so far. He was most proficient at shifting his personality into the 【Absolute Neutral】 state.

After all, it was the most normal personality he had in his daily life, and his character was relatively moderate (not mediocre). At least it wasn't as extreme as the other two, so switching wasn't too much trouble...

Therefore, after a while, when Mo Tan emerged from that strange feeling, the chaotic and eternally smiling gleam in his eyes had faded, replaced by a temperament that was gentle and slightly languid.

"Coffee..." He walked to the cup at the corner of the table. After a moment of hesitation, he took a small bag of instant sweet milk from a drawer, poured it in, and sighed: "It really is better with a bit of milk."

After downing the entire cup of coffee in one go, Mo Tan felt much more refreshed. He stretched, returned to the gaming pod, noted the time, and logged back into the game.

...

【Mental connection detected. Synchronizing personal information...】

【Connection complete. Reading character information.】

【Welcome back, Absolute Neutral He Fan. Loading into Boundless World. Have a pleasant evening.】

"No one noticed, indeed~" After regaining consciousness, Mo Tan found himself sitting on a bench on the main boulevard of Stacked Rock City. There were quite a few pedestrians around at this hour, yet no one noticed a full-grown man appearing out of thin air. This made him sigh: "Did the system do something to the perception of these NPCs, or is my own presence just that negligible?"

Actually, this was of course the system's influence...

Mo Tan thought this only because he knew how flamboyant or righteous he could be at certain times. But compared to others, the 【Absolute Neutral】 He Fan was quite normal.

He stood up slowly and continued toward the city's cathedral, a trip he had intended to make the day before (before he disconnected). Walking among the crowds of different skin colors, professions, and even races, he felt quite content.

Despite having experienced the bustling Anka Bazaar and the large, vibrant Pato City, Mo Tan felt no dissatisfaction with the relative quiet of Stacked Rock City. He was always able to easily blend into his surroundings. No matter where he went, he could follow the rhythm like a local resident. This wasn't some extraordinary talent; he was simply adaptable...

If one were to isolate Mo Tan's personality at these moments and throw him into a reality show, he would probably say "It's delicious!" at his first meal in a village.

He is the neighbor you smile at when you head out for a morning walk~

He is the bystander who laughs uncontrollably along with you when hearing a funny joke~

He, like you, enjoys playing games, reading manga, reading novels, and dislikes eating greens~

He feels guilty, afraid, sympathetic, pitiful, hesitant, and indecisive~

He doesn't talk much or little, but he will chat enthusiastically with you for a long time when he encounters a topic he's interested in~

He doesn't put reflective stickers on his shoes or secretly film under people's skirts with his phone, but he will involuntarily take a second look when he encounters nice legs on the street~

He is just such a guy—a "regular person" who is everywhere in this age of overpopulation, not rare at all.

However, given that he is smart enough and also possesses two other personalities that are always dealing with trouble, no matter how "ordinary" or 【Absolute Neutral】 he is, a moderate person like him could never be too mediocre.

Even if he were a low-maintenance person, after dealing with all that mess, his fuel consumption would surely skyrocket...

"Why didn't you log on today?"

"You can play for 12 hours every day!"

"That magic-releasing technique you mentioned is actually quite useful, hey!"

"By the way, even if we don't have to assemble, at least show your face at the barracks~"

"Why does Yin Na look at me with such a strange expression? What did you say to her?"

...

Presumably because of boredom, a certain high-fuel-consuming female hacker, unable to get a reply from "Tan Mo," was even sending him harassment messages for no reason...

Mo Tan deliberated and replied to her. The general content was something like, "I often work part-time at night, so my login time might not be very fixed. If you have plenty of time, hurry up and level up so you can carry me in the future," just some nutritional-less chatter.

Afterward, he left an email address for Shuang Ye—the kind with very standard encryption. With the level of this "Sun," she could likely confirm his true identity with a little investigation and then further equate "He Fan" with "Mo Tan," making his other existences, "Black" and "Tan Mo," even safer~

As for the fact that his real name and Tan Mo's game nickname had some similarities, in this era of a massive population, it could almost entirely be attributed to coincidence. Even if Shuang Ye became suspicious, it would at most leave her more confused. And what could she do anyway?

Just after he finished replying to Shuang Ye's message, before he even reached his destination, a message box popped up in the corner of his vision.

【Player: Chen Wangyu (Absolute Neutral) is requesting to add you as a friend.】

He didn't need to recall to know this was the girl named Yu Chen from the gathering with Yi Dong—very introverted and seemingly shy.

Uh, it seems he did tell everyone he'd add them later, but he hadn't added any of them. On one hand, "He Fan's" login rate was too low, and on the other, everyone was quite fresh to the game in the beginning and likely too busy to keep up with everything. Even Yi Dong hadn't bothered him much after being stood up by Mo Tan...

Boundless World really did have a unique charm.

"Hi~"

After choosing to confirm, Mo Tan casually sent a greeting through the friend interface's mail system and received a reply in no time.

"Hehe, finally caught you online O(∩_∩)O~ What is classmate Mo Tan doing? I've already added everyone else as friends!"

Mo Tan replied simply while walking, explaining that he had been a bit busy lately and hadn't been online much. He had just joined a militia in a territory and had been swindled out of 20 copper coins by a priest in the city for a scripture not long ago.

"Σ(⊙▽⊙! No way, the Saintess sister on my side told me the scriptures are free~ Did you get scammed, classmate Mo Tan?" Yu Chen replied quickly. Although sending messages during a mental connection didn't require the tediousness of typing, this speed was still a bit shocking. The cheerfulness and vitality in her words also surprised Mo Tan slightly.

This girl had a bit of a gap moe...

Although Mo Tan didn't like to communicate too much with others in reality (for fear of a sudden change in painting style causing an accident), the situation in the game was a different matter. Anyway, even if he suddenly split his personality, he would at most just log off and switch accounts—it wouldn't scare anyone or cause any trouble. So, he didn't mind chatting a bit more and replied: "Your Saintess sister clearly belongs to the evil exploiting class. As a Chosen of God, you will likely become middle management in the church soon. The old gentleman I met who is a priest in a small place is clearly the grassroots of the church, and I am the exploited class... Therefore, spending money..."

"What you say makes so much sense, my condolences ORZ~" Yu Chen replied in a second.

Mo Tan had already reached the cathedral by now, so he gave a dry laugh, sent a disheveled-looking emoji to Yu Chen, and walked inside.

He wouldn't trigger any antipathy from the clergy now. After all, unless influenced by the "Infidel" talent, it wasn't easy to be shunned by these believers at first glance...

What's more, the character He Fan was a die-hard follower of the Goddess of Dawn and a priest himself. A cathedral of the Dawn Sect was practically his own home.

"Oh~ I'm so happy to see you, child." Although there were many people in the church, the old priest who had initiated him into the faith noticed Mo Tan immediately and walked over with a beaming smile: "One must never forget the grace of the Goddess, no matter where one is."

Mo Tan nodded: "I am here to pray, and I have something I'd like to discuss with you, Father~"

The other party nodded readily, not knowing if it had anything to do with Mo Tan's readiness to pay for the scripture earlier...

Mo Tan then went to the statue of the Goddess, closed his eyes, and folded his hands in a very pious manner, wanting to get the formalities over with so he could talk to the priest about skills. But unexpectedly...

【Would you like to pray to the Goddess of Dawn, Pakxi?】

???

Does the game really have such a setting?

Well, might as well pray. It won't get me pregnant, and there might be benefits.

Mo Tan immediately chose to confirm...

Immediately, he felt as if he were suspended in a warm, boundless sea. The omnipresent light wrapped around his entire body. In his originally pitch-black vision (because he had his eyes closed), a hazy female silhouette appeared and was gradually approaching him.

"I will shelter you." The silhouette said softly: "May you spread my gospel, so that wherever your gaze reaches, it may be filled with light and holy glory."

I'll do my best...

Mo Tan thought to himself. This wasn't a lie; after all, he was already a believer, so spreading the gospel of this Goddess was part of the job.

"Piety." The voice sounded again: "Shall be rewarded."

【Your Intelligence +3, Constitution +3, Faith Limit +10, Gained Talent: Reverence】

This is actually quite powerful!!

Mo Tan was overjoyed, and then he heard the silhouette's voice sound for the third time...

"Temper your spirit and body, let your faith and yourself become strong..."

And then?

"And when you encounter the followers of that crazy woman Delia, the followers of that moron Savier, the followers of that dead swindler Izanal, or any chaotic and evil heretics, give them a beating, blow them up!!!"

"???"

Chapter 26: End