Chapter 115

The coffee was poisoned; Mo Yin felt it.

In the previous world, He Xuan had taken a blow for him. He didn’t owe him anything.

It was time to end it.

There was no longer any reason to stay in that world. If he stayed, it seemed to be heading towards a peaceful and happy ending… Could it really turn into so-called “love”?

Mo Yin shrugged his shoulders and sat up from the sofa. That familiar dizziness of separating spirit from body came again, this time more intensely than before. He stood still for a long while before regaining his composure.

“Honorable Coordinator, congratulations on completing your mission,” the system’s voice chimed in timely.

“I completed the mission?”

“Yes.”

“The small world has finished running. Congratulations, this is your first completed mission.”

“Retrieve the work log.”

“Alright, please wait a moment. Apologies, my permissions are insufficient. Retrieval failed.”

“Insufficient permissions? Then who has sufficient permissions?”

“Apologies, my permissions are insufficient.”

Great, another bureaucratic runaround.

There was no point in arguing with the system. Mo Yin began organizing information quickly as he walked out.

The system said he completed the mission, which meant Landes really listened to him. He didn’t collapse because of Mo Yin’s departure and kept the small world stable until it closed normally. That could be ten years, maybe decades… He paused for a moment, then continued walking briskly.

Judging by the system’s attitude, it was still unclear if completing the mission benefited the alliance.

The sunlight outside was bright. Mo Yin squinted, the unfamiliar feeling of his pupils reflecting the light reminding him that the small world’s realism—or the impact it could have on him—was increasing. The time in the small world had left tangible marks on him.

As a reward for completing his first mission, Mo Yin received a large sum of money. The numbers in his account seemed a bit ridiculous to him.

The absolute status of a natural person meant he had countless resources within the alliance and no desire for material things. Money was meaningless to him.

Then again, wouldn’t the retraining for reemployment after mission failure be equally meaningless to him?

Mo Yin had never thought about this before.

With such low desires, he had never contemplated his life. But now, he had changed.

“Do you want to return to your residence?” the system asked proactively.

Mo Yin: “Sorry, you don’t have permission to ask that.”

System: “…”

The white tombstones stretched endlessly, scattered among the green grass like dead stars.

This was the end of the planet, the cemetery of natural persons. It was also Mo Yin’s first time stepping into this place. As he set foot on the green grass, his heart trembled violently.

“System.”

“Hmm?” the system responded immediately.

“When I came out of the mission world, it felt like there was an earthquake?”

“Huh?” the system replied, “No, there wasn’t.”

Although the system answered quickly, Mo Yin keenly sensed a moment of hesitation in its response, at least a millisecond. For a system’s processing speed, that hesitation implied the following answer was a lie.

At the moment of death, his spiritual energy had drifted out of his body and was drawn back into his body from the small world. In that instant, the entire planet seemed to tremble.

Mo Yin squatted down, tilting his head to examine the tombstone before him.

There was no information on the snow-white tombstone.

“Do you have permission to know who’s buried under these tombstones?”

“Sorry, my permissions are insufficient.”

Mo Yin chuckled lightly, “Useless.”

System: “…”

It seemed the temper of natural persons had worsened, their aggression increased, and their behavior had changed. It needed to report all these changes to the alliance!

After returning to his residence, Mo Yin immediately sent a request to visit all the natural persons’ areas through the system terminal.

Every natural person had their own private area within the alliance, and passing through these areas required the other party’s consent due to their strong territorial instincts.

Unfortunately, after waiting a day, Mo Yin received no responses.

Not surprising. The old him would have ignored such requests too.

Hand resting on his cheek, Mo Yin gazed thoughtfully at the system interface displaying his unanswered visit requests. He exited the interface and began searching through his records.

Now it seems laughable, but he had never felt any curiosity about who his parents were before.

In fact, all records of natural persons were publicly accessible in the system.

He quickly found information about his birth.

Mo Yin

—Father: Ye Qi, natural person, residence: Si District 98

—Mother: Ye Jiu, natural person, residence: Si District 16

The information was very simple, accompanied by two holographic images.

Mo Yin quietly observed the two faces side by side. Both his father and mother looked very ordinary. If these two people were as powerful natural persons as he was, the images would have residual spiritual energy, creating a strong impact.

Were these two really his parents?

Mo Yin rotated his fingers, and the images rotated as well, circling around him. He felt no trace of residual spiritual energy, let alone any sense of closeness.

After closing the images, Mo Yin continued to search for the birth information of his parents.

Ye Qi

—Father: Tang Yibai, natural person, residence: Fi District 389

—Mother: Tang Wuqi, natural person, residence: Fi District 112

Ye Jiu

—Father: Tang Liu, natural person, residence: Fi District 12

—Mother: Tang Ersi, natural person, residence: Fi District 38

He opened the images of his parents and grandparents simultaneously. Six people, six faces, all gave Mo Yin a similar feeling—they looked ordinary and didn’t seem to possess strong spiritual energy.

Snapping his fingers to close the images, Mo Yin left his residence and set the aircraft to his father’s former residence area.

“Coordinate anomaly, access denied,” the aircraft system intoned precisely.

“Please respect the deceased. That was his home. Even though the owner has passed away, we still remember his contributions to the alliance.”

Mo Yin sneered, “I’m his son. Doesn’t that count as my home?”

“Hello, your spiritual energy coordinates indicate you are from Se District. That is not your home.”

“So, I can’t go anywhere?”

“You may access all public areas and any private areas that accept your visit. As a natural person, you hold the highest authority on the planet.”

“So-called highest authority means I can’t visit the residences of my biological parents?”

“Apologies, please obtain access permission.”

Getting off the aircraft, Mo Yin turned back and gave it the middle finger.

This scene was faithfully reported to the alliance by the task system.

“Sir, he is curious about his parents… What do you think?”

The brain suspended in the spherical container flickered, with billions of neurons flashing blue simultaneously, “Continue sending him into the small world.”

“Understood.”

“Wait…”

“What are your orders?”

“He is precious. Ensure his safety at all costs. His spiritual energy must not be harmed.”

“Rest assured, the protective barrier is always at the highest level. He is never at risk of being consumed.”

“Very well…”

The brain flickered again and, with a sigh, said, “Protect him well. He is our last hope.”

After several days of exploration, Mo Yin not only found nothing but also encountered more questions.

His previous life was dull, but now it was filled with mysteries, making him realize how ignorant he had been.

It was those small worlds that changed him. The power within those small worlds prompted him to think. To solve these questions, did he need to continue entering the small worlds?

His body instinctively resisted the idea.

He didn’t want to enter the small worlds. He felt his emotions and experiences growing richer within them, making him feel less and less like a natural person. Overturning everything he believed in was not easy for anyone…

Slowly clenching his hand into a fist, Mo Yin stared intently at his tightly clenched fist.

His knuckles tensed and trembled slightly.

Fear—he was experiencing fear.

After standing still for a while, he began to laugh. First, a small smile, then a broader grin, and finally, he collapsed onto the bed, laughing heartily.

The system, always by the natural person’s side, recorded everything and clicked its tongue in wonder. What had turned the formerly lifeless natural person into someone increasingly strange?

“System.”

“Coordinator.”

“I’ve rested enough. I’m ready to take on another mission.”

“Ah, alright then. Please proceed to the mission preparation room.”

With a playful and challenging smile on his face, the natural person sprang from the bed like an agile fish, his shoulders guiding his body.

“Let’s go have some fun.”

“Values matched successfully. Opening new world.”

An ice blue net enveloped the half-reclined figure.

Spiritual energy began to seep from his body.

The system nervously maintained the barrier, carefully protecting the coordinator’s spiritual energy. However, in an instant, something unexpected happened—

The previously calm spiritual energy suddenly surged, and an unprecedentedly powerful force attacked the barrier!

“Something’s wrong!” The system shrieked just as it felt another powerful force taking over its permissions. The ice blue net immediately expanded to cover the entire preparation room, enveloping the turbulent spiritual energy and forcibly containing it within the now-sleeping body.

“Sir…” the system stammered in panic.

“It’s fine,” a voice reassured it. “Just a minor issue.”

The system anxiously checked the coordinator’s spiritual energy, then shouted, “Oh no, the coordinator’s memory module hasn’t entered the small world!”

Far away, the central brain’s neurons flickered in anger but then calmed down after a moment. “Attempt to assist within the small world.”

“Yes.”

The system was about to try again when the voice stopped it, “No, don’t!”

There was a hint of apprehension in the voice, which then spoke through gritted teeth, “Leave it as it is,” the tone becoming resolute. “He is perfect. Nothing will go wrong.”

It sounded more like self-reassurance than instructions to the system.

After severing the communication with the system, the voice murmured to itself again, “He is perfect. He will find the answer…”

*

As night fell, a sudden downpour began. The oppressive summer heat mixed with the rain soaked into the skin. At the entrance of a narrow alley, a crooked streetlamp flickered, casting elongated, flickering shadows on the wall.

The crowded, damp alley reeked of a complex stench—a blend of rotting food, burning trash, and the urine of drunken men relieving themselves in the alley. The rainwater turned the ground into a filthy mire, the shoes making sucking sounds as they lifted from the sticky surface.

Amid the rows of signs, a hidden path led to gray steps. Mud-splattered canvas shoes ascended the steps, ducking to avoid the clothes left out to dry that had been soaked by the rain. Mo Yin pulled out a key from his pocket to unlock the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Something heavy was blocking it from behind.

Standing quietly at the door for a moment, Mo Yin put away the key, took off his backpack, and pulled out his mistake notebook, leaning against the mottled wall to read.

“Damn, this weather! Such a heavy downpour out of nowhere—”

Rushed footsteps approached. A man shook his head, and the sensor light came on. He saw the boy reading, drenched, with short black hair clinging to his clean, delicate face.

“Just got back from school, Xiao Yin?”

Mo Yin looked up, “Uncle Liu.”

Liu Wei glanced at the dark red door beside him, “Why aren’t you going in?”

“Didn’t bring my key.”

“Your dad’s not home?” Liu Wei inserted his key into the lock, hesitated, and looked at the boy, “You’re soaked. Come in and dry off.”

“No, thanks.”

“Alright.”

Liu Wei didn’t press further. The father and son next door were notoriously difficult to get along with. He understood everyone in this building except for that odd pair.

As soon as Liu Wei closed his door, a loud crash came from next door. Startled, he opened his door again to look out. Mo Yin was now fumbling with his key to open the door, his head lowered. At eighteen, the boy looked unusually gloomy, with no trace of sunshine. Liu Wei muttered to himself and shook his head. He had heard the kid was a top student, but why lie about not having a key when he clearly did? What was the point?

Using his shoulder to push against the door, Mo Yin slowly inched it open, squeezing through once there was enough space.

The apartment was originally a one-bedroom unit, lacking a bathroom or kitchen. It was a small, square space, partitioned in the middle by a curtain, creating two areas. Each side had a bed. From behind the curtain, a bare leg dangled over the edge of one of the beds. Broken pieces of something littered the floor, stretching to the doorway. Mo Yin, tiptoeing around the debris, placed his backpack on the TV cabinet, surveyed the room, and then squatted down to start cleaning up.

The phone in the pocket of his school uniform trousers rang.

“Hello.”

“I’ve made up my mind.”

“A thousand,” he said, fingers picking up a shard of glass, his thick eyelashes lowered. “Give me a thousand, and I’ll be with you.”

“No, just a week.”

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine. It’s not like I was the one asking.”

He hung up and stood up, taking a bent broom from the corner to sweep the finer fragments of glass that were difficult to pick up. The second-hand phone in his pocket kept vibrating. The person on the other end was in a hurry. After about ten vibrations, he picked it up again.

“Alright.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

“Yes, I need the money urgently.”

“Whatever, anywhere is fine. A hotel, you pay.”

“Okay, goodbye.”

The shards fell loosely into the trash can. After hanging up the phone, Mo Yin stood still for a moment. When he came to his senses, he realized his surroundings were already soaked.