"This thing, called the soul stone, can protect us from being invaded by the black mist at night. It is very scarce, so we should save it."

​​

In the silent forest, Sibel, who was wearing a red robe, took out a transparent stone.

​​

"Cha." There was a soft sound.

​​

The stone suddenly ignited a transparent flame.

​​

This kind of light is very warm and gentle, giving people a very strong sense of security. After being illuminated by this light, Su Mingan found that the strange and cold feeling from the whole world environment suddenly disappeared.

​​

The pervasive black particles and mist around them gradually bypassed them.

​​

...it's amazing.

​​

"When you travel at night in the sky, you must burn this stone. Its light can dispel the black mist. Otherwise, once you stay in the black mist for a long time, you will be infected with a curse." Sibel said: "The soul stone is very precious. , I only have this small one. I have used this one for a long time before, and the rest of it can burn for about ten hours. In other words, it can only bless you for about two nights."

​​

"How do I get the soul stone?" Su Mingan asked.

​​

Sibelian paused: "...The way to get it is very troublesome, you don't need to know. When this stone is used up, you can rest honestly in the night after that."

​​

She raised her hand.

​​

The transparent flame burned on her hand, and a faint halo sprinkled on her body, repelling the surrounding black mist.

​​

She led Su Ming'an to walk in the silent forest, as if holding a transparent torch.

​​

Su Ming'an's choice to travel at night is also helpless.

​​

The communication with Sibel consumed the most precious hour at the beginning of the dungeon. He still hasn't figured out the specific situation of the small dungeon, and he doesn't have a silver star in his hand.

​​

Considering the wide field of vision and the presence of players during the day, the situation will be even more chaotic. He wants to take advantage of the initial time to find out the situation.

​​

The place where he just woke up seemed to be the cabin where Sibel lived. Because of her pagan status, she was exiled by the tribe, so she lived near the dangerous forest where wild beasts were haunted.

​​

If you pass through this remote forest, you can see plains and fields. The field of vision there is very wide, and if you walk for a while, you may be able to meet other players.

​​

As he walked, he looked at Sibel in front of him: "Sibel, are you familiar with this place?"

​​

"Well." Sibel said, "I grew up here. Every one of our guides is a native of Qiongdi."

​​

Su Ming'an didn't ask about her family's situation. Judging from her ostracized pagan status, her family's situation was definitely not good either.

​​

Perhaps, she was exiled by her family.

​​

This kind of belief in gods, in a feudal and ignorant world, and killing children with one's own hands are all possible things.

​​

That's why she, who doesn't seem to be an adult, lives alone in this corner of the world, on the edge of a forest that is isolated from the world.

​​

Obviously she still looks like a child who hasn't grown up yet, but her vigilance is already so strong that she doesn't even dare to hold a helping hand.

​​

"I saw sweet potatoes and all kinds of seeds in your house, do you still plant them?" Su Mingan asked.

​​

Sibel turned around. She glanced at him lightly with some contemptuous eyes.

​​

"Is there any land nearby for planting?" She asked back, "Where can I grow food?"

​​

Su Ming'an recalled - the surrounding area of ​​the wooden house seemed to be covered with black mud, and there were even black mud heaps as tall as garbage heaps. The environment was extremely harsh, and there was indeed no fertile soil.

​​

So Sibel should be hunting for a living.

​​

In this way, she actually has some fighting power, at least she can set traps and subdue small prey.

​​

In the previous communication, Sibel said that the black mud piles around the house were garbage thrown by other tribesmen. They regarded the remote area where she lived as a pollution disposal site, and they threw everything here.

​​

Those black mud has radiation, and it will be bad for people's health if they live for a long time. But Sibel couldn't help it either.

​​

She was rejected and could only live in such a place where the environment was extremely harsh.

​​

"Why do you believe in the Nine Gods?" Su Ming'an asked.

​​

He found that all of Sibel's misfortunes were because of her belief in this "Nine Gods" and because of her pagan status.

​​

——Because of believing in evil gods,

​​

She will be abandoned, will be exiled,

​​

will be rejected, driven away, and looked down upon by others,

​​

Only then would they be forced to live in such a harsh environment, and when they were young, they had to hunt by themselves for a living.

​​

Only then will I be reduced to... I don't even have anyone around me who I can talk to, and I have to repeatedly doubt him when I meet him.

​​

"..."

​​

Sibel's footsteps paused.

​​

"...Because when I was young." She said, "Nine Gods saved me."

​​

She was talking, but there was a rustling sound in the grass next to her.

​​

It seemed that something was wriggling in the grass.

​​

She turned her head sharply and saw that Su Ming'an's back had left the range of the light source and was exposed to a thick black mist.

​​

"Come here!" A look of terror appeared in her eyes instantly, she shouted sharply, and stretched out her hand to drag him.

​​

At this moment, a distorted, black mud-like shadow suddenly jumped up from the grass and charged straight towards Su Ming'an's back!

​​

Su Mingan took a step forward and quickly entered the area where the halo was.

​​

"Zizzi-"

​​

The dark shadow melted immediately upon encountering the light, and there was a sound like carburetor.

​​

It wriggled and fell to the ground, disappearing like melting snow.

​​

"—I told you not to leave the range of light, didn't you hear me!"

​​

Seeing Su Ming'an who was still observing, Sibel frowned.

​​

If this guy who claims to be the strongest adventurer continues to die, her little trust will be wiped out.

​​

...Does he think he is very powerful? Still want to resist the curse?

​​

"What is that?" Su Mingan asked when he saw the strange black mud melt into the light.

​​

"This is a creature that haunts the forest. It is cursed, and it gradually becomes like this. If you are bitten by such a ghost, you will also be cursed." Sibel looked impatient. But he still answered: "Bai God is in the sky, not only representing perfection and uniqueness, but also a symbol of 'sun and light'. And the sky he transformed into cannot bless the night. At night, the sky will appear with curses. The black fog of energy, once there is no soul stone to disperse, if you stay in the black fog for too long, you will be infected with a curse."

​​

She doesn't know why this traveler likes to break the casserole and ask to the end, but his apparent act of killing just now is already wearing down her patience.

​​

If he had just been bitten and cursed, she wouldn't have put a time bomb by her side.

​​

"Why is there a curse in your world?" Su Mingan thought.

​​

Indeed, the behavior he just left the halo range was intentional.

​​

First, to test Sibel's current level of trust in him, and second, to get more information from her.

​​

If she wanted him to survive, she would definitely stop his mortal behavior and explain to him the danger of this "curse".

​​

In this way, he can obtain more information.

​​

This inexplicable black fog, this twisted black creature, and the curse of a living creature outside the sky... Obviously, this is not something that should appear in the normal world.

​​

"Just like why there is air, there is such a thing as a curse in our vault." Sibel said lightly: "Curse is something unique to our vault, all of us are cursed' Guardian'."

​​

"Huh?" This was the first time Su Mingan heard the term "guardian" of the curse.

​​

Cursing such a thing, do you also need to protect it?

​​

Sibel turned around and looked at him.

​​

The transparent flame in her hand rose, the halo dyed her pale face, and there was deep exhaustion in those pale eyes.

​​

"No matter what kind of world there is, there will be garbage, right?" Sibel said, "What is not needed, what should be disposed of, these are garbage.

​​

And where there is garbage, there will be garbage dumps.

​​

...Our dome is a garbage dump belonging to the outside world. "

​​

"Junkyard?" Su Ming'an was a little puzzled.

​​

He did see that this world was very ominous, with all kinds of disgusting black mud flowing everywhere, as if it was polluted.

​​

It stands to reason that the normal world should not be like this.

​​

Sibel's tone was indifferent: "The so-called 'curse'. Actually, this is something unique to our Vault.

​​

We Qiongdi people have been cursed for generations, and the environment in which we live is often accompanied by the spread of black mist with cursed energy.

​​

No one knows what its source is, and no one can completely remove it. Once the curse strikes, no one can escape death.

​​

And this kind of biochemical weapon... Once it is released, the outside world will also suffer disaster.

​​

Therefore, our ancestors..."

​​

Sibel's voice paused.

​​

She turned her head back and looked at him, the halo in her hands shining on her pale eyes.

​​

"Our ancestors built the 'black wall' to isolate the vault from the outside world. The 'black wall' separates the vault from the outside world to prevent the leakage of the curse." She said, her eyes very quiet:

​​

"...So, for hundreds of years, no one of us has been able to leave here. From birth to death, we have lived in this polluted land all our lives, and each of us - has something on us that cannot be erased. curse."

​​

When Su Ming'an heard this, he was a little shocked.

​​

He didn't expect that the people living in this vault actually shoulder such a mission.

​​

The people here actually chose to take the initiative to build a barrier to keep the dangerous curse and prevent it from contaminating the outside world.

​​

The price is that all of them, from generation to generation, including their parents, children, their children's children... must live in this cursed world.

​​

In their lifetime, they will never see the beautiful and pure world outside.

​​

Perhaps it was because his face was not very good, Sibel raised the burning soul stone in his hand and approached him.

​​

"Actually, the curse is not a bad thing at all." She said: "Because of its existence, many of us have acquired powerful powers that outsiders cannot have, such as the ability to control flames and the ability to control ice elements. Abilities and the like... Those who guide us are the ones who are outstanding among us. Of course, if we need to use these powers, we will affect the curse on our body, which is why we are reluctant to take action."

"Do you also have a curse on you?" Su Ming'an asked.

​​

Sibel was silent for a while.

​​

The night wind blew up her bright red hood, revealing a few strands of her loose white hair.

​​

After a while, she gave a soft "um".

​​

"We natives...are born with a curse, the curse will always lurk in us, and when the curse strikes, people will surely die." She said: "But before the curse strikes, we natives also use Some ways to delay the final time when the curse occurs. The curse on most people may never occur in their entire life, and they will only enjoy the power brought by the curse when it does not occur. Of course, you out-of-towners have no resistance. , You will die quickly after being cursed, so I hope you take my words seriously."

​​

Su Mingan frowned slightly.

​​

For a moment, he didn't know how to speak.

​​

The people in this small world have had a time bomb-like curse on their bodies since they were born. It doesn't know when it will strike and suddenly take their lives...

​​

They can't even hold their lives in their hands, so they can only do their best to delay the onset of the curse. Although, they also enjoy the power brought by the curse before the attack, but they need to worry about it all day.

​​

This inextricable bomb hanging on them could harvest their lives at any time.

​​

Death seemed extremely close to them.

​​

And the same goes for Sibel.

​​

Su Ming'an suddenly understood why she had such a stance against the world when she first met.

​​

This kind of world... would indeed make life extremely torturous.

​​

He thought so, and suddenly saw her approaching him suddenly, staring into his eyes.

​​

"So." she said: "-don't underestimate those black mist and cursed creatures, you will die, understand? If you die after being cursed, I will also lose my mind, don't think you are the 'strongest' Adventurers can ignore the curse - even the strongest guide among us will die if the curse strikes. Death is fair to everyone."

​​

"Then...you said that in this battle, the last surviving guide can go to the outside world, is it true?" Su Mingan said.

​​

"Well." Sibel nodded: "Actually, this Hundred-Man War is not the first time."

​​

...isn't it the first time?

​​

"Before, every 20 years in the vault, such a war of a hundred people would be held, and the victor who survived in the end really passed through the black wall and went to the outside world." Sibel said .

​​

After hearing her words, Su Mingan realized that the worldview of this world is not as simple as he imagined.

​​

Originally, he thought that this was just a very small world for a hundred players to fight against each other. Those so-called "leaders" are all additions, in order to add luster to their players, in order to make this dungeon more fun.

​​

But now he realized that it wasn't like that at all.

​​

... This is clearly a completely independent world with a complete worldview.

​​

And those guides are also living people, who are born and raised in Qiongdi.

​​

They all have their own thoughts and desires. They participated in this battle not to achieve them as players, but to have their own beliefs and goals.

​​

They have a cooperative relationship with the player, not a vassal relationship.

​​

And this kind of battle has happened not only once, but more than ten times, more than twenty times...

​​

As for Sibel, it was the most special one, because they suddenly had a group of players who were summoned to help them. The previous contestants were all fighting against each other alone, and there was no such thing as a leader.

​​

"Every 20 years, Baishen will issue an oracle to select 100 contestants from each tribe. And the last one who survives will be able to lift the curse on his body, pass through the black wall, and go without a curse. The outside world." Sibel said, "As for Baishen's death... that happened five years ago."

​​

Su Ming'an listened quietly.

​​

He knew that this was the key world information he won after gaining Sibel's trust, and Sibel would only tell him once.

​​

Once he loses her trust, she won't say anything.

​​

"Five years ago, a large-scale curse like a living creature suddenly appeared in the sky, and the sky was at stake." Ciber said: "At that time, the **** Bai, who originally only existed in legends and oracles, really appeared in the Before the eyes of the tribesmen, He was shrouded in a strong white light, and his face could not be seen clearly. In the prayers of the tribesmen, He turned into the sky that blocked the curse, sacrificed himself, and kept all the believers..."

​​

Her narration was slow, and her tone was unprecedentedly soft.

​​

Perhaps it was because she met a rare listener who did not exclude her because she was a heretic. She spoke in great detail and completeness.

​​

Under the firelight, her face looked too young and too pale, like a frail person who had been ill for a long time. When she told the story, she put away her defenses and wildness, and looked like a small girl.

​​

It was the so-called belief that pushed her to where she is now.

​​

"And even if Baishen dies, according to the oracle before his death, the 100 guides who were originally selected will still participate in this war." She stretched out her hand and slightly pulled the hood that had fallen off to cover her. Dry hair: "...and I'm one of them."

​​

Sibel was chosen as this year's contestant shortly after his birth.

​​

Even if Bai Shen died a few years ago, she still has to participate in this war according to the previous list of contestants.

​​

Contestants have no right to refuse.

​​

Even if they don't want to leave this world, even if they don't want to get the ultimate winner's reward, they can't leave this war.

​​

A weakling like Sibel who can't fight, once selected by the oracle, does not give up the right to compete. Even if she is destined to become cannon fodder in the crushing of the strong, she must participate.

​​

And once the competition starts, only one of the 100 contestants will survive to the end, and the other 99 will have to die.

​​

Only when the other ninety-nine people are dead can the only victor gain the powerful power to leave the Vault of Earth, lift the curse, and pass through that black wall.

​​

……so.

​​

So at the beginning of the game, when Su Mingan woke up and pushed open the door, would she see her lonely back?

​​

Because she also knew in her heart that she was so weak that it was impossible for her to live to the end.

​​

She is obviously working so hard to live.

​​

But from the moment she was born and selected by the oracle, she had already sealed her fate.

​​

[...She will die in this war. 】

​​

At the moment when the war started, she had already stepped into the dividing line of death, and the scythe of the **** of death was already on her neck.

​​

Her life has entered the countdown.

​​

"..."

​​

Su Ming'an looked at Sibel's calm face.

​​

She was still standing in front of him, wearing a scarlet robe that could almost cover her entire body. And the part of her wrist that was holding the soul stone was also full of scars from hunting.

​​

When he just woke up, he pushed the door and saw her for the first time. She was standing under the night sky, closer to death than he was.

​​

Therefore, she will be on the verge of collapse, like a crazy, like a frightened animal, a lonely and alert wolf.

​​

...it was his words of inviting her peers, and the gesture of hugging behind his back, which made her temporarily put down the idea of ​​giving up on herself.

​​

Su Ming'an figured out the other party's thoughts.

​​

He changed his tone and stretched out his hand.

​​

"Trust me, you will live to the end," he said.

​​

he thinks.

​​

...if this world is real.

​​

...if Sibel's existence is real.

​​

Well, in fact, they have already carried so many misfortunes.

​​

In comparison, all the misfortunes he experienced before the start of the world game seemed a little insignificant.

​​

Forgetting homework, failing an exam... In the eyes of a person like Sibel, it can even be regarded as sweet pain, a small loss of living in a peaceful world.

​​

After all, she has been struggling with life and death all her life.

​​

From birth to death.

​​

She has almost no right to choose other ways of life.

​​

Looking at Su Ming'an's outstretched hand, Sibel's eyes fluctuated slightly.

​​

"If I can live to the end." She said softly, "...Go to the outside world, I want to see the sea."

​​

There is no sea in the sky.

​​

In this dark, oppressive world full of curses and beasts, there are only blank plains, dangerous forests, and crazy tribes.

​​

According to some outsiders who accidentally strayed into the vault from outside the black wall, there is a sea in the outside world.

​​

The people in the sky inside the black wall cannot go out, but the people outside the black wall can come in.

​​

However, generally no one will take the initiative to come in, because there is entry and no exit.

​​

These outsiders who have strayed into the vault and cannot leave have generally blurred memories.

​​

But they say ~lightnovelpub.net~ the outside world has the sea.

​​

Blue, beautiful and endless.

​​

Sibel wants to see the sea.

​​

...She wants to live.

​​

"You will definitely see the sea." Su Ming'an said, "I promise you that I will let you see the sea."

​​

Sibel didn't speak, just held out his hand.

​​

The extremely rough hand full of hunting scars took his hand.

​​

And after that, she slightly pulled her lips and grinned.

​​

……

​​

... She smiled.

​​

……

​​

【…】

​​

[In the forest that day, she suddenly smiled. 】

​​

[That smile was pure and simple, like the smile she smiled at her parents before she was not designated as a heretic. 】

​​

[This is his first and last time,]

​​

[...Seeing her simple smile. 】

​​

【she says. 】

​​

[She wants to see the sea. 】

​​

[——"Nine Gods: Reincarnation Notes"]

​​

……

​​