Chapter 477: Chapter 17Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Reward?
Yue was surprised at what she had suddenly heard.
Isn’t this a test game to experience fear? Why is there a reward?
That voice seemed able to see through her thoughts and said with a smile, “You’ve done a better job than I expected. So I think I should give you some rewards. What do you want?”
Only then did Yue understand his meaning. After thinking, she suddenly realized who the voice might be and couldn’t help exclaiming, “Are you the Void Mask?”
Sui Xiong, whose ident.i.ty had been exposed, showed up in front of Yue. He was just a palm-sized green jellyfish, floating not far from Yue.
“That’s right. I’ve been observing every tester, hoping to find out what’s not perfect about this game. These days, I’ve found some problems indeed,” he laughed and said. “This game is designed to help people face up to fear, understand what fear is and stop being frightened all the time so that they can understand that fear is a warning sign from the mind. According to the testing results, I find that although it works more or less, it is not good enough. Many testers feel nervous during the game, but they can’t adapt to fear and fail to distinguish the warning signs from their illusions. It’s somewhat a pity for me.”
Yue didn’t understand what he meant. After a while, she was confused. She asked directly, “Then why do you want to give me a reward?”
“Because you did a great job,” Sui Xiong laughed and said. “I really didn’t expect someone in this world to be able to turn this fear experience game into an interesting adventure and pa.s.s all the tests. You must have heard from the people who provided the story just now that they had suffered a lot in the adventure before, and if it hadn’t been for the help of a good phantom, they would have all died. But with your wisdom and planning, the adventure went on smoothly. Although there were dangerous moments, you guys successfully killed the evil spirit, and n.o.body was injured. It was just a game indeed, but everything was designed according to a real adventure. In other words, if you can kill the evil spirit in the game, you are surely able to lead such a group of weak adventurers to eliminate a powerful evil spirit in real life.”
He kept nodding his head and said—although it seemed a little weird for a jellyfish to do that. “You really did a great job, and that made me show up in front of you to give you extra rewards. You deserve it.”
“Extra rewards?” Yue was surprised. “In other words, those ordinary people are not rewarded?”
“Of course, it has already been a precious reward for them to be able to experience the adventure and have the chance to face up to fear. Now that they have gained such valuable experience, how can I reward them again?”
Yue understood that completely. She thought about it for a while and asked, “So, what reward are you going to give me?”
Sui Xiong laughed again. “You are such a smart girl! You kicked the question back to me!”
He paused and said, “In this world, although I dare not say that I can do everything, there are absolutely a few things that I can’t do. As long as it’s not too demanding, I can make you satisfied.”
Now it was Yue’s turn to be confused. She did not know what the standard of too demanding was. She kept thinking about it and did not know what to ask for.
“Your Majesty, Void Mask, if I want to be smarter, or faster, or have more powerful magic… Will that be too demanding?”
“Of course not.”
“Then, if I want my parents to have more free time and can be with me more often, will that be too demanding?”
Sui Xiong was perplexed for a moment. He thought about it for a while and shook his head. “No.”
Yue smiled happily. “Then I’ll take this reward!”
“Are you sure?” Sui Xiong was somewhat puzzled and asked. “It is not so easy to get my reward! Why don’t you ask for something good for yourself? For example, eternal youth, powerful magic or precious treasures… I can give you all of them.”
“But those things don’t mean much to me,” Yue said with ease. “It will be good to have them, but it doesn’t matter if I don’t. Compared with these things, I hope my parents can accompany me more often, and that is what I want most.”
Sui Xiong looked at her carefully. The girl was clear in her heart, and she didn’t hide any intentions. What she had said was true.
He couldn’t help sighing softly. “Since you want your parents’ company so much, why do you often quarrel with them when you are with them?”
Yue looked down. “I don’t mean to do that, but… When I think of them leaving me so soon to be busy with their work, and n.o.body knows when we’ll meet each again, I can’t help acting indocile…”
“Alas!” Sui Xiong shook his head. “I understand you, but you shouldn’t act like that!”
“Then what should I do?” asked Yue.
“You needn’t ask me about that. Instead, you can ask some older people about that.” Sui Xiong laughed and then became serious. “Let me reconfirm. Do you really want to use this rare reward to make your parents less busy so as to accompany you more? Don’t answer me in a hurry. I want to remind you that you are fifteen years old this year. You will grow up in five or six years at most. When you are in your twenties, you will surely join society on your own. At that time, even if your parents want to accompany you, you will also hope that they don’t hold you too tightly, and you will want some s.p.a.ce of your own. Then in the next ten or twenty years, you will have a family and start a career. You will also have your own children. Will you still want your parents to accompany you at that time? Of course, your parents are legendary masters, and it’s not difficult for them to live eight hundred or even a thousand years. Maybe in the future, when your hair turns grey, they will be as young and beautiful as they are now. Are you sure you want them to be with you all the time?”
Yue was shaken by what Sui Xiong said. She bowed her head and thought about it carefully.
“Little girl, your life is still very long, but there will not be much time for you to spend with your parents. Instead of using this good reward that may happen just once in your life to solve the current problem, why not think about the future?”
Yue nodded slightly and felt touched by his words.
“Look at nature, the birds or other animals; when they grow up, they have to live independently. Of course, people are no exception. Why don’t you choose a reward that will help a lot in the future?”
Yue didn’t say anything.
Sui Xiong wanted to continue persuading her, but this time she interrupted him at the beginning.
“Your Majesty, Void Mask, would you please be quiet for a while?” she said unhappily. “Don’t keep talking so much. I’m annoyed by what you said.”
Sui Xiong smiled embarra.s.singly and pretended like nothing had happened.
So there was no voice in the white light. There was only a girl with her head bowed pondering there, facing the green jellyfish floating silently in front of her.
After a long while, Yue looked up, and her eyes were clear.
“You’re right. I see,” she said. “My vision was really too short. I have to look far into the future!”
Sui Xiong smiled and nodded, but he felt a little sorry. He felt that he had done something uncouth.
“What is your decision?” he asked. “What reward do you want?”
Yue smiled. Instead of answering that directly, she asked a question. “Your Majesty, Void Mask, I’m wondering if you know that my parents are not your followers.”
“Of course. I know that your mother believes in the G.o.ddess of Wealth and your father believes in the G.o.ddess of Fortune,” Sui Xiong laughed and said. “Although they are not particularly pious believers, both of them are legendary masters that have unlimited bright prospects and enjoy high positions in their churches respectively. I don’t know about the G.o.ddess of Fortune, but the G.o.ddess of Wealth talked to me about your mother before.”
Yue nodded. “That’s right. According to the G.o.d’s rules, generally speaking, a G.o.d will only bless his followers, right?”
“Yes, very few G.o.ds will bless those who do not believe in them.”
“Well, then I want to use my reward to exchange your blessings for my parents, and I want you to bless them as your followers. Is that alright?” Yue asked nervously. “Is that too demanding?”
Sui Xiong was surprised again. This time, he kept still for a long time before he said, “Of course, it isn’t. But why do you ask for that?”
Sui Xiong’s reply made Yue very happy, so she smiled happily and said, “After all, I’m just an ordinary person. I’m not sure whether I can enter the Legendary Realm or not in the future. If I can’t, then I will probably live a life for several decades, at most two or three hundred years. However, both of my parents are legendary masters, and they can live for at least a thousand years, or even longer. You just advised me to take a long view. I thought about it carefully and tried to look as far as possible. Then I realized what I should choose. As you said, this kind of good luck might only appear once in my life. Then should I use it on myself who can only live for decades to two or three hundred years, or should I use it for my parents who can live for at least a thousand years? It’s clear at a glance.”
“But then you won’t get any benefit for yourself,” Sui Xiong said.
“I hope I can do something for my parents,” Yue replied. “The princ.i.p.al once taught us a poem wrote by a bard. Its name was s.p.a.ce-travel, and it mainly talked about parents’ care and love for their children. The parents never asked for repayments for their efforts, and the children seldom had a way to pay them back properly… I was thinking at that time—what can I do for my parents? But it was just like the poem said; even if I did something, it wouldn’t be enough to pay back their kindness to me. I was really sad that day, and for several days afterwards, I was in a bad mood.”
“So you decided to give them this award?” Sui Xiong asked.
“Yes, I want to do something for my parents, and that’s all,” Yue nodded and answered with a smile.
Sui Xiong was silent for a moment and nodded slightly.
At this moment, he felt very comfortable and warm in his heart.
“You are a good girl,” he said. “Rest a.s.sured. I will make your wish come true. By the way, you haven’t decided which G.o.d to believe in, have you?” He thought about it, smiled and said, “Well, believe in me.”