Chapter Seven: Blending with the Mundane, Striving for the Final Outcome!
[Ding! You have died. A wrong choice has led to a wrong ending...]
[Your burning passion drove you to step forward without hesitation, even though you knew darkness lay ahead... Knowing the mountain harbors tigers, yet still venturing into their lair—this is undoubtedly an irrational choice. But if all matters in this world were handled with pure reason, it would lack humanity.]
[Great individuals must hold an unshakable faith. Even if the cost of upholding this faith is death, they willingly bear it, for there truly are things more important than life itself...]
[You have no regrets sacrificing your youthful life for that belief and steadfastness. Without compromise, you fought the darkness until the very last moment, your faint candlelight shining with the brilliance of the sun!]
[This life was worth it!]
[To knowingly do the impossible is a true spirit of sacrifice...]
[Ding! Calculating results of the current simulation, processing...]
Dead—just three years old.
Watching the simulated self declare death, Zhou Liang was at a loss for words...
Though as a seasoned veteran, he had long expected this outcome, when "another self" truly died, a wave of sorrow quietly arose.
“Does this mean I caused his death?”
[Host, there is no need for self-blame. Death in the simulation does not equal real death. There will be countless chances to try again.]
[Moreover, this outcome is not caused by you...]
The system replied earnestly:
[Since the simulated character cannot make autonomous choices, it means that every option has reasons that cannot be forsaken. As Mencius said, “Fish I desire, bear’s paw I also desire; I cannot have both!”]
[And what was Mencius’ answer to this dilemma?]
Instinctively, the old scholar Zhou Liang answered:
“To give up the fish and take the bear’s paw... to give up life for righteousness...”
[Exactly, to sacrifice life for righteousness!]
[Faith is an intangible thing. Those without faith never struggle over such dilemmas! When a person truly weighs faith against life, it means his heart has already made the choice!]
[At that moment, all his reasoning aims to convince himself to sacrifice life for righteousness. His heart already has the answer; he is only trying to accept it...]
[Mencius’ teaching of “sacrificing life for righteousness” does not advocate everyone to do so. It merely urges you to see your true heart, to follow your own choice, making it easier to convince yourself.]
[Because a sane person never urges another sane person to die; rather, he encourages those already resolved to sacrifice to remain steadfast in their beliefs...]
Hearing this, Zhou Liang gradually understood:
“So, you mean the other me had already decided to sacrifice?”
[Isn’t that so? This system is very humane; it won’t offer the host random or nonsensical options. All choices reflect the simulated character’s inherent inclinations... So while it seems you control him like a game character, his thoughts and actions have always been his own.]
Zhou Liang then realized:
“So... I’m basically his external aid program?”
[...You could understand it that way.]
In a certain sense, you are not only his external aid but also an automatic caretaker, allowing him to operate easily without manual control—purely foolproof...
Zhou Liang: ...
So after all this, I’m a rebranded “spirit guardian”?!
He rolled his eyes:
Well, I never had a golden finger in my real life, but this “other me” in the simulation gets an external aid from the start...
Who’s really the protagonist here?!
After some grumbling, Zhou Liang calmed himself:
“Who cares who’s the main character! As long as I can simulate a perfect world line in the end, then turn the fake into real to overwrite the current reality line, that’s enough!”
No wonder he was a rebel leader fighting the Ming Divine Emperor’s regime for thirty-eight years—Zhou Liang’s heart was broad; he didn’t care about the process, only the result. Protagonist or not, whatever...
Still, the “other me” choosing to burn out left a deep impression:
“Though reckless, it made him a passionate, unyielding youth... and compared to him, the steady and cautious seem a bit too old-fashioned...”
“Hua Qiang said it well: ‘If young people aren’t spirited, can they still be called young?’”
“To not go along with the world and bravely defend one’s persistence—though fragile, it is a kind of heroic martyrdom!”
“In a way, you really are another me. Our experiences differ, but our core is almost identical... You deserve the name Zhou Liang.”
...
After a while, the system finally notified again:
[Ding! Settlement complete!]
[You have received the prize: “The Spiritual Light of the Sacrificer!”]
[“The Spiritual Light of the Sacrificer” (Consciousness category): A supernatural ability derived from the sublimation of the wisdom and courage of a sacrificer. It slightly enhances the bearer’s resistance to fear, hallucinations, fatigue, and other negative mental states! Effective in both reality and simulation!]
Zhou Liang perked up:
“A superpower?!”
This was something serious. The previous prize, “Animal Friend” title, though effective and strong, wasn’t a conventional superpower.
But this prize was a bona fide supernatural ability! Enhancing resistance to negative mental states—that was like the “spiritual perception enhancement” often seen in xianxia novels!
“Claim!”
Zhou Liang eagerly accepted the prize. Instantly, a blood-red glow spontaneously emerged, then infused into his current wandering soul body.
With the red light flowing in, the weakness from losing his physical body vanished. Not only did he inexplicably gain some strength, but his soul body also solidified somewhat!
“Good, good!”
Warm all over, Zhou Liang clenched his fists, invigorated:
“As long as I simulate enough times, future prizes will only increase. Maybe then, I won’t have to simulate a perfect world line—I’ll just cultivate my primordial spirit to completion and singlehandedly challenge the Divine Emperor in the capital!”
[System continues simulation! Show me your limits!]
[…Walking on.]
[Ding! Detected you are simulating. Would you like to return to the previous life choice point to continue branch simulation, or return to the birth node and start over?]
Hmm?
Zhou Liang was momentarily surprised:
“You even have an auto-save function?”
[Of course. To facilitate the host simulating different endings, this system automatically sets save points at every life choice node.]
“Then...”
Zhou Liang thought briefly:
“Return to the save point. Since I’ve only made one choice, it’s no different from starting over. Trying a different branch sounds good!”
[Ding! Returning to the previous life node...]
[...]
[Faced with the conflict between reality and faith, your heart is torn. Both options hold indispensable significance to you... You choose: (?)]
[A: Submit to reality. The corpse of Ming is full of darkness and corruption. That stench forces everyone to bow to reality...]
[B: The class-conscious youth never hide who they are. Their burning passion is justice itself!]
“Choose A!”
“One sacrifice has already proven my faith. Now, I will endure humiliation and hardship, seeking a truly rational path from within the darkness...”
[You chose option A: Submit to reality. The corpse of Ming is rife with darkness and corruption. That stench forces all to yield to reality. Moreover, you come from humble origins; rashly embracing justice will only lead to being ruthlessly crushed by vested interests! If that happens, you will change nothing and endanger your loved ones...]
[When you open your eyes again, you are shocked to find yourself not lying dead in your childhood bed, but back in that day’s literacy class!]
[After quickly confirming you are not hallucinating, joy wells up inside you: So I do have a golden finger?!]
[Rewinding the timeline? You think silently...]
[“Since sacrifice has proven my faith, this time, I will bear the darkness and seek the light through another path...”]
[Determined, you no longer insist on making that futile denunciation, instead continuing class as if nothing happened.]
[Isn’t it just temporarily going along with corrupt officials and deceiving the world?]
[Jiang Sheng did it, so can I!]
[Main=6, I can write too!]
...