My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 373 The Rag Doll, the Arrival of the Prophet (4000 words, requesting monthly votes)

"Let's put aside the question of prophets and prophets for now, Minghuan, have you been overworking yourself lately?" Red Dragon suddenly said. "Pay attention to your mental state."

It peered at Ji Minghuan's face through its reading glasses. Even the young body in its spiritual world looked tired, with its back slightly hunched.

"What else could be wrong with me?" Ji Minghuan asked nonchalantly, reaching out to fiddle with the jigsaw puzzle on the ground.

The library was quiet, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun. For some reason, the sunlight was unusually red, and the silhouette of the white-haired girl was nowhere to be seen.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, reached out, and pulled hard on the rope hanging from above his head.

Then he looked up and silently watched the four corpses hanging from the ceiling twitch and convulse, like a pile of rotten flesh writhing.

After a while, the restraints on the black cocoon suddenly fell down from the hem of the trench coat, hanging down to the ground in circles, like a pile of dead snakes.

Soon after, the restraints on the floor were piled up like a mountain.

Then they suddenly began to wriggle, rising and falling like the tide, as if they were dancing, sometimes forming the shape of a bubble dragon, sometimes twisting into the shape of My Little Pony, and sometimes turning into the shape of Kong Youling.

"Oh, something dropped!"

Ji Minghuan released the rope, lay down on the ground, and looked curiously at the pile of restraints on the ground.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Red Dragon withdrew his gaze and asked.

"It's alright, we'll be free in a few days anyway," Ji Minghuan said, playing with the restraints on the ground. "We'll attack the Salvation Society in September. Those who are meant to die will die, and those who are meant to live will live... It's all up to fate. Restricted-level ability users aren't gods. I can't just decide who lives and let them live, right? What's the point of that?"

He paused, his lips moving slightly, "Otherwise, Li Qingping wouldn't have died."

Ji Minghuan cupped her face in her hands, raised her head, and calmly looked at the hem of Hei Chang's trench coat.

The restraints cascading from the black trench coat flowed like a tidal wave, instantly engulfing the entire library.

But just then, a ring of restraints suddenly stretched out from the ground, as if it had been planned for a long time, and instantly sprang up, wrapping around Ji Minghuan's neck. Then he was lifted off the ground and hung from the ceiling.

Ji Minghuan hung from the ceiling, her tongue lolling out as she stared down at the restraints on the floor. The restraints wriggled into human shapes, holding hands, and gradually transformed into the shadows of a hundred white-haired girls.

They twirled gracefully in circles, their lips curving upwards in a wide smile.

Looking down from the ceiling, it looked like a white circle that kept spinning back and forth. But from time to time, restraints could be seen peeking out from the white-haired girls.

It was as if a wind-up toy had fallen from the doll, and moments later a black ocean covered the white circle.

Ji Minghuan remained expressionless as he silently untied the restraints around his neck and wrapped them around his right leg.

The restraints were immediately released, and her body slumped down, her arms hanging limply and powerlessly, her palms facing outwards, like a doll with broken strings hanging upside down in mid-air.

"Speaking of which, so much has happened in the last two months. Generally speaking, would these events erupt so suddenly? It's too much of a coincidence," he murmured softly.

"Have you forgotten what your special ability is?" the red dragon retorted.

Ji Minghuan turned to look at the red dragon, Wales.

"Tampering with reality?" He thought for a moment. "In other words, my superpower is guiding the progress of reality. That makes sense. I always feel like the whole world revolves around me."

“That’s right,” Red Dragon said. “So what do you need to worry about? That prophet can’t affect you. His power is essentially to alter reality, but he affects the future, while you affect the present, right now.”

"To be honest, I was actually a little worried."

"There's nothing to worry about."

"After all, I still don't know the prophet's exact identity... We've finally got everything ready and worked so hard for so long. If something big happens to me now, I can't handle it."

As Ji Minghuan spoke, he tore open the restraints binding his legs with his fingernails and fell from mid-air. He crashed headfirst onto the floor, and the figures of the hundred white-haired girls shattered simultaneously, the restraints vanishing without a trace.

He sat down, placed his hands on the ground, and sighed softly as he looked up.

“Don’t worry,” Red Dragon adjusted his reading glasses and looked down at his book, “I can assure you… you are the most special and powerful being in this plane, and no one can threaten you.”

“But he can threaten the people around me, and they’re not some kind of restricted-level superhumans.” Ji Minghuan lowered her eyes, looking at the broken puzzle pieces on the floor, and said softly.

"That's true."

“I mean… from a god’s perspective, why are humans designed to be so fragile? It always feels like they’ll just die in a flash. If they weren’t so fragile, it would be great. If everyone were as strong as Superman, I wouldn’t have to be so worried.”

At this point, Ji Minghuan lowered her voice, "I always feel like I'm making friends with a bunch of ants. I'm constantly worried that they might get stepped on, drown, or be blown away by the wind. Don't you think that's exhausting?"

Honglong was silent for a moment, "Those who have never experienced insignificance and ordinariness cannot understand the preciousness of life, nor can they maintain reverence for life."

"What do you want to say?"

“You are a kind child, but you have too much power, you were born with everything,” Honglong said. “Anyone with that kind of power would become cynical and lose themselves, let alone a child… But you don’t treat this world as a game, so I think you are very interesting, and you are more worthy of observation than Qingping.”

It paused for a moment: "That girl is your anchor. She allows you to maintain your humanity, instead of seeing yourself as something higher in the universe. She is important, so I understand why you keep clinging to her."

Ji Minghuan remained silent.

After a moment, he shook his head. "Never mind, whatever... whatever will be, I'm tired."

"By the way, aren't you curious? Where did that shadow come from?" Red Dragon said, suddenly pointing his fingernail at the white-haired girl sitting blankly in the corner of the library.

Ji Minghuan was stunned for a moment, then turned her head to look, only to find that it was a rag doll with white hair and buttons sewn into its eyes. The corners of its mouth, sewn together with needle and thread, were grinning high.

The doll had no shadow; it simply sat quietly against the bookshelf, slumped motionless.

"Isn't that something I created?" he asked, "the subconscious and all that."

He remembered that before this, every time he came to the library, he would see Kong Youling's phantom. Every time he fell asleep, she would lean against him.

But he didn't know when it started, maybe half a month ago, or maybe a few days ago, Kong Youling's phantom gradually turned into a rag doll, sitting motionless against the bookshelf, so he hadn't paid attention to it for a while.

"Perhaps you'll know the answer if you wait a little longer," the red dragon said softly after a moment of silence.

"Who cares..."

After saying that, Ji Minghuan lay down on the library floor in a starfish shape, staring blankly at the ceiling tinged yellow by the setting sun for a while, then gazing dazedly at the mountains below the sky. "What does Li Qingping do when he's tired?" After a long, long silence, he suddenly asked.

"Find a secluded spot and go to sleep."

"Hmm... then we do look quite alike." After saying that, Ji Minghuan slowly closed his eyelids. The afterglow of the setting sun made his face glow red, like a warm peach.

"Get some rest and don't do anything reckless."

"None of your business."

For almost the entire next day, Ji Minghuan rested, sleeping from morning till night.

Unit One hangs upside down on the Hofs Glacier, doing nothing all day except releasing clones to disperse the restraint traps and achieve comprehensive surveillance. Then it sleeps upside down inside the giant cocoon.

Unit 2 has been upgraded to Tier 3 and has contracted with the Wrathful Demon. Now all it needs to do is quietly wait for the war to begin and for the day when the Ripper is killed. There is no need to alert the enemy during the rest of the time.

As for Unit 3, it's still traveling around with Caesar, who spends his days either cultivating or eating. This genius boy's level of Oddity Envoy is improving extremely quickly; at this rate, it will probably reach the S-rank Oddity Envoy level in about a month.
Unit 4, needless to say, is currently perched on a tree, drooling over the Lantern Demon.

In the early hours of August 21st, China time, which was also the night of August 20th, Iceland time, Ji Minghuan's consciousness was awakened from the darkness.

But what awakened him was not the arrival of the prophet, but the noise he usually heard in the prison cell.

"Restricted-level ability user, ID 1002—Ji Minghuan, your mentor's representative has arrived. Prepare for questioning immediately." A cold, iron-like voice echoed throughout the entire detention cell.

The boy in the hospital gown opened his eyes from the bed, raised his head, and stared at the crooked-mouthed penguin broadcasting equipment on the ceiling.

"Mentor's agent?" He raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that this was a novel term he had never heard of before.

However, after thinking about it, Ji Minghuan realized that only one person in the entire Salvation Society, "Ke Aojiena," deserved the name.

Unsurprisingly, the metal door slowly opened, and a woman with her hair in a bun and wearing a white coat walked in, pulled up a chair, and sat down at the table.

Keojiena rested her chin on her hands, staring blankly at the table; her dark circles were even more pronounced.

She didn't speak, and neither did Ji Minghuan; the two remained frozen in silence.

After a long pause, Koojena asked him, "Aren't you going to see those children?"

Ji Minghuan shook her head. "No, I want to be alone for the next few days."

Ke Aojiena said, "Your mentor said you haven't been doing well lately... You can talk to your sister if you have any worries."

“Yes, the problem is…” Ji Minghuan said, glancing sideways, “When are you and your mentor going to die?”

“If I could, I’d like to die sooner, retire earlier, and go to my grave sooner,” Koojena said calmly. “But unfortunately, the Salvation Society has strict rules, and I have to work here for at least another ten years before I can receive my pension.”

"Working is really not easy."

"Right? I don't want to be told that by someone as carefree as you, a restricted-level adult." Koogena sighed, "Sometimes I wish I were restricted-level too."

"If you're rated R, what are you going to do?"

“To create a world where you don’t have to go to work,” Keogena said casually, resting her chin on her hand and twirling her finger on the table.

"You're so boring. Can't you have some loftier ideals, like no war?"

"Isn't that simple? Just say that if you start a war, I will destroy the world, and then the world will be at peace?"

"Forget it, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. I just want to know when we can go out for a walk."

"Bear with it. Your advisor said he'll let you go out for a walk next month, but it's very cold outside. I'm afraid you'll want to come back after just a couple of steps," Ke Aojiena said.

"How could that be?" Ji Minghuan asked. "I must have been playing with a snowman. It's been a long time since I've built a snowman."

He thought that when their mentor released them, there would be a chance for the Black Chrysalis, which was lurking in the Hofs Glacier, to pinpoint the exact location of the Salvation Society.

"I'm relieved to see you're alright. Those kids are playing in the amusement park right now, they're waiting for you." Ke Aojie said, straightening up from her chair. "If you want to go play with them, just shout it over the loudspeaker, understand, you brat?"

"Why didn't they call me?" Ji Minghuan asked. "Am I being ostracized by them?"

"Because you don't want to go."

"makes sense."

Ji Minghuan looked away, thinking to himself that the prophet was coming for him soon. Wasn't staying with them at a time like this just asking for trouble? What if he was threatened?
Koogena didn't linger and quickly got up and left. She was usually listless and seemed unmotivated. Only on her way home from get off work was she efficient and decisive, moving like a gust of wind.

Ji Minghuan lay on the bed as usual, surrounded by a cold white light that made his expression appear somewhat dazed and pale.

Soon after, a silvery light, like flowing moonlight, gradually filled the entire world from the corner, spreading out like some kind of crack until it entered Ji Minghuan's pupils, and the snow-white ceiling lost its color.

In a depressing and quiet world, the boy in the hospital gown lay quietly on the bed.

His expression was not surprised; on the contrary, it was very calm.

A moment later, Ji Minghuan silently got out of bed, propped his right hand on the pillow, turned his head, and looked at the entrance to the prison cell.

At that moment, a figure wearing a tattered white cloak, a ragged white scarf, and a cloth hat stood silently there.

His face was covered by a veil, obscuring his features. Beneath the shadow of the cloth hat were a pair of dark, deep eyes.

At that moment, everything around them froze, even the dripping sound from the bathroom disappeared.

In this excessively quiet world, Ji Minghuan raised her head and took a deep breath.

He really wanted to yell at the penguin-shaped monitor: "Professor, can you please open your eyes wide? Your favorite prophet is standing right at your doorstep, okay?"

But even so, it was to no avail.

Because in this static world, only he and that pure white figure could move. All the precautions the mentor had taken against the prophet were completely ineffective from the start.

"Hello." Ji Minghuan sighed, sat down at the table, and waved to the prophet. "What brings you here?"

(End of this chapter)