Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 216 Aftermath
They killed a monster.

But it could just be a person before they turned into a monster.
It was just a final struggle.

Amidst the ruins of the paper-sealed building, all was deathly silent.

Time seemed to freeze at the moment the puppet king was destroyed.

The entire building lost all its anger and will, leaving only the faint clicking sound of gears.
It echoed weakly in the broken air, like the lingering sound of a heart that has stopped beating.

Amidst the ruins, Vera sat leaning against a half-destroyed stone pillar, struggling to maintain the last vestiges of the "hanging angel's" afterimage.

The golden light, like the afterglow of the setting sun, shone on the blood-stained ruins, both sacred and desolate.

Zhuang Yege quietly put the soul-guiding lamp into his sleeve, lowered his eyes and remained silent, as if he had lost his weight, leaving only a black shadow entwined with the wind.

Selene half-squatted on the ground, her fingers twirling a strand of black thread scattered among the puppet's remains. She curled her lip and snorted, "This thing... it really didn't die a clean death."

"It's completely out of control." Si Ming said calmly as he slowly walked across the center of the shattered chessboard of fate, his boots making a dull but crisp sound as they stepped on the broken pieces.

His gaze fell on the spot where the puppet king had fallen, where the three-colored energy core had been completely shattered, with embers still silently evaporating.

"We won." Vera raised her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her lips, revealing a tired but relieved smile.

"But... I don't know how much of a price we paid."

Zhuang Yege slowly raised his head at this moment, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes heavy.

"Before the gates of the underworld closed, I sensed... more than one wisp of a remnant soul."

Si Ming stopped in his tracks and glanced at him sideways: "A living person?"

“…I’m not sure.” Zhuang Yege’s voice was low. “But it’s not dead. I sensed ‘breathing’—very faint, from the southern strata.”

Upon hearing this, Vera suddenly straightened her back, her eyes sharp as blades.

"Is it Wang Yichen and his group?"

Selene's eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, "They're still alive?"

"I can only say that it hasn't been completely 'rewritten' yet," Zhuang Yege said in a deep voice. "If it had been any later, it would have been too late to turn the tide."

Si Ming turned around, his expression turning stern: "Let's go. I'll clear the way."

Without hesitation, he stepped into the side passage behind the silver door. The corridor was dimly lit, with a pale, grayish light.

The crumbling walls and the sound of footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, like the sound of a death bell shattering the curtain.

After a bloody battle, the real mystery has only just begun.

Beyond the silver door, deep within the laboratory.

The air seemed to freeze in every inch of the ruins. Under the dim yellow light, three figures hung silently on the trial device made of a metal frame.

Its body hung in mid-air in a stiff, almost doll-like posture.

Wang Yichen, Duan Xingzhou, and Ai Lin.

They were suspended from the central dome, which resembled a classical puppet theater stage, with dozens of black threads of varying thickness piercing their limbs and backs.

Those threads were not soft, but rather an active medium formed by the intertwining of life-based mysticism and fate-based runes—they were not merely suspending, but rather "modifying".

“Personality stripping.” Zhuang Yege stood at the door, his brows furrowed. “...It’s not fully activated yet.”

"But if it were a few minutes later, they would have been defined as 'blank'—becoming a true empty shell."

"Then hurry up and save them." Celian said through gritted teeth, about to step forward, but was stopped by Vera.

“Don’t touch it.” Vera’s voice was calm and firm. “The three of us have exhausted our sanity and cannot safely activate the Mystery. Touching the threads rashly could very well trigger the self-destruct mechanism.”

Zhuang Yege added in a deep voice, "Right now... we are powerless."

The air was so oppressive that it felt like even breathing had frozen.

Just as everyone was on edge, frantically searching for a way out, Si Ming, who was standing to the side, suddenly smiled.

"Oh dear, what bad luck." He sighed softly, but a lazy yet dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.

"It seems that now, I'm the only one who can still move."

He walked forward unhurriedly, patted the smooth panel next to the control console that was inlaid with runes and keyboard, as if examining an old and familiar toy.

“However—” He turned to look at Zhuang Yege and Vera with a sly smile, “Sometimes, you don’t necessarily have to rely on cards to solve problems.”

Vera was taken aback and frowned: "You...?"

Si Ming spread his hands and shrugged innocently: "In order to play the role of a 'computer science graduate student,' I spent three months getting into a professor's large data model research center."

Incidentally, I also learned a bit about 'data simulation' and 'structured language deciphering'.

"Although it contains a lot of mysterious runes, in essence... it is still just a logic lock."

As he spoke, he leaned over and sat down in front of the control panel, skillfully typing on the old-fashioned numeric keypad embedded in the metal casing.

Click—click!
The screen suddenly lit up, displaying a key verification window and a countdown bar:

[Structure execution in progress - Remaining execution time for the stripping protocol: 237 seconds]

[Administrator Command Identification - Please verify secure access or system master password]

"Well, let's skip the verification." Si Ming grinned and stretched out his fingers, as if a pianist was about to play the final piece.

"Instruction spoofing, behavior mapping substitution, logic anti-lock offset... Fortunately, the language they used was quite low-level."

He muttered strange terms to himself as his fingers flew across the console, typing a series of commands.

"It's not a cancellation."

"Instead, it's a fabricated system event—'process completed'."

"We don't pull the thread, but tell it—you've finished changing."

Ding--

With a crisp sound, the rune's radiance trembled slightly.

Status: Archived

Individual ID: W-013 / D-009 / A-007

[Result: Rewriting successful, life record being filled in...]

Pat, pat, pat!
The three main control cables detached as if they had completed their mission, and the remaining cables automatically retracted back into the main control cable slots. The test frame lost its support and slowly descended.

Wang Yichen, Duan Xingzhou, and Ai Lin simultaneously detached from the suspension and landed softly on the cushioning pad that Si Ming had prepared in advance.

Their brows were furrowed, their faces pale, yet their breathing was even, and their souls remained intact—

They are still alive.

"That's enough." Si Ming stood up, clapped his hands, turned to look at Zhuang Yege and Vera, and wore his signature smile.

"Although it's not as flashy as your cards, the effect isn't bad either, right?"

Vera's gaze was complex. After a moment of silence, she spoke in a low voice: "...This is 'modern technology.' The Church has seen it in a certain world before, and you actually..."

Si Ming blinked, his smile relaxed yet sly: "The Thousand Faces, in the end, is just a professional fake identity... a professional con artist. Sometimes, having more skills is never a bad thing."

Zhuang Yege stared at him quietly for a long time, and finally nodded slowly: "A good deception technique."

Si Ming chuckled and waved his hand: "A very solemn compliment."

He glanced around the dimly lit laboratory and shrugged. "Then next—let's find a place for them to get some sleep."

The lights in the control room were dim and cold, unable to illuminate the heavy weariness in everyone's eyes.

Wang Yichen, Duan Xingzhou, and Eileen were carefully placed on the innermost row of observation beds, their bodies still wrapped in light-colored bandages and stained with blood.

They were still unconscious, their expressions pained and struggling, as if they were still entangled in some unfinished nightmare.

Vera sat in the corner, staring down at her slightly trembling fingers, her fingertips stiff, but she said nothing.

Zhuang Yege leaned against the door, closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. The aura beneath his black robe was low and suppressed.

The air was so quiet you could almost hear each other's heartbeats, with only the occasional clatter of gears in the distance.

Along with the sparse, flashing red warning light on the control panel.

Finally, Si Ming slowly stood up.

He stretched his stiff shoulders, looked toward the silver gate, his eyes clear and resolute.

"I'll go and bring them back."

Vera nodded slightly, saying nothing, and simply watched him disappear behind the silver door.

The battle is over, but the mystery surrounding this paper-sealed building has only just begun.

The lobby remained dilapidated after the war, with dust slowly settling in the air, creating a silent and oppressive atmosphere.

Rudolph sat on a stone bench formed behind a collapsed statue, carefully adjusting the padding under Lin Wanqing's shoulders and neck.

Mu Sisi and Fujimiya Sumi took turns feeding her water and carefully wiping the chapped corners of her mouth.

Xu Jinxiao remained standing in the same spot, her gaze fixed on the dried bloodstain on the ground, lost in thought.

In the midst of these silent ruins, the silver door quietly cracked open, and a gray-white light curtain pierced the still air, revealing the figure of the Fate Master slowly emerging from the void.

"Siming!" Mu Sisi exclaimed in surprise, rushing over first with undisguised excitement in her eyes.

"We...we're still alive, and so are you..."

"Everyone is alive." Si Ming nodded, his gaze slowly sweeping over the five of them, a long-lost sense of relaxation and warmth appearing in his eyes.

“You should all come back and rest,” he said, his tone gentle yet undeniably firm. Rudolf gazed into the depths of the silver gate, his expression complex: “They…can we get through?”

“Yes.” Si Ming smiled slightly and shrugged. “But this time, we won’t rely on cards or rules. We’ll just follow a path that people have already walked.”

He walked at the front, leading the five through the silver-door corridor that still retained a mysterious aura.

They didn't disturb any mechanisms or trigger any spells along the way, as if this path had been reserved for them from the very beginning.

When I returned to the control room, the cold white lights remained unchanged, but there was a faint warmth in the air.

Vera looked around, her gaze lingering on rows of impeccably clean, almost cold metal bookshelves.

Suddenly, she spoke up: "I'd like to see if there are any notes or documents left behind."

“Leo’s?” Fujimiya Sumire was taken aback, then whispered, “Would he really… leave something behind?”

“No one dies empty-handed.” Vera’s voice was weak, yet unusually firm.
"Even if he forgets who he is, he will always leave a trace in some moment of clarity or confusion."

Upon hearing this, Rudolf stood up and silently walked towards her: "I'll help you find it."

The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, opened the heavy cabinet doors and searched for more than ten minutes.

Finally, in a folder with a half-burnt parchment cover, Mu Sisi gently brushed her fingertips over it and pulled out a notebook covered in dust and scorch marks.

On the cover, the faint outline of a dark gold-stamped letter can be discerned:

LO
“Leo…” Mu Sisi murmured, her voice seeming to fall into an abyss.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment. Everyone in the control room sat around the central round table in silence, as if they were guarding an invisible coffin.

Fujimiya Sumire gently turned the yellowed, brittle pages, pulled out a passage, and read it aloud in a low voice:

"We want to deconstruct the threshold of rationality and reconstruct a vessel that requires no thinking and no fear."

"Unfortunately... reason is not the enemy; it is a reminder of when we should stop."

It was a diary entry recorded after the "failure of the fifth Mysticization" experiment. The handwriting was messy, and the words revealed a struggle that was almost a breakdown.

Rudolf stared at the words, his throat tightening slightly, as if something was blocking his breath: "He... actually knew."

“He knew all along that this path was wrong,” Vera said in a low voice, hoarse and desolate, yet softer than ever before.

“But he still kept going,” Fujimiya Sumi murmured, a look of confusion in his eyes. “Why?”

Si Ming did not answer immediately, but remained silent, slowly turning to the last few pages of the notebook.

The page was already extremely fragile, almost crumbling at the slightest touch. He gently pressed down on the corner with his fingertips and carefully unfolded it.

Above, only a few lines of extremely thin characters were written, as if the writer had used up all his strength and reason when writing them.

"Number thirteen... I saw the theater from my dream."

“There are twelve seats there, and each one of them is wearing my skin and playing my role.”

"But I'm the only audience member."

"I can't escape...and I can't close the curtain."

"It wants me to live, to dance for it."

"So I decided to leave something behind."

"Even if it's just one page, it proves that I was once a human being."

There was no signature or date.

Only those few lines of text stand alone on the white page after dusk, like the last forgotten glimmer of light.

A long silence fell over the control room.

They sat quietly around the dilapidated table, their breathing subdued, their heartbeats seemingly afraid to be too loud.

He was once a human being.

Perhaps he never truly forgot until his last breath.

There's more to the diary.

Mu Sisi whispered a reminder, her voice seemingly coming from a great distance, carrying a hint of hesitation yet an undeniable call.

Si Ming immediately opened the last compartment.

There, three cards lay quietly, carefully sealed by layers of semi-fused lead casings.

The surface of the lead shell was densely covered with handwritten protective spells and warning marks, warning that it was unbound, high-level, and should be used with caution.

As Vella stretched his hand, the moment his fingertips touched the edge of the seal, a clear and piercing pulsating echo was triggered, as if the three cards were still whispering in some form.

【No. 1407: The Lament of the Marionette Throne】(World Series)
【No. 672: "Entwined Hearts: The Marionette Duke"】(Life Series)
【No. 991: The Game of Destiny - The Invisible Hand】(Destiny Series)
Each of the three cards exudes a heavy and dangerous sense of oppression.

"This is the card he originally used."

Zhuang Yege said in a low voice, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if he were seeing through these cards the figure who was once invincible but ultimately destroyed himself in the abyss of fate.

“A balance of the three systems…that’s truly terrifying,” he added, his tone complex.

“And he sealed them away,” Si Ming said slowly, his fingers lightly brushing across the surface of the lead shell, as if sensing some lingering will.

"This means that in the end, he no longer trusted himself."

Fujimiya Sumire stared at the three cards, then suddenly asked in a low voice, "These... can we use them?"

Si Ming gently pushed the three cards back into the box, his gaze both gentle and firm.

"can."

"but not now."

"We cannot use the things of a dead man to complete his unfinished battle."

Rudolf nodded, his voice low and resolute: "But we must at least survive. We must rely on them to leave this place alive."

Si Ming gently closed the box, tapped the lid, as if whispering a promise to Leo in another time and space:
"Then let's keep them for now. They'll appear when we really need them."

After sorting through Leo's diary and the Mysterious Cards, the control room fell into a deep silence.

Only the faint sound of flowing electricity and the breathing of the group remained in the air—exhausted, heavy, yet still carrying the rhythm of life.

Mu Sisi gently closed the ash-covered diary, her movements as light as if she were covering a soul with a final blanket.

“There’s another sealed room in the back.” Rudolf walked back, his forehead still damp with cold sweat. “It’s a… wall.”

The group exchanged glances, then tacitly walked together toward the auxiliary data storage room on the right side of the control room.

It was a long and solemn space, with ancient inscriptions and dark bronze metal lines inlaid on all four walls. Each engraving silently tells a story of a forgotten past.

The most eye-catching feature is the tall black metal wall standing directly in front of you.

In the center of the wall, a plaque is embedded, inscribed with cold, austere lettering:
[Project Remains - List of Key Experimenters]

Si Ming slowly stepped forward, his palm hovering in the air, his fingertips lightly brushing over the lines of names.

Rebecca Vine

Cross von Blanc

Ilan Hamel

Gojinin Minako
Nicholas
Tahrir Ens

Darby Hedgeson

Tang Kejian

Angela Herrington
Kaya Zelin
Lee Oscar
After the eleventh nameplate, there are two blank squares.

No name.

No number.

Only a dark silk thread mark, like a bleeding eye, was quietly embedded in the blank space.

Everyone stared at the empty space, their expressions solemn, the air seeming to freeze in the oppressive atmosphere.

“This is it,” Zhuang Yege said in a low voice, his voice heavy, as if carrying mud and sand dredged up from the abyss.

"Number thirteen."

“It…has no name.” Vera’s voice was low and hoarse, her eyes filled with a complex mix of pity and wariness.

“But it is not a god either,” Si Ming added, his voice calm yet powerful.

"Then what is it?" Mu Sisi asked softly, her voice seemingly coming from the softest part of her heart.

The God of Fate did not answer immediately.

He simply tilted his head back, staring at the blood-red thread-like mark, and after a moment, slowly spoke:
"It was the step they took that they refused to turn back."

After that step, they could no longer become human.

The main power supply to the control room was manually turned off before everyone left.

As the lights went out, the eleven names on the wall glowed faintly for the last time in the dim light, while the thirteenth blank space...

The silk thread mark flickered for a moment, like a belated tear of blood, before fading into silence.

Some names weren't forgotten; they were written down.
Nobody dares to write it.

(End of this chapter)