Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 536 Breakfast and New Games
There is a bakery at the foot of the Tower of the End.

They said that what was sold there was not food, but the smell of hope.

Even the Lord of Destiny has to wait in line there.

—From *The Oral History of Targaryen: The Chapter of Dawn*

The morning light in Tarki City was like polished gold dust.
It landed gently on the windowsill of the apartment through the semi-transparent protective shield.

The birdsong was artificially tuned, and the wind was a warm current regulated by a system.

The entire city was quiet to the point of being gentle.

Until a pungent smell wafted out of the kitchen.

The God of Fate frowned in his dream.

He dreamed of a fox demon rolling around on a hot coal fire, shouting, "Eat me!"

He opened his eyes, and a real smell of burning hit him.

"Master, breakfast is ready!"

Accompanied by that cloying sound, a loud "boom" came from the direction of the kitchen.

The ceiling shook, and black smoke slowly rose.

Si Ming rolled out of bed, looking utterly dejected, and put on her coat.

As he reached the door, he saw Selene wearing a pink apron, her face covered in soot.

That beautiful vampire face looked like a fairytale character who had just emerged from a chimney.

She smiled proudly, holding a plate of black fried eggs in her hand.

"I...tried my best."

Si Ming remained silent for three seconds, then could only sigh helplessly.

“Selene...you’ve finally learned to cook.”

"Really?!" Her eyes lit up.

"Yeah, you successfully blew up my kitchen."

Her smile froze for a moment.

"Hey? Isn't the heat a little... overdone?"

"That's not the right temperature, that's a volcano."

They stared at each other for three seconds.

Black smoke billowed from the kitchen again, and the alarm lights flashed—

Si Ming reached out and pressed the alarm button, letting out a long sigh.

"Let's go, vampire princess, let's go out to eat. At least that way no one will die."

There's always a false sense of peace in the mornings at Taki.

On the street, pedestrians hurried by, the aroma of coffee mingling with the sweet scent of roasting.

Billboards in the corners of the city flash messages about various part-time jobs.

At this moment, Taji looks like any ordinary city.

They sat down at the small bakery on the street corner.

The boss was a short robot whose robotic arm skillfully flipped inside the bread oven.

A pot of coffee and a basket of cream bread were served quickly.

Selene took a bite of bread, with a little butter on the corner of her mouth.

She looked happier than when she was wielding her blood claws to kill.

"Cooking is not befitting of a vampire princess."

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking completely at ease.

Si Ming looked at her calmly: "Then at least don't blow up my kitchen, okay?"

"That's not my fault, the pot is just too fragile!"

"That's my fault, not the enemy's."

Selene retorted confidently, "Then I'll keep working hard to learn cooking! I'll definitely succeed next time!"

Si Ming put down his coffee cup, expressionless: "I think my kitchen can no longer withstand your practice."

The streets are gradually becoming more crowded.

The sunlight of Taki City reflects off the high-altitude rail city and spills onto the streets.

The wind carries the aroma of coffee and oil.

It is mixed with the "human aura" unique to this city of the end.

Si Ming looked at the breakfast in front of him and suddenly smiled.

"really weird."

"Hmm?" Celian tilted her head.

"At a time like this, there are still people making breakfast, drinking coffee, and talking about pots and pans."

Celian blinked: "Isn't that...being alive?"

She poked a piece of bread with her fork and held it to Si Ming's mouth.

"Come on, if you're alive, you have to eat."

Si Ming took the bread.

He took a bite without any expression.
Then I laughed out loud.

"It really is like vampire cuisine—it looks sweet, but you almost bite your teeth when you bite into it."

Selene angrily punched him: "You! Humph! I'm never cooking again!"

"Then I should thank you."

Sunlight streamed through the glass, illuminating their laughter.

At this moment, war, towers, fate, and the shadow of God—all receded into the distance.

All that remains is humanity's morning.

After breakfast, the wind on the street corner carried the aroma of coffee.

Si Ming and Selian sat by the floor-to-ceiling glass. The sunlight was cut into pieces by the glass and fell on the table, making it feel warm.

Selene put down her fork, stealing a glance at him, then another.

"Master..." her voice was so soft it was as if she was afraid of disturbing something, "Could we... shop one more time?"

Si Ming slowly raised his head and said in a very serious, almost parental tone:

"It's all gone. You went too far yesterday, and now we're broke. We're going to have to eat dirt."

"--No, no way?"

Selene froze, her eyes blank for a second, before she pursed her lips as if she had recovered from a mental breakdown, "I think... I really am a little crazy."

She quickly swallowed her disappointment and hurriedly added, "Then I won't buy it! I'll just look around today!"

Si Ming watched her nervously poking at the plate with her fork, and suddenly laughed.

"Okay," he said casually. "I'll take a look."

Selene instantly switched from cloudy to sunny, her eyes shining like the dawn breaking.

"Then we'll just look! We'll buy one, two, or three items at most!"

Si Ming picked up the cup, hiding the smile on his lips: "One piece."

"Deal!" She reached out to give him a high five, but then timidly withdrew her hand halfway through. "Then, that's one thing."

The sunlight climbed up the side of the cup and landed on his knuckles.

Si Ming lowered his eyes, his hand unconsciously stroking the corner of the points card.

The scenes from last night resurfaced from the shadows.

Only one light was on in the Tower apartment, and the lights of the floating railway tracks in the distance were visible outside the window.

On the table, the points card lay flat, its screen as dark as if it were asleep.

He tapped it lightly with his knuckles, and the light screen gently opened as if startled.

The numbers are still stuck in last night's hole: 987.

He remained calm and unhurried.

A hand without a shadow reached out from the wall and wrote three symbols in the air.

The screen flickered slightly, like ripples swallowing a pebble.

—That line of text that might trigger an alarm had barely surfaced when it was erased by an invisible eraser.

[Data correction successful]

The light dimmed.

Only his breath and the night remained in the room.

"Well done."

Si Ming leaned back in his chair and nodded toward the empty space, as if comforting a stagehand who had just finished a hard day's work.

"You saved my life."

He didn't say "Who are you?" or "Where are you?" Those kinds of questions shouldn't have been asked.

Secrets spoken aloud will have eyes.

"Owner?"

Celian waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Why are you daydreaming?"

Si Ming snapped out of her reverie, pointed to a corner of the table, as if to comfort her, and also as to comfort herself:
"It's windy here, so let's keep quiet."

“Oh.” Celian nodded obediently, without giving it any thought.

That's just how she is—careless to the point of being reassuring.

Si Ming put the card back in his pocket, his posture becoming lazy: "Buy one more thing."

Selene, who was already struggling to suppress her laughter, burst out laughing: "I love you the most!"

The next second, she pounced like a kitten.

She wrapped her arms around Siming's neck and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You are truly the best person in the entire tower!"

"I'm just the easiest person to fool in the whole tower."

The God of Fate sighed, unable to suppress his laughter.

Selene jumped up and pulled out her communicator as if she had received a military order: "Natasha! The shopping plan is restarted, restarted—!"

Before he could finish speaking, a thunderous "That's great!!!" came from the other end.

Siming imagined Natasha jumping out of bed and silently sighed for the entire tower's wallet.

“Remember—one thing,” he reminded him.

"Okay, okay!" Celian quickly agreed, her feet already lightly skipping towards the door.

As Si Ming watched her retreating figure, he suddenly felt a sense of peace and security in the wind that was blowing today.

It's like every morning from long ago has been restarted.

He glanced down at his pocket, where a points card lay quietly, one that even the system seemed too lazy to care about.

Numbers are like the morning light after the transition from day to night, clean and silent.

He didn't speak.

He did not boast to anyone, nor did he pray to any deity.

I just whispered to myself:
Oh well, it's just some points.

"Let's go, vampire princess."

He stood up, put on his coat, and said, "I'll take you to see something nice."

“Okay!” Celian turned around and hopped over to him. “Which one is it?”

“This city,” Si Ming smiled, “is also a great place for shopping today.”

"Long live!"

Her cheers echoed around the street corner.

Si Ming shook his head and followed helplessly.

He knew that he had just personally created another economic disaster—

It also created a part of everyday life that people are reluctant to give up.

The three days in Taji went by too quickly.

It's happening so fast it makes you wonder if time itself is enjoying this short vacation.

Si Ming slept for almost two whole days.

Occasionally, she would wake up only to be disturbed by the sound of Selene and Natasha arguing.

On the third night, they watched the fireworks display of the floating city together.
The fireworks weren't hot, but they could illuminate half the city.

The illusion of peace is always too addictive.

On the morning of the fourth day, the communication terminal flickered on the corner of the table.

Natasha was frying eggs when she saw the red signal light up and immediately put down the spatula.

She read the line of text aloud, her voice somewhat low.

[Mystician's Guild: Emergency Mission Recall]

[An anomaly has occurred in dungeon 2604 within the tower; a large number of raid teams have gone missing.]

[Ruoli calls out – Lord of Fate, Siming, return to the tower as soon as possible to assist in the investigation.]

Selene wasn't fully awake yet, sitting on the sofa in her bathrobe.

"Ruoli... is Leng Ji's master?"

Natasha nodded, her expression serious: "She never names names unless something really bad happens."

Si Ming walked to the window and parted half of the curtain with her fingertips.

Sunlight streamed down from above the city at the base of the tower.

The light shone on his shoulder, as if putting a period to this rest.

He said softly, "I originally wanted to wait until all my companions arrived before leaving... it seems I won't have that chance now."

Selene immediately stood up, her eyes gleaming with a familiar fighting spirit.

"Let's go then! I can't wait any longer!"

Her smile held a hint of urgency—

That was the pure passion that only young vampires possessed.

Natasha patted her shoulder, offering words of advice like an older sister:

"You should do the newbie's entry quest first."

I stayed in Taji to help the Master of Fate retrieve the people.

Selene blinked: "But—"

"Haven't you always wanted to prove yourself in the tower?"

"I……"

Natasha smiled. "Then let's go."

Selene took a deep breath and raised her chin: "Okay!"

Si Ming picked up the save card that was on the table.

The card's surface shimmered with golden light.

It felt like it was pulsating in the sunlight.

He whispered, "Archived reply."

The stream of light rose slowly, like transparent water flowing backward.

Si Ming turned around and smiled at the two of them.

"See you inside the tower."

Celian waved to him, her voice light and cheerful: "Master, see you inside the tower!"

"Remember to be careful."

Si Ming's voice was calm, yet carried a hint of gentleness.

"And also—be careful to stay alive."

The light curtain closes.

His figure gradually blurred in the air.

until it disappears.

The city of Tarki has returned to its bustling state.

The streets are filled with people again.

The train traveled across the high-altitude tracks, leaving a white trail behind it.

Natasha leaned against the window, watching the afterglow of the portal closing.

The light reflected in her eyes, like a faint ring of tears.

"I hope you can all get through safely this time."

Selene stood beside her, her gaze unwavering.

"We will."

The two were silent for a moment.

The wind blew in from the end of the street, carrying the smells of coffee and railway tracks.

Natasha chuckled softly, her voice almost inaudible:
"But every time I say that—"

It all felt like a farewell.

"The tower is calling them."

Just as fate calls upon all who dare to take the gamble.

—Chronicles of the Tower of the End, Chapter 1 (The Cycle)

(End of this chapter)