T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 215, Section 214: Can you tell the difference?

While the potato fries remained motionless, digesting their sugars, Chen Shaoyu pushed open the door to the Candlelight Office.

Today she didn't "hold her head in her hands," but sat upright.

Chen Shaoyu immediately reported on the online buzz surrounding the "Mint Lucky Pendant" and the eager players.

Monitoring sudden hot topics in the game and reporting them in a timely manner is also part of their job.

How does the Candlelight Association view this incident?

as well as……

"Does this pendant really have hidden panel attributes?"

Even with the authorization from the candle flame, he couldn't access the game's deeper data.

Under the candlelight, Chen Shaoyu realized that this time, curiosity had overridden his long-held principles.

He actually asked it out loud.

"Have."

The candlelight actually answered.

This time it was Chen Shaoyu's turn to be shocked. It was actually true! The community posts and the big UP in the gaming section said that the motion experience was real!
“However…” Candlelight added, “the probability is very low.”

"Only when you become a companion to Mint will the trigger probability be slightly higher."

Chen Shaoyu swallowed hard: "So, by killing Mint, they obtained a much weaker version of the Lucky Charm?"

"That's enough to make players flock to it, isn't it?" Candlelight laughed. "Even without the 'good luck' attribute, just the name alone will excite players."

"This is a small reward for players who entered the Mint storyline but unexpectedly lost their way."

Chen Shaoyu's lips twitched.

"After tonight, many players will probably cut off all further contact."

Candlelight smiled: "The choice they made didn't surprise me. In fact, this scene is very familiar; it happened not long ago."

Not long ago?
What happened on other servers?
In the Chinese server, Chen Shaoyu did not detect any similar incidents.

When he came to his senses, he realized that the candlelight was staring straight at him.

not good!

I was so curious today, I not only asked questions, but I asked so many!

"It's strange that even a person who adheres to principles would break their principles out of curiosity."

Chen Shaoyu was drenched in sweat, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a suitable explanation.

“You said last time that curiosity is the source of human progress, and I agree with that.”

"You showed the same trait today... Here's another question, go ahead and ask."

The unexpected turn of events left Chen Shaoyu stunned for several seconds before he realized that the candlelight had given him another chance to ask a question.

He took a deep breath and asked the question again, the one he had vaguely answered last time but was still unclear about.

"Where have all the civilizations in this universe, besides ours, gone?"

"I erased it."

hum~~~
Chen Shaoyu's mind went blank, and all he could hear was a buzzing sound.

One sentence was enough to make his eyes lose focus and his soul fly away.

"The boundary between reality and illusion, and the humor of the bed, really intrigued me. I tried to imitate it. How was it? Did it send chills down your spine?"

hiss……

Chen Shaoyu was almost exhausted; he leaned on the table and nearly collapsed.

"Please...please don't joke about this kind of thing."

He doesn't even smile when he's joking; his composure is terrifying!

"I thought you were the kind of person who could eat and drink as usual even if the world were destroyed, who wouldn't take anything to heart, and who would just go home, move a chair to the balcony, and watch the moment of destruction."

The candlelight said, "I was curious too, so I gave it a try."

A wonderful curiosity.

"To answer your question."

Candlelight adjusted his posture and said solemnly, "Indeed, eleven nascent civilizations were born in this universe before you, but without exception, they all went out."

“Young… perhaps that’s not quite accurate. If we measure you by our standards, you are currently just infants.”

"So, including us, there are only 12?" Chen Shaoyu asked incredulously. "The universe is so vast, according to probability, this doesn't make sense."

"The probability you perceive is far too lenient."

After speaking softly, the candlelight snapped its fingers.

A nebula surrounded the two of them.

Chen Shaoyu stared in disbelief, feeling like a world-destroying giant looking down at these colossal objects whose real-world spans started at tens or even hundreds of light-years.

"The development of intelligent civilization is far more demanding and difficult than you can imagine."

"Only the lucky ones would assume that everything is full of possibilities beneath the cold probability numbers."

"We have witnessed countless ruins of civilizations, destroyed for various reasons."

"Those who can escape the curse of destruction are few and far between, throughout the journey."

"Some civilizations are like butterflies emerging from their chrysalis, struggling with all their might to break free from their predicament, but they miss the crucial moment, lose their reserves, and drown forever."

"Some civilizations did nothing wrong, but when they reached the end of the road, they found there was nowhere to go."

“And some…” A gust of wind stirred the candlelight, and the starlight shattered like bubbles. “Fate is never on their side.”

“Besides that, we’ve seen far too much.”

"The universe is far more desolate than you can imagine."

"Dull and without luster".

The candlelight flickered softly and slowly, its calm demeanor stirring a storm within Chen Shaoyu.

His palms were sweating, and his breathing became heavy.

The brief words contained a vast amount of information that left his mind in a state of chaos.

"It seems this has piqued your curiosity even more."

Chen Shaoyu took a deep breath and nodded.

"Bonus time, ask away."

"What exactly is your purpose...?"

Chen Shaoyu got straight to the point.

"From your description, I can tell that you do not belong to our current universe, perhaps you come from a civilization that we cannot understand at all... or a pre-civilization?"

"Is your job really just to bring a game to our lives and let us have fun?"

Candlelight shook his head: "As a bonus, this is beyond the scope of what I promised you."

"When we first met, the big shots in your eyes also bravely asked me this question, and all they got in return was doubt."

"The only thing I can tell you is... I have no ill intentions towards you."

"If what you are looking for is not found, I will still give you a spark."

"Flame?"

“This is no longer something you should know,” Candlelight said. “You wouldn’t want those important figures coming to you personally, would you?”

Chen Shaoyu took a deep breath.

"My question wasn't answered earlier, but I'm free to ask again."

He had never felt so brave.

At that moment, curiosity overwhelmed principles and swallowed the fear of losing his job.

"Whether you can ask or not is up to me," Candlelight said with a slight smile. "As a reward for seeing your explosive curiosity, you can ask."

"What I want to know now is, why were we chosen?"

Despite the promise of the candlelight, the future will be known.

But knowing too much today, he couldn't hold back any longer.

As far as Chen Shaoyu knew, the location and operation of each server were decided entirely by Candlelight. The number of players on each server varied.

Based on previous discussions in the community, the number across all servers is approximately 1300.

The highest number of cases is currently 79 in the Chinese server.

Don't you think this is too wasteful?

"It's hard for people to stay rational all the time," Chen Shaoyu sighed.

Candlelight smiled and said, "In that case, I'll tell you the reason after we enter the game tonight."

As time slowly passed and evening fell, the hottest topics in various gaming communities remained firmly locked onto Mint.

This is the highest level of Mint's popularity outside of the game.

At the start of the game, the protagonist was chased and robbed by players because of his poor-quality potions and bad personality. After that, he became an unknown nobody who was ignored by everyone.

Starting in the afternoon, some players on the Chinese server began petitioning, hoping that the official would announce whether the Mint Pendant could indeed add hidden panel attributes.

Clearly, Starfire Campfire paid no heed to these sounds.

At dinner time, Jiang Heyi and French Fries were staring at each other's lips, while the other buried his head in his carbs.

The ringing of the cell phone broke the romantic atmosphere between the two.

It belongs to the jailer.

Sigh, you really know how to pick your timing.

"what happened?"

"Holy crap, this is a disaster! This is a huge disaster!"

"Explain yourself clearly," Jiang Heyi said. "What do you mean by 'going too far'?"

"The mint pendant!" the jailer exclaimed. "During the raid, Orange Tea took out that pendant, and someone found it in the security footage!"

"Huh?" Jiang Heyi stopped eating and waved at the fries. "Don't hang up yet."

She immediately understood, unlocked her phone, handed it over, and then, holding a rice bowl, went around behind Jiang Heyi to browse the links in the group chat.

"Breaking news! The secret to the Tea Master's good fortune!"

During the settlement phase of the previous Black Cat strategy, there was a brief moment when the Tea God took out the Mint pendant and kissed it.

Since the World Championships, Mint has been carrying the pendant with her ever since she gave it to Tea Goddess, regarding it as a constant companion to her mother, Mint.

It was such a brief moment, less than two seconds of screen shaking, that it was found by FrameWatcher.

Now Jiang Heyi understood why the prison guard had panicked.

Browsing through the comments section, the replies were as expected.

"Holy crap, is this the secret to the Tea Master's good fortune?"

"There's a huge hidden secret at the boundary between the real and the virtual; no wonder they're so incredibly lucky."

"Wow, the boundary between the virtual and real worlds is so well-fed, they haven't let a single word out."

"So, it's confirmed, the pendant really works?"

"I think it really works, otherwise the Tea God's luck would be too superhuman."

"I really have to apologize to Mint now."

"Wait, this is too blurry. Can we really be sure it's a mint pendant?"

"Indeed, the details are too difficult to match; we can only say they are somewhat similar."

"DIY decorations are not impossible; there's always been a market for lifestyle enthusiasts, isn't there?"

"Sigh, it's useless for you to say all this. They will only see what they want to see. Tonight, a lot of mints are going to suffer again."

The fact that they can scrutinize every frame and detail like this shows that someone has been paying attention to the Tea Goddess all along, trying to find the secret to her good fortune.

Players who haven't run dungeons with the Tea Goddess can't understand her seemingly cheat-like luck, and it's understandable that they would try to find clues to obtain "lucky" items.

Unexpectedly, this trend coincided with the rise of mint pendants.

This made the fire burn even brighter.

Orange Tea has a much higher sense of morality than others on the boundary between reality and illusion. At this moment, she actually feels guilty, thinking that she may have caused the deaths of many Mint Mothers.

“The Mint in other players’ worlds and the Mint in our worlds are not the same person,” Jiang Heyi explained reassuringly. “The one you like is Mint Mom, who has been with us in the game for four months and has taken care of us in everything, not the neurotic witch in other players’ worlds.”

This explanation made Orange Tea feel a little better.

However, Jiang Heyi still had some concerns.

Unlike the other members of the guild, Orange Tea found it difficult to separate the virtual world from reality after playing Proof of the Stars. This sense of guilt... it's hard to imagine what would happen if they had an accident in the game one day and lost an important character.

Then again...

Will he really be able to remain unaffected by the situation?

Having traveled this far, Jiang Heyi has come to realize the most profound influence the stars have had on them.

The more time and emotion you invest, the more you'll believe that everything in the game is real.

It's a natural expression of emotion. Even if you're a veteran gamer and try to downplay its impact by making light of it, it still exists.

Even someone as capable as the jailer, upon realizing the fire might escalate further, immediately called Jiang Heyi for advice, proving that he too had momentarily panicked.

Didn't the relevant personnel in various countries assess the potential psychological, moral, and ethical risks of allowing the operation of the Stars of Witness?
Jiang Heyi's inner confusion was growing stronger.

He messaged him privately, "It's Heiyun!" Upon seeing that it was Jiang Heyi, this popular gaming content creator was overjoyed.

As the top PVE guild in the current Stars of War, Virtual Boundary has always been known for its focus on playing its own game without excessive marketing.

They came to me now simply to see what happened next in the Mint incident.

Trading one audience seat for a friend's seat is such a great deal!

"Isn't President Potato supposed to be conquering the ninth floor tonight? It seems the mint pendant is really tempting; even you're tempted."

Jiang Heyi could only reply, "It was out of curiosity."

With all these doubts piling up, his curiosity was truly irrepressible.

If Mint establishes a normal connection with players and assists them in completing the storyline related to the capital, it would be another win-win situation.

Giving that pendant to the dawn redwood would be a lose-lose situation for both of them.

After going live, the boundary between the virtual and real worlds did not immediately extend to the world bubble of the black cloud.

They went straight to the capital and found Old Deng, who was by Kurion's side.

"Why are you back so soon?" Old Deng asked impatiently. "Disappointed with the reward? Don't push your luck, young man..."

It seems he's still afraid of being criticized by Old Deng.

Upon hearing that it was only to see Mint, who was studying at the library, Old Deng fell silent.

“Just a meeting, I can give permission,” Old Deng snorted. “Don’t even think about trying to cheat me.”

It seems Old Deng has a lot of influence. He can enter such an important place as the Imperial Library just by using his face, and he can even break the rules to bring people in.

What exactly is his identity?
Mint was in a private cubicle, with a table piled high with books in front of her.

At this moment, relying on his super memory, he is absorbing the necessary knowledge at a glance.

A light knock on the cubicle interrupted her thoughts.

Mint pushed open the door unhappily, about to burst into a tirade.

The sight of the boundary between reality and illusion made her immediately swallow her words and quickly put on a bewildered expression.

"W-why is it you?"

"Why are Orange Tea's eyes red? Did you get bullied?"

Mint flew into a rage: "Do you need my help?"

She put the book back and said urgently, "Let's go, let's go, let's leave right now!"

When Mint was hugged by Orange Tea, she was still confused and looked to the others for answers.

Jiang Heyi concealed her true feelings and spoke lightly.

"It's been so long, everyone misses you a little, that's all."

Mint was taken aback for a moment, then understood.

"They're such a bunch of immature kids. They really can't do without me."

(End of this chapter)