I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

A voice came from the priest's mouth, but the tone and manner of the voice did not sound like that of a stubborn priest; it sounded more like that of a dissolute young master.

The door behind the priest slowly opened, revealing a path leading downwards.

Lu Ban glanced at the priest, whose expression had become numb and indifferent, just like those guys in suits outside, but he didn't move at all, as if he had lost his soul.

The three exchanged a glance, and Lu Ban led the way, descending the stairs.

After walking for a short while, they arrived at a basement.

The basement was dimly lit by lights made of some unknown biological oil. In the vast space, there was another door, which seemed to be made of bronze and had exotic scripts on its surface that even the Silent Land could not decipher.

thump—

Just as they arrived, a knocking sound came from the other end of the door, the entire basement trembled slightly, and some dust fell.

It was as if something imprisoned inside was trying to break free of its restraints.

In front of the door, there was a desk with a lamp lit on it, and a lot of manuscript paper, an ink bottle, and several fountain pens on it. Behind the desk, a person was sitting.

He must be from the ancient capital.

When Lu Ban saw that person, such a thought arose in his mind.

The man had meticulously trimmed hair, was of medium build, wore glasses, a well-tailored suit, and his leather shoes were spotless. He held a pen in his hand, seemingly still pondering how to conclude the story on the manuscript in front of him before Lu Ban and the others arrived.

"Please wait a moment, there's just a little bit left before it ends."

His voice was very gentle, like that of a young university lecturer, exuding both friendliness and confidence.

No wonder she's so popular with wealthy women.

Lu Ban thought to himself.

This kind of handsome, artistic young man is probably not the favorite of those middle-aged women. Even naive young girls would probably be easily fooled by such a man.

During the wait, the door was slammed twice more, but the force was obviously much weaker, as if it had been suppressed by something.

After a long while, just as Tristana was becoming somewhat impatient, the man finally let out a long sigh and put down his pen.

"The ending is always the hardest to write. Although it's still a little short, there are more important things to do now."

He smiled and then introduced himself.

"Hello, I am Gudu."

The three remained silent for a moment, not out of shock or anything like that, but simply because the system's cold and indifferent words appeared on the basement wall in their field of vision.

[Mission Requirements: Find the missing house 1/1]

This is indeed an ancient capital.

As for the other task, witnessing the ending of the story, it's still unclear how to complete it.

Are we supposed to read the ending that the ancient capital has just written?

Where exactly are we right now?

Lu Ban couldn't help but ask.

He could, of course, go directly to the ancient capital to see the ending of "The Mouth of the Madman," which features them as the main characters, but his intuition told Lu Ban that if it ended like this, the mission exploration would definitely be low and the rewards would be insufficient.

Furthermore, he had not yet found the fragments of Du Danping's melody, nor had he fully understood the situation, which was why he asked.

You are now living in a story.

The ancient capital speaks frankly.

“Like the priest standing above, he is a character in the story and has only one identity. Therefore, he is a priest. I added a pious character to him, so he is very pious, but he is just a priest, nothing more.”

"As for those guys outside, they are just passersby in the story. Their names, family backgrounds, and personalities are irrelevant to the story. Therefore, even if they look different, they all look exactly the same."

He spoke briefly, then looked at Lu Ban and the others.

"As for you, you are the protagonists of the story."

Chapter 229 He's Gone Human

"You are the protagonists of the story."

When Gu Du said this, he didn't show any boasting or pride; he simply stated it plainly.

“The main character needs to have a personality, which is why the three of you are so unique.”

"You mean, you created us?"

Trist found it somewhat amusing. He might only be a few years younger than Gudu, but he remembered everything he had experienced from childhood to adulthood very clearly, and it couldn't possibly be fabricated.

"You could say it is, or you could say it isn't."

Gu Du shook his head.

"You're just sitting here."

Lu Ban couldn't help but make a comment.

Have you written one?

Gu Du asked in return, and before the three could answer, he spoke up again on his own.

“If a character in a story only has a name, then he is just a passerby with a name. To truly create a character with flesh and blood, you need to start from his birth, or even from the birth of his ancestors, and build his life trajectory bit by bit in order to create a memorable character.”

"Otherwise, characters are merely tools of the story, like the priest upstairs or the passerby outside. The only difference is whether the author spent a few seconds casually assigning him a name from a neighbor or something he saw in the newspaper."

Upon hearing Gu Du's words, Lu Ban actually nodded slightly.

"Indeed, that's how creators are. So sometimes some authors suffer from delusions, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion, and even exhibit symptoms of schizophrenia."

Trist and Sia glanced at Lu Ban and subconsciously took a half step back.

"...But there are limits to human capabilities."

Gu Du was taken aback, perhaps not expecting Lu Ban to be so supportive, and then he continued.

"No matter how rich a person's imagination is or how much knowledge and experience they have accumulated, there are still limits to human beings."

"what do you want to say in the end?"

Trist asked, sounding slightly impatient.

"He might be thinking, 'I'm not human anymore?'"

Lu Ban guessed.

"..."

Gu Du remained silent for a moment before speaking as if he hadn't heard Lu Ban's words.

"What I want to say is that no author can actually do this, and readers don't need to care that much. Just use some contrasts, plot twists, and the like to make a character a little special."

"To be honest, that's true."

Lu Ban nodded as if he understood something.

bang——

The bronze door slammed shut once more, drawing everyone's attention.

What's behind this door?

Xia asked curiously.

"Some of the less-than-ideal things are also the reason I'm here."

After a moment of silence, Gu Du continued.

"Let's get back to the previous topic. Because humans have limitations, there are no perfect stories in the world, but some beings do not agree with this."

"To give a simple example, a celebrity's biography may contain some fabrications, but the celebrity who is the main character is a real person. Do you think the biographer created that person?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ban shook his head.

“Those people must have been real. The person in the book is just one of their images. After all, biographies don’t usually reveal a person’s innermost thoughts.”

"That's exactly right."

Gu Du tapped on the table.

"So, there are some beings, some beings we cannot understand, who, in order to obtain the perfect story, have distorted these stories. Well, you should understand this term."

He hesitated for a moment before opening the desk drawer and taking out a harmonica.

The harmonica had ten holes and looked ordinary, but Lu Ban could sense at first glance that it possessed a certain extraordinary aura.

This is one of the melody fragments by Du Danping!

Gu Du picked up the harmonica, looked at it intently, and then put it aside.

"This was left to me by a former friend. Although we were only friends for a few days, I will never forget those days, and they changed my life."

He seemed to be reminiscing, his face showing a mixture of loneliness and relief.

"In short, during that experience, I heard certain voices, came into contact with certain beings, and ultimately, I chose my current career."

Gu Du sighed and pointed to the bronze gate.

“My friend tricked Him into the door, and at the same time, the melody woven by the harmonica put Him into a deep sleep, but the sleep was not deep and He could be awakened at any time.”

"If He were to awaken, even the one in the ruined capital might not be able to save the entire city."

"You mean, an evil god is trapped inside?"

Lu Ban pressed for an answer.

"An evil god? You could say that. He doesn't really distinguish between good and evil. To him, humans are insignificant, just like you wouldn't care how many ants you step on while walking down the street. His very existence is enough to destroy civilization."

The ancient capital gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"For Him, there is no essential difference between sleeping and waking up, but for humanity, it is always better to let Him sleep than to wake Him up. I am the gatekeeper responsible for keeping Him asleep."

"So you're here, uh, singing lullabies?"

Tristana seemed to calm down a bit. He put down the pistol in his hand, and the bronze door made another banging sound, but it was now as faint as a cat scratching at the door.

“As I said, what He seeks is stories, so all you need to do is read Him some bedtime stories and He will be able to sleep peacefully. I don’t have any special talents, it’s just that sometimes stories inexplicably pop into my head. There’s no loss in sitting here.”

Gu Du spoke calmly, as if he were facing not some indescribable evil god, but a mischievous child who had finally decided to go to sleep.