Quadruple split.

Chapter 2360: Open-mindedness after death

Although the clever young master is a thorough materialist and has not inherited the mantle of the world's strongest psychic and Onmyoji, and has very poor resistance to the so-called Chinese horror, even Mo Tan with the "chaotic neutral" personality has to admit that the "Winter" in the game has a terrible talent in the [Necromancer] profession. When he inexplicably unlocked the profession called [Medium], his potential has exceeded the upper limit of Mo Tan's estimation.

Even Yi Dong himself was surprised by this fact. After all, his talent in gaming was just mediocre at best. The only thing worth mentioning was his luck in the two-dimensional card drawing game. Although it was far from the absolute level of Cordova, it might be because Yinan and Gu Yanyue, two old two-dimensional artists, had accumulated virtue for many years (crazily buying Gu Zi, fan-made peripherals, and producing COS to promote the development of the industry), Yi Dong's luck in related games was indeed good. He even set a record of thirty-two consecutive small guaranteed draws.

Of course, maybe it's because of rebelliousness, maybe it's because both of his parents are deep ACGN patients, or maybe it's because he found out that the COSER he liked when he was young was his own mother and was hit hard, Yi Dong has very little interest in related fields, and even has some prejudice against otaku culture, which Mo Tan believes is the core reason why he and Gu Xiaole often quarrel.

As for his 'talent', I don't know if it is similar to the above reasons. Under the premise that both his parents are among the best at dealing with the 'supernatural' in the world, although Yi Dong does not know this, he has not been interested in 'spirits' and 'ghosts' since he was a child. Compared to those floating things, he prefers Western-style settings such as dragons and demons, and... as we just mentioned, he is a thorough materialist.

However, after an unexpected encounter with Mo Tan not long ago, in which he was almost driven to his knees and kissing the soles of his shoes by his singing, Yi Dong, who had been educated on some "under-the-table" knowledge by his friends, is no longer as materialistic as before.

This is understandable. After all, any sober-minded person should know that the strength of thrillers and heroic films depends on the screenwriter's imagination. However, there may be people who can still insist on believing in materialism after witnessing or even experiencing "superpowers" with their own eyes... but it is definitely not Yi Dong.

After Yidong realized that many seemingly unreasonable things actually exist in reality, the "Winter" in the game also quietly underwent some changes that even he himself was not aware of.

This change did not immediately manifest itself in the character's strength, nor did it change his skill strength or character panel, nor did it even allow him to gain a single new talent, but it did elevate his compatibility with the profession of [Medium] to a whole new level.

After taking an unconscious step, the first 'job' he performed in the field was the 'special maintenance' of the former Fenrir team, now the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

This is a very normal thing. After all, no matter how special they are, Ned, Inna, Salazar and Crabbe are actually dead. Even if the "shelf life" of the soul is extremely long, the complete death of the body is far more serious than ordinary people imagine.

In the eyes of most people, the most concerning aspects of undead creatures are mostly causing casualties and spreading panic. As for the fact that their appearance is relatively terrible, it has long been common knowledge in people's eyes and no one has delved into it.

But others may not delve into it too deeply, but Yi Dong, the [medium], cannot. When he began to delve into it, he immediately realized how difficult it is to keep an undead creature's appearance beautiful... or not scary, because in most cases, the decay process of the flesh after death is irreversible. Not only that, the difficulty of keeping a 'corpse' fresh and keeping a 'ghost' fresh is even more different!

It is also because of this that, although with Yidong's strength and knowledge, it is not difficult to stop Ned, Inna, Salazar and Crabbe in the coffins from decaying. Just a little arrangement can keep their bodies unchanged for a hundred years. But after they leave the coffins and are re-endowed with souls... the difficulty of this task suddenly increases to a crazy level.

With the help of biology, mysticism, his own thinking, and the advanced study materials borrowed from the Naxxramas Academy with the help of Foster Ward, Yidong quickly realized the problem. Simply put, the flesh of any creature will be damaged. For the living, the manifestation of this damage is aging, and for the dead, it is manifested as decay. When the soul is revived in the dead body, there will be a very serious phenomenon...similar to the rejection reaction, which will greatly increase the rate of decay of the body until it is reduced to ashes.

Take the example of dragons, which are most likely to become natural undead. After their souls are reawakened, they can only maintain their appearance in life for a short period of time. Before long, they will become corpse dragons that are more friendly to evil energy and negative energy, and lose the unique "dragon power" of dragons.

After that, corpse dragons will gradually turn into bone dragons, with only strong and magical bones left. By then, having lost their muscles and scales, they will become much more fragile, and eventually not only will they be unable to fly with their physical bodies, the different dragon breaths of each species will also be transformed into undead breath.

When the bones are completely decayed, these bone dragons will have two endings. The soul fire of most of them will be extinguished after being completely decayed, completing the final "end". However, a very small number of bone dragons will "wake up" a second time in the soul fire and become "dragon liches" that have completely lost their flesh and exist completely in the form of spirits, and regain most of the dragon characteristics they had in their previous lives.

Referring to the four corresponding specializations of the School of Undead, leaving aside some special plagues, zombies, gargoyles, and corpse dragons should belong to the category of [Flesh and Blood]; skeleton soldiers and bone dragons belong to [Bone Control]; dragon liches, banshees, ghosts and other beings that have completely freed themselves from the constraints of the flesh belong to [Spirit Calling].

Therefore, although his level in [Soul Summoning] was quite high, and he even achieved such a feat as guiding the souls of Ned and others back to their bodies, Yidong's expertise in [Flesh and Blood], [Bone Control] and [Plague] was very low. It was quite difficult to ensure that the bodies of Ned and others... or the corpses, did not deteriorate any further.

You have to know that although he has a special profession of [Medium] which is similar to Futaba's [Spellbinder], his strength is only at a high-level. In order to ensure that Ned and others' bodies do not further decay, he must stay with the four of them in most cases, and use the skill of [Ghost Realm] to forcibly create a special environment that can suppress the "rejection reaction".

When they were in the [Ghost Realm], the decay rate of the four people's bodies was only three to seven times that of normal life forms, and Yidong needed to perform "routine maintenance" about every week. When they left the [Ghost Realm], although they could act normally like they did when they were besieging Futaba in Academy City, as long as they did not receive "routine maintenance" for more than a day, their bodies, which had rapidly accelerated their decay rate, would collapse at a high speed, and then suffer irreversible damage.

Before the start of the [Battle of Guilt], Yidong's greatest progress was to extend the duration of the fixed area [Ghost Realm] to three days without interference, and to create a small [Cursed Bracelet] for each of the four people. Although it had no properties, it could create a very small mini [Ghost Realm] that lasted no more than twelve hours after being activated.

until today--

"Although I did find some inspiration, it stands to reason that... as long as you can function normally outside of this room for more than three hours without feeling obviously 'uncomfortable', you have already met my highest expectations."

Sitting with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse around the mini psychic tower on the third floor of the mansion, Yi Dong, who had transformed his existence into the form of the 'dead', did not turn into the horrible rotting corpse he had before. Although his face was pale, his eye sockets were deep, and his eyes were flashing with spiritual fire, he could still be considered a handsome guy. He frowned, rubbed his chin and said, "But now it seems that the result of the previous 'routine maintenance' has been so good that it seems unreal..."

Crabbe laughed and grinned, "That's a good thing! If we can really stay like this, even if we leave the [Ghost Realm] we will only slowly weaken like a living person. Then Master Winter, you don't have to work so hard as before, and you have to stay by our side all the time to help maintain our bodies?" "It's not that simple."

Yi Dong waved his hand, revealing a smile that was not emotionally stiff but biologically extremely stiff, and said to Crabbe: "If you only look at your physical condition from the last routine maintenance to now, this is indeed a good thing. After all, at this rate of decay after leaving the [Ghost Realm], if you only hope not to cause irreversible permanent damage, you can at least survive independently outside for more than half a year. Of course, that's without taking combat into account, but..."

Nervously pinching Ned's thigh, Yinna, who was expecting but afraid of being disappointed, pursed her lips and asked Yidong nervously: "But what?"

"But I must know why this is happening. After all, if I don't understand the principle, this good thing may very likely become your death warrant at some point in the future."

Yi Dong once again scanned the four people with his phosphorescent eyes and said sternly, "You are not powerful souls capable of transforming into dracolichs. Although you are unique in your specialness, once you lose your body, your souls, which are very fragile compared to any other lich, will definitely dissipate in an instant. So before I figure out why I can successfully deceive your bodies and make them mistakenly think they are 'still alive', you are not allowed to leave this mansion again."

Salazar and Ned nodded immediately and said in unison: "Yes, Master Winter."

"Relax, this is just a necessary insurance measure. I can guarantee that in the general direction..."

Yi Dong's eyes swept across Crabbe and Yinna's faces, and he chuckled, "This is definitely a huge breakthrough. If I can successfully solve this problem, the day when you can regain your freedom to a certain extent is not far away."

"Great!"

Yinna immediately smiled in relief, and then said seriously: "But Master Winter, we don't need 'freedom' that much. I have told you many times before that the four of us will definitely repay the kindness of being reborn this time!"

Ned, Crabbe and Salazar beside them nodded vigorously immediately, indicating that what Inna said was exactly what they thought, and their promise to go through fire and water for the mysterious gentleman and Master Winter would never change in the slightest.

"Oh, you can rest assured about this. As someone said, there will indeed be a long-term employment relationship between us. Note that it is an employment relationship, not the old-fashioned dregs of master and servant."

Yi Dong smiled and said in a brisk tone: "We will provide work, compensation, treatment and a comfortable environment, and you will also help with some work when your ability allows, just like the last time in Academy City. Generally speaking, it is a win-win deal, and everything I have done during this period can be regarded as an 'investment'."

Ned and the others nodded in unison, but their expressions became complicated involuntarily, especially Crabbe and Gina. After thinking about the last "work" in Academy City, their eyebrows were almost frowned.

As for the reason...it was naturally the content of their last "job" after waking up as the dead.

  The girl who was clearly the target of their attack but who ultimately tried to save them at all costs has returned to their memory!

Perhaps it was a reflection of the soul gradually regaining its activity. Futaba, the new wizard of Fenrir's team who had been forgotten by the four of them and had fought side by side with the four of them and the Black Brahma Priest until the last moment at the border of Marshal Territory and Fire Claw Territory, was remembered again by Ned, Gina, Crabbe and Salazar. The time was exactly the night after the ambush in Academy City, when the four of them reunited with Idong.

However, when they told Yidong about this, he simply told them that it was his own doing to make them forget about Futaba, and his purpose was to prevent the previous encirclement and suppression, which had been extremely chaotic and fragmented throughout the process.

It was also from that time that Ned and his companions, who were dubbed the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" by a certain mastermind and were given the titles of "Plague", "Death", "War" and "Famine" respectively, realized that the "work" they would face in the future would be far more difficult and complex than common sense.

But even so——

They still made the choice without hesitation and decided to accept the employment of the mastermind behind the scenes.

Say goodbye to the mediocre and heroic self of the past, and embark on a life that is destined to be restless and uneasy.

This is not a drastic change of temperament, Ned and the others are still the same as before.

In the words of Mo Tan when he was in the 'chaotic neutral' personality, this was simply the open-mindedness that is unique to highly intelligent life forms after having died once.

Chapter 2351: End