this infinite world

As is well known, one of the major selling points of Dark Souls is its ridiculously high difficulty.

Many players have repeatedly failed against the first boss, the Asylum Demon, dying so many times they've questioned their existence and even wondered if they're playing a fake game. While many players who enjoy a challenge will try again and again, to alleviate this extreme challenge and also provide a possibility for players who are not good at high-difficulty games to complete the game, the developers have specially designed a clever system—

—That is the "White Talisman".

The white talisman is a symbol used to summon spirits. In the game, players can often see this summoning symbol, which emits a soft white light, in front of the BOSS's room. Touching it will summon NPCs or other players who are playing the game to fight alongside you.

Of course, while multiplayer battles significantly increase the boss's health, and the summoned allies vary in skill level, group battles are generally much simpler than solo fights. In most cases, players in the main world only need to stay on the sidelines to protect themselves, casting a spell or two from a distance to easily defeat the enemy and achieve victory in the boss battle with a higher margin for error.

However, when these summoning runes, which should only exist within the game mechanics, actually appeared before Yang Yun's eyes, their underlying meaning became extremely intriguing. The game's system notification clearly stated, "You have entered the world of XXX," which is theoretically impossible in reality—if true, does it mean that every living being in the Dark Souls world possesses its own parallel universe? Does the number of worlds perfectly correspond to the number of living beings?

The rules of the virtual world cannot be simply equated with the laws of reality. This is precisely what shocked Yang Yun, since there had never been any information about this white summoning rune in the vast memory bank he obtained from the Dragon Hunter Armor.

However, on the other hand, existence implies its own justification.

Since this white talisman truly exists here and even emits its own light, it means it should be something that can be triggered normally. If that's the case, Yang Yun really should investigate further...

"Snapped!"

With a light snap of his fingers, the crow-men surrounding the white light on the ground, seemingly chattering away, were instantly sliced ​​and replaced, along with the space within several meters around them, appearing in the dark wilderness several kilometers away. Yang Yun, meanwhile, slowly walked forward, his eyes fixed on the "white rune" on the ground composed of a series of runes—

Then, he had to admit that he couldn't understand it.

This wasn't surprising; Yang Yun was well aware of his limitations. He lacked Chu Xuan's wisdom to understand the essence of all things, and he wasn't a traditional cultivator like Qi Tengyi, who possessed a deep understanding of runes and was also extremely talented. For him, power had always been a tool to achieve his goals, not an object of study; the emphasis was on "as long as it works"... As for the underlying mechanisms, he had never cared much about them.

Therefore, adhering to this principle, the answer becomes obvious. Since the mystery cannot be solved from the outside, the most direct way is to experience it firsthand. Yang Yun extended his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread, and, mimicking the way spirits are summoned in the game, slowly infused a wisp of pure spiritual light into the rotating runes.

Then, a white light softly shone in this dark world.

Just like what happens when you touch the white rune in the game, under Yang Yun's focused gaze, a figure composed of pure light slowly rose from the center of the rune. This phantom was initially blurry, then quickly solidified, revealing a humanoid outline… and as the white rune completely dimmed, the summoned being had fully materialized, landing steadily on the scorched earth. "Is it already dark?"

The figure that appeared from the summoning white rune was a middle-aged man with an oak staff, a dark blue robe, and sallow skin. He wore a wide-brimmed pointed hat, and his overall appearance was very similar to the type of magician often seen in movies and novels.

The man looked around blankly, and after confirming that all he could see was thick darkness, he couldn't help but mutter a complaint: "I've always hated the dark..."

After uttering his complaint, he finally noticed Yang Yun standing not far away, completely silent. Of course, after a brief moment of surprise, the middle-aged man realized that Yang Yun was the one who had summoned him, and immediately asked with a tone tinged with curiosity, "May I ask where this is? And who are you?"

"So that's how it works."

Without answering the question from the person in front of him, Yang Yun first glanced at the white talisman that had quickly dimmed and was obviously unusable for the time being, then nodded, revealing an expression of complete control: "No wonder there is a summoning mark left here. On one hand, it's an experiment, and on the other hand, it's 'fishing'."

As he spoke, Yang Yun even clapped his hands: "Hmm, a clever idea."

"What are you talking about?" Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man revealed a genuine look of bewilderment.

Anyone who was summoned and then listened to this incoherent speech would probably be in a similar state of confusion... Unfortunately, Yang Yun did not give him a chance to continue.

"By utilizing the temporal and spatial characteristics of this world, you have constructed a summoning mark that should not exist in the first place—this alone is enough to prove that your understanding of 'time' and 'space' has reached an extremely profound level."

Yang Yun looked up at the dark sky that swallowed everything, his gaze seemingly piercing through the illusion: "Even this world itself is by no means the 'future' or 'deep sea era' predicted by any means, but rather a 'past' that you forcibly cut out from the river of time by taking shortcuts."

"It is precisely because this history was forcibly stripped of its temporal continuity that this fragmented world, without source or end, was completely cut off from energy replenishment, ultimately losing any possibility of a future and sinking into eternal darkness..."

As he spoke, Yang Yun turned his gaze to the mage who was still in a daze beside him, a rare look of approval in his eyes: "My deduction should be correct, right? An unparalleled archmage in history, a wise man who understands the essence of linking the fire, the 'sage' of the Lothric Dynasty, and also the mentor who personally taught the two princes..."

"Andil." (End of Chapter)