Infinite spooky game

God told the priest: "God is without emotion or desire, without thoughts or ideas; the so-called seven emotions and eight sufferings are nothing but what people impose on us."

At that time, the priest was already familiar with the god who came by chance and knew the mercy of this god. He asked disrespectfully: "Why do people in the world struggle because of the oracle?"

God said: "Because people have desires, so-called oracles are the desires of people."

The priest asked: "Then can you save people from suffering?"

God remained silent for a long time, until the priest thought He had fallen asleep again, and when he stood up and prepared to leave, he sighed into the void:
"Old desires are buried, new desires will be revived; mankind is immortal, but sin will last forever."

……

In the eastern district of the Holy City, Wade was watching the side quests and muttered to himself, "I don't know what the fire reward is for. I'd rather go to the square and do a striptease than donate my flesh..."

Asakura Yuko responded humorlessly: "Then you will be arrested as a 'heretic'."

The donations are changing. Perhaps because the previous donation method is too inefficient, the believers line up and walk to the priests.

They cut their own meat as docilely as sheep, as if they felt no pain at all, walking forward and backward at the same pace, putting the meat into the jar and leaving straight away, as if they had just completed a trivial task like eating and drinking water.

Asakura Yuko looked at their rapidly healing wounds, thoughtfully.

Such a powerful self-healing ability actually appeared in an ordinary NPC. Combined with the information previously provided by Flor that "the Holy Lord gave the authority to humans to share", Asakura Yuko intuitively felt the meaning of the definition of "the person closest to God".

"If we no longer feel hungry, will non-fatal wounds heal quickly?" Asakura Yuko adjusted her glasses. "If we establish a hypothetical model of higher-dimensional creatures feeding humans, it makes sense that the Divine Lord used his authority to pollute these NPCs and create this inexhaustible supply of meat."

Vader shrugged. "That's true, but I don't think human flesh would have any value to a god-level being like the Holy Lord. Just like I love eating beef, but if I were told that I would have to cut off one of my hands if I wanted to eat beef forever, I would definitely give it up."

Asakura Yuko nodded in agreement: "So the donation is probably just an excuse. It is not the Holy Lord who needs the believers to donate, but the priests.

"It is known that there are also dark nights in the Holy City, and it is not absolutely safe. Believers enter the city to seek refuge, but given the inherent greed of human nature, they will inevitably become dissatisfied with the status quo in the long run. The prestige of the Holy Lord is weakening, and if the priests want to maintain the stability of the original power system, they must use some violent means as a deterrent.

"At the same time, after donating and paying sunk costs, believers naturally do not want the authority of the Holy Lord to collapse, causing their investment to be lost. In other words, the more they invest, the more believers will maintain the authority of the Holy Lord, and the more stable the Holy City will be."

This is completely an explanation based on the real religion. Vader was shocked: "In this copy, I would rather believe that the meat has a real use. According to what you said, it is not impossible that the destruction of the Holy City was caused by the overthrow of angry believers."

Asakura Yuko thought about it seriously and said, "It is indeed possible, and the possibility is higher than being destroyed by monsters."

As if to cater to her words, a line of small silver-white words appeared below the main task on the system interface:
[“The truth behind the destruction of the Holy City” speculation: Three centuries after its birth, the Holy City successfully turned into a dirty place full of deception and sin. Contradictions and pain accumulated to a certain extent, just like a gunpowder barrel full of fuel, it only needs a spark to trigger. One day in XXXX, an angry believer finally couldn't stand the oppression of the priests and threw the first spark into the gunpowder barrel... (consume 1 spark to unlock the follow-up)]

[Note: If you push any speculated plot to the end, the plot will become the truth and the main quest will be considered completed.]

The fire, whose function was unknown before, now revealed its connection with the main quest, and the side quest that seemed optional suddenly became important. Even if it looked malicious and temporarily dangerous, in order to complete the main quest, the player had to bite the bullet and complete it.

After reading the new text, Wade narrowed his eyes and said, "If I understand correctly, there are many reasons for the destruction of the Holy City. We need to collect fire in various ways to unlock the corresponding plot?"

"Yes." Asakura Yuko responded, "Completing side quests is one way to obtain fire. I wonder if there are other ways."

"I wish there were another way, but unfortunately there isn't one yet." Wade spread his hands helplessly, "By the way, are you going to do this side quest?"

"Let's wait and see for a day." Asakura Yuko shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure whether the donation will have any negative effects other than injury."

"It's a wise choice. Instead of playing house with ordinary NPCs here, it's better to go back and ask Father Lach for advice." Wade suggested.

He seemed to suddenly remember something and asked out of the blue, "By the way, what is the effect of your ID card? Since we have decided to cooperate, let's tell each other the truth. I'm quite curious about what the ID card is all about."

Asakura Yuko really didn't expect that a player at the top of the list would be so blunt in seeking information. It could be said that he was extremely arrogant or ignorant of the world, and it really made people laugh and cry.

She lowered the corners of her lips and said expressionlessly: "It's not necessary. Even if I tell you the truth, you may not believe me. It's better not to tell it."

"Wow, is this an outrageous effect? ​​I'm getting more and more curious."

"If you are really curious, wait until you leave this instance alive and join the Tingfeng Guild. We share information within our guild."

"Are you trying to recruit someone?"

The two of them chatted nonsense back and forth, and before they knew it, they were back to the square outside the temple.

Without warning, there was a loud bang above my head, and the resounding bell rang in my ears and echoed in all directions, accompanied by the panicked shouts of the believers around me.

"The bell is ringing, it's getting dark!"

"Get in the house quickly!"

Fear spread quickly, and the panicked crowd had no order at all. People fled in all directions, trampling and bumping into each other. The fastest ones kicked open the door of the nearest house, rushed in, and slammed the door shut; the slower ones who were knocked down crawled and followed, looking for various low shelters to cover their heads.

Asakura Yuko did not rush into the temple, and neither did Vader. They both looked up at the sky.

"when!"

The golden light that enveloped the entire city had a boundary, and a white line divided the sky, one side was light, and the other side was pure darkness.

Just like a stage play with poor scenery, day and night are simply controlled by the switch of the spotlight; there is no process of dimming the brightness, and when the time comes, the night falls unreasonably, and you will be caught off guard if you are not careful.

"Let's go back quickly. I don't want to break the rules on the first day." Wade was already moving as he spoke, turning into a shadow and running towards the temple. In front of the temple, the white marble steps looked like the material of tombstones in the evening. Asakura Yuko followed Wade from a distance and climbed the stairs on the ground full of tombstones.

Vader pushed open the heavy door and stepped in. She followed him into the temple.

The long table was already full of players.

……

Qi Si walked around the courtyard, admiring the corpses scattered all over the ground, and was extremely disappointed with Father Laci's aesthetic taste.

There was still no news about the authority of time and space. The moment he descended into the holy city, his perception of authority became blurred.

To be precise, it was the authority that gathered in one place and attracted him when he was far away. When he approached, it suddenly dispersed into stardust in the sky and merged with the air. Even if he just walked around the street, he could smell the scattered breath of authority.

Of course, this does not mean that he is helpless. Since the authority is scattered throughout the Holy City, then he can just devour the entire Holy City.

During the time of entering this dungeon in advance, Zis had already planted a lot of interference and pollution, and controlled most of the ordinary NPCs, including the believer named "Flor".

Spreading false clues and false information to mislead players' puzzle-solving ideas has always been a game that Qis or Qi likes and is passionate about. Gently moving the pointer of fate with your finger and leading the story to a hopeful ending through a series of accidents and coincidences is an interesting thing in itself.

Qis sat back on the main seat in the temple hall, closed his eyes, and continued to quietly play the role of an NPC statue.

The power to control souls has now become no different from possessing another's body. His mind palace is as vast as the ocean, and his consciousness is divided into tiny drops of water, seeping into every corner of the Holy City. Countless believers and priests look up to the sky, moving their lips and praying silently:
"The Lord of the Gods, exiled from the rules of the world,

The soul master who controls the power of contract transactions,
A great existence that outlasts history.

I pray for your attention.
I pray that you will answer the prayers of your faithful followers.”

Flor's corpse crawled out of the corner, lowered his head, relaxed his limbs, slowly walked through the crowd, and walked to the cemetery on the other side of the Holy City. He lay on the pile of corpses and buried himself with soil...

The players returned to the temple one after another. Qisi, who was used to sitting on the main seat, sat back in his seats without looking around.

"Let's share the clues we got." Asakura Yuko took her seat and spoke first, "I interrogated a believer named 'Flore' in the East District and figured out most of the worldview of this instance and recorded it..."

She handed the history book page in her hand to the player beside her, on which was clearly written the information that she had already told Wade.

After one player finished reading it, he passed the notes to the next person, and soon everyone knew about the divine Lord's bestowal of authority, the believers' donation of flesh and blood, and... the truth about the ending that could be unlocked with fire.

The players did not show too much surprise. Most of those present had completed a lot of dungeons and were familiar with the various mechanisms.

The communication proceeded in an orderly manner in a clockwise order.

The amount of information obtained by everyone was almost the same, which was nothing more than collecting donations in the East District, trying pagans in front of the temple, and throwing corpses into the cemetery.

Among them, two people obtained special records. It was not the kind that Asakura Yuko wrote on the pages of history books with her own pen, but the lines of words that were automatically refreshed on the pages.

The short-haired girl's record is [God said, the gathering must not be stopped], and the corresponding skill is [Hold a new judgment outside of a specific session].

Fu Jue recorded [The Son of God was crucified], and according to him, no specific skills were formed.

The delegates had just escaped from the pursuit of the tumor monster and had been listless and uninterested in the discussion. But now they finally perked up and cast a suspicious look at Fu Jue.

How can it sound so fake without a record of skills?

While listening to the players' discussion, William took a pen and drew on paper to take notes.

He put down his pen and said aloud, "The mechanism of this dungeon is very simple. We need to complete various side quests or explore various scenes in the Holy City to collect fire and unlock the ending. It is not yet known how many fires are needed to complete the main quest, but I think that number must not be too small.

"That is to say, in order to complete the main quest, all of us must first put aside the faction quests, unite, and collect fire together. What difference does it make whether you are a believer or a pagan? Even if you complete the faction quests, you still can't pass the level if you don't solve the main quest.

"Also, everyone should already know that the anomalies in the Holy City are related to the night. Monsters that can turn people into pagans appear at night. I personally think that if you want to crack the worldview, you can't do without exploring the nighttime situation. What do you think?"

No one raised any objections. Only the pagans could move around at night without being affected. If they wanted to complete the exploration mission, players from this camp were undoubtedly the best candidates.

"I hope that friends in the Pagan camp can put aside their grudges, put the overall situation first, and advance the main quest during the night operations. After all, the completion of this kind of main quest is counted as the sum of all our players."

William spoke more earnestly, "The final instance is about to begin. This is a strange game and a game between all of humanity. It is not limited to the twenty-two identity card holders, but also concerns the fate of everyone. When the watchers outside the starry sky have bared their fangs, the caged beasts are still fighting for the scraps. Don't you think it's ridiculous?
"You should have heard of that statement since the novice period. Weird games will target powerful players and deliberately create a situation where they are bound to die, so that the 'strong die and the weak live', just to wear down the human spirit and weaken the human power. Not only that, the weird game's preferential treatment of massacre players is also intended to split the player group.
"We are all among the top 1,000 players, but we are gathered in this dungeon where people are bound to die. The deaths are not due to lack of strength, but because of the ridiculous dungeon mechanism and game rules... There is no doubt that this weird game has already stabbed us with malice, and it is using this divisive method of dividing the camps!"

"We absolutely cannot engage in internal strife before the war begins. We must make it clear that we are not enemies, but friends who fight against weirdness together. In this instance, we cannot guarantee that everyone will survive. We can only try to keep as many people alive as possible to retain strength for future battles against weirdness. Just think of it as... for humanity!"

This was a complete speech released by Jiuzhou's propaganda department, which was a mixture of truth and falsehood. The secrets about the "evil" were concealed, but no one expected that there would actually be players at the top of the list who believed in this statement, took it as a guiding principle, and said it with great conviction at this time.

All the representatives present knew the truth. They looked at each other for a moment, and saw embarrassment and irony in each other's eyes.

Of course, no one refuted William. Everyone showed an expression of deep agreement and said that they would definitely unite as one.

"Children, the time has come. I have prepared enough rooms for you. Please follow me." Father Rach's low voice came from the corner.

He did not know when he reappeared in the temple, holding an oil lamp that emitted a dim yellow light, blending with the darkness behind him into an old oil painting.

He spoke word by word: "There will be danger in the dark night. Please find your room as soon as possible. I wish you a safe night." (End of this chapter)