As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 734 Chive Boxes and Millet Porridge
This was the first time in Sauron's life that someone had offered to protect him, and it was this wicked woman who did it.

Soren looked at her smiling face. This woman was an wicked woman... She was extremely selfish, morally alienated and distorted, and ethically unrestrained. Moreover, she often went to extremes. The old men and women on the roadside were playing cards, smoking and chatting. They were talking loudly or chatting about everyday things. Who could tell that this woman had more blood on her hands than a demon?

But she said she wanted to protect him.

That's absolutely ridiculous.

He wouldn't feel any attraction; he would just find it outrageous.

"You also know that we will become enemies in the future."

"But that's the future, and helping you is helping myself."

Lillian's answer didn't reveal any flaws.

For a long time, Soren had almost forgotten that no matter how outrageous she was, she was still the nominal head of the "Endless Corridor" and its helmsman.

Lillian couldn't possibly be the kind of person who acts impulsively out of affection or on a whim; someone like that wouldn't be alive today.

She's disgusting when she's an opponent.

If they're on the same side, they're undoubtedly a great help.

"coming."

Soren looked up at the entrance of the residential area.

Lillian followed his gaze.

Li Nuo limped in, leaning on a cane. He was pale and unusually thin, as if a gust of wind would knock him over.

"That's Mr. Li."

Lillian seemed to be deep in thought.

Sauron made a shushing gesture and used a skill that wouldn't be easily noticed.

The next second, Li Nuo looked over, and that one glance made Lillian feel a little uneasy.

Li Nuo stood still, staring straight at them.

"That shouldn't be happening..." Lillian thought to herself. Sauron had used a skill to hide his location. The people in this world were weaklings; how could they possibly notice someone was watching him?

"Is it an illusion..."

Li Nuo murmured to himself.

"Looks like he's about to die... I need to finish writing his will quickly."

"Xiao Nuo!" an old man called out to him, "If you write a will, will my things be included?"

Li Nuo smiled and said, "Grandpa, if you call me Dad, I'll leave my toilet with you."

The noise rose and fell.

Lillian and Soren were already standing on the roof of the low building.

“This guy’s sensitivity is frighteningly high…” Soren explained, “Even if the world’s strength is low, the strength of the human brain is sometimes unrelated to the physical body. He’s the kind of natural manipulator, so it’s best not to look at him too much.”

The implication is that the current goal is to complete the content related to "The Room of the Warrior of Light". In the past timeline, Li Nuo would not have met the two of them now.

Although it is possible to use methods such as close communication and forced brainwashing afterward to make Li Nuo subconsciously cooperate with the accidental death.

However, such external interference will most likely be defined as "intervention by external forces".

Sauron cannot risk this.

Lillian sat on the roof tiles, smoothing her skirt as she watched Li Nuo with great interest.

"He has a bad temper, but he's not a bad person at heart... Being too clever isn't good either. If you're not going to be my subordinates in the future, I'd better not cooperate with you now."

Soren behind him ignored him.

Lillian turned to look at him and laughed.

"Just kidding, what did the [Explorer] discover?"

Sauron released the panel.

The Explorer's panel is "Skills," which is unrelated to the Corridor staff. This is why Sauron had to be the one to kill Lino.

[Real-world scenario: Go to April 1, 2030, and kill Li Nuo!]

[Update: Li Nuo has been discovered]

[Strategy: Killing him is too easy...]

Soren: "An accidental death."

[If it was an accidental death...]

【…】

【…】

Send him a box of instant noodles, then sprinkle some water on the ground...

Sauron: "If this method fails, what other methods are there?"

[No more…]

The target is "too cautious".

Even if this bastard were targeted by Death in the world of "Final Destination," he might just outlive his way to death.

Lillian stood up: "Well, there's nothing we can do about it then. We'll make the best of it. We have a few chances to try and fail, it's okay."

The Time Witch

The woman who devoured the "Detective Conan World Elementary School Student Time Law"

Soren: "I see."

Lillian: "Hey...hey hey hey! You can see me!"

"nonsense."

Soren jumped off the low building.

Actually, not everything is visible; Lillian clearly made preparations for this.

[Identity holders] are a problem in all five corridors. Most people will choose to kill them before they get up. Most of the survivors rely too much on the convenience brought by their [identity], which leads to carelessness and death in high-level scenarios. The last small group is the group that should be guarded against.

Of course... we have to exclude Master Wang here, because he was persecuted by the Cairo aliens and that's why he wasn't involved in so many troubles.

Soren walked toward Lino's residence, blatantly spying on Lillian's control panel along the way.

Lillian felt very uncomfortable throughout the journey. Although she was middle-aged, she couldn't stand this way of being "calmly strolling down the street while admiring your underwear".

[Time Ability: Although it can reverse time, each time it comes at a painful cost. The cooldown time is related to what is done after time is reversed. Generally speaking, the cooldown time is 1 second to 1 week. If it has too great an impact on the future, it will make it impossible to use the ability for a long time.]

“Let me see something else,” Soren said.

“What’s the difference between this and asking a woman to show me her underwear?” Lillian asked.

“Yes,” Soren said. “You’re probably not wearing underwear.”

"No wonder it's a pair of glasses; it makes everything so clear even with four eyes."

"Stop talking nonsense. Aren't you going to protect me? Let me see."

“You don’t need to make a plan, I have a way.” Lillian sighed. “Just trust me.”

Soren licked his upper palate and looked out the apartment building window.

He used his [Eye of the Strongest] to see that Li Nuo had already walked out of the kitchen with instant noodles, tripped and fell, and his head hit the edge of the table corner, but he survived by sheer luck.

"five minutes……"

"Yes, within five minutes."

Lillian nodded.

So, Sauron pulled out the Accident Maker from the Explorer's exclusive backpack slot.

"We need to make Li Nuo die in some other way to open a new timeline... an accidental death..."

As mentioned earlier, the [Accident Creation Machine] is shaped like a tablet computer. You just need to write the name of someone who is going to die on it, and then... it will turn into a [low-quality version of the Death Note Tablet].

"Hold on."

Before the operation began, Lillian had a question.

"I have a question: if Mr. Li were to die unexpectedly in a way different from before, would that mean that he, as a player, would be starting a new chapter, and the previous storyline would still be invalid?"

“Theoretically possible, but the power of this method is…” Soren turned to her and said seriously, “The player’s timeline starts from when he becomes a player, so death is the first save point and the ending is the last save point. Jumping from the ending save point to the death save point opens a new branch, which is a different way of dying. It’s like abolishing the ending save point and making this a ‘second playthrough’. The things the black marketeer did in the first playthrough become a link between the two stories, ‘The Room of the Warrior of Light’ and ‘Lin’s Room’, which is the connection point between the first playthrough and the second playthrough.”

Lillian nodded slightly: "The story of the first timeline has been replaced and moved to the second timeline, so the second timeline is what you actually experienced... while the first timeline has become a timeline that was inserted..."

Soren asked curiously, "You should know that."

Lillian: "I need to be sure what kind of people I'll be facing in the future."

Soren: "I told you before, you'd better find a way to erase this memory."

Lillian whispered, "The story we're telling now is about you and me. I'm a woman who wants cheap security."

Soren's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

His breathing became strange.

Four-Eyes made a mistake by not taking Marger's famous saying seriously: Don't get along with mature women in a naive way; a highway is much more comfortable to walk on than a mountain full of wild grass.

“So cute, you’re shy,” Lillian said, cradling Sauron in her arms.

"Please don't say such strange things while holding my glasses." Soren held out his hand.

Lillian stuck out her tongue and handed Soren back to the glasses frame.

Soren picked up the tablet, silently recited the "Ice Heart Mantra," and began planning Li Nuo's death.

The limitations of the [Accident Creation Machine] are that the target cannot be too powerful and must be familiar with the user. If the first two conditions are met, the time and manner of death will be determined and will interfere with "reality", causing the target to die due to various "accidents" within a specified time.

A layer of white light flashed from Soren's glasses, and the corners of his mouth turned up almost imperceptibly.

— "Li Nuo, who had fallen but survived, suddenly heard someone knocking on the door. He went out, but there was no one at the door. When he was about to go back, he twisted his ankle and hit his head on the wall, killing himself."

An "OK" appeared on the screen of the [Accident Manufacturing Machine].

But five minutes later.

On the screen: Failure...

Reason for failure: Li Nuo had almost hit his head on the ground and was now lying on the sofa, not moving.

"sofa……"

Soren stroked his chin.

"Back in time."

Lillian nodded, her pupils flashing red. Soren saw a phantom clock appear behind her, and time went back ten minutes.

Soren continued writing down Li Nuo's manner of death: "A lamp smashed on his head."

failure.

"Back in time."

—"Twisted ankle and died."

failure.

"Back in time."

—"Computer exploded."

failure.

"Back in time."

"He choked to death on his own saliva while lying on the sofa."

failure.

"Back in time."

After trying thirty times in total, the [Accident Manufacturing Machine] experienced a 1% chance of malfunctioning, so Sauron had no choice but to wait.

"Lillian, would you like to eat?"

"don't want……"

Lillian clutched her stomach, her face contorted in pain.

Only then did Sauron realize that her silence was due to the backlash from using time reversal.
[The Explorer] Observation.

Lillian: "Don't look!"

[Random debuff after rewinding time: Extremely long-lasting "menstrual cramps"]

Sauron: "Ah..."

Everyone else was dumbfounded.

I originally thought the negative effects of using time reversal would be more serious.

"Ugh, this is so annoying..." Lillian squatted on the ground and said helplessly, "This is the most troublesome side effect... ten times the menstrual cramps..."

“It can’t be that bad,” Soren said. “Someone like you wouldn’t care even if your limbs were torn off.”

Lillian forced a smile through her pained expression and said, "Look at the measurements between my legs..."

[The Explorer] Observation.

Title: The Woman with the Breasts

[Effect: Abyss-level weapon, a subspace region capable of storing large amounts of data]

“Did you see that?” Lillian asked.

"Ah, um..." Soren was completely dumbfounded.

Lillian's lips trembled as she said, "So the pain of my menstrual cramps is magnified countless times..."

Sauron: "This is the first time I've ever heard of such a theory..."

Lillian: "Anyway... we can wait... because Mr. Li didn't die unexpectedly... the World Tree will use various methods to make him die unexpectedly within these ten days... you can take advantage of these days to observe him carefully and make a plan."

Since things had come to this point, Soren felt that this was the only way to proceed for now.

……

My name is Soren.

Sauron is a strange name, isn't it? It's because my dad is a huge fan of "The Lord of the Rings," and he hopes that I will become a behind-the-scenes mastermind like Sauron in the movie...

It turns out that a person's future may be related to their name.

I showed a calmer mind than my father from a very young age, and by my early twenties I was already the brains of the family business.

Ah……

You must be very curious about me now...

"Why should I spend ten days taking care of a wicked woman with menstrual cramps!"

Soren threw the bag of chive boxes he was holding onto the ground.

"I'm a damn rich kid, why did I have to go to a breakfast stall to buy chive pancakes, steamed dumplings, and millet porridge!"

Soren gasped for breath, unable to believe what he had been through these past few days.

Amidst the strange looks from passersby, he picked up the chive pancake, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, turned around, bought a new batch of chive pancakes, and then returned to his rented room.

Lillian was sitting behind the window in the house, looking at Li Nuo's house.

The building they rented was located in a position that allowed them to observe Li Nuo's residence.

"came back?"

Lillian glanced sideways at Soren, who had just entered.

"how's it going?"

Soren placed the millet porridge and chive dumplings on a plate and served them to her.

Lillian said while drinking her porridge, "My menstrual cramps are a little better..."

"I'm talking about Li Nuo!"

"What are you yelling about!"

"Today is the tenth day!"

As he roared, Soren handed Lillian a dish of vinegar, chive pancakes, and steamed dumplings.

"Over the past ten days, World Tree has tried various methods, but this Mr. Li is too terrifying. The moment he first sensed that something was about to happen, he turned his house into a shelter."

As Lillian spoke, she picked up a chive pancake and took a big bite.

"I feel like I wasted ten days."

"There is no waste."

Soren touched his glasses.

“Lillian, once you’ve finished eating, we’ll go back to ten days ago. I’ll know how to kill Li Nuo.”

Lillian pouted and chewed, saying, "Let's make this clear first: if my abilities are involved in the occurrence of a 'major event,' I will suffer even more severe negative consequences. If anything happens, you have to keep me safe."

Sauron: "Weren't you the one protecting me?"

Lillian: "I'm a wicked woman, I'm a complete liar."

Soren didn't care; he had no intention of having anyone protect him, nor did he need to.

At this moment, Lillian suddenly asked, "By the way, since you come from the future, there are a few people I want to ask... I've been hesitating these past few days because I'm worried that those guys will die in the future."

She looked at Soren's expressionless face and asked, "My teammates..."

Soren: "They're all doing well, I don't know the specifics."

Lillian: "Hmm... how's that guy named 'Dota'?"

“Dota?” Soren remembered the name: “The president of the Circus Association…”

"Ah."

The Circus Guild, one of the three major guilds of the original "Endless Corridor," was destroyed at the very time when Li Nuo and Kroyd were fighting. The person who destroyed this guild was Lillian in front of her. The Dota she was asking about was the Grand Master of the Circus Guild.

“Dota is my friend. We came out of the ‘Immortality Train’ together and have always had a good relationship.”

Lillian's words seemed to contain something that puzzled Sauron.

If he said that six months later, Lillian would lead a group of people to wipe out the entire Circus Association...

"All dead?"

Lillian noticed a slight tremor in Sauron's pupils.

"Ah."

"Looks like I did it."

"..."

She looked out the window, the warm breeze ruffling her hair, the light shining on her face obscuring her expression.

"Years ago, Dota started acting strangely after meeting a 'madman businessman' who imitated the 'Endless' mechanism and messed up the 'Endless'."

A businessman like a madman.

Sauron noticed this title, so the bloodshed that occurred in the "Endless Corridor" might also have been the work of black market merchants.

This means that Li Nuo was just an unexpected part of his plan.

"I'm done eating."

Lillian turned to look at him.

"Preparing to go back to ten days ago."

……

4 month 1 day.

Soren stood downstairs at Li Nuo's house once again.

"The World Tree's plan to kill Li Nuo failed because it used too proper methods."

Soren leaned against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his lips, a smirk playing on his face.

"The most reasonable way to die here is the one that you would never expect."

Lillian, clutching her stomach, leaned against him and said with difficulty, "Hurry up, I have a feeling that if you succeed, this matter will have a huge impact."

The "very large" she mentioned generally refers to the appearance of the "fate changer".

The biggest cost of going back in time is that if going back in time affects too many things, it will backfire, and the intensity of the backfire is related to the impact caused.

Lillian wasn't lying before. If the accidental death of Lino by Sauron creates a new timeline, it will bring unpredictable and enormous backlash to her.

"I know that."

Soren responded and then took out the [Accident Creation Machine].

He wrote down on the screen a way that would make Li Nuo's death both unexpected and reasonable.

—"He was accidentally hit and killed by a dump truck belonging to the Cairo aliens at home."

(End of this chapter)