As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 737 is still a bit short.

Ultraman cannot admit defeat, nor can he run away.

He couldn't possibly play the Fiji Cup in front of a camera.

Ultraman is made of light, and he can extend into various forms to fulfill the compass's wish if he wants. The reason he refuses some things is because he believes they may not be related to justice.

For example, robbing a bank, or blocking the door lock of an old man downstairs—Li Nuo's wishes are full of absurdity and ridiculousness.

But Ultraman also gleaned another message from Soren's words.

"You have a way of sending me away, making me unable to face my own dignity, but you let me leave."

Soren was taken aback.

There was no misinterpretation.

it is true.

"I'd rather you leave than let your reputation be ruined by that bastard's wish. That way, neither of us loses, and I get what I want."

The Cairo aliens' camera was pointed at Soren's glasses.

This moment is like something out of a tokusatsu drama, where the rebels and the protagonists begin a dialogue about right and wrong.

"That bastard..."

Ultraman tries to read the "bastard's" information.

"Warrior of Light...?"

"Godf***ing Warrior of Light," Sauron thought to himself, but still smiled and said, "If I were lying, you could easily see through it, right?"

Ultraman nodded.

Soren said, "Since you don't want to fight anymore, then come and see what the consequences will be if you insist on defeating us."

Ultraman glanced at him, then scanned the surrounding creatures before finally looking at the sky full of black Fate Correctors.

“My purpose in coming here is to defeat those who interfere with fate, but you must tell me who those who interfere with fate are.”

Ultraman is light, and his potential is limitless. He cannot be defeated; only the "truth" can defeat him.

Sauron was also gambling; he was betting that the Giant of Light would see through the truth once he calmed down.

Otherwise, there is no chance of winning.

Seeing that Ultraman was still pondering, Soren got a little annoyed.

"I might as well just tell you."

"You started attacking right away because fate gave you the job of eliminating us two pests who disrupted the rhythm. But whether fate itself is problematic is for you to see for yourself. I can chat with you right away, but considering how drawn-out your worldview is, I'm thinking of whether I should bring out your second phase first. After all, that's how it is in your movies. People only listen to others when they're injured. What do you think?"

Soren pushed up his glasses.

"Actually, we don't need to fight at all. It's not because of nonsense like being on the same side. It's because we can't beat you. The strongest I can imagine in my life is not even a fraction of what you giants of light are like. The moment you appeared, we had already lost."

Ultraman: "Wait a minute..."

Soren: "There's no point in waiting here. Listen to me, and you can judge the truth for yourself, or you can choose not to judge and try to escape. If you really want to escape..."

He took off his glasses: "This can serve as a communication channel between you and me."

"You want to be my human form?" Ultraman asked.

"Who wouldn't want to be one!" Soren roared. "I dream of being Ultraman! It's not about justice, it's all about power! If I don't become powerful... I'll have my memories erased. Take a good look at your so-called destiny, Ultraman, Giant of Light... how can you be used as a tool by a World Tree whose logic is completely flawed?"

The Cairo aliens fixed all the cameras on Sauron's glasses and added some special effects.

Ultraman looked around again, sensing the conflict between the Fate Changer and Sauron, and finally came to the question of whether "escaping is not shameful".

next second.

Ultraman transformed into a giant beam of light and flew towards Soren, then entered his glasses.

Soren was thrown back by the impact, rolling several times on the ground before crashing into a wall and coming to a stop. After sitting up, he took off his glasses, and several lines of text appeared on the lenses.

"When I feel I need to make a choice, I will lend you my power, or I will defeat you."

At the same time, the panel popped up.

Player 5870 has obtained one opportunity to experience the "human form".

[This Ultraman is fake; he is merely a projection of Li Nuo's dreams, and therefore not the real human form of Ultraman.]

He will lend you a small portion of his strength when needed.

Soren put on his glasses, lowered his head, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

By then, the Fate Changers had already departed.

He and Lillian returned to the old neighborhood, right downstairs from Li Nuo's building. Soren was covered in wounds, while Lillian looked as if nothing had happened.

"You're such a stickler for your promises."

Even Lillian was surprised.

In fact, Soren had been standing in front of her the whole time, but he was keeping his promise to "protect women who suffer from menstrual cramps".

"So you're saying you don't actually need protection at all, is that it?" Soren glanced at her and said, "Your problems are your own, the promises I made belong solely to me, that's not important... the key is..."

He stood up, leaning against the wall.

The shouts from the streets and alleys, the smell of cooking oil from small restaurants, and the bustling voices of people could all reach your ears.

"Now that we're back, let's see how the World Tree judges this matter."

Soren took a deep breath and shouted, "I'm talking to you!"

This is the World Tree.

[Calculating, please wait]

Lillian suddenly said, "Wait a minute?"

Two timelines...

"Two timelines?" Lily paused for a moment, then her gentle tone turned sharp: "He won. He defeated your Fate Changers. What are you still thinking about!"

Because Soren keeps his promise, she will speak up for Soren, and also for her future self.

But... two timelines have appeared.

Lillian said, "The high-ranking officials of the World Tree clearly had ten days to kill him, but because of our interference, that ten-day record is gone. Are you too lazy to calculate it, or can't you figure it out?"

【us……】

Lillian continued, "Sorren Lee's demands are simple: it's a fact that Lino didn't die, and it's also a fact that Lino died; it's a fact that he first died unexpectedly, became a player, was tricked into surviving, and that there were changes to the 'Endless Corridor'! So what Soren did next is also a fact! Everything is a fact! What needs to be done next is to start a true second playthrough in this current storyline. The story continues, the cycle continues, no one is making things difficult for you. We have already made concessions on this matter, so what's still missing? Stop dawdling and tell us."

Soren stared blankly at the woman.

He never imagined that Lillian would one day use her toughness to protect him.

[Time is chaotic, and there is no anchor point from the player]

"A save file?" Soren said. "If you want a save file as your anchor point, and if the save file is a quest, well, here it is."

Soren opened the panel.

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

This script was created by him in the future using his [Explorer] ability.

Synthetic scripts are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they may be noticed in future timelines, and on the other hand, in the current timeline, they represent the legitimacy of actions.

The World Tree didn't say anything this time.

After a while.

This is the World Tree.

[A player (5870) has been identified as having a save file in the current timeline. Save file creation complete. Everything that happened before is in the past; this is a new development. The future is up to you.]

……

Player 5870 creates a new timeline.

……

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

【completed】

Soren immediately took out the prepared [Ten Mile Slope Sword God Card] and postponed the mission settlement time.

He did not relax as if he had unloaded a burden.

Because it's all just beginning; he's only just getting started.

Soren took out his phone and searched for news from a country across the ocean.

"Lillian, the next step is to create the key anchor point. I need to ask you for a favor."

Lillian smiled and leaned closer, her head very close to Sauron's, her favorability towards him rising: "Speak~"

"Stay away from me."

"Kids can be shy."

"leave me alone!"

Lillian covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"Okay, you say."

Soren took out "The Room of the Warrior of Light" from the compartment, opened it, and found Li Nuo's first real-life script.

“Every player has their own unique destiny. Li Nuo’s destiny is in the script of ‘NieR,’ and we need to guide him down this path.”

Soren opened his phone, but the news he searched for did not include the murder case related to "NieR".

"Something difficult has come up."

Soren paused for a moment.

"The case started a month ago, and there's no time now..."

Lillian understood immediately.

"I'll contact those Cairo aliens and cause trouble!"

"What are you going to do?"

"First of all, you can no longer travel through time. You are the current record point, so I will have someone else do this. What is happening now is a new cycle. No matter how I change things in the past, it should be judged as the 'current story'. If the person I asked changes the past, but the timeline is reorganized, then the two of us can go back in time again."

Lillian smiled, her hands behind her back. "At worst, I'll just have menstrual cramps or suffer some other backlash."

As I said before, since it's something my future self entrusted to me, I will definitely do my best to do it well.

Moreover, she quite admired Soren.

"The Time Witch... I never expected her to be used for these kinds of things."

Say it.

Lillian left for a moment.

Soren returned to his rented room, extracted information from "The Room of the Warrior of Light," and sent it to Lillian.

They need to find some people behind the cult killings related to "YoRHa" as soon as possible.

When cults and NieR are combined here, the answer is: Marger's mechanical cult.

There may not be a mechanical cult in existence now, so we can just treat it as an ordinary alien cult invasion.

Soren forwarded the new content to Lillian.

“Find a group of outlaws in that country, make them targets of a cult, and bribe the local TV station to broadcast the news at the time recorded in the book, triggering a real-life scenario.”

Three hours later.

News updates on my phone.

a month ago.

A cult incident has occurred.

Soren stared at his phone screen and let out a long sigh.

All that's left is to wait for Li Nuo to trigger that "realistic scenario" and become connected with "NieR".

"What are you going to do next?"

Lillian was sitting on the edge of the window at some point.

"Wait……"

Soren thought for a moment.

"I don't know what the future holds. After the mission is over, I will return to the future timeline and then see if the future will be corrected or if there will be other developments."

Lillian raised an eyebrow: "So, without correction, you will still disappear."

"Probably, but since it involves the 'World Tree,' the [Explorer] can't find any guides." Soren gave a wry smile: "That's all I can do. No matter how much you plan, it's hard to predict the final outcome."

Lillian didn't speak, she just looked at him quietly.

This woman possessed a serene beauty, yet she was a true wicked woman. Soren really wanted to ask her why she would choose to help Kroyd in the future.

But he suppressed the question, saying that if everyone survived, they could ask Lillian in the future.

"I have to go on a mission."

Lillian suddenly said.

"Sorren Lee, don't worry, I will erase this memory completely, including the information on my screen."

She opened the task panel.

"So I'll just draw out my reward here as a gift for you."

In the process of doing these things, Lillian will definitely trigger a "real-world scenario".

Her reward was related to "the future and the past".

This is a card similar to a calculus deck.

[Playing Cards: New Life]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Effect: Projects the things that are most important to you in the future or past, although it only lasts for five seconds]

[Briefly: Not 100% accurate; believe it or not.]

Lillian handed the cards to Sauron.

"If you want to know about the future, just look for yourself."

The moment Soren received the card, he didn't hesitate and immediately used it before Lillian could even let go.

The card flashed white light in the two people's hands, condensed into a tadpole-shaped point of light, and then landed, transforming into a little boy of about ten years old wearing glasses.

Little boy: "Dad?"

Soren: "Huh?"

Little boy: "Mom?"

Lillian: "Oh my god..."

The little boy asked in confusion, "Why were you suddenly brought to..."

The time was up, and the little boy disappeared.

The two remained silent in the room for a moment, then Lillian said, "It's not 100% accurate, is it?"

Sauron: "...Why don't you erase my memories too?"

Lillian: "Goodbye."

She left and went to the corridor.

Soren sat in his chair, silent for a long time, before letting out a mournful roar: "Damn it! Why does my child have to wear glasses too!"

……

Endless Corridor
In the chapel of Bahamut's Wrath.

Lillian was crouching in the warehouse, frantically searching for something. A teammate passed by outside and asked curiously, "Master, what's wrong with you?"

Lillian hurriedly turned around: "No, no, no! Um, do you still remember that device that erases memories?"

Her teammates helped find the thing.

It's a thing that looks like a hair dryer.

Lillian first gave her a pill to treat the "menstrual cramps" and other debuffs.

After recovering, he used a hairdryer on his head, pressed the button, and extracted all his memories after meeting Sauron. During the process, he used the Grand Master's authority to hide the task panel from view.

Once everything was done, she forgot about Sauron.

But her teammates were still there: "Chairman... what happened to you? Why are you bringing up your memories?"

Lillian frowned: "What memories..."

"Is it the Cairo aliens causing trouble again, making you sick?"

"Hmm...maybe."

Lillian couldn't remember what had happened.

She saw a hidden quest on the panel, which meant she must have encountered something disgusting. The main world of "Endless Corridor" often had disgusting developments, and she was used to it, so she pretended nothing had happened.

But in my mind, a pair of glasses loomed in and out.

“Um…Chairman, this machine is actually outdated.”

"So, my memories can't be completely erased...?"

"Is such that."

"Then... there must be something disgusting that made me have to do this... my glasses..."

Lillian took a deep breath.

"Our guild does not recruit people who wear glasses."

……

some day.

A man named Kroyd contacted Lillian through a middleman.

"I need your help."

That's what Cloyd and Lillian said at the time.

Lillian sat on a chair in the chapel, watching the low-level [Critical Entity] who had broken the rules to break in.

“My opponent is the [Explorer], so…”

"I know, it's those glasses."

"Ah."

Kroed responded.

"There may also be [those with low health]."

Normally, Lillian would never get involved in such matters, but recent events have made her somewhat wary of the unusual activity in the corridor.

More importantly, there's that disgusting memory of glasses from not long ago.

"I'll help you, but in exchange for the abilities of the [Rescuer]."

Lillian said this.

Then one day, Soren Lee found her and said to her...

Lillian's blush that day actually stemmed from memories of their brief collaboration in the past.

The wheels of history keep turning, and from the moment we first saw NieR, it has been heading toward a predetermined destination.

……

Let's go back to February 2, 2030.

Soren sat in his rented room.

He looked down at the news reports about the cult-related murders on his phone screen.

Even though the anchor point had been set, Li Nuo still didn't come back to life.

"What exactly is missing..."

(End of this chapter)