As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 740 The Imminent Epic Meeting
Yakoll led Chabai, one in front of the other, through the pure white space.

The world of "threshold" is white.

As you walk forward, a platform and spiraling stairs appear ahead.

Cha Bai's steps were somewhat clumsy.

“You seem to be having some trouble adjusting to your legs,” Jakoll said.

"I've been a mechanical life form for a while now, and I've finally recovered my body, but it feels a bit out of sync."

Cha Bai was still looking down at her palm.

My body has recovered.

But that's only within the world of "thresholds".

She tried to open her own panel.

I saw some strange data.

One thing in particular is quite intriguing.

[He has been judged a "sinner" by the "Endless Corridor"]

"Um……"

Tea remained silent.

The concept of "Sinner" appeared in the rule update after they disembarked from the "Immortality Train".

Beside the idiotic couple is a child from "The Corridor of the End," also a player in the World War. He was originally in the same team as Phil, but became a "sinner" for defecting from "The End." Now, with the Demon God being interfered with by external forces, he is at peace.

Only the "Corridor of the End" treats the "Sinner" mechanic as a normal one, where players are encouraged to kill each other, everyone is wanted, and everyone is a "Sinner".

"Endless" has almost never existed to this day.

However, Cha Bai's "sinner" does not come from "Endless," and there is an explanation below.

[World Tree's Judgment: Unable to identify player identity, they are marked as "sinners"]

Thus, it is clear that "the sinner" is actually a tracking signal, so the essence of "the sinner" is actually something created to figure out where this guy is.

Having spent so much time with Li Nuo and Maljie, Cha Bai knows what it means to learn by analogy.

First, if you have a physical body, you will be considered a player; if you are not a player, your ticket is invalid.

Second, the situation is very dangerous.

Once back in Tiya's Tanggula Mountains, their location will be revealed by the "sinner's" mark.

Even though the connection between that place and the corridor has been severed, the fact that the idiot couple can freely enter that world means that there are still lingering connections, and that there are other mediums through which they can come.

Sauron's death did not solve all the problems.

Tea whitens troubles.

Logically, there should be a tall guy to hold the line at this time.

She had to get that big guy back to life quickly.

Li Nuo...

"what happened?"

Jakoll noticed something was wrong with her.

Before Cha Bai could speak, Ya Ke'er understood: "Is it because you're not wearing any clothes?"

Cha Bai: "..."

She was indeed not wearing any clothes there.

"I entered the 'threshold' by connecting through a network of mechanical lifeforms... I never expected that I wouldn't even have the right to wear clothes."

"Don't worry, there are no people of the opposite sex here, not even any 'people'."

"A somewhat lonely place."

“Miss Cha Bai, you understand, after all, this is our damned world.”

"Tell me what happened."

Cha Bai changed the subject; she didn't want to hear about the past anymore, nor did she want to recall her 2B days, since she hadn't been a 2B for very long.

Yakoll explained to her as he led the way.

“Ever since Xing Kai’s physical body disappeared, I’ve suspected that you or Mr. Li Nuo have run into trouble. Fortunately, Li Nuo established an anchor point for us in this ‘vaporwave’ world, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to find you.”

"Do you know where to go now?" Cha Bai was concerned with the important matter at hand.

“I know,” Yakoll said. “When you merged with yourself, there was an unusual energy zone here that I couldn’t get close to. It was very strange… that kind of power.”

The two had reached the end of the platform.

A spiral tower rose up ahead.

The sky appeared.

But the sky was still pure white.

Black, white, and gray covered the entire area.

The key to the Spiral Tower was in Jacques's hands, and she felt uneasy.

“Miss Cha Bai, do you know... I once saw a terrifying shadow behind Mr. Li Nuo.”

Jakoll reminisced about the past.

"He was an old man wearing a top hat."

Tea-white face expressionless.

"The Mirror Master has been killed by Li Nuo."

“Hmm, but…” Yako looked up at the Spiral Tower’s gate: “That thing is far more powerful than the Mirror Master you mentioned. Its source can kill a demon with just a glance.”

After all, the King is the strongest player in the five corridors; he might be able to kill the Mirror Master with a single breath, Tea White thought to himself.

Gaunt Odim, a name that once gave them so much trouble, is now a name that even Li Nuo could kill in seconds. Back then, they thought that having this power would bring them peace of mind, but now... they have to face a power that is countless times more terrifying.

Cha Bai's mind was in turmoil. Ya Ke'er thought she was measuring the energy density inside the spiral tower, so she said, "I'm not lying to you. I have a measuring device here, and it's very powerful."

Jakoll took a monocle from his briefcase.

"This is something I got from the mechanical cult. It's very accurate at measuring unknown forces. For example, the strongest guy in our world, Emil, has a combat power of '1000', while the combat power of an ordinary creature is '5'."

Yako held the lens up to his eyes and looked at the spiral tower: "The combat power of this spiral tower is '1000000'."

Cha Bai: "That stuff is inaccurate."

Yakol: "No way, let me see yours, hmm, your combat power is '314'."

Cha Bai: "This is my weight."

The thing that the mechanical cult got it from must have been made by Marger. The combat measuring device that guy made is full of tricks. If you point the lens at Marger, the lens will explode; if you point it at Li Nuo, it will emit a laser; and if you point it at Cha Bai, it will read the weight.

But Jacques was right about one thing: the Spire Tower did indeed have a terrifying aura about it.

NieR:Re[in]carnation mobile game.

The storyline of this mobile game takes place within the "threshold".

[Real-world scenario triggered]

Defeat the obsessive life form within the Spiral Tower

[Task Difficulty: MAX]

Tea White triggered a real-life scenario.

No details available.

This indicates that her current identity is not simply that of a player.

The task difficulty reached MAX for the first time.

This suggests that the obsessive life form that needs to be defeated is likely the "King".

"An impossible task."

She murmured something.

By this time, Yakoll was mentally prepared: "Even I've never been to this place before; there must be a lot of monsters hiding inside. Be prepared."

As he spoke, Jakob stepped through the gate.

But Cha Bai stood at the door.

"What..." Yako felt something was strange. Chabai refused to come in, so she asked, "You... sensed something strange?"

Cha Bai nodded: "Take off your clothes and let me wear them."

This was the first time Jakob had heard such a request: "Why?"

“I’m not wearing any clothes,” Cha Bai said. “And I can’t connect to the ‘threshold’ right now, so I can’t retrieve the clothes I’ve stored here.”

It's not just about the capabilities of the wardrobe.

She couldn't use any of the network connection abilities related to "thresholds," such as the [Magic Grid] ability, which is similar to the storage grid for players below level 25.

"There are no members of the opposite sex here," Jakoll said helplessly.

Cha Bai shook his head: "In Li Nuo's eyes, even stones are divided into male and female."

What she was saying was far too complicated for an artificial human. Jako took a set of casual clothes from his suitcase: a tank top, shorts, and flip-flops.

The vest also had the number "23" printed on it.

Cha Bai felt something was missing, but a few seconds later it dawned on her, and she snatched Yako's underwear and put it on herself.

Yakoll walked towards the door, his hand still fastening his coat buttons, his face showing a helpless expression as if something important had been taken away: "You can't just rip my clothes off like that..."

Cha Bai, standing behind, twisted her waist uncomfortably and said, "Your bra is so tight..."

"Because Yoyo made me have small breasts!"

Yako couldn't understand how the former Miss Chabai, who still retained some of her idiotic thinking, had become like a hooligan.

She didn't actually know what Cha Bai had gone through.

They had no idea that the current Tea White was a higher-dimensional life form.

So, I wanted to remind her again in front of the stairs inside the Spire.

"Do you still remember the 'little girl in red'?"

"Uh, um."

Tea-white nodded.

The little girl in red, N2, is the mastermind behind the NieR world. They've already put her into hibernation, but what impressed Cha Bai the most was Marger shoving shit on the little girl's face.

"You should know that there are some very dangerous areas inside the 'threshold', right?"

Yakoll touched his glasses frame with feigned profundity, a gesture that made Cha Bai uncomfortable, reminding her of her defeat at the hands of Soren.

“‘Threshold’ is a storage area for archives. Some things that do not belong to this world are placed in the edge areas. Among them, the Spiral Tower is the most dangerous area.”

Cha Bai wasn't listening carefully. She saw a huge white bridge outside connecting to the top of the Spiral Tower. A few seconds later, the bridge disappeared. This bridge was the connection point when she first met the King. The disappearance of the bridge meant that her communication with the King during the "vaporwave" era had ended.

"I'll go up myself."

She walked past Jako.

"Wait, let me finish!"

Yakoll followed closely behind.

“You can’t use the power of your ‘YoYa Squad’ here, and you can’t fly. There will be a lot of black monsters. The strength of those monsters is basically the same as the ‘Little Girl in Red’, and there are a lot of them. Even if you are very powerful now, you have to think long-term!”

Jakoll grabbed Cha Bai's wrist.

"Miss Cha Bai! I brought you here so you'd have a save point. Go back and call your people to join us!"

Black mist was already seeping out from the unseen corners above the stairs, meaning that just a few more steps up and they would encounter monsters.

Cha Bai turned around and glanced at Ya Ke'er.

"A monster? Very powerful? Call for help?"

"Yes."

Jakoll nodded.

Cha Bai took a deep breath, gathered almost half of his magic power, and unleashed a [Scorched Earth Flame Cannon] at the rooftop visible from the Spiral Tower.

The entire spiral tower instantly transformed into a stake for execution.

The towering fire almost covered the entire "threshold" with an orange glow.

Amidst the raging fire, Cha Bai stood on the steps, and a system panel popped up in front of her.

[Consumes 80% of total mana; the higher the total mana, the more powerful the spell.]

This is the user manual for the [Scorching Earth Flame Cannon].

This also means that her total magic power is only 20% left.

But that doesn't matter, since the guy at the top of the tower is a "king" that even the five major corridors combined might not be able to defeat.

The artillery fire just now terrified Yakol.

The girl never imagined that Cha Bai's destructive power could destroy the "threshold," nor did she expect that the monsters lurking in the Spiral Tower would be so easily wiped out. Her values ​​were shaken.

"What have you all been through...?"

Yako asked her in a panic, then his legs went weak and he sat down on the scorching ground, his buttocks burning hot. Cha Bai carried him out of the Spiral Tower.

"You shouldn't have come along."

Cha Bai didn't want to waste time on meaningless explanations.

She walked towards the upper level of the spiral tower.

There are a total of one hundred floors.

When we reached the top, the tower was shrouded in a white mist.

After breaking through the white mist, there was a long corridor and a cage at the end.

Cha Bai saw the dark figure locked in the cage; it was a projection of the king from back then.

Now, the dark figure in the cage looked at Cha Bai and laughed: "You little brat, breathing fire here is your way of reminding me to switch roles, isn't it?"

Cha Bai: "That's true... I'm just worried you'll leave early."

Her voice trembled.

That immense, unparalleled sense of oppression.

It far surpasses all the powers that Cha Bai has ever encountered.

She couldn't imagine how she could defeat the judge who was a match for the king.

"Which king are you...?"

"It's the one you're looking for."

The moment the sound appeared, the surroundings turned pure white, and white mist covered the tea-blue pupils, projecting an image of a dark figure breaking free from its cage onto the retina.

The cage was transformed into a towering, endless double iron gate.

The king stood at the door.

“I’ve thought about it. If Soren Lee and Lino were here, they would probably think of the save point for ‘Threshold’.”

This was the first time Cha Bai had seen what the king looked like.

He was a young, handsome man with a ponytail, whose seemingly lazy eyes concealed a ruthless edge.

But Cha Bai is more concerned about the current situation.

"Your Majesty...may I ask you, are you imitating the Gate of Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Huh?" The king was taken aback. "Ah, no... well, this door is something I granted certain permissions to... it's just..."

He was a little embarrassed: "Anyway, Li Nuo is inside! If you want to bring him back, you have to go through this door."

Cha Bai asked curiously, "Is this some kind of weird cosplay?"

The King: "What exactly did those little bastards teach you?"

Cha Bai laughed and bowed deeply.

"Thank you... thank you so much."

She was constantly worried that she would not gain anything from coming here, and that the best outcome would be to find traces of the king's past. She never dared to hope that the king would actually pave the road for them.

This scene validated Wenke's assessment of the king: a manager who shoulders everything.

“Some of you fixed the timeline, otherwise this situation wouldn’t have occurred. If you want to thank someone, thank yourselves.”

The king sat down on the ground, his face stern.

"Miss Cha Bai, is it alright if I call you that?"

"Ah."

“Listen carefully, I can only live in memories. There are only so many things I can do. If you want to know the specifics now, I will tell you. But my advice is to pull Li Nuo out of the door as soon as possible, because I may disappear at any time.”

Cha Bai raised her head and walked straight towards the door.

When the king was at eye level with her, he said, “The place inside the door is where souls are stored, not some space of truth. It’s similar to the Black Wall in Cyberpunk, or the network storage terminal in your NieR. You should understand that we are all a group of ghosts called data. If you open a small crack and use your YoRHa’s network to infiltrate, you have to break through the internal firewall to find the exact location of Li Nuo’s soul. If you fail… there is no risk at all.”

That guy is a chatterbox.

Cha Bai: "Li Nuo's soul..."

The King said, “Of course, you are all dead, a bunch of ghosts. As the former administrator, I naturally have the authority to store your soul data in the storage device, even though it is against the rules.”

The current Carl Elimond is neither a king nor a ruler, and has no right to pull the soul out of the body.

"Only things that the soul cares about have a chance of being found."

Cha Bai was concerned about something else: "What is Li Nuo's soul experiencing inside?"

The king said helplessly, "It's probably what he fears most."

……

Li Nuo was sitting at the dining table at home.

His face turned pale, his expression froze completely, and he trembled slightly, because sitting opposite him was the only person in the world he dared not contradict.

"mom……?"

(End of this chapter)