As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 810 The Doll's Little Secret
Aita walked through the castle gates and turned back to ask, "Are you alright?"

Xiao Wu covered her head and walked into the castle: "It's not a big deal... My first transformation felt disgusting... The main problem is that this bastard went too far."

The difficulty in reverting from transformation is also a major problem. The only solution is to wait until the current situation ends and have Aita teach her a skill to remove the "transformation debuff".

Li Nuo remained silent as he sorted through Atkinson's body outside the door, finding a [Mechanical Core] inside, which he used to upgrade Chen Shou's Zaku.

If Xiao Wu doesn't attack Atkinson, but he does, it will be a tough fight.

Atkinson, as an artificial ancient god, is already comparable to Fenrir, that robot.

It's because Xiao Wu's demonization is too strong.

Since entering this scenario, his first activation of [Residual Blood 3.0] has proven that if he doesn't use his full strength, he will be killed by the awakened demonized Xiao Wu.

Unparalleled speed, the ability to regenerate health through breathing, and arrows that are almost always accurate.

Atkinson was hit by an arrow, losing the initiative and leading to his defeat.

Another problem then arises.

When a teammate awakens the [Demon] race, if the danger level is too high, the genes of the "Warrior of Light" or "Demon Hunter" within Li Nuo will become restless.

He had thought he had long since overcome this hunting instinct, but now it seemed that he simply hadn't encountered a monster that could "fear" him in a long time.

But this also confirms one thing: the king had told him that "if you want to defeat Schaffarel, the ultimate version of the [Bloodthirsty One] and the 100% awakened demonic transformation are two powers that you must acquire."

Xiao Wu showed him the potential for demonization.

After Li Nuo's demonic transformation is fully unleashed, he takes on another special form: the "Demon Man".

"Li Nuo, let's go!"

Xiao Wu called out from the doorway, her brows furrowed, still somewhat resentful about Li Nuo's harsh treatment earlier, even though she knew it wasn't Li Nuo's fault.

"Oh, right, Xiao Wu, I'm sorry about earlier."

Just as Li Nuo was about to leave, Atkinson's remaining hand suddenly twitched.

Everyone looked over.

Atkinson's face was rotten, and he was making a hoarse sound.

"Fenrir...what exactly...did he want you to do?"

Even until his death, this guy still believed that everything was Fenrir's plan.

“You…you can’t take the doll from the castle…she doesn’t belong to Fenrir…she’s mine…”

Atkinson is dead; it is his soul that is speaking.

This is a dream world, where even the undead have their own corner.

But the mask of Emil still records his last fragments of memory.

We shouldn't have touched those forbidden things... Fenrir, Fenrir, Fenrir... We were all wrong, that thing... is a creation from an even more terrifying abyss...

In Atkinson's fragmented memories, that terrifying creation was actually Miaham.

Li Nuo and his group had long been prepared to face Miaham, but Atkinson and Fenrir had only just touched the edge of the Great Demon before falling into utter ruin. How much more so for ordinary people in this world, who were not even as good as Fenrir and his city lords.

Only those who transcend this world can reach the supreme beings.

This is both the cruelty and the compassion of the world.

"There are some things it's better not to know."

Ancient gods do not die, but artificial ancient gods do. Cremation is the final proof that they are still human.

Just as Li Nuo was about to send him to cremation, Atkinson's last words came out.

"Please give this to Fenrir... I'll be waiting for him in hell..."

Li Nuo lowered his head, the brim of his hat obscuring his eyes.

Aita covered her mouth and whispered, "Li Nuo was actually moved..."

Li Nuo raised his head, looked at Atkinson's corpse, and gave a mysterious smile.

"Actually, you're not Atkinson. You're from the world of 'Crossdress Mountain.' You're a little girl, and Fenrir is your family's dog. That's the truth."

After saying all this, Li Nuo revealed an expression of extreme satisfaction. He had been holding back his emotions to play the Warrior of Light, and now he finally had a chance to mock others to relieve his boredom.

then……

The air was filled with Atkinson's cry: "Ah...ah—!"

Li Nuo added, "I wish you a long and happy marriage after you meet in hell!"

Atkinson: "Ah... (voice fading)"

Seeing this, Pippen said helplessly, "..."

Aita squinted: "That's right... Of all the souls I've helped to find peace, this is the first time I've seen someone successfully achieve it through malice."

Li Nuo turned around, walked towards the castle, snapped his fingers, and blue flames ignited on the ruins of Atkinson.

Aita: "Mr. Linuo, you're awful!"

Li Nuo laughed and did not refute.

Xiao Wu remained silent, her pupils reflecting the light of the blue flames. Her vision pierced through the burning flames, revealing the children and civilians who had hidden themselves, those who had been affected by Atkinson and turned into zombies. In any case, these harmless zombies... let them live.

“Aita… Pippen.”

Xiao Wu made a capricious request.

"These zombies... they're all alive... please help them, okay? I'll give you gold coins."

"Forget the gold coins, let's give it a try." Aita pulled Pippen away, saying, "You two be careful! There's a very strong malevolent force in the castle!"

Li Nuo stood to one side with his arms crossed, and said with a smile, "I've become a demon, but I've awakened my humanity."

Xiao Wu said, "Don't joke around. Leaving the two of them outside will give us more options."

The two entered the castle, and the gates slowly closed.

"By the way, Xiao Wu, Wells and I are brothers. Do you want to be the third brother? Let's become sworn brothers."

"Get out of here."

real world.

Outside the dream.

The city bells chimed melodiously.

The city's citizens collapsed unconscious. Atkinson died in his dream, and those who had long been trapped in the dream and had become living corpses were all unconscious in their projections in reality. The city was in chaos. At this moment, no one could tell whether reality was a dream or a dream was reality.

Amro, who was reporting the incident to the police station, rushed towards the castle upon seeing this.

"You can't just walk in here!"

The guards stopped him.

“I need to see Mr. Atkinson!” Amro didn’t use brute force; he tried to enter normally, like an ordinary citizen: “My friend… might be in trouble inside!”

The guards continued to block him, and Amuro had no choice but to jump over their heads.

Then he pushed open the castle gate.

inside the door.

"It was pitch black."

Xiao Wu tried to push the door, but the castle gate remained unmoved, as if it had lost its former power and turned back into an ordinary person.

Inside the dilapidated castle, only a few candles flickered.

Darkness is not a problem for them; night vision is an essential skill.

Li Nuo is looking at the rewards he received after triggering Atkinson Phase 2.

[Special Cursed Blood Gem]

【Excellent quality】

[Effect: Enhances a Blood Gem. To use, crush it and silently recite the name of the Blood Gem.]

He now possesses five "cursed blood gems".

In addition to providing a total of 180% immunity to attacks from the Ancient Gods, the five Blood Gems offer the following corresponding abilities:
1. Transfer 12% of the damage taken to the attacker; double resistance to bladed weapons (including stabbing and slashing).

2. Recovers 2% of physical strength per second; see through the "spatial illusion".

3. Increases damage to weak points by 70%.

4. Melee attack power increased by 15%; elemental advantage effect increased by 1.25 times.

5. Fire-attribute destructive power increased by 25%.

Li Nuo crushed the white cursed blood gem and silently chanted, "Blood gem to break the curse."

[Damage to weak points increased from 70% to 80%]

Increase by 10%.

While he was pondering whether they could be used in combination, Xiao Wu tossed her own portion over.

"Thanks."

Li Nuo crushed it the instant he caught it.

I still choose to upgrade the blood gem I just got.

[Damage to weak points increased from 80% to 85%]

Once you get back, you can ask the deceased players for the [Special Cursed Blood Gem] they had, since those guys must have received the same reward anyway.

In addition, after the idiot couple entered the dream, they did not trigger Atkinson's side quest, but instead went straight to the current side quest progress, and the two of them did not have the Blood Gem reward.

Li Nuo turned his attention back to the present.

The castle was still completely dark inside, and there was no sense of danger.

However, the side quests haven't ended yet, which means that the things truly worth level 180 strength are hidden in the castle. The things that subvert the script should be on the throne at the top of the castle.

The journey was smooth.

Upon arriving at the throne in Atkinson, which symbolizes the city's lord, one can still see thick bloodstains remaining on the throne, as well as bandages lying on the ground.

"Strange...there's nothing there."

While searching, Xiao Wu used a bandage to stop the bleeding. One of the side effects of the demon awakening was that her medical value was reduced to only one-tenth of its original value, and the place where Li Nuo had injured her was bleeding.

“Hey Li, you have to pay my medical expenses when you get back.”

"It's like I'm not injured at all."

As Li Nuo spoke, he picked up the bandages left behind by Atkinson.

The Ancestor of Bandages

【Excellent quality】

[Effect: Material, an essential item for upgrading bandage-type equipment]

Li Nuo glanced at the bandages wrapped around his hands—bandage gloves specifically designed for throwing bombs, perfect for upgrading.

"found it."

Xiao Wu called out.

Li Nuo immediately put away the "Ancestor of Bandages" and walked over, where he saw Xiao Wu find a "diary" on the bookshelf at the far end of the city lord's throne.

Having been players for so long, they know very well the value of diaries.

"This Atkinson is so unreliable," Xiao Wu muttered as she opened the diary. "Respectable people don't write diaries."

The diary was full of experimental notes, recording Atkinson's experimental projects on combining mechanical organisms with artificial things. That guy wanted to create the most advanced androids, and he didn't hesitate to touch forbidden things, namely the blood therapy experiments in Bloodborne.

Atkinson was a narcissistic warrior who believed himself to be the perfect experimental vessel. He transformed himself into a cyborg, injected with blood therapy, and became an artificial ancient god.

Then she went crazy. Judging from the dates in the diary, it was probably four years ago.

The energy of the ancient god affected the entire city, causing everyone in the city to appear in duplicate, including two Atkinsons. The false life remained in reality, while the real people became zombies and remained in the dream world.

The only good news is that the fake beings act according to the will of the original entity, so the city's order still exists.

All of this is the same situation that Li Nuo encountered in Night City in Cyberpunk.

A classic case of dream intrusion.

After Atkinson went mad, he became even more insane.

He wrote in his diary:
"I can always hear voices from beyond the universe; there are many higher-dimensional things spying on us."

"If we want to become gods, we have to break those taboos."

The voice Atkinson heard was actually the voice from the Dragon Ball world. His madness allowed his will to penetrate the firewall of the universe, and even the World Tree could not stop him. At that moment, Lord Atkinson had actually become a "philosopher" who could communicate between the two worlds through brainwaves.

Sadly, he was unaware of his own greatness.

He believed those voices came from the First Age.

Elden Ring.

Years ago, he collaborated with Fenrir to study ancient civilizations. At that time, he was one of the deans of Bayerkinworth. Together with Fenrir, he secretly helped the Healing Church rise to prominence and used his power within Bayerkinworth to help the Healing Church hide in the shadows.

The lingering warmth of this right continues to protect the Healing Church to this day.

Using his mad mind, Atkinson began studying the Elden Ring and searching for a breakthrough. In doing so, he discovered the method for creating the "world within a painting."

The breakthrough lies in the "world within the painting".

Atkinson believed that by creating a new "world within a painting," one could reach into the painting, find the world where the gods resided, and thus completely deify oneself.

See here.

Li Nuo opened the mission panel and glanced at the main storyline world-building prompts that appeared when he first entered the scenario.

During the era of Dark Souls, "worlds within paintings" existed.

This power was later acquired by others.

Xiao Wu glanced at it and said, "The later people should refer to the group that went to explore the Great Labyrinth, as well as the Bulma Trading Company. Now it seems that Atkinson has been added to the list."

Li Nuo felt that the answer was roughly correct. The technology of the "world in the painting" might not belong to this world or the Third Era, but to the future, to observers outside the universe.

Atkinson's actions were tantamount to challenging the observer; what he was doing was akin to a mortal touching a god.

That's why his fragmented memories say: We shouldn't touch those taboos; those things are creations from a more terrifying abyss.

Amuro giving Yharnam's painted world to the idiotic couple means that the "Hall of the Sky" has acquired the last painting. Apart from the "Hall of Endless Space," all five painted worlds have now been found by players in their respective corridors. The fact that there are only five such amazing painted worlds in the entire world also shows that this era did not actually have the technology to create painted worlds.

That's all...

The full details of the side quest "God of Pumeria" have now been revealed.

The gods of this world are not ancient gods, nor are they things from ancient times.

Rather, it transcends this planet... the universe.

What it truly contains is another world blocked by the World Tree. This answer is like the fragmented plot of a Souls-like game. It may not be correct, and whether you know it or not is not important. It is just a supplement to the world view. If players want to go deeper, they may be able to use this answer to directly touch the deepest things.

Li Nuo... had already touched upon this before.

He had already explained everything to the merman; what Atkinson and the world had been seeking all their lives was nothing more than a conversation between a witcher and a merman in the courtroom.

Isn't that a joke?

Xiao Wu, the only one with them, secretly cast an "amazing" glance at Li Nuo. She hadn't expected that Li Nuo could discover the truth before everyone else, or even the whole world.

"You had a deal with that merman, didn't you?"

"Yes, kill Miaham and stop the destruction of the Third Era..."

Li Nuo remembers it very clearly.

"Stop thinking about it, just keep reading."

Xiao Wu: "Okay."

Turn the page.

Atkinson found a way to create the world in the painting.

This project was supposed to be completed within fifty years, but because of the alienation that occurred in Fenrir's area (Fenrir's death), Atkinson had a bad feeling, so... he made a quill pen that was being tested ahead of schedule.

That pen was the only brushstroke that could be used in the world of the painting to construct the colors on the canvas.

The pen was sealed on the doll... but the text after it was crossed out.

Below that sentence, it says, "But the doll is already dead... the seal cannot be broken."

Li Nuo and Xiao Wu squinted together; the last line of text was clearly written by someone else.

"Come out."

With a buzzing sound.

Snowflakes appeared all around, and then the scene changed. The area between the thrones became a room with a campfire, electric lights, and even a microwave and several unopened pre-cooked meals on the cabinet... A blonde girl in a black dress stood in front of the computer desk.

The woman's joints showed signs of being pieced together; it was the doll mentioned in the diary.

"You two...it seems you've already discovered me."

The doll's exquisite face nodded slightly.

“I am the ‘Cursed Doll,’ a heartless entity that Mr. Atkinson brought from the depths of the Great Labyrinth, and also an assistant to him in his research on man-made things…”

Li Nuo's pupils caught a glimpse of the computer screen behind the doll, which was lit up; the woman was clearly hiding something.

"Sir...please let me finish."

The doll moved slightly to the side, blocking Li Nuo's view.

"The brushstrokes that depict the world in the painting are sealed here, but opening the seal is difficult... You'll have to find Mr. Fenrir..."

Xiao Wu took Fenrir, which had been squeezed into a ball of flesh, out of her hairband.

“Mr. Fenrir is here.”

The doll was silent for a few seconds: "Madam, are you kidding me?"

Xiao Wu smiled and said, "What do you think?"

The doll could no longer keep up the act; a human-like expression of "terrification" appeared on her face. How did Mr. Fenrir turn into a ball of flesh...? The strangeness of this matter exceeded her comprehension.

Li Nuo stroked his chin, moved closer to the doll, and raised an eyebrow at Xiao Wu.

"Now I finally understand why the mission is so difficult, and I also understand why Soren is only reminding me about it now..."

Xiao Wu realized that Li Nuo wanted to see what the puppet was hiding without using violence, so she chimed in to help him.

"The reason Soren is only reminding us of this mission now is because there was no such mission before. If Fenrir hadn't been killed, Atkinson wouldn't have immediately created that pen. In other words, we ourselves have put this mission on the historical stage."

"Here's the thing, according to the usual procedure, we should go and cause trouble for Fenrir, then come back to report to this doll lady to get the half-finished pen. But we've reversed the quest... so..."

When Li Nuo got to this point, he saw the screen being obscured by the doll.

"you……"

"Ah! Don't look!"

The doll hugged the screen.

"No! Don't look!"

This doll... is playing with a Steam butter game made by Marger...

"You're such a pervert, you doll."

In response to Li Nuo's complaints, the doll girl shouted, "No! I'm an artificial human! I also want to live like a human! So I need to experience this! It's not my fault!"

She changed the subject sternly, saying, "And since you killed Mr. Fenrir, you won't be able to get the pen that Mr. Atkinson hid in my body."

Li Nuo: "Hmm?"

The doll stopped pretending, lifted her long skirt to reveal her stockings and sat on the table, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and smiled slightly like a female hooligan.

“Mr. Atkinson turned this into a puzzle, sealing the pen within it. He hoped to create a perfect android, one that could surpass the ancient gods, but only Mr. Fenrir had the relevant manufacturing manual, and… there was no guarantee of its completion.”

"In other words, you have to create a perfect android that can defeat the ancient gods and is close to being a god before you can solve the puzzle."

The doll, with its eyes closed, proudly added a sentence.

"This is the sealing technique that Mr. Atkinson is so proud of. Oh dear~ If Mr. Atkinson were alive, he could have solved this problem, but he seems to be dead, hahaha~ hahaha, ha, ha, ha, ha..."

The doll found it strange that Li Nuo seemed completely unconcerned.

"You...don't have a way to solve this problem, do you?"

She smiled and shook her head.

"Impossible, impossible! Mr. Atkinson's plan is to create androids that surpass the ancient gods. This requires the use of the Bulma Company's technology and Fenrir's research on artificial life forms. Moreover, Mr. Atkinson believes that only by having the ability to create such androids can we challenge the unknown universe. In such a difficult time, how could you... how could you... have a way?"

Li Nuo pointed to the computer.

Can your computer make video calls?

A few minutes later.

A video call was made to the Immortal Asylum.

Tea white appeared on the screen.

Although the doll didn't want to admit it, she could feel the "doll" aura emanating from Cha Bai even through the screen. In fact, it was the electromagnetic waves from the [Sex Doll Chip] influencing the doll.

She forced a painful smile: "This white-haired lady..."

Li Nuo introduced the bewildered doll: "She is an artificial human from a certain reincarnation world, a high-dimensional sorceress, a grand mage of black magic and spatial magic, and recently became a goddess of nature. Oh, and she is also a succubus."

Cha Bai frowned, somewhat displeased that Li Nuo had two women around him.

The doll pursed its lips and asked, "May I ask... who is this young lady?"

Li Nuo had been waiting for this question for a long time. Pointing to himself, he said proudly, "This is my wife, isn't she beautiful?"

Tea-white cheeks flushed slightly: "You're annoying, Li Nuo."

Xiao Wu squinted and said, "You two, that's enough."

Then... in order to prove her authenticity to the doll, Cha Bai found a secluded spot, gouged out one of her eyes, inserted a miniature probe, and explained her internal structure to the doll bit by bit, demonstrating the "threshold" of the "Goddess of Nature" and her ability to create plants... She also fired a cannon shot into the sky that could destroy a city, and finally took out a newspaper to show the doll the inland lake she had recently created.

The key is.

Chabai during the android era was 2B, a product of the YoRHa unit, but this Chabai was created by Lino at the cost of his life. In other words, this nature goddess and perfect android was created by Lino.

Atkinson and Fenrir, and even the Healing Church and Bayer Kinworth, the life they wanted to create was already accomplished when Renault caught 2B with a Poké Ball.

Miss Doll can distinguish between lies and truth; she has her own way of judging, so she knows that Li Nuo is not lying.

After a while.

The doll turned off the computer screen.

"I never imagined... that Mr. Atkinson's wish... would actually come true one day."

She glanced at Li Nuo and asked, "What exactly do you do for a living?"

Li Nuo proudly pointed to himself and said, "Cartoonist."

Xiao Wu pushed Li Nuo away and said impatiently, "Alright, can you give us that pen now?"

The doll smiled: "I...I am that pen..."

Then she lifted her skirt.

The light shines brightly.

(End of this chapter)