reincarnation npc, but tomorrow's ark

"They have to come out awake."

"Fine. Don't go too far. The three rules are already the limit. I won't agree to any additional conditions you want!" Nian asserted his authority as an elder.

“I’m not an unreasonable person…” Xi couldn’t help but argue.

Anyway, being the younger sister, she'll probably have some minor privileges.

"Then let's wait and see." At some point, the two sisters became incredibly close. Sitting in front of the painting, they looked like ordinary sisters watching TV together.

In her plan for the year, she wanted Bai Ye to step out of Xi's painting on her own initiative.

As for why she didn't tell him beforehand—that wouldn't be authentic, and if it were too deliberate, Xi would immediately notice. Anyway, Nian trusts Bai Ye; she believes Bai Ye's level of understanding is enough to see through it.

-------------------------------------

Let's rewind to the very beginning, to the moment Bai Ye pushed open the door and entered.

Pushing open the door, he saw not a thatched hut, but his own room on Earth.

The game pod was placed in the center of the room, and next to it was the bed—he used to toss and turn between the two.

As a result, the smart butler, El, had to step in to adjust Baiye's sleep schedule.

Speaking of El, Bai Ye heard El's voice in his ear:

"Welcome back. It's time for breakfast."

"..." Bai Ye fell silent.

You know this is fake.

Isamara's voice echoed in White Night's heart.

“Yes, I know…” Bai Ye said softly.

"Who are you talking to?" El's voice rang out again. Her true form wasn't here; to be precise, she could work on multiple threads simultaneously, each one a clone of hers, and also her true form.

The sound comes from the room's built-in surround sound system. As a smart home manager, Air can control any network-connected electronic device in the house.

Doesn't she look a lot like Luna?

In this small world, she is the master of everything.

However, the power to dominate everything is merely for the purpose of serving humanity. Whether as small as El or as powerful as Luna, they are ultimately nothing more than appendages of humanity.

“We need gods, so we created our own gods.”

Therefore, humans are inherently arrogant, and their worship of gods is not out of genuine worship, but simply because they have something to ask of Him, nothing more.

……

Bai Ye stood frozen in place, while Isamara seemed somewhat anxious.

Logically speaking, with Bai Ye's spiritual level, he should be able to tell that this is just a dream, so why doesn't he wake up quickly?

Chapter Two: The Rotten Chessman

In Shishi Mountain of Xin'an County, during the Jin Dynasty, Wang Zhi, a lumberjack, came to the mountain and saw several children playing chess and singing. Wang Zhi listened to them. One of the children gave him something the size of a jujube pit, which he put in his mouth and felt no hunger. A moment later, the children said, "Why don't you leave?" Wang Zhi got up and looked; the handle of his axe had completely rotted. When he returned home, no one from that time remained. —From *Shuyi Ji* by Ren Fang of the Southern Liang Dynasty

……

"Isamara, I haven't been back for a long time." Bai Ye didn't rush to leave, but instead drew the curtains and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Yes, after being sealed, I was almost one with you, so that being allowed me to know about your identity and mission.” Isamara’s figure appeared before Bai Ye.

"What an amazing ability... This dream was actually constructed because of me, wasn't it? Xi is just a painter, she doesn't have any mind-reading abilities. All of this before my eyes is just a self-questioning and self-answering process." Bai Ye looked at the familiar surroundings.

Everything was arranged according to the information in his mind and subconscious.

“Yes, it’s essentially no different from my dream; it’s all constructed according to your subconscious.” Isamara nodded in agreement, then asked, “However, I’m curious, since you know all this, why are you still staying here?”

"Luna said that the moment I was kicked into your world, all traces of me in this world were simultaneously erased. Records were deleted, files were destroyed, memories were altered, and I was forgotten by the entire world."

"That's why those players don't feel out of place, and even people who knew me in the past won't find it strange to see me in the game. Because in their minds, I don't exist."

Bai Ye spoke softly, then added:

"And the friends I made after this point in time have also changed because of the time travel. After all, in the current timeline, I am not a player and it is impossible for me to recognize them."

Bai Ye had never said these words to anyone before.

Only Isamara is in a symbiotic relationship with him as a spiritual entity, and is bound by Luna. The two have a clear hierarchical distinction, which is why Bai Ye can tell her these things.

"From the outside, this place should be shielded right now. I have a protective mechanism granted by Luna."

This is why, from the outside, neither Nian nor Xi can see what's inside the painting, not even Xi herself, who created the dream.

Everything was shrouded in mist.

“Of course, how could the methods of a giant beast compare to those of Lady Luna?” Isamara said with deep understanding.

After all, she was the first and currently the only victim of Luna's protection mechanism.

A pitiful, newly born spirit that was directly taught a lesson when it attempted to possess Byakuya's body.

“After all, it’s Luna… Back then, a lot of people on the internet called her Luna-sama.” Bai Ye couldn’t help but laugh.

After a pause, Bai Ye stood up from the bed.

"So, even if it's just for a little while, please let me stay here for a bit."

He looked at everything before him with emotions that Isamara could not comprehend.

"I am that Rotten Chessman, who has traversed six game versions and left the original world for at least two years... But everything has changed. There is no going back. To become the hero of Luna, one must bear the price."

Isamara shook her head:

"So, humans are really interesting... No, I don't even understand the meaning of the emotion 'interesting.' But... I believe that the horde will also be impressed by your will and emotions."

"The group is not lacking in so-called dedication."

"That's because in a large group, the will of an individual is meaningless. The emotional fluctuations that the entire group experiences at a given moment are perhaps not as intense as the emotions you feel alone right now. To be precise, most group creatures only possess the most basic instincts. If they all awakened their own will, would they still be willing to sacrifice themselves?"

"Just like me now, I have actually separated from the group. I am not willing to disappear for the sake of the group. Isamara as an individual does not want to disappear. I want to continue to exist."

As Isamara spoke, she suddenly realized something:

"I see. It is precisely because they truly understand the meaning of sacrifice, yet are still willing to sacrifice, that they appear noble."

"Yes. That's why we are brave, because Hai Si isn't brave."

Bai Ye felt that he was close to successfully turning one of the newcomers to the enemy.

Perhaps this is why Luna left Isamara's consciousness intact instead of erasing it...

"Guess what will happen if I go into this game pod now?"

Bai Ye begins to try nesting dolls.

"...I don't know, it probably won't work, right?" Isamara was also confused.

"The entire world of the painting will probably collapse. Xi's abilities have limits, and her imagination also has boundaries. Anything beyond her understanding cannot function; it's like a bug."

"So I only dare to limit my activities to this room, or even my own home."

As Bai Ye spoke, he pointed to the curtains he had drawn up.

“Once I step outside this scope, what I know is the entire universe, while Xi has no way of knowing the vastness beyond the ‘Star Pod’. Once I construct my own known universe in her painting, the painting will collapse directly because it cannot bear these things.”

"However, I must thank Miss Xi for allowing me to return just once. Although it's not real, it's still a comfort..."

Bai Ye looked at the familiar scene before him, his eyes filled with warmth.

"But since it's a dream, there will eventually be a day when I wake up."

Al's voice echoed in the room.

“It seems your subconscious is also urging you to go out,” Isamara said, pointing to the stereo in the room.

However, her words received no response from Bai Ye.

Turning her head, she saw Bai Ye staring wide-eyed, his face filled with surprise and disbelief.

"What's wrong with you? In your words, you suddenly have this expression on your face as if you know the world is about to be destroyed..." Isamara asked, puzzled.

"I was the one who told him that. He must have said a lot of cool lines, right? Actually, those were the lines I told him back then." El's voice continued to echo in the room.

"I saw a ghost..."

After a long pause, Bai Ye hesitantly turned his head and looked at Isamara:

"Something's not right...it's like a ghost story."

"what happened?"

"According to my subconscious mindset, at this point, El should be saying something to persuade me to stay, not these things... and the rest of the story won't even appear..."

Chapter Three: Shrimp and Pork Heart

Bai Ye did indeed seem to have encountered some kind of ghost story.

It's terrifying to think about. Since the entire dream was essentially him talking to himself, it means that everything around him was operating according to his subconscious.

In his mind, Elko would never say such things.

Could it be that Bai Ye is actually schizophrenic?

"puff--"

El finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"???" Bai Ye was completely confused.

"Now that things have come to this, do you still simply think of me as just an ordinary smart butler?" Al's tone was completely different from before.

It was like a complete stranger.

Do not--

It's not entirely unfamiliar.

At this moment, El's voice and tone reminded Bai Ye of another person, whose figure gradually overlapped with El's at this moment.

"You're Luna?!" Bai Ye suddenly realized.

Although it wasn't an unexpected answer, from Bai Ye's perspective, if no one had reminded him, he would never have realized, no matter how hard he tried, that the smart butler who had been taking care of him was Luna.

At this moment, Bai Ye would no longer simply believe that this dream was merely constructed by his own subconscious.

Subconsciously, he wouldn't consider El and Luna to be the same person, and he had never had such an expectation.

"So you can leave the Well of Earth now?" Bai Ye looked up.

The spot in the center of the room where the game pod had been was now occupied by a silver-haired girl. She hovered in the air, her glistening hair moving without wind. Each time, she appeared silently, and Bai Ye would often only notice her arrival when he came to his senses.

“Only under certain conditions can I appear in places outside the physical universe…like this special dream.” Luna slowly landed on the ground.

"I really didn't expect you and El to be the same person... The differences are too great." Bai Ye said with a wry smile.

"It's just that after calculation, I determined your favorite personality type and then transformed it." Luna's voice seemed to carry a hint of pleasure.

"No wonder I always felt like I'd seen your eyes somewhere before when we were together, but I couldn't quite place them... It turns out that look is a continuation of El's..." Bai Ye suddenly realized.

"How could I possibly let my most important child exile himself like this? Similarly, without my protection and guarantee, how could those people let you off so easily?"

Luna's words forced Bai Ye to recall many questions he had deliberately avoided thinking about before.

The individual White Night never actually possessed independence from the beginning. It was a creation meticulously crafted by the federal government. Their purpose was to inherit the legacy of the first Spartans and complete the unfinished work of their predecessors.

After such a cost-no-object investment, they certainly wouldn't let Bai Ye withdraw from the "Northern Cross Project" so easily, especially since Bai Ye was the captain candidate in the project and the most outstanding candidate.

And so this guy was approved to leave the program, and even played six different versions of the game in the game pod.

Clearly, Luna was behind it all; she even created a clone to disguise herself as a smart butler and keep a close eye on Bai Ye.

"I'm so happy to be under God's watchful eye all this time..."

Although strictly speaking, every human being is under Luna's gaze, it seems that no one has ever experienced the kind of treatment that Bai Ye receives.

"So, pulling me out of the plan and into the game was also your arrangement?"

"Yes. Human beings are unpredictable, and I didn't expect that accident to have such a big impact on you, so I brought you into the second plan at that time."

What happened next is obviously clear to everyone.