Chapter 155: If He Were to Blaspheme: If He Committed an Act of Blasphemy Against the God, Would the God Forgive Him?

An Ruo happily put the photographs up on the wall.

Right beside the picture of Avis holding the little hatchling.

The collection was finally complete!

Perfect!

Now the only characters still missing photos were the ones from his newest novel.

An Ruo wasn't sure whether Morris would become real.

But considering this world's track record...

The odds were probably against him.

From fearing and resisting it at first to simply accepting it now, An Ruo had long since gone numb inside.

Since he couldn't change it...

He might as well stop resisting.

There was no way he could stop writing novels.

He had considered quitting before.

He had even deliberately spent a long time playing games with Little Hatchling Bro to distract himself.

But he found himself thinking about writing every single day.

The moment he stopped gaming, he couldn't help picking up the pen again.

The most he could do was control the direction of his stories.

Write safer plots.

Never create another situation like Ulysses.

An Ruo secretly glanced at the great villain beside him and noticed he was also looking at the wall.

It was rare for anyone to see his collection.

And someone as special as Ulysses...

An Ruo genuinely wanted to share it with him.

"These are all my protagonists... and... some very important characters. They're not the protagonists, but they're just as important."

As he spoke, his eyes sparkled with a brilliance they had never shown before.

"They built my world."

He had created them and their world.

They, in turn...

Had built his world.

An Ruo truly loved this place.

Ever since arriving in the Zerg civilization, he had never once wanted to go home.

Even if he'd started out by being thrown into prison.

Part of the reason was that he had no attachments back home.

But more importantly...

This was the world he had written.

He was endlessly fascinated by it.

Everything here captivated him.

Whether it was the characters from his novels...

Or any ordinary Zerg chatting on StarNet...

Every sentence they spoke...

The machine insects...

The food...

Even the metal floor tiles and wall panels inside the prison cells...

Perhaps this world wasn't perfect.

Perhaps it wasn't even particularly good.

It was filled with contradictions.

Flaws.

Strange absurdities.

Brilliant colors.

And countless things that still needed improving.

But An Ruo loved it.

Because...

This was the world he had written.

It was the first time he had ever opened his heart so completely to another Zerg.

Only after speaking did An Ruo realize what he'd done, and he nervously looked toward Ulysses.

He wouldn't think I was weird...

Would he?

Ulysses silently repeated the Male Zerg's words in his heart.

Not the protagonist... yet greater than the protagonist.

They built my world.

He looked at the god and asked,

"Does your world... also have a place for me?"

"Of course!"

An Ruo answered immediately.

"You're an... ultra-super-heavyweight-level character!"

An Ruo had invested just as much thought into Ulysses as he had into any protagonist.

He was the protagonist's greatest opponent.

An insurmountable peak.

His beacon.

His guide.

The Zerg he had admired most.

And the one he would someday have to surpass.

The entire Zerg civilization lived beneath Ulysses' radiance...

And beneath his shadow.

He embodied both light and darkness.

But in this world...

The world where they had come to know each other...

Ulysses had become the Zerg An Ruo wanted to make amends to.

The only one who knew his true identity.

And the only...

Friend...

To whom he could truly speak his heart.

"I'm honored to have a place in your world," Ulysses said.

Looking at the wall full of protagonists...

He had originally found them rather irritating.

But seeing how happy the Male Zerg looked...

He decided not to mind them anymore.

They would only ever remain on the Male Zerg's wall.

While he...

And his doll...

Were on the Male Zerg's bed.

Perhaps because the atmosphere felt just right...

The curtains fluttered softly in the breeze.

Catching sight of the sunshine and scenery outside, An Ruo suddenly had an idea.

"Let's not stay indoors."

"Let's go to the garden."

"All right."

Ulysses recalled their first meeting, when he had caught the Male Zerg hiding behind the garden shrubs on the grassy slope.

A faint smile appeared in his eyes.

An Ruo packed snacks, fruit, drinks...

An entire pile of food...

And headed into the garden with Ulysses.

There was no need to sneak around anymore.

Yet he still led Ulysses back to that same grassy hill.

It was a perfect place to bask in the sun.

After all...

That was where they had first met.

"The moment we met, you stripped away one of my disguises."

"You scared me to death."

Even now, remembering it left An Ruo with lingering fear.

Back then, he had only just arrived in the Zerg civilization.

He already felt guilty toward Ulysses.

And he was terrified of him.

Then Ulysses exposed one of his biggest secrets.

He'd been so frightened he nearly shut down completely.

Recalling that day, Ulysses also thought he'd handled things terribly.

"I'm sorry."

"At the time, I believed you were an unknown lifeform that had invaded the Zerg civilization."

"I couldn't determine whether you were friend or foe."

"My attitude wasn't very good."

"No, no."

An Ruo hurriedly shook his head.

"Your attitude was actually really good."

After discovering he wasn't the original Annor...

After realizing his origins were suspicious...

Ulysses hadn't attacked him.

Nor had he thrown him into a research institute.

He had merely bluffed him...

And exposed one layer of his disguise.

That was already an exceptionally gentle response.

Ulysses had never imagined that behavior °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° could still earn the evaluation of really good.

When it came to the people this Male Zerg cared about...

He clearly had his own unique standards.

Ulysses was grateful to have become one of them.

Yet...

Simply being included wasn't enough.

An Ruo arranged the food on the grass between them and handed him a slice of cake.

Ulysses hesitated before accepting the delicate, overly sweet dessert that seemed almost too refined for a Female Zerg.

He remembered the scene from the novel where the virtual Male Zerg Roy kissed Morris on the cheek...

Leaving a smear of whipped cream behind.

Turning toward the Male Zerg beside him, quietly nibbling his cake...

He felt a trace of disappointment.

There wasn't even the slightest bit of cream at the corner of An Ruo's lips.

"Will you really release this game?" Ulysses asked.

That had been his reason for visiting today.

Though...

It wasn't the most important one.

In his heart...

Sitting together with the Male Zerg on this little grassy slope...

Basking in the sunshine...

Sharing sweet desserts...

All of that mattered far more than whether the game would ultimately be released.

"Of course it has to be released!"

An Ruo replied.

"We've already made it."

"We've invested so much into it."

"And so many Zergs are looking forward to it."

To fund the game, An Ruo had even sold the rights to his new novel ahead of time.

Worried Ulysses might not have enough money to develop it, he'd also withdrawn every recent reward he'd received and given it to him.

Ulysses had refused to accept it at first.

He had even wanted to return all the money An Ruo had previously given him.

But An Ruo had stubbornly forced it into his hands, saying,

"If I don't give it to you, I won't be able to relax."

"The Zerg civilization needs a game like this," An Ruo said.

Ulysses understood.

"I won't allow Morris to interfere with your plan."

An Ruo blinked.

"...?"

What plan?

Since when did I have a plan?

It took him a second before he realized Ulysses meant the final line of the newest chapter.

"Oh..."

"Ahem... don't worry about that."

"I've already figured it out."

"The closed beta will use the original data from the planet I personally built."

"The open beta will use the backup data together with the maps developed by the game company."

"After that, the closed beta version of the planet won't be opened to the public again."

"It will remain only in the hands of the creator and the closed beta players."

Naturally...

The creator meant An Ruo himself.

As for the beta players...

One permanent slot belonged to Morris.

One permanent slot belonged to Ulysses.

The remaining spots...

He would decide later.

And whoever got them would have to be chosen very carefully.

After all...

That virtual world was one he had personally shaped.

He couldn't just let anyone wreck it.

Ulysses hadn't expected such an arrangement.

For Morris and Roy...

The original data of their planet would be preserved forever.

Never opened to outsiders.

Even if it was only a virtual world.

"You've always had a soft heart toward your protagonists."

Ulysses sighed quietly.

An Ruo didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

Among all his protagonists...

The most miserable one was probably the original protagonist from the same novel as Ulysses.

He had suffered terribly at the hands of Ulysses, the overwhelmingly powerful final villain.

Things had been manageable during the early part of the story, when the Female Zerg protagonist faithfully followed the Marshal.

But after joining the resistance...

He had been driven into hiding again and again by Ulysses' forces.

Sometimes he even had to hide together with the Male Zerg protagonist.

Readers jokingly nicknamed them...

"The Sewer Rat Couple."

An Ruo chuckled softly.

Naturally, he didn't dare recount those glorious accomplishments of the great villain while sitting right beside him.

Instead, he simply smiled.

"I'm soft-hearted toward you too."

There was still a very long time before the original story officially began.

There was no need to worry yet.

Besides...

An Ruo couldn't see even the slightest sign that Ulysses would eventually walk down the same extreme path.

Perhaps...

Everything could still change.

And if it truly couldn't...

Then he would find a way to remain beside Ulysses.

Interfere with the great villain's decisions.

Save his little sewer-rat couple...

And then...

If possible...

Save the great villain as well.

An Ruo kept handing him drinks.

Fruit.

Anything he could think of.

Trying to get on the great villain's good side ahead of time.

Ulysses almost couldn't carry everything.

He accepted each item...

Only to set it down beside him.

"So..."

"This is how you show me your soft-heartedness?"

he asked.

"Then what kind of way would you like?"

"I'm willing to try anything."

An Ruo rubbed his hands together eagerly, sincerely asking for advice.

Ulysses gazed at the Male Zerg beside him.

Those bright, sparkling eyes looked at him as though they would indulge any wish he voiced.

What he wanted...

Wasn't much.

Yet...

It was also far too much.

It was presumptuous.

If one day...

He truly committed an act of blasphemy against the god...

Would the god...

Forgive him?