Chapter 235 - 234: Isn’t This a Bit Too Pathetic?

Chapter 235: Chapter 234: Isn’t This a Bit Too Pathetic?

With the activation of the skill [Blessing Distortion], invisible Spiritual Power instantly twisted and condensed in the air into the shape of a spiral tower.

It was the Double Helix style Lloyd was most familiar with, one side a dim, deathly gray, the other a holy, pure white.

But compared to the genuine one in his [Thought Realm], this one was much more miniature and was even inverted, with its spire pointing downward.

DONG~

With a muffled thud, the Double Helix Tower unceremoniously smashed down on the "love of his life" someone had prepared for Lloyd.

The gorgeous blonde woman only resisted for a moment before vanishing completely.

Then, Lloyd’s vision went dark. A black screen appeared, dotted with a few flickering white specks that gave it the feel of an old black-and-white film. In the very center were the two large words, "THE END."

About two seconds later, the black screen disappeared, and Lloyd found himself back in the room. The previous narrator’s voice immediately echoed in his ears:

"How is that possible? How could that be? How could it only take 20 seconds? Randolph, you old bastard, you cheated! You fucking... BEEP BEEP BEEP..."

’The voice sounded like a furious man. If I’m not mistaken, that must be the big shot, Olga, right?’

Then came the butler’s voice:

"Don’t be so disgraceful, Olga. Are you such a sore loser? Is it that hard to admit your story was shoddy?"

Then, the big shot Inesha spoke up:

"It really is disgraceful, Olga. The entire process was mutually supervised by the three of us. Wouldn’t you have noticed if Randolph cheated? It’s clear your ’plot’ was too impatient for results, which is why it was seen through in an instant."

After each of the three big shots had said their piece, silence fell around Lloyd.

’Feels like some kind of post-mortem review session? Each big shot gets a one-sentence summary?’

’So I’ve already broken the first "Story"?’

’In just 20 seconds?’

Er...

Lloyd scratched his head, slightly embarrassed, an expression on his face that was somewhere between laughter and tears.

’He really hadn’t expected this round of the game to end so quickly.’

It was like he had produced a 200-supply ultimate army. In the sky were Protos carriers, and on the ground were High Tier Paladins, Governors, and Purifiers. He’d maxed out all his tech and even stockpiled tens of thousands of resources.

Just as he was about to engage the enemy in an earth-shattering final battle, he discovered his opponent was still producing basic warriors and catapults, and hadn’t even unlocked archers...

No wonder the Tier Seven big shot’s composure shattered instantly, causing him to get furious and start cursing up a storm.

’But... why was a Tier Seven big shot’s story so easily broken by me?’

Even Lloyd himself found it incredible.

The truth was, he had almost accepted the premise that he was "folklorist Tom."

But in that very instant, he first felt a slight tickle in his mind.

That was the Book of Truth turning a page.

Next, the panel interface before his eyes began to flash erratically, as if it were constantly opening and closing.

That was the panel giving him some kind of warning.

Then, a faint stinging pain came from the back of his hand, as if someone had pinched him.

That was "the girl next door" reminding him not to lose focus.

After that, his uncanny Intuition was beating gongs and drums as if celebrating, and his Tentacle Grass was twisting wildly as if dancing.

In short, five different factors were all giving him reminders, jolting Lloyd back to his senses in an instant.

One could only say it wasn’t that Olga’s story was bad, but that Lloyd had come equipped with a few too many... things.

As for how to break the story after snapping out of it, Lloyd had originally planned to follow the butler’s advice and search for flaws in the "Story."

But then the Saint Statue in his hand pinched him again...

So Lloyd activated [Blessing Distortion], or rather, [Veto Declaration].

With that move, he not only "Vetoed" someone else’s "Story," but also "Vetoed" his own gameplay experience...

In fact, according to what the butler had said before, a "Story" laid out by a High-ranking Powerhouse was supposed to be quite perilous and not something one could handle easily. Even after recovering one’s self-Cognition, one couldn’t use such a brute-force method to break it.

Generally, after a "reader" came to their senses, they still had to remain cautious and seek out various loopholes and flaws to weaken the "Story’s" plausibility. This would diminish its power and influence, triggering a self-collapse of the "plot" and allowing for a safe escape.

If they acted recklessly without any regard for the consequences, a High-ranking Powerhouse from the "plot" might suddenly spawn beside them, or a meteorite might crash right on their head, knocking the "reader" unconscious and leaving them at the mercy of others.

It could also draw the "author" into the fray personally, who would then continuously use "narration" from the outside to interfere with the "reader’s" thoughts and cognition until they fell back into their "role." Or, the author might hastily arrange a slew of enemies and dangers that the "reader" couldn’t handle, running them ragged and leaving them no chance to break the story.

In summary, a "reader" could never outwit the "author" within the story. Without weakening the "Story" first, escape was practically impossible.

After recalling all this, Lloyd continued to analyze his situation:

’Given what happened, I must have jumped out right at the very beginning of the story, right?’

’The butler did say that the beginning of a "Story" is the most important but also the most fragile part. The "plot" hasn’t unfolded yet, the "setting" hasn’t been established, so if the "reader" just drops the book right away, it doesn’t matter how brilliant the rest of it is.’

’I can only say it’s a good thing the first "Story" wasn’t the butler’s...’

After silently counting his blessings, Lloyd made a final self-assessment in his mind:

’The fact I broke it so quickly was partly because I was cheating a little. Not a lot, just a tiny bit...’

’And the "Story" ability specifically targets the domain of thought and consciousness. My persona has always been that of a strong-willed and resilient youth; the Consciousness Realm is my strong suit.’

’So, in conclusion, it was mainly thanks to my own struggle and hard work!’

’Of course, I can’t let my guard down and underestimate the next "Story." If I fail to snap out of it at the beginning next time, I’ll probably end up in a real mess.’

’In any case, this concerns the butler’s Transcendence and my own. I have to be careful for the next two days.’

After giving himself a reminder, Lloyd finally turned his attention to the panel before him, looking at a small change that had appeared—

[Unparsed Fragment: Unknown Fragment of indeterminate composition *1, Current Analysis Progress: 33%]

The analysis progress for this fragment had shot up by a full 20%!

Although this increase didn’t bring any extra Madness Value, it did cause some new knowledge about the [Manifestation] system to sprout in his mind.

However, this knowledge was unrelated to the current "Story" challenges; instead, it was from the [Projection] branch.

And compared to the basic knowledge he’d acquired last time, this new information was clearly much more advanced, beginning to explain in detail the principles and operating methods of [Projection].

As it happened, Lloyd had been wanting to grow an extra "arm" for himself. Now that he had broken the story and had nothing to do, with the second round not starting until tomorrow, he simply lay down on the bed in his room and began to read the knowledge in his mind.

But as he read, panel notifications would occasionally sound in his ear:

[DING~ Madness Value +200]

[DING~ Madness Value +200]

Although the notifications weren’t very frequent, the amount was rather startling...

’There isn’t a problem with this knowledge, is there?’

Lloyd couldn’t help but worry a little.

But for the sake of the Madness Value, and to get that extra "arm" to pet Elolo sooner, he gritted his teeth and went for it!

......

"How is that possible? How on earth is that possible? How in the world is that possible?"

At this moment, the great Olga was a picture of misery, looking completely dejected, as if he were about to cough up blood from sheer anguish.

"Is my ’Story’ really that terrible? I invited many people to test it beforehand, and I even had several famous screenwriters and literary giants help me polish the plot. It was supposed to be flawless..."

"But why... Why was it so fast? Why didn’t it even last a minute? Is my power really so weak? Is the ’Story’ I wrote unable to even handle a Tier Two rookie?"

No matter how casually the butler had described the stakes of this wager, it was still the fruit of a Tier Seven powerhouse’s twenty-plus years of hard work.

It would have been fine to lose fair and square; that was a risk any player in the wager should be prepared for.

But to lose so miserably, so disgracefully... it was hard not to lose one’s composure and begin to doubt oneself.

For a Tier Seven powerhouse especially, admitting that you were just bad was even harder to accept than losing over twenty years of your life’s work.

Finally, the butler, who was standing nearby, couldn’t bear to watch any longer and offered some words of comfort:

"It’s just Lloyd who finished rather quickly. Aren’t the other two ’readers’ still following your ’script’?"

He chose not to kick Olga while he was down or to gloat, partly because he wasn’t that kind of person, and partly because while they were opponents at the table, they were still friends off of it.

The unique [Transcendence] mechanism of the [Manifestation] system required having more friends and fewer enemies; otherwise, you could never even arrange a game like this.

If you were too harsh with your words and ended up not winning anyway, who would be willing to play with you next time?

The great Inesha clearly understood this logic as well and chimed in:

"Alright, alright. It’s a three-person game, the final outcome isn’t decided yet. I’d say that little fellow from the [Law] system you brought isn’t bad at all, much more promising than the one I brought. He’ll definitely cause me a good deal of trouble over the next two days...

Of course, compared to the little fox brought by this old fox Randolph, those two are as green as new-hatched chicks."

As she spoke, she asked, half-joking and half-serious:

"How about you introduce this little fox to me?"