Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 832 - 371 New Homeworld and Hardcore Mode_3

Chapter 832: Chapter 371 New Homeworld and Hardcore Mode_3

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At the bar, Stone, doubling as a bartender, poured a cup of hot red tea for Lin Wu, "Sir, wouldn’t you prefer some ice water?"

"You’d actually say that? Mind your status," Lin Wu retorted, "You old thing disrupting unity."

Stone grumbled, "How am I disrupting unity? I just want to do something I feel like doing at the end of the game. Or do you think I fancy farming? Sitting on a chair for an hour a day like a fool? That’s called work, it’s what society demands of you. Going to True Hardcore Mode is retirement, my reward to myself."

Stone poured himself a Coke, "You young people fancy yourselves as trendsetters, but you never really break free from society’s subtle rules. A little rebellion against the boss and you think you’re a new breed of human. You haven’t even figured out what self is. The self is an obstinate sentiment that isn’t swayed by others, paying for one’s own actions."

Stone said, "When over 99% of people believe your behavior is wrong, and society and family put pressure on you, can you still stand firm and stay true to yourself?"

Lin Wu responded, "If that many people oppose it, maybe it is wrong."

Stone argued, "Many people still believe Blue Star is flat. We think they’re ignorant, and I think so too. You think my choosing True Hardcore Mode with my abilities is self-destruction, incomprehensible. But isn’t there basically no difference between the two? Lin Wu, what matters isn’t how long I can survive in True Hardcore Mode, or whether I have a good life there. It’s about whether I dare to chase the faint hope that even I don’t believe in."

Stone elaborated, "Take love, for instance. At my age, should I not believe in eternal love? I’ve experienced it firsthand, studied it from books; I know there’s no such thing as everlasting love, just familial affection between spouses that comes from adjustment, and compatibility. But I believe in love. You’d say, ’How can you, a capitalist bloodsucker, believe in such pure and beautiful love? Hilarious.’"

Stone continued, "Though I’ve never seen nor found it around me, even if Blue Star is devoid of any such pure and lasting love, I still believe it’s real, that it exists, and I might just be the lucky one."

Lin Wu countered, "That goes against human logic, just as claiming Blue Star is flat contradicts basic facts."

Stone laughed and asked, "Here’s a question for you. Can you be 100% certain that I absolutely can’t survive in True Hardcore Mode and live until the end of the game?"

Lin Wu paused, surprised, "Of course not 100%, anything’s possible."

"Anything’s possible, well said. That’s why I believe in love, because anything’s possible."

Lin Wu nodded, "Living too comfortably, stuffing yourself when already full."

Stone agreed, "Something like that." It’s like taking a submarine to see the Titanic – how beautiful can a sunken ship be? So why do passengers risk a deep-sea journey? Other than misplacing trust in the wrong people, another reason is because the trip offers an experience that others don’t have – unique, belonging only to a select few.

Lin Wu commented, "From the campfire room to here, I find your arguments fragmented. Have you never thoroughly thought this through, that’s why your statements don’t cohere well and you don’t clearly express your meaning?"

Stone admitted, "Right, never really thought it through. But upon seeing the choices between True Hardcore Mode and the new home, my soul told me, the new home is just a reskinned Hardcore Mode, utterly boring, I can even predict its grand finale. While True Hardcore Mode is full of the unknown and challenges, and it’s not a 100% certainty of death."

Stone added, "If you want me to clearly articulate why I insist on True Hardcore Mode, I can’t explain, at least not for now."

Lin Wu nodded, "How many people do you think will join you in True Hardcore Mode?"

After thinking for a long time, Stone said, "Apart from you, probably no one else."

"Cut it out, why would I go to True Hardcore Mode." Lin Wu scoffed, "My earlier stance was just nonsense."

"It’s just a feeling, a feeling that you, with that stubborn streak, would choose True Hardcore Mode. Especially given you have your own base, not directly constrained by Shadow," Stone said, "Homeland is a fun game, but even the most fun game eventually gets old, especially for someone like you who’s mostly cracked the game’s mechanics. You’d definitely choose the unknown True Hardcore Mode over the reskinned new homeland."

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