Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 68 - 68 55 Declining and Fortune-telling 6500-word Mega _3

68: Chapter 55: Declining and Fortune-telling (6500-word Mega Chapter)_3 68: Chapter 55: Declining and Fortune-telling (6500-word Mega Chapter)_3 There was no choice, they had to abruptly create a setting for Dragon Country and then place an NPC in Kavala, an NPC who could recite the “Tao Te Ching”—that way, they could claim to be promoting traditional Chinese culture.

But the inspecting comrade, sharp as an eagle, said don’t assume I don’t understand games.

During the public testing phase, most of the player traffic was in Constantinople, so what’s the point of sticking a China NPC in some backwater corner?

Move it to Constantinople.

The design team then explained that in our main storyline, Constantinople is doomed to fall.

Apart from two Empresses, nearly all other civilian NPCs would be gone; what then would you do with your China NPC?

You surely can’t have him summon a heavenly sword to simply step on it and fly away as the Seljuk forces breach the walls, can you?

The reviewing comrade said I don’t care, but you must make players pay attention to this China NPC and create selling points and buzz, the kind that even makes the news.

Can’t you assign him some quest or come up with some fun setting, meme, or something?

Therefore, the design team, having no other options and after consulting with senior leaders, had to add a “fortune telling” setting for the NPC.

Theoretically, this NPC knew all the game settings and often said things that “broke the fourth wall.”

(The fourth wall refers to characters in a play being aware they’re in a play and can even speak directly to the audience.)

This NPC charged 1 pound for each fortune telling and each player account could only ask one question.

The deeper the question, the vaguer his replies were.

For instance, if a player asked, “Where can I get the recipe for Flame IV potion?”, the NPC would reply, “Your fate lies in the Fire Element Plane,” implying they had to go there.

As for exactly where to find it, no further information was provided.

Of course, there were also those playful players who asked all sorts of bizarre questions, like “How can I marry Princess Theodora and bring her home?”

Then the NPC would respond with something like “Game moderately, stay away from addiction,” and so on; all in all, not really like an NPC, but more like someone from customer service was controlling the dialogue.

If according to the game’s setting, then this world too should have a similarly omniscient NPC from Dragon Country.

A few days later, Aske led his people to the outskirts of Kavala and soon found this marvelous NPC in the Ancient Sirius pavilion by the seaside.

He was an elder from China with an immortal demeanor, looking somewhat like Su Youpeng’s portrayal of Zhang Sanfeng in the 2003 “The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber,” and currently, he was shaking his head and chanting in Chinese:

“The way that can be spoken of is not the constant way; the name that can be named is not the constant name.”

Beside him, a pristine Sirius little boy translated fluently into Sirius language:

“If a secret is knowable, then it ceases to be a secret.”

“Profound, profound.” The surrounding listeners were all Sirius people; some dressed in white robes like Philosophers, and others in lavish attire, clearly Nobles or wealthy merchants, all nodding in agreement at this moment.

A Philosopher in a white robe stood up, speaking endlessly as if debating:

“The stance of this Eastern master shares a wonderful resonance with Kant’s concept of the unknowable.”

“Because this shore represents the phenomena we recognize, while the other shore is the ‘thing-in-itself’ that exists independently beyond our cognition.”

“Between this shore and the other, there lies an insurmountable chasm of human cognition, allowing us only to recognize the phenomena generated by things but not to see through the phenomena to the essences of things.”

A Sirius priest also stood, making a devout cross over his chest and reciting prayers from the scripture:

“Between you and me, there lies an Abyss.

You can’t come over to my side, and I can’t cross over to yours.”

Aske watched the lively scene, his face full of confusion.

How is it that you, an ancient person from China reciting the “Tao Te Ching,” are able to communicate with these Sirius Philosophers and priests without any basic cultural barriers?

“Look, that guy over there is the Prophet I told you about.” He pointed to the pavilion ahead, where the China elder surrounded by praising Sirius people, and explained to the girls, “He can answer any question you have, but you can only ask one question each, and he charges one pound.”

“A Prophet?

For real?” The girls frowned with skepticism, “Can he really answer any doubts?”

“Yes,” Aske said, “If you don’t believe it, I’ll go try it first.”

“Master!” Striding into the pavilion, in the face of the crowd’s exclusion and disdain, Aske boldly pushed past the blocking Sirius priests and Philosophers, and with a cupped fist salute to the China NPC, he said, “I have a question, and I seek enlightenment from the master.”

“One pound for the fortune, one for each inquiry,” said the fortune-telling elder, looking like Zhang Sanfeng, with his hands behind his back.

One pound…

your quote for the foreign price sure rolls off the tongue comfortably.

Aske silently pulled out a banknote and handed it over.

“The will of Heaven must not be revealed; follow me.” Saying this, Zhang Sanfeng led Aske to a deserted area nearby, arrogantly said with his hands behind his back, “Ask.”

“How can I return to the world I came from?” Aske asked respectfully.

“Let the old man calculate.” Taking out six copper coins from his sleeve, Zhang Sanfeng tossed them to the ground.

They rolled several times and finally settled, all six faces up.

“Hmm, six yang lines, Qian for Heaven,” Zhang Sanfeng stroked his beard and said, “A dragon’s fortune comes with water, uplifting joy to the brow; all plans will come to pass, and fortunes will gradually rise from here on.”

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