This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 596: The Descent of Heaven

Chapter 596: Chapter 596: The Descent of Heaven

Ever since she could remember, Yinyin had lived in her family’s garden.

She still remembered two years ago, when she was six, sitting on her father’s shoulders and looking at the world outside the farm for the first time. Her father asked her how it felt, and after thinking for a while, she shook her head and said that although the outside world was vast, it was still far inferior to the garden on the estate.

She also remembered her father laughing heartily, then saying something more. She couldn’t recall the exact words, but she remembered the gist was that the forest outside, the mountains, and the plains, would all soon become part of the farm—they would have an even bigger estate.

By then, she would no longer be the farmer’s daughter but a princess of the kingdom.

At first, she didn’t understand her father’s thinking until, later on, her home tutor taught her the word "ambition."

But what still confused her was, if the idea sounded good, why did everyone want to flee from here, to the point that her father had to take children her age as hostages, and one of them was her friend?

Of course, that was just one of many perplexities.

What confused her more was, if the idea truly was not bad...

Why was it that ever since that day, the wasteland beyond the fence remained unchanged, while the fence’s inside became more like the outside with each passing day?

When she opened her eyes again, she was greeted by a pure white space, soft light reflecting off her lightweight eyelashes without causing any discomfort.

She looked around bewilderedly.

She found herself in a pure white space.

"Where am I?"

A strange voice seemed to drift from a far distance.

"Welcome to the Lord God’s Space."

Yinyin was momentarily stunned, looking towards the stranger who suddenly appeared in the space, unable to grasp the situation.

"...What?"

"Cough... Sorry," intending to lighten the mood with a harmless joke, Chu Guang had just spoken when he remembered the people of this world would not understand the reference, so he coughed lightly.

Watching her puzzled eyes, he adjusted his expression and continued.

"This is the Holy Land."

Yinyin looked at him bewilderedly.

"Holy Land?"

Chu Guang nodded gently.

"Yes."

Her confusion remained unabated, and Yinyin gazed at him nervously, whispering cautiously.

"Then... who are you?"

Chu Guang continued with a gentle tone.

"I am the Manager of the Alliance."

"Manager?"

Yinyin’s face exuded bewilderment.

She had heard of the Alliance and vaguely of a ’Manager,’ but she had no idea what that entailed.

Speaking of which...

Wasn’t I dead?

Memories clouded by a white mist slowly became clear in her mind, and she gradually recalled the last second before she closed her eyes.

To save her best friend, she had stood in front of Little Lamb, and a bullet had struck her back, passing right through her body.

The man had approached her, about to strike, and it seemed someone suddenly arrived, grappling with the man, both of them falling out of the window together.

And after that...

There was no after.

"Little Lamb—"

Knowing what she wanted to ask, Chu Guang looked at her and said.

"Thanks to you, she’s still alive and now under our protection."

Yinyin sighed in relief.

After a long silence, her lips trembled slightly, squeezing out a barely audible sentence.

"Am I... already dead?"

Chu Guang fell silent for a while, pondering whether to tell her the truth, but eventually, he nodded gently.

"Yes."

The expression on Yinyin’s face seemed to confirm her suspicion.

What surprised him, though, was that she did not express sadness. Instead, she relaxed her tense shoulders and let out a light smile.

That smile was tinged with loneliness and reluctance.

"So this is what death feels like..."

She looked at her hands, then raised her head to the pure white ceiling, chuckling to herself, "It doesn’t hurt as much as I imagined."

Chu Guang didn’t know how to respond to that.

His memories of death were mostly from dreams, and perhaps his little players had more right to speak on it.

After a pause, he decided to answer her earlier question.

"Returning to your previous question, although your physical body is dead, your consciousness has been preserved on a bionic chip... Its name is ’Holy Land,’ which is this space beneath your feet, and that’s also why we can communicate face to face."

The memories in her mind became fully clear.

Yinyin nodded in half-comprehension, then lowered her head after a moment and asked.

"Holy Land... is it where the Saint Heir lives?"

Chu Guang nodded and then gently shook his head.

"The person who was communicating with you is actually named Luo Gan. He might have told you his name was Saint Heir, but in fact, the Saint Heir is someone else."

Not angered at having been deceived, she seemed to have expected his words, only glancing around and asking with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Does he live in a place like this..."

"And he has for nearly twenty years," Chu Guang nodded gently, pausing before continuing, "In the end, he left this place to you."

"Where did he go then?" Yinyin’s gaze wandered around the room, seemingly in search of the person who had communicated with her all this time.

"I don’t know, that guy might have been hurt by my words, and he hasn’t bothered with me since; after everything, he just vanished from this space."

Chu Guang looked towards the center of the room where a plain chair had previously been placed; the old man had been sitting there.

He paused, then continued.

"The chip no longer contains his data, including that apostle... I can no longer sense his existence, I’m more inclined to believe that he might have given this world to you."

"Given it to me..."

"Yes."

Yinyin looked at him bewilderedly and asked,

"Why would he do that?"

"No one knows, you might be the only person who has communicated with him as a person, I think you might know the answer."

"How could I possibly know that," Yinyin hugged her head, her expression tinged with pain, "I have so many questions I want to ask him, I said I would trust him, but why did he turn everyone into that, what kind of heaven needs such actions to be realized, can we... not go there?"

As she was on her deathbed, she had figured everything out.

Including why everyone had changed, why her father had died, and why those people came to kill her friends... Yet, she was still not smart enough, realizing all this too late.

If she had realized all this earlier, realized who the real culprit was, she could have shared her secrets with those who extended their help to her in time.

Perhaps those tragic events would not have had to occur, and that big brother wouldn’t have had to die trying to save her and Little Lamb.

There was only one thing she was grateful for.

That she stood beside Little Lamb in those moments.

At least she hadn’t committed a regrettable mistake—killing her best friend because of her blind trust.

"...Choosing is more expensive than survival, ever since the Alliance was formed we have been fighting for this power," unable to bear seeing that sad look anymore, Chu Guang sighed lightly and spoke in a soothing tone, "We will try to let you walk in the original world, but it will take some time, you might have to stay here for a while."

"If you remember something, you can call my name."

He was about to leave this space.

At that moment, Yinyin, who was holding her head, suddenly looked up and called out to him.

"Wait..."

Chu Guang stopped, casting an inquiring look at her.

"What’s wrong?"

"That fog..."

"Fog?" Chu Guang frowned slightly, "What did you think of?"

Yinyin nodded gently, her face pale.

"I might have remembered... what that fog really is."

That person had told her before.

More than once—

She quietly recited the phrase in her mouth.

"...The eternal heaven will descend upon the land of mortals when the gray mist rises, and all creatures engulfed by heaven will return to eternal calm and tranquility."

Chu Guang’s pupils slightly constricted.

He seemed to have a guess...

...

Brocade River City.

A cold, deathly silent urban area.

Watching the gray-green haze spreading over the abandoned buildings and the gradually obscured sunset in the distance, the hunched figure of High Priest Gomo furrowed his brows, muttering softly,

"The time has come earlier than expected."

Standing beside him, Qi Gaen spoke expressionlessly.

"Isn’t it good to be early?"

Unlike Gomo,

His gaze was fixed on the distant iron airship.

Rather than the Torch Church’s plan, he was more eager to know how to defeat that guy.

Even if heaven descended on Earth, making the sheep in the pen more docile, expanding their species would still be achieved through external warfare.

The north was undoubtedly the ideal target.

It is said there are hundreds of thousands of people in Giant Stone City, surrounded by towering giant walls, perfect as a natural pasture.

However, the problem was that those guys possessed such terrifying weapons.

Just hours ago, that towering iron beast had launched terrifying firepower towards the west side of the Pinecone Wood Farm.

Even from tens of kilometers away, he could still feel the trembling of the earth and the air.

Clearly—

That fierce firepower was aimed at his lieutenant, Kulu.

Truth be told, Gaen didn’t like those charlatans, after all, even though they promised many benefits, they were still Old Humans.

However, he had to admit, his tribe did need the power of those charlatans.

Compared to the Old Human civilization that had accumulated tens of thousands or even thousands of years, the civilization of Mutants was still too young.

Only the wisdom of the Old could contend with that terrifying power.

He, too, occasionally needed to compromise with reality.

Gomo knew what the leader was anxious about and sighed lightly,

"I don’t feel it’s bad; the sooner heaven descends to Earth, the stronger our control over this land... I am just wondering if it’s too rushed."

Gaen looked at him and asked,

"What about Luo Gan? Why don’t you ask him?"

Gomo’s aged face showed a hint of difficulty.

"...I can’t get in touch with him."

Gaen frowned.

"Can’t get in touch?"

The final "ritual" was about to begin, the thick gray fog had already spread to the urban area of Jinhe City, and soon this area stretching dozens of kilometers would be engulfed.

And they couldn’t contact that guy at such a critical moment?

Gomo hung his head low, not daring to look at the leader, and spoke softly,

"Actually, it doesn’t matter... the plan has already been made, we just need to execute it step by step, it’s the same if we carry out the final ritual."

Gaen clicked his tongue, glaring hatefully at the distant sky.

"These two-legged beasts can’t be trusted..."

He swore.

Sooner or later, he would kill them all!

...

In the area around Brocade River City, just like boiling water, the official forum of Wasteland OL was equally bustling.

When the brothers of the Jungle Corps brought back the combat achievements of Brother Killing Chicken, the replies saying "666" immediately flooded the report thread.

Although there were many disheartened people from the casinos, more were the onlookers who directly called it awesome and amazing.

Outlaw Maniac: "Brother Chicken is awesome!!! (Screaming)"

Stop talking nonsense: "Twenty-one! So strong!"

Makabazi: "Not like a certain lizard, weak! (Funny)"

Pick up trash 99 level: "%￥#@!"

Tail: "Whoo whoo whoo, I’m so jealous! Si! Tail also wants to switch classes to be an Ah Stat! QAQ"

Si Si: "Patting Ah Wei, don’t cry don’t cry.

Meat mountain big steamed bun: "Hisss...Two meters fifty tall, shoulders one meter wide, that tail? Can’t imagine it at all!"

Sesame Paste: "Ahaha... Meat Meat would be crushed. (*￣~￣*)"

Midnight Chicken Killing: "Class change NPC coordinates, Huge Rock Military Industry Yibers! Not bragging, really useful! (Silly smile)"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Damn, you all started a group and didn’t call me! T.T"

Xiao Xiaosha Chong: "You aren’t part of our group, why would we call you?"

Pick up trash 99 level: "Damn! That cold-hearted?"

Difficult for the strong: "Damn it, this guy monopolized all the glory!"

Ground Model: "Mole bro, where are your underlings? (Funny)"

Difficult for the strong: "Picked them up long ago, my respawn CD is just one day. (Baring teeth)"

Ground Model: "6666!"

Speaking of this incident, there was a small side story, after Difficult for the strong turned into a beam of light and disappeared from the battlefield, his underlings didn’t leave too far.

It wasn’t out of loyalty to the boss, mainly because Moles are indiscriminate eaters, and the leftover scraps from Mutants were enough to last for a long time.

Thus, the crew of Mole underlings merely mourned for a few minutes before heartily starting a feast right at the place where their boss met his demise.

And just as the Moles were enjoying their feast on the second day, the Big Horn Rat that they had just cleaned up suddenly came back.

This "respawn on the spot" tactic absolutely stunned all the Moles, who started to kowtow in worship squeakily.

Although it was hard to understand what those Moles were saying, Difficult for the strong could distinctly feel that his image had grown even more sacred and majestic in the eyes of his Mole underlings.

I want Tranquility: "But seriously, why hasn’t this fog dissipated yet?"

Night Ten: "I have a bad feeling."

Quit smoking: "What kind of feeling?"

Night Ten: "According to typical RPG logic, shouldn’t there be a boss battle after clearing the mobs?"

Quit smoking: "Fuck?! You can’t just drop that, don’t jinx it!"

Elena: "Night Ten has a perception skill, I believe in Night Ten’s feeling. (Funny)"

Fang Chang: "Hmm, indeed, can’t rule out that possibility. The Torch Church seems very sensitive to our research on neutralizing the Nago mycelium antibody. If those Mutant Corps are all they have in response, it’d be rather hasty."

Canyon runaway Mole: "And it’s strange... isn’t it just the antibody carrier they need to eliminate? Was it really necessary to deploy an entire Mutant Corps?"

Such a large-scale operation, even if they make it to Pinecone Wood Farm, wouldn’t the Alliance have enough time to send planes and evacuate key personnel?

Might as well send more assassins instead.

Spring Water Commander: "Hmm... I always feel rather than saying that the fog is masking the march of the Mutants, it’s more like the latter is covering for the former."

Night Ten: "What do you think it could be?"

Spring Water Commander: "How would I know... Anyway, the brothers who are still alive need to be careful."

...

In fact, even though he died early, Night Ten’s bad premonition seemed to come true once again.

According to the situation reported by players stationed around Pinecone Wood Farm, the local residents simultaneously entered God Travel states shortly after the fog appeared.

And this occurred even without any influence from a Mind Interference Device!

Thankfully, the players had already counteracted the brainwashing on the 03 frequency with that device, or else last night’s disaster might have replicated.

Because they were well-prepared beforehand, most of the survivors stayed indoors, and even if they entered God Travel states, they just sat or stood motionlessly.

However, it was unsettling that the sprawling mist within a radius of several kilometers was slowly spreading further and by twilight,

it had already reached the edge of Jinhe City Urban Area.

The fog was gradually thinning and visibility was returning, yet the area of dense fog was expanding drastically.

Moreover, the spore cloud no longer confined itself to just a patch on the ground but began crawling toward the sky, even starting to touch the edges of the clouds.

This is the situation currently unfolding in Jinhe City.

"...This feeling is like a stone dropped into a lake, the ripple height is decreasing, but the concentric outlines are spreading from the center to the shore."

Aboard the Steel Heart.

After listening to the Captain’s description of the current situation, Vanus, the Chief of Staff who had urgently come from the rear to the front lines, pondered for a moment and then shared his view.

The Captain furrowed his brow slightly.

"What the hell do those zealots want."

Chu Guang, who had been silently watching out the window, suddenly spoke.

"I’m actually more concerned about another matter."

Vanus looked at him and asked.

"What’s that?"

Chu Guang continued.

"What exactly is this ’eternal Heaven’."

Vanus fell into thought.

At that moment, the bridge’s door opened, and Frost walked toward everyone from the direction of the door.

"...Our aerospace squadron’s reconnaissance drone flew approximately several hundred kilometers south, then it captured these images."

Saying this, she handed a tablet to Chu Guang’s hand.

Taking the tablet from Frost, Chu Guang’s eyebrows raised slightly in surprise as he glanced at the screen.

He saw vast swathes of gray-green fog covering the ground, with only the occasional mountains and forests peeking through, not swallowed up.

Further south, the thick gray fog was like a wall impervious to air, seemingly freezing the entire space.

From the outside, it was impossible to see what was going on in the fog.

His brows slightly furrowed, he looked at Frost and asked,

"Where is this?"

"The southern part of Brocade River Province, located on the South Shore of the Central Continent, Haiye Province. Our drones encountered signal interference and electronic warfare attacks as they entered the airspace over Haiye Province. However, our AI technology prevailed, and they have now returned."

As she spoke, pride tinged Frost’s expression.

Operating drones was her specialty, and electronic warfare was Eclipse’s forte; a bunch of amateurs armed with rudimentary skills couldn’t hope to bring down one of their controlled planes.

But Chu Guang wasn’t concerned with these details; he had already experienced the technology of the Torch Church.

What concerned him more was something else...

"Since when has it become like this?" With a puzzled expression, the captain standing beside Chu Guang voiced his confusion.

However, it was clear Frost couldn’t possibly know; she was merely a bionic person, and she shook her head in frustration.

Vanus, standing by, pondered for a long time before speaking.

"I reckon it’s been these few months, during our battles with the Army. Otherwise, such a significant occurrence couldn’t have gone unnoticed in the City of Dawn."

Chu Guang nodded.

"That’s what I was thinking."

However, this was merely speculation based on limited information.

In fact, even if that band of zealots had long completed their plans, they were fully capable of keeping the news confined to their own territory.

Judging by their modus operandi around Jinhe City, they would initially promise some benefits to local survivors, revealing their true colors only once those survivors were wholly dependent on them.

In this process, Nago-corrupted flora and fauna had already spread across the land, with pervasive mycelium infiltrating nearly every inch of soil.

And then there was the influence of the Mind Interference Device.

Once the realm known as "Heaven" had fully unfolded across this land, the local survivors had long become the captives of the Church.

It was only logical that no news escaped.

Had it not been for the ample number of traders and mercenaries from Brocade River Province in the Alliance, and had players not already traveled south, they might still be in the dark about this area’s affairs by the time Jinhe City had completely transformed into a part of "Heaven."

Chu Guang looked at Frost again.

"What’s the council’s opinion?"

"The council believes this is undoubtedly a crisis and moreover..." Frost stopped halfway and swallowed her words.

Chu Guang knew what she left unsaid.

All the suffering here was inseparably linked to a conflict from a century and a half ago.

Even though Ideal City wasn’t the direct cause of this disaster, as descendants of the Production Department, they bore an inescapable responsibility for the ongoing events.

But now was not the time to assign blame.

Chu Guang moved beyond the heavy topic and continued.

"Our researchers believe that the release of spores represents the third stage of biological evolution for the Nago Fungus. Based on the current experimental results, it’s inferred that those shrouded in gray fog and infected will gradually enter a state of God’s trance within 12 to 72 hours."

"Even those who have never consumed Nago will slowly be poisoned within this domain, until their immune system is breached, ultimately becoming part of this realm..."

"And this is the essence of ’Heaven.’"

If initially consuming Nago was a voluntary choice for the survivors, the third stage of "Heaven’s descent" had nothing to do with voluntariness.

The originally benign microbial group would forcefully push the constantly emitted spores into every organic organism’s respiratory tract and mouth.

Whether the local survivors accepted it or not—

The eternal Heaven of the Torch Church would descend.

The organic beings engulfed by Heaven would forever lose all suffering, but the price was losing their selves, living as breeding beds for Nago fungi, and being manipulated to perform simple tasks by the Mind Interference Device.

Except for the stronger mutants, selected apostles, and the perfect life form they were designing, no other living beings could survive long in this domain.

Before the technology for the perfect life form was completed, there was no doubt this place was Hell.

Looking at Frost’s slightly dilated electronic pupils, Chu Guang continued.

"According to the conclusions of the Heya study, this gene sequence is ultimately a snippet cut from the DNA of the ’mutated slime fungus.’ Considering the Lair in Qingquan City, the essence of a spore is a medium for transferring information, hence, one can infer that something similar to the Lair most certainly exists in this region."

The Holy Land is a coreless decentralized network, but the Heaven that descended to Earth was different—it was purely a biotechnological Utopia.

The Holy Land, nonexistent on Earth, was its spiritual core, while its physical core must be hidden in some corner of this land.

It was the core of everything—

Commanding all the mycelium, sustaining this Heaven.

Frost looked at him seriously and asked,

"Where do you think it is?"

Chu Guang looked at it and said,

"The most likely location is the Biological Institute of Champion Group in Jinhe City... What do you intend to do?"

Frost spoke gravely.

"I will recommend that the council use strategic weapons to destroy it. The damage caused by this research project has far exceeded regional risks."

Chu Guang seemed to anticipate her response and sighed softly.

"That facility’s underground lab is equivalent to a nuclear bunker, like an unnumbered shelter; what weapon do you plan to use against it?"

He had seen this in the memories of Eure, the apostle—that elevator was not ordinarily deep, requiring quite a while to reach the surface.

Frost hesitated.

"Ah..."

Before she could analyze alternative strategies, Chu Guang continued ahead.

"We need that artificial Lair; understanding it is essential to resolving it. Our people will go and seize it, but the local mutants surely won’t let us take it easily. I need your support."

As if already granted permission from somewhere,

Frost didn’t hesitate at his words and nodded in agreement.

"No problem. We’ll provide all necessary support."

"This is no longer just your threat."

"It’s ours too."