Nan Cheng had no idea what was going through Iluvia’s mind, nor did he know that the game review video he posted had inadvertently brought her such surprise and comfort.
At this moment, he almost forgot he was inside a game.
Goddess-sama, are you taking any more believers? I want to become your believer!
Just as Nan Cheng was lost in his wild thoughts, Iluvia’s ethereal, sacred voice drifted down slowly from atop the Divine Seat:
“God-Chosen One, I understand the purpose of your visit.”
“This quest is fraught with danger. What kind of help do you wish to receive from me?”
As the Goddess finished speaking, a system dialogue box popped up in Nan Cheng’s field of vision:
【A: Great Goddess, I wish to learn about what happened in Castellan.】
【B: Great Goddess, regarding Castellan, the location of this quest...】
【C: Great Goddess, I’d like to ask about Castellan.】
【D: Great Goddess, could you tell me about Castellan?】
Nan Cheng: “...”
He stared at the four lines of nearly identical text, falling completely silent on the spot.
Wait, what?
Is the game designer out of their mind?
Is there any difference between these options?
Just swapping word order and moving a couple of words counts as a new option?
Damn it! Make proper choices, will you? Who are you trying to fool here?
So you just copied the filler option trope from Japanese RPGs wholesale, huh?
Nan Cheng ranted frantically in his head.
In the livestream chat, viewers exploded with laughter upon seeing this baffling maneuver:
“Hahaha, the streamer is completely speechless!”
“LMAO, haha!”
“Devs: We provided four choices, very user-friendly. Players: You provided four ways of saying the exact same thing.”
“Pfft, the streamer is totally stunned.”
“Haha, is there any reason for these options to even exist?”
“I don't get it, but I respect it [doge].”
“666, treating players like JRPG gamers.”
“Spitting facts.”
“I suggest adding Option E: Great Goddess, actually I want to ask how old you are, if you're single, and if your wings feel nice to touch?”
“Guy above, your account is gone.”
“Goddess: Option E, huh? Option E player is gone too.”
“Hard to hold it in.”
“...”
Nan Cheng glanced at the chat, a dark line immediately crossing his face.
Having no time to deal with the chat, he randomly picked D and answered the Goddess:
“Great Goddess, could you tell me about Castellan?”
Iluvia nodded lightly, a subtle smile touching the corners of her lips:
“Castellan was once an extraordinarily prosperous city, the City of Hope built by the human race’s grandest empire—the Sacred Aetherland Empire—after the divine war a thousand years ago...”
Her voice was ethereal and distant, as if echoing through the centuries.
“Regrettably, due to war and other circumstances, this bustling city was reduced to ruin. Now, only ruins remain.”
At this point, a soft hint of sorrow touched the Goddess’s voice, her golden eyes casting down slightly.
“God-Chosen Ones, your arrival is meant to revitalize human civilization. I believe that you can reclaim the City of Hope, Castellan, and rebuild the prosperity of mankind.”
She lifted her head, her gaze filled with anticipation.
“Currently, Castellan has become a lair for kobolds. These lowly creatures occupy it, desecrating the glory that once belonged to humanity...”
She paused briefly, a touch of helplessness in her tone.
“Unfortunately, my strength has not yet recovered, so I cannot intervene directly—lest I attract the attention of hostile True Gods.”
Having said that, Iluvia looked intently at Nan Cheng:
“God-Chosen One, are you willing to slay these evil desecrators on my behalf and reclaim the City of Hope, Castellan?”
The system dialogue box popped up right on cue:
【A: Great Goddess, I am willing!】
【B: Great Goddess, I will give it my all!】
【C: Great Goddess, I will lay down my life!】
【D: Great Goddess, it would be my pleasure!】
Nan Cheng: “...”
Fine, so instead of swapping word order, you're using synonyms now, huh?
He finally understood: he didn't actually have a choice at all.
The viewers in the livestream went crazy laughing at this, filling the screen with comments:
“Hahaha! Railroaded completely!”
“Before we had no choice, and now we still have no choice [funny]!”
“Nan Cheng: I have decision paralysis. Devs: No problem, we removed the hard part for you.”
“Haha, I'm dying!”
“LMAO, you really thought you had free will? Naive! It was set in stone long ago, just like 'voluntary' overtime and 'voluntary' tutoring.”
“Damn! Classic forced 'volunteering,' I resonate so hard with this!”
“Fuck! The guy above is being too real, making me physically ill. My boss literally just notified me to 'voluntarily' work overtime this weekend!”
“Are you a devil? [black face] Expressing sympathy for the guy above for one second.”
“666, can I pick E? [sticking out tongue]”
“Oh no, we really are being treated like JRPG players.”
“Hahaha! The dev is a total genius too [doge]!”
“To be fair, these are tropes that a certain game already overused. Compared to that, this dev is still too green, practically a loli.”
“Loli?! Where is the loli?”
“Loli is supreme!”
“??? Illegal, highly illegal!”
“Bring out the electric chair! Zap 'em!”
“666, why can't it be a femboy?”
“Yeah, is the dev a femboy? Whatever, taking a deep huff first.”
“? Chengdu locals rejoicing?”
“Ew~ why does everyone love femboys? Isn't yuri better? [doge]”
“To the guy above, people online are just talk. If they were actually gay offline, just imagine them sword fighting—the image would be way too glorious.”
“Fuck! Don't mention offline sword fighting! The visual hurts my eyes!”
“So what? One thing has nothing to do with the other.”
“Damn it, how dare you defile my eyes! Almighty Push!”
“666, even Naruto memes are here.”
“Since we're here, there shouldn't be any villagers left, right? [crying]”
“Wait, what does this have to do with us Naruto fans?”
“Fuck! Dead memories are attacking me!”
“Damn it! Missing the old days of following Naruto.”
“999.”
“...”
Nan Cheng also saw the chat scrolling frantically, his lips twitching slightly.
These guys could literally chat about anything.
From dialogue choices to working overtime, from overtime to lolis, from lolis to femboys, from femboys to sword fighting, from sword fighting to Naruto...
Their thought process was truly incredible.
He took a deep breath, stopped bothering to overthink it, and chose A directly.
“Great Goddess, I am willing!” he answered.
The moment he spoke, a system notification chimed—
【Accept Main Quest—Our Home?】
“Yes.”
Nan Cheng accepted without hesitation.
“God-Chosen One, your courage is admirable.” The Goddess’s voice sounded again, carrying a gratified smile, “This journey is fraught with peril. As a token of my gratitude, I shall grant you some assistance. I hope it proves useful.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Iluvia gently waved her right hand.
A shower of golden light spilled forth.
【Ding—】
【You obtained Quest Map: Castellan (Quest location marked)】
【You received reward: Resurrection Coin ×3】
Nan Cheng’s eyes lit up.
Resurrection Coins!
And three of them!
This was a massive profit!
In the livestream, sharp-eyed viewers were already spamming the chat:
“Holy crap, Resurrection Coins?”
“Three of them? Are the devs really being this generous?”
“Confirmed. This quest's difficulty is probably super high.”
“No biggie, we have Resurrection Coins. If we die, we die.”
“Wait, how do Resurrection Coins work? Do you revive on the spot or back in town? Is there invulnerability time? Do you drop equipment?”
“Guy above, you have too many questions. Why don't you go try it in-game yourself and find out?”
“Try? Try with my life?”
“You have Resurrection Coins, what are you afraid of?”
“Fuck, that's a bulletproof logic loop right there.”
Looking at the chat, Nan Cheng wasn't overly curious about whether resurrection happened on the spot or back in town, or whether gear dropped upon death.
Although he hadn't actually died once since the server launched, he had seen other players die. When a player died, they would indeed respawn back in town and drop their equipment on the spot.
To be honest, respawning back in town was no big deal, but dropping gear was a bit too hardcore. He wasn't sure if it was a game bug.
Since he didn't know about this during his last game review, he hadn't mentioned it, so he planned to complain about it in his next video and tag the game's official account, hoping they would fix it.
While Nan Cheng was lost in thought, the Goddess spoke softly, an ethereal smile in her voice:
“God-Chosen One, may the Light guide your path.”
“Until we meet again.”
With that, she gently waved her hand, sending Nan Cheng’s consciousness back into the real world of the Aenoria continent.
When Nan Cheng’s vision returned, he was back inside the Temple of Light in the player town.
Nan Cheng stood dazed on the spot, taking a while to snap out of it.
Behind him were his party members, who were also standing dazed in place. Evidently, this was an immersive cutscene that each player experienced individually.
At that moment, Nan Cheng looked down at the three Resurrection Coins in his character status bar, then looked at the quest "Our Home" in his quest list.
Taking a deep breath, he turned around.
“Boys, time to get to work!”
Rate on N.U.
