“Eh? Can someone who has been banished still go back?!” After hearing these words, Xia Li was startled.
“You can, you can.” Before Xushinige could open his mouth, the black sword on Xia Li’s back had already given the answer first, “In fact, according to my plan, once the problem of living expenses is solved, I intended to take you along this path.”
“Yes, this one can guarantee that at least in theory, you do indeed have the possibility of returning,” Xushinige also said, “After all, the contributions of ‘Seekers’ are enormous—the vast majority of ‘Games,’ as long as they are completed, will yield huge rewards, and these can be exchanged for all sorts of things that are extremely precious in this era: treasures, advanced technical equipment, rare raw materials that have price but no market, as well as other priceless treasures produced in the Golden Age of human civilization.”
“The people of those days came for these…”
“Some did, some did not,” Xushinige shrugged his shoulders, “According to the statements of historians, the people who came to this world in the past were divided into two types: one type were those fellows who purely hoped to seek stimulation with life-threatening danger because life was boring, that is, the purest ‘Players’; while the other type were adventurers who came for the sake of making a fortune in one stroke and obtaining heavy rewards.”
“Moreover, even for pure Players, having a bit of reward is also very nice—even ancient electronic games would set up virtual achievements and trophies upon clearing the stage,” Weeping of the Shadow also said, “After all, humans are born liking the thing called ‘prizes.’ As long as there is this thing, it can definitely stimulate the secretion of dopamine.”
“I understand.” Xia Li nodded, “Because many things that are already extremely rare in this era, or even cannot be produced, all need ‘Seekers’ to obtain them through the ‘Games,’ so they also have some privileges. This is the influence of economic contribution on social status.”
“Exactly. Of course, there is another reason, and that is that Seekers are at least in form ‘newly born people.’ Once one survives the first Death Game one participates in, formally obtains the Player mark, and becomes a Seeker, one can choose to legally bid farewell to one’s past self.” Xushinige rolled up his sleeve, letting Xia Li see a skin pattern similar to a tattoo.
That was a cyan lightning bolt that vertically pierced through a circular vermilion vortex.
“This is…”
“The Player standard, and also the mark of surviving the first time in a ‘Game,’” Xushinige nodded, “With this, you can take the examination and join the academies that train professional Seekers. If you can pass the entrance examination, you can choose to bid farewell to your past self…”
Xia Li shuddered: “Bid farewell to one’s past self… in other words, one can register a new identity without a criminal record upon enrollment?”
“Yes. Although there is only one opportunity, and it is not compulsory, you can indeed do so.” Xushinige nodded, “Of course, this kind of ‘starting over’ is merely on the legal level. Those fellows with numerous crimes who are despised by others, even if they obtain a new legal identity, will still be rejected, despised, and hated by people who know their origins. However, this one believes that Miss is a very pure and kind person, absolutely not a true criminal! So such an opportunity is very important.”
“Alright!” Although she worked hard to control her expression, in her heart Xia Li had already begun cheering and leaping for joy.
I never thought that not long after being banished, I would actually obtain an opportunity to open a new account! And the price is only participating in one “Game”! Such a good thing is simply so good that it seems fake…
“Mm, actually what that guy said is basically all true—but the problem is, this matter is not as simple as you imagine, at least one cannot be careless.” Sensing Xia Li’s thoughts, Weeping of the Shadow hurriedly said in her mind.
“Eh?”
“After all, the reason professional Seekers who participate in Death Games are permitted to change identities is because they are regarded as ‘people who advance and retreat together with death’—in short, the mortality rate is very high!” Weeping of the Shadow said.
“Very high? How high?”
“You also just heard that guy mention the Saint Theodoros Academy, right? That is one of the main institutions opened by the Federal Empire for training entry-level Seekers; only people who have already participated in one ‘Game’ and passed the entrance test can enter. Although my data is rather outdated, I do know the situation from thirty years ago: at that time, out of every one hundred enrollees, only fifty-three could live to graduation. And the ten-year survival rate of Seekers was less than 28%!”
“Oh, this one can understand your unease,” although he could not hear the conversation between Xia Li and the longsword behind her, Xushinige still keenly sensed her hesitation, “That’s right, if one only calculates the average survival rate, Seekers, or rather Game ‘Players,’ are indeed a very dangerous profession—however, the majority of deaths are concentrated in the early stage lacking experience, especially the first time. If there is assistance from powerful and experienced teammates, the situation will have significant improvement.”
“Uh… then your meaning is…”
“This one has recently been recruiting a team, preparing to clear a large-scale ‘Death Game’ nearby that has rather high requirements for the number of participants. If Miss is willing to join, this one will do everything in my power to protect you thoroughly and let you steadily take the first step on this path.” Xushinige said, “The start time of the clearing is set for two days later.”
“I… will consider it.”
Because she had suddenly learned quite a bit of new information and her mind was in chaos, Xia Li did not immediately agree to the request.
But even so, Xushinige still accompanied her in finding a rather safe cheap inn, and using his own identity as guarantee, rented a room for her.
Just like that, Xia Li finally escaped the life of eating in the wind and sleeping in the open while constantly on edge that she had endured for many days, and slept on a bed for the first time.
“Ah… I never thought we would actually luckily encounter such a good person.”
“Don’t be careless,” when Xia Li lying on the bed began talking to herself, Weeping of the Shadow said, “Although I am only a sword, I have at least followed different holders and accumulated over a thousand years of social experience. The ancients said, unsolicited attentiveness is either X or X. This point is the same no matter when.”
“But there also exist pure good people in the world.” Xia Li said.
“I do not deny this point. However, I also do not recommend excessively relying on luck,” the black sword that Xia Li had placed on the bedside cabinet expressed, “Of course, I admit that under the current circumstances, completing one Death Game clear, becoming a Seeker, then finding a way to enter the academy is the most ideal path for you to return above, therefore we will have to do this once sooner or later. But in the action, I hope you do not excessively rely on other people, especially that fellow.”
“Rest assured! I… should be able to do it… right…” The words Xia Li had just spoken halfway began to waver.
Of course, this kind of reaction of hers was not strange—although in the past as Crown Princess and Imperial Marshal, the personal combat power she possessed was absolutely not weak.
But the problem was that aside from the “Weeping of the Shadow” that she could never throw away no matter what, the current her had already lost the complete set of equipment from the past, especially the customized power armor that greatly enhanced strength and agility.
What was even more miserable was that ever since she had been publicly punished and implanted with dog ears and a dog tail, Xia Li’s original strength had also undergone a large-scale decline—the former Xia Li, with the assistance of the Nano-Element System inside her body, could in a bare-handed situation use the most basic will-based energy molding technique to lift objects of over a hundred kilograms, or create out of thin air lightning, ice cones, and flames sufficient to kill an adult.
But now, even if she exhausted all her strength, she could only ignite a small cluster of flames, or cause a bit of white frost to form on a stone slab.
According to Weeping of the Shadow’s explanation, when she was publicly punished, certain neural implants had also been buried in the spinal region. This to a large extent suppressed the efficiency of the Nano-Element System inside her body converting and utilizing “Extra-Rational Power.”
Besides this, Xia Li had also once gathered courage in the dark of night and experimented with the two moves she had previously unleashed relying on Weeping of the Shadow on the small animals that appeared and disappeared everywhere in the slums… although because she could not take people as targets, those killed by her “Life and Death Bound” and then “raised” in corpse form by “Sorrowful Night City’s Thousand Cherry Blossoms” were only some mice and cockroaches.
But these two moves were indeed still rather effective.
It was just that…
“If it is not absolutely necessary, please do not set your sights on those ‘special moves’ of mine.” Weeping of the Shadow said, “Because I can slowly extract energy from inside your body and store it, even if the Nano-Element System inside you is suppressed, you can still use me to release skills. However, aside from the problem that energy storage takes a very long time and cannot be frequently used, these two moves, whether on the ethical level or the impression they give people…”
“…No need to say more, I know this.” Xia Li sighed.
Indeed, whether instantly exhausting the target’s life force and turning a living being into a dried corpse, or controlling a corpse’s movements in a short time, in the eyes of normal people these were absolutely crooked and evil arts.
For her who still intended to live a good life afterward, it was certainly best not to use them if possible.
Otherwise, if some infamous reputation like “Necromancer” or even “Filthy King” spread, how would she continue mixing in this circle in the future?!
“In short… for now I should still rely on companions as much as possible.” Xia Li muttered, “At least, Baron Xushinige looks like a reliable person.”
“Is that so? Hopefully.” The black sword said.