The World-Destroying Goddess Brings the Child to My Door and Demands Responsibility - Chapter 6

Qing Shi held her tightly in a tight embrace once more: “So can Mianmian take responsibility now?”

Lu Fengmian’s head was buzzing with noise. She wanted to say, Looking at you, you don’t seem intent on giving me any other choice.

Yet right as she was about to open her mouth, she felt her vision go dark, and could only sense Qing Shi moving away from her.

As someone who had played plenty of games, Lu Fengmian realized she was being logged out of the game.

Moreover, she also saw Qing Shi’s complexion turning increasingly dark she was angry.

Waking up from her rejuvenation pod, Lu Fengmian sat up like a corpse springing from a coffin.

Her eyes fixed and staring blankly, she gazed with a dazed expression at the incomparably cramped space she currently inhabited once a rejuvenation pod was placed inside, there was barely any room left to put down anything else.

All of her clothes could only be piled up in the corner.

The damp and gloomy little shack even had numerous items hanging from the walls.

Right at this moment, only a single thought echoed in Lu Fengmian’s mind: We’re doomed. Qing Shi is definitely furious, and the next time we meet, she might just devour me alive.

[Host, you’re truly formidable.] The system’s voice abruptly sounded, snapping Lu Fengmian out of her out-of-body state.

“Formidable my foot! Where the hell did you die off to? Why didn’t you respond when I called out to you inside the game?” Lu Fengmian couldn’t help cursing.

[I *did* reply to you, it’s just that you kept failing to hear it.] The system said with grievance.

Lu Fengmian fell silent for a moment, then nearly failed to hold back from swearing.

“So it’s my fault then?” Lu Fengmian asked with a smile, though that smile looked somewhat terrifying.

After being cross-examined by her, the system began to feel a twinge of guilt, and then honestly didn’t dare to say anything further: [My fault. I’ll troubleshoot the issue, and I guarantee it definitely won’t happen next time.]

Lu Fengmian rubbed her temples. Recalling all those events inside the game, her mind was a complete mess of tangled hemp.

“So, did you know that Qing Shi had awakened?” Lu Fengmian asked with a headache.

[I didn’t know. She hid it extremely deep.] The system also sounded innocent.

“No, it’s one thing for her to awaken, but why would she harbor this kind of feeling toward me?” Lu Fengmian couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she thought.

[It’s probably imprinting/nestling syndrome. Furthermore, ever since her birth, she could perceive your existence—and only yours. Besides, host, you really did pour an overwhelming amount of effort and heart into this character.]

[Perhaps precisely because she could sense your affection, and then remained alone in the darkness for so long, the moment she saw you again, she wanted to keep you by her side as her salvation. Naturally, she doesn’t wish for you, the host, to leave.]

Truth be told, Lu Fengmian felt the system’s analysis made a fair amount of sense.

Yet there was still one thing she couldn’t wrap her head around: Why on earth did I take the initiative?!

Was she really the kind of person so easily seduced by physical beauty? Was she genuinely this lacking in steadfastness?

Having lived two lifetimes, this was the first time Lu Fengmian began to doubt her own willpower.

[Although the host refuses to believe her willpower is this terrible, the facts seem to point that way.] The system stated deadpan.

Lu Fengmian’s body stiffened once more: “So you saw everything?”

[No way, I couldn’t see anything at all. Just like the viewers in the live stream room, I couldn’t even hear the audio.] The system’s tone carried a hint of lingering regret.

“My live stream was running the whole time?” Lu Fengmian felt she was already ready to drop dead on the spot right then and there.

[It was a black screen, nothing could be seen, and there was no audio either. From the moment you got drugged, we weren’t qualified to watch or listen to anything anymore.]

Lu Fengmian finally let out a sigh of relief. If she had gotten slept with by an NPC in front of so many people, life truly wouldn’t be worth living anymore.

Although interstellar society had no concept of modesty or propriety in the traditional sense, Lu Fengmian, as an ancient human, didn’t wish for such a thing to happen.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about this. So why on earth was I drugged with aphrodisiacs right in the middle of a storyline quest?! That wasn’t how I set up the plot!” Thinking of this matter made Lu Fengmian lose her mind all over again.

[Host, although that’s true, I can only say that it seems your storyline was the only one like this; other players’ storylines are completely normal.] The system was just as bewildered as Lu Fengmian.

“I’m asking you questions not for you to follow along and be confused with me! Seriously, unbelievable.” Hearing the system’s baffled and helpless tone, it was difficult for Lu Fengmian to hold back her anger.

[Host, don’t be so hot-headed. This is my first time executing a mission too, you know. I’ll go check and troubleshoot it.] The system cautiously sent a wronged emoji to Lu Fengmian.

“So now that Qing Shi has awakened, and we don’t even know whether the game world is a real world or not, can we still keep going? Should I abandon this game?” Lu Fengmian didn’t want to bicker with this rookie system anymore, and could only ask it about matters related to her mission.

[I don’t know either. Host, why don’t we wait a couple of days? I’ll escalate the situation and report it to ask the spacetime bureau, and see how the high deities of the spacetime bureau choose to handle it?]

That was the only option left for now; what else could she possibly do?

“There’s one more question.”

[Squawk?]

“Squawk your head. Why did I suddenly get logged out of the game just now?”

[That’s the maintenance schedule you designed yourself, host! Maintenance is scheduled to take place on the third day of the closed beta—it’s written right there in the official announcement. Did you forget your own writing?]

There had simply been too many things happening; Lu Fengmian had indeed momentarily forgotten. “So I spent three days inside the game?”

[Yes indeed, host.]

“Then won’t my job be completely ruined? I’ve been absent from work for three days! They were both just part-time gigs to begin with, who’s going to want me now?” She still needed to earn money to buy medicine!

At this moment, Lu Fengmian genuinely felt that restarting her life in this world wasn’t even worth it compared to just staying dead.

[Host doesn’t need to worry about that. The game just received a massive wave of tips sent by closed beta players urging you to finish maintenance quickly and reopen the servers—they are extremely satisfied with the game.]

“How much money is a massive wave of money?” Lu Fengmian had zero confidence in this bunch of players.

[One hundred million Star coins. That means the host can leave the slums, move up to a higher tier to change houses, and enjoy a slightly better living environment. From now on, your internet access time on StarNet can also jump from one hour to six hours—there will only be minor protection limits, with zero slum restrictions.]

The moment she heard “one hundred million Star coins,” Lu Fengmian scrambled right up: “Has it hit the account?”

[Yes, it has already been deposited into the host’s Star coin account.]

“Maintain the game properly, and hurry up and communicate with your upper deities. I’m going to go buy a house first.” At this moment, Lu Fengmian simply didn’t have the spare capacity to ponder anything like Qing Shi or the game.

She just wanted to escape this wretched place as fast as possible; she was truly sick and tired of it.

Police officers and the like from the upper tiers had to wear gas masks when they came down to patrol, yet bottom-tier humans like Lu Fengmian grew up living in these kinds of environments all their lives.

Every single day from birth onward was lived amidst various toxic gases; almost no bottom-tier slum residents lived past the age of thirty, and they would grow increasingly grotesque, more and more resembling monsters.

Meanwhile, residents just one tier higher than them enjoyed an average lifespan of fifty years, and maintained their appearances unchanged until death.

This entire setup had also been entirely copied from other intelligent life forms. Clearly, they already possessed the capability, yet they still refused to save the people at the bottom; their mindset was cold and callous to the absolute extreme.

Lu Fengmian hurriedly rushed up to buy a house in the upper tier.

Meanwhile, at that very moment in another realm, Qing Shi sat atop the peak of the divine mountain, gazing down at this vast world where reality and illusion intertwined.

Among the few creatures capable of perceiving souls, a portion of souls were relatively fragile; whenever the world experienced the slightest turbulence, their souls would shatter and scatter into nothingness.

This group of people had been born within the game world originally created by Lu Fengmian, but because this world was still in its newborn stage, it was extremely unstable.

The slightest turbulence in spacetime could potentially cause these individuals’ souls to shatter.

Qing Shi had no choice but to expend a massive amount of energy to maintain this world.

She didn’t remember why she had to work so hard to maintain it, only vaguely feeling that this was immensely important to her.

If she didn’t maintain it properly, she would regret it.

Another portion of living beings carried heavy chains upon their souls, with black smoke billowing from their souls, and occasionally lightning could even be seen coursing along the chains to wrap around their entire bodies these people were criminals from the exile lands.

Those lightning-like phenomena were divine punishments, meant to periodically punish these criminals.

And the person who had drugged Lu Fengmian happened to be one of these individuals.

Naturally, Qing Shi was a criminal wearing chains just like them.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been caught resisting divine punishment at the exact moment Lu Fengmian was drugged, causing her to fail to notice it in time.

The sole difference was that because the exile lands had merged with the original game world, Qing Shi acted simultaneously as a criminal, a warden over the criminals, and the goddess safeguarding the world.

As for why she herself had become a criminal, Qing Shi genuinely couldn’t remember.