Four Split Personalities

Qiu chuckled softly, then suddenly waved her small hand, sending a plume of murky air out of the window, and moments later, she said happily, "Well, if I tell Brother Lei that the orc girl you’ve often chatted with lately is currently enduring undiminished torment, her life hanging by a thread at my whim?"

"Then I would advise you to be merciful."

Gahares looked seriously at Qiu, and as she began to reveal a victorious smile, he continued, "If you ultimately decide to kill her, I would express my regret."

Qiu’s expression froze, and after a while, she bit her lower lip lightly and asked, "And then?"

"There is no ’then’."

Gahares shrugged, speaking with an air of nonchalance, "After all, I neither have the right nor the ability to stop you, so I can only express regret."

"So, Brother Lei, you don’t intend to give Qiu an explanation?"

The girl’s eyes flashed with a hint of embarrassment and anger, and she teased, "Is it just because you’re fearlessly confident, afraid of nothing?"

"I never said that, Little Wenqiu."

Gahares shook his head with a bitter smile, stood up, removed the girl’s hood, and gently stroked her smooth black hair: "If you want to ask why I insist on treating you as a child rather than the mature adult you wish to be, the reason is actually quite simple."

"What is it?"

Qiu squinted her eyes with enjoyment, rubbing against Gahares’ palm like a docile little animal: "By the way, that girl is already dead."

"Hmm."

Gahares sighed without pretense, then crouched down to look directly at the capricious young girl in front of him, and said softly, "Because only children are eligible to be forgiven."

"Eh?"

Qiu was momentarily stunned, then scratched her head with some frustration, and complained loudly, "What does that even mean!"

"That’s one of the reasons I convince myself to continue accompanying you, cherishing and caring for you."

Gahares smiled, reopened his densely packed notebook, and as he randomly combined and solved the exercises, he said softly, "As for the remaining reasons, it won’t help to ask because I don’t even know why I’m still willing to call you ’Little Wenqiu’ and be your ’Brother Lei’ after guessing your identity."

He wasn’t lying.

Indeed, this young man known as Gahares in the Realm of Innocence, and He Lei outside the game, was just an ordinary person. Neither his family, personality, nor appearance had any remarkable points, but he still had his strengths, like being... good at studying.

Note, the ’good at studying’ here isn’t just your usual good at studying but rather being exceptionally above average in academic excellence. In fact, if it weren’t for his outstanding academic performance, the naturally timid and inarticulate He Lei wouldn’t have become a target for some bullies.

If it were a few decades ago during the era when grades were king, perhaps his situation would have been very different, but unfortunately, with societal advancements, the current transitional period that emphasizes quality education over rote learning is not favorable for He Lei. Simply put, academic achievers like him no longer wield the same influence as before, and many students’ quality hasn’t significantly improved.

So if it were in the past, He Lei, with his outstanding academic achievements, would have been well-protected.

And in the not-so-distant future, a society that emphasizes quality development will gradually squeeze out the space for bullies.

Unfortunately, He Lei just happened to live in an era that was the worst for him.

For this reason, his school years were almost painted in black, filled with despair and oppression.

But ultimately, he was a top student, one identified by prestigious university scholars intending to offer him an early admission.

In other words, despite all of He Lei’s various shortcomings, he was still a very intelligent person...

It’s not hard to understand; a simple example would be ’there may be genius among students with poor grades, but there are definitely no fools among students with good grades.’

Of course, this is purely referring to ’comprehension ability,’ ’analytical ability,’ ’learning ability,’ and ’logical thinking ability,’ among other areas, not intelligence in a broader sense.

But anyway, being relatively smart, and as He Lei put it, having lived a few more years than Little Wenqiu, he certainly couldn’t overlook the oddities in the girl during their months of close interaction.

There were too many specific examples, such as how they had never encountered any danger during their long journey together; how Qiu would often suddenly disappear for ten to dozens of minutes; how his body, which the system predicted would collapse soon, managed to hold up until now...

To elaborate, it would take forever.

Neither Motan nor Yu Chen noticed the peculiarities of Qiu, not because they were less keen than Gahares, but simply because they spent too little time with Qiu. Perhaps Motan, as Hei Fan at the time, had more opportunities in the first few days, but the fact that he would suddenly disconnect due to his ’condition’ served as a perfect shield for Qiu.

But Gahares was different; playing the game 24 hours a day gave him ample time to observe Qiu, allowing him some grasp of her character and actions.

So he discovered it.

Then, nothing followed.

Even realizing that the girl he spent every moment with was most likely the mastermind behind the disaster in Misha County, and knowing full well the countless atrocities she had committed, the heart of Gahares, which unknowingly drifted off course, never considered leaving her.

This was truly puzzling, even to Gahares himself as the person involved.

It was as if none of it mattered anymore.

Was it because the exams were over, and he had finally put an end to his relentless two-decade-long struggle?

Was it due to a change in his mindset during the bullying process, leading to a subconscious indifference towards concepts of good and evil, and morality?

Or was it the despair after realizing he had been abandoned by that girl?

Gahares thought about this a lot, but he never came to a satisfactory answer.

Sensibly, he stopped thinking about it.

Maybe it was never something he could understand.

Mediocre people, bothersome self-disturbance.

Although he had long accepted the reality of being ordinary, if he could avoid thinking too much, why waste the effort?

"I just find traveling with Little Wenqiu to be enjoyable."

Having given up on thinking, Gahares pinched the girl’s cheek, spread his hands, and said, "So I don’t want to scold you for anything, nor do I wish to morally condemn you. Honestly, it is a selfish act, but aren’t all people like that?"

"Wenqiu doesn’t understand at all."

The girl pouted, reverting to her usual appearance in a haze of light, wrinkling her nose and teasing Gahares, "But I’m not happy now! Cheer me up!"

"Heh... saying you don’t want to be treated as a child while demanding to be cheered up."

Gahares couldn’t help but look at the little girl in front of him, who often made him particularly frustrated yet never annoying, with a wry smile: "Cheering you up isn’t a problem, but since we’ve already put everything on the table, aren’t you planning to deal with what’s on my... uh..."

"The plague, right."

Qiu raised her eyebrows, but she hugged her arms and shook her head vigorously: "I’ve already tried, but it’s useless. Brother Lei, your body has been thoroughly ravaged by the plague, and because you were cured once before and then did something reckless, the nature of the plague has completely changed. In simple terms..."

"What exactly?"

"In a sense, you’ve become a plague symbiote and are beyond saving~"

Chapter 1152: End

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