Chapter 240: Chapter 240 – Can’t be lying all together

The mystery realm was something that most ordinary people would not get to know about.

Even the news of the mystery realm which appeared in Cambridge University in the UK was quickly censored. Although intelligence agencies of other nations still picked up the information, ordinary citizens would, at the most, only think of it as an extraordinary sight worth marveling at. The government did not even need to intervene to stop media crews from reporting on-site, as the higher management of media agencies directly suppressed and prevented any related information from leaking out to the public.

Moreover, the mystery realm did not only appear in that area, but also in other nations like Xuan Nation and the Federation. The mystery realms were both an opportunity and a crisis for the various nations. As such, at a time when the situation was uncertain, the various nations unanimously blocked related information from spreading. At most, there would only be all sorts of ‘images’ and ‘rumors’ posted on the Internet. At the same time, however, the cyber departments of the nations also took the opportunity to release more ‘extraordinary images’.

Images with captions like ‘this cloud looks like Monkey King’, ‘a giant Kun fish appeared in the sea’, and ‘that haunted house actually seems to be haunted’ quickly spread like wildfire on the Internet, and served to bewilder the masses.

That led many people to think that it was the ‘week of Photoshop’, where there was an influx of mystifying images portraying scenes that were seemingly impossible to happen.

Although many people knew about the rejuvenation of Reiki and the fact that the world was changing, the bombardment of absurd news reports and images naturally made them believe that they were all a joke. Few people delved deeper into it.

The best way to cover up a certain piece of information was not to block it but to make use of even more rumors to ‘hide’ the real news.

Nonetheless, even if that information did leak out, the various nations were already mentally prepared, because—

“Naisser Ren has uploaded a new video!”

In one of the girls’ dormitory rooms at the Practitioner Institution of Tianjing, Ren Qingqing pulled Tang Yihan to sit in front of the computer with her. She opened up a webpage where bullet comments would show when watching videos—she was one of those who liked having large chunks of bullet comments scrolling past the screen as she enjoyed the feeling of watching videos with a large group of people.

“I’m not interested if it’s another drama series,” Tang Yihan said.

“Well, we’re not doing anything else other than eating anyway, let’s just have a look at it,” Ren Qingqing replied. The moment the webpage loaded, she saw a promotional banner on the top of the page—”The Mage Under the World Tree”.

Every time Naisser Ren uploaded a video, it was as if he infiltrated all major video-streaming sites with a computer virus, and everyone was already used to that.

“I can continue playing games on my mobile phone…” Tang Yihan muttered. She took a glance at the computer screen and remarked, “He’s quite handsome, eh.”

On the promotional banner of “The Mage Under the World Tree” was a silver-haired mage whose left hand shone in a white glow of light, and right hand glistened with blood. Although his hairstyle slightly resembled a scene hairstyle, it admittedly suited the cool-looking mage with an awe-inspiring authority.

Ren Qingqing clicked into the video and found that it was not long—it was two hours in total, which was about the length of a typical movie. While it was certainly a long time for a meal, Tang Yihan also reluctantly agreed to watch the video with Ren Qingqing, considering that there was a handsome mage in the video.

At the very beginning of the video, without any excessive buffering, the silver-haired mage barged into an abandoned monastery with another mage who wore a red hood. They showcased various types of magic spells to kill the strange monsters inside the monastery. After a monster died, it would turn into a small animal, such as a mouse, a bird, or a snake. As it laid weakly on the ground, the silver-haired mage would then touch it with his hand, and it would vanish into the air.

Shortly after that, they encountered ugly monsters that looked like corpses that were stitched up. Upon killing those monsters, they turned into humans and lied down on the ground.

[Animals turn into small monsters while humans turn into large monsters? That’s quite a typical game setup.]

[Eh? These people were not made to disappear, but were brought outside instead?]

[So, do these people really exist? Can they be interviewed to find out how it feels like to become a monster?]

[What on earth, what is the mage doing now?]

[It’s a golden crispy chicken! He took out a golden crispy chicken! What kind of spell is this?]

[Why is it not the mouth-watering original-flavored chicken?]

[So these people were villagers who had starved to death. Their starvation turned them into monsters, and now that their stomachs are filled after eating the fried chicken, they can be granted salvation.]

[Is this a promotional video encouraging people not to waste food?]

Without a doubt, there were a huge number of monsters in the monastery, but only a few snippets showing the two mages attacking monsters and saving them were pieced together in the video. Then, the scene changed—a sea of blood began oozing out from the pond in the center of the monastery.

[They are fighting the boss now! I give this boss 80 points, it’s not as scary as the cannibals in the movie Wrong Turn!]

[Is this video only about fighting? Is no one ever going to speak in the video?]

[Eh? There are people at the entrance?]

[They are people from our nation?! They look like the Extraordinaire Practitioners who appeared in “Ghost Blade”!]

[Crap, the Mage is speaking in Mandarin too.]

[This mystery realm is at Island Lake? Isn’t that not too far away from me? Oh my, this place is in Xiang City?]

[Anyone wants to form a sightseeing group to visit the location!]

[Sightseeing +1]

[Lying in wait for the bullet comments in front to turn into the blood monsters.]

The scene of the battle was peculiarly intense. However, the main focus of that scene was not the mages, but the Extraordinaire Practitioners from Xuan Nation who had come to assist the battle.

When the Extraordinaire Practitioners were hit by the giant monster, and their arms were completely twisted, it was the Holy Light bullets from Mage that saved them in time;

When the Extraordinaire Practitioners were just about to be crushed to death, Mage appeared in front of them and sacrificed his fingers to restrain the monster;

When the Extraordinaire Practitioners were injured and their internal organs were severely damaged, it was the Mage who prolonged and saved their lives;

When…

Eventually, as Tang Yihan watched the handsome, silver-haired mage burn his skin and let out an extremely agonizing shriek, she was no longer complaining and held tightly onto Ren Qingqing’s arm instead. She watched intently as the terrifying Flame Demon was summoned, and it threw a fatal blow at the monster that was going berserk.

The monster still managed to launch a fierce counterattack that caused the charred organs of Mage to be smashed into pieces. It was only then when the female mage knocked the monster out completely, and the monster turned into an ordinary girl.

With all that was left of him, Mage pulled himself over to the girl who was kneeling on the floor. He touched the girl’s head with his left hand, which was glowing with holy light. The light instantly filled the screen, and flashbacks of the girl’s memories appeared…

It was a tragic story of infatuation, where an ordinary girl desperately longed to be happy.

[Is that incredible cup the machine that fulfills wishes?]

[Does such a thing really exist?]

[Wishes can only be fulfilled with negative consequences? Tch, if only it was the opposite, and I can wish to not be in a relationship…]

[Judging from the scene itself, they do not seem to be living in the modern-day, no? Did monsters already appear in the Middle Ages? For how many years would they have lived?]

[Yandere is a very cute concept too, I think…]

The bullet comments slowly became twisted. After the flashback ended, the girl who was kneeling on the ground broke into a peaceful smile and vanished into the air as light particles. The female mage turned to leave, leaving behind the badly burned mage who was about to fall to the ground. The Extraordinaire Practitioners at the side rushed forward to support him.

With his extensive injuries, it was clear that the burned mage could no longer be saved. He softly responded to the Extraordinaire Practitioners who were thanking him, then vanished into the air as light particles.

Following that was the second mystery realm, then the third mystery realm, the fourth mystery realm…

A viewer who had not been watching the video seriously commented: [Why is it that only one mage casts Forbidden Spells, and it is only the male mages who can do that? The male mages wouldn’t need to die if all of them cast their Forbidden Spells, isn’t it?]

A clear-headed viewer replied: [It’s because the male mage can be revived. Moreover, it is best if only one person casts Forbidden Spells. Isn’t it clear that the Forbidden Spells would greatly decrease the caster’s combat ability? If all of the mages cast Forbidden Spells at the same time, their overall combat power would be greatly diminished.]

A more observant viewer commented: [The angel Zach who was previously thrashed by Monkey King is actually so powerful!]

A fanatic of the Heavenly Palace commented: [Our goddess has appeared again! She is now a member of the Heavenly Palace? Does the Heavenly Palace still need ‘pets’, one that knows how to eat, sleep, and poop?]

A viewer who was probably a girl commented: [When would the black-haired mage be revived? It would be great if Caroline ends up together with him.]

A heartbroken viewer commented: [What do you mean, the female mages are highly likely to be turned from male mages?! Oh, Red Hood whom I fancy so much…]

A viewer who was probably a ‘victim’ of otokonoko/transsexual novels commented: [Isn’t it better if the female mages were actually male mages?]

After the video ended, Ren Qingqing smiled and asked Tang Yihan, “What do you think? Was it good?”

Tang Yihan nodded gently and replied, “It’s very interesting.”

“However, I didn’t expect that in addition to the Heavenly Palace, there actually exists an organization of mages called the World Tree. Furthermore, the two organizations seem to be closely related to each other.”

“Compared to the Heavenly Palace, the World Tree seems more approachable—the Heavenly Palace is simply out of reach. However, there are so many risks to take as a mage…”

“It’s worth the risks! Think about it; the mages seem to have lived for thousands of years!” Ren Qingqing exclaimed. Her eyes were shining as she dragged the progress bar to the center and said, “This dark-haired mage also mentioned ‘the Ren monster hunters of the East’, could he be referring to the Ren family from ‘Over My Dead Body’?”

“It can’t be so coincidental…” Tang Yihan said.

Ren Qingqing said, “However, the circle of Extraordinaires in ancient times should not be that large, so it may well be that coincidental. People with extraordinary abilities should know about each other. What’s more, the responsibilities of the mages as well as the Ren family are very similar.”

“Furthermore, is there any reason for the World Tree to lie? What they said are all in line with what is known about the Heavenly Palace, as well as the Ren family in ‘Over My Dead Body’. It’s not possible for them to be lying all together, can it? After all, it’s not a script written by one person!”