In response to Yan Ziqian’s initiative to share information, Su Chen was also forthcoming, revealing his discovery of the hidden shop and mentioning its limited-time items.
As someone who had witnessed the birth of a Rune building firsthand, he also shared his detailed perspective.
"The mysterious Elemental Runes can translate information based on one’s personal understanding and perception. These Rune structures, growing from the ley lines of the earth, are undoubtedly part of the world’s will guiding us.
Perhaps.
Transforming it all into an understandable format, like a starter village in an online game, through our collective consensus is a good option. Shops and quest halls are intuitive ways to present things."
In a way, this was a continuation of last night’s discussion around the bonfire.
Why was the entire city transported here?
There were three main theories: a trial by gods and demons, a clash of civilizations, or a mass near-death-experience hallucination.
Su Chen hadn’t participated in that discussion, but now he offered a fourth theory.
That they were chosen as guardians by a supreme will to eliminate abnormal existences that threaten the world’s stability.
"That sounds a bit like being white blood cells in an immune system, helping to kill off a virus," Yan Ruoruo said.
Her gaze followed Su Chen’s, looking past the rain-swept sky toward the lifeless, broken Star Ring, which seemed to silently declare that this world was truly sick.
"An interesting theory."
Yan Ziqian sighed. "Compared to the previous groundless speculation, some of which were just nihilistic fantasies, this fourth theory at least has some facts to back it up."
Ever since their first meeting at the bonfire trading post, considering his prior impression and the powerful conviction Su Chen radiated, Yan Ziqian had to admit something. If they were truly in a doomsday scenario where everyone had run out of food and supplies, this man would absolutely thrive.
’A person’s aura truly is a mysterious thing.’
"Assuming there really is a Magic Goddess, then we’re clearly her chosen believers. Looks like we’ll have to get rid of some heretics for Her," Pang Peng said with a laugh.
’Believers?’
’More like pawns,’ someone muttered.
Just then, the torrential downpour outside showed no sign of letting up. High in the sky, the giant jellyfish was still drifting past, its thousands of dangling tentacles vaguely brushing over Dongfu City, making everyone break into a cold sweat.
A more terrifying fact was that the radios in their hands couldn’t pick up any official broadcasts, only garbled static.
"Don’t worry," Yan Ziqian said reassuringly.
He explained that the heavy rain would absorb and scatter radio waves, causing the signal strength to drop sharply, not to mention the thunderstorm overhead adding to the atmospheric noise.
"As long as the city’s broadcast tower is okay, everything should return to normal after the storm passes."
"Let’s hope so."
Trapped in the villa, the group had to find things to do out of sheer boredom.
Since most of them were Archers, they started honing monster bones into sharp arrowheads inside the house. Seizing the opportunity, Pang Peng and Gong Jun managed to close three deals at once, teaching the art of arrow-making and providing professional guidance for a fee.
The villa’s living room couldn’t hold everyone, so people spread out into the first-floor guest rooms, the karaoke room, and even up to the second and third floors.
With a growing sense of trust, someone suggested they exchange Rune combination formulas.
They reasoned that the authorities would eventually publicize all one thousand Rune combination formulas anyway, so trying to hoard them for profit was pretty much impossible.
Su Chen sat on a camping chair on the covered veranda, quietly watching the migrating jellyfish in the sky. At the same time, an invisible wisp of Telekinesis was making a small knife flip end over end in the air.
His expression was so focused it was as if he had blocked out all the surrounding noise.
「After a long while.」
Xue Yao took the opportunity while he was taking a sip of water to sit on a small stool nearby. She placed a small, folded note on the armrest of his chair.
"I’ll give you the formula for the Water Creation Skill. Can I trade it for the Thunder Strike formula?"
She sat sideways, a strand of her shoulder-length hair falling to obscure her delicate profile.
’The synergy between the two Runes is really good.’
’Compared to Lightning Chain, Thunder Strike has a bit of a wind-up time since the low-altitude electrical charge takes a moment to gather, but its advantage is a longer casting range.’
Su Chen unfolded the note and glanced at it. The formula was quite simple: Water + Water + Water = Water Creation Skill.
Theoretically, if the water produced was potable—or even if it just needed to be filtered and boiled—it would be a huge step toward rebooting civilization.
"Lightning, Water, and Light makes Thunder Strike."
Compared to the three "Water" Runes, the Thunder Strike formula was a bit more complex.
"Thank you," Xue Yao said softly.
She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The movement was natural, yet carried a hint of imperceptible unease. Her gaze immediately shifted to the courtyard.
The downpour hammered against the tiles, sending up concentric ripples.
Xue Yao thought about her sister’s history with him, and her own opinion of him.
’Putting aside personal feelings and analyzing him purely from a psychological standpoint, Su Chen’s tendency to escape from the mundane world, even to revel in the thrill of extreme sports, was likely related to his parents’ deaths. Some effects are subtle, occurring unconsciously and covertly.’
’When you’re that deep in it, you don’t even realize you’ve gone down a rabbit hole.’
’Even...’
’When constant extreme stimulation has rewired the brain’s dopamine reward system, and an overly tolerant amygdala has dulled his sense of fear, the root of the problem no longer matters. It would be very difficult for him to ever get out of that mindset.’
’Death is basically meaningless to him.’
’And now, being in this dangerous, extreme, apocalyptic environment has, ironically, put him right in his comfort zone.’

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