The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

[...]

The Paradise System was straining the CPU a bit. As one of the intelligent pre-warning solutions, it took over in various abnormal situations and urgently handled the abnormal states.

It just didn't anticipate... the players, who should have been at a loss, were now leisurely playing games....

After a brief downtime.

It didn't forget its duties, though connection was unstable and time brief, it had to provide a way out.

[....Player has triggered mission escape]

[This instance is collided by abnormal forces, you need to find and kill the Spiritual Body of the Master of Destruction or solve the Mist Source]

[Note: The Master of Destruction disappeared a thousand years ago, its Spiritual Body in this instance does not possess great strength, but it has the ability to reset]

[Note: Before the mission is complete, if a player dies, it will trigger the final mechanism (please do your utmost to survive)]

[Blessings have been provided for the player.....]

Su Qi's eyelid twitched; he still needed to find it? It seems the other side didn't realize that the little girl next to him was the Master of Destruction...

He also sensed a dangerous and ominous scent from the last note.

A final mechanism?

Could it be... death in reality too?

[...]

The Paradise System went offline again, intermittently breaking.

Su Qi watched as the message box slowly disappeared, and he realized he had gained something.

[Paradise Blessings: Player's resistances increased to 80%, any fatal damage received by the player is reduced by 80%, all consumption reduced by 80%]

[Note: The power of Paradise cannot penetrate too much, please rely on the blessings to escape quickly]

"It's clear, they're doing their utmost to keep me alive, and perhaps something bad is about to happen."

Su Qi pressed on the game console while he began to ponder.

This time.

Paradise finally gave all the information and blessings, and he knew he had another path aside from killing the little girl before him: dealing with the source of the mist pollution.

"From the recent information, it's a collision of two abnormal forces."

"One must be this Master of Destruction, and the other... the Mist Source, those continuous monsters are also fleeing from being hunted," Su Qi squinted.

This matter... wasn't as complicated as it seemed.

It was just two camps, and now his two methods of escape, killing the little girl and dealing with the Mist Source, were actually about choosing sides.

Just who powered the Mist Source?

Recalling the pollution, Su Qi always had an ominous feeling.

In that case.

Su Qi slowly turned the game console and looked towards the little girl, he gently spoke:

"Xiran, little friend, pause for a moment; big brother has something important to say."

Although they had been playing the game continuously, Su Qi and she had maintained occasional conversation, disrupting each other's concentration during focus, and drawing out quite a lot of information.

Though maybe a bit too much for a little girl.

But for the Master of Destruction, Su Qi felt it was necessary.

The little girl... her innocent eyes were no longer there, her pupils cold, she bit her teeth a bit explosively at Su Qi: "I... was about to win..."

The middle-aged woman was somewhat astonished.

As she noticed the girl's aura and strength were somewhat recovering... achieving such a degree, either she had taken fatal damage or was stimulated emotionally.

"....."

This bastard has pushed their own master to what state!

However, Su Qi shook his head, softly smiling: "You're mistaken, the outcome of winning or losing is not important, what's important is the fun experienced during the game."

The little girl paused.

That kind of makes sense.

The dangerous aura disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"So that's how it is, I understand now." She blankly nodded.

He patted the little girl's head, smilingly said: "The student is teachable."

The middle-aged woman's fingers trembled.

She was already thinking about stepping in.

As Su Qi saw the middle-aged woman's movements clearly, to him, the most difficult issue was still this middle-aged woman, who had been cautious towards him before.

Now, her hostility was probably greater.

Little did she know her hostility stemmed from... her own master being completely fooled!

"So, what is this important matter?" the little girl asked curiously.

But the middle-aged woman had already come over, pulling the little girl closer, chuckling nervously: "Thank you for playing with her, I'll take her to the restroom now."

Su Qi: "Should I join?"

"????"

"I mean to go to the men's restroom...nevermind, you guys go."

Su Qi felt they wanted to escape, but seeing the information over the middle-aged woman's head.

[She wants to instruct her master not to interact too much with you, not to fall for your tricks again...]

So it was a preventive measure.

Su Qi wasn't in a hurry, he still had many steps before figuring out who the opposing faction was.

Approximately five minutes after the middle-aged woman took the little girl away, they returned.

It seems quite a bit was said.

Yet, upon her return, the middle-aged woman squinted at Su Qi, noticing he was writing something in a notebook: "What are you doing?"

"Keeping accounts."

Su Qi casually replied, causing the middle-aged woman's face to darken.

You specifically said winning or losing isn't important!

They were about to sit down, albeit slightly further apart.

Just then.

There was a sudden violent collision sound from outside the academy!

'Boom!'

The noise outside the iron gate was loud, the Enhancers in the main hall looked tense: "Everyone, take shelter inside, other Enhancers follow me!"

Su Qi also noticed the middle-aged woman's expression become serious and slightly pale, seemingly sensing the danger.

He knew something big was coming.

The middle-aged woman spoke seriously to the little girl's ear before grabbing her hand: "Let's go!"

She was about to turn away with the little girl.

The little girl suddenly grabbed at the hem of the person's clothing and pointed at Su Qi, "He... Big Brother is a good person..."

The middle-aged woman: "..."

A good person my ass!

Master!

You're being sold and yet you're throwing in extra money!

She stared at the corner of the cloth that the little girl was grasping and finally sighed helplessly, looking at Su Qi with some gritted teeth, "You should leave too, things are about to get very dangerous here."

Before entering the academy, the middle-aged woman had set up some kind of tool which had probably been triggered; swarms of monsters were about to breach the place, and those Enhancers wouldn't be able to hold them off.

That's all she said.

They quickly left through the back door of the auditorium and headed towards another exit at the school.

"We have to leave quickly, these monsters seem to be following us," the middle-aged woman worriedly said, "Is it because of the power used before the reset? Otherwise, why would so many come all at once?"

The phrases on the notebook hardly described the full picture before the reset, and if it had been detected, they were in trouble.

And just as they were about to leave.

"So you think you can take the back route? I'd advise against that."

Su Qi's voice appeared behind them.

The middle-aged woman's eyes shifted slightly, staring at Su Qi with a hint of danger, "Are you trying to stop us?"

Su Qi, seeing her wary demeanor, shook his head and pointed towards the mist, "That way is also a dead end."

"?"

The middle-aged woman was still puzzled.

The next moment.

From the mist, three giant monsters wielding giant axes appeared in their line of sight.

And they smashed through the towering walls!

Their eyes blazing red with the scent of death, they stared at the little girl and charged directly towards her!

"As expected, they've been targeted."

Su Qi muttered to himself watching the scene unfold.

"Damn it!"

The middle-aged woman shouted angrily, shielding the little girl; runes appeared in her eyes, suggesting her body wasn't her real form. Using her power, her blood vessels continuously ruptured, and her body shook uncontrollably.

"It seems your power... comes at a price, a price that can't be restored by a reset."

Su Qi's voice struck like thunder, leaving the middle-aged woman stunned and hysterically furious!

"You... how do you know about... resets!!!"

"Don't ask; it's just an exceptional talent." Su Qi rushed forward wielding the Bone-Breaking Hammer!

She was frightened and angry! She was about to burst!

"You..."

"What 'you'? Keep your crappy power, I'll handle the rest."

In that moment, Su Qi leapt into the air, his Magic Cube Skill activated, drawing one monster into his Domain first, then blinding another... The other stood still, swinging its axe wildly as he shot the Blood Sword Card at it— three bloodthirsty swords appeared around!

The last one!

He brought down his hammer hard, and thunder coursed through the entire monster's body!

The greater the strength, the more powerful the thunder triggered!

"Boom!"

The middle-aged woman watched blankly.

His power, though not impressive to her, resembled a superhero in this world, given all the restrictions!

"Swish!"

Su Qi swiftly moved back, not wasting a moment. He had to quickly deal with the last monster... for who knew what other dangers the mist held!

And just then.

That icy piercing sensation attacked again, Su Qi's eyes narrowed! A humanoid monster covered in compound eyes was in the distant mist, sending terrifying glances!

But that wasn't important.

What mattered was the patterns in its pupils... Each one spinning with the all-too-familiar totems!

"Die.... Die.... Die...."

A strange voice continuously exploded! And this wasn't just spiritual impact!

The surrounding mist actually transformed into blades!

Like piercing the body, slashing and chopping... Each cut leaving a bloody mark down to the bone!

Su Qi...finally understood why Brother Paradise had buffed him.

With an 80% damage immunity.

His vitality was still dropping at a rate of 5% per second! The monsters in the mist were relentless, with many Elite Monsters!

"All this just to kill the Master of Destruction...?"

Su Qi looked towards the little girl.

The middle-aged woman was bleeding from her orifices, her body cracked, but she had enveloped both of them in a shield, while other monsters from the mist surged towards them furiously.

Her face turned pale.

The notebook on her person emitted a faint glimmer, seemingly recording something.

The little girl, in contrast, showed no fear; her ponytail loosened, her hair wild and her eyes cold as she stretched out her small hand.

"Reset!"

Feeling the twisting sensation around him.

Su Qi, at the last moment, abandoned the idea of resorting to his "Unrivaled" move, a skill that could only be used once in an instance; a reset would naturally make it unusable again, and he didn't want to waste it here.

Boom!

The entire scene around him twisted! The blades formed from mist retreated!

Su Qi felt the twisting happen much more briefly this time.

The next moment.

He knew why, because he now found himself not near the metal gates.

But inside the auditorium, in front of a paused gaming console.

The little girl still looked up curiously and asked:

"So, what was the important thing?"

The middle-aged woman was already coming over, intending to take the little girl for ideological work.

This time, Su Qi wasn't about to give her the chance. He smiled, patted the little girl's head:

"Of course, it's..."

"About whether or not you can repay your debts in the future."