Lending a Hand

Lending a Hand

The ground was spotless, as if those players had never appeared at all.

Mu Sichen did not know whether those four players would respawn. He was not optimistic about it; all he could do was hope they still could.

The other three obedient players seemed to be thinking much the same thing as Mu Sichen. They kept their heads down, not daring to move or make a sound, but when the Followers allowed everyone to stand, Mu Sichen clearly saw their SAN plunge below 50. They were plainly terrified out of their wits and close to losing control.

The town residents' SAN did not change in the slightest. Their eyes were stiff and vacant, as if nothing around them interested them at all.

What surprised Mu Sichen was that the SAN of that "+528" had actually risen, becoming "+543."

SAN stood for Sanity Value. Sanity was a state that fluctuated at all times, and under ordinary circumstances, swings within 20 points were perfectly normal. But after something like this, an average person's SAN would usually drop a little. Why would this person's go up instead?

Mu Sichen pushed the question down for the moment and watched quietly.

At that moment, the Feather-Eyed Apostle called out, "Residents of the Town of the Eye, who protected us after the Cataclysm?"

"The Great Being," the town residents answered in unison. Their voices were calm and flat, utterly emotionless, like robots.

"Precisely. Without the gaze of the Eye of the Sky, we would be wandering homeless, with no clothes to cover us and no food to fill our stomachs. Give thanks for the Great Existence's protection," the Feather-Eyed Apostle said.

"Give thanks for the Great Existence's protection." The town residents' voices grew somewhat more fervent.

Mu Sichen mouthed the words along with everyone else, but made no sound. Even so, merely hearing those voices made him dizzy, and his SAN fell beyond his control.

When the four players died, Mu Sichen had felt the chill of seeing his own possible fate in theirs, and his SAN had uncontrollably dropped by 10 points. Now, after enduring this mental baptism, his mind was in chaos.

The Feather-Eyed Apostle continued, "Even when the Night descends, under the protection of the Eye of the Sky, we still have food, clothing, houses, and a safe town."

As those words rang out, Mu Sichen felt as if the choir in his mind were singing some heart-stopping hymn into his ear at breakneck speed, making it impossible for him to think normally.

To fight that confusion, Mu Sichen began questioning the Feather-Eyed Apostle's words. Questioning meant thinking, and thinking would stabilize his sanity.

Basic necessities had to be made through human labor. Nothing appeared out of thin air. But judging by the description of the Town of the Eye, the people here did not seem to need to plant crops, develop animal husbandry, or run light industry.

All their necessities were gifts from Big Eye. That was not scientific.

Unless this town really was some kind of game instance, with a program providing the necessities of life.

For a moment, Mu Sichen even developed the illusion that this place truly was a game where you could respawn after death, and that he could act boldly.

Hallucinations gradually appeared before his eyes.

After the Feather-Eyed Apostle said a few more words about gratitude, he kindly let everyone rise.

Mu Sichen raised his head, his gaze falling on the place where the four players had just died.

In his daze, he seemed to see those four players respawn. They were sitting in a circle, discussing how to fight the boss.

Pistol Player said, "Bad call. We're not strong enough. We can't charge straight at the dungeon boss the moment we arrive; we have to build ourselves up first. My weapon only holds six rounds, so it's way too limited. I should go find bullets."

Sledgehammer Player nodded. "We should fight the mobs first and pick off those Followers one by one. After we gain experience points and level up, then we can deal with the Feather-Eyed Apostle."

Rope Player said, "We're still short on teammates. Pistol and Sledgehammer are attackers; I'm more control and support. Scissors can heal wounds. We're missing a teammate with strong defense who can draw enemy fire."

Scissors Player said, "I'll turn on nearby mode and see if there are any other players around. This lousy game dresses players and in-game NPCs exactly the same. You can't tell who's human and who's a game character at all."

Scissors Player tapped twice in the air, then looked up at Mu Sichen in delighted surprise. He reached out to him and said, "You're a player too? What's your skill? Let's form a party."

Mu Sichen wavered. Beneath his cloak, his fingers twitched slightly, wanting to take Scissors Player's outstretched, friendly hand.

Just then, a player drifted past Mu Sichen in a daze and murmured under his breath, "My starter tool is a pushcart. The pushcart can be stood upright and used as a shield. Its defense is very strong. I..."

His voice was very low, and only Mu Sichen could hear it. Yet it was this tiny sound that jolted Mu Sichen awake. He raised a hand to cover his right eye, and his blood-red left eye saw a scene entirely different from the one before.

There were no respawned players there at all. Instead, four streams of air mixed with countless colors were crossing the fog and being absorbed by the tightly closed eye in the sky.

Those dense colors mingled together were like a person's ultimate emotions before death: sadness, excitement, panic, and fear of death.

Those ultimate emotions converged into strands of tormented souls and were absorbed by Big Eye.

Mu Sichen even saw that after absorbing those four streams of air, Big Eye's worm-covered eyelashes trembled a few times, as if it were about to wake.

Fortunately, the eyelashes only quivered slightly. Big Eye did not wake up.

The four players had not respawned at all. Everything had been a hallucination. Only his left eye, which had looked directly at Big Eye, endured a tremendous shock, and yet had not gone completely blind, could see what was truly happening.

As Pushcart Player passed by Mu Sichen, his SAN kept falling, but joy appeared on his face. He was producing an extremely happy, delighted emotion, and that emotion was now turning into a rich red that slowly streamed out of Pushcart Player's eyes and flew toward the sky.

Mu Sichen immediately realized that if he ignored him, Pushcart Player would die.

Whether his SAN kept dropping and his soul was absorbed by Big Eye along with those intense emotions, or whether the Feather-Eyed Apostle discovered his identity and treated him as a Fallen, the result would be the same.

Either way, it was a dead end.

Mu Sichen was not the type to recklessly throw his life away, but neither was he cold enough to watch someone die without helping.

He had not had the ability to save the four earlier players. Now Pushcart Player was walking right past him. If Mu Sichen did nothing, he felt that even if he survived, his emotions would definitely be affected. At that point, whether his SAN fell or suddenly rose, neither would be a good sign.

Saving someone was one thing. Mu Sichen had no intention of overestimating himself and getting himself killed.

Fortunately, there were many people in the plaza. The Feather-Eyed Apostle was focused on proclaiming Big Eye's greatness. Some town residents were numb yet listening attentively, some kept repeating the motion of pressing a hand to an eye, and others knelt in worship, looking extremely devout.

It was precisely because the town residents were all doing different things that Pushcart Player's slight movement had not been noticed by the Followers.

But if Pushcart Player truly walked to the place where the four players had died and started chatting with his hallucination, his abnormality would definitely be discovered.

Mu Sichen made a quick decision and, with the cover of his cloak, took out the pickaxe.

The pickaxe handle was only a little over a meter long. His cloak could hide it completely, and as long as he did not swing it hard, there would be nothing obvious to see.

Mu Sichen gently lifted the pickaxe and brought the pick head down on Pushcart Player's foot.

It hurt a bit. Pushcart Player let out a low cry. At that moment, Mu Sichen immediately returned the pickaxe to his weapon slot, grabbed Pushcart Player, and opened with, "Praise the eyes, praise the light, praise the greatest existence."

"Huh?" Pushcart Player froze.

Mu Sichen continued reciting the Great Being's doctrine like a dull-eyed town resident. "Anything can deceive you: touch, sound. What you feel and what you hear may all be false. Only the eyes, under the Great Existence's protection, let us see truth.

"Cherish your eyes and protect them; they are the Great Existence's grace."

The choir was singing these brainwashing lyrics over and over by Mu Sichen's ear. This let Mu Sichen recite the doctrine off the top of his head. He did not have to recall anything at all; he only had to read along with the choir's song.

As he spoke, he also covered Pushcart Player's eyes with his hand, blocking his line of sight so Pushcart Player would not look at the place where the four players had died.

Aside from striking Pushcart Player once with the pickaxe at the start, Mu Sichen behaved like a devout town resident of the Town of the Eye. He looked more like a Follower than the Followers themselves.

At that moment, Mu Sichen was like a Follower brainwashed by Big Eye, preaching to someone else.

The Feather-Eyed Apostle had so many eyes that he naturally noticed the contact between the two of them. But after hearing Mu Sichen's fluent words, he felt reassured and turned his gaze away.

The pickaxe already had the "Undermine" skill. With Mu Sichen's strength, it was not enough to make a Follower convert; he needed Qin Zhou's broadcast for that. But for a player who had not been brainwashed to begin with, trying to "Undermine" him was much easier.

The blow from the pickaxe had already jolted Pushcart Player awake, and Mu Sichen's vacant eyes and words made Pushcart Player realize he had been seeing a hallucination.

His face went white, but fortunately his survival instinct was strong and he was not stupid. Once his sanity returned, he immediately realized he had just walked a circle around death's door.

He blinked repeatedly and followed Mu Sichen's words. "I'm grateful, I'm grateful."

Pushcart Player did not even dare say who he was grateful to. In any case, it definitely was not Big Eye.

After Pushcart Player fully woke up, Mu Sichen saw an extra Self Sticker appear in his hand.

This Self Sticker was much smaller than the one from the Follower earlier, and its power seemed much weaker as well.

But in any case, he now had a sticker. The risk he had taken to stop Pushcart Player from walking to his death had not been a waste.

Mu Sichen pressed the Self Sticker to the back of his neck. A coolness traveled from the nape of his neck into his brain and down his spine.

Mu Sichen felt his left eye become much more comfortable. The bloody color faded, but his vision turned foggy and he could not see things clearly. The brainwashing hymn-singing that had been echoing in his ears also disappeared.

Mu Sichen felt as if he had put on a suit of armor and let out a slight breath of relief.

His SAN stabilized at 62, finally staying above the passing line without continuing to fall.

Because Mu Sichen had behaved so much like a brainwashed town resident, Pushcart Player could not be sure whether he had deliberately lent a hand or accidentally saved him.

He did not dare speak to Mu Sichen. He backed up two steps and huddled to the side, keeping a distance from Mu Sichen that was neither too close nor too far.

Mu Sichen also relaxed.

Yet at that moment, he felt someone looking at him.

Mu Sichen looked over and saw "+543" glance at him coolly, then immediately withdraw his gaze.

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Author's Note:

Qin Zhou (tugging at a tentacle for fun): I didn't appear today, but Mu Sichen thought of me once.