Chapter 2188: Extremely High Mortality Rate
Having been exposed, the two didn't seem embarrassed. They took the water and said bluntly, "Of course, we don't need to watch everyone. Our task is only to watch you."
"Is this a divine oracle given to you by the Goddess?" Xu Huo asked with a smile.
"Don't be sarcastic. You may not believe there are gods in this world, but that doesn't mean gods don't exist," one of them said.
"Have you seen a god? What does a god look like?" Xu Huo asked curiously.
The two paused, neither answering the question. The other deflected, saying, "Power far beyond human capability is a god."
"Before evolution, humans relied on their feet to travel on land, but even then, they could still use cars, airplanes, and ships to cover thousands of miles in a short time, fly through the sky, and cross oceans. Compared to when they could only walk on the ground, could the tools they used be called gods?" Xu Huo asked again.
"How can that count?" the first player said. "Those are tools. People have to use them for them to be useful. Tools are dead, and what they can do is very limited."
"Cars, airplanes, ships might not be advanced enough," Xu Huo changed the comparison. "The weight of a game like Dimensional Rift should be enough, right? If gods truly exist, why would they rely on the game to become instances? Doesn't this mean that the gods you believe in only exist within the game space, not outside of it?"
The first player was stumped. The second player said, "Dimensional Rift is very powerful, able to cover so many wormhole points, but the game is also dead. It's still humans who control the game. As long as it's human, there are limitations."
Xu Huo looked at him with a smile, "So you're very clear about this?"
"I don't think so." Xu Huo turned the wheelchair and left.
"Who said the Goddess relies on believers?" the first player said as if hearing a joke. "We all became believers voluntarily."
Xu Huo nodded slightly. It seemed they weren't completely brainwashed but had found another way to interpret reality.
Whether it's not being strong enough or some other special product, in the end, it has to rely on the game world and living people. Since that's the case, it's far from the concept of a "god," or perhaps it's a collection of some kind of spiritual power?
"Stop the nonsense. As long as you don't cause trouble, we won't find fault with you," the second player stopped his companion. "But if you want to challenge the Goddess, you'd better be prepared to die."
"She arranges for divine envoys and believers to do things, there's always a reason, right? Like coming to watch me."
"Since the game claims to have transcended dimensions, why is the world players see still the same as before? Even if you change a hundred districts, it's just differences in race and geography."
"Since you're all stranded here anyway, as you said, if the Goddess really exists and is very powerful, able to do things that games and people can't, then why does she still rely on believers?"
"Having a mind can not only distinguish people from tools but also gods from tools."
"If she doesn't rely on people or things to exist, she should roam freely between heaven and earth, unrestrained. Why stay here?"
Not mentioning what they wanted to gain from the Goddess, Xu Huo just said, "If the Goddess doesn't rely on believers, the number of believers in this district wouldn't keep increasing."
"That's because the Goddess isn't strong enough yet!" the first player blurted out.
However, his words seemed to anger the two players. They simply stopped following and stood behind the wheelchair like two gate gods.
"Are these new friends of yours?" Ahai asked nervously when he returned and saw two more people.
Xu Huo nodded.
Ahai looked at him as if wanting to say something but held back.
"Go play. I'll look at the fish," Xu Huo said, asking the two to help.
The two players initially didn't want to bother, but seeing Ahai staring at them, they reluctantly pushed the wheelchair.
Xu Huo spent the afternoon feeding fish by the pond. Only when it got dark did he return to the vicinity of the temple.
The three, including Yellow Hair, were indeed lurking nearby waiting for him. As soon as Yellow Hair saw him, he immediately approached, "What's your situation? Didn't we agree to meet at the temple?"
Xu Huo stared at him steadily.
Yellow Hair belatedly realized that Xu Huo hadn't said anything during the morning discussion.
"No, if you disagreed, you should have said so earlier," Yellow Hair said irritably. "I waited outside the temple all day, and your communicator couldn't be reached."
"Probably intentional," Ding Jiang interjected at this point. "Because he's a Mental Super Evolver, confident in his ability to clear the instance, he doesn't bother to team up with us."
"Don't say that," Yellow Hair quickly mediated. "We didn't ask him during the morning discussion. Besides, this instance is so difficult. How can one person clear it alone?"
This was said for both sides. Without mental evolution, one is at a disadvantage, but going solo makes it easier to be targeted.
"I'm not alone." Xu Huo pointed to the two players behind him. "They're stranded players from other districts. We hit it off immediately, and they volunteered to protect me. If you want to break up the team, go ahead."
This statement made the three of them turn their heads in unison.
The two sent to monitor Xu Huo hadn't expected him to say that. After their surprise, they said, "Regarding the content of the instance, we have nothing to say."
"Hey, hey, hey," Yellow Hair said with a full smile as he walked over, putting his arms around their shoulders. "All men are brothers within the four seas. We're all from other districts. Chatting shouldn't be a problem, right? We're not targeting this district or the Goddess Cult. We just want to leave as soon as possible."
The two players stood motionless, both expressionlessly looking at the head that had popped up behind their shoulders.
Yellow Hair wasn't embarrassed at all. Unable to move them, he ordered food from the restaurant next door and then actively pushed Xu Huo. "Old Xu, you haven't eaten yet, right? Neither have we. How about we all eat together?"
The "disabled" Xu Huo had no choice. The two believers didn't want to go in, but seeing the person in the wheelchair's half-smile as he entered, they could only follow.
Ding Jiang and Fei Xun were behind everyone else.
Sitting at the same table to eat, the atmosphere wasn't as tense as before. Especially since a smiling face is hard to hit, Yellow Hair did a good job mediating.
After a few more bottles of alcohol, the two believer players loosened up a bit. They didn't know about other people's situations, but they still remembered their own instance clearance scenes. They didn't go into details involving personal privacy, only telling them that after entering the instance, everyone should see different scenes. How it differed varied from person to person. The final clearance requirement was also simple: survive in the temple for a period of time.
"Does the Holy Land Temple allow outsiders to stay for a long time?" Ahai couldn't help asking.
"The instance venue is the Holy Land Temple. How could instance players who enter come out easily?" The two players had strange smiles on their faces. "Players stranded due to failed clearance are less than one-fiftieth of the number of dead players."