Life Game In Other World
Chapter 502: Dreams and Gods (Looking for monthly votes)

Chapter 502: Chapter 502: Dreams and Gods (Looking for monthly votes)

The clamor of voices buzzed in He Ao’s ears as he suddenly opened his eyes to see the ceiling above him.

Was it a dream?

He sat up and rubbed his forehead.

A dictionary left half-finished lay carelessly by the pillow, and his cell phone was charging beside it.

Knock knock knock—

Urgent knocking sounded from outside.

He Ao got up, put on his clothes, rubbed his bleary eyes, and opened the door to see the person outside.

It was the disciple who had barged in yesterday to report the challenge from Elfia.

"Little master, that challenger from yesterday is here again?"

He spoke quickly, and although He Ao had managed to remember a few words yesterday, he only caught ’yesterday,’ ’challenge,’ and a few other terms.

Yesterday, challenge, Elfia?

He unplugged his phone from the charger, opened the translation app, and had the disciple repeat what he’d said, then started walking as he spoke, "Let’s go out and have a look."

"Okay."

The disciple nodded and led He Ao outside.

Halfway there, He Ao suddenly turned his head to look at the disciple beside him and asked in a low voice, "Have you been having any strange dreams lately?"

The translation app conveyed his words, and at the same time, He Ao was memorizing the usage of these Rodan words, his memory had seen a substantial improvement after his Super Memory had advanced to C-level.

"Hm?" The disciple was taken aback, then thought carefully for a moment before shaking his head, "No."

"Where do you live?"

He Ao asked in passing.

The disciple gave an address.

He Ao located the address on the map app, which was outside the range covered by the spreading channel powers.

He Ao retracted his gaze thoughtfully, and they continued outside.

Soon, they came to the courtyard.

Elfia was standing there, and when she saw He Ao coming, she knelt down with a thump, "Please, sir, take me as your disciple."

Yesterday morning in this very place, she had thought He Ao’s reflection was just boasting, consoling her, but now she believed in He Ao’s sentiments completely.

He Ao, quick on his feet, dodged the kneel.

He vaguely felt the scene was familiar, and then he remembered, during the last relic selection, that Fighter youth had done the same.

He had dodged that time as well.

The ’Fighter’ ultimately made some progress in establishing a master-apprentice relationship with him, but it was merely leaving a phone number, and he hadn’t yet passed He Ao’s test.

Thinking about it, it had only been a little over half a month ago, yet He Ao already felt as if it were a lifetime away.

He Ao lowered his head, looking into Elfia’s sincere eyes, and asked in the Central Earth language, "Having seen that form, do you still want to advance further?"

This question seemed to evoke some memories in Elfia, a trace of fear flashed across her eyes, then quickly turned into determination, "All I seek in life is to advance further in Martial Arts, and for this, any price can be paid."

He Ao gazed at the girl’s resolute cheeks.

The He Ao of this moment was utterly different from when he faced the Fighter; he no longer needed those complex methods to test Elfia’s talent, understanding, and perseverance.

What his Divine Sense revealed in terms of the energy inside Elfia already proved the girl had exceptional talent, comprehension, and perseverance, and even luck wasn’t lacking.

To have been born with access to the Martial Arts Training methods of the main world and to meet He Ao at the brink of her limits was luck in itself.

And as for moral character, He Ao had already partly inspected it the night before; after facing such a terrifying contamination, she still had a pure heart dedicated to the quest, willing to embrace death.

With such character, she would not be easily defeated by difficulties in her martial path later on.

Then there was the last and also the part holding up the ’Fighter,’ another aspect of character, ’moral conduct.’

Whether she was loyal, whether she aligned with He Ao’s philosophy.

This is the part least related to martial arts, yet it is the most crucial aspect of taking a disciple.

He Ao had no interest in cultivating a disciple who would stand against him in the future.

Power itself has no attribute, but the person who uses it divides it into attributes.

And character—this aspect is undetectable during short acquaintances.

He Ao glanced at Elfia, who was staring directly at him, saw those auburn pupils, and gently shook his head, "Young lady, please return."

Then he turned and walked into the inner room to inquire about some questions with the disciples there.

Elfia watched his retreating figure, a bit disheartened, but she quickly picked herself up, as she hadn’t really expected He Ao to accept her as a disciple immediately. Even a small improvement over before would be considered a success.

She lifted her head and asked the disciple next to her, "Is the martial arts hall still hiring staff?"

"We are not hiring anymore..." The disciple glanced at Elfia, who was kneeling on the ground, and after pondering for a moment with her direct gaze said, "However, we are short of a handyman in the courtyard, but our wages are quite low..."

"I can do it!" Elfia immediately grabbed his hand, "I can do anything, as long as meals are provided."

She was unwilling to let go of any opportunity.

"Wait here, I have to ask the master," said the disciple softly to Elfia.

The disciple then contacted Hong Long, who, after listening to the disciple’s account, gave it some thought and agreed.

Afterwards, Elfia signed an electronic employment agreement with Hong Long.

She was signing the agreement just as He Ao finished questioning the people in the room and came out.

He Ao glanced at Elfia who had finished signing the agreement, said nothing, and continued to inquire with each worker and disciple in the courtyard.

Elfia officially became a member of the Chengde Martial Arts Hall and was visibly satisfied with the outcome.

From the start, she did not expect He Ao to take her as his disciple right away; she knew perfectly well how cautiously one proceeds in the way of martial arts when seeking an heir.

The fact that He Ao didn’t directly send her away meant that she still had a chance. What she needed to do now was to follow He Ao and prove herself.

In her quest to overcome her limits, she had traveled to many countries and encountered countless events. Now seeing a glimmer of hope, she naturally wouldn’t give it up easily.

By this time, He Ao had questioned everyone in the courtyard and then, he noticed Elfia, who was already engrossed in her work with a broom.

He shook his head and smiled.

At least in her quest for the way, the girl exhibited unexpected tenacity and fearlessness.

Then, after a moment of thought, he walked over and asked softly, "Did you have any strange dreams last night?"

"Huh?"

Elfia, who had just picked up her broom and put her hair up in preparation to show her worth, was taken aback.

Then her heart began to pound fiercely.

He’s asking me a question, is he about to take me as his disciple?

"Hmm?"

He Ao looked at her daydreaming, and uttered a curious hum.

"No..." Elfia immediately snapped back to reality, shaking her head, then, under He Ao’s puzzled gaze, she recalled, "But it seems there was one, last night I had many nightmares, now I can’t remember clearly."

"Did you dream of a dim sky, a quiet courtyard, or other quiet buildings?"

He Ao probed further.

"Huh?"

Elfia was momentarily dazed, then seemed to remember something, "It seems so, I dreamt I was back at home, there was no one in the courtyard, it was very quiet, the sky was... dim, and then soon after, I woke up."

"Hmm."

He Ao stroked his chin, nodding gently, "Have you explored that dream?"

He had just asked every remaining person in the martial arts hall, and most of them said they had not experienced such a dream, while only a small number mentioned having seen similar scenes.

These scenes invariably featured a dim sky and a quiet courtyard or a building, and these were environments where the dreamers currently lived, or ones they were extremely familiar with.

But the memories of most were muddled.

"I think I explored it..."

Elfia pondered for a moment.

"What was in the dream?"

He Ao pressed.

"They were things that used to be in my house," Elfia recalled, "It was eerily quiet all around, but it seemed like there was something outside the house, though I didn’t get a chance to see what it was before I woke up."

Elfia’s dream was the clearest she remembered, but it still had many gaps, which might be a soul’s self-protective mechanism, keeping oneself from gazing at things that should not be seen.

And the stronger the soul of the person, the more they could ’withstand’.

So far, the people He Ao had asked could be divided into two groups based on where they lived.

Since the Chengde Martial Arts Hall was relatively close to the boundary of the channel’s diffuse area, the residents included those living both inside and outside the channel area.

None of those living outside the channel area had experienced such dreams.

However, among those residing inside the channel area, some had similar dreams, while others had not.

He Ao had briefly used Super Memory to monitor, and noticed that those who had experienced such dreams had stronger souls and higher spiritual sensitivity.

Such people were more likely to perceive transcendent phenomena in everyday life.

As for the others who had not experienced such dreams, it might not be that they had no dreams at all, but rather they simply couldn’t perceive the transcendent when it approached them.

Elfia also lived in the channel area, so she had similar dreams, and her strong soul and high spiritual sensitivity allowed her to remember and ’see’ more.

Normally, simple mysteries would be sensed only by nearby individuals with high spiritual sensitivity and wouldn’t cover such a broad area, nor be ’gazed upon’ by so many people.

Among the individuals He Ao had just interviewed, even some with only average spiritual sensitivity, who almost never interacted with the transcendent, had experienced those dreams.

In fact, among the people living in the channel area, those who had similar dreams were in the majority.

This meant that the mystery approaching was already so ’massive’ that even those with lower spiritual sensitivity and ’vision’ could perceive it.

It was trying to approach the main world through the channel, and these ’dreams’ were extensions of its power.

It might even be a strange Divine Being.

He Ao rubbed his brow.

Indeed, even when the channel was closed, there were angels using Velora as a conduit trying to force their Advent; not to mention when the channel was open, connecting the relics to the main world.

With the ’participation’ of this entity, the already complex situation became even more complicated.

It was imperative to find the space-time anchor for this occasion.

He Ao felt as if he was facing a chessboard with multiple players, mist-obscured figures hidden around, and in the shadows directly ahead lurked something colossal, terror-inducing even with just parts of its form exposed.

If that entity truly was a Divine Being, its Advent into the main world, even just a projection, would have catastrophic consequences.

But the relic channel should not accommodate the Advent of a Divine Being; otherwise, it would have descended during the first channel opening, with no need to wait until now.

So it was highly probable that the entity was using the relic channel to transmit its power for some kind of arrangement, then using ’sacrifices’ from the main world to perform a ritual summoning for its Advent.

This could also explain the presence of the contaminated Black Shadow He Ao had encountered the day before.

Following this line of thought, those ’dreams’ might be more than mere shadows of that entity’s power.

Now, the problem was that He Ao had too few people he could employ.

The Research Institute, which already had few members, couldn’t utilize them because of the traitor.

However, he could strategize and make use of the forces from Moonlight, the World Tree, and even Daybreak.

Buzz—

While He Ao was contemplating, his phone vibrated. It was a message from Yang De.

Yang De: [Nick, C-level, an intelligence officer developed by Li Le in Eren City and one of the core members of the Institute in Rodan Republic, has been bought by Moonlight. He betrayed Li Le, and we now have solid evidence, including transaction records of his dealings with Moonlight.]

Yang De: [File]

Yang De: [Location]

Yang De: [He is currently residing at 27 Tassie District, his safe house, which he told no one about, but Li Le had mastered it for quite some time.]

Yang De: [In addition, several non-core personnel have also been bought by Moonlight]

Yang De: [File]

He Ao: [Received, I’ll persuade them to turn themselves in.]

---

"Master, you’re awake."

It was well into the morning when the shapely woman leaned on the man, her slender hand brushing across his chest, giggling as she spoke.

"My little vixen,"

the man lightly swatted the woman, "It’s getting late, go make me some breakfast."

"Of course, Master."

The woman threw off the covers and, donning an apron, walked into the kitchen.

As the faint sizzle of steak frying filled the air, the man sat up in bed.

His gaze briefly swept over the woman’s graceful figure in the kitchen.

He knew very well that this woman was sent by Moonlight to monitor him; she was a threat in bed and out.

He slipped on a robe, opened the bedside drawer, and lit a cigarette.

In theory, betraying the Research Institute for Moonlight was a ’smart’ decision.

After all, the Research Institute was too far away, while Moonlight was close at hand; the Institute couldn’t touch him from such a distance.

And he had covered his tracks well; it was highly unlikely that the Institute would discover what he had done, and by the time the next head of the Institute came along, they would surely rely on these elders again.

Then he could continue to take money from both sides, doing the deeds for both.

Such a lucrative double-dipping situation was rare nowadays.

However, for some reason, he had been feeling restless lately.

Ding-dong—

The crisp sound of the doorbell rang from outside.

He shuddered.

This was his safe house; no one knew he lived here, and he never ordered delivery to this address.

After a moment of thought, he reached under the pillow for an ax, hid it behind his back, and walked to the door.

Instead of opening it, he asked softly, "Who’s there?"

"A passing enforcement officer."

A youthful voice, seemingly from a young person, came from the outside.

It was in the language of the Tia Empire.

Through the peephole, the man only saw a Central Earth-looking young man standing at the door, smiling and watching him.

His anxiety eased slightly; after all, he was a C-level Transcendent, and how powerful could a youth be?

A Central Earth person speaking the Tia Empire language, how peculiar.

Then he chuckled to himself, considering his own role as a double-agent was not exactly ordinary either.

Suppressing his voice, he whispered, "I don’t need law enforcement here."

"Sir, perhaps you should take a look," the young man from outside lifted the law book he was holding, turning its cover to face the peephole, "It could be beneficial for you."

He looked like a somewhat deranged salesman, likely here to peddle books.

Clearly, however, the young man had chosen poorly.

In a place as chaotic as Rodan, who would buy a book on law?

After pondering for a moment, the man, who had been feeling somewhat oppressed, flung open the door. Clutching the ax hidden behind his back, he was ready to give the naive kid a taste of the real world.

"You see, sir, you do indeed need this."

The young man outside lifted the book in his hand, flipped it open, showing the content to the man, and pointing at a particular legal provision said, "You are suspected of aiding and abetting murder; I recommend you turn yourself in."

"Turn myself in?"

The man sneered as he pulled the ax from behind his back, "Turning myself in is unlikely, but I can help you pick out an early spot in Heaven."