A Core Ship From The Start

Although it’s not that I can’t keep trying and failing, every failed attempt brings my mission score down. If this continues, I might not even get the basic reward… Wait!!!

Thinking about it, Duanmu Huai’s eye sparkled, remembering the previous question from Ogis.

Why did that man both love and hate his daughter?

At that time, Duanmu Huai explained his take on it to Ogis, but, on reflection, could it be that the “passcode” was actually concealed within this contradiction?

Duanmu Huai didn’t think his understanding was incorrect, but he couldn’t figure out how to solve this puzzle. After all, one’s heart is hidden behind their stomach, so even if the man had mixed feelings towards his resurrected daughter, how to solve this problem… Perhaps there was no answer for the man himself.

“Sigh…”

Duanmu Huai let out a sigh. Usually when he encountered such situations in the game, he quite often relied on high charm-value to push through. As long as his charm was high enough, jobs of this nature were usually quite simple; he could convince the other person to let go of his fixation or even outright persuade him to agree with his ideas. Long story short, a high charm-value yielded more powerful persuasion, making it easier to discover hints and complete missions.

It’s like playing an RPG game. If you’re a warrior, the best you can do is kick down doors, navigate mazes and take the monsters head-on. If you’re a rogue, you sneak into the maze through the back door and directly reach the end.

But now… Nevermind, Duanmu Huai is just like that hapless warrior.

Moreover, his charm-value is like a drag.

There’s no other way but to try again.

On the third night, Duanmu Huai and Ogis once again entered that world.

This time, as the man was smashing a grave to pull out his daughter’s body, Duanmu Huai blocked his path.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Of course.”

The man held his daughter’s corpse and didn’t even look at Duanmu Huai.

“Maybe you will regret it?”

“If I don’t do this, I’ll regret it.”

“……….”

Alright, you said it yourself.

Duanmu Huai shrugged his shoulders, moved away, and watched the man holding his daughter’s corpse enter the mansion again. He followed him in with a helpless sigh.

In his opinion, he will probably fail the mission again this time.

If all else fails, he’ll have to find another soul shard.

With a sigh, Duanmu Huai pushed open the mansion door.

However, to his surprise, he didn’t find himself in the foyer or hallway as before. Instead, he was in a dark corridor that seemed to have no end in sight.

Oh? A change?

Upon seeing this, Duanmu Huai perked up a bit.

Change is good, even though it is uncertain whether it’s good or bad. It implies there’s still a chance!

“Be careful.”

Duanmu Huai cautioned Ogis in a low voice before stepping forward.

The door closed slowly behind them, plunging the entire corridor into a deathly silent darkness. But soon, a torch on the wall edge ignited abruptly, lighting up the path ahead.

Moving ahead, Duanmu Huai saw a portrait next to the torch. It depicted the man and an unfamiliar woman — judging from their intimate posture, they were likely a couple.

Simultaneously, the man’s voice echoed again.

“At that time… I never thought that I would marry a woman like this…”

As his ramblings continued, torches lit up one by one, illuminating the path in front. Portraits appeared on the walls, chronicling the moments with his wife: their meeting, wedding, her passing away due to childbirth, and his deep love for their daughter. He vowed to his late wife to take care of their daughter, but soon, their young daughter fell into grave illness and eventually passed away amidst his desperate cries. Still, the man didn’t give up. Leveraging his knowledge, he made every possible attempt to resurrect his daughter. In the end… he both succeeded and failed.

“My daughter has never called me father. Who is she truly?”

The man’s voice grew louder and more despairing.

“I just wanted my daughter to come back. But why did I create a new soul? Is it not true that human memories are stored in the brain? Then, when I resurrected this body, should she not have regained her original memories?”

So that’s what it was…

Hearing the man’s wails, Duanmu Huai secretly nodded. Clearly, this man was a scholar. From what he described, the man probably employed a method similar to creating Frankenstein to revive his daughter. His thought process was fairly sound: human memories indeed reside in the brain, so theoretically when the body is rejuvenated, along with the brain starting to function again, the memories should return…

Well, after all, it’s just a theory. In such a world, scientific theories may not necessarily hold.

“She is not my daughter, but I love her. I want her to be my daughter — the most perfect of creatures. This is my final solace to her…”

At the same time, Duanmu Huai and Ogis reached the end of the corridor. Extending his hand, he pushed open the door at the end of the corridor. The sight that met their eyes was a disheartened man dressed in a white coat seated on a chair, behind whom on a surgeon’s table, a purple-haired girl was lying serenely.

Then, the man looked up at Duanmu Huai.

“Do you think I was wrong?”

“Honestly… I don’t know.”

Duanmu Huai helplessly spread his hands.

“All I can say is, either way, your daughter has been revived again, whether this is what you wanted…”

Duanmu Huai shrugged and didn’t finish, and the man hung his head again.

“You’re right. Is this what I wanted? I’m not sure. On one hand, as a father, I feel I have failed because I wasn’t able to bring my daughter back to life. But on the other hand, as a scholar, I succeeded because I created a brand new soul. This is an accomplishment even god hasn’t achieved!!!”

So that’s it, it’s the combination of guilt as a father and exhilaration as a scholar, no wonder he’s in this state.

“Then, there’s only one thing I need to do next.”

As he spoke, the man stood up and faced Duanmu Huai. At the same time, a gigantic Skeleton Ghost appeared behind him.

“Come on, show me your strength!”

“Sigh…”

Seeing this, Duanmu Huai felt a sense of calm. He reached out to grab his war hammer, his gaze fixed on the man.

FInally, things are back on the track I’m best at!