To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

Tang Mo had never expected his dark past to sell for much, so he suggested that Fang Cheng could just quote a nominal fee.

However, when he realized that the “nominal fee” amounted to five million, he felt that Fang Cheng might have misunderstood him.

Looking at the bank transfer notification on his phone, he agonized for a long while before saying to Fang Cheng, “Mr. Fang, how about I handwrite the book and give it to you again? You’re being so generous that I feel guilty.”

“It’s alright, this is what you deserve.”

The chance to ascend to greatness is worth more than gold—Fang Cheng saw no issue in spending such an amount.

Furthermore, although the studio had recently invested its funds in the downstairs Kirin Industry, the various games had yielded a profit of over a billion. This made Fang Cheng feel that Xu Qingling’s luck was exceptionally strong; whatever was spent could be earned back.

Copying the novel’s digital version onto a USB drive, Fang Cheng stepped into the void with the device in hand. When he opened his hand again, there shone a small Teleportation Array.

He activated the Teleportation Array and stepped inside, where he could see a world continuously in motion, evidently one that was derived from the novel’s content combined with various Divine Skills.

The framework of the world was based on Tang Mo’s novel, but the content was combined with the inspiration Fang Cheng had acquired from “The Supreme One” and the Heavenly Tao network, ultimately creating a world manifested from his own mana.

Although he had read the novel in advance, it was only upon seeing the extrapolated world that Fang Cheng realized an issue.

The world depicted in Tang Mo’s writing was somewhat similar to reality.

The novel described a fictional ancient world, which was mysteriously contaminated by toxic substances, causing myriad gods and Buddhas to flee without a trace.

The protagonist, a mere Cultivator, wanted to escape with his Sect, but couldn’t bear to leave his parents behind and chose to stay to protect the people here.

Knowing his resolve, his Sect left him some magical weapons and a token; they promised to contact him once they settled in a Different World. If he was still alive by then, they would bring him back to the Sect and also protect the remaining mortals.

The early part of the story was light-hearted and humorous. Although there were occasional downpours of monsters contaminated by the toxic substances, the overall mood was pleasant.

The protagonist, a prodigious talent, would grasp the Cultivation Techniques and magical weapons left by his Sect as soon as he reached the corresponding stage. Moreover, he had some fellow cultivator friends, and they would fight the corrupted monsters together every day, making life bearable.

The people sheltered by him, although lacking in talent, never complained. Instead, they built shrines for the protagonist, offering prayers day and night, allowing him to cultivate faith to withstand external threats.

But as joyous as the early stages were, the latter parts became equally tragic.

All close to him perished, one by one, and none of the people he wanted to protect survived. By the end of the first volume, everyone around him was dead, leaving only his old dog Huang alive, and his own Divine Sense was severely damaged.

In the second volume of the novel, the protagonist had no choice but to seek refuge with his fellow cultivators for healing. They kindly took him in. Once mostly recovered, he helped them eradicate nearby monsters and eliminate the demons attacking their towns. Only at the end did he realize that his mind was no longer clear, he couldn’t discern right from wrong, and those he considered fellow cultivators had degenerated into demons; all his deeds were evil.

The third volume was even more tragic. When the protagonist, in complete despair, sought a place to end his life, he unexpectedly received a message from his Sect. Accompanied by the surrounding people, they struggled to reach their destination, only to find that the Sect had been contaminated long after they had left; it was all just a trap.

In the fourth volume, the protagonist discovered that he was no longer human; his body had been completely corroded by the toxic substances, and his personhood was merely a façade created by the toxins.

The fifth volume added tragedy upon tragedy, and the sixth was the peak of despair.

Compared to the last volume, Fang Cheng actually felt the protagonist in the previous volumes was somewhat fortunate.

Or rather, at the end of each volume, the protagonist seemed to have the most happiness he could experience at that time.

After reading through the entire plot, Fang Cheng thought that Tang Mo deserved to go to jail for writing such material.

The protagonist’s ending wasn’t written completely, but Fang Cheng felt it was just as well; who knows what other trials awaited him.

To the protagonist, death was a reward.

Looking at the nearly completed world, Fang Cheng felt it was both desperate and terrifying. The protagonist’s final strength was incredibly powerful, but ironically, he had become the cause of various tragedies.

And looking back, he realized that his descent into such a state was not the least bit surprising.

He had done his best at every step, he had tried his hardest, yet in the midst of the universe’s horrors, those boundless terrors destroyed everything about him, inexorably leading him toward tragedy.

After extrapolating, Fang Cheng found that according to the novel’s tone, there was no way out of the entire story.

The descent of the toxins was inevitable; the world would be continuously eroded, and extinction was a certain outcome. All the protagonist’s and other characters’ actions ultimately resembled bubbles in a storm, soon to burst.

This story bore some resemblance to events that happened a thousand years ago, causing Fang Cheng to wonder if Tang Mo might have unconsciously remembered something.

After all, people have past and present lives; some great beings erase their historical presence, but it is possible that they miss one or two, allowing them to retain some fragments of memory.