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nTechnology, ideas, social systems, historical development, culture, and entertainment – Ansel had spent ten years glimpsing only a corner of that vast world in his memory. Although there were no extraordinary beings, it was far more exciting than the stagnant empire that had not progressed for a thousand years. While his mother was cooking in the cabin, Ansel was already enjoying the entertainment of that world in his mind. He always combined work and leisure; those who sat there studying and working all day could be anyone, but it definitely wasn’t him. “It’s a pity that in this society dominated by extraordinary beings, no one will develop energy sources beyond ether.” Little Ansel sighed in his heart, “It’s too difficult to reproduce the many entertainment methods of that world.” He searched for interesting new things in the well-organized entertainment blocks. Half a month ago, he discovered a peculiar product called video games, which were extremely interesting. Unfortunately, Ansel couldn’t perform any operations and could only watch the memory’s owner operate. “What should I watch this time?” Ansel muttered to himself as countless images flickered before his eyes. “Maybe just randomly… huh?” His thoughts paused slightly because, among the countless images that had just flashed by, he suddenly saw a scene that seemed somewhat familiar. He extracted that scene from his memory, and the cover of this “game memory” surprised Ansel a little. “City of Celestia…” He whispered in confusion, “Why is it Celestia?” The imperial capital Celestia, although the image had been processed into a game, Ansel recognized it at a glance – this was indeed the imperial capital of the empire, City of Celestia. With intense curiosity, Ansel delved deeper into his consciousness and began to watch everything about this game. As a result, the game had barely started for ten seconds, and the scene contained in this memory immediately shattered like burnt paper. “…Is it damaged? What a coincidence.” The memory of this traveler was destroyed by the fire of Flamefeast, and Ansel had become accustomed to this situation during his ten years of reading experience. He skipped over the burnt memory and quickly found the still intact part, continuing to read. “Seraphina Marlowe… a remote village in the north…” As for this part, Ansel read faster and faster because the protagonist was too stupid, and he had no interest in continuing. “Ravenna… Babel Tower? Isn’t Babel Tower the recently established ether research institute?” The things unfolded from the perspective of this female protagonist made Ansel’s doubts in his heart more serious. Although he had never heard of Ravenna, both Babel Tower and some people who appeared under this protagonist’s perspective were people Ansel had seen in reality. His father occasionally communicated with Babel Tower, and Ansel had also visited the new research institute that intended to compete with the Ether Institute. The founder of Babel Tower he saw was… almost identical to the one in this protagonist’s perspective. Ansel didn’t take this as a coincidence. Accumulated knowledge and wisdom made him feel a faint, extremely ominous premonition in his heart. He began to speed up his reading until —

nThe two blood-red characters “Hydral Chapter” appeared before his eyes. “…”

nThe boy looked at the seemingly blood-stained, deliberately terrifying font of the title, silently pushing the scene forward. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

n“Hydral, it’s over.” In the heavy rain, the tall and slender white-haired woman spat out a mouthful of blood. Although she was covered in scars, her proud and aloof temperament remained undamaged. She raised her chin and sneered, “You’ve lost all eight of your heads, and you still want to fight the four of us?” “Let’s end this quickly.” Beside her, another woman in a white coat lazily said, “We don’t have time to waste.” “Then let me end his evil deeds.” The ethereal voice echoed in Ansel’s ears. In this memory, he was watching everything from the perspective of a bystander. “…No, Miss Xin, please let me do it.” “Hydral,” who had been severely injured to the point of blurred vision, heard the sound of boots stepping in the rainwater getting closer. He seemed to want to struggle to stand up but fell to the ground in a pathetic manner.

nIs this, Hydral? “Do you think… this can kill me?” “Hehehe… hahahaha! Hydral will never die! I am the endpoint of demons, the end of the abyss! Even if I lose all my pact heads, even if only the origin remains, I will be the hunter who destroys you, I am—” Boom! The roar exploded in the sound of the downpour. The white-haired woman, who had just been standing in place stretching her body, instantly appeared at the location of “Hydral.” She stepped on his spine with one foot, breaking it, and brushed her white hair back with an annoyed expression on her face. “It’s so noisy… Hey, Maiden Saint, aren’t you going to do something? If you don’t, I’ll give him a quick death.” Ansel watched in disbelief as this “Hydral” struggled so pitifully and humbly. The power that made the entire empire tremble seemed to have never appeared on him. He was like a mad dog with a broken spine, howling in resentment while being trampled on, unable to change anything. How sad, pitiful, and ridiculous. Now, Ansel felt a little relieved because he was sure this could not be Hydral. No generation of Hydral could ever fall to this level— “…I’m sorry, Miss Seraphina, I won’t waste time.” All the people’s faces were somewhat blurred in the heavy rain. Ansel saw a woman with shoulder-length hair walking towards the Hydral, who was being stepped on by the white-haired woman. She knelt on the ground and drew the long sword from her waist. “I’m sorry.” She said apologetically, “I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry. This is… the only thing I can do for you now—” “—Mr. Ansel.” Boom! As if to tear the sky apart, the lightning split the memory scene and Ansel’s consciousness. What did that woman just say? What did she call that man who was worse than a dog…? As Ansel was stunned, the scene, which had just been split by lightning as a performance technique, began to transition gradually. The scene changed from deep black to clear haziness, and with a childish cough and a surprised shout, the scene gradually became emotional. Then, Ansel saw his father and mother. The memories of his childhood flooded Ansel’s mind. The same opening of the eyes, the same scene, the smiles of his parents at that time were engraved in Ansel’s memory, unchanged from what he saw now. His father’s hearty and happy laughter, his mother’s tired but happy expression… the scene presented by this “game” was exactly the same as the memory Ansel had firmly remembered when he opened his eyes.

nSo real, so — Terrifying.

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