[An unparalleled radiance bloomed from the palm of your hand—]
[Your body felt an ultimate scorching heat as a terrifying brilliance overflowed.]
[You knew that the Doomsday Vanguard was not an existence you could defeat, but at the cost of detonating a Stellaron, even a Doomsday Vanguard would be reduced to ashes within the light of destruction.]
[Your high-stakes gamble succeeded.]
[You bet your own life and set off the most terrifying cataclysm in the history of the entire planet of Jarilo-VI.]
[The land was turned to scorched earth, and buildings collapsed under the impact of the explosion—not a single piece of intact land remained on all of Jarilo-VI, leaving only a field of ruins and wreckage.]
[The destruction brought by the Anti-Matter Legion to the world was less than the devastation you caused by detonating the Stellaron... but as a butterfly fluttering in the world-ending crisis, you demonstrated to the entire world the resistance a civilization will put up before despair.]
[As civilization's final firework, you flew to the heavens and exploded. The brilliant radiance nearly destroyed everything... yet it also left behind the final spark for the Empire.]
The text on the light screen faded, and a new image emerged from it:
A dust-covered Seele stood coldly before the half-destroyed Qlipoth Fort, methodically directing the people to clean up the city.
Although Belobog was almost completely destroyed by the Stellaron's explosion, everyone's face wore a smile full of hope.
Because the Empire's greatest enemy had been turned to dust in that planet-shaking explosion. While the Anti-Matter Legion was still dangerous, it was now powerless to destroy the civilization within the ruins of Belobog.
The spark of civilization was now firmly guaranteed to continue on this cold world, once ravaged by the Stellaron's explosion.
Everyone was cheering for this, with only one person appearing so out of place...
Seele's face was cold, her gaze indifferent as she looked at the people in the ruins, then turned her gaze to the snowfields, to the sky—
She searched in all directions, but she could not find Ron's figure.
Or perhaps, Ron was now everywhere.
As a Cold-Blooded Reformer, Seele rarely had any emotional changes.
The icy will had penetrated to her very marrow. As a Pathstrider on the Path of [The Hunt], acts of vengeance and cold-bloodedness were the very philosophy of [The Hunt].
And Seele had walked further and further down this Path. Because the disaster of the apocalypse constantly weighed on her mind, she had been forced to develop the habit of seeing human lives as numbers.
For example, to her, Ron was just a rather large string of numbers with many positive annotations, specifying his intrinsic value.
Things like high strength, reliability, being suitable for marriage... No matter how highly Seele valued these qualities, they could hardly be equated with "civilization" itself.
They could not be equated with [Salvation].
And now, Ron had merely paid with his life and a terrifying Stellaron to successfully complete the magnificent feat of saving the world. In Seele's eyes, this should have been a very profitable deal.
But she couldn't bring herself to be happy at all.
She looked at the sky, her vision suddenly blurring. Her breathing became rapid, and her chest felt a burning and heaviness as if filled with molten lead—
"The impact of the Stellaron explosion is huge. There might be radiation that causes illness. I need to arrange for Belobog's hospitals to solve these problems..."
Seele muttered to herself, tears gradually welling up in the corners of her eyes. They slid across her dust-covered face, leaving two clean streaks.
She knew this heart-wrenching pain was not an illness. She was only muttering to herself to deceive herself.
But she was the Emperor of the Empire, the final guide for this civilization...
After Ron's death, she was the only one left to shoulder the burden.
She couldn't be so weak... couldn't...
But she really couldn't fool herself.
Turning to look at her own shadow, which was stretched long by the light of dawn, there should have been a person standing there.
But he would never stand by her side again, silently accompanying her.
Her icy will could not restrain the surging emotions deep within her heart. One only regrets all the good things after they are completely lost.
"Wuu..."
Seele squatted on the ground and began to sob quietly.
As the image on the screen faded, new text appeared on it:
[Your choice was not wrong. Although you paid a great price, you did indeed succeed in bringing a dawn full of hope to this world.]
[Henceforth, Jarilo-VI will no longer be invaded by wind and snow, nor be disturbed by the Fragmentum;]
[There will no longer be the whispers of the Stellaron, nor the ravages of the Legion.]
[A vast hammering sound echoes from a corner of the universe at the moment your consciousness fades. Three consecutive strikes enter your ears.]
[You vaguely see a golden light shining upon you.]
[In the body of a mortal, you have accomplished a feat that would astonish even the gods—]
[At the crossroads of the Path, your choice made you charge into a narrow, thorny path, successfully forging a new road.]
[The Amber Lord has once again cast his gaze upon you—]
[Your swan song on Jarilo-VI has manifested for him the Mark of [Salvation].]
[The concept of the [Preservation] Path has thus been broadened—now, whether one is cold-blooded or despicable, as long as they bear the Mark of [Salvation], they may resonate with the Path of [Preservation] and become one of its Pathstriders.]
[Qlipoth, the [Amber Lord], has received a certain amount of assistance because you broadened the Path—He successfully swung his giant hammer three consecutive times, crossing a distance of several thousand light-years in a very short time to strike the wall being forged at the edge of the universe, adding a brick to the vision of preserving the entire sea of stars.]
[The Amber Era of the star sea skipped three epochs because of these three hammer strikes.]
[Because of the Amber Lord's change, the Interastral Peace Corporation found Jarilo-VI and provided it with great assistance.]
[Jarilo-VI once again became a tourist planet under the Corporation, providing it with precious Geo-Marrow minerals.]
[[Preservation] cared for this world in ruins... until it met its fateful end.]
[Game Over.]
[Rating for this life simulation: 99 points]
[In the 2183rd Epoch, 37th Month of the Amber Era, the Armed Archaeology Faction of the Genius Society excavated Jarilo-VI, which had been destroyed by the joke of the Masked Fools.]
[This tourist planet, famous throughout the sea of stars, had almost become a legendary existence. All Pathstriders of the [Preservation] Path would look forward to traveling to Jarilo-VI to see the legendary [Savior] Ron.]
[His story is known to everyone in the vast sea of stars. His tale of salvation has been adapted into various works and spread throughout the galaxy with the intentional support of the Interastral Peace Corporation.]
[In the Interstellar Trend Guide: Celebrity Edition, Ron was given a separate volume and was promoted for a full seventeen Amber Eras.]
[As the one who broadened the concept of [Salvation] from within the Path of [Preservation], Ron is remembered in the history of the entire sea of stars... never to be forgotten.]
[Because you have completed a Legendary Event in this simulation, you will receive a Legendary Trait—]
[You have obtained the trait: Salvation (White, Improvable)]
[Salvation: It is said that when an Aeon ascends, they will open up a Path. The concepts within the Path become the source power that binds the Aeon's actions, and in return, the Aeon receives the Path's generous reward—endless Imaginary Energy.
And now, you have successfully condensed the concept of "Salvation"—this concept has not caused you to ascend to Aeonhood, nor has a new Path been opened.
But the concept of Salvation shows a different direction forward.
You can use the concept of Salvation to encompass the Path you walk, broadening the Path's concept and bringing you a new way out.]
[After loading this trait, for every Path you step on, you can use this trait to encompass that Path, increasing its strength to a certain extent.
Furthermore, for every Path this trait has encompassed, its quality will improve accordingly. The quality cap is Legendary (Red).]
Ron looked at the text on the light screen, and for a moment, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of a mental shock.
Is this the strength of a Legendary Trait? This is terrifying!
It was basically a perfect buffing trait that encompassed other traits. No matter which Path, as long as he added this, he could stack buffs... This trait truly had a beauty in its power.
It was much stronger than any trait he had gotten before...
Although Ron felt that his operations in the previous simulation and this one were not much different, both times trying his best to hyper-carry, the difference in rewards was like heaven and earth. The disparity was too great because of the simulation's completion rate.
He could only say that the difference in strength between Seele and Bronya was truly too great.
Ron sighed. Although he really liked Bronya's character design, a simple comparison in the game would reveal that Bronya did nothing but drag the team down. As a teammate, she served no purpose other than raising her teammates' blood pressure.
On the other hand, what about Seele? Her character design was just as beautiful, not to mention she jumped into action no matter what, and would never drag her teammates down. At most, she would fall into confusion and need some comforting, and after being comforted, she would grow as she should. She was the epitome of reliable.
But what he needed to care about now was no longer the game.
Thinking this, he stretched lazily and collapsed limply onto the bed.
Today, because Bronya gave him a day off, he had been able to slack off to his heart's content, slacking for the entire day. It was now deep in the night, and he had just finished this run of the Life Simulation Game.
However, he couldn't stay up any longer.
Ron yawned—Bronya would probably drag him to work tomorrow.
After all, this was a job that paid 1.5 million credits a month. One day off was fine, but consecutive days off was just a dream, wasn't it?
Better to get a good night's sleep first and recover my energy...
With this thought, Ron rolled around in bed hugging his pillow and soon fell into a deep sleep.
And at the same time, on the other side—
[You trusted Ron, and placing the Stellaron in his hands was the correct choice.]
[He detonated the Stellaron, dragging the Doomsday Vanguard with him into the fires of tribulation, bringing a dawn to a ruined world.]
[Your trait: Cold-Blooded Reformer takes effect. Your emotions are suppressed.]
[Your emotional suppression has failed. You grieve for a long time over Ron's death.]
[The Empire has come to a standstill due to your listlessness.]
[Seven days later, the cries of the people awaken you.]
[Because you remembered the promise you once made with Ron, you wish to turn this world into the one you looked forward to.]
[A short time later, the Interastral Peace Corporation sent a communication, notifying you that they are about to provide aid to this planet.]
[Because you do not trust the Interastral Peace Corporation, you politely refused their aid, stating that you could solve the problem yourself.]
[However, the Interastral Peace Corporation treated your words with disdain—they were merely notifying you. Your opinion was meaningless to the Corporation.]
[A special operations team from the Corporation easily eliminated the remaining remnants of the Anti-Matter Legion on the planet.]
[Afterward, a massive Creation Engine descended from the sky. Batches of giant machinery swept across the ruins like plows, turning all the wasteland on this planet into dust, which was then reshaped into a new form.]
[One month later, Jarilo-VI was forcibly reorganized into a resort planet extremely suitable for travel, according to the aesthetic of the Interastral Peace Corporation.]
[You tried to stop the Interastral Peace Corporation, but in front of them, the Empire was nothing but a tiny ant.]
[You tried to reason with them to stop all this, but the Corporation just sneered, took out an ancient contract, on which was written the ownership of the planet Jarilo-VI.]
[This planet was originally the property of the Corporation.]
[They extremely quickly established a Ron Memorial Hall in New Belobog, sent Ron's relics to the Interastral Peace Corporation, and rapidly produced a large number of promotional films.]
[In just a few months, you saw many unfamiliar off-world visitors on Jarilo-VI.]
[They excitedly chatted about [Savior] Ron, comparing him to other superheroes from movies produced by the Corporation to see who was stronger, and pointed fingers at the stories fabricated by the Interastral Peace Corporation.]
[A few more months passed, and you heard that Ron's relics were being auctioned on the Interastral Peace Corporation's platform. A single badge sold for the high price of several tens of billions of credits.]
[You looked at the vast sky above the dome of New Belobog, then at the surrounding new futuristic city clusters full of a sense of science fiction. You suddenly understood—]
[This place was no longer your home.]
[[Preservation] cared for this world in ruins.]
[Game Over.]
[To ensure the player's gaming experience, Simulation Memory has been loaded.]
Seele was sitting in her room, staring blankly at the light screen in front of her.
Cold memories slid into her mind. All the memories from the last simulation echoed in her head, like ice cubes sloshing with water in a glass, making crisp clinking sounds.
Every clink was a great torment to Seele's spirit.
The reason for this was the huge gap between her in reality and her in the simulation.
One had to know, the her in the simulation had the golden trait "Cold-Blooded Reformer" to stabilize her mental state.
But the her in reality had no such thing...
Everything she experienced in this simulation, no matter which event, was unbearable for the current Seele.
Not to mention the other things, just the most serious ones—her mind was still replaying the image of Ron's back as he went to his death and Jarilo-VI being transformed into a resort planet. All of this was a huge shock to Seele.
She was directly stunned on the spot, letting the memories collide with each other in her mind.
After a long time, she suddenly began to mutter in a low voice:
"Fake, fake, it's all fake, fake, fake, it's all fake..."
After muttering for a long time, relying on this crude self-deception, Seele barely managed to come back to her senses, maintaining a weak bit of rationality.
She raised her head, composed herself, and found that the light screen in front of her had long since refreshed with new text:
[Rating for this life simulation: 70 points]
[You have obtained 700 World Experience points.]
[Your World Level has increased—LV.17]
[The cold-blooded ruler holds the most fervent hope for the entire world, looking forward to the arrival of dawn.]
[As the Emperor of the Empire, you did quite well.]
[But to achieve your goal, you paid far too great a price... I wonder if next time, you will make a different choice?]
[Your performance is worth looking forward to.]
The evaluation on the screen faded, and the reward options popped up:
[You have successfully completed a simulation. Please choose—]
[1. Obtain Upgraded Stellaron Containment Device x1]
[2. Obtain Constitution of the Jarilo-VI First Empire x1]
[3. Obtain Supreme Guardian of Belobog's Uniform x1]
Looking at the options on the screen, Seele composed herself and chose the first option without hesitation.
A person-sized Stellaron Containment Device appeared out of thin air. Seele paid no attention to this thing at all and turned to rush out of the room—
She had to find Ron.
The vast memory stirred up surging emotions—Seele could still vividly recall the day she watched Ron leave, and never saw him again after that.
Now that she had the chance to see him again, she had to meet him as quickly as possible.
And just as Seele was rushing towards the Goethe Grand Hotel...
Bronya was standing at the door of Ron's room, gently knocking.