Even goblins are dangerous in this other world!

Page 327

So, what is your choice?

She walked to the door, touched the carved inscriptions on it, and slowly said:

"Behind this door lies all your past memories. As you wish, you can choose to accept them or not. If you choose not to accept them, I have something else to give you that will also let you understand everything."

"The choice is in your own hands."

Luo Xiu looked at the key in his hand, remained silent for a few seconds, and then slowly spoke:

"Before making a choice, I'd like to hear what you know, Miss Nika."

"About me."

"it is good."

Nika let go of the door and sat down with her back against it.

"I don't know much about you, Master [The Guide], so let me start from when we met."

"Back then, I was just like when I met you in this life—an ordinary little girl."

"The things I've told you about my life are the things I experienced back then."

“Back then, Kanriel still had jungles and flowers. I found a ‘tree’ in the jungle, and he gave me a bellflower pendant that Kanriel didn’t have. I sent him to the city to study.”

"He promised to take me to the city, but he never came back."

"I met you when I was heartbroken and studied under you for a long time. You were already very capable back then, as if you knew everything and could solve any problem."

"That's why I insisted on staying by your side. If it were you, you would definitely have a way to find the 'tree'."

"For this reason, I followed you, crossing mountains, swamps, and jungles, to one new city after another. My talent is poor, and my rank has never been high, so even though the students you teach can easily keep up with you, it is quite difficult for me."

"You seem to have taken a liking to my persistent spirit and told me that as long as I study by your side for twenty years and persevere, you will agree to help me find the 'tree'."

"I agreed."

"This study has lasted for 20 years."

At this point, Nika smiled at Luo Xiu:

"I never imagined that 20 years would be such a short time for me. Now, it has been 673 years since I started waiting for you."

"Twenty years have passed, and you finally granted my request. But you told me that 'Tree' had actually passed away twenty years ago. However, 'Tree' was not human. For his race, death meant rebirth. And if I wanted to, I would wear this white dress."

“In that case, I will also be able to enter the cycle of life. When my life ends, I will be reborn again, and when I meet you again, you will lead me to the tree.”

"But this dress has a drawback: it cannot retain every memory, nor will it come into this world with you. Only when you are reborn will it come to you in a special way and gradually awaken your memories."

"You reminded me that this white dress was made by a great being. Although it can help the wearer escape death, it cannot help them escape fate. This is the great and unique aspect of fate: you can only accept it, but it is difficult to change it. So if you want to break free from the shackles of fate, you must pay a great price."

“I am very happy with your help, and all I need to do is simple: when I see you next time, I will tell you everything I know.”

"So at the time, I naturally thought it was just a matter of waiting for a few more decades, as long as I could meet you in the next life."

"What I didn't expect was that this wait would last for more than six hundred years."

“Every time my memory fully returns, this dress leads me slowly toward death, which also prevents me from meeting you.”

"I never knew that it could be so difficult for two people to meet."

Nika spoke calmly, as if those six hundred years were but a fleeting moment.

But Luo Xiu understood that waiting for more than six hundred years would be enough to drive any ordinary girl crazy, not to mention that these six hundred years were a constant tearing open of the girl's wounds.

Nika seemed to see through Luo Xiu's thoughts and gave him a comforting smile:

"Please don't feel sorry for me, sir, this is my own choice."

“During this time, I had countless opportunities to take off this dress. As long as I died after taking it off, I could escape this endless cycle of reincarnation. As long as I let go of my obsession with finding the tree, I could become that ordinary girl again, step into marriage, and live my ordinary life.”

"It's my own fault for not being able to let go."

"As I lay dying, I kept thinking, perhaps I can meet you in the next life."

She hugged her legs, rested her head on her knees, and turned her head to smile at Luo Xiu with a relieved expression:

"[Interpreter] My lord, you probably never imagined that little girl from back then would wait for you for over six hundred years."

"What I want to know is, for the past six hundred years, have you deliberately avoided seeing me?"

“Every time I recall the memories of that time and try to find you with the last bit of time I have left, I always just miss you. After all, I am just an ordinary girl in every life, and you, as the ‘Guide,’ have a thousand ways to avoid seeing me.”

Luo Xiu fell silent; in fact, he didn't need to answer that question.

Before receiving all the memories, he was not the omnipotent "Guide," nor did he know what he was thinking at the time.

But in the end, he shook his head:

"I think I didn't mean to avoid seeing you; I just accidentally forgot about you."

Yes, his memories of Nika were likely sealed and inaccessible until he reached the sixth rank.

Previously, as the [Guide], he had never reached the sixth rank.

Just as he had deduced from reading Selena's diary, the [Guide]'s cultivation level was very weak.

The "introducer" at that time mainly focused on cultivating students, which is completely different from him now.

"Really? That's good."

After receiving Luo Xiu's answer, Nika seemed to have a knot in her heart untied, and she smiled:

"[Interviewer] My lord, although I am not very talented and am not very smart, and cannot compare with your students, more than six hundred years have allowed me to understand many things."

“You must be doing something very important to need to put in so much effort.”

"Compared to everything you have done for Dorrant over the past six hundred years, my six hundred years of waiting is nothing."

Luo Xiu fell silent again.

A figure with his back to him appeared in his mind. That figure had been plotting for the liberation of a nation for nearly a thousand years, and had made countless efforts and trips for it. Nika was one of the key players in this plan.

And how many people like Nika have there been in this past thousand years?

That figure merely laid down a move casually, but for Nika, it felt like over six hundred years.

This move may never be needed, just like Selena's.

She died with regrets and her own secrets before Luo Xiu even appeared.

Will the white dress she's wearing carry her into the next cycle of reincarnation, to fulfill her deepest desire? He doesn't know.

But he knew that he couldn't do these things now.

He couldn't bring himself to block out his memories, leaving Nika in endless agony.

This sense of disconnect made him even more doubtful about whether he was truly the "Guide".

It's hard to judge; a thousand years is enough time to change everything.

This isn't about right or wrong, but about personal choices.

Perhaps he wasn't qualified to comment. Without this cheat code, he might have ended up on the same path as the [Leader].

So... where did this cheat code come from? Why didn't I have it when I was the [Guide]?

What exactly happened during those thousand years?

Chapter 257 A Dialogue with Oneself 2

In the deep darkness, a giant gate stood, its intricate runes swirling with dark purple light, occasionally illuminating Luo Xiu leaning against the gate and Nika with her back against it.

"Wow---"

The sound of crashing waves came from the other side of the door. It's hard to imagine how vast a person's memories must be to converge into an ocean.

Luo Xiu is now very curious about where his cheat ability came from. Judging from what he has seen and heard these past few days, the previous [Guide] did not have this ability, but it just happened to appear in his case.

Similarly, the previous "guides" were able to retain their memories, but all of his memories were sealed.

He wanted to know what had happened over the past thousand years, but Nika's story was already over.

In her more than six hundred years of memory, there were very few things about the "Guide".

That's precisely what makes this whole thing ridiculous.

Her more than six hundred years of waiting had only served as a transfer. Luo Xiu turned his head to look at her and found that Nika was also looking at him. Their eyes met, and Luo Xiu did not see any sadness in her eyes. They were as clear as a lake under the sun.

She gave Luo Xiu a smile, and the lake water seemed to shimmer like scattered gold under the gentle breeze.

In Luo Xiu's mind, it seemed as if some remnants of memories that had been erased from back then were reappearing. He seemed to suddenly understand what he was thinking back then and why he had sealed his memories.

When a person is still human at heart, no matter who they are, they will become unlike themselves after a thousand years of time.

Perhaps this didn't require much foreshadowing or sophisticated planning; back then, I simply wanted to return to the beginning.

"[Interviewer] My lord, have you made up your mind?"

Nika spoke softly, not to urge Luo Xiu, but to remind him that, in her subconscious mind, she would soon be taken into the next cycle of reincarnation by the white dress, and she was worried that she would not be able to complete the task that Luo Xiu had entrusted to her: "As I said before, even if you do not choose the previous memories, you can still understand everything in another way."

Luo Xiu took a deep breath.

Yes, he has to make a choice.

In fact, this choice is not difficult to make.

"I choose another way."

Luo Xiu spoke softly.

With the memories he currently retains, he is unwilling to directly restore the past through memory implantation, as that would make him feel like he has become a different person.

Even if the so-called other person is actually your past self.

This is also the drawback of this method. The original "introducer" who used this method to seal memories should have taken this into consideration. No one would want to suddenly become "another person".

Therefore, he believed that since the "introducer" had given him a choice, the other way must be the one he wanted him to choose.

The past self must believe that the present self can see this; only in this way can the loop be completed.

"it is good."

Nika smiled slightly, a faint light emanating from her palm, and extended it towards Luo Xiu:

"[Interviewer] Sir, you should know what to do."