Chapter 12: The Denied Identity

“Roots of the World Tree…?”

Min Chen put down his hands and smiled slightly.

“Yes, although it may sound a bit unclear, since you have already delved into the fantasy realm, with Miss Vilyric’s wisdom, you should be able to guess where it actually refers to.”

Not minding the young man’s seemingly inquisitive demeanor, the Priestess met his gaze with her crystal-clear silver-blue eyes, as if a glimmer of light flashed between them.

“The basic worlds—[Upper Dimension] and [Lower Dimension]?”

*Snap!*

The Gatekeeper snapped his fingers in appreciation and nodded in agreement.

“Exactly! That’s the place, but to be precise, it should be the elemental world, [Lower Dimension]. According to our discussions and research, if we truly compare the world to a tree, then [Lower Dimension] can be seen as its trunk and roots, while [Upper Dimension] is the place where the giant tree produces and gathers oxygen. Uh, oxygen might be something Miss Vilyric…”

“It’s okay, I understand.”

Stopping Min Chen from continuing his lengthy explanation, the Priestess suddenly said something astonishing.

“By the way, it seems I also have something like a panel.”

“Uh… Huh?”

The young man’s expression, which was about to elaborate confidently, instantly froze.

“Wait, wait, wait! Miss Vilyric, didn’t you say you didn’t encounter the World Will when you crossed over? And you definitely didn’t come from a game… Why do you have…?”

Understanding his bewilderment, the Priestess simply shook her head to indicate he should remain calm for now.

“Don’t rush. First, I truly haven’t seen the [World Will] you mentioned, and my journey to this world was just as I described before—suddenly being sent here. As for my panel, to be honest, while I do have it, it’s more like a basically discarded flower rack that can only display my attributes and sometimes check the time, it completely lacks the functionalities you mentioned like exchanging goods, equipment, or having various quests pop up.”

Honestly, Miss Vilyric had never quite understood what meaning this panel, which could only show her attributes and nothing else from games, had until she heard Min Chen’s description. She seemed to get it now.

Yes, it was a wasted flower rack.

This thing was likely a function that everyone got when they crossed over from a game, not something granted by the so-called World Will. But for some reason, it ended up abandoned in her case, like… the connection between the console and the individual user was abruptly severed.

Thinking of this, the Priestess decided not to be coy anymore, reaching into her spatial bag and pulling out a spirit artifact, the [Silent Mother Statue], which looked almost identical to the one Min Chen had placed on the table earlier.

“Look, this should be enough to prove we have some common ground, right?”

“…Silent Mother Statue, a game item…”

For the first time, a serious expression appeared on the face of the man called the Gatekeeper.

“Miss Vilyric, where did you get this item? What is your connection with the World Will…?”

The Black-haired Girl smiled slightly.

“What if I told you that the Sky Realm is deceiving you, and I am also a [Player]? Would that make it easier to understand?”

“A Player…?”

Min Chen blinked, then shook his head with self-deprecating laughter.

“Miss Vilyric, don’t joke with me. While I don’t know where you heard this information, you can’t possibly be a player.”

“Hehe, sorry, I was just about to apologize for my earlier concealment when you suddenly looked so serious and convinced, it caught me off guard.”

The young man spoke with a serious tone.

“The fact that you can easily crush Seal proves that your power must have reached or even far surpassed the divine realm. Moreover, divine beings definitely cannot travel back and forth between this world and the other world in their physical forms. This is information directly told to us by the World Will and has been verified through various sources.”

“Initially, I thought perhaps the Sky Realm was merely a neighboring plane attached to this world, like the fantasy realm, or you, as a chosen strong one, had some private agreement with the World Will… But to say you are a [Player]—that’s a bit insulting to my intelligence, don’t you think?”

“?”

Flustered by his fervent assertions, Miss Vilyric hurriedly tried to explain.

“Well, I really am a player, just like you all, bringing my game level into this world, though I might be a tad higher…”

“Pfft, hahahaha! Alright, alright, Miss Vilyric, let’s put an end to this bad joke.”

Upon hearing what he considered absurd, Min Chen couldn’t help but laugh, though he quickly returned to seriousness.

“Don’t tell me you think just because you’ve reached a high level in [Fantasy World], you crossed over with all your equipment, items, and personal attributes intact?”

“Miss Vilyric, while I don’t quite understand why you’d suddenly tell such an outrageous lie or how you learned about our past and what kind of agreement or cooperation you had with the World Will, what you’re saying is absolutely impossible. What do you think power is? Some values you can modify at will, like in a game?”

The young man raised his hand and knocked on the wooden table in front of him, producing a dull and real sound.

“This is a real world.”

“Even though we indeed come from a game, from [Fantasy World], it was with the World Will’s help that we reached our current states; every bit of power was forged through countless real battles and insights.”

“The World Will may bestow individual beings with powers beyond levels, but how could it fabricate an existence that has already reached the divine realm and possesses the power of laws, like you? If it were truly possible, why didn’t it directly grant us powers in the beginning? Why bother with us spending ten years to grow and become stronger?”

“If you say you possess such strength because of your high level in the game, then I must ask you, Miss Vilyric, where does this strength come from?”

“This…”

Miss Vilyric gradually fell silent.

While Min Chen’s doubts and rebuttals were somewhat unexpected, they were also reasonable. To be honest, if she were standing in his shoes rather than being the actual person involved, she might have the same questions.

In fact, the situation of Min Chen and a few other travelers was indeed vastly different from hers. From what he described, the former seemed to have arrived here around the time [Fantasy World] opened, and a full three hundred years had passed since then.

Moreover, the many discrepancies, like level limits and player-exclusive spatial bags, were also one of the reasons why Miss Vilyric hesitated to come clean, as she couldn’t even clearly articulate what was happening.

The girl quietly returned the statue to her bag.

“Forget it, forget it, let’s just pretend I didn’t say anything earlier. Continuing this discussion about that item probably won’t yield any conclusions anyway. And Min Chen, I’ve been meaning to ask: what about your companions now…?”

The Priestess’s earlier startling declaration seemed to have struck the Gatekeeper pretty hard, as it was evident he was firm in his words while still shaken in reality. After a while, Min Chen gradually collected himself and sighed, shaking his head.

“Our expedition in the fantasy realm was poorly prepared; we underestimated the enemy and faced a crushing defeat, resulting in two out of the five of us dead with no trace left, and Mofuman close to death. Hao Miao and I were also severely injured, and we could only escape with her in a desperate rush using the power of a spatial treasure.”

“After that, Hao Miao took Mofuman out of the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons to seek medical treatment while I stayed behind to recover. Initially, we had agreed to meet up again after some time, but for some reason, since then, both he and Mofuman have vanished without a trace, as if they had sunk into the ocean. I asked Tiyelu to deploy her subordinates to gather intelligence, but we got not a single lead.”

“I considered going out to find them myself, but during the final battle in the fantasy realm, we killed the only son of the Raging Flame Sovereign, causing him to become enraged and relentlessly attack the holy land for a long time. Tiyelu and he engaged in fierce battles multiple times, while I could only stay behind to assist her.”

“Three hundred years passed in a flash; times have changed, and now even if I wanted to find them, it would probably be difficult to trace their whereabouts.”

“…”

Afterward, the two travelers in the secret room fell into a long silence.

Finally, it was the Priestess who took out a thick book called [True解 of the Named Sword] and an ancient notebook written in the language of the Blue Star, placing them on the table with a slight twitch of her mouth.

“So, this means you truly are [Making Me Act All High and Mighty]… right?”

*Pfft!!!*

   

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