Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: God Speaks**

[You have voluntarily disconnected. Would you like to reconnect?]

"Thanks, but not for now~"

[Execute wake-up procedure?]

"Please do~"

[Acknowledged. Current time: January 2, 2049, 22:15. You will awaken in one minute.]

After leaving the game pod, Mo Tan spent about two minutes adjusting to the sudden onset of night. After all, when he logged off, the game was still bathed in sunlight. This experience was nothing unusual in this era of widespread mental simulation devices, yet each time it still brought him a hazy sense of unreality.

It felt like being caught in the gap between mind and reality—novel and intoxicating.

"Too bad time is precious~" Mo Tan quickly dispelled that wonderful sense of dissonance, sighing with some regret. "And since two days ago, the hours under the night sky have become even more valuable to me..."

He brewed himself a cup of coffee with sugar but no milk, but didn't immediately drink it. Instead, he set it on the table beside him, then walked to the soft sofa and flopped straight back onto it.

Closing his eyes, he began to think~

[Who am I? Do I truly exist?]

[I can control my actions, like gently lifting a finger like this...]

[But does this process truly exist in 'reality'?]

[Do my joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures stem from my 'true heart'?]

[And what does 'true heart' even mean? How can one prove their own existence?]

[Is all of life a predetermined script, or a pure product of chance and necessity without any standpoint?]

[Do I truly exist? Why am I me?]

[...]

This seemingly slightly chuunibyou train of thought wasn't Mo Tan suddenly losing his mind, but a subconscious process of self-hypnosis. This focused yet meaningless contemplation had only one purpose: to actively initiate a personality switch.

And this method was the only one he had found so far that guaranteed a sufficient success rate, while also causing no significant harm to himself.

Thought is wondrous, and humanity is wondrous. We often enter a strange state of 'transcendence' under certain circumstances, as if observing ourselves from a God's Perspective that no one knows where it is.

This is not an empty claim. At least some people (the one currently tapping away at the keyboard in front of the monitor) have had similar experiences. During a bout of insomnia and random thoughts, they conceived this bizarre attempt to 'question and deny their own existence.'

In short, it involves finding various pieces of evidence to prove one's own existence, like wanting to move a finger, then commanding oneself to perform the action of 'moving a finger,' and then questioning it from another angle—from action, thought, dimension, fate, all the way to existence.

And at some point in this process, a perplexing feeling descends, as if a film of water has been draped between oneself and the outside world. Thoughts and actions become isolated. Although one can still control their body, there is a brief delay...

A somewhat frightening, yet also very interesting state.

I call it 'Upper-level Thinking,' and in subsequent deliberate experiments, I successfully entered this state several more times. To be honest, the experience wasn't great—it felt as if I was isolating myself from everything around me, to the point where I couldn't even be sure of my own existence.

[Author's Note: This is based on my personal experience, and I don't know if it's universally applicable. Interested friends can give it a try, but please don't take it too seriously. It's possible that I might genuinely be mentally unwell, but you might not be.]

So, with the digression over, let's get back to the main topic.

After years of experimentation, Mo Tan discovered that this state he had stumbled upon could effectively help him with his 'Conversion.' Although the process consumed a significant amount, even an enormous amount, of energy, it remained his best option so far. Among these, he was most skilled at switching his personality to the [True Neutral] state.

After all, it was the most normal personality in daily life, with a relatively moderate (not mediocre) temperament—at least not as extreme as the other two—making the switch less troublesome...

So, after a moment, when Mo Tan emerged from that somewhat peculiar sensation, the chaotic, perpetually smiling gleam in his eyes had faded, replaced by a gentle demeanor tinged with a hint of laziness.

"Coffee..." He walked over to the cup of coffee on the corner of the table, hesitated for a moment, then took a small packet of instant sweet milk powder from the drawer and poured it in, remarking, "It's better with a bit of milk."

After downing the entire cup of coffee in one go, Mo Tan immediately felt much more alert. He stretched and then lay back down in the game pod, noted the current time, and logged into the game.

...

[Your mental connection has been detected. Synchronizing personal information...]

[Connection complete. Loading character data.]

[Welcome back, True Neutral Hei Fan. About to enter Innocent Realm. Good night.]

"Sure enough, no one noticed~" After regaining consciousness, Mo Tan found himself sitting on a bench along the central avenue of Layered Rock City. At this hour, there were quite a few passersby, yet no one had noticed a person suddenly appearing out of thin air. This made him sigh, "Is it the system messing with the NPCs' perception, or is my own presence just too faint?"

In reality, it was, of course, the system's influence...

Mo Tan thought this way only because he knew all too well how flamboyant or righteous he could be at certain times. But compared to others, [True Neutral] Hei Fan was still quite normal.

He stood up slowly, and after a full day, continued walking toward the church in the city (he had originally planned to go to the church before logging off yesterday). Strolling through the crowd of people with varying skin tones, professions, and even races, he felt quite at ease.

Though he had already experienced the bustling Anka Market and the vibrant, energetic Pato City, Mo Tan, now standing in Layered Rock City, felt no dissatisfaction with the relative quietness here. He could always easily blend into his surroundings, adapting to the rhythm like a local commoner no matter where he went. This wasn't some extraordinary talent—it was simply being content with wherever life placed him...

If you were to take Mo Tan's personality in moments like this and toss it into a story of transformation, he'd probably say, "This is delicious!" by his first meal in the village.

He's the neighbor who shares a smile with you when you step out for a morning stroll~

He's the bystander who, like you, can't stop laughing at a funny joke~

He enjoys the same things you do: playing games, reading manga, devouring novels, and disliking vegetables~

He feels guilt, fear, sympathy, pity, hesitates, and wavers~

He doesn't talk too much or too little, but when a topic catches his interest, he'll eagerly chat with you for hours~

He wouldn't put reflectors on his shoes or secretly take upskirt photos with his phone, but when he sees a pair of long, fair legs on the street, he can't help but sneak a few extra glances~

He's just that kind of guy—a dime a dozen in this era of population explosion, an unremarkable "ordinary person."

But, being smart enough, and simultaneously possessing two other personalities that constantly court trouble, no matter how "ordinary" he is, no matter how [True Neutral], his mediocrity could never be too dull.

Even if he were a fuel-efficient lamp, after dealing with so many messy things, his fuel consumption would inevitably skyrocket...

"Why didn't you log in today?"

"You can only play for 12 hours a day!"

"That Mana Emission Technique you mentioned is pretty useful, huh!"

"By the way, even if we don't need to assemble, you should at least show your face at the military camp~"

"Why does Yinna look at me so strangely? What did you say to her?"

...

Probably out of boredom, that female hacker with massive fuel consumption, unable to get a reply from "Tan Mo," had taken to sending him spam messages...

Mo Tan carefully crafted a reply to her, roughly saying things like, "I often work evenings, so my online time might be irregular. If you have plenty of time, feel free to level up and stuff, so you can carry me later"—the kind of content with no real substance.

Then he left an email address for Futaba, one with only average encryption. With Sun's skill level, a little investigation would likely reveal his true identity, further linking "Hei Fan" with "Mo Tan," making the other existence of "Black" and "Tan Mo" even safer~

As for the similarity between his real name and his in-game alias, in this era of massive population, it could almost entirely be chalked up to coincidence. Even if Futaba grew suspicious, it would only leave her more confused—what could she do about it?

Just as he finished replying to Futaba's message, before he even reached his destination, a message box popped up in the corner of his vision.

[Player: Chen Wangyu (True Neutral) has applied to add you as a friend]

He didn't need to recall to remember that this was the girl named Yu Chen from the gathering with Yi Dong—very introverted, seeming a bit shy around others.

Hmm, it seemed that back then everyone had said they'd add each other as friends later, but in the end, no one actually did. On one hand, 'Hei Fan' had a very low online rate; on the other hand, everyone was still fresh to the game in the early stages, probably too busy with many things to keep up. Even Yi Dong, after being stood up by Mo Tan, hadn't bothered him much since...

The game *Innocent Realm* truly had a unique charm.

"Hey~"

After confirming, Mo Tan casually sent a greeting through the mail system on the friend interface, and within moments, he received a reply.

"Hehe, finally caught you online O(∩_∩)O~ What are you up to, Mo Tan? I've added everyone as friends now!"

Mo Tan replied briefly as he walked, roughly saying that he'd been a bit busy lately and hadn't been online much, that he'd just joined a territorial guard in some territory in the game, and that a while ago, a priest in the city had tricked him out of 20 copper coins with a teaching book.

"Σ(⊙▽⊙! No way, the Saintess sister on my end told me the teaching book is free~ Mo Tan, did you get scammed?" Yu Chen replied swiftly again. Although sending messages through mental connection didn't require the hassle of typing, this speed was still a bit startling. The cheerfulness and vitality practically bursting from her words also surprised Mo Tan a little.

This girl had a bit of a contrast charm...

Although Mo Tan didn't like interacting too much with others in real life (afraid of sudden shifts in tone causing trouble), it was a different story in the game. After all, even if he suddenly split, at worst he'd just disconnect and switch characters—no scaring others or causing chaos. So he didn't mind chatting a bit more and replied, "That Saintess sister of yours is clearly part of the evil exploiting class. As a God's Favorite, you'll probably soon become part of the church's middle class, while the old man I met, a priest in a small place, is clearly in the church's lower class, and I'm the exploited class... So, spending money..."

"You make a good point, my condolences ORZ~" Yu Chen replied instantly.

By this time, Mo Tan had arrived in front of the church, so he let out a dry laugh, sent Yu Chen a dejected expression, and strode inside.

Now he wouldn't provoke any aversion from the clergy. After all, without the influence of the Unbeliever Talent, it wasn't easy to make these believers keep their distance at first sight...

Moreover, the character Hei Fan was a legitimate believer of the Dawn Goddess and a priest himself—the Dawn Church was practically his own home.

"Oh~ It's so great to see you, my child." Although there were many people in the church, the old priest who had first led him into the faith spotted Mo Tan immediately and greeted him with a beaming smile. "No matter where you are, never forget the goddess's grace."

Mo Tan nodded. "I've come to pray, and I also have a few things I'd like to discuss with you, Father~"

The other party nodded quite readily, though whether it had anything to do with how readily Mo Tan had pulled out his coins to buy the teaching book back then was anyone's guess...

Mo Tan then walked up to the statue of the goddess, closed his eyes piously, and clasped his hands together, hoping to quickly go through the motions and then find the priest to discuss skills. But unexpectedly...

[Do you wish to pray to the Dawn Goddess Paxie?]

???

So there really is such a feature in the game?

Well, might as well pray. It's not like trying will get me pregnant, and maybe there's even a benefit.

Mo Tan immediately selected "Confirm"...

The next moment, he felt as if he were immersed in a warm, boundless sea. The omnipresent light enveloped his entire body. In his originally pitch-black field of vision (because his eyes were closed), a hazy female silhouette appeared, gradually approaching him.

"I shall grant you my protection." the silhouette whispered softly. "May you spread my gospel, so that wherever your sight reaches, it may be filled with light and holy radiance."

I'll do my best...

Mo Tan thought to himself. This wasn't a lie, after all—he was now her believer, and spreading the goddess's gospel was part of his duty.

"Piety," the voice spoke again, "shall be rewarded."

[Your Intelligence +3, Constitution +3, Faith Points cap +10, Talent acquired: Piety]

This is pretty amazing!!

Mo Tan was overjoyed. Then the silhouette's voice rang out a third time...

"Temper your spirit and body, make your faith and yourself strong..."

And then?

"Then when you run into the believers of that madwoman Dilia, that brain-dead Saville's followers, that dead liar Izanar's believers, or any chaotic and evil heretics, give them a beating and crush them!!!"

"???"

Chapter 26: End