First Player

Chapter 1068 Chapter One Thousand and Sixty-six·"OE·Su Mingan 3030"

Black Magpie was silent.

 …Is that the only exception in the script of his life?

　　The life is clearly written, the destiny is clearly written. That was the only time he fought. Maybe Su Wensheng was busy with other things at that time and let Black Que escape from Jiuyou, so that Black Que, under the control of the skills of the person in power, gave him the only Sword of Destiny that could make a comeback. Su Mingan.

 …He is still being manipulated.

Even though he escaped from Jiuyou, he finally fell to Su Ming'an's master skills.

 Freedom never belongs to him.

 He suddenly wanted to laugh out loud, to laugh joyfully at this hopeless life. Su Mingan would not laugh so hoarsely, but "Black Magpie" finally wanted to laugh like this once, because he finally lived for himself for two or three seconds.

“…Are you sure you want to laugh, Black Magpie?” Su Wensheng said lightly. A panel appeared in front of him, full of numbers 0 and 1. As long as Hei Que showed behavior that was completely inconsistent with Su Ming'an, Hei Que would be obliterated as a mistake like those "Su Ming'an fragments".

Black Magpie raised his lips. He no longer wanted to live, so what if he smiled once?

However, Su Wensheng’s next sentence ended his smile.

"No, I should call you..." Su Wensheng touched his chin, tilting his head slightly, with a few strands of hair entangled on the petals, as if giving him a gentle kiss:

  “…Xiao Jingsan-3030.”

 In an instant, even Su Mingan's expression changed.

Black Magpie is the imitation of Su Mingan, the 3030th, so he should be "Su Mingan-3030", but why...

"You don't really think that you are a copy of Su Ming'an, do you?" Su Wensheng's voice was like a thunderbolt: "It's a pity that you are not. Don't you think there is a big difference between your personality and Su Ming'an? To tell you frankly, Jamel Xiao is the one The protagonist in the imitation plan, but he was influenced by Xiao Ying and defected. So we can only imitate a 'Xiao Jingsan' first, and then make adjustments later..."

 The truth fell instantly like a **** blade.

The black magpie took a step forward, and then another step.

His expression was completely blank, like a **** white paper with nothing on it, only emptiness, complete nothingness.

 Then he took another step forward.

It was only then that Su Mingan discovered that Xiao Jingsan was indeed more like himself than Black Magpie. Xiao Jingsan looks like Su Ming'an's clone, and many of his features and temperaments are very similar - the most obvious ones are Xiao Jingsan's face and voice.

At the beginning of the dungeon, Su Mingan discovered that Xiao Jingsan’s face was exactly the same as his own. Xiao Jingsan of Lou Yue Kingdom is the shadow double of the eldest prince. Even the characters are the same.

 …No wonder.

 No wonder Xiao Ying once praised Su Ming'an's face as "this is the most perfect face in the world", and later Hei Que also praised the same thing, saying "this is the most perfect face in the world".

—Because Black Magpie exists after imitating Xiao Jingsan.

 He is the "imitation" of "imitation".

"So... I don't even count you." Black Magpie looked at Su Mingan, his eyes like broken black gems.

 “…Then who am I?”

There was nothing left in his pupils, the corners of his lips were raised, his eyebrows were slightly drooped, and a bitter expression belonging to Su Ming'an was formed. This was an expression that Su Ming'an was accustomed to making.

As the fire burned, dazzling electric sparks shot out from the surveillance screen. The fire choked people and made them speechless. The smoke gradually spread out and filled the entire central control room.

The black magpie stands in the fire, as if it is about to be engulfed in flames.

 At this time, he took out a small object from his arms—a lighthouse sculpture. It was made of wood, and there were still unsmoothed knife marks on the surface, which he had carved out one by one at night.

 Then there were several pieces of piano music in his arms—he had written it himself. Sitting in front of the piano at night, he thought that one day he would be able to get the rightful owner to recognize him. He knew that Su Ming'an would definitely suffer something in the future, so he needed his imitation to replace his fate.

Su Mingan likes lighthouses, so he should like lighthouses.

Su Mingan likes to play horror games, so he wants to practice playing horror games.

Su Mingan is good at piano, so he must also be proficient in music theory.

 …How did "Su Mingan" construct and reshape him, and who did he become in the end? Three identical faces, who is the luckiest and who is the unluckiest?

“Everything I love about you also comes from the program and the script.” Black Que and Su Mingan were separated by the dark fog, and even Su Wensheng on the high platform could not see clearly. There was a similar look of despair on his face.

“It turns out there is no soul named Black Magpie in my brain.”

 “I’ve never been the protagonist.”

Su Mingan opened his mouth, but said nothing. No matter what he said, he was just looking down at the black magpie from the perspective of the protagonist. This is not Hei Que's fault. The plan was made thousands of years ago. The brainwashing was done by the gods. What drives Hei Que is Su Mingan's sense of responsibility, but what about himself?

 He just wants to be a black magpie.

So, through the thick black fog, Su Mingan heard the laughter of the black magpie in the steaming fire.

 It is laughter.

 Fanatical, fiery, flamboyant, and wanton, it definitely does not belong to Su Mingan and should belong to the wild laughter of the "Black Magpie".

 —He smiled. He smiled contrary to his "personality", this was the smile that killed him. But it was also the only time he laughed freely.

 Laughter exploded in the air like fireworks. Every short laugh is full of power, passionate and free, as if it can set off waves and shake mountains and rivers.

“…Want to come with me, Black Magpie?” Su Mingan asked. According to the advanced skills of the person in power, he can take away the black magpie with full favorability. Black Magpie has always been curious about the player, and now he gets what he wants.

Black Que's eyes seemed to light up. He received the system prompt, so his laughter became cheerful and his eyes stared at Su Mingan: "Of course I..."

 Spots of light surrounded him.

 —Of course he can go with Su Mingan.

At the same time, Su Wensheng pressed the button on the panel [Erase Xiao Jingsan-3030] and said calmly: "You can't just use skills like this, Su Mingan, have you forgotten the last situation of Praia? Black Magpie was not taken away. value."

 For a moment, Black Magpie's face appeared a little distorted. Broken light flooded around him, and his cheeks turned pale. He desperately resisted the obliteration at the soul level, and the thread of cause and effect wrapped around him. When the other end fell and was destroyed, this end would also fall with it.

His free laughter made him lose the value of survival, like a collapsed lighthouse. The system interface of [Become a Player] appeared in front of Black Magpie. He stared at it for a few seconds, the veins on his face tightened, and his whole body began to break. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to reach out towards the screen, towards [Agree] - but his finger suddenly moved away.

This action seemed to take a lot of determination on his part, so that his facial features were completely distorted at this moment.

 The copy acumen and sense of responsibility belonging to "Su Mingan" stopped him.

"You..." Su Mingan was a little confused, but he soon understood.

 …Black Magpie believes that the skills of the person in power are more important than his life. Su Wensheng's words indicate that this skill will be useful in the later stage and will probably kill Su Ming'an.

Just like Su Mingan once believed that the importance of "the five career points of the clone" is higher than one's own life.

 But a place like this doesn’t have to look like this. "Making a choice turns out to be so easy." said the black magpie in the flames. He looked at the system panel close at hand, then raised his head, and his perspective stopped, focusing firmly on Su Mingan.

It seemed as if everything in the world ceased to exist, except for Su Ming'an in front of me.

Su Mingan looked in the mirror.

 In the mirror is his “3030”.

 He saw a bright spot in the dark field of vision, like a star in the silent night. They gather together the black magpie's body of 176 centimeters and 60 kilograms. He stared at Su Mingan for three seconds, then lowered his head and kissed the piano score in his hand, until the black notes were stained with the scorch marks of the fire, blooming in the golden-red flames like a burning rose.

He held the lighthouse sculpture, his expression became ferocious, as if he wanted to smash it severely, and then he kissed it tenderly. This sense of confusion is disorienting.

 The figure was hidden in the gray, like a tall tower covered with dust.

Su Mingan took a step forward, but Black Magpie took a step back, as if he didn't want to get close to him.

 Of course, who would want to get close to a person who has replaced his life, even if the fault is not with Su Ming'an. Su Mingan felt that Hei Que thought so, and Hei Que must hate him.

 But Black Magpie said.

“If you see a person named Black Magpie again.”

“Please don’t call him Xiao Jingsan-3031.”

"Call him black magpie, white magpie, colorful magpie, whatever you want will do. Or you can call him a 'shadow'. After all, he exists in imitation of the shadow. He would rather replace the shadow than be a certain number."

“He has always liked this world. This person is very much like a shadow. He actually wants to be recognized by you all the time.”

 A shadow cast on Su Mingan’s cheek.

 He used to hate Black Magpie talking to himself and was annoyed by Black Magpie's morbid obsession with him. But now he found—

"Why?" Su Mingan was confused as to why Black Magpie didn't seem to hate him at all.

“…” Black Magpie paused: “…It’s hard for someone not to like you. If they really understand you. If they really…understand you almost 100%.”

The figure is like a sand castle, collapsing inch by inch.

 “So, ontology. If you meet again...a fool like me.”

 “Stop…sympathizing with him. Stop…giving him hope.”

 In the choking smoke, the last sound that was exactly the same as Su Mingan's was lost. For a moment, the smoke and dust dissipated briefly, and Su Ming'an saw Black Magpie's eyes, and finally there were emotions completely different from Su Ming'an's in those eyes.

　That is, the loneliness until death.

But the moment their eyes met for the last time, Hei Que was stunned for half a second, and then his eyes slanted down, and he pretended to smile evilly. The smile was exactly the same as the shadow, as if he wanted to leave the last impression on Su Ming'an. Maybe he wanted to be different from the shadow and leave behind the part that belonged to the "black magpie", but his smile still moved closer to the shadow uncontrollably.

 In the end, he had nothing left for Su Mingan.

 The incomplete musical score blew to Su Mingan's side, and he saw densely packed black notes, like pitch-black magpies. They danced between the staffs like a cage. Some raised their black tails and pointed high outside the lines. Some turned into a black dot and stood quietly among the staffs. Some finally jumped out of the staffs and played extremely loudly outside the lines. The high notes and extremely low notes are like pitch black magpies singing loudly.

 Their eyes are similar, their lips are similar, and even their body structures, voices, and ideals are similar.

 Perhaps the final choice will be similar.

Jealousy and sorrow, longing and love once exploded like fireworks in those eyes, and then suddenly disappeared.

—The black magpie is only the 3,030th such bird.

 No one saw the pain, struggle, love and hate of the 3,029 "black magpies" before.

 …

  【…Su Ming’an-3030 met the real Su Ming’an, I call him ‘ontology’. His uprightness made me feel like mud in a corner. He reminds me of moonlight, waves, lighthouses and cats. 】

  【What should I do so that the ‘body’ can identify with me. I let him stab me... Will this make it easier for him? 】

　　　【Later I asked him what he thought, and he said that 'destiny' is 'free death'. 】

　　　　　　　　——What is it? My death was never free. 】

　　【These days, I often hear unspeakable sounds, joy, praise, curses, and fear from human beings. I hate all the ugly things in the world, and I always peek in the hive. However, an invisible hand directed my vision out the window. I saw the free birds singing loudly in the cage of the staff, as if they were chirping at me, so I walked forward, lay down by the window, and answered their call. 】

I don’t know what is outside the staff, whether it is nothingness like a blank sheet of paper, or more staffs. 】

  【I don't understand such a thing. 】

　　—But the moment I jumped out of the window, I saw moonlight, a lighthouse, and a cat growing out of me. 】

 …

The light dispersed, and the figure in the fire disappeared, leaving only a few burnt bones and a few black hairs scattered on the ground, like the feathers of a magpie.

 【NPC (Black Magpie) Ending Progress: 100%】

 【You have reached the (Black Magpie) character ending: OE·"Su Mingan 3030"】

  【"What is...out the window?"】

 …

Su Mingan walked forward.

At his feet is an unfinished wooden sculpture of a lighthouse. The incomplete music score has turned into ashes. No one knows what kind of notes the black magpie once wrote.

 Except for Su Mingan, no one would have a deep impression of this "shadow" person. Because he did not choose to become a player, he will soon be forgotten by the fickle audience.

 “…Su Wensheng.”

Su Wensheng looked back.

 “…Boom.” Su Mingan said softly.

Su Wensheng was startled.

There was a sudden violent sound on the roof.

The fire, whose temperature was much higher than that in the room, suddenly penetrated him, and a flaming sword instantly pierced him.

 (End of this chapter)