Time flows back to the present, one day later.
The setting sun was like fire. Everyone stared blankly at the snow that was clearly stained with blood.
At that moment, Zenith and Paul's expressions suddenly changed. They both grabbed the shovels beside them and began to dig furiously. Paul's Touki was already depleted, and he was now driving himself almost entirely on physical strength.
Shovel after shovel, the snow in the valley was dug out, and patch after patch of crimson snow was exposed to everyone's sight.
Everyone stared blankly at this scene, their expressions changing in unison.
When people see blood, they subconsciously think of death.
This was why everyone's faces had been so pale just now.
But on second thought...
With so much viscous blood, how many people would have to die?
People?
Were there people in the valley?
Yes.
Only two victims.
But how could there be so much blood?
Then...
Where did the blood come from?
And why was there so much of it??
Who was it that died?!
And who killed them?!
How long would it take to figure out the answer??
In the next instant, a fiery passion ignited in everyone's eyes! They all grabbed their shovels and began to dig with all their might!
One shovel of snow.
One shovel of blood!
Finally, the blood broke through a hole, and real blood shot out from it like a fountain, splattering all over everyone's faces.
Paul's eyes lit up, and he was about to continue digging when a chain reaction started.
The pressure became unbalanced, and more of the dark snow collapsed.
With a rumbling sound, the last thin wall of snow in front of them completely disintegrated and collapsed.
At this moment.
Although they were in the mountains, everyone present heard the sound of the 'sea.'
It was the tide, the waves.
It was a wave of blood!
Sweeping in from the newly opened fissure in the valley!!
In an instant, accompanied by an almost tangible, thick stench of blood, the wave submerged everyone's knees.
No one paid attention to their feet. Their gazes were all fixed on the inside of the valley.
The evening glow swept in from the mountain stream, illuminating the sea of blood in the valley.
A blood-red line floated on the surface of the sea under the evening glow, extending into the valley, as far as the eye could see.
Countless monster corpses floated on the ocean, rising and falling with the cold winter wind.
In the sea of corpses, a blood-red back faced everyone, standing tall in the sea of blood.
The waves lapped at his knees, and ripples spread out from his body as the axis.
The evening glow fell on the red sea, and the waves churned and glistened.
The silhouette of a man.
Resplendent and magnificent.
Could such a tangible image of death be so beautiful?
Everyone was silent. No one stepped forward.
But even so, the collapsing snow still disturbed the person.
The person in the sea turned around and looked at everyone.
The evening glow outlined his figure, obscuring his face.
But his voice was as lazy as ever, drifting to everyone's ears on the waves of the sea of blood.
The voice was soft and distant.
Yet it was 'loud' enough!
He said.
"Next year."
"There won't be another monster tide."
Paul stared straight at Allen, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.
The shovel in Zenith's hand fell into the wave of blood. She stared blankly at this scene, listening to the familiar voice. She first smiled, but then her lips could no longer hold the smile.
She finally covered her face.
Tears seeped through her fingers, drop by drop, creating ripples in front of her knees.
Lilia patted her shoulder, laughing and crying.
Rudeus, however, stared straight at Allen, muttering to himself in a voice only he could hear.
"Saved, saved, Allen, Sylphie... are saved..."
"I'm saved..."
Roles looked beside Allen—Sylphie was floating on a piece of ice clearly made with magic. The evening glow shone on Sylphie's hair, dyeing it crimson.
She smiled and waved at everyone at the valley entrance.
"We're fine Sorry to make everyone worry! We were just thinking of a way out after the monsters were eliminated, and then you all came"
Her deliberately lowered voice calmed the villagers who were about to cheer. If they shouted, who knew if there would be a second avalanche?
So everyone fell silent, just jumping up and down in the sea of blood to express their excitement.
But some were already running through the sea of blood!
Rudeus! Zenith! Paul! Lilia!
Figure after figure waded through the sea of blood and, to Allen's surprise, embraced him tightly!
Embrace after embrace came, making Allen's thoughts feel like they were floating in the air, then falling from the clouds.
One embrace stacked upon another, warm and fervent.
Zenith's tears fell continuously on Allen's face.
The latter had a dazed expression. He felt his throat was a little dry. The explanation of the current situation that he had prepared on the tip of his tongue, he couldn't get a single word out.
At this moment, whether the monsters were completely wiped out, whether there would be another monster tide next year, and other such urgent matters that needed to be explained.
No one seemed to care.
So what did they care about?
The warmth of the embrace had already given the answer.
The emotions that had been interrupted by the swarming monsters the night before, unable to brew, now surged from a tiny ripple in Allen's heart into a huge wave.
As the wave of emotion rolled, fragments of memories flashed through his mind like a tide.
The dejected expressions of Paul and Zenith after returning from their revenge;
Zenith's pregnancy, her careful conversations with Rudeus to not make Allen feel like an outsider;
The night of the affair, everyone hugging him and crying, their tearful thanks;
The gifts on his birthday, the carefully prepared performances;
The cutlery laid out in advance in the morning, the goodnights before leaving the living room at night.
Too many memories, too many suppressed emotions.
How could they ever be counted??
A panicked inquiry from his side pulled him out of his frozen thoughts.
He subconsciously turned his eyes and looked to his side.
Sylphie's different hair color had been discovered, and she was now stammering an explanation. But the moment Allen's gaze fell on her, she became aware of it and turned to look at Allen from her mother's embrace.
The two looked at each other.
Her white hair flew in the air, burning like fire in the evening glow.
Allen looked at Sylphie's already white hair. Complicated thoughts flashed through his mind, constantly tugging at his heartstrings.
He was silent for a moment, then slowly withdrew his hands from the embrace of his 'family.'
He opened his arms.
And returned the embrace.
Amidst Zenith's increasingly distressed cries, Allen's voice was not clear.
But Sylphie beside him heard it clearly.
This time, there were no cunning pretty words, no manipulative inducement, and no currying favor to gain points.
Just two simple words.
"Thank you."
The voice shattered in the wind, turning into invisible dust.
[When the gap between hearts is filled, that is the distance of family.]
[You have become a 'family' member of the Paul family.]
[Childhood participation increased.]
[Current Stage: Childhood. Cumulative Participation Score: 100 points. Reward distributed. Positioning system activated.]
[Evaluation: If the 'chasm' was only one step away, it means you were already on that path. Why would this last step need a special reminder?!]
[Allen, this is the meaning of transmigration.]
[This is your very own Jobless Reincarnation journey!!]
[Congratulations, Host. Childhood period, perfect score cleared.]
The setting sun was like blood, spilling over the red sea.
But Allen couldn't smell the slightest hint of blood.
Night.
Because they were covered in so much blood, it took everyone over two hours to take turns showering. By the time they had dinner, it was almost ten o'clock.
Paul was drunk.
The only real man who hadn't cried today was hugging Allen, with snot and tears all over his face.
It really dumbfounded Allen.
The most ridiculous thing was that this time, no one saved him. Everyone was watching this scene with a smile.
Even Rudeus had a look of loving affection on his face, watching Paul with a hint of helplessness.
It made Allen's face twitch.
No?! Who the hell is your dad? And whose dad are you??
In the end, Allen finally escaped from Brother Paul's desperate entanglement.
Why? Because Brother Paul was too tired. He cried and cried until he collapsed into a puddle of mush in Allen's arms.
And then fell asleep??
What the hell!
After carrying Paul back to the bedroom in a princess carry, Allen returned to his room under the gentle gazes of Zenith and Lilia in the hallway.
The door closed, and the two's gentle reminders came from outside.
"Allen must be tired, go to sleep now~"
"You don't have to wake up early tomorrow~ Please sleep well, I'll leave some breakfast for you."
"Okay~"
The footsteps gradually faded away. Allen emerged from the darkness.
His figure passed through the darkness and came to the desk.
He lit the candle.
Opened the drawer.
Pulled out the crumpled letter.
And held it directly over the candle flame.
The words turned into black smoke. The dense, fly-like characters curled in the flames and were gradually annihilated.
The 'future vision' words burned to dust in his pupils, trembling and leaping, turning into the system panel that appeared.
[How does it feel?]
Under the candlelight, Allen smiled freely.
"To hell with future vision."
...
It was not snowing outside the window.
Because spring.
Was about to arrive!
Give me votes.
Just kidding.
These two chapters were extremely difficult to write. I chose two different pacing styles. Wrote four versions.
In terms of pacing:
One was fast, satisfying, and direct, like a power-leveling爽文, pushing the story directly to its climax. Clean and crisp.
The other was a progressive emotional approach, laying the groundwork for the emotions, then building them up layer by layer, and finally, through a "choice," igniting the fire completely.
Before 12 o'clock, I chose the former.
After 12 o'clock, I changed my mind and decided to bring back the latter's draft and release it as the final version.
As expected, I personally prefer the progressive emotional approach.
So tired, so tired, writing web novels is really hard.
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