chsdbacks Chapter 317 "The Handsome Researcher: According to unofficial historical records..."
Chapter 317 "The Handsome Researcher: According to unofficial historical records..."
Chapter 317 "The Handsome Researcher: According to unofficial historical records..."
Qi Shu carefully examined the three emblems, and his indecisiveness began to kick in.
The emblem of time, with its flowing lines, seems to contain endless cycles and rhythms.
The spatial emblems, with their intricate structure, evoke a sense of profound and boundless vastness.
The emblem of antimatter is the most peculiar, with its distorted and abstract patterns constantly absorbing the surrounding light, exuding an aura of mystery.
The three emblems represent three legendary Pokémon whose names she had just learned. Before this, she knew nothing about them and had no way of choosing them based on her preferences.
Choose according to "preferred"?
That's what the handsome researcher suggested.
Qi Shu's adorable brows furrowed slightly as he began to ponder seriously.
Time? Space?
No, no—although these two concepts are impressive, they just feel a bit too "ordinary"?
Similar settings have been seen in many science fiction works.
Compared to "time" and "space," these two relatively "common" basic concepts of the universe.
Instead, she developed an intense interest in the "antimatter world," which was full of illusion and the unknown, and its controller, Giratina.
"It's decided!"
Qi Shu's eyes narrowed, and he made his choice.
"I'll choose this one! The Antimatter Emblem, Giratina!"
She controlled the little strange tree, taking firm steps to the dark emblem representing antimatter at the very front of the triangular stage, and stood firmly.
"Handsome Researcher: Oh? You've chosen to be opposite to time and space, to govern the opposite and balance, and to reside in the Giratina of the Reversed World?"
"Um!"
With boundless anticipation, Qi Shu pressed the interaction button with all his might.
In an instant.
The obscure patterns on the six ancient stone pillars within the ruins suddenly burst forth with dazzling brilliance!
Countless self-aware characters peeled off the surface of the stone pillar, swirled up, and transformed into shimmering unknown totems in the air!
Like a swarm of bees returning to their nest, they frantically gathered around the central altar!
Above the altar, the majestic phantom of Arceus emitted a deep, resonant hum that seemed to pierce through time and space.
Centered on it, an invisible ripple instantly spread out, sweeping across the entire snow-capped mountain and engulfing the heavens and earth!
The live stream screen flickered violently, then was swallowed up by endless noise, turning into pure white, and then suddenly went black, falling into absolute silence.
The background music, ambient sound effects, and even the lively sounds of the strange tree all disappeared.
All was silent, save for the strange tree's own barely audible breathing.
The deathly silence lasted as if a century had passed, yet it also seemed to last only a moment.
boom-
An indescribable explosion ripped through the silence!
In the center of the dark scene, a void of black hole that devours all light suddenly appears!
Accompanying this is an ethereal, eerie, and incredibly grand background sound effect!
Immediately afterwards, an extremely bright white light, too dazzling to look at, emanated from the center of the black hole!
A white hole has been created!
Arceus's ethereal and divine figure emerged serenely from the white hole.
Its image quickly changed from blurry to clear and solid.
The image finally freezes and zooms in, focusing on its pair of scarlet pupils that seem to contain countless stars yet are cold and indifferent!
The images began to flash and switch rapidly, with montage techniques being used to their fullest extent.
Stars, starry sky, galaxies, universe, nothingness, white hole, black hole, triangle, circle, overlap, intersection —
Ultimately, all these images collapsed and merged to form the mysterious and ritualistic ground pattern of the Three Illusions Stage.
Arceus stood in the center of the altar, like a creator, indifferently looking down upon the beings below.
Dense and rhythmic drumbeats are subtly added to the background music, accompanied by rapidly changing abstract images, gradually pushing the atmosphere to its climax!
The background imagery shifts rapidly once again, becoming more "realistic" and closer to the world as we perceive it.
Forest, beach, plain, sky, building, transportation, machinery, track, book, circuit, dawn, dusk, night, glacier, atmosphere, cell —
Until all the "fragments of imagery" that make up the world flash by like a revolving lantern, the scene suddenly zooms in again.
It locked onto Arceus's crimson eyes, which seemed to see through the beginning and end of time.
Then, the screen began to shrink rapidly!
The perspective rapidly shifts, moving away from the pupil, away from Arceus, away from the altar, away from the planet, away from the galaxy.
Until the entire universe is reduced to a single point of light in the background, ultimately returning to endless nothingness.
In this absolute nothingness, matter and rules began to spontaneously swirl and coalesce, eventually transforming into a flawless egg.
All sounds are silent.
"Click—"
A crisp, cracking sound struck the hearts of all the viewers watching the live stream!
In the last frame before the image disappeared, a tiny crack quietly appeared on the surface of the void egg that symbolized "the beginning".
All the urgent background strings suddenly stopped at this moment.
When the screen lit up again, the perspective had completely changed.
The perspective shifts from an omniscient and omnipotent "God's-eye view" to an immersive first-person perspective!
"You" are suspended in a chaotic, undeveloped void.
Opposite him, Arceus stood silently, devoid of joy or sorrow, with two precious stones, each radiating a different primal light, quietly following him.
The perspective represented by "you" subtly forms a peculiar triangular confrontation with the two precious stones, as if—
You yourself have also transformed into the third indispensable gem.
Arceus raised his foreleg and gently touched the void.
next moment.
The world, from 0 to 1, appeared out of thin air in an instant!
Mountains, rivers, vegetation, light and shadow —
Everything is being generated and spreading at a rapid pace!
However, before "you" can even take a good look at this perfectly reborn world!
A wave of dizziness washed over me!
When they "came to their senses" again, the perfect world they had just seen had already shattered and disintegrated!
Everything transforms into countless colorful and irregularly shaped floating blocks, like scrambled puzzle pieces, drifting, colliding, and intertwining wildly in a space devoid of any logic.
Chaos and disorder have become the only rules and themes here.
At the edge of this extremely chaotic scene, in a shadow that is easily overlooked, the phantom of a giant dragon, entirely dark in color, is quietly swimming.
Its cold, vertical pupils gazed silently at this newly born world and Arceus at its center.
Thus, the world was born.
The screen flashed suddenly, like switching channels, instantly returning to the "present moment".
The snow-capped mountain peaks remain, as do the ancient and dilapidated ruins of the capital, and the cold stone altar remains.
The handsome researcher, with his usual enigmatic smile, stood quietly in front of Xiao Qishu, looking at her.
The only difference from before was the altar's light, the surrounding unknown totems, and the phantom of Arceus—
All the strange phenomena have vanished without a trace.
Only the snowflakes, falling more and more fiercely from the sky, drifted down silently.
The entire ruin, along with the miracle it had just displayed, was buried under a vast, thick blanket of white snow, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Unlock Achievement: The Beginning of Creation"
"I once climbed to the summit of a snow-capped mountain and was fortunate enough to glimpse the beginning of creation —"
""
Qi Shu was sitting blankly in front of the live streaming equipment, his eyes wide open and his mouth slightly agape.
Her hands were still unconsciously resting on the picture book, and she had completely forgotten to breathe.
Her brain's CPU was already overloaded.
The vast images I had witnessed in those few dozen seconds kept flashing through my mind as I tried to comprehend the terrifying amount of information they contained.
Even the pair of usually lively Magnemite headbands on her head had lost their energy and were now showing circles of confusion.
It has entered an adorable standby mode.
A long silence filled the live stream room.
Finally, after a long delay, the first trembling comment finally managed to float across the screen.
"What did I just see?"
Then came the second and third points —
The emotions of doubt, shock, and frenzy surged like a burst dam, instantly transforming into a massive flood of comments that were impossible to keep up with!
"Holy crap!!!! Was that CG?! It was CG, right?! It must be movie-quality CG?!"
"Creation?! I saw creation?! Arceus really created the world in the game?!"
"That perspective switch! First-person view of creation! I was completely immersed, I almost knelt down in front of the screen!"
"What was that last dark shadow?! Another new legendary Pokémon?! Is it spying on Arceus?! That's terrifying!"
"The amount of information is overwhelming, my brain is trembling—"
"Is this really HeartGold/SoulSilver? A game? The depth of its content is comparable to a mythological epic!"
"Salted Fish Teacher!!! Just how many things did you hide in the game?!"
"It's decided! To forge a bond with Arceus, the creator god, and become the ruler of the world—that will be my sole goal for the rest of my life!"
Perhaps because they had waited too long, the little strange tree remained motionless, just like an exquisite figurine.
The handsome researcher in the picture sighed helplessly, walked forward, and patted Xiao Qishu on the shoulder.
"Handsome Researcher: Wake up, it's time to snap out of it. The snow is so heavy, you'll catch a cold if you don't go back soon."
"Handsome Researcher: I really don't understand you young people—Arceus just created a world, what's so interesting about that?"
"Handsome Researcher: That guy's personality is both awkward and troublesome, inexplicably arrogant and inexplicably wicked—just observe from afar, and never get too close to him."
"Ah—it was just a dream—"
Qi Shu seemed to have been pulled out of deep water, and he gasped for breath, muttering unconsciously with a look of relief on his face.
But the next second, that sense of relief froze completely, turning into even more intense chaos!
"No, no, no, no, that's not right! What?! What just happened?!"
"The birth of the world?! A replay of the creation process?! Is this for real?"
"This must be a pre-rendered, super long CG animation, right?! Just like the opening sequence of those top-tier sci-fi movies, right?!"
""
As a player who personally controlled and deeply immersed herself in the game, the impact she experienced was far greater than that of ordinary viewers in the live stream.
Even now, she remains bewildered and tries to use reason to deconstruct that overly real experience.
"This must be fake!"
"That's superb game presentation skills!"
Although Qishu denied everything he saw, a faint voice screamed from the deepest part of his heart.
What if it's true?
What if it's not just a "game setting," but a "real" representation?
I can't tell the difference!
I really can't tell the difference!
Seeing that the little strange tree in the game finally made a move, the handsome researcher also stopped his idle chatter.
He gently placed his hand on the little tree's shoulder, and a soft light flashed by.
As the light faded, the two had already left the icy, snowy ruins of the capital and returned to the sunlit entrance to the ruins of Aluf.
The warm sunlight shone on me, a stark contrast to the previous bleak and cold weather, as if I had stepped into another world.
"Handsome Researcher: Just treat creating worlds as an interesting background story, don't get too obsessed with it."
"Handsome Researcher: As for Arceus himself, there are so many legends and anecdotes about him that what you just saw is probably not even the tip of the iceberg."
"Handsome Researcher: According to unofficial historical records, it once transformed into a woman and traveled among humans due to some kind of wicked sense of humor, and even—cough cough!"
He realized he had said a bit too much, so he quickly coughed twice and abruptly changed the subject.
"Handsome Researcher: Getting back to the point! I almost forgot the important matter."
As the handsome researcher spoke, he pulled out a gleaming learning device—Sunny Day—from his white lab coat pocket.
Seemingly finding the reward somewhat meager, he frowned and reached into another pocket to rummage around.
Then he grabbed a handful of candy, along with the skill learning machine, and stuffed it into Little Wonder Tree's hand without saying a word.
"Handsome Researcher: Here, this is the reward I promised you for the mission, a 'Sunny Day' learning machine."
"Handsome Researcher: As for these magical candies, consider them a bonus to celebrate your successful completion of this interesting observation."
"Handsome Researcher: Well then, good luck, young trainer~"
Conversation ends.
The handsome researcher turned around with a flourish, waved his hand, and his figure disappeared quickly at the end of the road, as if blending into the sunlight.
Only a silhouette remains, leaving much to the imagination.
"Hehehe—it's the Sunny Day Learning Machine!—Hmm? There's a bonus?"
Qi Shu's mind was still immersed in the aftershocks of the creation myth, which caused his thinking to be somewhat delayed.
Several seconds passed before she finally focused her attention on the pile of "rewards" in her hand.
When her gaze focused, her eyes instantly turned into the shape of candy, and even a suspicious little bit of crystalline trace appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"God, magic candy?! Five, five?! A whole five?!"
"Am I dreaming?! I'm rich! Handsome researcher! I love you~"
Five magic candies as a reward for your commission!
At this stage of the game, this is an unprecedentedly high reward!
This is an unprecedentedly generous gesture, not only in HeartGold and SoulSilver, but also in the entire Pokémon series!
Typically, players need to put in a tremendous amount of effort to obtain even one of these top-tier items.
In contrast, the originally excellent Sunny Day move learning machine became a "bonus" of the commission!
The handsome researcher's generosity is so extreme, it's like a system bug, not an NPC!
The live stream chat was flooded with boundless jealousy and envy, and countless viewers collectively put on "masks of pain".
"I've accidentally wandered into the imperial palace~"
"Why are my quest rewards just oranges?! The gap between people is bigger than the difference between a human and a mosquito coil tadpole!"
"I painstakingly grinded through quests in FireRed/LeafGreen for three days, and only got one from an NPC—it's so frustrating!"
"How rich is this handsome researcher?! He pulls out candy like it's nothing! Is he short of wives? I'm in!"
"Is this reward reasonable? No, it's not!"
"I've reported this! Someone is openly using candy to lure the streamer!"
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