Chapter 57: The End of the World, Reboot, or Erasure

"This is the power of Little Black... Did you kill it?!"

The emotional aggregator, seemingly on the verge of collapsing, stared at Alister, who had retreated to a safe distance. It held a hint of suspicion mingled with a sense of certainty.

Alister's "Shadow Sovereign" was synthesized using "Shadow Domination," "Shadow Hunter," and "Ability Enhancement-A," with "Shadow Hunter" likely being the one referred to.

Recalling that night, the long and slender containment entity that ruled over the Valley District...

"If you're referring to the tall, thin shadow..." Alister gestured with his blade, cutting through the air, "I indeed killed it. So what?"

In general, Alister didn't like to engage in idle chatter with enemies, but in this game event, prolonging the time was one of the victory conditions. So he went along with it.

"Giggle... Giggle... Squeak..." The emotional aggregator emitted strange low growls.

Then, it dangerously interrogated, "The power of Little Black... How is it in your possession?"

"Why don't you guess?" Alister grinned. He wasn't foolish enough to let the opponent gain any information.

As soon as he said that, the negotiation came to an end.

The space was once again decomposed into garbled code, and the emotional aggregator silently vanished into the void beyond space.

Within the boundary, there was no gentle night breeze, everything was eerily quiet.

The late-night world, which had already been punctured in several "hollows," was now engulfed in colorful blackness, resembling torn cardboard boxes, with fragmented rules.

With every breath, Alister dissipated the shadow blades and the shadows swiftly enveloped him, creating a three-meter radius of darkness, like the abyss of the world's darkness.

Transitioning from guerrilla tactics to defensive tactics, this was the first time Alister had adopted such a fighting style, and it felt quite good.

Above him, the "Ultimate Senses" instantly provided feedback.

Thus, the shadow blades struck before the emotional aggregator manifested, piercing through its irregular garbled arm and entering the ruptured void, causing the code to disperse.

"[Joy (10% → 5%)]"

"[Confusion (2% → 4%)]"

"[Others (12% → 17%)]"

The information interface popped up in Alister's field of vision, revealing the changes in the emotional aggregator's composition, represented by the colorful garbled pixels.

Combined with the hint that "after the game ends, updates will occur in reality, and the player's performance will affect the actions of real-world targets," it seemed that by altering the proportions of different emotions, he could determine the thought processes of those few individuals...

It was quite amusing, having power over ordinary people, determining their will... Haha, just kidding...

After several attempts, the emotional aggregator sensed the anomaly in Alister's perception ability and lurked in the void outside space, observing this exceptional E-rank player.

A few seconds of silence passed, and neither side made any unnecessary moves, locked in a standoff.

"What are you contemplating? I'm just an E-rank player, not worth being so cautious," Alister remarked, interestedly observing the scattered void, attempting to guide the emotional aggregator's thinking.

"Giggle... Giggle... Squeak..." The emotional aggregator emitted a peculiar sound.

Then, it spoke in a dangerous tone of questioning, "Little Black's power... How is it mixed with you?"

"Care to guess?" Alister smiled, his tone light and carefree. He didn't want to be outsmarted by the opponent.

With those words, the negotiations came to an end.

The space once again dissolved into garbled code, and the emotional aggregator, like a doll grasped by a mechanical claw, emerged from the void, gazing curiously at the anomaly that was Alister, an E-rank player.

Alister was also curious about how it had deduced that, but he didn't show any emotions on his face and didn't ask.

Because it probably wouldn't answer.

So Alister immediately launched an ambush, and with the reduction of his psychic energy, shadows swept through the field of vision in an arc, like the fangs of a giant beast biting down!

The field of view seemed to be surrounded by shadows, constantly shrinking, creating the illusion from Alister's perspective.

Danger was about to descend...

The emotional aggregator made the strange sound of "Giggle... Giggle... Squeak" but remained motionless, staring at Alister as the shadows approached.

No matter when, intentional weakness, feigned actions, and inducement were effective hunting methods, creating opportunities for the opponent to relax, making them believe they were the hunter...

Using tactics intentionally struck by the enemy, attracting their attention, creating a situation of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind"...

The shadow fangs intertwined and attacked, about to tear through the emotional aggregator. Whether the battle would end seemed to depend on whether it would dodge...

One must not be careless, observe the emotional aggregator's every move, anticipate its counter-actions in advance, and quickly formulate counter strategies...

—You seem to be guiding me to think this way?

With a sense of "having everything under control," Alister, with his deep black eyes, walked away before the anomaly occurred.

Then, the space where he had been located was eradicated in a way unknown to Alister. A large expanse of void was revealed.

A long, foreign man, obviously affiliated with the Northern Federation, tumbled out, an E-rank player on the brink of death.

The next moment, the foreign player couldn't hold on and died, becoming pale blue system data.

At the same time, "Blank" also popped up with a notification.

"[Detected E-rank accommodable ability: Basic Ectoplasmology]"

Alister calmly observed the emotional aggregator's intentions, not accommodating this meaningless E-rank ability.

Observing the anomaly in Alister's native ability, the emotional aggregator finally realized, grasping why this E-rank player was exceptional.

"Your native talent... cannot be ranked... accommodating the abilities of others?"

The emotional aggregator suddenly changed its attitude, devoid of its previous hostility, and observed Alister with great interest, like a scientist observing an experimental subject.

Alister didn't answer its question, even though it had guessed right about his ability.

"Anomaly... indeed an anomaly..."

The emotional aggregator grew restless, and the garbled code tended to collapse, flickering and crackling like a malfunctioning television screen.

"You are an anomaly in the sequence game, an anomaly that disrupts the balance of the game..."

"Perhaps I am an anomaly." Alister also doubted the "?" ranking of "Blank." "So, what are you trying to say?"

"You are a bug in the sequence game..."

As if it had touched upon a forbidden taboo of the world, the emotional aggregator collapsed into red code, its garbled body's spatial position shifted, exemplifying the indescribable to the extreme.

After a while, when the world rules returned to stability, the emotional aggregator gazed at Alister, a meaningful implication in its eyes as it reminded him:

"The game overseer will descend, causing this world to reboot... or be erased..."

The world will turn into nothingness because of you.