The game is over, Bronya is waiting

[Unmatched radiance blossomed from your grasp—]

[You felt the extreme heat, terrifying brilliance spilling out.]

[You knew the Calamity Vanguard was not something you could defeat, but at the cost of a stellar explosion, even a Calamity Vanguard would turn to ashes in the light of destruction.]

[Your gamble paid off.]

[You staked your life and triggered the greatest natural disaster in the history of Yalilo-VI.]

[The ground turned to scorched earth, buildings collapsed under the impact of the explosion—there was no more intact land left on Yalilo-VI, only ruins and remnants.]

[The destruction brought by the Antimatter Legion was not as great as the one you caused by detonating the stellar, but as a butterfly fluttering in the apocalyptic crisis, you showed the world the resistance that civilization would make before despair.]

[As the last spark of civilization, you soared into the sky and exploded, the brilliant light nearly destroying everything... but it also left the empire with its last seed.]

The text on the screen faded, and a new scene appeared:

Seele, dust-laden and weary, stood coldly in front of the half-destroyed Qlipoth Fort, orderly commanding the people to reorganize the city.

Although Belobog was almost completely destroyed by the stellar explosion, everyone wore smiles full of hope on their faces.

Because the greatest enemy of the empire had turned to dust in that earth-shattering explosion, the Antimatter Legion, though dangerous, could no longer destroy the civilization amidst Belobog's ruins.

The spark of civilization was now firmly set to continue on this cold, stellar-ravaged world.

Everyone cheered because of this, but one person seemed so out of place...

Seele looked at the people in the ruins with a cold face, then cast her gaze to the snowfield, looking at the sky—

Searching far and wide, she couldn't find Ron's figure.

Or maybe Ron was now everywhere.

As a cold-blooded reformer, Seele rarely had any emotional fluctuations.

The cold will had deeply ingrained into her bones, and as a pathstrider on the Path of [Hunt], acts of vengeance and cold-blooded behavior were the very essence of the [Hunt]'s philosophy.

And Seele was treading further down the Path of [Hunt], as the threat of doomsday constantly loomed over her, forcing her to adopt the habit of seeing lives as numbers.

For example, to her, Ron was just a larger number, marked with many positive labels indicating his value.

Such as highly skilled, reliable, suitable for marriage... no matter how much these values were overestimated, they could not compare to the value of "civilization" itself.

They could not compare to [Salvation].

And now, Ron had sacrificed his life and a terrifying stellar, successfully achieving the grand feat of salvation. This, in Seele's eyes, should have been a profitable deal.

But she couldn't be happy.

She looked at the sky, her vision suddenly blurring, her breathing becoming rapid, her chest feeling as if it was filled with burning lead—

"The impact of the stellar explosion is significant; there might be radiation causing illnesses, so we need to arrange for Belobog's hospitals to address these issues..."

Seele muttered to herself, tears gradually pooling in the corners of her eyes, carving two clean tracks through the dust on her face.

She knew this heartfelt pain wasn't an illness. She was merely deceiving herself with these words.

But she was the emperor of the empire, the last guide of this civilization...

After Ron's death, only she could carry the burden.

She couldn't be so weak... she couldn't...

But she couldn't deceive herself.

Turning to look at her shadow, in this shadow elongated by the dawn sunlight, there should have been someone standing there.

But he would never stand by her side, silently accompanying her, ever again.

The cold will couldn't suppress the surging emotions within; all the beauty in the world becomes regretful only after it's lost.

"Ugh..."

Seele squatted down, sobbing softly.

As the scene on the screen faded, new text appeared:

[Your choice was not wrong. Although the cost was great, you did succeed in bringing a hopeful dawn to this world.]

[Henceforth, Yalilo-VI will no longer face the invasion of wind and snow, or the disturbances of the rift.]

[There will no longer be the whispers of the stellar or the ravages of the legion.]

[In the twilight of your consciousness, you faintly heard three resounding knocks echoing from the corners of the universe.]

[You vaguely saw golden light shining upon you.]

[You, with a mortal body, accomplished a feat even gods would be amazed at—]

[At the crossroads of the Path, your choice led you down a thorny path, successfully forging a new way.]

[The Amber King once again cast his gaze upon you—]

[Your final song on Yalilo-VI demonstrated the [Emblem of Salvation].]

[The concept of the Path of [Preservation] was thus broadened—now, no matter how cold-blooded or despicable, as long as one holds the [Emblem of Salvation], they may resonate with the Path of [Preservation] and become a pathstrider of [Preservation].]

[The Amber King, Kleepoth, gained some strength from your broadening of the Path—he successfully swung his great hammer three consecutive times, crossing thousands of light years in an instant to strike the wall forged at the edge of the universe, adding bricks and mortar to the vision of preserving the entire star sea.]

[The Amber Era leaped forward three epochs due to these three hammer strikes.]

[The Interstellar Peace Corporation, noticing the changes brought by the Amber King, began assisting Yalilo-VI.]

[Yalilo-VI once again became a tourist planet under the company's banner, providing valuable lithomorph minerals to the corporation.]

[[Preservation] cared for this world amidst the ruins... until it met its destined end.]

[Game over.]

[This life simulation is rated: 99 points.]

[In the 2183rd epoch, 37th month of the Amber Era, the Armored Archaeological Society of the Universal Knowledge Association discovered Yalilo-VI, a planet destroyed by the jester's prank.]

[This famous tourist planet was almost legendary; every pathstrider of the Path of [Preservation] longed to visit Yalilo-VI and see the legendary [Savior] Ron.]

[His story was known throughout the vast star sea, adapted into various works, and spread throughout the galaxy with the deliberate promotion of the Interstellar Peace Corporation.]

[In the special edition of Interstellar Trends Guide, Ron was given a dedicated booklet, promoted for seventeen full epochs.]

[As someone who broadened the concept of [Salvation] within the Path of [Preservation], Ron was remembered in the history of the star sea... never to be forgotten.]

[Because you completed a legendary event in this simulation, you will receive a legendary trait—]

[You obtained the trait: Salvation (White, Growable)]

[Salvation: It is said that when an Aeon ascends, they create a path, and the concepts within the path become the source of power binding the Aeon's actions, granting the Aeon generous returns—endless imaginary energy.

Now, you have successfully condensed the concept of "Salvation"—the concept of salvation has not elevated you to Aeonhood, nor has it created a new path.

But the concept of salvation shows a different direction forward.

You can use the concept of salvation to encompass the path you tread, broadening the path's concept, bringing new possibilities.]

[When this trait is loaded, for each path you tread, you can use this trait to encompass that path, enhancing its strength to some extent.

Moreover, for each path encompassed by this trait, its quality will correspondingly improve, with a quality cap of legendary (Red).]

Ron stared at the text on the screen, feeling a small shock to his soul.

This is the strength of a legendary trait? It's terrifying!

It's practically a perfect buff trait that encompasses other traits. No matter the path, adding this trait can stack buffs... This trait truly exudes a beauty of strength.

Much stronger than the previous traits obtained...

Although Ron felt his previous simulation operations and this one were no different, with him doing his best to carry, the reward disparity was like night and day, resulting in a vast difference due to simulation completion levels.

It can only be said that the strength gap between Seele and Bronya was too vast.

Ron sighed. While he really liked Bronya's card face, a simple in-game comparison showed that Bronya did nothing but drag the team down, contributing nothing but raising teammates' blood pressure.

On the other hand, Seele? Besides having a beautiful card face, she tackled everything, never dragging the team down. At most, she needed some consolation when confused, and after that, she grew as she should, always reliable.

But now, the game was no longer a concern.

Thinking this, Ron lazily stretched, flopping back onto the bed.

Today, because Bronya gave him a day off to slack, he enjoyed a whole day of leisure, now only resolving this life simulation game late at night.

But he couldn't stay up anymore.

Ron yawned—Bronya would likely drag him back to work tomorrow.

After all, this job paid 1.5 million credits a month. A day off was fine, but consecutive days off would be dreaming, right?

Better get a good night's sleep and recharge...

Ron thought, hugging his pillow and rolling around in bed, soon drifting into sleep.

Meanwhile, on the other