Mr. Melancholy Wants to Live a Peaceful Life - Chap 98

Here were Yu Hua’s deeply hidden negative emotions. They repelled everyone, only willing to let You Zhengping charge in.

Or perhaps Yu Hua’s intellect also didn’t want You Zhengping to enter, but he couldn’t trick his innermost being. He was willing to open the doors of his heart to You Zhengping.

You Zhengping walked out of the garbage spot and looked at the estate’s false sun. He understood where Yu Hua had gone.

He had gone to level 500.

He knew very well that the friends who had accompanied him all along were going to use level 500’s difficulty level to deal with him, but he still had to attend this Hongmen Banquet, personally break off those connections, from then on becoming truly isolated.

The whole way, Yu Hua seemed to match the “Tyrant” label from start to finish.

It’s impossible for a human not to have negative emotions, but Yu Hua had hidden all those that represented his frailty, disappointment, and hesitation. He didn’t seem to be actively advancing; his was a more superior attitude.

It was divinity.

You Zhengping found the answer soon.

He had recently grasped spatial power and had understood that the unprecedented strength that came with natural law power made it easy for people to lose themselves. It required sufficient conviction to be able to resist the lure of power.

You Zhengping had received ideological and political education since he was young. He had firm convictions and proper guiding principles. These bone-deep things had made him quickly awaken from the inflated thoughts that came with power. There had only been an instant of swollen arrogance, and in the blink of an eye it was gone, so brief it was as if it had never been. Only You Zhengping had caught that momentary arrogance of “I’m so powerful, why do I have to protect these ants, listen to the commands of ants?”

Guan Shaoguang, who held time power, had a more serious problem. He looked down on Director Ha and Junjun. He believed that he and his former companions weren’t of the same class; during level 398, he had used those people without any hesitation to deal with You Zhengping. In Guan Shaoguang’s eyes, You Zhengping, who held spatial power, was his enemy, and Yu Hua was a former friend and also an eminent presence. Only these two people were worth looking directly in the eye; the others were all ants.

He and Guan Shaoguang were like this, so what about Yu Hua? He had already grasped the power of a god during level 398. He had experienced over a thousand years of time. The influence of divinity had to be heaviest on him. It could be seen from the memories just now that later, Yu Hua had been infected with the “Tyrant’s” habits, a typical case of “those who resist shall perish” thinking.

In Yu Hua’s eyes, levelers were divided into two types. One type obeyed him; Yu Hua could grant these some favors, make them continue to submit to him. The other type, however, were those who didn’t approve, who didn’t obey; they opposed, resisted, betrayed, and so on. They were all one sort. Yu Hua didn’t give these people any opportunity. He chose to simply cast them off or blot them out.

Divinity was constantly eroding his innermost being while giving the fake blue sky and white clouds in his little world the false appearance of lasting peace and tranquility.

But You Zhengping’s appearance had changed the status quo.

You Zhengping touched the silver-colored special ability suppressor on his ankle. Without question, the Yu Hua who had put this on him had undoubtedly been the human side. You Zhengping thought of their past and suddenly realized that Yu Hua probably very much wanted to build a golden room to keep him in1.

So in his heart, did Yu Hua want to be a god or a man?

The answer was exceedingly obvious.

Yu Hua wanted to be an ordinary person. He had sealed all of his power and cautiously preserved his humanity, using the greatest willpower to refuse divinity. He had spent fifteen years content with his lot, until the System had broken his seal.

Once again, You Zhengping heard voices beside that manmade lake. He quickly ran over, wanting to see what was happening outside like he had before, but he remembered that his special ability was sealed, so he had no way to see.

He paced where he was, very anxious, trying to use his hands to open the special ability suppressor, but he found that the thing was seamless and very sturdy. It wouldn’t open.

You Zhengping anxiously went around in circles. He wasn’t concerned about the lives of the levelers who wanted to kill Yu Hua. For him, these people weren’t only strangers, they were also one-time Destroyers, and they were plotters who wanted to betray Yu Hua. He only cared about whether Yu Hua would be swallowed up by divinity.

These companions had passed from the lowest levels to level 499 with Yu Hua. They had hundreds of years of history. If he killed the traitors with his own hands, wouldn’t he be bidding farewell to his humanity?

What was there to be done? You Zhengping stared at the special ability suppressor on his ankle and suddenly had an idea. He quickly strode towards the estate’s garbage spot. Ignoring the obstruction and the black mist, he went all the way to the tallest and largest mountain. He patted the mountain and pointed to the special ability suppressor, entreating it, “Could you get rid of this thing for me?”

This was a last ditch effort. There was nothing else to do. Since this was Yu Hua’s little world, then these negative emotions ought to also have control.

There was absolutely no reaction from the black mountain and the surroundings rocks, grains, or snow. You Zhengping considered and said, “I’m worried about the you in level 500 and want to take a look at how you’re doing. This thing is sealing my special ability, so I can’t use my spatial ability. I can’t see you.”

When he said this, the small mountain beside him trembled faintly. The stones at his feet began to bounce. The speed of the smog’s movements became lively. It spun around You Zhengping.

They seemed to be happy… Seeing that there was an effect, You Zhengping quickly said, “Open it, and I’ll be able to see you. I can even go to you, keep you company.”

The choices a person made with their intellect would often contradict their emotions. Yu Hua had chosen to shut up You Zhengping; apart from wanting to keep You Zhengping with him, he had also meant to protect him. Speaking purely from the point of view of feelings, he definitely wanted You Zhengping to be with him at all times, never mind the negative emotions of his dark moments that made him want to imprison You Zhengping.

The black grains wrapped around the special ability suppressor on You Zhengping’s ankle. The silver-colored mental ankle speedily broke down and disappeared. These grains weren’t nearly as harmless as they seemed; no wonder Director Ha had thought that this place was frightening.

You Zhengping said thank you and dashed towards the manmade lake. But he found that the black mist followed him out of the garbage spot.

Everywhere the black mist passed, all objects disintegrated. The tall buildings, the rock garden, the blue sky, the white clouds, the sun, the manmade lake…

You Zhengping looked at the building where Junjun and Xiao Ha were. It was still far away. They wouldn’t be hurt. He relaxed slightly.

He had inadvertently released Yu Hua’s sealed mental emotions and didn’t know whether that was right or wrong. He also didn’t know what change they would bring about in this little world.

You Zhengping found the place where the voices originated and brought his power into action. An enormous light screen floated into view. It displayed a deserted area. Yu Hua stood in the center with a knife stuck in the back of his neck. Under his feet were three corpses, and he held a person’s head with his hand. This person had evidently also lost their life force.

Only Guan Shaoguang was still holding on. Yu Hua dropped the corpse of the traitor he was holding and pulled the knife out of his neck. The wound didn’t bleed. In an instant, it had healed.

Looking at the bodies on the ground, You Zhengping at last directly experienced how powerful Yu Hua was. Each of these people had nearly grasped natural law power, but they had been killed so easily by Yu Hua.

Yu Hua strolled up to Guan Shaoguang. There was disappointment on his face. “I was forced to act because I believed that you truly wanted to resist my dictatorship, but would you guess what I discovered when I absorbed their Systems?”

Yu Hua casually waved his hand, and an image like a control panel appeared. This must have been the System’s interface before it degraded. There was writing on the screen: Leveler Yan He’s Level 500 mission is, in the world of nothingness that the System has prepared, to defeat Yu Hua along with his companions, absorb Yu Hua’s little world, and obtain his natural law power.

“If you had truly been rebelling against me, I could have praised you.” Yu Hua laughed mockingly. “But what is this? Are you willing to be used by the System like this?”

“Do I care what their missions are?” Guan Shaoguang was looking quietly at Yu Hua. He actually smiled in satisfaction. “In killing so many former companions, how much of your energy have you unlocked? Has it reached 100%?”

“What did you say?” Yu Hua’s expression was grim. He found that he, who had always seen through all stratagems, couldn’t understand what Guan Shaoguang meant. This surpassed the information he possessed.

Guan Shaoguang got out a smartphone and opened the System app. He saw that the mission completion percentage on it was 80% and smiled in spite of himself. “You really are awesome. You’ve only unsealed 80% of your power, yet you’ve wiped us all out. It seems this is as far as I can go.”

Resigning himself to his fate, he dropped the phone and sat right on the ground, casually putting his arms on his knees, raising his head to look at Yu Hua.

Yu Hua suppressed his killing intent and picked up the phone Guan Shaoguang had tossed aside. He read the information on it—

Name: Guan Shaoguang

Level Count: Defeated challenging Level 500

Cause of Death: Betrayed Yu Hua, personally killed by Yu Hua

Ability: Time

Time of Duplication: 2,410 years after death (planet coordinates)

Mission: Force Yu Hua to fully unseal his power and release the System’s energy; means unlimited

Victory Reward: Obtain a new life

Current Mission Progress: 80%

There was too much information. Yu Hua and, outside the light screen, You Zhengping, simultaneously noticed the word “duplication.” The term the System used was completely different from Guan Shaoguang’s “resurrection.”

Yu Hua forced himself to temporarily not consider the information about “2,410 years after death” or “80% progress.” He determined what took priority and asked, “Duplication means that your original form hasn’t truly been resurrected, and you’re only the System’s duplicate?”

“You can see me as a reconstruction,” Guan Shaoguang said. “Each leveler has a data record within the System. The System only needs to use energy of the same class and all of Guan Shaoguang’s data to make a duplicate of him.”

“Not even the System can create life out of nowhere,” Yu Hua said gravely.

Even though people who held natural law power were always calling themselves gods, they still couldn’t produce true life with souls, including the System, which ceaselessly consumed world law. Only a normal and healthy world that had evolved life over billions of years could give birth to living beings with souls and consciousness.

“When you make a copy, don’t you take a piece of A4 paper and copy onto it?” “Guan Shaoguang” pointed himself. “I’m that piece of paper.”

Since the System had told him he was called “Guan Shaoguang,” he had lived as “Guan Shaoguang.” He only had Guan Shaoguang’s memories. All his past was Guan Shaoguang’s, including his hatred, jealousy, worship, and other feelings of all kinds for Yu Hua. All of them were Guan Shaoguang’s. As for which leveler he had originally been, how many levels he had passed, what memories he had had—that had all disappeared.

He knew that Guan Shaoguang had been worried that Yu Hua would turn into a new and even more brutal System. Under the encouragement of his companions, the enticement of the level 500 mission, and Yu Hua’s secretiveness towards him, he had determined to kill Yu Hua and had been killed in return.

Having received Guan Shaoguang’s memories from the moments before his death, he madly wanted Yu Hua to die, and he was urged by the System to constantly arrange traps to make Yu Hua unknowingly unseal his power.

As for his own ideas, who cared? He was Guan Shaoguang now. He could only be Guan Shaoguang and say the words “Guan Shaoguang” wanted to say.

“Guan Shaoguang” said, “When I saw you in the estate, happy and willing to go into the little world to save a child and a dog, I knew that Yu Hua would always be Yu Hua. You hadn’t changed. I couldn’t understand you at the beginning. I didn’t understand how much pressure you had undertaken.”

Yu Hua said to him, “The more time law power Guan Shaoguang held, the more he believed that time was irreversible. Everything went forward. Each moment was the present. If he found one day that he had come to his starting point, that wouldn’t have been time running backwards, but that the road ahead of him had always been a circle. The beginning was the end.

“So he wouldn’t say anything that revealed remorse. He believed that for things that had already happened, there was no meaning in repentance.

“What you said just now are your thoughts arising from comparing Guan Shaoguang’s memories to reality.

“The System can only destroy life and absorb its energy. It can’t create life or change its essence. You aren’t Guan Shaoguang. You’re an individual with your own independent thoughts.”

Translator’s Note

1Reference the idiom 金屋藏娇, referring to keeping a wife in a beautiful house, or just marriage.