Little Pink Starfish

Pei Sen had never underestimated Atwell’s intelligence. The man had been famous in the original timeline—for one very simple reason: this seemingly warm but actually cold-hearted guy had screwed over countless players. And to be that effective at it, one couldn’t be stupid. Players weren’t so gullible they’d get tricked unless someone was truly crafty.

Pei Sen had only just managed to block him at the door for a short while before Atwell slipped inside through Ichabod’s help. Ichabod, being steady and reliable as always, still sent someone to inform Eagle and check on Atwell’s presence.

That slippery man definitely wouldn’t tell Ichabod the whole truth.

“We need to settle this quickly…” Pei Sen glanced back at Eagle, worried. What if Bix Magic Cube opened a new server and he got reassigned as a guide for it? He couldn’t just take Eagle with him. How could he rest easy leaving in Eagle’s current state?

After some thought, Pei Sen finally asked Bix Magic Cube, “Hey, is it true that with that silver magic cube, we can take someone from this world into another server?”

The game quickly responded—but the reply was astonishingly brief.

Just a single question mark.

…Could it be that even Bix Magic Cube wasn’t aware of the silver cube’s power to travel between worlds?

That couldn’t be. The silver magic cube clearly had deep connections to Bix Magic Cube. It looked like something from the same system.

Unless… Bix Magic Cube was pretending not to know? But that didn’t seem likely either.

Pei Sen rubbed his temples in frustration. He was genuinely anxious now. He knew Eagle’s pride—there was no way he’d easily bow to the Light Church. And the Church itself was full of shady schemes, definitely not easy to deal with.

“If it really doesn’t work, maybe we’ll have to rely on the players,” Pei Sen thought grimly. “The real headache is that the Holy City of the Light Church is way too far from here.”

If it were closer to Frost Maple Territory, Pei Sen would’ve already considered organizing a player raid to raze it to the ground!

Still, for the Church to rise so quickly after years of secrecy, they had to be hiding some serious power. The players might not be able to win outright.

Atwell appeared from the corridor, wearing his usual warm and humble smile—looking gentle and sincere. Pei Sen stared at him expressionlessly, unwilling to put on a friendly front.

Atwell didn’t seem to mind. He greeted Pei Sen politely. “I think you may have some misunderstandings about our Light Church.”

“Misunderstanding? Wasn’t it your Church that first misunderstood the Bix race—labeling us as Abyssal beings? And let’s not even talk about that curse-transferring ritual. If it weren’t for that, the young master and Wendell Bonfrese wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.” Pei Sen shot back coldly.

Surprisingly, Atwell nodded and sighed. “Yes, even we in the Light Church are not entirely free of darkness. I’ve never agreed with classifying your kind as Abyssal, but alas, my rank in the Church is too low to make any difference. As for the curse ritual—that decision came from the high priests. I had no say in it…”

He distanced himself from all blame as if he were completely innocent.

Pei Sen stared at him, speechless. This guy’s shamelessness was truly unmatched.

Unbothered, Atwell went in to speak with Eagle. He explained Wendell’s situation: the Bonfrese prince had assumed his mother was planning something dangerous by sending Sharina back to the Kingdom of Esmia. She had been deeply sorrowful after Sharina’s departure and had said something about hoping for forgiveness—so Wendell had followed her.

Wendell Bonfrese and his sister had always been close. He was known for being brave and determined from a young age, resembling the King of Bonfrese in both temperament and character. His mission to save Sharina had indeed succeeded—but what he hadn’t expected was Esmia’s response: utterly ruthless. They completely ignored his royal identity and threw him into the ruins as a tool to absorb Leiser’s curse.

Pei Sen had already suspected as much. He now heard Eagle coldly ask, “So what about Leiser? With the curse gone, is he healthy again?”

“Not that simple,” Atwell shook his head. “Leiser’s body had been eroded by the dark imprint for many years. Even if the curse is now transferred, the damage remains—it can’t just vanish.”

“Oh really? So even his blindness got passed off to Wendell?” Pei Sen said pointedly.

Atwell smiled. “Blindness is caused by the dark imprint. Now that it’s been transferred to Prince Wendell, His Majesty Leiser was fortunate—the imprint hadn’t fully damaged his eyes yet, so with proper treatment, he might regain his vision. As for Prince Wendell, if the dark imprint is removed soon, there’s still hope he could recover his sight. But if the corruption lasts too long, the damage might become permanent.”

Pei Sen pressed his lips together. It was clear Atwell’s implication was: if Eagle wanted Wendell to see again, he needed to act fast and awaken the Seed of Light to remove the curse.

Of course, even if he did all that and Wendell still went blind—it wouldn’t be their fault.

Whether Atwell was telling the truth or not, Pei Sen couldn’t say.

Then he heard Eagle chuckle coldly.

“Let me tell you something,” Eagle said. “I’ve never had a taste of familial love in my life. Yes, he’s my half-brother—we share a mother. But let’s be real, even she and I had no bond. You should know better than anyone what Princess Carolina is like. And you church people? How did you even get Wendell?”

“Oh, it’s kind of funny,” Eagle said mockingly. “Originally, I just wanted to cause you a little trouble.” He stood up. “Atwell, I’ll be honest with you: I don’t care. He’s not my concern—blind or not.”

Brother? Yeah, right.

To Eagle, the concept of “family” meant nothing. Every “relative” he’d ever had had either betrayed or harmed him. Oh, right—there was even a “distant relative” from the Mage Association currently rotting in the Red Maple Castle dungeon: High Mage Annis.

Pei Sen glanced between Eagle and Atwell. He knew Eagle wouldn’t bow to the Light Church. In Eagle’s heart, Wendell probably wasn’t worth the trouble.

Eagle’s stormy mood swings earlier had made that painfully clear.

Pei Sen was about to speak again when he suddenly heard a ding. Surprised, he checked the system notification.

He froze.

This event hadn’t happened in the original timeline.

Ding!
Main Quest: False Light of Justice
“As a mysterious race that suddenly appeared on the continent of Yarik, the Bix have begun to make their mark. But the Light Church, which has been at war with the Abyss for many years, has declared the Bix to be Abyssal beings and now plans to inform all nations, calling for them to oppose and reject the Bix.”
“As a member of the Bix, this slander and defamation cannot be tolerated.”
“This is not true light. The Bix will never fear false light.”
Quest Objectives:

• Investigate the Light Church and gather intel.
• Eliminate Light Church Knights, Priests, and High Priests.
• Assassinate Light Church Clergy.
• Seize the Holy City of Light.

Pei Sen stared at what was arguably the most shocking main quest Bix Magic Cube had ever issued since open beta. Just reading the content was jaw-dropping.

“So the Light Church is officially the enemy now?” This wasn’t just framing them as antagonists—it was declaring full war on them. And even in games with antagonist factions, it was rare to see such an overt call for their destruction.

In the original timeline, the Church had never labeled players as Abyssal beings. This quest had never existed before. Pei Sen’s rebirth was definitely causing massive divergence.

“Then again, judging by this quest text… the Church did pull something,” Pei Sen muttered. “What’s with this business about notifying all countries and uniting them against the Bix?”

In this world, anything related to the Abyss was treated with extreme hostility. Not just the Light Church—even other nations would destroy any monsters emerging from Abyssal rifts.

If the Church really did this, they were throwing players under the bus on a massive scale.

Pei Sen looked up. In that short moment, Atwell’s name had turned red—a vivid, unmistakable red.

From the moment the quest was issued, all players were now enemies of the Light Church.

Pei Sen actually felt a bit sorry for Atwell and the Church behind him.

Do they even realize… that by dragging the Bix into the Abyss narrative, they’ve just brought an avalanche down on themselves?

Becoming enemies of the players…

Was the most terrifying fate in the world.

Bar none.