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Arc 5: I Am Deeply Disappointed Feb 5 Written By Pure Preview


Chapter 512 Tian Tian’s Choice

Li Xiangling blinked in surprise. “Me…?”

She forced a wry smile and shook her head. “You probably don’t know… I was completely invisible at {Passage to Heaven}… For decisions this crucial, which could affect the direction of our team, I’d rather not participate…”

“It’s not that serious,” Zhang Chenze remarked with a smile, shaking her head. “Xiangling, you just need to share your thoughts. This isn’t a {vote}, and it won’t necessarily determine the path for all of us.”

“I…” Li Xiangling hesitated for a moment, then finally shook her head again. “Jie jies, in any case, I just want to leave this place. I want to get out. The reason I joined {Passage to Heaven} was to escape {End Point}. I know my abilities are limited, and I have to rely on my teammates. So I choose to trust you all. No matter what decision you ultimately make, I will stand with you.”

Although Li Xiangling hadn’t fully made her own choice, her stance was already clear.

All eyes now turned to Tian Tian.

She was still wearing Yun Yao’s jacket, her softly curled hair lazily draping over her shoulders. Sitting in the corner, she blinked her large eyes like a doll that could neither move nor speak, quietly listening to the discussion.

Noticing all the attention on her, Tian Tian hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, “I’m fine with anything…”

“Don’t say that,” Yun Yao replied, sliding her chair closer and taking Tian Tian’s cold hands in hers. “We’re together now. We want to hear your thoughts. From here on, we act as a team.”

Tian Tian lowered her head in silence, pondering for a long while before speaking. “I’m…fine with anything. What this place becomes is all the same to me, because I…”

She hesitated for a long time, ultimately swallowing the words that hovered at her lips—

She did not want to leave.

No matter what this place turned into, it made little difference to her. Her life had already ended long ago. Each second she continued living now could not be called suffering, yet it was little more than mere subsistence.

Facing the sincere gazes of the other women, Tian Tian found herself at a loss for words. They had gathered here to discuss a course of action, yet with the three of them holding different views, there was no outcome to be found.

With four individuals casting votes, only for the other three to choose different options, leaving the final decision resting in her hands.

“We’ve known each other for a while now…” Yun Yao said softly, holding Tian Tian’s hand. “But I’ve never truly known your true thoughts. So tell me… in the days ahead, how do you want to live?”

“My true thoughts…” Tian Tian felt those words weigh heavily on her. “My true thoughts are probably different from all of yours…”

She shook her head without expression. “I lost the motivation to move on a long time ago. What I went through in the real world was even worse than {End Point}. Here, there are people who genuinely care about me, who feel pain for me… So if I were to speak my true thoughts, I’m afraid you all wouldn’t be able to understand them…”

The words emerged unhurriedly from Tian Tian, empty of emotion, but they still made every heart throb with pain.

“I completely empathize,” Zhang Chenze began earnestly. “People are born different. Some spend their entire lives striving and still never attain happiness. But that does not stop us from pursuing it.”

“I just don’t get it…” Tian Tian lowered her head, rubbing her palms together as she asked softly, “this so-called {happiness}… is it something you can obtain just by {pursuing} it? You said people are born different… could it be that some people are simply born unable to pursue happiness at all?”

“That…” Zhang Chenze’s gaze dimmed at once. “I don’t really know how to answer that… All I know is this: to pursue the life I want, I am willing to fall into hell itself. As long as one day I can crawl back out of hell, then none of my efforts will have been in vain.”

“Crawling out of hell…” Tian Tian’s eyes trembled slightly. Her lips curved into a despairing arc as she forced out a smile. “Lawyer Zhang, do you know how hard the path you just described is? Even if we really do manage to crawl out of hell, what greets us… is still the same world.”

Zhang Chenze had intended to persuade Tian Tian from her own standpoint, yet after only a few sentences, she nearly found herself persuaded instead.

Indeed. Even if they truly managed to crawl out of this place…would the original world really be any different?

“Sorry,” Tian Tian keenly catching the subtle change in Zhang Chenze’s expression and apologized before anyone else could speak. “I didn’t want to pass my negativity on to all of you. What I said was only my own thoughts…”

“I understand,” Zhang Chenze replied, regaining her composure and nodding. “No one will blame you for the suffering you’ve endured.”

Tian Tian looked once more at the people before her, then spoke at last, “If I have to choose, I hope to create a {Wen Qiaoyun}.”

At her words, everyone’s gaze converged on her once more.

“Tian Tian, you…” Yun Yao frowned as she looked at her. “Do you support my approach?”

She was naturally puzzled. Given Tian Tian’s temperament, she should have abstained like Li Xiangling. In a place like this, who became a god or who managed to escape should have meant little to her. Yet Tian Tian had stated her position with striking clarity.

“I want to know, does my choice really matter that much?” Tian Tian asked. “If I choose this path, will all of us move forward together in this direction?”

Zhang Chenze nodded. “From a standpoint of fairness… if this path has the most support, I can accept it as the majority rule.”

Li Xiangling chimed in from the side, “I already said I’d support all of your decisions, so I have no objections.”

“Even if it means death, even if we fail?” Tian Tian continued to ask, seeking confirmation.

“That’s right.” Zhang Chenze and Li Xiangling both nodded. Only Lin Qin remained silent, watching the others without a word.

“Then it’s settled.” Tian Tian nodded with solemn resolve, then turned back to Yun Yao. “Yun Yao, because you’ve been so good to me, I will support your decision unconditionally. No one in this world has ever treated me this well. What you want to do is what I want to do. This is the only way I can repay you.”

Hearing this, Lin Qin let out a deep sigh.

To make use of Qi Xia’s abilities—

To force him to do something he did not wish to do.

Would this truly be any easier than surviving a Terrestrial-grade game?


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