Chapter 1198: Choose 1 from 3

Alucier's words stunned Chen Rui for 10 seconds, then he regained his composure after a while. He narrowed his eyes, "Sir Alucier, no, I should call 'Principal' Alucier. It's really unexpected..."

The Alucier actually in front of him was not a fictional character, but a real 'original' with original consciousness!

If this world was compared to an inverse illusion, then only Chen Rui and Alucier in front of him were considered normal.

This should be Alucier's own consciousness. Is he the 'node'?

"First, I want to tell you that this world is a little different from what you think." Alucier smiled slightly, looking elegant and extraordinary.

"Of course, it's different." Chen Rui sneered, "You create this inverse illusion just to use some kind of emotion to disturb my perception and judgment. I admit that it is indeed a bit effective, but you should understand that this effect is not sustainable."

Alucier shook his head slowly, "Let's not talk about anything else. You have mistaken 1 most critical point. This is not an illusion, but a real existence."

"Real world? Are you kidding me?!" Chen Rui sat down, "My current body should still be in the Psychedelic Forest. I admit that your spirit power and mystic art are beyond my imagination, but this illusion will not confuse me for too long."

"You have looked in the mirror before, right?" Alucier said to himself, "The mirror is parallel to you. When you look in the mirror, the people in the mirror are also looking at you. If you change the reference object, for the mirror, you are the mirror reflection. The same is true in this world. Many things are reversed from your cognition, but not completely reversed. In addition to 'reflection', there is also 'refraction'. You can understand it as a..."

"A parallel world that is the opposite of the original world?" Chen Rui sneered, "Are you telling me that for this 'real' world, I'm the illusion?! I don't have time to study this paradoxical argument with you."

"Since you understand this place as a mirror reflection-like real world, you must first figure out your own position. You are not your real self nor a complete illusion; somewhere between reality and illusion." Alucier said calmly.

"So in this world, what kind of existence is the original 'me'? The man in the mirror?" Chen Rui still sneered, "The setting of this scum is really weird. If it's just to disrupt my mind, you have underestimated me too much. Tell me what your purpose is!"

"People have a dark side in their minds. Perhaps he is your dark part." Alucier took a sip of coffee, "As for my purpose, it is the word I just said - 'Existence'. That's all."

"Existence?" Chen Rui asked back calmly, but he was thinking quickly in his mind.

"As I said, this world has reflections and refractions, and it is not strictly an 'inverse' world. These are not the key. The key is your existence. You're now the 'existence' between the reality and illusion. That is to say, among the 2 parallel worlds, your current choice will be related to your future existence— Maybe you can leave this world and return to the reality in your mind; maybe you will completely deviate from the original world and truly integrate into this world."

"Choice?" Chen Rui didn't hide his doubts this time.

"There is no Pseudo-God or Demi-God here. You can't use any power outside the rules. If you want to leave, you must follow the rules of the world. That's right, what you are looking for, the so-called 'node', I can tell you now. You have 3 choices. If you choose the right one, you will leave here and get what you want; if you choose the wrong one, your shadow will truly overlap with this world."

Chen Rui finally understood it. This was a topic of choosing 1 from 3 choices. If he chose the right one, he would get rid of the illusion. If he choose the wrong one, he would be trapped here forever.

Alucier held up 3 fingers, "Only 1 of the 3 'nodes' is effective. In fact, it is 3 people. Destroy the correct node, and you can break out of the illusion. However, you only have 1 chance, so think carefully."

Chen Rui remained calm, "How do I know if this is a trap? Maybe all 3 are wrong. No matter which one I choose, I will fail."

"Whether it's a trap or not, you can judge for yourself." Alucier smiled slightly, "I don't need to lie to you. This is a gamble. Even I don't know whether I will win or lose in the end. Whether you succeed or not, this will be your last time to see me."

My last time! These 3 words surprised Chen Rui again whereas Alucier remained calm, "I know you have many questions. Not only in this world, but also in that world. If you can really leave here, maybe you will get some answers. However, this kind of answer is not necessarily absolute, real or illusory. It is up to you to find and judge by yourself."

While Chen Rui was thinking, he heard that Alucier had named the 3 'nodes' people. He couldn't help showing a surprised expression.

For a while, Chen Rui fell into silence. He could hardly remember how he left the principal's office.

Seeing Chen Rui coming down from the principal's office building, Old Kovax quickly asked Lucio to open the car door.

Chen Rui got in the car and returned to the villa somewhere outside the school.

Whether it was the appearance or the interior of this villa, it was luxurious. In addition, there were many young and beautiful maids.

"You're medusa..." Chen Rui was stunned when he saw the appearance of 1 of the maids.

"I'm Lanliza, not a medusa." The maid showed shyness, "Does young master want me to take a bath with you?"

Lanliza, the leader of the medusa tribe who surrendered to the Dark Moon in the White Feather Estate. Chen Rui numbly shook his head, "No need."

Disappointment flashed across Lanliza's eyes, "Young master, take a shower first. The hot water is already set."

Chen Rui nodded. He walked into the extravagant large bathroom. Then, he immersed himself in the steaming small pool and fell into deep thoughts.

Regardless of whether the mirror world Alucier mentioned was real or not, one thing was certain. Chen Rui was now trapped here, unable to activate his strength or summon the Super System. To break out of the illusion, he could only use the existing rules to destroy the rules.

Nodes!

In the principal's office, the 3 'key people' that Alucier called were Chen Rui, Alucier and Athena.

Chen Rui had guessed in advance that Alucier might be the node. Meanwhile, Chen Rui himself was the nodes was not beyond expectations; the only surprise was Athena.

Alucier's explanation was that she was the main reason that lured Chen Rui to this 'parallel world', and she was also the key that linked a series of recent 'campus' events, so Athena's role in this world was also a node.

Chen Rui had an intuition that Alucier was not lying.

1 of these 3 key figures must be real.

Killing Alucier, Athena, or myself is the way to leave this world, but this is a single choice instead of multiple choices. There is a 1/3 chance of success, but there is also a 2/3 chance of failure.

The key is to see how I judge.

This kind of thinking continued until dinner time. Although the dinner was very sumptuous, Chen Rui did not have the appetite.

At this moment the phone sounded; it was from Satan.

"Chen Rui, we are all in Happy Hour. Why haven't you come yet?"

Only then did Chen Rui remember that after the basketball game, Satan seemed to have booked a night session to celebrate. Just as he was about to find an excuse to turn it down, he heard Satan say again, "It just so happens that we saw the girl you dumped from the art department is being entangled by 2 guys. By the way, what is the girl's name? Kia?"

"Kia!" Chen Rui's eyelids twitched. She is the girl from the art department whom I got tired of playing with? If the little succubus knew about it, it wouldn't be strange if she circumcised me!

"Help her immediately! I'll come over!"

Satan said disapprovingly, "Didn't you dump that chick? I remember that chick was unwilling to let go back then... If you are not planning to get her back, we want to watch the fun."

Chen Rui gritted his teeth, and he finally uttered the most scumbag words, "Forget about getting her back, but no one can pick up the things that I throw away!"

Satan laughed loudly over there. He no doubt agreed, "I like what you said. Okay, I'll take care of this matter. Come here quickly!"

Chen Rui wiped the cold sweat from his brow, and he quickly ordered Lucio to prepare the car.

Soon, the car arrived at 'Happy Hour', which was a large high scale nightclub. When Chen Rui arrived, Satan had settled Kia's troubles and was renting a luxurious KTV suite with Michael and others to drink wine.

Seeing Chen Rui coming, Satan laughed, "You're late. The punishment is drink."

Chen Rui caught sight of Kia who was sitting in the corner with her head bowed silently. He took the wine from Python and drank it all in one gulp. Everyone quickly greeted each other.

Chen Rui casually asked Python, "What trouble is she having?"

"Hmph!" Python ignored him.

Satan smiled nonchalantly, "Hehe, you still value sex over friends. Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Kia still bowed her head in silence. Gabriel whispered to Chen Rui, "The ones who trouble her are the 2 gangsters who often lend usury at school, Lalaria and Olypheus. I have heard before that Kia borrowed a lot of money to help with her mother's medical treatment. Now, she works as a part-time wine waiter here. She was found by the 2 guys to collect debts."

Lalaria and Olypheus are loan sharks now? Well, this setting barely fits part of the archetype. However, Kia...

Chen Rui thought for a while, and he sat beside Kia. Kia trembled slightly, but she did not move.

The little succubus in this world didn't have horns, wings, or tails, but she generally had the same appearance. Her look of bowing her head in silence was very charming.

"Cheer for today's victory!" Satan took the lead in raising the wine cup. Everyone except Kia clinked their glasses.

In the middle of the celebration, Chen Rui made an excuse and pulled Kia out. Kia didn't resist until she got into his car. She still just kept her head down.

The car drove slowly. Lucio was obviously very sensible. He was not driving fast.

"Kia." Chen Rui felt a sense of familiarity and strangeness. Perhaps even more strange was himself. Seeing Kia who had never spoken, he sighed, "How much do you owe them?"

Knowing what he meant, Kia raised her head. Her eyes were red, and there was a hint of sarcasm in her gaze, "What else do you want from me?"

Staring into Kia's eyes, Chen Rui was suddenly in a trace as if he saw the little succubus who risked her life to sneak into the Dark Moon for her mother, and he sighed, "Nothing."

"Could it be that the sun is rising from the west? Will you also realize your conscience?" Although Kia was a little surprised, she still had a mocking expression.

Chen Rui was silent for a moment, then he suddenly thought of something. He smiled, "Am I not a scum? I don't have a conscience! But anyway, you have nothing to lose, so what are you worrying about?"

"Aren't you a scum?" Kia pointed out the window, "Don't tell me it wasn't you who sent someone to smash up her father's stall, and it wasn't you who instructed people to injure her father?"

Chen Rui looked out the window, and he saw a familiar figure dragging a cart with a stall, walking forward with some difficulty.

It's her!

Athena...

Chen Rui silently called the most important name in his mind.

The car passed the figure quickly, and Chen Rui didn't look back.

"Should I get out of the car?" Kia sneered, "So as not to delay your 'big thing'."

Chen Rui shook his head, "My most important thing right now is to send you home safely."

Kia frowned, "Aren't we going to your villa? What do you want to do?"

"I'm thinking if I leave this world..."

"You can die in peace. Many people will be happy." Before he could finish speaking, Kia continued.

"This vicious mouth is a bit like someone."

"Is it Helen?" Kia's eyes turned redder, "She's much stronger than me and not as stupid as me..."

It turns out that another girl from the art department is Helen... Chen Rui suddenly understood. I bought a watch last year. Who cares if this is the world in the mirror or just an illusion, the next time I see Alucier, I must give him a solid punch!

"I was still thinking about 1 important thing, but now I have figured it out. First, I have to go back and sort out the glorious deeds of the scum... Thank you, Kia."

Kia couldn't understand Chen Rui's words, but when she heard the word 'thank you', she couldn't help but scoff.

Then both of them were silent. After a while, the car passed through the potholes and came to a simple hut.

Kia opened the car door and got out of the car. Suddenly, the sound of 'scumbag' came from behind, but it was gentle like never before.

"Kia, everything will be fine."

Kia paused. She didn't back as she continued walking forward.

"Let's go back to the villa, Lucio." Chen Rui watched Kia walk into the hut. Then, he looked up at the bright moon in the sky as if the moon had turned purple. He smiled and said something to himself, "It will be fine."

TL: Did he choose to make everything right for what the 'scum' did?