Darkness.
Yet not cold.
Whose tears were these, so warm upon his skin?
Anming closed his eyes as he fell backward into the abyss.
[Life Simulator Cooldown Complete]
A blue holographic display flickered in the void, its countdown long expired. He could have activated this simulation back in Jarilo, but he'd chosen to stay with Firefly instead.
Now, with Fu Xuan's blade still fresh in his chest, there was no reason to delay.
Maybe when he returned from the simulation, he'd emerge as an Emanator—or better yet, an Aeon.
[Yes]
[Life Simulator: Activate]
Familiar panels materialized before him. After a moment's hesitation, Anming spoke:
"Begin."
Warm blue light engulfed him, pulling him upward from the darkness. Fragmented memories rushed past like a river, dissolving into the void behind him.
[Life Simulator Initializing]
[Select Three Talents for This Simulation]
[Note: Talent System Upgraded - Additional Branches Now Available]
[Gold] Eden
What you desire shall manifest. With your soul as the catalyst, create a new world without pain or sorrow.
Your spirit will bear the fruit of the future, bestowing love and hope upon all beings.
Compose the symphony of a new genesis.
Deny all malice—and thus, enter Eden.
[Red] Aeon's Blessing
(1) An epic, a possibility, a choice.
(2) Select a previously obtained blessing:
Path of Elation: Randomly upgrade/downgrade one of your three selected talents. Low chance to elevate this blessing to [?] tier.
Path of Abundance: +1 talent selection limit. Life-related talents auto-upgrade.
[Green] Wuthering Waves Expert
Green talents are like this—Wuthering experts just charge into official forums demanding compensation, spamming copy-paste complaints in ABA format.
If selected, you can only speak in ABA patterns.
[White] Blank Option
Let's be real—you weren't picking white anyway.
Automatically cycles to the next talent.
[Purple] Lyricist
Every song you've ever known will surface as inspiration. When experiencing emotions that match a song's theme, you gain perfect lyrical recall.
Master all instruments. Possess absolute pitch.
[Blue] Daydream Believer
By daydreaming during work hours, even the most absurd fantasies have a 0.001% chance of becoming reality.
"Don't dream it if you can't do it"—but what if you can?
Dream on—until your dying breath!
"Next time, just show me gold, red, and purple talents," Anming muttered. "Eden, Aeon's Blessing (Option 1), Lyricist."
Gold was an instant pick—no explanation needed. The downside? Only one ever appeared. If he could roll a full set of golds, he could probably solo the Aeon War.
The new Aeon's Blessing (Option 2) offered stability over randomness, but the effects were... questionable.
Abundance's +1 talent slot was strong, but this batch was so terrible that an extra pick meant nothing.
Elation's gamble wasn't worth it—knowing his luck, he'd downgrade Eden to purple. The only useful intel? Gold wasn't the highest tier. What came next—rainbow?
Thus, gambling on a new Aeon's Blessing was better. First, he was confident it'd be Memory this time. Second, it'd expand future Option 2 choices.
As for Lyricist? At least it was functional. Maybe he'd finally achieve his dream of becoming a galactic idol. (His debut single "Snow Ash" had been... less than well-received.)
[Talents Confirmed. Beginning Third Simulation]
[All Content is Fictional]
[Verifying Talents—]
This blessing would almost certainly be Fuli's.
Memory-based powers could be game-breaking—what if he gained memory manipulation?
[Eden]
[Lyricist]
[Aeon's Blessing
The Aeon cares only for memory.
You can reconstruct reality using memories as blueprints.
When you touch a memory, the world bends to your will.
Should all worlds crumble into nothingness, you shall rebuild them from remembrance—an indestructible tower in the void.
"Memory it is," Anming murmured. The Aeon he'd glimpsed before the simulation was indeed his next blessing.
Though after meeting Qliphoth and Yaoshi, he'd expected The Hunt to show up too. Maybe Lan was avoiding him over his past as a Abundance spawn.
Regardless, these talents were his most cryptic yet—but none seemed likely to get him killed early.
The real question was: Would he "dream" of another woman this time?
As the simulation's vertigo took hold, Anming surrendered to the tide pulling him toward unknown shores.
"Splash—"
Warm seawater lapped at his feet. Not cold—but bittersweet, like tears.