There is One New Rule Every Month Globally

Chapter 184 "All Actions Follow the Heart.

"..."

Sword Without End silently touched his nose, not speaking further. This was a state beyond his imagination.

He could not imagine someone who had never reproached themselves.

Is that normal?

It isn't!

After hesitating, he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Tuberculosis Rabbit, there's something I'm not sure whether I should say. Everyone has moments of youthful folly and ignorance. Haven't you ever rewarded yourself?"

"When you reward yourself, you don't feel guilty."

"Hehe."

With an expressionless face, Tuberculosis Rabbit coldly chuckled twice, "Refuse to answer."

Having said that, he was the first to head towards the coffee shop, with Chen Yi and another not speaking further, but following him closely.

The coffee shop wasn't very large.

There were about seven or eight tables. There was no one at the bar, just a self-service ordering menu with some items like lattes and coffees. The prices weren't high, all about 100 Points per cup.

In the outside world, that was expensive—a cup of coffee for 100 Points was like a robbery.

But if it was situated in a B-grade map, it didn't seem so conspicuous.

The rule of this ruin was that after purchasing a cup of coffee, one could go to the psychological counseling room next door to seek advice from a psychological counselor.

With the guidance of the psychological counselor, one who successfully cuts off their Heart Demon would be able to pass through the ruin.

The three sat at a round table, each ordering a cup of coffee. Soon, a cylindrical robot approached, its top carrying three cups of coffee to them.

"It's much more comfortable in here."

Tuberculosis Rabbit casually sipped his coffee, furrowed his brows slightly, and put the cup back on the table, "Can't get used to this bird stuff. Drinking this always makes me think of some weird things."

"Come on, we have to pass through a total of five ruins. This is only the first one."

"I'll go set an example for everyone first."

After speaking, Tuberculosis Rabbit didn't linger and went straight into the psychological counseling room, hidden behind a door.

Pushing the door open, it automatically closed behind him.

In front was a room of about thirty square meters. A good-looking woman was sitting behind a desk, staring at him and crisply said, "Please sit down. I'm the psychological counselor Nana."

"Nana?"

Tuberculosis Rabbit thoughtfully pulled out a chair and sat down, resting his arms in front of him. He scrutinized the woman before him and suddenly asked, "What's your relation to the game of ascension?"

"Are you an employee of the game?"

"Or were you dragged into this against your will, or are you simply an NPC filled with a segment of consciousness and not a living person by nature?"

"What kind of existence are you?"

The woman in front of him, dressed in a black suit exuding professionalism, showed no change in her facial expression. She just took out a mirror from her bosom and placed it on the desk.

"You need to stare at the mirror continuously for 3 seconds, and afterward, it will display your greatest Heart Demon from your memory."

"Hmm?"

Tuberculosis Rabbit stopped talking and withdrew his gaze from the woman, looking intently at the mirror. He was actually curious about what his greatest Heart Demon might be.

The three seconds quickly passed.

The mirror began to change. It turned white as if a computer had frozen, with nothing visible beyond it.

"What's this supposed to mean?"

"..."

The woman, who had been impassive until that moment, suddenly leaned forward a bit. After a moment of silent furrowing of her brows, she spoke with a serious tone, "In your memory, you have no Heart Demon."

"Everything you do, you do with a clean conscience."

"Heh."

Upon hearing this, Tuberculosis Rabbit grinned, leaning back in his chair, "So it's over now?"

"Yes, you are free to leave."

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As Tuberculosis Rabbit left the room, a voice rang near his ear.

?Ding, congratulations on successfully clearing Ruin No. 3...?

...

"Very simple."

Tuberculosis Rabbit stood in front of Chen Yi and the other, spreading his arms and shrugging casually, "Basically no challenge. I just talked to that so-called psychological counselor for a few sentences and then walked out."

"This must be the easiest of the seven ruins in this B-grade map."

"If the difficulty of the map is all like this, it doesn't deserve to be labeled as a B-grade map."

"I'll give it a try."

Chen Yi stood up and, leaning on his cane, strode in. Seconds later, he emerged again, "The psychological counselor said I have no Heart Demon. Everything I do is in accordance with my heart."

"..."

Sword Without End, standing aside with an ugly expression, remained silent in place. He knew these two were not normal. How could anyone live a lifetime without experiencing even a hint of guilt?

Good people?

No, as far as he knew, most so-called good people were motivated by excessive guilt inside, seeking to do good deeds to soothe their conscience.

In the case of a person with absolutely no sense of guilt in their heart, there was only one possibility.

Extreme self-interest.

Apart from themselves, they cared for no one else, indifferent to anything that happens in the world, only caring about themselves.

In such a situation, it was natural that they would not feel any remorse.

Such individuals are often modeled as villains. And he had two of them right beside him—damn... He remembered that he was supposed to be on the side of righteousness, wasn't he?

He had heard of villains turning good halfway, but never good guys turning bad!

His mouth twitched slightly, and without saying much, he steeled himself and stepped into the psychology consultation room before him.

Following the procedure, he stared at the mirror for three seconds.

Suddenly, he felt as if the ground beneath his feet had lightened, and when his vision cleared, he was in a void.

Chaos was all around him.

Images flashed by him, one after another.

There were images of his wife bedridden with a serious illness, images of her being scolded by vendors in a market, and images of him, powerless, sitting in a hospital corridor, holding his head and crying.

Voices were echoing in his ears as well.

There were his own heart-wrenching screams, his wife's agonized cries, the doctor's helpless declarations, the bank's cold refusals, and the funeral staff's rapid-fire presentation of their services.

A myriad of sounds and a multitude of images.

Enveloped him.

It was like being thrown into an uninhabited area; amidst the cacophony, he felt an almost suffocating silence.

Sword Without End slowly lowered his head, looked at his feet, and remained silent.

He knew all too well what his Heart Demon was.

This hurdle, he'd never overcome in his life.

He couldn't let go, didn't want to, and more so, was unwilling to let go.

After a long silence, he spoke in a calm, soft voice.

"I've let go, it's not the world to blame, but myself."

"If I hadn't been a failure who couldn't earn money, my wife wouldn't have died."

"If I hadn't been a failure who couldn't earn money, my wife wouldn't have been humiliated over a few cents at the market."

"If..."

Sword Without End murmured, his expression dazed.

The last time he faced his Heart Demon, he shifted his self-loathing towards the world.

This time, to conquer his Heart Demon again, he must shift his loathing of the world back to himself.

He couldn't completely sever his Heart Demon.

Only through displacement.

But the void remained all around him, offering no feedback, only the images playing on a loop, and the cries of his wife growing sharper in his ears.

Sword Without End, initially lost in a daze, began to unravel into hysterical madness.

With a crazed and fearsome howl, he shouted, "Didn't I say it? It's all my fault, all my fault, all because I'm such a waste!"

"I am a waste, less than a dog!"

"It has nothing to do with the world; I can't blame anything or anyone, everything is because of me."

"..."

...

Half an hour later.

Tuberculosis Rabbit sat at a round table, stirring the coffee in front of him with a glass rod, casually glanced at the psychology consultation room behind the bar and said, "Sword Without End hasn't come out yet?"

"It's been half an hour."

Chen Yi didn't reply, just studied the contents of the other six ruins on the map; he couldn't make out the specific content of a ruin but could only grasp some vague information.

For instance, the description for Ruin No. 3 on the map was just a brief sentence.

"A café deep in the Wasteland, is it salvation or a mirage for you?"

Regular players would likely find it difficult to infer the specific content of Ruin No. 3 from this sentence.

Just then—

"Bang."

The door to the psychology consultation room was violently pushed open. Sword Without End, his clothes somewhat disheveled and his face deathly white, his back completely soaked with sweat, stumbled out weakly.

Until he stepped outside the café.

With his back to the howling wind, he lit a cigarette and took a deep drag before collapsing heavily to the ground in a spread-eagle position, gazing blankly at the dark clouds overhead.

"Hey?"

Tuberculosis Rabbit stepped out of the café, looked up above the doorway, then took a cigarette out of his pocket, inserted it into his mouth, and with hands in pockets, casually asked Sword Without End, lying on the Wasteland, "Doing alright?"

"You look like you just went through a tough battle in there."

"I know that incident hit you hard, but after so long, you should be pretty much over it, right?"

Sword Without End did not respond, just lay there with a vacant stare, letting the newly lit cigarette be whipped away by the fierce wind without any reaction.

After lying there for a good three to five minutes.

He slowly regained some spirit, got up from the ground, glanced around, then turned to Chen Yi and Tuberculosis Rabbit with a wry smile, "Sorry, I must have been quite a sight."

"This Heart Demon is a hurdle I find very difficult to overcome. Every time I think about it, it's hard to get past."

"I really loved her."

'Ding, friendly reminder, this is the second time this month you've violated Rule No. 2 of July by publicly expressing affection.'

Sword Without End's voice suddenly stopped short.

"You've just violated the July Rules right?"

Tuberculosis Rabbit looked at Sword Without End quizzically, "There's not much margin for error left now, stop declaring your love rashly; I really doubt you'll make it to August."

"But there's something I'm curious about,"

"Would merely watching your wife die before your eyes really create such a powerful Heart Demon?"

"Hmm."

After a brief pause, Sword Without End nodded, his complexion still pale and unseemly.