While Rookie was talking with Notch, Old Wu, who had been sitting stiffly on the sofa nearby, finally couldn't hold back the urge in his heart and cut in.
His voice carried a trace of urgency and confusion, "Since you can find a breakthrough from the inner world… then why did you have to wait until Xu Yuan completely disappeared before…"
Old Wu's words were like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly breaking the previously harmonious atmosphere.
Notch's eyes suddenly widened. He quickly turned his head and stared straight at Old Wu, questioning in disbelief, "What did you just say??!"
"Xu Yuan disappeared?!!! How is that possible?!!!"
From Notch's repeated questioning alone, it was clear how big of a shock this news was to him.
Seeing the usually calm Notch react so intensely, Old Wu's heart tightened. He silently lowered his head and didn't dare say another word.
At this moment, the air itself seemed frozen, and the atmosphere became extremely tense and suffocating.
Realizing he wouldn't get any more useful information from Old Wu, Notch hurriedly turned his gaze toward Rookie.
Clenching his teeth tightly, he questioned him word by word, "What exactly happened?!"
However, faced with Notch's aggressive questioning, Rookie remained unusually calm.
He simply shook his head slightly and didn't explain much.
After a moment, he slowly said, "There's no meaning in explaining all that to you in detail right now. The most urgent thing is to successfully enter the inner world before the company fixes the server."
"As for everything else, once we're inside, I'll naturally explain the entire plan."
When his eyes fell on Rookie's calm expression, Notch finally realized how badly he had lost his composure just now.
In truth, Notch trusted Rookie very much and fully acknowledged his abilities.
If what Old Wu had just said had been about anyone else disappearing, Notch would never have rushed over to question Rookie like this.
Notch knew Rookie's character very well. Although he usually seemed a bit eccentric and crazy, when it came to actually doing things, he was very measured and would never act recklessly.
The only reason he had reacted like that just now was because this matter involved Xu Yuan. When you care too much, it's easy to lose your head.
Although the friendship between Notch and Xu Yuan couldn't be considered very deep, in Notch's heart he had already regarded Xu Yuan as a rare kindred spirit.
After all, it was Xu Yuan who had guided him step by step out of the confusion he had once been trapped in.
So after hearing that Xu Yuan had disappeared, it was only natural that Notch couldn't remain rational and calm.
Fortunately, after hearing Rookie's calm explanation, Notch's restless heart gradually settled down.
After thinking for a moment, he couldn't help frowning. He let out a deep sigh, as if trying to release all the frustration and worry in his heart with that breath.
His originally resolute face was now filled with exhaustion. He slowly raised his head, looked at Rookie, and said in a low voice, "It seems like everyone has always thought I was extremely important, but I never realized it myself…"
Before finishing, he shook his head slightly with a bitter smile.
"It wasn't until I talked with D that I realized the power he possessed actually came from me."
Notch paused, then looked at Rookie again.
"And just now, I learned from you that the true HIM's power also comes from me…"
At this point, Notch's expression became even more complicated, filled with deep self-blame, endless guilt, and helplessness that was hard to put into words.
"All of this disaster started because of me! Honestly, I really want to step forward at a critical moment like this and become the key person everyone is hoping for, to turn the tide and save everything with my own strength."
Notch clenched his fists, his tone firm but tinged with bitterness.
"But… the truth is, I can't do anything."
"The reason D dared to completely confront me without hesitation is because he noticed that the power that should belong to me hasn't returned to me."
Notch gritted his teeth and continued, "As the owner of those powers, I don't even know how to take them back. I don't even know when they quietly slipped away from me…"
At this point, Notch looked at Rookie with tired eyes and gave a bitter smile.
"Without those powers, I'm just an ordinary game developer. Maybe I can't even enter the inner world you talked about… I…"
The reason Notch fell into such a low and discouraged state was, in the end, simply because of the overwhelming sense of disparity he felt.
To put it simply, imagine everyone thinks you're a top genius student and firmly believes you'll get first place in the entire school on the final exam.
Before the exam, the principal personally talks to you and gives you encouragement and high expectations.
The dean constantly checks your study progress and cheers you on.
Even your usually strict homeroom teacher now looks at you with nothing but expectation and trust.
But when you finally enter the exam hall and open the test paper, you suddenly realize you can't even understand the questions.
The shock from that kind of psychological gap would be extremely heavy and would instantly destroy your confidence.
Notch's current situation was just like that. Almost everyone saw him as the key to solving the problem. Even Xu Yuan had placed great expectations on him.
But faced with those heavy expectations, Notch felt powerless, because he truly didn't know how he was supposed to respond to them or how to live up to Xu Yuan's trust.
Although deep down he desperately wanted to reclaim his power and save Xu Yuan and this crumbling world, he really didn't know what to do. That feeling of helplessness was almost breaking him.
Hearing this, Rookie practically rolled his eyes to the sky. "Stop stop stop!!!!" he hurriedly interrupted Notch.
In truth, Rookie had also experienced this kind of negative emotion before when he couldn't help Entity 303. He could understand how Notch felt.
But now wasn't afternoon tea time. He didn't have time to give Notch psychological counseling.
And even if he did, it wouldn't be free.
"Don't start giving me that 'the password is correct' drama here!"
"This isn't a TV show. The villain won't die from talking too much, and the hero won't suddenly get stronger just because the 'password is correct'!"
"I don't have time to listen to you ramble."
At this point, Rookie looked at Notch with clear annoyance, reached out and poked the tip of his nose, and said in a commanding tone, "I don't need you to suddenly get your power back, turn into a Saiyan, and tear your idiot friend into eight pieces."
"I only need you to do two things."
Rookie paused slightly, then raised two fingers and said one by one, "First, I want you to desperately recall the feeling you had when you personally created the Blade of the God of War. Don't miss a single detail."
"Second, I want you to do everything you can to remember what your original intention was when you first created this game! Got it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, without even waiting for Notch to respond, Rookie suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Notch's shoulders tightly with both hands, and gave a hard push, directly stuffing him into the game pod.
After doing all this, Rookie turned around coolly without looking back and walked toward another game pod.
"See you in the inner world!"
Then, with a crisp snap, Rookie closed the game pod door without hesitation…