"Right when I was hesitating, not knowing how to deal with what was happening..." At that point, Notch looked up at Brother Jiang and said, "You pulled me back into reality."
After hearing Notch's explanation, Brother Jiang still frowned in confusion. "So when I rescued you back then, you were actually conscious?"
As he said this, Brother Jiang shook his head. "No, that's not right. When I forcibly dragged you out of the gaming pod... you were still breathing, but it felt like you'd already been gone for quite a while."
"You looked half dead. No matter how I looked at it, you definitely weren't conscious."
While speaking, Brother Jiang replayed the details in his mind. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he continued, "Right, and another thing."
"I only slowly realized something was wrong while talking with you. Back then, you kept talking about the Void this and the Void that, like you were possessed or something."
Brother Jiang closed his eyes for a moment to recall things before saying firmly, "I probably started feeling something was off about you three or four months before I rescued you. Then one or two weeks before I pulled you out, I realized something was seriously wrong."
"And now you're saying you were conscious during that time, so what exactly was going on?"
Hearing this, Notch thought for a moment before explaining, "How should I put it... During that period, I was conscious inside the game world, but in real life I was in a muddled, hazy state."
"Because by then, the Inner World had already begun slowly devouring me without me even realizing it."
"The reason you were able to notice something strange about me... I think it was probably because my brain was instinctively trying to save itself."
"So when I talked to you, driven by that survival instinct, I would unconsciously reveal certain information that made you feel something was wrong."
"But that's only my guess... Even though I've recovered my memories, I'm still completely unclear about what state I was actually in during that time in the real world..."
At this point, Notch shrugged and joked, "But there's no point dwelling on it anymore. In any case, I really did lose my soul during that period."
After hearing Notch's explanation, Brother Jiang became even more puzzled. "I still don't fully understand this Inner World you're talking about, but you at least created the Outer World."
"The Inner World connected with the Outer World, and you gained the authority to control everything."
"Those living beings also survive by relying on the Outer World you created... Since that's the case, why would the Inner World devour your soul? Did it want to imprison you inside the Inner World or something?"
Notch shook his head helplessly. "I may have created this game, but what I created was only the Outer World."
"The Inner World was probably a world that had always existed. It likely belongs to a higher-dimensional realm."
"Even without the Outer World, it would still continue to exist, so all it did was connect itself to the Outer World I created."
"So even though I created the Outer World, I'm merely its administrator. I still can't control the operating laws of the Inner World."
"And the Inner World itself is incredibly complicated. I know very little about its laws and the rules that govern it."
At this point, Notch paused to think for a moment before continuing, "But regarding why the Inner World devoured my soul... I roughly understand part of the reason now."
Hearing this, Brother Jiang frowned and nodded, signaling for Notch to continue.
Seeing this, Notch went on, "What I can confirm at the moment is that everything in the Inner World is interconnected."
"And I was probably targeted because of those connections, which is why my soul was devoured."
Notch had only learned this information from Greenie. The moment he found out, he immediately connected it to what had happened to him before.
Previously, he had never understood why he had felt like he'd lost his soul during that period. Only after hearing Greenie's explanation did he suddenly realize that he hadn't merely seemed like he'd lost his soul.
He had actually lost it for real.
Hearing this, J seemed to think of something. He looked at Notch in shock and said, "Could it be that your soul was devoured because of what D did?!"
The moment J finished speaking, Notch nodded. "Every cause has its consequence."
"Although I created this world, D was slowly destroying it."
"I brought him here and gave him supreme authority and power, but I never restrained him."
"I truly didn't know about the things he did... As the saying goes, ignorance absolves one of guilt."
"But so many tragedies and disasters happened in this world, and yet I, its creator god, knew nothing about any of it. That in itself was negligence on my part, and also my sin."
As he said this, guilt filled Notch's eyes. He let out a long sigh and said, "So this was probably the punishment for my negligence."
"While my soul was being devoured, my body in the real world was naturally affected, but I myself had no awareness of it."
After saying that, Notch looked at Brother Jiang again. "That's probably why you saw me in that half-dead state."
Throughout Notch's explanation, Brother Jiang's brows remained tightly furrowed, one hand unconsciously pressed against his chest.
After hearing everything, he patted his chest with lingering fear written all over his face. "Why is this Inner World so dangerous?? Good thing I noticed something strange about you and rushed back in time! Otherwise..."
At this point, the relief in Brother Jiang's eyes was instantly replaced with guilt. He turned toward J, hesitating as if he wanted to speak but couldn't.
Seeing Brother Jiang's expression, J smiled and shook his head. He patted Brother Jiang on the shoulder and said, "You don't need to feel guilty."
"Back then, I chose to give up willingly... So even if you had saved me, I probably still would've walked down this same path."
"At the time, I wanted to stay by his side and save him, just like Notch once saved me."
"But thinking about it now, I wasn't saving him. I was saving myself."
At this point, J looked at Brother Jiang with a calm smile. "I don't regret the path I took."
Hearing J's words, Brother Jiang let out a long sigh and nodded with a bitter smile. "Life really is unpredictable. The fact that we can reunite at all is already a blessing..."
As he spoke, he patted J on the shoulder. Then, upon seeing J's face, he suddenly seemed to think of something.
After lowering his eyes and pondering for a while, he finally spoke up, "After I rescued Notch and settled him down, I went to check on you and D too."
"At the time..." Brother Jiang paused, seemingly recalling the scene from back then. He smacked his lips, his brows knitting together once more.
"Maggots had already started growing on D's body. The smell shot straight into my skull..." As he said this, it was as though he could smell that stench again.
His throat trembled involuntarily, forcing him to stop and suppress the acid rising from his stomach.
After a while, he finally recovered and looked at J again. "But your body, on the other hand..."
Brother Jiang didn't continue into the details. He waved his hand and said, "Anyway, the autopsy later concluded that both of you died from overwork..."
At this point, Brother Jiang frowned deeply, utterly baffled. "But the strange thing is... D had probably already been dead for four weeks, while you had only been dead for twelve hours..."
"So what exactly was going on...?"