17: How to drink Coke without destroying the world

The clamor and shock of the Multiverse were, for Gu Jianghan, nothing more than ripples in a pond caused by a thrown stone.

Vast, yet ultimately destined to subside.

His consciousness had long since retracted from the external world.

He was immersed in an unprecedented introspection.

The experiences of Gu Yanci in the Blue Star World were like a mirror, reflecting his own problems.

Invincibility was merely the beginning of omnipotence.

He could easily overturn rules, reverse life and death.

He could toy with a 10th-tier Gravekeeper in the palm of his hand.

Gu Jianghan himself knew best that it was not perfect “control,” but an ultimate “crushing.”

He was like a giant with infinite power.

Trying to help a fragile seedling stand up.

Yet, because he couldn't restrain his own existence, he almost crushed the entire earth along with it.

In the Blue Star World, to reverse Gu Yanci's future, ninety-nine percent of the power he exerted was used to “restrain” himself.

To prevent unintentional aftershocks from obliterating that fragile world, along with Gu Yanci himself, he even had to “go all out.”

This sense of losing control, for Gu Jianghan, who pursued absolute mastery, was itself a form of weakness.

If power could only be used for destruction, then it was merely the crudest of tools.

“One can cleave chaos with a giant axe, but not necessarily embroider a flower with it.”

A thought arose in his mind.

He decided to conduct an experiment, an exploration of “fine-tuned operation” of power.

He wanted to attempt something that was simple for mortals, but for his current state, was more difficult than restarting the universe.

Under the gaze of all online members of group 114514, except for the sleeping Gu Yanci, the void subtly warped before Gu Jianghan.

This time, there was no world-shattering might, no fluctuations that made the Multiverse tremble.

Innumerable, unobservable information streams and conceptual threads began to intertwine.

They bypassed the fragile physical rules of the real world, like the most nimble weavers, constructing a material entity out of thin air.

A glass bottle of Coca-Cola thus appeared out of nowhere.

The bottle had perfect curves.

The red label was printed with elegant white lettering.

On the cold outer wall of the glass, condensation formed just right.

Through the glass, one could even see bubbles slowly rising in the liquid.

The three members of the group were stunned.

In Huang's eyes, the space around that bottle of cola was vibrating madly, at a scale of one billionth of a millimeter.

It could collapse into a black hole that devoured everything at any moment.

He felt that bottle of drink was ten thousand times more dangerous than any innate treasure or forbidden ancient artifact he had ever seen!

Lin Moyan had already taken out her small notebook and began frantically recording: “Divine Revelation Era, New Era. The Lord created the world from the void, its form like water, its taste sweet, its meaning unfathomable. Perhaps a test, or the beginning of a new path...”

Su Qingyuan, on the other hand, was the most devout.

He believed this was the Lord demonstrating a “Dao” of returning to simplicity.

The Great Dao is simple.

Perhaps true power was hidden within this most ordinary creation.

They were all wrong.

This was not creation, but “control.”

Gu Jianghan reached out and grasped the bottle of cola.

The moment he touched the bottle, the underlying rules of the entire universe let out a groan, unable to bear the burden.

His mere act of “picking up” required mobilizing vast computational power, enough to reshape timelines, to restrain the energy that would otherwise leak out.

That energy was enough to instantly evaporate a Great Thousand World.

He forcibly prevented them from interacting with the glass bottle in any way.

With his other hand, he twisted the cap gently.

“Hiss—”

A crisp popping sound of the bottle opening rang out.

But to higher-dimensional beings, this sound was no less than a cosmic explosion being forcibly compressed and tamed, ultimately transforming into a docile sigh.

Innumerable violent energies were confined within this soft sound, not a single trace leaking out.

Gu Jianghan tilted his “head” and brought the cold liquid to his “mouth.”

The familiar, sweet taste with stimulating bubbles burst on his taste buds.

To simulate this mundane “mouthfeel,” he was using his will to forcibly distort a series of fundamental concepts such as “entropy increase,” “heat death,” and “causality.”

He made them serve the definition of “delicious” in an extremely unnatural, yet incredibly stable way.

He drank it all in one gulp.

He put down the empty glass bottle.

The bottle was intact.

The sea of concepts where he resided was safe and sound.

The Multiverse had not experienced any upheaval due to his small action.

The experiment was a success.

The chaos and indifference in his eyes dissipated slightly, replaced by a flicker of understanding.

After successfully completing the initial micro-manipulation of his power, Gu Jianghan's interest shifted from the simple performance art of “drinking cola” to a more complex domain.

To gain a more thorough mastery of power, his “gaze” fell upon the [World Embryo · Cradle of Original Sin], which was considered taboo by high-tier existences across the Multiverse.

His will, like mercury, silently seeped into it.

In an instant, a bizarre and colorful world unfolded before his eyes.

Tall buildings stood, traffic flowed, neon lights flickered.

It looked like a civilization no different from modern society.

However, beneath this mundane facade, the underlying laws were infiltrated by “strangeness” and “fear,” with an unsettling crimson undercurrent surging.

In the shadows of the city, in people's despair, various unspeakable ghosts were born.

This world had no so-called physical constants.

The only truth was “fear gives birth to vengeful spirits, despair nourishes strangeness.”

Every abandoned hospital, every dark alley, was infested with twisted ghosts born from human negative emotions.

And in the deepest reaches of the universe, Cthulhu, originating from the same source as Gu Jianghan and exuding chaos and madness, lay dormant.

“So that's how it is.”

Gu Jianghan understood instantly.

This world was like a Venus flytrap, using mundane “honey” to attract observers from the Multiverse.

Once a high-tier existence descended, the malice of the entire world would surge like a tide, dragging them into the abyss and devouring them completely.

No wonder the chat group warned that “this world has caused the complete demise of 3 10th-tier and 1 11th-tier existences.”

His gaze pierced through the world's surface.

Countless causal lines were clearly visible in his eyes.

Soon, he found a singularity.

A center where all malice, curses, misfortune, and despair converged.

A girl named Su Ke Ke.

Her life was a long tragedy.

Her mother died in childbirth.

Her father died in a car accident when she was three.

Her grandparents, who raised her, both died of gas poisoning when she was ten.

Her distant relatives, who adopted her, all perished in a fire two years later.

She was like a walking calamity, cursed by the destiny of the entire world, constantly bringing death and misfortune to everyone who tried to get close to her.

She was the “sacrifice” used by this world, the embodiment of all malice... In the afternoon class, the sun, which should have been warm, couldn't reach the corner of Class 7, Grade 1.

Sixteen-year-old Su Ke Ke lowered her head, looking at her torn math homework, feeling utterly cold.

Several girls, led by Li Na, the class bully, were scornfully staring at her as if she were trash.

“Su Ke Ke! Where's your homework?”

The math teacher pushed up his glasses and sternly questioned her.

“Teacher, I... my homework was torn by them.”

Su Ke Ke mustered her courage, looked up, and pointed at Li Na.

Li Na immediately put on a wronged expression: “Teacher, she's lying! How could we do such a thing? She must not have written it herself and is trying to find an excuse!”

The math teacher's face darkened. He didn't even look at the paper scraps on the floor, just stared coldly at Su Ke Ke: “Su Ke Ke, once or twice is an accident, but every time it's you with the problem, you should look for the reason within yourself! Flies don't bite seamless eggs. If you behave properly, why would others always trouble you? Get out and stand in the hallway!”

“Teacher! I can testify! I saw with my own eyes that Li Na and her gang snatched Su Ke Ke's homework and tore it up!”

A girl with a ponytail named Zhang Wei suddenly stood up, her face flushed as she defended Su Ke Ke.

“You?”

The teacher's gaze turned to Zhang Wei, becoming even more displeased.

“Learning to gang up and lie to the teacher, are you? Fine, you go out and stand with her! Reflect on yourselves!”

In the corridor, Su Ke Ke looked at Zhang Wei, who was also standing in punishment but was comforting her instead.

The warmth in her heart was almost drowned by guilt.

Zhang Wei was her only light, but she was dragged into the darkness because of Su Ke Ke.

After school, this darkness grew even thicker.

In the alley behind the school, Li Na and her followers cornered Su Ke Ke and Zhang Wei.

“You damn dare to tell tales?”

Li Na slapped Su Ke Ke across the face, then turned to Zhang Wei, sneering: “And you, you meddling bitch, you don't appreciate kindness, do you?”

“What do you want to do?!” Zhang Wei bravely shielded Su Ke Ke behind her.

“What do we want to do?”

Li Na pulled out a business card from her pocket and threw it at Su Ke Ke's face.

“My third brother fancies you. Go to this hotel tonight and sleep with him once, and all past debts will be cleared. Otherwise... I'll make your good sister go in your place!”

Looking at the business card with the address of a luxurious hotel printed on it, Su Ke Ke's heart sank completely into an icy sea.

However, Zhang Wei desperately protected her, roaring at Li Na and her gang: “You're breaking the law! I'm calling the police!”

“Calling the police?”

Li Na seemed to have heard the biggest joke. She winked at her followers.

“Hold her down for me! Let her know what it means to meddle!”

Several girls swarmed forward, roughly pushing Zhang Wei to the ground, punching and kicking her.

They pulled her hair, emptied her backpack, scattering her books and stationery on the ground, covered in mud.

“No! Please, let her go! I'll go with you! I'll do anything! Please let her go!”

Su Ke Ke cried out in despair, kneeling on the ground.

She wasn't afraid of being bullied herself; she was only afraid of implicating the only person in this world who was good to her.

Her pleas only brought more intensified mockery and beatings from the bullies.

Half an hour later, on the rooftop of the teaching building, Su Ke Ke stood on the edge, her disheveled hair blowing in the evening wind.

Her face stung, and her body was bruised.

She looked at the crowd below, tiny as ants, her face devoid of tears, only a dead silence.

She had harmed Zhang Wei.

If she died, there would be no more misfortune in this world, right?

Everyone who came close to her would be free, right?

She closed her eyes and took a step forward.

Just as her body lost balance and she was about to fall, a cold, emotionless mechanical voice sounded directly in her mind.

【Ding-dong ~ Destiny Reversal System has been bound】

【Newbie Quest: Repay grievances with justice】

【Quest Description: Repay kindness with kindness, but with what shall grievances be repaid? Repay grievances with justice, and kindness with kindness. The hands that pushed you into the abyss, the words that trampled your dignity, the faces that mocked your pain... should not be easily forgotten. Your first return gift should be dedicated to the most “deserving” people.】

On one side of the light screen, a scene appeared.

It was the alley behind the school.

Li Na and her followers were buying milk tea with the money they had snatched from Su Ke Ke, their faces beaming with malicious smiles.

“That useless wretch is probably hiding somewhere crying right now, it's hilarious.”

“She really thought she could tell tales? Teacher Zhao Lei hates poor people like her the most.”

“And that Zhang Wei, she deserved it! If she meddles again next time, I'll make her go with my third brother too!”

The piercing mockery clearly entered Su Ke Ke's mind.

Her once dead eyes instantly became bloodshot.

It wasn't sadness, but a burning, overwhelming hatred!

The text on the light screen continued to refresh.

【Quest Objective: Implant ‘Elementary Fear’ into Li Na, Zhang Wei's bullies, and the math teacher Zhao Lei, a total of four people. Let them personally experience one ten-thousandth of your pain in tonight's nightmare.】

【Quest Reward: Newbie Gift Pack × 1 (Contains: ‘Calamity’ Authority (Elementary) Fragment × 1, complete physical restoration, slight mental power increase).】

【Failure Penalty: Soul dissipation.】

Calamity Authority... Su Ke Ke's breathing suddenly quickened.

She was born to be seen as a calamity, rejected and feared by everyone.

But now, this mysterious “system” told her that calamity... could be a power?

A power that she could control and use for revenge!

That heart, which had already died, facing the irrigation of hatred and hope, once again burst forth with a faint, yet burning pulsation!

She no longer wanted to passively endure, no longer wanted to implicate the only person who was good to her!

She wanted revenge! She wanted to protect Zhang Wei!

She wanted those evil people to also taste despair!

At the bottom of the light screen, two options slowly emerged, radiating the light of destiny-making.

【Accept Quest: Survive】 or 【Abandon Quest: Die】