Am I really the chosen one?

"How is that possible?"

"That statue actually cracked open and a Snake Woman BOSS came out?"

"It even came with an Instant Death Affix, killing over a hundred thousand people within three kilometers?!"

Tejima Ichiro and the others were all shocked.

Originally, everyone in the team envied Tejima Ichiro for being able to obtain hidden rewards and getting more and more all-attribute bonuses from that statue.

They had even seriously calculated it.

If a hundred million people in the entire Sakura Country came to worship the statue, wouldn't Tejima Ichiro gain a hundred thousand in all attributes?

"If that time really comes, I could kill Shadow with a single slap!"

Tejima Ichiro was dreaming of such a future.

He felt that one day, as long as he continued, he could turn his 'fantasies' into 'realities'.

Such a wonderful thing made Tejima Ichiro constantly wonder if this was all an illusion.

Was it a hallucination?

Tejima Ichiro's vigilance was still very strong.

To this end, he had specifically conducted many experiments.

While killing monsters, he had people observe the damage, monster health, and so on, to conduct damage tests.

As it turned out, everything was normal!

After his attributes increased, his damage began to rise; every point of attribute enhancement allowed him to feel his strength growing.

If it were just his own feeling, it might be an illusion.

But the key was that the people around him observed the same results as he did.

Everything seemed perfectly normal.

However, if Qin Feng were here, he would know…

When these people worshiped the statue, the 100-day lifespan they handed over didn't just modify their own perception; it simultaneously modified the perception of the people around them!

Even if there were unreasonable situations, they would simply ignore them.

This was the effect of 'Order'.

Order is the rule and crushing weight of the divine level over mortals!

After confirming that the attribute increases were effective, Tejima Ichiro and the others seized even more time to grind monsters and level up, while secretly mobilizing more people to worship the statue.

Just as they were looking forward to the future…

They never expected that reality would give them a heavy slap so quickly.

That statue actually became a BOSS!

And it killed over a hundred thousand people!

That wasn't even the most terrifying part.

What was even more terrifying was…

When Tejima Ichiro heard the news, his first reaction wasn't that they had caused this great disaster.

What he thought of first was…

That's over a hundred thousand people! How many of them hadn't worshiped yet?

With so many people dead, wouldn't he directly lose out on hundreds of points of all-attribute gains?

Tejima Ichiro gathered everyone and said in a low voice, "I knew things wouldn't go smoothly."

The bald priest Yoshida-kun frowned: "Could it be that we were used by that BOSS?"

The cold-faced white-haired assassin 'Hojo' snorted: "Bullshit! Are you out of your mind? Do you want to take responsibility for the Deaths of so many people?"

Tejima Ichiro waved his hand and said seriously: "The latest news is that Shadow from Great Xia has arrived in our East Capital. According to reports from the scene, it seems the BOSS killed Shadow's Cousin and was chased back into the game by him…"

"Now our East Capital officials are negotiating with Great Xia and Shadow, planning to pay a price to have Shadow kill that BOSS!"

In the group, a female priest holding a priest's staff immediately raised her hand upon hearing this.

Her name was 'Yanagi Mina,' and she had already secretly hooked up with Tejima Ichiro.

She spoke convincingly: "We absolutely cannot let Shadow kill the BOSS… Otherwise, won't Tejima-kun's future be ruined? As long as the BOSS doesn't die, she might turn back into a statue, let people worship her, and stack all attributes for Tejima-kun!"

The bald priest Yoshida-kun frowned again: "But now that the BOSS has returned to the East Capital Ruins, the officials won't let her go. They will definitely ask Shadow to help deal with her, no matter how high the price…"

Yanagi Mina sneered: "Don't you all find it strange? The statue only just turned into a BOSS and started killing, and before we could even mourn the Deaths for a moment, Shadow immediately arrived at the scene…"

"So I suspect that this incident might have been orchestrated by Shadow himself!"

"And where did he get a Cousin in East Capital? I heard before that when he was slaughtering the Non-China guilds in Guanggang, Great Xia, he also claimed they killed his Cousin… Does he really take us for fools?"

"So, as long as we make people believe that Shadow orchestrated this, we can make the officials hesitate or even give up on the idea of paying Shadow! At the very least, it can delay the negotiation time."

"In a way, both we and the BOSS are victims, so why can't we cooperate?"

When everyone heard this, they thought, doesn't this actually make a lot of sense?

Next, Yanagi Mina spoke about many details of the cooperation.

They could take advantage of the Sakura Country officials' negotiations with Shadow to find an opportunity to quietly hide the BOSS first…

That way, even if Shadow really wanted to kill the BOSS, he wouldn't be able to find her!

"First of all, I just asked around, and that statue is the BOSS's shell; it's an item, so it can definitely be activated again to turn back into a statue."

"Through recent observation, we know that many monsters have limited activity areas in reality. So far, no BOSS above Gold-grade has been found capable of entering a Mild area."

"So, the BOSS cannot run around in reality on her own power."

"But when we secretly moved the statue before, we passed through a Mild area. It's clear that in her statue state, she can enter a Mild area, it's just that she can't move in that state…"

"From her request to place the statue on the building's rooftop, it's very likely that she can only emerge from the statue state in an area with a lifespan flow rate of ten times or more."

This was a fact they discovered after the Barren Wasteland spread, and it was the basis they thought of for negotiating cooperation with the BOSS.

"Furthermore, even if Shadow and the BOSS really are in league, the BOSS couldn't possibly fully trust Shadow. After all, Shadow would get Epic-grade loot for killing her; that is the natural conflict between players and monsters!"

Yanagi Mina said confidently: "But we are different. For us, our benefits are maximized only if the BOSS is alive. So, as long as the BOSS has a brain, she will definitely cooperate with us. We can protect her from Shadow's pursuit…"

After hearing these words.

The bald priest Yoshida-kun frowned yet again: "But even if we really protect the BOSS… after what happened, who would dare to worship her?"

Yanagi Mina chuckled: "Middle-aged men are just stupid. If the BOSS wants to trick people into being killed, then let her kill them. As long as the ones she kills next aren't our own Sakura Country people, won't it be fine?"

"After the Barren Wasteland spread, the global network was cut off, and electromagnetic signals can't pass through areas with doubled lifespan flow rates. In other words, global communication has almost come to a standstill…"

"In this situation, it's hard for other countries to learn about the statue! The BOSS wants to kill? We cooperate with her, help her, and help send the statue to other countries, like… Non-China!"

"With the level of ignorance in Non-China, they will definitely be even more crazed than us. When the time comes, for every extra person they have worshiping, we profit. Even if something goes wrong, it has nothing to do with us! For the BOSS, she would surely be willing to accept such a cooperation…"

She spoke with increasing excitement, her tone becoming more and more impassioned.

But Tejima Ichiro, listening from the side, kept frowning.

Finally unable to take it anymore, he spoke coldly: "Shut up."

Yanagi Mina's words were cut off, and she was momentarily speechless. She looked at Tejima Ichiro with a wronged and pitiful expression: "What is it, Tejima-kun? Did I say something wrong? I'm thinking about your future; I hope you can become a man who surpasses Shadow…"

Tejima Ichiro was silent for a moment before saying: "Everything you said is right. But if I were the BOSS, I would choose to cooperate with Shadow and help him infinitely increase his attributes."

As soon as these words came out, everyone around was speechless.

Compared to Yanagi Mina's long-winded speech, Tejima Ichiro's words were simple, blunt, and an absolute checkmate!

"But…"

Yanagi Mina's face turned red, and she said unwillingly: "But Tejima-kun, you are the chosen one! None of us obtained hidden rewards, only you did… Even Shadow might not necessarily be able to get a hidden reward, right?"

Tejima Ichiro remained silent for a long time without speaking.

Finally, he made a decision: "Everyone listen up, let this matter take its course. No one is to interfere; just wait and see!"

Ever since Shadow got involved, Tejima Ichiro always felt something was off.

Was his so-called 'hidden reward' of infinitely stacking attributes really random?

Was he, Tejima Ichiro, really the chosen one?

…

If Qin Feng knew about Tejima Ichiro's doubts, he would definitely tell him categorically—

"Yes, you are the chosen one. Don't doubt yourself for a second, keep going!"

At this time, Qin Feng was rapidly absorbing the lifespan in the field.

He looked at the white lifespan light orbs in front of him and roughly estimated that it would take over an hour to finish absorbing all of them.

"I never thought picking up money would be so tiring!"

Qin Feng sighed.

While 'picking up money,' he was chatting with the representatives of the Sakura Country officials through the 'Communication Crystal Ring'.

The other party had rushed over with dozens of people and then added Qin Feng as a friend from a distance.

They were mainly negotiating the reward for helping to kill the 'Long-tailed Snake Demon'!

However, neither Qin Feng nor Tejima Ichiro knew…

At this very moment.

Yanagi Mina was not content with doing nothing.

After being stopped by Tejima Ichiro, this female priest became even more crazed. Her eyes showed determination as she thought to herself: "Tejima-kun, I understand your concerns, but I must think of your future and let the BOSS survive."

"When I finish all this, you will thank me!"

"And Shadow… will eventually crawl at your feet and mine!"

If Tejima Ichiro knew her thoughts, he would surely collapse on the spot and curse her out—what kind of overconfident woman and pig teammate was this?!

…

(3000-word chapter~ Please 'Generate Power for Love'~~ TAT, the data has been so low lately, please support me.)