Glorious God Throne

[Successfully cleared the nightmare fragment [Land of Art]]

[Instance level: ★★☆]

[Clearance rating: S]

[Points earned: 25]

[Achievements unlocked: [Social Butterfly] [One Big Happy Family] [Master of Seduction, King of the Sea] [Blood and Flesh Sacrifice] [Illusion of Paradise] [Music Grave Digger] [So Love Disappears, Right?] [Healed, Yet Depressed] [It’s the Grim Reaper, Not the Food God]]

[Note: You obtained nine achievements in one instance, truly living up to the name of a ruthless achievement-grinding machine. Your task reward is increased by 50%, and you will have a chance to draw special items and special objects.]

[Hidden instance unlocked: [All-Round Artist]] [

Instance level: ★★★]

[Clearance rating: S]

[Achievement unlocked: [God of All-Round Art]]

[Note: You completed main task 7/3, achieving over 200% completion rate on the original basis, claiming seven divine titles, and accomplishing an unattainable achievement in the nightmare fragment instance.]

[God of Depressing Art]

[Note: You pioneered a unique field of depressing art in the nightmare fragment instance, single-handedly guiding and distorting the aesthetic preferences of countless artists, developing a school of depressing art, founding your own style, worthy of being called the God of Depressing Art.]

[Special reward draw begins.]

[Hidden world view unlocked, you obtained the special item “Fragment of the Principle of All Things” x1.]

[You obtained a special drop: Nightmare Crystal (Green) x10.]

[Note: This is a special instance. The item purchase channel has been opened. Players can use points to buy corresponding items from this nightmare fragment instance. All items are now available in the system store.]

[You obtained a three-star character card…]

As soon as he left the game instance, a string of system prompts appeared.

Distorted and blurry characters floated and dissipated in mid-air, followed by rippling golden light. A card, seemingly both real and illusory, slowly coalesced in the golden ripples.

Bai Yi reached out to catch it.

However, his attention wasn’t fully on this newly acquired character card.

“New feature? System store? Are game points finally useful now…”

While opening the system store, Bai Yi casually glanced at his basic stats panel.

It had been over a month since the nightmare game descended. Bai Yi had cleared countless instances, big and small. Since game points previously had no use, they had accumulated to a considerable amount.

**

Name: Bai Yi

Age: 17

Talent: Rhythm of All Things lv10 (10% awakened)

Life Skills (only showing lv1 and above): Persuasion lv3 Iron Stomach lv3 Personality Mask lv2

Extraordinary Skills:

Dark Cuisine lv1

Blind Man’s Praise lv1

Web of Thoughts lv10

[Note: Special skill related to the talent Rhythm of All Things, level increases with talent awakening.]

Points: 230

Card Slots:

[Ghost in the Rainy Night★]

[Flower Speaker★★☆]

[Puppet Master★★]

[Way of the Lawless★★☆]

Inventory: Nightmare Crystal (Green) x25, Nightmare Crystal (White) x10, Puppet Master’s Diary

**

230 points? He wondered about their purchasing power… With this thought, Bai Yi looked at the system store that opened before his eyes.

As he focused, the apartment seemed to warp in time and space. Illusory starry skies flickered around him, surrounded by countless floating bubbles. Each bubble seemed to contain something.

Bai Yi concentrated, staring at the nearest bubble. He immediately saw a floating scroll within it, and more information appeared before his eyes as if by divine inspiration:

[The Last Supper 10 points]

[Type: Artifact / Depressing Artwork]

[Source: Joey, God of Depressing Art]

[Effect: Indiscriminate Mental Pollution]

[Description: Performs a will check on all creatures within a certain range. Creatures that fail the check will suffer indiscriminate mental pollution. The extent and duration of mental pollution depend on the creature’s will strength and the artifact’s different effects, possibly triggering various pollution states such as “Self-Cannibalism,” “Cannibalism,” “Incestuous Love,” “Murderous Hatred,” etc.]

[Note: Player touching the bubble is considered purchasing the item. The system will automatically deduct points.]

“???” Several big question marks appeared above Bai Yi’s head. “If I remember correctly, this should be my own work, right?”

Saying this, his gaze seriously scanned several bubbles. There were sculptures, musical scores, poetry collections, beautifully packaged snacks…One bubble after another passed before his eyes. “Holy Prayer Song–Depressing Version,” “White Dove,” “Alice’s Death,” “God Beyond Dimensions”… And the source column for these items all clearly stated — [Joey, God of Depressing Art].

After confirming with his eyes, these were indeed his works!

“Good grief! I have to spend points to buy my own works? What kind of profiteer designed this system…”

After instinctively complaining, Bai Yi suddenly realized something and fell into a brief silence.

It seemed that the profiteer was himself?

Cough, it looks like he can’t complain about the system as happily as before~

[Although these are the player’s own works, bringing them out of the instance requires some energy for transportation. The player should bear the transportation cost, which is 1/10 of the marked price. No additional fees are charged beyond the transportation cost.]

[For items not created by the player, the purchase price remains the original price.]

In the illusory space, lines of text slowly appeared as the system program reminded.

[Note: Due to the special nature of the Death Gallery, players can choose to purchase the “Death Gallery Mega Pack” containing 99 paintings. The player can designate three of their own works, while the remaining 96 paintings are random. The price is much lower than buying the “Death Gallery” and then purchasing 99 paintings separately.]

Following the system’s prompt, Bai Yi saw more bubbles floating in this space.

“The Sabbath,” “Evil Spirit,” “Autumn Field,” “Death Gallery,” “Fallen Saint”… Special items from the entire Land of Art filled this space, all wrapped in intangible bubbles, like countless stars revolving around Bai Yi.

Bai Yi quickly found the “Death Gallery Mega Pack,” priced at exactly 60 points.

Besides this, there were also things like the Depressing Music Mega Pack and “Joey’s Collection of Depressing Literature” that looked quite peculiar.

“Hmm, this looks interesting, I’ll buy it!”

“This one seems fun too…”

“And this one, this one, this one…”

In short, he bought, bought, bought, and bought!

“La la la la~”

In the starry sky composed of countless illusory bubbles, Bai Yi was like a child who had found a new toy, constantly scooping up the stars floating around him, happily humming a tune.

In that cheerful melody without lyrics, all 230 points were spent.

Only when the panel showed a big zero did Bai Yi finally stop.

He dismissed the starry sky, his brilliant smile still showing some lingering excitement.

…He had thought game points were useless before.

…But now, it was truly delightful!

As the starry sky faded, Bai Yi sat down at the table, casually scooping from the air. An ancient scroll, a mix of sacred and evil, slowly materialized. It was one of the many items he had bought.

This scroll had a strange texture, like the pale moonlight reflecting on a maiden’s skin, cold yet smooth. As the scroll appeared, the rich fragrance of fresh blood seemed to seep from the paper, as if blood had dyed the maiden’s skin, giving off an unusually enticing sweet and tangy smell.

Bai Yi looked up.

Large swaths of blood-red spread across the paper, like a burning sky at sunset—it was a vast field of blooming roses. But upon closer inspection, there were no roses at all. It was clearly countless intertwined bloody shadows, stretching wildly, like hands broken and twisted on the ground, still struggling desperately for help.

“So this is ‘The Sabbath’?”

Bai Yi let go as if electrocuted, allowing the eerie scroll to float gently onto the table.

In the unfolded scroll, the rose bushes burned like flames. A family of three stood amidst the burning roses. On the left was a man in a white shirt, pale and thin, like a skeleton wrapped in a layer of skin. On the right was a woman in a black gauze dress, wearing a matching gauze hat, her face covered with a thin black veil, revealing only her beautifully shaped chin and red lips pressed in a slight smile.

A little girl stood between this seemingly mismatched couple, holding one hand of each. Her soft, deep black hair cascaded over her shoulders, topped with a large red bow. She faced the painter with a radiant smile, revealing deep dimples.

—This appeared to be a very happy, sweet family portrait. Yet it inexplicably brought a sense of horror and eeriness.

Behind the sweet smiles, there seemed to be endless hatred, endless curses, endless screams, pouring out like an overwhelming tide. They transformed into endless noise pollution, cascading towards Bai Yi, almost turning his mind upside down!

Bang!

This close and unexpected impact made Bai Yi take several steps back the moment he let go of the painting, steadying himself as he sat on the bed.

He held his head in his hands.

This feeling, it had been a long time…

Since establishing the Web of Thoughts, this was the first time he had experienced such a close mental impact, once again tasting the feeling of being filled with garbage that he had experienced for over a decade in the past.

“Oh my, it really is…” After a moment of buffering, Bai Yi slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed on the unfolded scroll on the table. “I let my guard down.”

“Although I know it wasn’t intentional sabotage, if I don’t return this garbage, I just can’t swallow this…”

He slowly stood up from the bed.

The invisible web spread out accordingly.

Whoosh…

Like an endless river flowing backwards, the hatred, curses, fear, anger… the black mud accumulated over a hundred years that had poured out from the ancient painting was now being sent back by Bai Yi.

Vague screams seemed to echo in his ears.

After giving the jumbled mess in his mind a thorough cleaning, Bai Yi felt refreshed.

When he came to his senses and looked again, the scroll on the table had changed imperceptibly.

The little girl who had been facing outwards and the woman standing on the right had unknowingly turned their heads to the left, staring fixedly towards the far right.

Ghost fire burned in their hollow eyes.

Bai Yi curiously followed their gaze.

On the far left of the scroll, the skeletal man’s face was twisted in terror. His originally snow-white shirt gradually developed one bloody imprint after another—large fingernail marks, small handprints, various scratches.

These bloody imprints densely covered his shirt from nothing, then spread along his neck and arms, gradually covering his entire skin, appearing grotesque and horrifying.

It was as if two invisible hands were constantly tearing at his soul, leaving bloody marks.

The man’s mouth was wide open.

He stared unblinkingly at Bai Yi, his direct gaze revealing an intense plea, as if begging for help from the only living person in this room.

“Tsk, how ugly~”

Bai Yi shook his head in disgust, walked over and picked up the scroll. The figures in the painting immediately froze like mice under a cat’s gaze, and the man’s terrified expression relaxed slightly.

Then, Bai Yi flipped it over, placing it back on the table with the reverse side up.

There, that’s better. No need to worry about ugly things bothering him anymore!

“…?”

At that very moment, Bai Yi seemed to hear a heart-wrenching scream, and an incredibly thick smell of blood instantly spread out.

Yet oddly, there wasn’t a trace of blood on the scroll.

He didn’t see the bloody scene unfolding on the open scroll—

Amidst the screams, in the blink of an eye, the man in the painting turned into a bloody mess. His entire skin peeled off his body, quickly devoured by the rose bushes resembling human hands behind him, leaving only a mass of flesh rolling and wailing among the roses.

Seconds later, everything returned to calm. The scroll blurred, the blood-red rose bushes writhed, and the painting returned to its original appearance that Bai Yi had first seen.

—A man in a clean, neat white shirt, an elegant and beautiful woman with a black veil, and a sweet-smiling little girl, with blood-red rose bushes blooming behind them.

As if that terrible scene had never happened.

Then, in the next moment, as if a cycle began anew, dense bloody prints and claw marks crawled all over the man’s body. Amidst screams, a complete layer of skin peeled off him.

This process repeated three times in just five minutes, constantly playing out in a loop in the painted world. The hatred in the woman’s and little girl’s eyes grew more intense, and increasing madness crept into their pupils along with bloodshot veins… Some extremely strong negative emotion continued to condense and grow stronger with each cycle.

—Since this painting’s creation, they had been repeating this cycle within it.

In this constant cycle, far from diminishing, their hatred had only grown deeper. This was why Bai Yi had been caught off guard when he first unrolled the scroll.

—The Rhythm of All Things made him extremely sensitive to such mental and spiritual presences. Ordinary people might not be affected by this painting so quickly, but he had actively sensed it all.

At this moment, even without directly seeing the scenes unfolding on the scroll, just relying on the perception from the Rhythm of All Things and hearing the screams, Bai Yi could understand what was happening.

A thought crossed his mind—

“According to the background in the nightmare fragment instance, every owner of ‘The Sabbath’ would descend into madness and destruction after a period of time. That’s why this dark scripture was regarded as a cursed painting, with every owner suffering its curse…”

Bai Yi keenly noticed that after each cycle of skin-peeling, the resentment and special soul energy condensed on this scroll grew stronger.

Based on this, he deduced that as the cycles and reincarnations reached a certain number, the accumulated hatred of the vengeful spirits in the painting would grow stronger and stronger. Eventually, it would break through some boundary, affecting the owner of the scroll in reality, causing mental pollution… Perhaps this was the truth behind the “curse”?

“It shouldn’t be just this…”

As the source of pollution in the nightmare fragment instance, the trigger that opened the door to that world’s oblivion, besides mental pollution, it should have other abilities…

…Or maybe his guess was wrong, and it wasn’t that complicated. Perhaps there was no resentment pollution at all, and it was purely the vengeful spirits in the painting claiming lives!

As he pondered, the mental impacts around him continued endlessly. Ceaseless noise lifted the top of Bai Yi’s skull, lining up to drill into his mind.

Gurgle~

“Ah, I’m hungry.”

Rubbing his rumbling stomach, Bai Yi looked serious. “What should I eat…”

Earlier he had been caught off guard, but now Bai Yi had adapted well. Amidst the accompaniment of screams and curses, he still had the mind to think about dinner.

Seeming to remember something, Bai Yi walked to the kitchen and quickly found a not-so-lively fish in a basin. He skillfully scooped it up and slammed it onto the cutting board with a “thwack”.

“Indeed, there’s still one fish left!”

By now, it was twilight.

The glow of the setting sun shone through the kitchen window, falling on the cooking counter, on the young man standing before it, on his raised cleaver and its gleaming blade.

Swoosh!

With one chop, blood splattered, and the head separated from the body.

The scene was quite bloody for a moment.

…It made Bai Yi’s mouth water.

He revealed the expression of a scientist researching truth, solemnly declaring.

“This fish looks delicious at first glance~”

“It’s perfect to try out the depressing dark cuisine enhanced by the new instance!”

As flames rose, his phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated, the screen lighting up with an official announcement.

—Yao Country has issued a global first-class arrest warrant. K, the culprit of the Yuanyang City Rainy Night Serial Killer case, had overnight climbed to the top of two wanted lists.

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