I Don't Agree to the Terms

"I... what's wrong with me?"

In the early morning, Wang Qi climbed out of bed with some difficulty, feeling an abnormal heat within him that set him into a slight panic.

"Your illness has flared up," came the voice of Gu Shanhai.

"Illness? That's impossible, don't I already possess Transcendent abilities? How could I still get sick?" Wang Qi got up and gulped down a mouthful of water, but the weakness, heat, and mental languor persisted.

"Yes, if it weren't for the help of your Transcendent abilities, you would have had an outbreak months ago." Gu Shanhai knew the terminal illness wasn't simple—it was not only a motivation for Wang Qi to move forward but also possibly the precursor to his Golden Finger and his future new system.

"I..." Wang Qi felt extremely stifled. He had stepped onto the path of the Transcendent, and everything had been running toward a glorious future. Now, to his dismay, he was about to die.

"Wait, if I continue to pay Tribute to your true form and obtain various Transcendent abilities, could that continue to suppress this terminal illness?" Wang Qi quickly came to a realization.

"My advice is not to rely too heavily on paying Tribute to my true form because that's just treating the symptoms, not the cause. It's essential to keep up."

"You know, your terminal illness is no ordinary sickness. If it were normal circumstances, common illnesses would vanish once you gained Transcendent powers. However, your terminal illness didn't disappear; it just postponed the outbreak."

"So even if you constantly pay Tribute and gain various Transcendent abilities, it would be futile. The illness would resurface after just a few days, and each time it would come back fiercer."

"The best way is to seek a cure from a force other than the Divine."

To these words from Gu Shanhai, Wang Qi remained silent, then said, "But in this world, aside from Divine entities, there are only players left. Those players aren't easy to deal with, and moreover, they likely can't resolve this."

"There might be a chance with players," Gu Shanhai responded, "but only a chance." He knew that the players remaining in this world, mainly lifestyle players like doctors, healers, and related professions, were categorized under combat professions, not lifestyle ones. Moreover, players didn't get sick and didn't need these professions.

"What if you regained your full strength? Could you solve it then?" Wang Qi asked faintly.

"No, I've tried to predict the course of your illness, and do you guess what I saw?" Gu Shanhai would say he couldn't cure it even if he could.

"What?" The answer surprised Wang Qi. He had thought Gu Shanhai could manage it, but he couldn't. What's more troubling was what he had seen: "What did you see?"

"I saw nothing," replied Gu Shanhai slowly. His words were sincere; when Gu Shanhai attempted to investigate, he encountered a distortion, similar to the protected reborn Luo Chuan from the Daoist Soldier World.

"You can't see the root cause?" This revelation shockingly hit Wang Qi; if even Gu Shanhai, a Divine entity, could not see it, then the problem was indeed severe. This was despite Gu Shanhai being sealed and not a complete existence, unable to directly interfere.

"Yes, that's why I told you not to depend on Divine power to cure your disease. While augmenting strength is plausible, curing diseases is doubtful. I suspect your terminal illness might stem from a more potent influence. What precisely it is, I'm unclear."

"So, I can't help you with this." Gu Shanhai spoke truthfully, though he could offer help if he researched it. But why would he ruin someone's opportunities for no reason, when he surely preferred a pattern of bitter before sweet?

These words dealt a heavy blow to Wang Qi, who had been relying on Gu Shanhai for help. He fell into deep contemplation.

After a while, he spoke with a somewhat hoarse voice, "Shanyuhai, have you ever watched operas or stage plays?"

"What?" Gu Shanhai was initially puzzled but then seemed to understand what Wang Qi was getting at.

"The rise of a poor boy, who becomes the center of the world after his encounter with a mysterious and unfathomable senior, stirring up many waves. Along the way, he discovers a mysterious lineage or possesses some great bloodline. See, like me?" Wang Qi said calmly.

"It does resemble that, but the details are different. In those stories, the protagonist is handsome and suave, surrounded by beautiful women, gaining all sorts of noble abilities, and bathed in constant praise. How do you resemble that? Moreover, that thing you have is an illness; it's entirely unrelated to a mysterious lineage or bloodline," Gu Shanhai retorted.

"Ah? That makes some sense..." At that moment, Wang Qi began to doubt his life. Those protagonists in stories don't get sick, aren't tormented by fire, acquire Transcendent abilities without suffering dark cuisine, not to mention the company of beautiful women. He had only picked up a Divine entity whose appearance might be terrifying.

"So I don't have the protagonist's luck of turning bad luck into good? I'm just plain unlucky and sick," Wang Qi muttered softly.

"Actually, I do have a way to test if you are the protagonist," Gu Shanhai suddenly said.

"Eh? You can tell?"