Chapter 1: CHAPTER 1 THE FLAW HIDDEN IN THE HEART
"What kind of person is considered normal?"
This question can be both amusing and philosophical.
The reason it is amusing is quite simple because most people wouldn't randomly ask such a question.
If one day someone around you suddenly asks this question, your immediate reaction would undoubtedly be laughter, right?
After all, a normal person wouldn't come up with such a question out of the blue.
The philosophical reason is even simpler. From an objective perspective, this question can become a thought-provoking topic with depth and meaning.
However, unless it's in high school, no one would ever bring up such a debate and treat it as a subject.
Yet, Fang Li, on the very first day of his first grade in elementary school, raised this question to his teacher.
That year, Fang Li was only eight years old.
You can imagine how awkward and bewildered the elementary school teacher standing at the podium and the group of clueless children around felt when such a question came from the mouth of an eight-year-old.
Just from this aspect, Fang Li could no longer be considered a normal person.
Such a question should never arise from the body of an eight-year-old child.
However, no matter how you look at it, Fang Li is actually a normal person.
While children of the same age play around, Fang Li does the same.
While children of the same age get into mischief, Fang Li does the same.
While children of the same age are being innocent, Fang Li is also being innocent.
While children of the same age act immaturely, Fang Li does the same.
In other words, Fang Li is neither precocious nor abnormal, both physically and mentally. He is just a normal child.
Only, on the first day of Fang Li's elementary school at the age of eight, he couldn't help but ask that question.
Because young and ignorant Fang Li understood the one unique abnormality that set him apart from everyone else.
…
That year, Fang Li was only seven years old.
Before the age of seven, Fang Li had always grown up as an ordinary child.
At that time, because his parents were busy working to support the family all day long, the person who most often accompanied Fang Li was his grandfather.
Grandfather loved Fang Li very much.
When Fang Li wanted to play, his grandfather would play with him.
When Fang Li was scolded by his parents, his grandfather would step in to defend him.
When Fang Li bumped and injured himself, his grandfather would comfort him in his pain.
When Fang Li developed an interest in a particular toy, his grandfather would buy that toy just to make Fang Li happy.
Therefore, Fang Li also loved his grandfather very much.
Even when he grew up, Fang Li could confidently tell the people around him that his favorite person was his grandfather.
What would be your reaction when someone like that disappears from your world?
In the past, Fang Li hadn't considered this question.
But when he turned seven, Fang Li had no choice but to start considering it.
"Wu… wu wu wu…"
The sound of crying reverberated throughout the space.
Some cries were deeply suppressed, while others were unrestrained, but anyone could feel the sadness and sorrow within them.
Underneath that crying, the vast space was filled with a sense of grief.
Underneath that crying, the oblivious children were influenced, one by one, and started sobbing.
Fang Li found himself in such an environment, holding his mother's hand, with his gaze directed forward.
There, a black and white photograph was placed.
The person in the photo was Fang Li's grandfather.
Looking at that picture, Fang Li truly missed his grandfather.
Fang Li knew that the people around him also missed his grandfather, which was why they were crying at this moment.
However, Fang Li couldn't shed a single tear.
Even though his parents were crying, and the adults and children around him were crying, Fang Li couldn't cry.
So, Fang Li asked.
"Mom, why is everyone crying?"
At that moment, his tearful mother replied to Fang Li in this way.
"…Because Grandfather won't come back anymore."
Fang Li knew that.
He knew this fact.
Fang Li knew that his grandfather would never come back.
But…
"But why do we have to cry like this?"
When Fang Li asked this question, his mother's expression was somewhat surprised and somewhat uncertain.
Then, his mother answered Fang Li in the following manner.
"Grandfather won't come back, and it's normal for people to feel sad and upset, which is why they cry."
Upon hearing these words, Fang Li didn't say anything anymore.
However, there was a question lingering in Fang Li's mind.
"Is it normal for people to cry at a time like this?"
It was because of this question that Fang Li, at the age of eight, posed a similar question to his teacher.
As he grew older, Fang Li came to understand that it was indeed the expected reaction.
For a normal person, it was natural to cry when a loved one passed away.
Because feeling sadness and sorrow was what constituted being normal.
From a psychological perspective, when a person's subjective world aligns with the objective world, they are considered normal.
Psychology reflects objective reality, so any normal psychological activity and behavior must be consistent with the external environment, even if only in form and not necessarily in content.
When a person's physical and mental state or their psychology and the outside world become disconnected, that person becomes incomprehensible to others.
At that point, the person becomes abnormal.
Therefore, from this theoretical standpoint, Fang Li was not a normal person.
On that day, Fang Li did not shed tears.
While others felt sorrow and grief, Fang Li remained calm inside.
While others acted as expected, Fang Li felt puzzled inside.
While others cried and shed tears, Fang Li felt astonished inside.
Being so out of place, to the point of seeming cold and heartless, how could that not be considered abnormal?
After all, the person who had raised him since childhood, with whom he had a close relationship, and who was his favorite relative had passed away.
When such a person is gone, never to be seen again, wouldn't it be natural for a child to feel sad and upset?
However, from beginning to end, Fang Li never felt the slightest trace of sadness, sorrow, or even the urge to shed a single tear.
At the time, the adults didn't pay much attention to this, thinking that Fang Li truly didn't grasp the meaning of death or perhaps that he was a bit mature for his age and not influenced by the other children around him, thus not being moved to tears.
Only Fang Li, in his naive state, understood one thing.
That was…
"I'm different from the people around me…"
That was the only thought in Fang Li's mind at the time.
As he grew older, Fang Li came to understand why he had felt that way.
It was not only because Fang Li had matured, but also because he had unavoidably experienced similar situations several times.
During those times, Fang Li was unable to cry or feel sadness and grief.
Then, Fang Li understood.
No matter how important the other person was to him or how close they were, once they passed away, he would never shed a tear, never feel the slightest sadness.
It wasn't that Fang Li was immature or excessively cold-hearted.
It was merely a flaw.
A flaw that Fang Li had begun to grasp at the age of seven, hidden deep within his heart.
"I can't develop emotions toward someone's death…"
So…
"I definitely won't be able to develop emotions toward my own death either…"
This fact was confirmed in Fang Li's life when he turned eighteen.
…
"Bang!"
That was the sound of a loud impact.
At the moment when the impact sound rang out, Fang Li felt a whirlwind sensation. When his vision returned, the first thing that entered his sight was a vast expanse of sky.
However, this sky gradually turned red, gradually being replaced by black.
The appearance of red was due to Fang Li's irises bleeding.
The appearance of black was because Fang Li's consciousness began to fade away.
At that moment, Fang Li felt as if his body was no longer his own. He couldn't even move, and he had lost all sensation.
The only thing Fang Li could feel was… heat.
It was hot.
Very hot.
His whole body was burning up.
Around him, pedestrians started gathering one by one, appearing in Fang Li's blurred vision.
Fang Li couldn't hear what they were saying.
But he could sense the panic and fear that filled the air.
And his overheated body felt as if something important was seeping away, making the ground beneath him wet.
With great difficulty, Fang Li turned his head and saw the asphalt road just inches away.
There, it was gradually turning red.
Dyed red by the blood flowing out from Fang Li's body.
Finally, Fang Li understood.
The important thing that was draining from his body was not just blood, but his life itself.
At the same time, Fang Li finally realized what had happened.
A car accident.
Just a sudden accident.
Such accidents occurred more than 100,000 times a year in this country.
Fang Li was just one of those 100,000 accidents this year.
"So that's how it is…"
Fang Li instantly accepted his fate.
No resentment, no bitterness, not even fear or resistance.
After all, Fang Li couldn't feel any emotions toward "Death."
That was something he had realized in his naive state at the age of seven.
Now, it was simply being confirmed.
If there was anything Fang Li felt about his impending death, it was only one thing.
"After a person dies, where do they really go?"
With this thought in mind, Fang Li closed his eyes.
At the moment when Fang Li completely lost consciousness, a cold voice flooded his mind.
"Serial Number 11273 enters the Main God's Dimension."