Sorcerer’s Handbook

He fled, It pursued, and he was trapped with no escape.

At the thought of the Four Pillars, Ashe inexplicably heard those lingering domineering CEO background music in his mind. Unfortunately, the domineering CEO was the Four Pillars, and Ashe was just the pitiful one, trapped and doomed, showered with endless affection.

-But while the domineering CEO only wanted love from the other party, the Four Pillars wanted to exploit Ashe's remaining value!

Ashe originally thought that becoming the Tactile Sense of the Four Pillars would at most mean that the Four Pillars obtained his body. He didn't expect that the Four Pillars also wanted his heart, insisting on unlocking more of his hidden content, turning him inside and out into the Tactile Sense of the Four Pillars!

When Vesser committed suicide, Ashe couldn't help but think about the Tactile Sense issue. After all, he and Vesser were the only two candidates for the Tactile Sense. Now that Vesser was gone, it was natural for the Four Pillars to appoint him. But he wasn't too worried, mainly for three reasons:

Firstly, besides him, there was also the Mercury Trojan Horse, and the transfer of the Tactile Sense might not be that quick. As long as there was a time gap, Ashe would have escaped long before a forced promotion. However, from the situation in the illusion, it seemed the Mercury Trojan Horse might have gone ahead of Vesser. It's just unclear whether she was killed by Raven and the others or consumed by the catastrophe;

Secondly, Senlo was on the verge of extinction, and who knows how many Senlo people had died. Even if Ashe became the Tactile Sense, what use would it be? To help collect corpses for the Senlo people? He wasn't Harvey. Whatever the Four Pillars' purpose, the value of the Senlo Kingdom to the Four Pillars should have significantly decreased. They should be reducing their investment, not increasing it;

Thirdly, there were quite a few bugs in the wasteland, but sanctuary sorcerers didn't need to fear them. Occasionally, when stepping on bugs, Ashe would deliberately shout blasphemous words like "The Tyrant has burst," "The Devious Chancellor's guts have spilled," "Burn the Benevolent Father," or "The prince has turned into a painting."

Such behavior would get him sued for "defamation" in the Blood Moon Kingdom, even if he was insulting a Dark God. Notably, Raven greatly appreciated this behavior. Every time Ashe stepped on a bug, Raven would stop and clap.

Vesser likely hadn't forgotten about the Tactile Sense, but given the dire Doomsday situation, being the Tactile Sense was better than being a Green Beast; plus, Ashe's legendary escapes from the Four Pillars' control were enough to earn Vesser's trust.

However, without external assistance, it was like the tide receding, and Ashe, swimming naked, was quickly surrounded by the Four Pillars.

Although Ashe managed to escape the illusion by "refusing to acknowledge my wife is a 2D character," he still couldn't escape the Four Pillars' gaze. At this moment, his senses felt like they were equipped with some plugin, perceiving the world in a completely different way. Everything was colorful and filled with sinister phantoms, even the Silver Lantern had turned into a mass of colors.

Perhaps in the next second, or maybe a moment later, he would be pulled back into the illusion until he couldn't distinguish between illusion and reality.

Ashe did have a solution, the simplest being to escape the Senlo Kingdom. Now that the Knowing Guard Fire had extinguished, he could use the Heart of Wishes Command to return directly to the Wishflux Celestium.

However, this solution might not necessarily work. If Ashe returned to the Wishflux Celestium and the situation didn't improve, or even worse, if he introduced the advanced Four Pillars into the Wishflux Celestium, wouldn't he become a traitor?

But doing nothing wasn't an option either.

Ashe held his temples, breathing shallowly, with the voices of Suo Zai, Lezi, and his brother echoing in his mind. Undoubtedly, his previous company didn't have four bosses, nor did his colleagues include the Eternal Presence, but…

But everyone else seemed real.

Given his situation, the only chance to meet his former roommates might be at a wedding. His brother would always inquire about his relationship status during calls, and eventually, they would chat with his parents, conveying the latest instructions from the elders…

Their voices, tones, and reactions were exactly as Ashe remembered. In a daze, Ashe couldn't even be sure if that wedding was an illusion created by the Four Pillars or a forgotten reality…

If he had a way to escape the illusion, could he visit home… even if it was just a home in the illusion… even if it was just to see his family in the illusion…

Once this thought arose, it was like wild grass in a midsummer night, impossible to cut or burn away. With a gust of wind, the wild grass spread across the sky.

Ashe bit his thumb hard, yet he couldn't stop his thoughts from spreading: he had deliberately found a loophole to exit the illusion earlier, which meant that if he wanted to, he could stay in the illusion forever, living a normal, peaceful life as a successful Corporate Slave…

Is it possible that everything he experienced this year… was the illusion?

Suddenly, Ashe released his grip, watching as the silver block moved away from his right hand. He looked down and realized he had bitten his thumb until it bled.

The silver block seemed to be saying something, but he could no longer hear it. The entire world became dazzling and chaotic, making him dizzy, as if urging him to quickly escape this illusion.

But at this moment, Ashe came to his senses. He exhaled a breath of stale air and said to the silver block, "I'm fine, just not fully awake yet. Give me a moment."

The delusion of the Four Pillars strikes at the softest part of one's heart. It doesn't just constantly pull you in; even if you manage to escape, you'll find yourself wanting to return. Reality is full of regrets, too vast and overwhelming, causing people to flee in cowardice. Most have no choice but to face it, yet they still dig many holes for temporary escape. The pit of the Blood Moon is 'living in the moment,' the pit of the Gospel is 'adhering to the Gospel,' and the pit of Senlo is 'faith above all.'

The power of delusion lies in providing you with a safe house you can always retreat into. As long as you want to grasp the sands slipping through your fingers, you'll unconsciously open the door to the safe house.

If the Four Pillars had tested Ashe with this service right after he time traveled here, Ashe would have had to admit, "Four Pillars, you really know people well."

But now, besides the sands he can't hold, he has something he can't let go of-gentle ties that wrap around his fingers.

However, how can he escape the gaze of the Four Pillars?

…Are the Four Pillars really 'actively' watching?

Ashe recalled his two encounters with the Four Pillars, both involving a 'falling into the deep sea' process. It could be connecting to the Virtual Realm or Celestium, but either way, to make him the Tactile Sense, they must first make him 'fall into the deep sea.'

If the Four Pillars were watching a live broadcast of Ashe and Vesser every day, waiting for one to die so they could quickly pull the other into the deep sea to complete this year's KPI, Ashe wouldn't believe it. But since neither Ashe nor Vesser would actively call upon the Four Pillars, there's only one possibility: Senlo has a detection mechanism. Once it detects the death of Ashe or Vesser, the other is pulled into the deep sea for a five-party talk with the Four Pillars.

At this moment, the changes in Ashe's senses indicate that this mechanism is in effect, constantly pulling him into the deep sea.

Even if Ashe can temporarily escape the delusion, he is currently unable to resist the Four Pillars. In the entire process, the only point he can tackle is the unknown detection mechanism. Although he doesn't know if this mechanism is a Miracle or divine intervention, Ashe has used 'Slash Me' and 'Joy Sword' multiple times to no avail in dispelling the curse on him, meaning he can't violently break the detection mechanism.

He can only deceive this mechanism, making it give up on him.

How can he make the mechanism stop reporting him to the Four Pillars?

The correct method almost eagerly jumped out of Ashe's mind: As long as the second candidate, Vesser, still exists, the mechanism won't activate.

Make a Substitute become Yolan Vesser? Or…?

As he pondered, Ashe suddenly remembered a note he picked up in the delusion from Yolan Vesser, which read, "Death is just a delusion."

Thinking carefully, this detail is quite strange. Vesser never said such a thing to him, and Ashe's mind couldn't find any related sayings. It was almost inserted into Ashe's delusion out of nowhere, like the Stars project leader and the new game event "Hunting Angels," all thoughts inserted by the Four Pillars.

But Ashe could be certain that only "Hunting Angels" was the Four Pillars' subjective intention. They seemed to want Ashe to execute this task, going so far as to use bonuses, prospects, and various incentives to deepen Ashe's impression of this task in the delusion. Conversely, the Stars leader and Vesser's note were probably just unintentional actions by them…

Or perhaps…

Ashe suddenly remembered their first meeting with the Mercury Trojan Horse, who mentioned a theory: Tactile Sense coexists with the Four Pillars, allowing the Four Pillars to contact reality through the Tactile Sense, and the Tactile Sense can thus contact the true nature of the Four Pillars.

The Four Pillars had no reason to suddenly insert the Stars leader and Vesser's note, as it was unrelated to the task. Therefore, this strange information could only be Ashe's reinterpretation of 'reality' after contacting the 'truth' of the Four Pillars!

Though he hadn't met the Stars leader, he might have heard about them from the sword Princess. As for Vesser's note, it should be Ashe observing high-dimensional reality through the Four Pillars' perspective.

Death is just a delusion.

For mortals, becoming a Green Beast is more terrifying than death, and becoming a Demi-God is more exalted than death, but both are death. However, for beings like the Four Pillars, do Green Beasts and Demi-Gods really count as death?

Ashe knew from the Time Continent that the Divine Sovereign had ways to gather soul fragments in hell to help people resurrect. The Divine Sovereign could escape even absolute death, let alone these lesser deaths like Green Beasts and Demi-Gods.

More crucially, in the delusion, Vesser's situation was merely resignation!

Even the Four Pillars didn't consider her truly dead!

Ashe suddenly became excited, summoning the "Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook" and opening "Operator Management," but his heart sank the next second: Yolan Vesser's operator portrait had turned gray and lifeless.

For Ashe, the "Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook" was more authoritative than the Four Pillars. But just as he was about to close the interface, he noticed a pulsating diamond mark in Yolan Vesser's portrait.

He clicked the mark, and a new message popped up on the interface:

"Your operator has entered a death state. Would you like to inherit their heritage?"