Chapter 96: Are You Still You?

Alberke’s understanding of the plot far surpassed Dolores’s.

It wasn’t simply because she had lived longer and died later than Dolores before transmigrating.

The main reason was that the game they made was a passion project, so their division of labor was a bit messy.

Logically speaking, even when drawing a character, one usually starts after knowing the character’s details; otherwise, mistakes are easy to make.

Characters generally shouldn’t be drawn arbitrarily; there are usually strict requirements.

But this game was made by only Dolores and Alberke. Occasionally, when Dolores had a small creative spark and drew some characters, Alberke would directly take them and try to fit them into the story.

There wasn’t that much seriousness or regulation between them.

Alberke would compromise for Dolores’s flashes of inspiration, even catering to them.

And Dolores would… do her own job well, which was to create according to Alberke’s requirements.

This wasn’t a problem.

It’s just that in this mode, before reaching certain important plot points, there was a lot of vagueness in their communication.

Dolores needed several days to finish a painting, basically unable to keep up with Alberke’s speed in writing and patching the script.

In Dolores’s imagination, Alberke should have known almost all the plot in the game.

This plot could completely become their capital to transcend levels in this world. After all, besides strength, levels truly affect lifespan.

A Transcendent, which the Land Kingdom couldn’t muster half of in a day—transcending that could grant nearly five hundred more years of life. At the same time, some special Symbols could also bring various powers.

So.

Dolores spoke to Alberke:

“Do you remember the reason Dolores betrayed Grin in the first loop? This is very important to me.”

Because both she and Alberke were Transmigrators, Dolores used the more familiar terms of first and second playthroughs.

Now, Wang Ye was Dolores, so this question wasn’t the slightest bit strange.

She originally thought she would easily get the answer from Alberke’s mouth; it seemed there was no reason for her not to know.

But Alberke shook her head and said, “I’m sorry, but I actually don’t have a definitive answer either.”

“Why? Didn’t you write all the game’s plot?” Dolores was full of doubt.

“I wrote it, but I didn’t finish this story because my creation was all based on the premise that ‘the strategy characters would definitely betray.'”

“So, I didn’t complete the story for Dolores’s part and naturally don’t know the reason.” As she spoke, Alberke gave an example of something she did after arriving in this world:

“When I transmigrated here, I had thought about it—to what extent would ideas become reality in this world.”

“Those scripts and illustrations we already programmed into the game definitely exist in this world. But we both know the game is incomplete.” “Those incomplete parts in the game cannot serve as a complete world or framework; they can only be considered a small part of it.”

“And then there are some concrete things that weren’t written into the game… For example, for the same character, I wrote several completely opposite storylines in the form of notes. Which line would she follow in this world? Or perhaps she follows a route I don’t know about.”

“There’s another possibility: because I didn’t write it into the game, it remained as notes, so this story doesn’t exist in this world.”

“And there are the foreshadowings I left in the game when arranging the story that weren’t expanded upon. Will they appear in this world? And after they appear, will their development be consistent with my ideas at that time?”

Although what Alberke said was somewhat complex, Dolores could understand it.

It could be summarized succinctly.

Because the game was a semi-finished product, there were many ambiguous areas.

These ambiguous areas were similar to different versions of plans.

And Alberke wasn’t sure which version of the story this world would adopt.

Nor was it clear whether settings similar to inspiration collections and notes would be adopted on a whim by the “client” that was this world, or not adopted at all.

So, according to Alberke, her foreknowledge of this world was “conditional” foresight.

She could guess the possible direction of a story through some details.

And her judgment would be much more accurate than Dolores’s.

While Dolores was thinking, Alberke also mentioned something about Grin. She meant that the existence of that one true Sword in the Stone was only designed by Alberke as a kind of foreshadowing.

But it had its own history and story, and also had the Magic Lock that Grin learned about from his previous life.

This, to some extent, corroborated what Alberke had said earlier.

It indicated that this world had its own logic and would supplement experiences and perfect logic.

“It seems you’re not having an easy time either.”

Dolores rubbed her temple, able to imagine some of the troubled looks Alberke must have had after transmigrating here.

She originally thought that after meeting Alberke, she would get a teammate of the Prophet type who knew everything.

But due to the large gray areas caused by the semi-finished game, the game’s plot was instead filled with various uncertainties.

It wasn’t exactly bad news, just that the degree of good news didn’t meet Dolores’s ideal expectations.

“Among the possible reasons for Dolores’s betrayal of Grin, which do you think is the most likely?” Dolores was still somewhat unwilling and continued to ask Alberke.

She was curious and also wanted to bring back this truth that Grin longed to know for him.

However, Alberke spoke in a roundabout way:

“Even for an early character like Saintess Hilberu, I considered many routes and possibilities. This led to me not being able to fully confirm the reason for Hilberu’s betrayal either.”

“And as for Dolores… I thought of many possibilities, no less than twenty different ones. I originally planned to organize one line from all the various stories of the previous characters and finally write Dolores’s part.”

“But the accident came just as I was about to start this work. I can’t give you the answer you want. I’ve almost forgotten many of them, and I feel that saying them all might affect your judgment.”

Dolores felt somewhat impatient upon hearing this, but Alberke then mentioned one possibility:

“I think the biggest possibility is because of the System.”

But what Alberke said next greatly surprised Dolores.

“For some reason, I can see the System on Grin, or more precisely, see those Tasks on him.” “I didn’t finalize the article on the System’s origin because in the game, it was a matter of course, especially since our game intended to use Revenge as a theme.”

“It’s just that neither of us expected it to become real… I mentioned the System because I think this world might ‘rationalize’ the System, that is,赋予 it a layer of合理性.”

“Dolores’s betrayal must have its合理性. I think if a rationalized System could be predicted to a certain extent, then Dolores in the first loop would definitely try to use it no matter what. If it had苛刻 conditions, then she would try to complete them.”

Alberke’s words paused here. She had spoken a long paragraph.

“So, according to your habits, you would set up a plot where betrayal is needed for a second playthrough, right?” Dolores asked.

Alberke nodded, but not completely affirmatively:

“Dolores in the first loop would definitely be someone who liked Grin. I would indeed design such a plot; it suits my tastes. But I’m not sure if this world is using this set.” Alberke didn’t know that Dolores in the first loop was a Transmigrator; she was just answering truthfully. But Dolores noticed something special.

“Alberke, you said you can see the System Tasks on Grin. Can you tell me about this in detail? I’m very curious.”

The current Dolores could only see Favorability.

But the Dolores in the memories could see Tasks.

Dolores had been thinking about this problem not long ago.

At this moment, Alberke suddenly looked not far away and said, “Ah, I just saw Mr. Grin coming over. I can take a look first and then explain to you.”

Alberke initially had a smile, but it gradually faded.

Her eyes held some confusion and bewilderment, then suddenly turned to shock and unease.

Alberke stiffly turned her head back and asked Dolores a question:

“Dolores, why do I see your Affinity Task on Grin… has already surpassed [Unswerving].”

“You are still you, right?”