“You dare attempt to destroy the Pillar of Pupil Town? Fallen heathens!”

The moment the Pillar manifested, the newly arrived Apostle Feather-Eye realized this entire farce had been staged to summon the town’s foundation.

Even Yao Wangping, a mere traveler, knew about the Pillars; as a direct scion of Big Eye, the Apostle knew their significance all too well. His sacred duty was not just to serve, but to purge any “polluted” heathens who threatened the Pillar’s integrity.

With a violent snap, the Apostle’s wings unfurled to their full extent, thousands of eyes opening across his plumage. Behind him, a void of blood-red eyes materialized, all focusing their lethal glare on Mu Sichen.

Mu Sichen was now completely exposed, his protection of the Rules stripped away.

At the sight of those wings, Chi Lian and Cheng Xubo were paralyzed by the memory of the four players being pulverized. Their strength vanished; they could do nothing but crawl under a bed and shake.

Shen Jiyue acted first. He swiped a hand across his mirror and hurled it with all his might between Mu Sichen and the Apostle. The flash of reflected blood-light momentarily dazzled the creature, but the Apostle had too many eyes. Only about a tenth of his feathers blinked shut. The damage was negligible.

“If the mirror were larger, it might have stalled me,” the Apostle sneered. With a casual flick of his right wing, he batted the mirror aside, sending it shattering into a corner.

“Run!” Shen Jiyue screamed at Mu Sichen.

But Mu Sichen’s eyes were vacant. He stood at the heart of the Pillar, seemingly unconscious of the world around him.

Seeing no further interference, the Apostle opened his remaining eyes wide and began a rhythmic, melodic chant: “All that my gaze falls upon, shall—”

His litany was cut short by a figure lunging from a sickbed with a short sword.

It was Yao Wangping.

Yao was agile, moving like a blur. He reached the Pillar and plunged his blade directly into the ground, aiming for the center of the Big Eye totem. The moment the sword bit into the floor, Yao kicked off the wall, leaping toward the Apostle with near-superhuman speed. His left hand swept out like a blade, slashing across the Apostle’s primary eyes. The strike didn’t just break the chant; it dealt a staggering blow.

The Apostle shrieked, clutching his face as blood dripped through his fingers, his wings drooping.

Yao Wangping’s left shoulder, inhabited by Qin Zhou’s totem, throbbed with power. He had funneled Qin Zhou’s essence directly into the Apostle’s sockets—a force the creature couldn’t possibly withstand.

“You’re a hesitant fool, but you played your part,” Yao said to the catatonic Mu Sichen. “I’ve plunged the Sword of Protection into the Pillar’s heart. It will shatter any second. Your mission is over.”

Yao didn’t care if Mu Sichen died in the fallout, or if Big Eye’s wrath descended upon them. He only cared about the mission. He waited for the totem beneath Mu Sichen’s feet to crumble.

But nothing happened.

The Sword of Protection had merely cracked the floor tile. The Pillar remained untouched. The sword, it seemed, only possessed physical attack power against a metaphysical target.

“How…?” Yao gasped, pulling the sword back. The totem of Qin Zhou on the hilt had become a blurred, indistinct mess.

The Apostle stood up, blood seeping from his fingers. Despite his ruined eyes, he could still “see.” An eye sprouted from the back of his hand, scanning Yao Wangping’s name tag. The Apostle burst into a mocking laugh.

“Hahaha! I thought you were a formidable Fallen, but you’re just a ‘Filthy One.’ What’s the matter? Did the ‘Eye of the Sky’ move you so deeply that you decided to convert?”

“Filthy? A dual-believer? Never!” Yao’s composure shattered. He stumbled back. “I am loyal only to General Qin and Xiangping Town!”

Shen Jiyue sighed from the bedside. “The moment you became a Doctor, you were polluted. You were the one who wiped the totem from that sword with your own hands.”

Bolstered by the Pillar’s energy, the Apostle’s wounds began to knit back together. He lowered his hands. “Convicted by the Eye or not, you are a sinner who sought to destroy the Pillar. Judgment!”

Feathers began to shed from the Apostle’s wings, swarming Yao Wangping. A single feather pierced Yao’s right eye; instantly, the socket filled with writhing worms. Every cut the feathers made on his body did not bleed; instead, each wound opened into a staring eye.

In seconds, Yao was a monster split down the middle: his right side was a mass of blinking eyes, while his left remained human. He was a “Filthy One,” a vessel for two warring gods.

Yao opened his mouth, but two voices emerged. The right side whispered: “Great Eye of the Sky, I bathe in Your light, please…” The left side roared: “Mu Sichen! What are you doing?! You have the General’s totem—use it to break the Pillar!”

“He won’t!” the Apostle hissed, sending a wave of feathers toward Mu Sichen.

Yao’s left side displayed terrifying combat prowess. He swung the sword, striking hundreds of feathers in a single motion, causing them to fall lifelessly. As he swung, phantom tentacles seemed to sprout from his left shoulder, aiding the strike.

“I suppose I’ll deal with you first!” the Apostle snarled.

Before he could strike, Yao lunged, slamming his left shoulder into the Apostle’s chest and driving him out of the room. Yao’s right hand clawed at his own left shoulder, trying to tear out Qin Zhou’s totem. He was fighting the Apostle and himself simultaneously.

Yao managed to shove the Apostle into the hall and kick the door shut. With the wall and door between them, the Apostle’s direct gaze was temporarily blocked.

“Mu Sichen!” Yao screamed from behind the door.

Mu Sichen remained staring into the distance.

“Mu Sichen?” Shen Jiyue moved toward him.

Then, a small figure scurried from under a bed. It was Chi Lian. She was terrified of the Apostle, but hearing Yao’s desperate screams snapped her out of her stupor. She pulled the silver Ego Sticker from her pocket. Trembling, she used the beds as cover and crawled to Mu Sichen’s feet.

Her legs were too weak to stand, making it impossible to reach the nape of his neck. Gritting her teeth, she used a bedframe to pull herself up just enough to lift Mu Sichen’s shirt and slap the sticker onto the small of his back.

A wave of icy clarity surged from his spine to his brain. Mu Sichen’s eyes snapped back into focus.

In those few minutes of “unconsciousness,” Mu Sichen’s mind had nearly imploded. The moment the Pillar appeared, the System had chimed:

[Congratulations, Player! You have found the “Pillar.” Establish a Safe House immediately to complete the Newbie Mission.]

Simultaneously, the totem on his chest erupted. Mu Sichen “saw” countless tentacles sprouting from his skin. One pressed against his forehead. “Transfer my power into the Pillar, and you will be free,” Qin Zhou’s cold voice echoed.

On the other side, the angelic choir of Big Eye was deafening. The warm, inviting vision of Big Eye reached out to him. His SAN was down to 1. He felt a primal urge to dive into that blood-red eye filled with worms, believing it would take him “home.” If not for Qin Zhou’s phantom tentacles pinning him to the spot, he would have walked right into the hallucination.

Three powers were tearing him apart. His original Ego Stickers had been incinerated in the crossfire. He was drowning—until Chi Lian’s sticker hit his skin.

With his reason returned, he evaluated his three paths:

1. The Eye: Join Big Eye and become a happy madman. Easiest, but a total loss of self.

2. The General: Give the Pillar to Qin Zhou. But what then? Would Qin Zhou protect Chi Lian or Cheng Xubo? Mu Sichen didn’t trust him to care for anyone but his own “assets.”

3. The System: Establish the Safe House.

Mu Sichen chose the third option. He had used Qin Zhou to get to the Pillar, and now he would use the Pillar to escape them both. Among all these terrifying entities, the only thing that promised a “Safe House” was the game system itself.

But how? Pillars… Domains… Totems… Images flashed through his mind. He reached into his “pocket” and grabbed every Ego Sticker he had—silver, red, it didn’t matter. He slapped them all onto his body in a frantic blur.

[Player used 1 Foundation-Grade Sticker. +100 EXP.] [Player used 1 Foundation-Grade Sticker. +100 EXP. Congratulations! Level 3.] [Player used 1…]

The system alerts became a continuous drone. Mu Sichen didn’t stop until his hands were empty.

[Congratulations! Level 10 reached.] [Rank Up: Pillar-Grade achieved.] [Massive energy detected. Use all energy?]

“Yes,” Mu Sichen whispered. He raised his pickaxe and slammed it into the Big Eye totem at his feet.

The impact drained his MP bar to zero instantly. Cracks spider-webbed across the Pillar of light. In a silent explosion of metaphysical force, the Big Eye totem vanished.

The entire sanitarium seemed to hit a “pause” button. In the hallway, the Apostle froze. Blood-tears streamed from his eyes. He looked hollow, as if a vital organ had been ripped from his chest.

The system chimed again:

[Player used “Undermine.” Obtained 1 Pillar-Grade Ego Sticker. Use sticker to establish Safe House?]

“Yes,” Mu Sichen breathed.

This time, the sticker didn’t appear as paper. Mu Sichen opened his palm, and a brilliant golden light erupted. It expanded, forming the shape of the Ego Sticker: two hands shaped like wings, embracing the sky, the earth, and the sea.

In heaven or on earth, none shall pollute my heart.

The totem expanded, washing over the entire sanitarium.

[Congratulations! Player has seized 1 “Pillar.” Safe House established.]

Mu Sichen felt it instantly. Within this golden space, he was safe.

Chi Lian felt a surge of strength. She blinked, and a system panel appeared in the air—one only she could see. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the bottom right corner.

A glowing button had appeared: [Exit Game].

She reached out and touched it. In the next heartbeat, she vanished from the sanitarium.

Author’s Note:

Qin Zhou (frantically biting his tentacles): Mu Sichen! You’re mine! How could you?!

Big Eye: Wait… did someone just steal my believer AND my pillar?

Mu Sichen: I’ve discovered the ultimate “triple-agent” lifestyle. Fleece them both, then move into my own house.