Chapter 372 – Cat Dad Will Soon Face an Antagonist?


    Another day went by. However, Hongjun and his forces remained in Yeet City''s vicinity due to the changes in their game status and attributes. All ex-sages and ex-deities focused on cultivating instead of going to war with the ve Dungeon.


    Because of Hongjun''s mandate domain abilities and his unique providence Qi, his subordinates rapidly advanced by five small stages at the minimum. Many mortals advanced to the immortal tier while many immortals at level 9999 managed to ascend and hit the five digits.


    The same also applied to Hiiro, who had been recuperated in the cathedral of the Pangu Church. He suddenly received a constion message from Pangu and a new blessing – the Antagonist ss! Like the others, Hiiro spent his time learning new tricks.


    Unfortunately, the new ss came with poison. As nobody had tested this ss before, it was bound to have severe side effects.


    It only took 24 hours for the side effects to appear.


    BOOM!


    While everybody was busy getting used to their new powers, a massive explosion erupted from the cathedral. The entire building copsed, and a certain someone jumped out.


    "AAAAAAHHHHH!!"


    Inside Hiiro''s pocket dantian, his consciousness was split into two, and he lost control of the other one. It quickly transformed into a heart demon and attempted to take control of his real body.


    Hongjun also had a simr problem. Because of the new ss, one of his consciousness in his pocket dantian rebelled. He managed to suppress the rebelling consciousness, but the dark side of himself always self-resurrected and mocked him.


    "I am you. You are me. You can''t kill me. If you truly want to kill me, you have to kill yourself first!"


    Both Hiiro and Hongjun were haunted. Aside from the mockery, the same voice tempted them.


    "Do not resist. Unleash your desire. What is it that you desire the most?"


    The consciousness flooded their minds with old memory of their dark past. Hiiro was reminded of the miserable life in his country and the ghosts of Solomon. Hongjun also had a shback of his past struggle against Mu-Nyang and his Cathulhu Race.


    Anger swelled in their heart. As their mind was unstable, their Qi stopped following their orders. As a result, their Qi flowed backward, threatening to harm them. But after a while, the muscle memory took over. Their cells itched for a fight, and their Qi cirction sped up as if they were in the middle ofbat.


    Hiiro got it worse. His skin reddened as his blood boiled. He wished to kill someone to vent his pending anger and frustration.


    Without a way to relieve his anger, Hiiro turned toward the north, where he had lost to Shepherd. Thinking of the retainer''s face, Hiiro''s evil consciousness brought back the hazy memory to his mind and made it vivid for him to see.


    As if Hiiro had a photographic memory, the face and the name indicator of Shepherd appeared like a picture. Hiiro noticed the level and the title of Shepherd. Furthermore, he could review their brief fight and check the messages from the system, which he had ignored duringbat.


    Hiiro read through everything. Then, he bellowed.


    "SHEPHERD!!"


    Drunk in rage and impulse, Hiiro''s heart demon stole the body and sealed the true consciousness in the depths of his mind. Then, the heart demon gradually merged with the true consciousness as they were originally one.


    The rage quickly subsided as the other personality took over.


    .


    Meanwhile, Hongjun''s mental strength was a lot stronger, and he didn''t have the protagonist''s fateplications. He easily subdued and dispersed the evil thoughts. Then, he stood up and gazed at Hiiro, whose aura and Qi underwent a transformation.


    The Japanese hero''s aura drastically changed. From a hopeful, warm, and charming light, it became warped and grey. Gradually, it turned darker and would soon be cold ck.


    Despite the changes, Hiiro''s levels and cultivation base skyrocketed. He reached level 3,000… 3,200… 3,400… and kept rising.


    Hongjun narrowed his eyes as he could guess what had happened to the guy. After getting the answer, he then nced at the new game window, which provided a new feature that Pangu had prepared for them. It showed the tutorial exnation.


    .


    Antagonist Menu


    Antagonists aren''t always evildoers or viins. They simply defy fates and move the world ording to their beliefs. Without them, the story can be stagnant or stale without a purpose for the protagonist to grow or react to any development. They drive the story forward or provide questions for the protagonist to answer.


    For the efforts you invested to get closer to your ideal, you deserve every right to receive a push so that the world understands your hard work. This menu can greatly help you as an antagonist. It reveals the list of all protagonists in this era and surviving protagonists of the old, including their goals, strength, and weaknesses. In addition, you may use additional features thates with the menu.


    .


    .


    Current Generation''s Protagonist


    1. Chase Sheffield


    - Origin: Divine Theocracy Earth


    - Age: 17


    - Gender: Male


    - Life Goal: Strength to survive the harsh cultivation world.


    - Location: Game World Number 2, Mao Manor.


    - Strength: Chaos Seraphim Sentinel Method, Time and Space Law, Rapid Growth, Absolute Loyalty


    - Weakness: Can''t kill fellow human yers, women, children, and cute animals.


    - Notes: Chase Sheffield is the disciple of Mao Miaomiao. He inherits the legacy of the Chaos Seraphim Sentinel Cultivation Method, Time and Space secrets, and a heavenly fate crystal. He worships Mao Miaomiao as his idol and hero, and he is currently working at Mao Manor in Game World Number 2 to protect his mentor''s family.


    2. Sima Yi


    - Origin: Game World Number Two (Present), Aves Continent, Siren City (Second Life), Divine Theocracy Earth''s Clone Number 352 (First Life)


    - Age 24 (90)


    - Gender: Male


    - Life Goal: Restructure the United States of Wei government and instate the monarchy-republic government system, removing Mao Miaomiao and Devil''s influence in USW, and killing his rivals – Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu.


    - Location: Game World Number 2, Luoyang


    - Strength: Intellect, political experience, human resources, and chaos demon cultivation method.


    - Weakness: Prideful, overly cautious, and ambitious.


    - Other Notes: Sima Yi alone is not scary. However, inside his shell, another soul lurks in there and provides Sima Yi with his insight and knowledge from the Sengoku Era. The soul of Oda Nobunaga in Sima Yi''s sea of consciousness always switches control of Sima Yi''s body and secretly cultivates when nobody is watching. In danger, Nobunaga sometimes appears as Sima Yi''s Dao Avatar to assist his partner, making them a terrifying warlord duo.


    3. Xie Tian


    - Origin: Heavenly Goose


    - Age: 21 (7x10^12)


    - Gender: Male


    - Life Goal: Kill Mao Miaomiao and Devil to avenge for the humiliations and betrayals in the other loops.


    - Location: Game World Number 2, Death Valley


    - Strength: Void Domain, Time and Space Domain, Dragon Ties, Fire Element Immunity


    - Weakness: Obsession over Mao Miaomiao.


    - Notes: Xie Tian was once a protagonist during the Devil-Kishin Era, and he went through two billion loops of endless war between two time users – Devil and Kishin Douji. And in most loops, Devil and Mao Miaomiao killed him. But in a few loops, Mao Miaomiao was Xie Tian''s mentor. After the Great Reset, Xie Tian remembers everything, including the two billion loops that he had gone through. He dismissed the good rtionship they had as a mentor-disciple as if it never happened and vowed to kill Mao Miaomiao to get even. Now, he joins the Pangu Church.<novelnext></novelnext>


    …


    .


    .


    Aside from Sima Yi and Chase''s information, the other protagonists'' detail was shown, including their current location. Hongjun got a few ideas on how he could pull a few of them to the Pangu Faction while some were impossible to recruit.


    Hongjun read through the present protagonist list and found the marked man and his portrait.


    However, most of his information was hidden. Judging from the censorship atheistic, it was obvious who did it.


    .


    14. Miao Xiaomao


    - Origin: Munya-Munya-Munya-Munya!


    - Age: 17 (Munya-Munya-Munya-Munya!)


    - Gender: Male


    - Life Goal: Munya-Munya-Munya-Munya!


    - Location: Munya-Munya-Munya-Munya!


    - Strength: Munya-Munya-Munya-Munya!


    - Weakness: Munya-Munya-Munya-Munya!


    - Notes: You''re not MUNYAing enough! Munya-Munya-Munya-Munya!


    .


    "How absurd."


    Hongjun raised his brow as he nced at the true age. From his point of view, the censorship was unnecessary.


    What attracted Hongjun the most was the button under the portrait of Xiaomao and the other protagonists.


    [Rivalry Mode]


    [Fateful Encounter]


    Interested, Hongjun pressed the [?] button to learn more.


    .


    Rivalry Mode


    A protagonist usually gets in the way of an antagonist one way or another, directly or indirectly. However, because of the hindrance, an antagonist can have a development.


    By pressing the button, you will establish a rivalry with one of the protagonists you designated. When you have a protagonist rival, you get stronger by inflicting direct or indirect harm to the designated protagonist and his/her friends, mentors, family, or love interests. In summary, you get instant power-ups from the feature if you manage to inflict damage upon your rival or their allies.


    .


    Fateful Encounter


    Unlike the rivalry feature, this option is only enabled if you possess at least one or more heavenly fate crystals in your soul. By having the crystal, you maypete to steal the designated target''s title as a protagonist!


    Upon turning on this button, your fate and the designated target''s fate will intertwine without fail. A clock will appear in your antagonist menu. Both of you will face each other in a duel, and you two will be forced to fight to the death when the clock counts down to zero. The winner takes the loser''s heavenly fate crystals, power, title, spouses, and all items in their possession!


    Be warned! When you use this feature, the designated protagonist''s luck will drastically increase, and they will experience at least one or more fortuitous encounter before they face you! You''re not the only one with the time to prepare. They will be ready for the decisive battle as well.


    .


    .


    Hongjun smirked. He found these features amusing.


    Although Hongjun wanted to test the water with the rivalry feature first, he couldn''t resist the temptation of the Fateful Encounter Mode.


    Without hesitation, Hongjun reached out to press the Fateful Encounter button under Xiaomao''s portrait. Then, he pressed it.


    BZZZ


    "Hmm?"


    The button turned grey before Hongjun could press it. Then, he received a feedback message.


    <This protagonist has already been paired with an antagonist. You cannot choose this target.>


    "…"


    Hongjun narrowed his eyes, after which he turned to Hiiro, believing that he might be the culprit.


    .


    Hiiro managed to calm down as his heart demonpletely merged with him. He also noticed the new features.


    However, Hiiro neither established a rivalry nor designated Xiaomao as a target. Instead, he stared at his portrait among the protagonists.


    He didn''t know what encouraged or drove him. He pressed the Fateful Encounter button under Shepherd''s portrait.


    DING


    <You and Shepherd have been paired as fated enemies. Until one of you perish, there will be no reconciliation or mercy! You, who runs the world under your palm, I wish you good fortune.>


    TICK-TICK-TICK


    A digital clock appeared in Hiiro''s antagonist menu, but the other options and features were locked. Moreover, he could no longer ess the protagonist feature.


    The timer was 72 hours!


    It was short!


    Hiiro''s sclera turned dark. He grinned, looking forward to the rematch.


    "I will not lose! For my freedom, for my family, for my country, you will die, Shepherd!"


    .


    .


    "Not him?"


    Hongjun was puzzled. He thought that Hiiro chose Xiaomao, but Hiiro clearly uttered that he picked Shepherd.


    "If it''s not him, then, who stole my prey!?"