Lam Huy Trường clenched the golden heart crystal in his hand.
A faint glow reflected in his eyes.
The Golden Heart.
A symbol of golden love—
the brightest, most radiant phase of a person's life.
After skimming through a few other worthless items inside the chest, he quietly closed the lid.
Then his gaze shifted to the three remaining chests.
He stood up and prepared to move the nearest one—
the blue chest.
But this time, a faint sound drifted into his ears, as if someone were whispering from afar.
He froze and glanced around again.
The golden heart in his hand trembled slightly.
Hey, hey… no jump scares outside the original script, okay?
He took a step forward, muttering to himself.
Don't tell me there are ghosts guarding the offerings too…
Damn it. Stop thinking nonsense.
He inhaled deeply and forced himself to calm down.
Yet somehow, before he realized it, he had already walked over to the red chest.
Lam Huy Trường frowned.
Was that… a hallucination?
He looked again.
Yes—right in front of him stood the red chest. Off to the side, a short distance away, was the blue one.
Nothing else seemed unusual.
Either way, he didn't have much time left.
The red chest was right in front of him.
He had no time to waste investigating strange mysteries.
He dropped to one knee.
From the outside, the chest looked identical to the others—except for its deep crimson color.
He opened it again.
Inside lay countless red objects, piled together like toys in a child's toy box.
The moment his hand touched them, they seemed to react—soft laughter echoed from somewhere unseen.
Cold sweat formed on his palm.
Can someone please turn off horror mode?
Haven't I suffered enough already? My heart is still hurting, damn it.
After rummaging for a while, he spotted a piece of red cloth wrapped around something inside.
A dark crimson crystal peeked out from the folds, like a spider lily just beginning to bloom.
There it was…
The crystal that represented "Deep Love."
He didn't unwrap the cloth. Instead, he picked up both together and stood, walking toward the next chest.
Somewhere, faint laughter followed him.
The two crystals trembled softly, as if celebrating their reunion.
Lam Huy Trường shook his head, trying to dispel the imaginary sounds.
Then he stopped in front of the blue chest.
He already knew what he would find inside.
A blue heart crystal—
a symbol of Boundless Love.
Love so deep that separation becomes impossible.
This time, when he opened the chest, he heard someone humming softly—an enchanting, almost hypnotic melody.
He slapped his own cheek hard to stay alert.
The blue crystal lay inside a glass cup, gleaming like a pearl floating in a dessert glass.
He lifted the cup, took out the crystal, and wrapped it together with the red cloth and the other two crystals he had collected. They trembled lightly and emitted faint sparkling light when placed beside each other.
Finally…
The purple chest.
This time, he was certain he heard nothing.
But the moment he stepped toward the purple chest, an illusion unfolded before his eyes.
At the center of the chamber, a young man and woman were dancing together.
Lam Huy Trường's lips and teeth began to tremble.
Damn this game. None of this happened when I played it.
Is the timeline messing with my knowledge now?
The couple eventually came to a stop in front of the purple chest.
Then they faded away, dissolving into the air like a passing breeze.
Lam Huy Trường clenched his teeth.
He had always considered himself a modern, rational person. There were no such things as ghosts.
But…
He suddenly hesitated.
This was a game world.
A game world.
What if ghosts actually did exist here?
He swallowed.
What's scarier than death anyway? Just keep moving.
When he was only one or two steps away from the purple chest, a click echoed—like a key turning in a lock—and the chest slowly opened by itself, as if inviting him.
A deep purple crystal shimmered among the other items inside.
It seemed eager to reunite with the other crystals.
Lam Huy Trường's eyelid twitched.
Whatever. I'll just treat all this creepy stuff as part of the game's settings.
He picked up the purple crystal.
Faint silhouettes could be seen inside it—a couple dancing together.
He remembered what it symbolized:
Faithful Love.
A love that never fades.
Lam Huy Trường placed all four crystals on the red cloth.
Then he glanced toward the Offering Altar.
Memories from the game surfaced vividly in his mind.
In the game…
If you placed them in this order:
Red → Blue → Purple → Gold
you would receive an SSR armor item.
But…
If you moved the last element to the front—
you would obtain something completely different.
Lam Huy Trường smiled faintly.
Above the altar, a large crystal embedded in the stone ceiling shimmered softly—
as if it were watching everything.
As he walked toward the altar, he raised his voice, almost singing:
"Your Highness…"
"To you…"
"The most beautiful moment…"
"It was the first time you met her, wasn't it?"
It wasn't when love had already grown deep.
It wasn't when vows were exchanged.
It was…
the very first moment your heart stirred for someone.
The moment love had just begun to sprout.
To the prince, that moment was as precious as gold.
Lam Huy Trường raised his hand.
Plop.
The golden crystal sank into the basin of water on the altar. A gentle glow spread outward, accompanied by a resonant chime.
One by one, the remaining crystals followed.
Red.
Blue.
Purple.
Lam Huy Trường wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the crystal embedded high above. Then he recited the protagonist's ritual lines in a clear voice:
"Until the end of your life…"
"You loved only her—no matter the opposition, no matter the separation, no matter the hardships. A love without regret."
Then he muttered softly:
"Faithful like a fool…"
"But…"
"This is your answer, isn't it?"
The water in the basin began to glow, clear and brilliant—just like when you pulled an SSR in the game.
Beams of light shot upward like fireworks.
Lam Huy Trường quickly raised a hand to shield his eyes.
The radiance lasted several seconds.
Then—
two items slowly rose from the water, floating into the air before him.
Two dazzling items hovered in the air before him.
Lam Huy Trường stared at them, as if seeing long-lost treasures once again.
Eternal Love Time Boots.
And Everlasting Dream Wishing Stone.
As far as he remembered, their effects were as follows:
The Eternal Love Time Boots allowed instant teleportation to any location within the user's line of sight.
They also granted a +55% evasion rate.
But there was a side effect.
A 10% chance…
of being pulled back to the original position.
The description explained that this was due to the prince's lingering obsession—
he always wished to return to the moment he first met the woman he loved.
Lam Huy Trường chuckled.
"Unless my luck is absolute trash… there's nothing to complain about."
It could be equipped as an auxiliary item.
It didn't occupy the boot slot.
He had used this item constantly in the game. It had always been one of his favorites.
The second item—
The Everlasting Dream Wishing Stone.
It could create illusions and inflict debuffs on monsters with a high success rate.
However, there was also a 10% chance that the user would fall into a gentle dream—essentially becoming overwhelmingly drowsy for a brief moment.
Extremely useful for farming mobs.
Completely useless against bosses.
Lam Huy Trường felt a surge of strength just by seeing his signature items materialize before him.
He quickly stored both of them in his inventory.
Then he was about to open the item modification interface.
"Now then…"
"Ata Crystal Grenade."
He turned to leave.
But then—
he froze and looked back at the altar.
It was still glowing.
Is this… a bug?
It should have shut down the moment—
His eyes narrowed.
There was something there.
Lam Huy Trường turned fully around, frowned, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
Is it because this is my first time here, when everything is still intact? Or because I gave the correct answer and got a bonus reward?
"That's strange…"
He had played this section countless times. There had never been a third item.
Could it be another illusion?
He hesitated for a second.
Then he walked back toward the altar.
Lam Huy Trường slowly reached out and touched the glowing object.
It was small.
At first glance, it looked like an official's command token from ancient dramas. But on closer inspection…
it resembled a flat key.
It was silver-gray in color.
At its center was an engraving of two crystals stacked together—four corners on top pressing down onto a triangular base beneath.
He lifted it in his hand, wondering what it was.
This thing…
had never existed in the game.
He tried touching the engraved crystal on the token.
The moment his fingertip made contact—
a system window popped up.
A system window appeared before his eyes.
[One of the 7 Sealing Keys detected]
[Can replenish system reserve energy]
[Reminder: transferable between systems in the future]
[Extract energy?] [Yes/No]
Lam Huy Trường's pupils shrank.
What? One of seven… sealing keys? Sealing what? The world's secrets or something?
He had never seen anything like this mentioned in the game's storyline. Not the keys. Not this system message.
There were too many unknowns piling up.
His brain felt like its storage had already reached maximum capacity. If he tried to process any more, it might just shut down entirely.
But he needed to deal with the immediate situation first. Everything else could wait.
His eyes focused on the line:
[Reminder: transferable between systems in the future]
So the energy stored inside the key could be transferred into his system.
Right now, he had no idea how to recharge the system's energy otherwise. He had even thought he might need to replace some kind of battery.
That meant… he probably had to find the other keys as well.
For now, this thing was just a decorative object if he didn't use it.
Better to turn it into something that could save his life. Treasure meant nothing if he died first.
He selected Yes.
Another message immediately appeared.
[Reserve energy increased: +22%]
Lam Huy Trường froze.
Then—
another notification popped up.
[Reserve energy exceeds 20%]
[System reconstruction speed restored to normal]
[Previously hidden item names in the modification list are now visible.]
He immediately picked up a broken crystal and opened the item modification interface.
A long list appeared:
---
Broken crystal detected. Modification possible.
Proceed with modification?
Use reserve energy?
Crystal Battery – 20 Broken Crystals – 3 minutes
Ata Crystal Grenade – 45 Broken Crystals + 20 Elite Mushrooms – 7 minutes
Dragon Dagger – 49 Broken Crystals + 50 Halgon Fangs – 35 minutes
Crystal Magnum VZ – 1000 Broken Crystals + 66 Crystal Batteries + Crystal Conversion Tape + (...9 more items—tap to view) – 90 minutes
Crystal Gatling Gun SA – (...66 more items—tap to view) – 1 hour 35 minutes
…
…
Hazard Driver – ?? – 30 days (data missing)
Reserve energy: 22%
---
An entire lineup of items stretched down the interface.
A single flat key only gave him twenty-two percent. That was disappointingly low.
Still… better than nothing.
More importantly, some of the newly revealed items sounded incredibly powerful just from their names alone.
But the number of Broken Crystals required was insane.
At that moment, he glanced at the mission timer.
The numbers were ticking down.
Time remaining: 00:10:01
Lam Huy Trường screamed internally.
Ten minutes…
That's barely enough time to craft the Ata Crystal Grenade before I become a punching bag!
He tossed the flat key into his inventory and started drafting a plan in his mind.
But the moment the item disappeared—
RUMBLE!
The ground shook violently beneath his feet.
Lam Huy Trường froze.
The two stone statues beside the altar began to tremble.
CRACK.
A fissure ran along one of the statues.
Then—
BOOM!
The tunnel ceiling shook.
Pebbles and debris started raining down.
"Don't tell me…"
A deep explosion echoed from somewhere beneath the earth.
The structure around him was collapsing.
Right in front of him—
space suddenly twisted and warped.
A blue crack split open in midair.
A spatial gate.
Through the rift, Lam Huy Trường saw a familiar scene.
A fallen sign reading Zone E lay on the ground, surrounded by ruined buildings…
It was unmistakably Zone E—the place he had been trying to reach.
But—
this wasn't the intact Zone E from the research facility maps.
The buildings were collapsed like something out of a disaster film.
Black smoke billowed everywhere, creating an eerily realistic environmental effect.
The entire area had been completely devastated—so real that he almost didn't want to step through.
But the collapsing space around him gave him no choice.
The stone floor shook violently, throwing him off balance.
A massive chunk of rock crashed down right behind him.
Lam Huy Trường gritted his teeth.
"Damn it!"
Then he sprinted straight into the spatial gate.
The instant his body disappeared into the light—
the chamber behind him collapsed entirely.
He tumbled out the other side and slammed hard onto the ground, rolling several times before finally coming to a stop.
When he lay there, flat on his back, and looked up—
the entirety of Zone E spread out before his eyes.
And in the corner of his vision—
the mission countdown timer continued ticking:
00:08:29