After Saving The Universe A Thousand Times: Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Mirage 3

As everyone knows, Mirage Island is an island.

So, at this moment, even if Dong Jin wanted to turn around and run, there was nowhere to escape. After deliberating, he simply chose to stay where he was. Picking up his phone and opening the livestream, he leaned casually against the wooden window, greeting the night owl viewers in the stream with a natural expression:

“Good evening, everyone! The sound of the waves outside is too loud—it’s keeping me awake. Mind chatting with me for a bit?”

As his slow, unhurried voice carried on, the faint but persistent scent of blood in the air grew closer and closer, finally stopping just below his window, motionless.

Knowing he had already been discovered, Dong Jin decisively leaned forward to look outside the window, fully embracing the situation. He even smiled as he raised his phone to aim it at Lei Ming, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, look at what I’ve found! A drowned chicken.”

“The commotion I heard earlier—could it have been him playing in the water and disturbing the peace? It’s pouring rain in the middle of the night, for heaven’s sake. Even a monster should have some sense of decency, no?”

Not only did Dong Jin show no signs of fear or retreat, but his tone was brimming with sarcastic undertones.

Because he was gambling—gambling that in an environment saturated with online propaganda about peaceful coexistence between humans and monsters, Lei Ming wouldn’t kill him outright in public. Fortunately, Dong Jin had never lost a bet before, and this time was no different.

Lei Ming glanced upward at the watch on Dong Jin’s wrist, then at the phone he was holding up. In the end, he didn’t take immediate action. Instead, he let out a cold chuckle and stepped into the first floor of the inn.

As Lei Ming’s ominous figure, radiating hostility, disappeared through the doorway, most of the covert and overt gazes from trial-takers in the surrounding area, who had been awakened by the disturbance, also faded away. However, sharing the same floor with this monster, Dong Jin had no chance of sleeping peacefully at this point.

To prevent a nighttime ambush, he didn’t put his phone away. Instead, while keeping the livestream running, he switched to another screen. Completely oblivious to the undercurrents that had surged just moments ago, the viewers in the livestream began to comment:

【What was I even expecting…? This is a romantic scene, rain-soaked stares across the distance, and yet Dong Jin turns it into ‘a monster downstairs disrupting my sleep by playing in the water at night.’ Fine, go sleep. Just sleep already. At this level of emotional obliviousness, no one in the world can disturb your sleep!】

Faced with a barrage of comments urging him to sleep, Dong Jin decided to do the exact opposite. Not only did he refuse to sleep, but he also raised his hand and began furiously typing away on his phone.

The viewers within the instance couldn’t see what Dong Jin was writing on the split screen. However, the viewers outside the instance had a crystal-clear view of everything.

Dong Jin first replaced the profile pictures of the three accounts he had registered yesterday with three different tarot card images. The avatars featured The Magician, The Fool, and The Star, in order.

Then, as he silently browsed live aerial footage from various locations, he began posting a series of updates under the account The Magician:

Update 1: “This morning, a tornado will strike County A.”  

Update 2: “This afternoon, District B will experience heavy rain, followed by flooding.”  

Update 3: “This evening, an earthquake will hit City C, triggering a landslide at a famous tourist site.” 

Obviously, all of the above was the result of the combined effort of the “Eye of Truth” and the three days of his lifespan he had just sacrificed.  

Under the gaze of his eyes, what he posted in his feed wasn’t prophecy—it was an inevitable fact.  

After swiftly writing these disaster warnings using the modified IP address, Dong Jin directly logged out of the account with the “Magician” avatar. However, his phone screen remained on the Magician’s profile page, displaying the three posts he had just published.  

Then Dong Jin began his performance. He let out a seemingly casual scoff at the screen, then tossed his phone onto the sink and went on to wash his face.  

As expected, in the instance’s livestream, a sharp-eyed viewer caught a glimpse of some of the content on his phone screen through the tilted mirror by the sink. The next second, the viewer spoke up in the chat:  

【Oh, I was wondering what you’ve been doing staying up all night, and it turns out you were scrolling through your feed. Did you see something funny just now? Laughing like that all of a sudden.】  

Dong Jin, now wiping the water off the side of his face with a towel, seemed more awake and in the mood to respond to the chat. With a casual expression, he replied, “Didn’t see anything particularly funny. Just came across some self-proclaimed ‘prophet’ spouting nonsense about disasters while scrolling through my feed.”  

“But then again, who knows? Maybe it’s not even a human behind the screen. Could be some monster with special powers.”  

The viewers, drawn in by Dong Jin’s self-directed and self-acted drama, began tracing their way to the Magician’s profile. Once there, they immediately saw the three predictions the Magician had posted.  

【Is this account owner risking their life for clout? Spreading panic like this—don’t they know it’s disturbing public order? Aren’t they afraid of getting caught?】  

【Don’t be so quick to label them a fraud. What if this really is some “third-eye” prophet? (dog head.jpg) ¹. It’s already late at night. Let’s wait and see. By this evening, we’ll know if they’re truly a magician or just a clown.】 

Seeing the Magician’s alt account’s follower count rise rapidly as expected, Dong Jin glanced at the remarkably stable popularity metric in the upper-right corner of his livestream interface.  

It seemed the emotional fluctuations stirred up by his alt account before it was exposed hadn’t yet been counted toward his popularity value.  

No matter. This was just his first alt account—everything was only beginning, and he wasn’t in a rush.  

Following the topic of natural disasters, Dong Jin casually remarked, “Isn’t there supposed to be a massive tsunami on this island in ten days? If this guy’s so eager for attention, why didn’t they include that too?”  

【Tsunami? Now that you mention it, there is supposed to be one… But don’t worry. Even though the ‘No Heartbeat Challenge’ organizers keep promoting this ‘Fall in Love Before the End of the World’ theme, if the tsunami does come, they’ll probably evacuate you all first.】  

Strange. Everything was strange.  

Knowing full well that the tsunami would engulf the entire island, they weren’t evacuating anyone and even went so far as to orchestrate such a grand-scale reality show. That was bizarre enough. But what was even stranger was that neither the monsters on the island nor those outside it showed any intention of evacuating early. 

It was as if, before these 1,000 streamers appeared, tsunamis had never existed in the first place.

Even if this was just a game instance where logic wasn’t heavily required, such a setting felt far too strange.

Dong Jin couldn’t help but wonder—did this tsunami even really exist?

The more doubts he accumulated, the less inclined he was to continue questioning the livestream chat.

In truth, if natural disasters weren’t so unpredictable and variable, unlike bombs, he wouldn’t have needed to go through all this trouble. After all, even after sacrificing his lifespan, he could only see information within a single day’s timeframe.

If his lifespan had been sufficient, he could have simply taken a quick glance upon arriving on the island. In mere minutes, he would’ve been able to determine whether the so-called massive tsunami in ten days was a lie.

Unfortunately, his lifespan was now insufficient, his cheat was sealed, and because his face was too well-known, he couldn’t take a different approach by disguising himself as a monster. After pondering his options, he realized his only choice now was to earn some popularity in an “honest” manner.

However, Dong Jin’s so-called “honest” way of earning popularity meant quickly logging into a second account, “The Fool,” right after washing his face. With a changed IP address, he edited and posted the following:

“Today, I heard a joke and thought I’d share it with you all.

I once heard about a con artist who, before a large-scale series of competitions, sent predictive texts about the outcomes to 100,000 people. He told 50,000 of them that A would win and the other 50,000 that A would lose. If A won, he would further divide the 50,000 recipients of the ‘win’ message into two groups and repeat the same tactic.

By the end, for those who had consistently received correct predictions, this guy was undoubtedly seen as a ‘prophet.’ From then on, they blindly worshipped him and were scammed at will.

So, after hearing this joke, I want to ask you all: Does this world truly have prophets, or only con artists clever enough to fool everyone?”

In addition to this so-called joke, Dong Jin also posted a series of classic scams from before his transmigration as warnings.

Though it seemed like casual education, every word was a thinly veiled jab at the earlier “Magician” account.

What made it even more brilliant was that none of these posts were set to be published immediately—they were scheduled to go live at 6:00 PM that day. This was a calculated ploy to strike at the peak of the Magician’s popularity, dousing it with cold water while riding on the hype.

And he wasn’t done yet.

Switching seamlessly to a third account, “The Star,” Dong Jin edited another post with a completely different tone:

“Wuwuwu, I hate myself for not believing the Magician! Now my entire house has been blown away by a tornado, and my husband has been missing for half a day.

I still have an 80-year-old grandmother, a 60-year-old mother, and a 3-year-old baby who’s just weaned. Can some kind-hearted soul tell me what I should do now?”

What followed was a lengthy sob story designed to tug at heartstrings and elicit tears.

After scheduling these fabrications for timed release, Dong Jin bid the unwitting instance’s livestream audience a casual “Goodnight” and went to sleep without a care in the world.

Don’t ask him how he could sleep so soundly—If you ask, the Fourth Calamity has no conscience.

In the commentary livestream room, the viewers from the first and second universes, who had been observing all of Dong Jin’s cunning maneuvers, fell into a brief silence.  

【Everyone, after seeing the three new accounts Dong Jin created, even though the posts from the latter two accounts haven’t been sent out yet, I’m already sweating bullets for the audience inside the instance..】 

【The first account is used to create buzz and attract power worshippers, the second account both rides the wave of popularity and draws out all sorts of complex characters, and the third account is tailored specifically for those who sympathize with the weak. The terrifying thing is that all three accounts have donation features enabled. Why do I feel like in just two days, Jin Ge could afford to buy a yacht and a helicopter just from the donations?】  

【The key is he even has a fourth account, which is this current livestream account with his stunning looks! When those three accounts are exposed all at once, he’ll sweep up all types of viewers in one fell swoop. Who in this instance could possibly surpass him in popularity?】  

【Jin Ge, please have mercy! This is just a romance instance, so how did you forcibly create a career arc out of it? It’s over, I’m already imagining scenes of you punching viewers, kicking streamers, and conquering the world… My esteemed Mr. Kai, don’t you have anything to say about this future Divine Selection of yours, who’s an even more pleasure seeking person than you are?】  

The mentioned Kai was leaning against a wooden lounge chair he had somehow brought in. Even in this relaxed posture, his robust, gold-adorned body exuded a sandstorm-like aggression distinct from Lei Ming’s lightning-like intensity.  

What touched the audience even more was that this God of Revelry didn’t behave like Lei Ming, who always ignored the bullet comments. Instead, after glancing at this comment, Kai seemed intrigued and, for once, began to fulfill his duty as a commentator:  

“The three avatars Dong Jin just chose are the Magician, who manipulates the world; the Fool, confident yet blind; and the Star, a symbol of hope, all from the Tarot. Whether analyzed individually or as a whole, these choices are deeply, deeply interesting.”  

As the God of Revelry, Kai naturally knew all the settings of this instance.  

Precisely because he understood everything and knew there was indeed something wrong with the tsunami, he found Dong Jin’s choices even more fascinating.  

What exactly did this human want to become? The Magician controlling the internet and reshaping humanity’s perception of monsters? The Fool walking a solitary path to uncover the truth behind the tsunami? Or the Star that brings a glimmer of hope to a world filled with disaster?  

No, none of them.  

Dong Jin wanted to become everything, yet he didn’t care whether he ultimately became any of those.  

He was like a lofty calamity, striding purposefully from the start. While he brought infinite turmoil to the world, he also deviated sharply to bring infinite hope.  

This blatant arrogance, combined with his nearly imperceptible acts of kindness, was the source of his bewitching allure.  

With this thought, Kai couldn’t help but glance at the “Lovers” card Dong Jin had lingered on for a couple of seconds when choosing his avatar earlier.  

Dong Jin should have simply followed his instincts and changed his livestream avatar to the “Lovers” card.  

Not only because the “Lovers” card represents charm, but also because he himself is the embodiment of charm. 

At this moment, Kai suddenly felt a bit regretful that he hadn’t entered this instance.  

If he had, he was certain that whether or not he retained his memories, just one glance would still make him fall for Dong Jin.  

—That was Dong Jin’s innate allure to him.  

Which is why that guy Lei Ming… Just thinking about Lei Ming’s foolish act of reporting him, Kai even felt that the number of sharks he controlled tonight was far too few. Why couldn’t those sharks just bite apart Lei Ming’s idiotic brain—capable only of harming others at great cost to himself? It would save him from continuing to be an eyesore in the instance.  

Meanwhile, the viewers in the commentary livestream were marveling at how approachable Kai seemed.  

As a result, another comment popped up in the chat:  

【Since Dong Jin is already asleep, Kai, why don’t you explain what’s happening with the other trial-takers? I saw that the MVP ranked fourth in the last instance had a pretty interesting strategy. It’s only the first day, and she’s already charmed one-third of the 1,000 streamers.】

At first, the audience thought Kai didn’t respond because he hadn’t seen the comment. But after they started spamming the chat and still received only Kai’s selective silence, they finally understood what was going on.  

So it wasn’t that Kai was particularly accommodating or had deliberately explained Dong Jin’s avatars for their benefit. It was because it was Dong Jin that Kai had, for once, deigned to speak.  

Indeed, when it came to the two gods at the pinnacle of power in the Supreme Universe, each was more difficult to deal with than the last.  

Expecting them to be empathetic was about as realistic as hoping all the gods and demons across the heavens would miraculously choose one single mortal as their champion.  

At this moment, however, Dong Jin wasn’t in deep sleep.  

Under the interference of a series of strange and surreal dreams, he finally opened his eyes to a scene of daylight.  

Glancing at his phone, he saw it was just past 5 a.m., and his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.  

It was only early June—could the sunrise on Mirage Island really be this early?  

With doubts in his mind, Dong Jin slowly walked to the window and looked outside. The sun, not even halfway risen over the sea, quietly hinted at the abnormality of the daylight in his room.  

If this daylight wasn’t brought by the rising sun… In a flash, Dong Jin thought of the Daytime Godhood and, further, of the resonance he once experienced under the Daytime rain. A vague idea began to form.  

And in the next moment, the low, hoarse sound of soft laughter at his ear confirmed his suspicions completely.  

—This was no mere anomaly of the sky. 

——This is that Kai, the one who possesses the Daytime Godhood, who had already resonated with him unilaterally.  

At this moment, Dong Jin was utterly confused. He didn’t even know when Kai had started observing him, let alone when this god had resonated with him.  

Was it the instant the morning sun first rose?  

As he pondered this, Dong Jin glanced at the game interface.  

Kai’s full name still didn’t appear on the panel, indicating that this was yet another temporary divine selection. But the key issue was that he wasn’t even in combat right now—what was the point of this sudden resonance? Just to waste one of his resonance slots?  

Just as Dong Jin’s thoughts started to wander, Kai’s amused voice sounded again from the void:  

“Remember to check out ▉▉▉. Inside, there’s a gift I prepared for you long ago.”  

Even though Kai didn’t specify, Dong Jin had already guessed what that gift would be.  

In the previous instance, Kai had gifted 1/7 of the Daytime Godhood. If nothing unexpected happened, it would likely be the same in this instance.  

As for the location Kai mentioned, which had been censored by the Supreme Universe’s cosmic will due to the potential for external spoilers, Dong Jin—having already scoped out the island’s unique structures—immediately deduced where it was.  

Where else could it be but the hard-to-access Water Opera House?

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Translator Notes

1. Dog head/ Doge is added at the end of a text when expressing irony in a humorous way or when expressing the exact opposite of what is being said.[↩]