Sword of Dawnbreaker

Ten times the time iteration led to only vague perception of reality, with almost no ability to communicate with the real world. Under past iterations of thousands or even more, residents of Sandbox One obviously couldn’t connect with the real world at all.

Even if occasional information exchanges occurred, they would receive very strange, distorted, and blurred reality information.

This Sandbox is an isolated island...

With such thoughts, Gawain and his three temporary companions stepped into the city-state surrounded by yellow sand.

Buildings of earthen yellow or grayish-white stood on either side of the streets, mostly with flat roofs and arched window frames. Brightly colored red or yellow drapes were hung between taller houses, spanning across the streets, fluttering constantly in the dry wind.

”This style is completely different from the Illusion Town we saw earlier...” Magnan couldn’t help but say.

Selena spoke, also explaining to Gawain: ”Sandbox One is vast, besides this Nim Sandro city-state located in the desert area, there are also Silent Valley City in the forest area, and Maple Creek City at the edge of the marsh wetlands, featuring different city-states and kingdoms... Here, civilization has developed for over a thousand years under accelerated time, with millions of virtual personalities thriving, the civilization’s starting point set at the Iron Age, which allows residents to expand their ’world’ significantly.”

Gawain raised an eyebrow: ”The civilization’s starting point here is set in the Iron Age?”

”Yes,” Selena nodded, ”Setting it directly in the primitive age would require a long period to develop true civilization, introducing too much uncertainty in between. Even with time acceleration, the entire experimental process would be elongated greatly, so we pre-set a foundation for each Sandbox, including a complete history from the primitive to the Iron Age, alongside archaeological findings for verification, allowing virtual and real residents inside to more quickly enter civilization development stages.”

”...This is truly a massive project.”

Selena discerned a hint of deeper meaning in Gawain’s tone, feeling curious: ”Any issues?”

”No... can’t think of any for now,” Gawain shook his head, ”Just admiring the patience and perseverance in writing this setup.”

Selena wasn’t sure if this was genuine praise or sarcasm, but before she could speak further, a building appearing in her line of sight preemptively interrupted her words.

An edifice, clearly grander and more magnificent than surrounding buildings, appeared at the sandy street’s end, flanked by numerous pale-golden sculpted columns and statues.

”Is that a temple?” Gawain asked casually, gazing into the distance.

”It matches the outline reported by the exploration team,” Yuri nodded, ”It should be the city-state temple of Nim Sandro.”

Gawain pondered: ”A completely different style from the chapel in Illusion Town.”

”Yet inside, they worship the same ’gods’.”

Selena said softly.

Worshipping the same gods... yet building temples of different styles due to regional cultural differences.

This once again made Gawain realize the impressive realism of Sandbox One, understanding how, step by step, civilization developed within the Sandbox.

Amidst the thought, they arrived near the temple.

At the temple entrance facing the street, Gawain saw a familiar relief, carved on a huge stone, standing in the square before the temple:

A giant hand, covering the symbolic earth — the mark of the Supreme Narrator.

Gawain’s gaze swept across the relief symbolizing the Supreme Narrator, stepping over the boulder, preparing to enter the temple.

But at the temple entrance, he suddenly halted his steps.

His eyes fixed on a stone column at the temple entrance.

On the column surface, deeply engraved, stood a line of text, with deep, chaotic, and twisted strokes, every line seemingly soaked in blood-red desperation, transmitting despair and madness, in just one phrase—

God is dead.

(Oh my God!!)