Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 966: Chapter 965: I Knew There Was Something Wrong!

What should I choose?

Faced with the Ghost Bride’s question, Fang Zheng fell into deep thought. But unlike what the girls imagined, Fang Zheng was considering not who to choose, but what would happen if he didn’t choose anyone.

From the beginning, Fang Zheng felt that this mission was abnormal, and now he increasingly felt that there was something wrong with it.

As Fang Zheng had previously thought, if this mission is viewed from the story’s background, it is about a woman named Rosalie who died before she could get married, and you have to fulfill her wish.

But upon careful consideration, there are several problems within this mission.

Firstly, there is only one Rosalie. Logically, she should only attach to one person. Even if the data sends requests based on the exceeded trust standard values, it could be set so that once one person agrees, all other options are canceled, rather than having everyone agree.

Secondly, everyone was moved by the mission’s storyline but overlooked an important question.

That is — where did the groom go?

While players are clearly responsible for the groom’s role, within this mission, Rosalie must have had a groom before her death!

However, Fang Zheng did not find any relic of the groom to indicate that he was the groom, so how did Rosalie regard someone as the groom in this mission, or is it...... could anyone be the groom?

However, Rosalie never mentioned the groom’s end!

Where is the groom?

Fang Zheng once again carefully stared at the task bar ahead, reading the content prompts meticulously, and suddenly a light flashed before his eyes.

”Can I choose no one?”

”Eh?”

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s answer, the girls were shocked, and Rosalie, upon hearing his inquiry, became even more furious.

”No.... you must choose....!! Love....!!”

”Then, I’ll have them all!”

”Aaaaaah!!”

As Fang Zheng’s words fell, suddenly, a scream emanated from the Ghost Bride, and immediately, chains appeared out of nowhere, tightly binding the bodies of the girls. At the same time, Rosalie’s body rapidly grew, transforming into a huge BOSS!!

As expected, I knew there was something wrong here!!

Seeing the seven bound girls, Fang Zheng unhesitatingly pulled out his greatsword and firearm. Meanwhile, Rosalie had already raised her skeletal right hand and brought it down on Fang Zheng with force.

”Bang!!”

Fang Zheng raised his firearm, fired at Rosalie’s right hand, interrupting her attack, and followed up by slashing fiercely at Rosalie’s body with his greatsword which burst with light.

However, to everyone’s astonishment, Fang Zheng’s strike managed to shave off only ten points of Rosalie’s health!

”Mr. Fang Zheng!”

”Don’t worry, I know what to do.” Scanning a glance at Rosalie’s scarcely diminished health bar, Fang Zheng immediately backed away. Concurrently, Rosalie stretched out her right hand again, trying to grab Fang Zheng. This time, Fang Zheng swiftly rolled, slipping through the gaps underneath Rosalie, and then countered with a slash that struck the chains binding the seven girls.

”Clang!”

Accompanied by the sound of metal clashing, everyone saw that one of the chains had lost a third of its health bar — seeing this, the girls immediately understood.

After all, those able to join the Raid Group are already considered top players of this game. Observing Fang Zheng’s maneuver, they quickly figured out the BOSS’s mechanism. Indeed, for any mission, a BOSS shouldn’t be stronger than a Lord to an unreasonable extent. But Rosalie’s health and defense are clearly out of spec, indicating that other methods are needed to defeat her.

Once bound by the chains, others couldn’t move, let alone fight. Seeing that Fang Zheng’s attack on the chain inflicted damage, it naturally explained the BOSS’s mechanism — quite clearly, Rosalie’s BOSS attribute is amplified by controlling other brides, the more brides there are, the stronger the BOSS’s attributes become. Only by breaking the chains will the BOSS’s attributes be reduced, and maybe when all the chains are cut, the BOSS’s attributes will return to normal levels.

But for now......

Thinking of this, the girls immediately grew tense, their eyes wide open and fixedly watching Fang Zheng as he maneuvered around the Ghost Bride. Fang Zheng wielded a firearm in one hand and a greatsword in the other, cautiously engaging Rosalie, slashing at a chain when an opportunity arose, and then swiftly retreating — the dilemma the girls thought of, Fang Zheng also realized.

In this atypical raid battle, the BOSS’s current attributes are potentially absurdly high, a simple mistake might cost him his life.

In this situation, being cautious is most important.

”Clang!!”

Soon, one of the chains was cut, followed by Rosalie’s agonized scream, and her body, which originally occupied half of the chapel, deflated like a punctured balloon.

Just as expected!

”Go cut the chains.”

Fang Zheng instructed Asuna, who had broken free of her bonds, and then dodged another attack from Rosalie. Asuna also drew her weapon and darted towards another person.

Once the strategy is known, a mission BOSS is clearly no match for the Raid Group. After freeing Asuna, Fang Zheng concentrated on capturing Rosalie’s attention, while Asuna swiftly cut the chains binding the others, starting with their liberation. As one chain after another was severed, Rosalie’s previously stacked attributes began to weaken, and once all seven chains were snapped, she was barely different from an ordinary mission BOSS.

Then everyone rushed forward and quickly sent this unfortunate BOSS to the Western Paradise.

”Ah—————!!”

Amidst the screams, the Ghost Bride floated into the air, let out a terrible scream, and then exploded, turning into specks of light that vanished into the air.

”Whew......”

Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief, looking down at themselves, they discovered that the wedding dresses they were wearing had also disappeared when the chains were cut.

”What a pity......”

Yuki pouted, showing a hint of regret. Meanwhile, Eiriri edged closer to Fang Zheng, curiously inquiring.

”Mr. Fang Zheng, what did you mean by that choice earlier? Did you want all of them? What were you thinking?”

Hearing Eiriri’s question, the other girls also turned their attention to Fang Zheng, clearly sharing the curiosity about his previous choice.

However, in the face of their gazes, Fang Zheng merely smiled slightly.

”Did none of you notice that there’s actually a trap hidden within this task?”

”A trap?”

”Precisely.”

Fang Zheng nodded and continued.

”Look, the task was for us to fulfill Rosalie’s three wishes. What are wishes? Unfulfilled desires. So marriage naturally was Rosalie’s unfulfilled wish. At first glance, we thought Rosalie couldn’t marry her boyfriend due to some reason and felt regret. We were here to fill that regret, right?”

The girls all nodded at this. In fact, that’s exactly what they thought initially.

”But in reality, there’s another possibility.”

Saying this, Fang Zheng grinned.

”And that’s the boyfriend got married, but the bride wasn’t her.”

”......Huh???”

Hearing this, the girls were stunned, and moments later, Shinong incredulously asked.

”Is that... possible?”

”Why not? Think about it, she didn’t get married, but we don’t know why. However, the task suggests this possibility. You see, the task can be completed multiple times, and after entering the chapel, Rosalie didn’t possess any of you like before but chose to reveal herself and ask me to choose someone as the bride... It’s hard not to imagine that she might be planning to crash the wedding...”

At this, Fang Zheng spread his hands.

”What if that’s her real wish? So I specifically asked if I could choose no one else. Logically, if Rosalie wanted to marry me, then as long as I didn’t choose any of you, we should be able to complete the task. However, Rosalie forced me to pick a bride... which was quite intriguing. So, to confirm my theory, I decided to choose all.”

”.........”

In response to Fang Zheng’s explanation, the girls were left speechless.

”Then, Mr. Fang Zheng, why didn’t you choose one of us, instead of choosing all?”

”Because I wasn’t sure about the task process.”

In response to Leafa’s question, Fang Zheng shook his head.

”You see, if my guess is correct, Rosalie is a woman who was abandoned. However, if I picked one of you as she wished, then the others would also become abandoned women. What if the task required us to become antagonistic and fight each other? I wasn’t willing to take that risk...”

”Sss......”

Hearing this, the girls also sucked in a cold breath. Indeed, according to Fang Zheng’s logic, those not chosen might be manipulated by Rosalie to attack Fang Zheng, turning the situation into mutual slaughter!

Of course, if this were just an ordinary online game, the task could be seen as a malicious design by the developers. But in a death game, it could be fatal!

”So now that the task is complete, Mr. Fang Zheng...”

At this point, Eiriri playfully nudged forward again.

”This time... can you say which of us you’ll choose?”

”Didn’t I already give the answer?”

Upon hearing Eiriri’s question, Fang Zheng glanced at her.

”Only kids make choices. I want them all.”