The Fallen's Guide - chapter 2

Tang Nian had already visited this Temple many times.

She took meticulous care of the dying Angel, doing everything she could to be good to him, as if desperately burning herself to warm him.

Several times, the Angel was controlled by Divine Punishment and lost his sanity. Tang Nian would hold his cold hand again and again, speaking softly, “I am here with you.”

She wanted the proud Angel to fall in love with her.

When the Angel regained some clarity, he would lift his ethereal silver eyes and ask who she was.

Tang Nian would say she was his most loyal Believer.

The little acting skills she possessed were all used here. She acted so deeply in love that even the aloof Angel was surprised by the intensity of her feigned adoration.

It was as if her eyes could see only him.

Like an overly enthusiastic puppy, making the Angel both resistant and conflictedly satisfied.

Later, things changed.

Under her unreserved, cautious, and repeated attempts to get close to him-her desperate pretense of kindness-

the Angel, against his nature, fell for her.

Lost in thought for too long, a cold hand caressed Tang Nian’s cheek, pulling her attention back.

The Angel leaned against her shoulder and asked gently, “You seem very focused. What are you thinking about?”

“I was wondering, with so many Long Nails, does it hurt?” Tang Nian said sincerely.

No one would doubt the devotion in her feelings.

Does it hurt? No one had ever asked him that.

The Angel looked a bit lost, holding Tang Nian’s hand and guiding her to touch his wounds.

What happens when it hurts?

Metal Chains bound his body, two Long Nails brutally pierced through his slender collarbones, and his porcelain-white, delicate body was covered in red marks-a stunning, decadent sight.

It seemed to hurt a little.

The Angel parted his lips slightly, burying his face in the girl’s neck. His wounded Wings trembled, and the two of them were pressed so close there was almost no space between them.

The pain made his body curl up.

The poor Angel, self-destructively pressing her fingertips against the Long Nails, gradually lost himself in the girl’s deeply offensive touch.

“It hurts.”

The holy face revealed vulnerability, using it to elicit sympathy from the soft-hearted Believer.

Amid the pain was an unknown satisfaction, confusion and excitement burning within him, nearly filling him up.

A “ding” sounded, and a string of words appeared in the upper right corner of Tang Nian’s vision.

“The Angel’s Divine Punishment is about to begin. The traits of the Seven Deadly Sins are about to appear.”

“Mission countdown has started. Please proceed with caution, Player.”

Here it comes again, Tang Nian sighed inwardly.

The tender moment was over.

The air pressure suddenly dropped, making the entire Temple feel oppressive and dim.

The Angel, trembling and lost on her lap, had stopped moving at some point.

Cold fingers silently gripped her wrist, removing her hand.

Tang Nian quickly adjusted her expression, looking at him with just the right amount of confusion.

“Let go.”

The cold voice was completely different from before.

Clearly, not long ago, the Angel had clung to her like a predator, wanting her to touch his Wings. Now, he was as indifferent as an ice sculpture.

His pupils vanished, turning into pure silver. A cold divinity colored his brows, his Wings unfurled, casting a terrifying shadow.

“Leave this place, bold human.” His voice carried a warning, cold and unfeeling.

Tang Nian was pushed away by an invisible force, falling to the ground.

The surrounding Sculptures began to turn slowly, as if about to come alive.

This was getting a bit too dangerous.

The altar was high, and falling from it made Tang Nian’s vision go black from pain.

Just one more Long Nail, she comforted herself. The Mission would soon be completely over.

“Hint: The Mission target is about to be controlled by Divine Punishment.”

“What is your sin today?”

The Angel frowned slightly, but beneath the cold exterior was a contradictory longing.

His hollow silver eyes shone with a majestic, cold light-the disdain of the divine for humanity.

Tang Nian had her answer.

It was one of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride.

Legend has it that God expelled humans from Eden and decreed seven sins: Envy, Wrath, Greed, Lust, Sloth, Pride, and Gluttony.

Seven Long Nails were driven into the Angel, each symbolizing an Original Sin.

God wanted this fallen Angel to personally experience the Seven Deadly Sins, with a different sin descending upon him each day.

Tang Nian had just pulled out the sixth Long Nail. Each time she removed a nail, the Angel would manifest the corresponding Original Sin, temporarily losing himself under its control.

Tang Nian was already used to his changing faces.

Mainly, it really hurt.

She could imagine, once the Divine Punishment ended and the Angel regained his senses, how regretful he would be to realize he had driven her away himself.

He might even go mad again, just like last time.

Now, she only needed to play the part of a pitiful Believer expelled from the Temple.

The girl’s damp, fragile voice sounded, “Do you really hate me?”

A strange feeling surged up, suppressed by the Angel. He said coldly, “You have overstepped.”

The massive Sculptures began to move, sharp Swords pointing at her. The beautiful creature bound by Chains sat atop the high altar, fully aware that the defenseless human could be crushed in an instant, as easily as stepping on an ant.

Tang Nian hurriedly used Reload Save, and after several tries, finally returned to the altar. The Angel seemed surprised by her reappearance, and before he could react, the human’s fingertips had already wrapped around his Wings like vines, gripping the base of his full feathers.

The Angel trembled, his whole body going rigid.

The heavy Sword hovered a meter above her head, then stopped.

“Let go!”

“No,” she said. “I’m afraid of pain.”

A tear fell onto the Angel’s hand.

His ethereal silver eyes were full of disgust, but he couldn’t see, so he didn’t know how hurtful that look was.
If Tang Nian were truly a devout Believer enamored with the Angel, her heart would have shattered into pieces by now.

Fortunately, she was a Player, standing outside the situation.

Sadness and adoration came easily to her.

Her fingers stroked the sensitive base of the Wings, defying the ascetic nature of the Winged Race. The sudden sensation made the silver-haired being’s body tense, and cracks appeared in his cold, detached expression.

Originally, physical contact and intimacy were considered behaviors of lower life forms in the eyes of Angels.

But now, the Angel trembled, caressing that tear, and suddenly changed his mind.

He seemed to feel a strange joy brought by this intimate act. The human’s soft cheek pressed against his icy Wings, and she nuzzled them gently, as if trying to please him.

Her warm breath brushed over his Feather, like lovers whispering close together.

He didn’t want to let her go anymore.

He was the Judge of Heaven, and he wanted to punish this scheming girl.

Snow-white Wings slowly unfurled, the Chains scraping out a bizarre, piercing sound. They blocked out the sky and sun, gradually covering Tang Nian entirely in the shadow of his Wings, as if trapping a tiny prey.

She was guilty.

Beneath the Sculpture of God, he pressed her shoulders, looking down from above.

His fingers gently wiped away the tears at the corner of the girl’s eyes. The Angel even subconsciously accommodated her posture, bending down.

She acted so enamored, as if she couldn’t live without him.

Believer…

His Believer.

How dare a human covet God’s messenger?

The Angel felt her trembling lips, slowly approaching her nervously pursed mouth.

Her adoration was passionate yet unfamiliar, like a moth to a flame. No one had ever dared to offend him so boldly, nor had anyone… dared to touch his Wings.

“My… Believer.”

He seemed to be falling into this lowly intimacy, unable to extricate himself.

The Angel held her hand.

Tang Nian looked up in confusion, wanting to say something, but her body suddenly relaxed, her head spinning, as if seasick.

Outside the window, a gorgeous yet icy blue shimmered like rippling water.

The vast Temple slowly lit up.

The scene before her eyes began to blur, like a broken film camera. The Angel’s face became indistinct, the sensation on her wrist unreal.

Dawn had arrived.

“Are you going to disappear again?” The Angel’s voice came from above, sometimes near, sometimes far.

An alarm sounded in Tang Nian’s mind.

Had he awakened early from the control of the Seven Deadly Sins?

Cold fingers traced her jaw, stroking her cheek as one would a small kitten.

The Angel commanded in a gentle, spring-water-like tone, “Stay with me, forever, Andrea.”

Unfortunately, Andrea did not exist at all; it was merely a fabricated identity.

The next moment, the gorgeous, dreamlike blue spread to her feet, shining onto Tang Nian.

The game ended early.

A sense of weightlessness came over her, and darkness fell before her eyes.

[Logging out…]

[Game over, wish you a pleasant life]

Her soul withdrew, and the scene before her changed.

The strong smell of disinfectant invaded her nose.

The dense beeping of instruments followed like drumbeats. A tight oxygen mask pressed against her cheeks, shadowless lights shone down on her face, and someone with medical rubber gloves pried open her eyelids to shine a light into her eyes.

“…Blood oxygen is too low.”

“Ventricular fibrillation…”

“She needs another dose of heparin.”

Several doctors in green surgical gowns and masks stood before her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the standby extracorporeal circulation machine.

A strong light flashed before her eyes. Someone leaned down, surprised, and said, “We need more anesthesia, she’s awake.”

“How is that possible?”

Medication was pushed into her veins, and Tang Nian’s eyelids grew heavy again.

This was her reality.

The reason the game ended early was that, in the real world, her heart had stopped.

…

Not long ago, a surreal game appeared on Tang Nian’s phone.

The software had no developer or publisher information, only a brief beginner’s guide. The game was still in testing. If she could complete the Mission assigned in the game as required, she would receive a reward.

No matter how outrageous, the reward would be granted.

In her near-death despair, Tang Nian filled in “extended life” as her reward in the questionnaire box.

Unexpectedly, she actually survived.

With each step of Mission progress, she could live a little longer.

If she failed to clear the game, she would lose the reward and return to her dying state.

Just now was another resuscitation.

She didn’t know how long the surgery lasted. When she opened her eyes again, the anesthesia hadn’t fully worn off.

Except for her left arm, the only thing she could move was her eyes.

She was groggy, ready to slip back into unconsciousness at any moment.

But if she didn’t continue the game now, only death awaited her.

It was a day later when she was transferred out of the ICU.

A professor brought interns to see her, presenting her as a miraculous case to the students.

“Look at this scan, the patient has pulmonary artery stenosis, overriding aorta…”

“It’s a miracle she survived, and she’s recovered a lot.”

A group of young interns observed her curiously, studied her medical records, and were amazed.

After the lesson, the professor led the interns to the next ward.

At the end of the group, a young doctor heard a faint call from the hospital bed before leaving the room, “Please wait a moment.”

He turned around. The patient who had just been presented as a case was looking at him.

“Could you do me a favor?”

She was so weak, it was hard to refuse her.

The young doctor returned, coming closer to her. “Of course, what do you need help with?”