In this long-buried story, there are three characters: the falsely benevolent Fractsidus, the little girl who knew the truth, and the ignorant, blind villagers.
These three characters were abstracted by Scar into a dark fairy tale of the shepherd, the black sheep, and the white sheep, which in turn metaphorically represented the Sentinel, the Fractsidus, and the people of the world.
By telling this veiled story in Qichi Village, Scar informed Rover:
"The Fractsidus holds a truth not accepted by the world. They prophesy that the Sentinel is a hungry wolf in shepherd's clothing—appearing to protect the people, yet one day it will inevitably harm them."
But Rover was not foolish and did not believe Scar's one-sided words.
So after Scar finished his story, Rover sharply commented that the Fractsidus might be the black sheep, but once their goal was achieved, they would inevitably turn into a hungry wolf in shepherd's clothing.
A simple phrase—"The dragon slayer eventually becomes the evil dragon"—directly made Scar, who had talked for so long, turn red hot with anger. What followed was the refreshing battle segment.
At this moment, Noah plainly recounted Scar's riddle-like story in straightforward terms, beginning to attempt triggering the next key node of this main task: "battle."
Whether he could figure out the pattern for completing main tasks hinged on this.
"Are you familiar with this story? Fractsidus overseer—Phrolova."
Noah spoke indifferently, as if greeting the air.
As his words fell, the surrounding atmosphere became deathly silent, with no fluctuation whatsoever.
"Heh, looks like I guessed wrong."
On the surface, Noah remained calm, but inwardly he was cursing:
This game's plot is truly completely broken. What logic exactly completes the main tasks?
Picking up the half wooden sign in his hand, he quickly walked south from Qichi Village.
From the moment the task "Rushing Strategy to Await the Fractsidus" unlocked, based on the pattern from the previous completions, he guessed that triggering certain key plot points was needed to complete this main task.
And this main plot segment, as he said, had only two parts: one was uncovering the past truth of Qichi Village, the other was meeting Scar and battling.
But Scar was already dead, making it impossible to complete that part.
So, Noah guessed another Fractsidus overseer would replace Scar to meet him, thereby completing this plot segment.
For example—Phrolova, the other Fractsidus overseer in Jinzhou.
Recounting the truth in Qichi Village was also an attempt to lure out Phrolova, who might be lurking in the shadows.
However, his lure failed—or Phrolova was simply not here.
"No big deal. Find Rover, get all the main story back on track, and I won't have to guess randomly anymore."
Noah didn't mind this failed attempt. Instead, he focused on heading outside the village to finish the task's conclusion.
Yangyang was still waiting for him outside Qichi Village.
As Noah's figure gradually left the range of Qichi Village, a Red Spider Lily petal rose without wind—one split into two, two into four...
Under constant division, the dense petals formed the girl's clone.
The petals dissipated, and Phrolova sat on the eaves, one hand resting on her overlapping rounded legs, supporting her delicate cheek.
Her eyes half-lowered, the limpid autumn waters reflecting Noah's retreating back.
This so-called hero of Jinzhou—who killed Scar and disrupted the living conversion Echo experiment?
How did he know she was observing him from the shadows? Good thing she hid deeply and wasn't found.
Actually, even if found, it wouldn't matter—this was only a clone appearing here.
"Music... a slight dissonance has appeared."
She lightly furrowed her brows, somewhat puzzled, but soon became relieved:
"No matter—the outcome... will not change."
In the distance, Noah seemed to sense a gaze. He turned back to look—only the whistling wind.
An illusion?
Shaking his head, Noah picked up another broken piece of wood.
The two pieces merged and were placed by Noah on the mechanism. With the sound of rushing water, a cavern appeared before him.
At first extremely narrow, then deeper in, it suddenly opened wide.
A bizarrely beautiful tree appeared deep in the cavern. Beneath the tree was the Tick Tack Tacet Discord he had encountered earlier in Qichi Village.
"Save... everyone..."
Tick Tack emitted a faint voice.
[Daily Task: "Lingering Frequency"]
[Task Description: There is a lingering frequency with unresolved obsession in Qichi Village. Find her, soothe her obsession, and let her rest in peace.]
[Completing the task rewards: Astrite *800, Shell Credits *10000.]
"After you disappeared, everyone in the village was saved and relocated to other places. They will no longer be persecuted—just as you wished."
Noah sighed softly toward Tick Tack:
"It's all over. You can rest now."
"Thank... you..."
The faint voice sounded. Tick Tack's incomplete frequency seemed liberated, completely dissipating, leaving a diary in its place.
This human-speaking Tacet Discord was the frequency left by the diary's owner.
[Daily Task "Lingering Frequency" has been completed.]
"And it doesn't even drop an Echo—how rude..."
Noah silently left the cavern, his feelings somewhat complicated.
Though he had run this plot segment numbly many times in the game, experiencing it in person gave him different sensations.
Wuthering Waves itself is a world of despair in the apocalypse. This tiny Qichi Village is just one extremely inconspicuous tragedy among countless others.
Under the Lament, people can only be reborn through suffering—like the countless people in Jinzhou, who endured a history of hardship yet brought forth goodness.
Perhaps this is why the people of Jinzhou especially worship heroes.
Under the Lament, who wouldn't yearn for a hero to save them from the sea of suffering?
Even Noah himself—wasn't he hoping to cling to Rover's thigh?
Noah simply stood up at the exact moment when everyone in Jinzhou needed it, and was thus recognized as a hero by the people of Jinzhou.
At that time, the people of Jinzhou—tormented by Whisperin and filled with despair—must have thought: For Noah to become a hero, he must have endured far more hardship than them.
But in reality... only Noah himself knew the effortless gains behind it.
Cheating once feels great—cheating forever feels even greater!
When Noah completely left Qichi Village and the graceful figure in the blue beret appeared in his view, the panel prompt appeared simultaneously:
[Main Story Task: "Rushing Strategy to Await the Fractsidus" has been completed.]
[Now possessing Radiant Tide *70, Lustrous Tide *20, Astrite *6600, Shell Credits *590000.]
Another main task mysteriously completed—Noah no longer wanted to think about the logic behind it.
Seeing his resource totals, the corners of Noah's mouth couldn't help curving upward, casting all previous unhappiness aside.
Just keep the cheats coming—one at a time, quietly!
70 limited pulls, 6600 Astrite—together equivalent to 111 pulls. With good luck, he could easily get two limited characters!
If his luck was even better, three golds wouldn't be impossible!
Should he go for Jinhsi's first constellation, or Jiyan's 0+1?
Such a tough choice!