Hearing J's words, a trace of surprise appeared in D's eyes. He hadn't expected J to know so much, he had never told J about these things before.
But even if J knew now, it didn't really matter, because at this moment, J was no different from him.
Right now, faced with J's accusations, D felt unusually calm. He felt no remorse at all.
Back then, he, Notch, and J had created that world together. They were the creators of that world, and also its gods.
Since that world was created by them, then everything within it should naturally be ruled by them.
Moreover, in D's view, even though the beings in that world had somehow developed consciousness, who could really say what that consciousness actually was?
They existed only within a created virtual world. Even if they had consciousness, they were nothing more than cyber lifeforms.
So, in D's eyes, those conscious beings could not be considered real life at all.
D didn't know why they had come into existence, but to him, their purpose was simply to serve that world and serve that world's gods, nothing more.
Therefore, D believed that as a god of that world, he had the right to decide the life and death of those beings.
In addition, although D had indeed done many things that J felt were utterly insane, that was merely J's personal view.
D didn't think his actions were excessive. In movies and TV shows, all kinds of characters are given different lives by their authors. Some characters suffer tragic fates, yet why does no one call those authors insane?
In D's view, he was no different from those creators. Everything he did was simply giving those characters different lives.
Naturally, not everyone could be the protagonist. Not everyone could have a protagonist's halo. Where there are comedies, there will also be tragedies.
Isn't life supposed to be full of rich and varied experiences?
Only then can people feel the meaning of life. How boring would it be to live a plain, uneventful life?
The reason J had so many accusations against D was because J still firmly placed himself in the role of a "human."
Even though he already possessed power far beyond everyone else, J was still willing to remain a "human."
In D's eyes, this wasn't being laid-back anymore, it was complacency, a lack of ambition.
D couldn't persuade J, nor did he intend to.
But at this moment, seeing J act aloof, wearing a righteous expression while standing on the moral high ground to criticize him, D felt extremely irritated.
He slowly stepped closer, stared straight into J's eyes, and said with a mocking smile on his face, "So that makes you a flawless saint, does it?"
"Before you complain that someone else's hands are dirty, shouldn't you first check whether your own claws are spotless?"
Hearing D's words, J's pupils trembled slightly. He knew exactly what D was referring to.
D's actions deserved condemnation, but the one condemning him should not be J. J had no right to do so.
He knew very well that the body he had obtained, and the freedom he was about to gain, were all built upon the disappearance of countless lives.
He truly wasn't a saint. He couldn't sacrifice himself to save others.
Although J had opposed D back when D first found a way to obtain physical bodies, he hadn't been firm at the time.
D had merely said, "We only need to kill players," and that alone was enough to convince J.
But J knew very clearly that it wasn't D who had convinced him, it was he who had convinced himself.
J understood D's personality well. At the beginning, D might keep his promise and only target players. But D had always been afraid of trouble. Once he found something troublesome, he would stop caring about limits altogether.
J knew this, yet he still allowed D to go ahead.
Even though his heart was tormented, he truly didn't want to stay in the void any longer. He was completely sick of those days.
So D was right, J's hands were not clean either.
Although the plan to gather power wasn't initiated by J, he didn't stop it. He tacitly allowed it.
Thinking this far, J let out a long sigh. He didn't refute D's words. He simply gave a self-mocking smile and then said, "Yes… I really don't have the right to criticize you."
"In order to leave the void, I turned a blind eye to your actions."
"In this game world, countless lives disappeared by our hands…"
"You and I both know exactly how much blood is on our hands…"
"I know clearly that they are conscious individuals, living, breathing lives."
"I can't deny my own crimes, but I also can't give my life to repay theirs…"
"The only thing I can do is atone after I leave the void."
As he said this, J seemed completely drained, as if all his strength had been taken away. His eyes were hollow and weary, his face filled with guilt and self-reproach.
He knew that the actions he had once silently allowed had brought immense pain and disaster to the beings of that world. He longed to make amends for his mistakes and atone for his selfishness.
So after leaving the void, he would do everything he could to help Notch build the world Notch had originally envisioned.
This was not only to make up for past mistakes, but also to give himself a chance to start over.
As for revenge, J had never once harbored such a thought.
Although most of those past sins had been committed by D, J always believed that he couldn't completely absolve himself of responsibility.
When D had first begun merely toying with those beings without posing a threat to their lives, J should have stopped him in time, but he didn't.
Because in real life, D had always been like this. He liked pulling pranks, but those pranks never truly harmed anyone.
In J's eyes, D was just seeking amusement as usual, so J indulged him as he always had.
This was where J felt the most guilt. He had always believed that it was because of his indulgence that things spiraled completely out of control.
Thus, in that final, heart-stopping battle, J chose to stand aside. He didn't reach out to help D. He silently watched as HIM defeated them and sealed them away in the void.
This was also why D had repeatedly accused J of doing nothing. If they had joined forces, HIM might not necessarily have won.
In truth, all of the grudges began with D, and J could have stayed completely out of it.
But he didn't. He had always felt that he too bore responsibility for how things turned out.
He understood that everything was the result of cause and effect. He had to accept his mistakes, and he had to accept the punishment that came with them.
So he chose to bear it together with D.
In J's view, the years spent trapped in the void were the punishment they deserved.
And for that reason, there was naturally no such thing as revenge.
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