I Hijacked the Timeline (IHT)

Staring at the floating, blood-red eye not far to his right, Feng Qi immediately realized that things had taken a dire turn.

With his current strength, he was no match for a domain creature capable of producing a rune.

Just as Feng Qi was about to turn and flee, the blood-red eye blinked, and an invisible psychic force enveloped him, rendering him immobile.

He was lifted into the air by the invisible power, his body suspended as the pressure bearing down on him intensified. Despite his struggles, Feng Qi couldn't break free from the invisible force controlling him.

Then, with another blink from the blood-red eye, his left arm was suddenly wrenched out of place, hanging limp at his side, clearly broken.

For someone who always assumed he couldn't feel pain, the searing agony radiating from his torn muscles and fractured bone came as a shock.

The blood-red eye floated closer to him, its surface now covered with fine tendrils, each ending in a sharp, toothed maw. Realizing he was about to be devoured, Feng Qi felt a pang of anguish—not just for his life, but for the 1.2 million credits he had invested in keeping this body alive.

Just as despair threatened to overwhelm him, a shadowy figure emerged in the distance. It was the familiar form of Little Black, cloaked in thick black mist.

The blood-red eye appeared to notice this uninvited guest, swiveling to face Little Black. In that moment, Feng Qi felt the invisible grip on him weaken. The blood-red eye seemed to lose interest in him, directing its full attention to Little Black.

The ground trembled as debris and rubble floated around the blood-red eye. With a blink, these makeshift projectiles hurtled toward Little Black at astonishing speed.

Unfazed, Little Black's figure blurred, leaving a trail of afterimages as he dodged the oncoming rubble with inhuman agility. In an instant, his black mist-shrouded claw lashed out toward the blood-red eye.

A loud hum reverberated through the air as everything around them froze. The invisible psychic force bound everything in place, including Little Black's descending claw.

The blood-red eye blinked again, and an overwhelming psychic blast sent Little Black hurtling into a crumbling building. A cloud of dust and debris rose as the structure partially collapsed under the impact.

But moments later, Little Black emerged unscathed from the rubble, his posture steady as he resumed his face-off with the blood-red eye.

While Feng Qi was curious to see who would prevail in this confrontation, he valued his life too much to stick around. His survival was worth more than the spectacle. Now was the perfect opportunity to escape.

Without hesitation, Feng Qi turned and bolted toward the distance.

Neither Little Black nor the blood-red eye paid him any mind; their focus remained solely on each other as their battle reignited.

After sprinting for what felt like an eternity, Feng Qi finally stopped to catch his breath, confident he was out of danger.

To his amazement, he had narrowly escaped the blood-red eye's clutches, all thanks to Little Black's untimely intervention.

"Guess I got lucky," he muttered to himself.

Though his left arm was broken, the fact that he had survived at all left him with a sense of relief. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

[Luck? Or maybe Little Black was following you all along. Considering how bad you smell, you probably left a fragrant trail behind—like a walking, rotting perfume bottle. Tracking you wouldn't have been hard.]

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to tell me Little Black is hunting me?" Feng Qi demanded.

As expected, the narrator fell silent at the critical moment.

"Always leaving sentences half-finished—short like your…" Feng Qi grumbled, his irritation clear.

Despite the lingering questions and the narrator's taunts, he was grateful to still be alive. Taking a deep breath, Feng Qi adjusted his pace and continued exploring this treacherous world.

[What good would half or whole do me? Even if you handed it to me, I'd refuse it.]

Feng Qi: …

For once, he found himself unable to argue. After all, the narrator didn't even have a body—what use would that be?

[And you don't need it either.]

"Shut up!"

The path forward was blocked by the clash between Little Black and the blood-red eye, so Feng Qi had no choice but to retrace his steps.

Yet, after only a few hundred meters, he found himself face-to-face with another domain creature.

This one resembled a fluffy white ball, covered in thick fur, with a glimmering blue rune crystal embedded in its forehead.

Feng Qi's expression darkened. For once, he couldn't even muster the energy to curse his luck.

"Out of the tiger's den and into the wolf's lair. Guess this is it for me."

The spherical domain creature locked its gaze on Feng Qi before slowly opening its mouth. A glowing orb of energy, formed entirely of condensed spiritual energy, began to materialize within.

Seeing the orb, Feng Qi gripped his bone club tightly, preparing for the worst. He was convinced this was the end.

But just as the glowing sphere was about to obliterate him, it suddenly dispersed, unraveling into waves of soft white energy that rippled harmlessly toward him.

When the energy waves swept over him, Feng Qi froze in shock. Nothing happened. He was fine.

The domain creature, now staring at him in bewilderment, widened its round eyes in surprise, seemingly as confused as he was.

For a moment, they just stared at each other.

Then, the narrator's voice rang out in Feng Qi's mind.

[Smash it! That thing's called a Nightmare. Its ability lets it emit energy waves with extremely strong hypnotic effects. But you're already asleep, so it's completely useless against you! And its physical body is super weak. Just bash it until it's dead. Go on, don't hold back!]

"I'm asleep, so I'm immune to its attacks?" Feng Qi finally understood why the Nightmare's energy waves had no effect on him.

It made sense. He was already in a dream—how could he be put to sleep again?

Grinning, he took a step forward, raising his bone club menacingly.

Sensing that its attacks were useless, the Nightmare began to panic. Its mouth opened again, rapidly gathering spiritual energy into another glowing sphere.

The sphere reached full power and burst apart into another wave of energy that rippled toward Feng Qi.

This time, the Nightmare thought it had him. As the energy wave washed over Feng Qi's body, he paused mid-step.

The creature's panicked demeanor shifted to one of relief, assuming it had finally succeeded in putting him under.

But just as it let its guard down, Feng Qi abruptly lunged forward, bringing his bone club down on its head with a resounding crack.

"You idiot. Did you really think I'd let you get away with that?" he sneered.

The Nightmare screeched, stumbling backward in a panic. It turned to flee, but Feng Qi wasn't about to let it escape. Gripping his bone club tightly, he gave chase, delivering blow after blow to the creature's round body.

Its shrill, childlike cries filled the air as it tried to escape.

[Yes! Get him! Go for the weak spot! Flip him over and crack open his rune core!]

Even as Feng Qi relentlessly pummeled the creature, the narrator egged him on mercilessly, its voice an enthusiastic roar of encouragement.

The chase continued, with Feng Qi determined to take out all his frustration on the helpless Nightmare. The narrator's gleeful cheers echoed in his mind as he pursued the creature, bone club swinging wildly.