Chapter 578: 262: Doomsday
Mark was a contingency prepared by Zhou Baiyu.
Upon sensing the possibility of being trapped in a cycle, Zhou Baiyu thought to himself, could Mark be trapped in a cycle in his dreams too?
Thus, he had his earliest communication with Mark, and after confirming that Mark was not caught in the cycle, Zhou Baiyu did not immediately ask for his help.
Instead, he instructed Mark to engage in a discussion with him only if it was certain that the cycle could not be broken by his own efforts.
Zhou Baiyu had also made attempts; in the cycle, his sense of déjà vu was fading, and the feeling of strangeness brought by his intuition was gradually dissipating within the cycle.
He was utterly defeated, unable to realize the existence of the cycle by his own strength, let alone break it.
Thus came the recent incident, Mark suddenly spoke up, temporarily disrupting what should have been a repetitive day.
Or maybe it didn't disrupt but simply caused the course of activities for Zhou Baiyu to change from previous days.
Mark behaved very professionally and was friendly.
"Have I not done any substantial work these days?"
"Honestly, my friend, I can recite backwards the license plate of the white BYD car you took, the voice of the driver, the numbers of the lottery shop you passed by, and even the situation of the receptionist in the building you were about to visit... Ahem, the video she was watching on her phone, and even the various conditions of the interviewer."
Mark showed some helplessness:
"Of course, I think you probably don't really want to see me, I can feel that you still are wary of me, and I also would like to believe that you can break the cycle by your strength alone."
"But sadly, despite my observations over twenty-one days, the cycle strengthens a bit every day, with a significant boost every seven days."
"In the first week, you were able to realize every day that you were trapped in the cycle."
"In the second week, you were mired in great confusion but could not pinpoint the cycle."
"In the third week, you only felt a small portion of déjà vu, but did not realize the cycle's presence."
"Therefore, it cannot go on like this. Although I have faith in you, I cannot waste your time, partner, let's find the source together."
Mark's words were even quite emotionally intelligent.
Statements like "I have faith in you, but I can't waste your time" made Zhou Baiyu couldn't help but blush with embarrassment.
After all, he'd been utterly defeated by the cycle.
Coughing lightly, Zhou Baiyu realized a problem—
Mark had in fact saved his life several times.
This wasn't a good thing, because Zhou Baiyu felt that, shameless or not, owing too much personal debt could affect future judgments.
But for now, he had to rely on Mark.
"So these days, I haven't done anything meaningful. The Forerunner has also wasted twenty-one days. During these twenty-one days, none of my companions encountered a summoning?"
"No. The people at your base, in the Cloud Brocade Sky River residence, have all been the same, stuck in the cycle with you."
Zhou Baiyu's eyes widened.
This news sent a chill down his spine.
Over twenty-one days, Constantin, himself, Brother Duan, the guildmaster, the Ice Demon, Wu Xin... It turns out that none of these people had entered a summoning?
This seemed too coincidental.
"Does this mean we are actually trapped on the same day? That time hasn't moved? Otherwise, if time flowed normally and some mysterious force just twisted everything back to its previous state, then a summoning, an entity governed by the rules of gods, shouldn't be affected."
Zhou Baiyu frowned:
"No... that doesn't make sense either."
If they were truly trapped on the same day with time standing still, then why would he experience déjà vu?
This explanation was not valid either.
Because if time had returned to the past, then a person couldn't possibly have a sense of déjà vu about things that hadn't happened.
Time is moving, and an unknown force is causing everything to loop. Having experienced the same events multiple times, he then developed a sense of déjà vu.
But if time is moving, then why haven't any of them been summoned away?
Although the interval between summonings is uncertain, a twenty-one-day break is much too long. And surely, not all Forerunners and Pathfinders in the entire echelon could be on an extended vacation, right?
For a moment, Zhou Baiyu was plunged into confusion.
Mark continued:
"After three significant intensifications of the cycle, now basically everyone is trapped in it and subjectively unaware of it."
"Next is my summary of the situation in this cycle—first of all, memories will cycle. That much is clear to you."
"Secondly, the scenarios will cycle. Some mysterious force will restore all scenarios, such as your mobile phone, which has a standby time of three days. You didn't charge it before sleeping, but when you wake up the next morning, the battery level returns to the state it was the previous morning."
"The reset time is at 4:30 AM."
"Lastly, these twenty-one days are all sunny. I personally believe that—this cycle is making time return to the previous day."
Zhou Baiyu shook his head:
"If time were reversed, do you think you would be able to notice?"
Mark fell silent for a moment.
Indeed, if time were reversed, even himself, hidden in Zhou Baiyu's dreams, would have to respect the rules of time.
In dreams, he could circumvent many "rituals," but all his actions still required time.
"Memories have been reset, scenarios have been reset, but time has not reversed. That's why I have such a thing as déjà vu, and why you can keep record unaffectedly."