Welcome to Rewind World Game

"In their eyes, there's only their mortgage, only whether their children can live in a school district, only whether their boss is in a good mood today... How could they care about what's on the edge of the world? How could they dare to challenge the tentacle monsters? How could they possibly see the truth of the control center?"

"Once people become immersed in tranquility, their thoughts and lives solidify day by day. They will no longer be aware of the vastness of the universe, nor be curious about what lies beyond the world. They will take it for granted that the deities are correct, and a death ending is not to be defied."

"But your act of retrieving history has made many begin to notice the truth. Your act of promoting the special medicine rain under the name of the Old God has made people develop resistance, has allowed them to empathize with other eras, has finally let them discover that there are people from many eras parallel to them... This destruction is no longer silent. They have 'discovered' the parallel versions of themselves."

"It's you who changed them, it's you who awakened them, it's you... who made this world so intense, so chaotic, so... vivid. It became no longer lifeless, as if all the life force was awakened."

His tone seemed like he was offering comforting words, creating an illusion that the listener was valued, but then his words suddenly took a sharp turn—

"You are terribly sinful, Su Ming'an."

"You made their deaths begin to become substantial, the frogs in the warm water started to rebel, they became in agony before they died, their deaths were supposed to be silent, painless, fused in an instant."

"But you made them endure the suffering of war, made them bear the pain of blades and bullets piercing their bodies, made them endure the sorrow of family separation, the tragedy of the elderly losing their dependents, made them walk out from a city where order was long stable, only to become wandering refugees, hungry at times, full at others, with their loved ones displaced..."

"...You are terribly sinful, Su Ming'an."

Although he spoke of terrible sin, Su Wensheng's face showed not a hint of hatred, only sadness. His expression grew more and more pained, each word seemed to choke his own throat.

…

[It seems that it shouldn't have been like this before. The spring breeze and flowers should stay here, and there should be no deities above the sky.]

[I thought someone would raise an objection, would at least think that we should retrieve history, but under the dim sky, I only saw the silence of the majority.]

[I don't like the world as it is.]

…

Su Ming'an looked at Su Wensheng.

The deities want to merge the world. But Su Wensheng warned Su Ming'an, urging him not to merge.

"So you are not loyal to the deities?" Su Ming'an said. "Even though you have always had the same stance as the deities, at this moment, you are advising me not to merge. So you have always been playing along with the deities insincerely, right?"

He felt this was the way it should be. Even if Su Wensheng had gone dark, inside, he surely wouldn't want to obey the deities. It made more sense for him to be an undercover agent enduring humiliation, which fit his 'character design.'

However, Su Wensheng shook his head.

"No. I do belong to the deities. Because I once felt utterly hopeless, only the deities saved me, so I work for Them."

Su Ming'an furrowed his brows.

"You don't have to think of me as so noble, Su Ming'an." Su Wensheng shrugged:

"'Su Wensheng' is just a nineteen-year-old high school student, how great can he be? If a nineteen-year-old youth suddenly said he wanted to save the world, suddenly full of enlightenment, going through countless hardships without regret, selflessly to a scary degree, do you think that's realistic?"

...Realistic, indeed.

Su Ming'an thought to himself.

Reality doesn't need logic.

He himself was like that.

…

[Later, I raised an orange cat. The orange cat always looked at me with lazy eyes, as if pitying me.]

[After all, I know my thoughts don't mean anything; I can't change anything. I'm just an ordinary person.]

…

Su Wensheng's hand loosened, the strangling feeling on Su Ming'an's neck gradually dissipated.

"...Why did you tell me these things?" Su Ming'an said.

Su Wensheng coughed, bubbles appearing in the blood. He clutched his abdomen, covering the embarrassing wound, and the blood seeped through his fingers.

"I once buried an orange cat, watching its fat body sink into the soil little by little." He said:

"I once dialed the phone to inquire about the people I risked my life to save, only to hear the cold echo."

"I once smashed my hands with a shovel, swallowed laundry detergent in a dark cell, then was electrocuted into begging for mercy, tormented and starved to the brink of death for days and nights."

"I once knelt and begged the doctors to save Little Li's life, but in the end, she still went to the operating table a day too late, not even her body remained."

"I once begged over and over to leave life to me, not to rely on people from the otherworld, only to greet a rain of bullets by the lakeside and the lies of the Godfather. The world has never favored me, and I finally woke up to this."

"At the final moments of life, I made a different kind of 'possibility' action—unlike the drowned Su Wensheng, I didn't foolishly wait for death, I prayed to the deities."

"In the cold, dark lake water, gravely bloodied, I closed my eyes and prayed. I prayed, O deities, save me, it's too cold here."

"At that moment, I opened my eyes, the dark lakebed full of my blood—besides the distant blue full moon in the sky, a hand from the deities reached out, radiating a halo."

"They said, from now on I will no longer be powerless."

…

[I slowly put down the phone. I suddenly felt like I had been drowning in the deep sea since birth, sinking little by little, never surfacing.]

[For the first time, I felt that this world finally defeated me once.]

[I couldn't help but question in my heart—]

…

"I became the deities' right-hand man, the deities healed me, gave me strength, gave me weaponry. I broke through the bad ending of 'drowning in the lake', I didn't foolishly wait for death with my eyes closed at the lakebed, I finally... extended a 'possibility of survival' from the sealed fate." Su Wensheng's voice was breathy, every word enunciated clearly:

"The deities said, as long as I stop you from approaching Dieying. You won't die, I won't die, nobody will die."

"Yes, I of course know what They mean—that the only ones who will die will be in the 9999 other eras I can't see, my own era won't die. As for you, as long as the deities pluck you from the 9999 doomed world lines and put you in the remaining one timeline, you won't die either."

"In this way, the Godfather, Tao Meng, and Jiang Xiaosan that I know, Su Luoluo, Teacher Xia Jiawen... they won't die either. The deities will preserve the world line I'm in."

"...In this way."

His eyes were dim and resolute as if reflecting himself at eight years old.

When he said this, his speech sped up slightly, as if something was colliding in the depth of his mind:

"—Then I finally saved [My World]."

…

[—What exactly did I save?]

…

"I finally slashed away the darkness I hate so much, the deities could clear away those ugly politicians for me, clear away those mice in the gutters, leaving one brightest and most beautiful world line."

...

[---How do I shake this deep-rooted darkness?]

...

"I've finally ended the past powerlessness. I have knowledge, strength, and allies. It's easy for me to save anyone I want and destroy any dark experimental city. In my world line, I saved countless people, including many children like Little Li."

...

[---How do I save a soul destined to die?]

...

"I didn't die meaninglessly. At least... I protected the world I grew up in during my childhood. Otherwise, there was no better way." Suddenly, he laughed with relief, "At least, I killed one ten-thousandth of destiny and saved 8 billion people in the present world."

...

[---How do I slay this never-ending... destiny?]

...

The night was about to swallow the outline of the control room, and the sunlight outside the door faded bit by bit. The light gradually became uneven, and the youth's brows and eyes flashed with sharpness in the battle between day and night.

Su Ming'an just realized that his toe was standing on the last line of daylight. The Su Wensheng in front of him was already completely hidden in the dim night, his previously soft facial features tainted with sharpness, as cold and severe as a blade edge.

The nineteen-year-old youth with great love walked to this point and became like this. People couldn't understand why he turned out this way, but actually...

"...I don't understand." Su Ming'an's lips were pressed tightly.

...

[I don't understand.]

[I asked the orange cat, why?]

...

Actually, he could understand.

Because there was no way out, because ideals were cut off, because life reached its end, because the person he trusted most pushed him into death... there was only one path left.

Only deity.

Only deity remains.

To protect his own world, this was the only path. But if he didn't follow it, he couldn't save even a little bit.

For Su Wensheng, this was the only way. If he disagreed, the first world line the deity would destroy was his. It was like putting ten thousand worlds in front of Su Rin and asking which one he'd choose between all those worlds and Pulaya.

Thus, his behavior logic, the mindset of blackening... Su Ming'an could fully understand, fully comprehend.

The one driving the chariot was a deity, Su Wensheng was the one who pulled the chariot lever. He pulled the lever, watching the chariot head towards the track where Su Ming'an stood, avoiding Su Wensheng's own world. The deity drove the chariot roaring past, so everyone hated Su Wensheng.

"..."

Su Ming'an saw Su Wensheng's pale face.

Between them, there seemed to be a thin layer of glass; wiping away the mist, he saw Su Wensheng's expression, pupils slightly shrinking, lips tightly pressed, as if reminiscing about him.

...Nostalgia.

The present Su Ming'an was just like the Su Wensheng before falling into the lake, with a heart still warm, thinking that as long as he ran fast enough, he could lead everyone to the finish line.

The eighteen-year-old Su Wensheng was also just like the current Su Ming'an, eyes bright, blood hot. He was trained to be like Su Ming'an.

---Just like how Su Ming'an's time flowed incessantly, gradually reshaping Su Wensheng's life.

When Su Ming'an took over Su Wensheng's backpack and became Su Wensheng, it was at that moment Su Wensheng prayed to the deity, detaching from the part of "Su Ming'an," and finally belonging to himself.

Through the glass, Su Ming'an seemed to see an orange cat.

And he became that cat.

...

[npc(Su Wensheng) favorability: 100-2 points!]

...

"Beep--- beep--- beep!"

Suddenly, a violent alarm sounded around, blazing red light flickered and flashed, the sound of mechanical assembly arose, seemingly the activation sound of the defense system.

Su Rin looked up, seeing the surrounding turning machine guns, the dark muzzles aimed at them.

"This city is undergoing a transformation, as if activating attack mode. All weapons will start attacking us." Su Rin said, "Is it Su Wensheng's doing?"

"Stop." Su Ming'an grabbed Su Wensheng's bow tie, "Since you don't want world fusion, is there only this path left to awaken the Exotic Species King? Withdraw the attack mode."

...Their positions were clearly aligned, Su Wensheng had no reason to hinder him.

Su Wensheng coughed up a mouthful of blood, placed his hand over Su Ming'an's, revealing a rare, vivid expression of his own:

"If... I could easily betray the deity... do you think the deity would still send me to stop you? Isn't the deity afraid of me turning coat?"

"Because the control of the Mechanical City... is not in my hands at all."

Su Ming'an's pupils slightly contracted.

No wonder... Su Wensheng was defenseless. It wasn't that he hid ample weapons, but behind him... there really was nothing.

No weapon support, no shield protection, he really stood on the high stage in simple clothes, telling Su Ming'an the truth about these world lines.

"The moment I came here, I understood, I was just a discardable piece. Whether I spared you or not was not important. The deity would definitely... activate the Mechanical City. Because... I simply couldn't mobilize most firearms, even if you killed me from the start, the deity wouldn't save me."

"Maybe... the deity just wanted to see what kind of decision I'd make. Would I betray Him, or stubbornly guard this information..."

The blood in his palm was scorching hot, but Su Ming'an felt a chill in his heart.

...Just like that.

...Just like that, the deity abandoned Su Wensheng. Clearly, Su Wensheng was someone He valued, but when Su Ming'an arrived, the deity instantly no longer cared for him, his change of attitude incredibly swift. Even when Su Wensheng was pierced by Su Rin's sword, the deity didn't appear, instead directly activating the attack mode of the Mechanical City, completely ignoring his life and death.

Su Wensheng chuckled a few times, then choked on blood again, his excessive blood loss making his face as white as snow: "It's highly likely... that the deity even calculated that I'd reveal this information... He deliberately wanted to see my betrayal... even wanting you to know this information, then forcing you to restart..."

"My world line has already been protected."

"When I stood on the stage saying ABCD... maybe I was already waiting for you... waiting for you to take action against me..."