Welcome to Rewind World Game

——Playing a role.

Su Ming'an felt his heartbeat pounding like a drum, thumping, as Su Wensheng's painful memories drilled into his mind, resonating with the memory sparks of Liu Xuanxuan, Ming Luo, and Yi Hengchuan.

"Su Xiaobai!" Shang Qi pushed open the door: "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine." Su Ming'an steadied his heartbeat: "Let's go back and eat."

As he passed by the mirror, he felt the image of himself flicker, revealing white strands of hair, but when he looked into the mirror, it was still black hair.

"..." Su Ming'an glanced at his normal san value, which hadn't changed in a long time.

Back at the dining table, grandma brought a bowl of boiled shrimp: "Son, eat shrimp! Your favorite shrimp!"

Under grandma's eager gaze, Su Ming'an peeled the shrimp shell, ate one, and nodded: "Delicious."

"You love shrimp the most; you're busy with work usually, but at least eating shrimp makes you a bit happier." Grandma mumbled, helping Su Ming'an peel shrimp, her old fingers full of calluses, her voice rambling:

"The people selling shrimp also got the Black Mist Disease. When I went to buy shrimp, they were staring at the TV, wondering when the special medicine would come out."

"Son, you don't need to worry too much. Now with brave kids like the first from the Dream Patrol Family standing up, whether it's your wife's matter or your granddaughter, they'll get better. You've already come home, come home..."

"You like to paint, and I picked up some art supplies while collecting garbage; we can paint together later..."

Grandma looked at Su Ming'an's unfamiliar face, a flash of confusion in her eyes, wondering if this was really her son. But she quickly smiled:

"Everything will get better, haha, the whole family will get better..."

"Bang bang!"

There was a knock on the door.

Wang Mingming went to open the door; it was the city law enforcement team.

"Is Granny Lin here?" An officer knocked on the door. He wore a round hat, with slightly long mustaches, his face square: "Surveillance shows your son returned three days ago; he entered your home, he never disappeared."

Grandma was a bit more lucid, realizing Su Ming'an was not her son. She said: "No, my son didn't come back."

…If her son came home three days ago, then where is he?

The officer sighed, his gaze mixed with pity: "We're here to award you the Citizen Honor Badge, congratulations, Granny Lin."

Grandma looked bewildered; she didn't know what she had done to deserve a badge: "What? What are you talking about? My son didn't come back."

Su Ming'an felt a slight tremor in his heart.

"Su Xiaobai..." Shang Qi's nose twitched. Coming from a family of traditional Chinese medicine, his sense of smell was keen, faintly detecting a strange smell: "There's a strange smell, come with me..."

Su Ming'an followed Shang Qi into the back room, where there was a stench wafting out.

At the door, the officer was choosing his words carefully as he presented a gold Honor Badge, highlighted by black velvet, shining especially bright under the light. Only citizens who have made outstanding contributions are awarded such a medal.

"This is the badge," the officer said.

"Oh, I get it, my son went to get the Ark Project vaccine before; he must have contributed, and you're awarding him the badge, right?" Grandma suddenly realized, clapping her hands with a smile: "I knew my son was reliable, he always listens, and wouldn't not come home..."

She wiped her eyes, looking at the family photo on the wall: "My son is amazing, always a top student since he was a child. Did he come back with you? Let me see him quickly."

In the room, Shang Qi approached a wooden cabinet, a large wardrobe, where the stench was emanating from inside.

He reached out, touched the cabinet handle, and exchanged a glance with Su Ming'an.

"Granny Lin, um..." At the door, the officer lowered his hat, a look of guilt and regret on his face: "This Honor Badge is for you."

"Me? What contribution did I make! I'm just an old lady!" Grandma opened her lips wide and exclaimed: "Where's my son? Did you hide my son? Do you not recognize my son? His face is round, his eyes are flat, there's a mole on the right corner of his mouth; he doesn't talk much, very honest except when he goes out to work, where did he go?"

The people remained silent as the guard silently pinned the Honor Badge on grandma's floral coat, emitting a soft metallic sound.

"Click." Shang Qi opened the cabinet door.

As the door opened, a corpse leaning against the cabinet door fell out from inside.

The corpse hit the ground with a dull thud.

Shang Qi took a step back, looking at the corpse on the ground, silent.

Su Ming'an put on gloves and turned the corpse over, revealing its face.

He wore a work shirt covered in dust, his long pants splattered with mud stains beyond recognition, and his shoes were cracked, enough to show how hard he worked. Su Ming'an looked at his face, a middle-aged man's face.

His face was round, eyes small and flat, with a mole at the right corner of his mouth.

The spots of the Black Mist Disease covered his entire body, with black tendrils drooping around him.

—This was a corpse in the late stage of Black Mist Disease, showing signs of metamorphosis. If he hadn't died, he would have transformed into a monster, and most of the residents would have been slaughtered.

But he died instead, with a long knife scar on his chest, presumably from a cleaver. This slash didn't hit a fatal point, suggesting he was chopped once and then bled out on the ground, without any counterattack or struggle during the entire process.

"Obviously, he was on the verge of metamorphosis, but someone chopped him once." Shang Qi examined the corpse and exclaimed in surprise: "Yet he didn't counterattack before dying... There's only his own blood on the scene. It's so strange, people in the late stage of Black Mist Disease have lost their rationality, but he managed to suppress his killing intent, lying on the ground waiting to die, this is truly..."

Shang Qi paused to think of the right words, saying: "A shocking situation..."

Su Ming'an looked at the despair on the corpse's face, and in that despair, Su Ming'an actually saw a trace of satisfaction.

He reached out his hand and closed the corpse's eyes.

…In the disease of rationality, there is no room for luck.

…But "love" can.

At the door, the officer finally spoke in a low voice:

"I regret to inform you... Grandma Lin."

"We award you the medal because of your noble act of silencing your family member."

"Thank you... for ending the life of a person on the verge of metamorphosis three days ago, preventing them from committing a massacre, and protecting tens of thousands of residents in the vicinity. Thank you."

The officials, along with the guards, bowed deeply towards the frail and stooped old granny.

It seemed something fell to the ground, a sound like a drop of water, utterly silent.

When Su Ming'an turned to look back, he found the granny at the door already in tears. She clutched the badge at her chest tightly, her cataract-filled eyes seeing the corpse inside the room, and for a moment, the memory forgotten due to overwhelming sorrow returned to her mind.

—In that instant.

It felt like the fog in her mind cleared away.

She recalled how she had joyfully welcomed her son home a few days ago.

She remembered how he screamed in pain, saying it hurt all over after he injected the Ark Project vaccine.

She remembered how she told him to lie down as she hurried to get a doctor.

She remembered how she cooked for him before the doctor arrived, making the shrimp he loved most. She remembered the last painting they made together.

She recalled his sudden metamorphosis, how he handed her the cleaver himself.

The metamorphosis couldn't be stopped; only ending his life could save more people.

"Mom."

"Kill me."

The feeble slash from the frail old granny was desperate and weak, unable to pierce his fatal point. He fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, without any struggle, without any counterattack, restraining his surging killing intent, continuously tearing his rapidly healing wounds due to the metamorphosis, until he lost his last breath.

…What indeed makes people human.

The wealth created by the masses is harvested by those at the top of the pyramid in various ways, yet people at the bottom can shine so brightly. Their humanity is so radiant that it's eye-watering.

Looking at the corpse on the ground, Su Ming'an crouched down and gently covered his face with the bloodstained clothes.

After putting the body in the wardrobe, the strong grief combined with the mental impact of the Black Mist Disease made granny forget about it. She subconsciously felt her son hadn't come back yet, and she just needed to cook his favorite shrimp, waiting for him to return at the door.

He would come back.

He definitely would.

She waited under the dilapidated building, waiting for her son's return. As long as he came back, the building collapse incident from five years ago would surely get a response, her granddaughter's heart disease would have the money to treat, the future would have light, and the family would achieve happiness, surely.

The evening wind lifted her silver hair, her heart always held that complete family photo.

But she never thought—

Waiting for her return, was only a corpse, and a mocking citizen's honor medal.

In an instant, she cried out loud.

The cries tore through her already hoarse throat, like an injured black crow, echoing in the empty hallway, with no one answering.

"——You mustn't cry! This is a great thing!" The guards hurried to persuade her, their faces showing diverse smiles:

"Smile! You're a hero!"

"Look at this Citizen Honor Medal, it's so beautiful, you can hang it up for everyone to see. This is an honor people envy but can't obtain."

"You sacrificed for the greater good; you killed the mutant, you've saved countless lives!"

Her son was a mutant, and the Ark Project's accelerated vaccination triggered his mutation, leading to his death.

He had to be killed; he needed redemption.

But,

Why was she crying.

She couldn't laugh.

She couldn't laugh at all.

Her son had always been obedient. Since childhood, he was an exemplary student, with very few likes except for loving shrimp. His life followed a steady path — study, work, marry, have children; he was honest and kind, just like any ordinary father, most attentive to his wife's words.

But,

Why?

"Ah, ah, ah ah——!"

A sound unlike human cries.

The sound of crying in utmost despair.

Crying as if being torn apart.

Braised pork and shrimp were still on the table; Su Ming had only taken a few bites before; the air carried the fragrance of wine. The calendar on the wall was stuck three days ago, and several half-drawn sheets rested on the cabinet, with brilliant and vibrant hues of gouache.

The photograph depicted a simple, honest middle-aged man holding a girl, with a pretty wife standing by his side; the teddy bear in the girl's hand seemed to be smiling too.

But why.

Why...?

Su Ming covered the white cloth and suddenly heard the terrifying cries unlike those of a human.

"Su Xiaobai." Shang Qi grasped Su Ming'an's hand: "Let's escape quickly."

Su Ming'an looked up and saw the black spots rapidly spreading on the old grandma at the doorway, swiftly covering her cheeks.

Negative emotions would intensify everything.

Black Mist, Exotic Species, including the Black Mist Disease associated with them.

Therefore, people are always asked to smile.

But if even smiling can't be achieved...

"Retreat! Retreat!" The guards screamed, raising their guns.

The old grandma held the painting tools in her arms, still crying.

"..."

In an instant, tendrils erupted violently from her body. Her Black Mist Disease escalated, reaching its late stage, and she began to mutate. Ultimately, she stepped onto the same path as her son.

The guards unwaveringly aimed their gun barrels at her, as flames spewed forth. Mutants cannot be reversed, only life can be ended.

"You——" Su Ming'an stretched out his hand.

Stop.

Don't do this anymore.

Delayed special medicine, abandoned epidemic zones, countless people struggling painfully in disease —

Repeating this cycle, repeating this pain.

Over and over again.

Well-dressed beasts trod on others' lives as a matter of course, unseen by the media, assumed nonexistent by netizens, painting a facade of peace.

Five years of hoarse cries, the agony of personally sacrificing one's child, the blood and tears of the elderly — the truth and response people pursue with all their might buried in the dust with dry laughter, unseen by anyone.

——If the night doesn't brighten, what can shake the deep-rooted darkness?

——If dawn doesn't come, what can save the sheep in the bitter rain?

"Wait——"

Su Ming'an stretched out his hand towards the grandma.

Don't.

...You haven't yet waited for the truth about your daughter-in-law.

...You haven't yet known what your son suffered in the Ark Project.

...You haven't yet... lived with your granddaughter.

He saw the wrinkles on her face move slightly; she turned her head amidst the tendrils all over her body and opened her mouth towards him, smiling.

Silver strands floated beside her face like sheep's wool. Her eyes were in dim colors, yet he could see his clear reflection in them.

"You are a brave child..."

She said.

"Thank you..."

Thank you for pretending to be my son, allowing my son to eat the last shrimp.

Thank you... for praising my cooking.

I know, you child,

you wanted to save me.

Thank you for your youthful and sincere heart, thank you for noticing an old grandma like me. As long as there are people like you in the world, justice will not die.

Thank you, really... thank you so much.

The next moment,

Gunfire rang out, blood splattered. This unfinished building finally began collapsing due to the tremors, with bricks wildly crashing down, and guards immediately retreated.

"It's going to collapse! Retreat! Retreat!" They screamed.

And below the living room, the old grandma, wearing the red flower jacket her son gifted her, leaned against the family portrait and half-used painting tools, closing her eyes. Her entire body was marked with bullet holes, and the flower jacket became completely bloodstained.

She did not escape, nor did she heal her wounds; she, like her son, closed her eyes, clutching the glowing Citizen Honor Medal on her chest, her fingers repeatedly rubbing her son's face in the photograph.

Su Ming'an, holding his granddaughter, leapt off the balcony, and the last thing he saw was a huge brick wall, covering her white hair.

The shrimp on the table was knocked over, spilling downward amidst the dust and hum.

...Grandma.

He opened his eyes, seeing that pale hue entirely disappear from his sight. For a moment, he seemed to smell the plum wine of his childhood again, feeling a warmth in his eyes as if something was falling.

The torrential rain washed away everything.

"Dad, is grandma... dead?"

The little girl in his arms choked emotionally.

Su Ming'an held her, wiping away the tears on her face.

He spoke softly in her ear.

"...'They' won't die."