Welcome to Rewind World Game

"The game... is truly mysterious." Yi Zhongyu said, "When I played 'The Cat and Her' back then, I just thought it was a thrilling chase game that raised my blood pressure. Now that I'm playing the real-life version, I realize it's truly terrifying."

Just then, the lanterns in their hands suddenly lit up with a "shua".

"The ghost is close!" Su Luoluo's face turned deathly pale instantly.

The lantern lighting up indicated the ghost was nearby!

"Can the ghost be fought?" Su Ming'an's first instinct was this. If the ghost could be attacked, then it wouldn't be called a horror game, but rather torching granny.

"The ghost is over there!" Su Luoluo pointed over.

At this moment, there were still over a thousand contestants lingering at the inner city's gate, picking up the guards' firearms. Some dream patrol live streamers were still meeting with online fans, shooting vlogs in front of the camera.

However, amid the scarlet mist, a pitch-black figure approached them.

With jet-black hair and sharp, bright black eyes, wielding a thin sword as sharp as frost—the "ghost" looked quite young, surrounded by a dense blood mist.

Blood-red tendrils sprouted from the ghost's back, blooming like red spider lilies, instantly piercing through people and draining their blood and flesh.

In the blink of an eye, casualties exceeded double digits, blood splattered all around. At this killing speed, the ghost could wipe out everyone in ten hours.

Luckily, Su Ming'an and the other two were close to the safe room. They quickly stepped forward, with Su Ming'an being the last to shut the safe room door.

As he shut the door, "thud thud" sounds echoed, and the blood-red tendrils stabbed into the door. If they were a step slower, they would have been pierced through.

"How could it be... isn't this supposed to be humanity's opportunity? Isn't it a blessing given by the deities? Why would it..." Su Luoluo trembled in the corner, pupils shaking violently.

The TV stations and media channels spoke so well of it—the opening of The First Tower is humanity's chance! The advent of a new era! But... why did she see the corpses of dream patrol families?

They died so miserably, like crushed ants, with almost no strength to resist. Those precious dream patrol families died so worthlessly.

"The ghost's combat power is estimated... to be around six thousand." Su Ming'an looked through the window at the outside, "It's not unbeatable, just a bit over a thousand in combat power. Surely it's an exotic species, indicating nine years ago, this place indeed suffered an exotic species attack."

"What are the deities thinking? Why create such a game mechanism, slaughtering the dream patrol families?" Yi Zhongyu felt confused. People outside were frantically fleeing, soon disappearing into the invisible red mist, leaving only silence and a ground full of corpses.

In his live broadcast room, some blood-fainting audience members fainted directly, and the bullet curtain became very quiet, as people began to fear.

They finally realized—perhaps what The First Tower brought was truly Pandora's box.

[If we hadn't opened The First Tower... not so many people would have died!] someone began to complain.

[My goddess! My goddess, don't die, don't die!]

[How could this happen... the anchor I follow is just... he was so young...]

[After this, there are the second and third towers, how many more will we sacrifice?]

...

The room was extremely silent, and the three of them were very quiet.

Many dream patrol family members participated in The First Tower with a "join the fun" mindset, never anticipating they'd face such terrifying events.

"I think the 'Tower' wasn't created by deities because they want to erase history, yet the 'Tower' brings history back to reality." Su Ming'an pondered, "The 'Tower' should be some enemy we've yet to encounter—perhaps created by the Exotic Species King."

He recalled the shadows in the starry sky—that might just be the yet-to-awaken Exotic Species King.

The awakening of the Exotic Species King requires massive negative emotions—in this way, it all makes sense. As long as the dream patrol families are slaughtered, massive negative emotions are generated, allowing the Exotic Species King to accelerate awakening.

However, the "Tower" should still have other driving forces, as passing the tower grants the Immortal's Talisman.

"Is it possible... that the tower has been here from the start?" Su Ming'an considered, "It feels more like a natural mechanism."

He thought of the Qiongdi's Silver Star Replica, where passing it earns a Silver Star. Maybe the Tower's situation is similar to the Silver Star Replica.

"There's something here." Yi Zhongyu crouched in front of a deity statue.

Su Ming'an approached the statue, and a system prompt popped up:

[You can offer your own flesh and blood to the statue in exchange for escape skills.]

[Catnip: Smear mint on yourself, the 'ghost' cannot harm you within five seconds. Required flesh and blood: 10 points.]

[Cat Bamboo Stick: Obtain a bamboo stick; when the stick touches the 'ghost', the 'ghost' will be forced to retreat three steps. Required flesh and blood: 30 points.]

[Cat Cushion: When leaping from a height, you will not suffer fall damage. Required flesh and blood: 30 points.]

[Cat Bell: When you approach the "girl's" location, the bell will ring. Required flesh and blood: 40 points.]

[Cat's Pupil: When the 'ghost' is within thirty meters, you will know the 'ghost's direction. Required flesh and blood: 20 points.]

[For the Cat: You will know the nearby safe house's location and accelerate basic movement speed. Required flesh and blood: 50 points.]

...

Su Ming'an looked down, seeing a variety of skills. They could temporarily halt the ghost, speed up fleeing, lessen breathing and heartbeat... and more.

He saw Yi Zhongyu take out a knife, starting to cut his arm, as if he didn't feel the pain.

"—Stop." Su Ming'an clutched his hand.

Yi Zhongyu's expression was resolute: "We need escape skills. Without these, if we encounter the ghost, we won't even have a chance to get inside. You're more important than me, you don't have to cut, just let me do it."

"Don't make offerings; who knows if this isn't an Evil God. Offering is dangerous behavior." Su Ming'an said.

Yi Zhongyu hesitated for a moment, held the knife for a while, and had to give up.

Su Ming'an searched in the safe room for a while and found a tattered diary.

...

[You have obtained (Little Li's Diary · II)]

[February 2nd, Sunny.]

[Today Xiaowen asked me who gave the bell in my drawer.]

[I told him it was from my aunt.]

[My aunt was the person who adopted me, but she was gone when I was very young. She got sick, and in the last moment when she grew tendrils, she pushed me out, and she jumped from a tall building herself.]

[Ever since then, I've always carried the bell she gave me. Even when caught here, I've always had it on me.]

[Xiaowen told me at this age I should be in middle school, but I'm locked up here.]

[I heard middle school students can carry backpacks to school, take notes under the fan, and do homework smelling of chalk dust.]

[It doesn't sound very beautiful, but I'm curious. So Xiaowen pretended to be a teacher and I pretended to be a student, letting me experience the feeling of class.]

[Classes are tiring, but Xiaowen being the teacher makes it so I'm not tired.]

...

Su Ming'an put away the diary.

They stayed in the safe room for a while, the lanterns in their hands remained lit.

"Why doesn't it go out?" Su Luoluo, having calmed down, patted the lantern in her hand, "Is it broken?"

She knocked a few times, and the lantern stayed lit.

The lantern staying lit meant the ghost was nearby, yet Su Luoluo looked out the window and saw no sign of the ghost, only a field of corpses.

Why does the lantern stay lit?

"Do you want to go out and take a look?" Yi Zhongyu walked to the door, his hand resting on the doorknob.

"..." Su Ming'an was silent for a moment, realizing something.

"Look up."

He said softly.

Su Luoluo and Yi Zhongyu looked up—

Between the gaps in the ceiling, a strand of black hair hung down, and a pair of pitch-black, cold eyes stared at them through the gaps. Crimson tentacles flowed between the gaps, like viscous blood.

—The ghost had been lying on their safe house, watching their every move.

Seeing the three looking up, the ghost's vague face slightly moved, a smile curling at the corner of its mouth.

Su Luoluo's face instantly turned pale.

"I'll exchange flesh and blood for skills, otherwise we will be trapped here," Yi Zhongyu frowned and said. If the ghost didn't leave, who knew if the rules might change and the safe house would no longer be safe.

"No need. You stay here." Su Ming'an directly pushed the door open and went out.

"Hey!" Yi Zhongyu was shocked—You're too bold! That's a ghost slaughtering hundreds!

The next second, the ghost's crimson tentacles moved, lunging towards Su Ming'an. Su Ming'an summoned the wheelchair, steam spewing out!

White tentacles emerged from his back, firmly binding the crimson tentacles!

Tentacle against tentacle, like two monsters battling.

Su Ming'an maneuvered the white tentacles as if flying a kite, and as the wheelchair rushed forward, the ghost was dragged behind the wheelchair, writhing grotesquely in the air.

With a loud crash, Su Ming'an crashed into a tall building; he wasn't sure what floor he had broken into, only hearing intense clashing sounds in his ears as he shattered a bed board.

The white tentacles were severed by the impact, and the ghost's figure was nowhere to be seen, tossed somewhere unknown.

...The danger was temporarily lifted, Yi Zhongyu and the others should be able to relocate.

Su Ming'an struggled to get up; it was an ordinary bedroom.

A delicate-looking teenager sat on the bed, staring in surprise at Su Ming'an, who had descended from the sky. The window in the bedroom had been shattered by Su Ming'an, glass fragments scattered everywhere.

"Who...who are you?" the teenager exclaimed in surprise, "Are you here to rescue us experiment subjects?"

Su Ming'an felt dizzy; he must have crashed into a building housing experiment subjects, the room was very simply furnished. He blinked, vaguely feeling that the teenager looked familiar.

The glass fragments reflected shimmering light, and cold-colored lights interwove between them.

He looked at the name on the teenager's hospital gown.

...

[Name: Su Wensheng]

[Age: 10]

["Artificially Eligible Person" experiment subject.]

...

"Who are you?" the teenager looked up, "Are you here to save us?"

The teenager's arms were covered with dense needle marks, and there were slap marks on his face. He was emaciated with hunger, yet his gaze remained fervent.

...

[To keep me silent, I was sent to a dim place. No light could be seen, only endless beatings and confinement. People said it was a place for bad children.]

[When I was starving to the point of fainting, I would reflect, but no matter how many times I did so, a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times…I would always choose to push open the door to the art classroom. After being there for many years, my body gradually grew taller, covered with countless whipping wounds.]

[Later, someone finally came to rescue me.]

...

Su Ming'an gazed at the youth's tearful eyes.

He placed his hand on the teenager's pinhole-studded nape and whispered a response.

"Yes, I'm here to rescue you."

"What's your surname?" the boy's voice trembled, "Could you tell me? I want to remember you."

"Su." Su Ming'an said, "My surname is Su."

...

[The person who saved me was called "Doctor Su," sharing my surname, a doctor with a just heart.]

...

"Doctor Su." The teenager tightly grabbed Su Ming'an's white coat.

...

[Doctor Su said the Ark Project was an extremely evil project involving a vast nation, city, and power, impossible for him alone to eradicate. It was a project for "Artificially Eligible Persons."]

...

"You're an 'Artificially Eligible Person' experiment subject, Su Wensheng. Do you know that?" Su Ming'an said.

"I understand, please rescue my companions, many of them are near death, and there's one girl about to have her heart removed..." Su Wensheng pleaded, "You could so fiercely break in here, can you save them? Of course, if you don't want to..."

...

[Doctor Su patted my head, said I was still young, to go home, not to get involved. Wait till I left the small town after the college entrance exam, became a big figure, then come find him.]

...

"Su Wensheng." Su Ming'an said.

"Hmm?" Su Wensheng responded.

"You've grown up, become a big figure, so you've returned." Su Ming'an said words historically different, "You can uproot this plan by yourself now."

"Hmm?" Su Wensheng was a bit puzzled, "I haven't grown up yet, Doctor Su."

"You've grown up, you are right here." Su Ming'an pointed to his heart, "…you never left."

—You've grown up.

—Though named "Su Wensheng," it's no longer you. But one-fiftieth of him remains "Su Wensheng."

—Su Wensheng, you left the small town after the college entrance exam, you became a big figure, you returned here through the First Tower—you saved yourself.

History shifted, memories' conversations changed. Su Ming'an felt as if he heard the sound of taut strings.

"…Su Ming'an." A voice came from behind.

Su Ming'an turned back, on the shattered window glass, a figure stood in the cold light, it was that guy who called himself Su Wensheng.

"You actually chased me here." Su Ming'an said.

"Su Wensheng" silently watched this scene for a long time.

Now, in a certain sense, three Su Wenshengs existed here.