CHAPTER 1021: CHAPTER 1018: NINTH CYCLE

Subsequently, he was captured by the Deity. Soon the world reset, once again returning to February 3rd, 827. Thus, Chao Yan later learned the talisman of "Shared Pain".

However, he was always very fragile, always easily dying for various reasons.

Sometimes, he would be overwhelmed by the massive negative emotions brought by unsealing the tentacles. Sometimes, he would fall asleep under flowers in the church’s inner room, never to wake again. Sometimes, he would be assassinated by Su Wensheng, with his shattered organs and blood floating on the sea surface. Sometimes, Taslyche, the Goddess, would be controlled, accidentally killing him, leaving the room a mess, with an empty gaping hole in his chest.

In her eyes, he appeared like a fragile glass figurine, where the slightest risk, any bit of misinformation, would lead him to irrevocable death. Yet he shuttled between Little Su’s minor resets and the Deity’s major resets, always maintaining a forward-looking mindset, which left her in awe.

...So fragile.

...So obvious that the enemies were so vast to him, and the information gap had reached an incredibly terrifying extent.

Yet he was still able to...maintain an unchanged attitude time and time again.

He successfully reached the Prophecy Stone Wall again and again, then initiated a new nightmare. Repeating, repeating, as if endlessly.

The time that left the deepest impression on her—was the Eighth Cycle.

In this cycle, his spirit was at its worst. In his eyes, though it was merely the beginning, his spirit seemed as if he had died hundreds of times before, burdened with infinite fatigue.

He seemed to vaguely realize something was wrong. So he walked up the building, facing the overwhelming rain, intending to jump off.

Chao Yan merely watched silently from the shadows because, after so many encounters, she had realized—not interfering with his decision to die might be the best course.

He murmured to himself:

"Jumping off from here...everything ends..."

Perhaps the hallucinations were too severe, as he kept conversing with non-existent illusions, as if a companion was constantly behind him, accompanying him.

Finally, he lifted his gaze and saw her in the shadows.

"I think I have a bit of an impression of you..." he murmured, "We’ve met...haven’t we?"

Chao Yan gave a bitter smile.

This indicated his mental state had deteriorated to the extreme, even surpassing the Deity’s obfuscation, recalling some things from before the world reset.

"...Yes, we’ve met, you said...wouldn’t forget me." Chao Yan slowly stepped forth:

"You said those who have died become stars in the sky. Hence the vast universe, those dazzling galaxies are people watching over us."

"You said even if I turned into a star, you would remember me."

"You said there was a festival called the Fuyuan Festival, and you mentioned releasing lanterns with me."

"You said the candies of Italy were delicious, although...I don’t know where Italy is, it’s never been on the map, but...I’ve tasted it."

Her hand pressed against her heart, and she laughed through tears:

"It really...was delicious."

"Although I swallowed it directly, not sucking on it, it was indeed sweet, very sweet."

Su Ming’an stared at her in a daze.

The evening wind brushed through her lemon-scented hair, and suddenly he felt a stir in his emotions.

"You also mentioned..."

She clenched her fist, pressing it against her lips, as if that could restrain the tremor and sobbing of her entire body.

"...We are protagonists in the story. As protagonists, we are bound to have a happy ending."

"In your eyes, I’m merely a strange, stubborn, inexplicable, self-talking, overly familiar stranger. But in my eyes...you’ve become an unforgettable fellow traveler."

"This journey is not worth commemorating, nor is it happy, but..."

Her voice was as light as a feather:

"Do try to remember me...okay?"

"We are protagonists, and a protagonist must remember another protagonist."

That was the last thing she said to him.

Thereafter, the intense nausea and dizziness caused Su Ming’an to leap off the rooftop; his mental state was too poor. The storm blew harshly around his ears, as if a black crow had left the nest, finally fading into the stormy night.

And the girl’s sobbing was drowned in the boundless night; none remembered how many times she had fought back.

Ninth Cycle of the World, when Su Ming’an opened his eyes again, he once more forgot about Chao Yan.

Chao Yan said nothing. Faced with his unfamiliar gaze, she merely nodded toward him, without sadness or anger, quietly turning away like a complete stranger.

However, the next evening, taking advantage of Su Ming’an’s sleep in the church, Chao Yan rushed into the church, using the Immortal’s Talisman to put him into a slumber.

Immortal’s Talisman - Dormancy, enough to keep him from waking, and as long as he lost the ability to act, he wouldn’t reach the Prophecy Stone Wall. Since all persuasive means failed, she could only try to use coercive measures.

The Immortal’s Talisman emitted a gentle white light, and the black-haired youth slept soundly. Chao Yan stood by the bed; at this moment, watching him in peaceful sleep, she felt a strong sense of disparity, like an emotion named regret wildly crashing in her chest.

She vaguely sensed that perhaps in this cycle, she had done something wrong.

—Her position and that of the Deity seemed to have reversed.

The Deity who anticipated Su Ming’an reaching the Prophecy Stone Wall had become the guide in an adventure story, while she, constantly obstructing the Brave from advancing, had become the Demon King in the adventure story.

But except for this strong opposition to stop him, she had no other way. Everything was over, he would no longer trigger the major reset...it was...over.

She stood before the bed, the blue moonlight spilled over her shoulders.

"I suddenly remembered that this time, you seemed not to have watched the starry sky with me."

She took the slumbering Su Ming’an to the starry sky they had seen during the First Cycle, but by then, the brilliant starry sky was covered by clouds, and she couldn’t see anything shining except the gloomy haze. The young man sat in the wheelchair with his eyes closed, unable to breach the barrier of his eyelids, no longer capable of flying towards the flame like a moth.

And she sat on the cold ground, laughing suddenly into the air.

"Starry sky...starry sky...starry sky!!"

Time and again, similar yet different reincarnations, a rescue attempted persistently but in vain, enough to drive anyone mad.

Pain far beyond the limit, pressure beyond ordinary people’s endurance, detestable death...these all accumulate, making it impossible to mold a still normal person.

The Madman atop the high Star Observation Deck, clutching the sleeper’s shoulders, burst into laughter.

"It’s over...hahaha...it’s over, it’s over..."

Su Ming’an in slumber cannot perceive many things.

But he can vaguely hear.

Someone laughs near his ear, shouting loudly "It’s over, it’s over," then she supports his slack shoulders and brushes the hair off his forehead.

She will take him into the warm sunlight, the strands of light seemingly piercing through his eyelids, letting him know when it is day, when it is night.

Because Su Ming’an has always been in a state of sleep, many tragedies could not be prevented. The special medicine did not arrive, most people’s historical memories were erased, the tower did not open, and people continued to live in numbness, becoming puppets in the hands of deities. He wants to wake up, but her hand firmly grips his wrist, she gently tells him—have a nice dream, nothing will happen when you wake.

Only in dreams is there freedom, is there happiness. And everything in reality will cause you pain.

Her voice is so gentle, elegant, and soft that for a moment he thought he’d heard this voice many times, but upon closer thought, he hadn’t.

"Remember this time, remember what happens to the world if you’re not there..." she keeps muttering to herself.

"Without you, the special medicine wouldn’t be born... Yes, I remember."

"So the Immortal’s Talisman - Expansion was at this location, I remember."

"So without the tower opening, the world would become like this..."

He was constantly struggling, constantly trying to wake up. Until the sixth night, she slowly moved her hand away, allowing him to awaken.

Brightness pierced into Su Ming’an’s pupils, and he involuntarily shed physiological tears. The sky was pouring rain, and people walked on the streets like zombies. Nobody tried to research history, nobody traced back the past, and nobody defied the deities and the Union Government.

Looking up, he vaguely saw a girl on the distant street—black hair, purple eyes, a girl who reminded him a lot of Su Luoluo. But her appearance did not match Su Luoluo’s, making him feel he had only mistaken her for someone else. Moreover, this girl was just a numbed white-collar worker, living a monotonous life of clocking in and out at work every day, unlike the dazzling streamer Demon King Ms.

The street environment was very ordinary, lacking the grandeur of ancient Louyue or the exquisite beauty of the Steam Age, since the tower did not open, no miracles occurred. It was merely an ordinary, featureless era.

"...Something seems wrong with this." Chao Yan said beside him.

Su Ming’an turned his head; he didn’t recognize this girl, they never met before.

In the torrential rain, the girl stood with her hands behind her back, without an umbrella, the rain pouring over their heads. Su Ming’an gazed at the street flickering with lights, where the evening trains were loaded with people just finishing overtime, roaring through the night rain. In the people’s eyes, there was nothing but short videos on the phone screens. Through the small train windows, Su Ming’an saw them occasionally laughing heartily, occasionally expressionless, their gaze mostly lingering on content with visual effects, entertainment, short and low-taste, as for the fleeting historical records, cultural connotations... they soon disappeared from sight.

"Yeah, something seems wrong with this." Su Ming’an said softly.

Although he doesn’t even know what’s wrong—this was clearly an era that appeared peaceful and serene, but he just felt, it shouldn’t be like this.

It should be far more glorious and much richer than now. It shouldn’t be such a fractured, numbed era.

Chao Yan stood straight and walked forward.

"—Where are you going?" Su Ming’an called out.

She was only a step away from the edge of the rooftop, just one step and she would fall like a leaf.

"I’m thinking, if I jump from here, where will I end up going?" Chao Yan said.

"You’ll die." Su Ming’an said.

"Then if you jump from here, where will you go?" Chao Yan turned her head.

Rain clung to her lashes and hair, the droplets glistening like diamonds.

"I..." Su Ming’an certainly wouldn’t die, but why was she asking him such a question? As if they were very familiar with each other.

Clearly, it was their first meeting.

Chao Yan stepped forward, slowly embracing him.

Su Ming’an’s shoulders stiffened, not knowing who this girl was, nor why she let him sleep for so long.

But when she hugged him, he felt a deep tremor at the bottom of his heart, as if some invisible thread gently scraped across his heart—making him feel they might have embraced like this countless times.

"...I’m sorry."

The choking sob came from her shoulder.

...Why was she crying?

Su Ming’an’s hands hung stiffly at his sides.

"I’m sorry... this time... I used not so good methods on you. I just thought... if words can’t make you stop, maybe forced means would be effective. But I... still found it was wrong..." Her tears mixed with the cold rain, drumming on his back.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry..."

"I’m really tired, really so tired... but if I don’t approach you like this again and again, stop you, you will unknowingly walk to the Prophecy Stone Wall over and over and start the major reset, so... I really tried my best, I really did."

She seemed on the verge of an emotional breakdown, suddenly raising her voice:

"Again and again—again and again—why are you so stubborn! So stubborn!! Why do you—keep desperately pushing yourself into the fire pit?"

"I’ve never seen a madman like you! I’ve told all the terrifying lies, used all means to stop you, and yet you wouldn’t cherish one bit of happiness—how masochistic you are, how fearful of happiness—"

...What?

Su Ming’an felt something warm and damp fall on his back, this stranger girl was crying intensely.

He vaguely grasped the meaning in her words, she said—this wasn’t, the first time?

"What time is this?" So he asked softly.

"The seventh time." Chao Yan said quietly, "But you will still forget."

She slowly pulled away, her fingers gently touching his forehead. Her jade green eyes glimmered with water, reminding him of the northern lights, stretching across silver-blue stars, with such color and brightness.

"Can I see you smile once?" Chao Yan said.

"Hmm?" Su Ming’an lightly wondered.

"Genuinely smile once, just once. In all the times before, I’ve never seen you truly smile. At least... give me a little bit of motivation." Chao Yan said.

"But I..." Su Ming’an inexplicably slept for so many days, how could he possibly show a genuine smile.

"Consider it as raising my favorability, smile at me once, will you?" Chao Yan said.

Su Ming’an lowered his eyes for a moment.

Three seconds later, a bright, untainted smile slowly spread across his face, even though he himself wasn’t sure why he was smiling like this—but he felt, facing her, he maybe should smile this way.

In this moment, the two Guardians of the world stood before each other.

At this moment, Chao Yan seemed to see a mountain of sunflowers in the abyss.