CHAPTER 1030: CHAPTER 1027: NOEL’S NIGHT VISIT TO THE GOLDEN PHOENIX PAVILION

"Your smile... is somewhat unexpected," said the Deity.

In Her memories of the nine cycles, She had never seen Su Ming’an smile like this, a smile somewhat eerie.

Su Ming’an’s smile remained unchanged: "I just didn’t expect you to be so powerful."

His words carried irony, which the Deity noticed but didn’t mind.

"Rest assured, next time, I will use a gentler way to tell you ’I really like you,’ " the Deity’s fingers hovered above Su Ming’an’s forehead.

Last time, Su Ming’an had activated the bomb within his body at this moment, causing a reset to 4:00 PM, which triggered his Death Rebound back to 3:00 PM, overriding the Deity’s memories, leading to now.

But this time, he no longer needed to detonate the bomb because his focus was already on the future.

"Can you not do this?" Su Ming’an’s expression was calm. The Deity was already very familiar with him, so he needed to perform the reaction he should have, without revealing that he already had a method to break the deadlock.

"No," said the Deity.

"Before the reset, give me five minutes," said Su Ming’an.

The Deity fell silent for a moment.

Su Ming’an spoke casually, the Deity had always been perceived as cold, standard-like, just like a machine. Yet to his surprise, the Deity agreed to his request.

"Then take a five-minute break, you are indeed exhausted," the Deity stepped back.

Su Ming’an turned his head, seeing a girl standing in the flames.

"...Chao Yan," Su Ming’an said.

——In Chao Yan’s eyes, this was also the first time they had been this close. She thought he knew nothing, but he already knew she was another protagonist of the story.

Their positions always rotated and rotated again, the identities of "Player" and "npc" seemed to always overlap during resets, until the other shore of the Time Long River — the girl was waiting there.

Her smile bloomed, like a flower about to wilt.

——Previously, Su Ming’an did not understand why she showed such an expression.

——But now Su Ming’an fully understood.

"Why are you... looking like you’re about to cry?" But to avoid triggering a butterfly effect, Su Ming’an still repeated the same words.

"Be...cause...I..." She shook her head, merely blossoming a smile anew.

——I have told you countless times, you would forget, so there’s no need to say it.

Su Ming’an looked back at her.

——But I have completely remembered now. So, there’s indeed no need to say it.

Their gaze met in the raging flames, nobody knew that Su Ming’an had already paid the price of thirteen resets to reach here.

In the flames, five minutes quickly passed, Su Ming’an just sat quietly, seemingly doing nothing.

Until the Deity reached out, everything around started to rewind, like a stirring whirlpool——

The youth’s smile was as faint as barely noticeable.

...

The eleventh cycle of the World.

Real-time: March 15, 2024.

Instance Time: February 3, 827.

...

A scent of red wood filled the nose, the sound of clinking chains was heard.

"...Has the blood been drained enough?" A gentle voice came through.

In the instant Su Ming’an opened his eyes, he felt unprecedented exhaustion throughout his body, this body seemed very weak. The Tenth World, was this... a ’Hell opening scenario’ being detained?

"Not yet," another voice responded.

"Don’t kill Your Highness," the gentle voice said.

Su Ming’an did not pay much attention to what they were saying, he only felt an overwhelming headache, his senses felt like they were submerged in water.

——What’s going on?

He clearly rested for a long time before the start of the Tenth World, yet his spirit suddenly became so fatigued... it was as if he had died many times recently... and must have died very frequently, otherwise, he wouldn’t be this exhausted, making him feel just like having recently experienced thirty-three resets in the Ninth World.

What’s going on?

He instantly sensed something amiss, he... hadn’t died recently.

He couldn’t help but glance at the top right, the live broadcast room’s barrage was quite lively.

[It’s here!]

[Looks like a fantastic new world.]

[Immortal Hero! Ancient times! OMG!]

[Could there be legendary Immortals? If there’s such a secret realm, Fairy Island, or something like that...]

[Hehe, Prince, hehe, ancient times, hehe, long hair, great, great, great.]

...

Su Ming’an stared at the barrage that said [Hehe, Prince, hehe, ancient], although he didn’t know the reason, he vaguely sensed there must be a very funny principle behind this barrage, causing him to inexplicably want to laugh.

"Your Highness... Your Highness?" That voice came through.

Su Ming’an blinked.

Xiao Jingsan slightly leaned in, eyes focused: "Did you see another ’abnormal object’?"

"..." Su Ming’an didn’t speak.

At this very moment——

He suddenly heard an illusion.

This illusion started very indistinctly, but later grew louder, as if someone was shouting beside his ear——

...

[*!%#*——]

[$! Su Ming’an *@!]

[@% you will #;@ kill everyone... you will *self...@]

...

Over and over again, the illusion got louder.

The strange illusion, the feeling of exhaustion akin to death, and Xiao Jingsan’s face that was identical to his own——

Su Ming’an’s temples throbbed faintly, his left hand covering his head.

...

[Chao Yan recalls in the sixth cycle, Su Ming’an repeatedly recited important information hundreds of times before the reset. Fortunately, it wasn’t in vain. In the seventh cycle, these illusions played their part. Su Ming’an remembered some hazy memories and distanced himself from the Deity.]

...

[*! you will @% kill——@*]

...

"Kill..." Su Ming’an said quietly.

——What if, before repeatedly dying, he madly memorized the same concept each time?

——What if, before the reset, he died multiple times, putting himself in an extremely exhausted mental state right at the start?

Su Ming’an had long known, reset was an immensely powerful Authority. It could erase everything, allowing everything to start afresh.

But the reset only couldn’t erase one thing——

Spirit state.

No matter how many times you reset, the spirit state will only become worse.

——reset cannot reset the spirit state. This fundamentally led to Su Ming’an’s misfortune, causing him to suffer extremely whenever he used a reset.

However, the opposite appeared——when the reset became the Authority of the Deity——spirit state became the one thing She couldn’t reverse. In the River of Time flowing backward——She could reverse everything, but what She couldn’t reverse, was Su Ming’an’s spirit state.

Thus, the spirit state was also what Su Ming’an thought of——the one thing that could remain. This seemed to be his disadvantage, yet precisely——is his advantage.

In the previous nine cycles, he reached the Prophecy Stone Wall in a clear state only four times. Respectively the first cycle, second cycle, fourth cycle, sixth cycle. The first two times, his spirit state was very good, the fourth cycle, his progress was too fast, didn’t even have time to oppose the Deity, didn’t plant a bomb within himself. The sixth cycle, Chao Yan never approached him, causing him to not know the Prophecy Stone Wall was dangerous.

As for the remaining five cycles, in the third cycle, he was controlled by the Deity on the fifth day. In the fifth cycle, Chao Yan died early, perished in the people’s Execution by Fire as a witch. In the seventh cycle, he and Chao Yan were constantly on the run, he eventually fainted in pain in her arms. In the eighth cycle, he jumped off a building on the second day, in the ninth cycle, he was asleep.

——These were all information from Chao Yan’s memory.

Therefore, in the previous experiences, as long as he reached the Prophecy Stone Wall, he wouldn’t possibly have the opportunity for another reset.

But this time was different. He was officially at odds with the Deity and saw Noel’s note, [It is not true.], which led him to plant a bomb for himself and successfully rebound in front of the Prophecy Stone Wall.

——Thus he had the opportunity to trigger his own Death Rebound.

——Thus he had the chance to rapidly die multiple times, bringing his mental state to the lowest point.

Amid countless reversing rivers, he alone held tightly to his mental state, making himself suddenly realize —— it seems that many, many things have already happened.

The red candle gradually melted into a fiery hue, like a rose burning in the flames. The reflection flickered on Su Ming’an’s face, and his pupils were stained with a honey-like gleam.

"The air is dry —— watch out for fire ——" The Watchman’s voice sounded, and Su Ming’an looked up.

The moonlight outside the window was exceptionally bright; a paper butterfly kite fluttered past the window and struck the calf of a girl. She stood on a distant eave, back to the moonlight, just right —— casting a distant glance at Su Ming’an.

Her expression was too far to see clearly; Su Ming’an could only tell she was motionless, like a wooden figure. Her form was so fragile, like a reed ready to snap.

She seemed to be... smiling.

Smiling like she was crying.

Who is she?

He seemed to vaguely remember... today was not the first day of the Tenth World... prior...

Chao...

Chao...

Su Ming’an’s pupils trembled violently. He seemed... to remember...

——Do not forget.

Chao...

——Please do not forget again.

Yan...

——My name.

Lifetime after lifetime...

——My voice.

Eternal time...

——My appearance.

White... flowers...

——My expression.

And your crying-like... smile...

——My gaze.

When you look at me, with a sorrowful, gaze...

——My preference.

You liked... lemon candy...

——My sorrow.

You took me to see... the vast starry sky...

——My words.

You said... stars are the eyes of ancestors.

——My memory.

Ten... cycles...

——My... struggle.

Did you always... come through like this...?

——Do not forget again.

I beg of you.

"..." Su Ming’an gripped the window sill.

He felt the warmth inside the house turn into a sensation of coldness, as if his senses were awakened by illusory tears —— at this juncture of beginning and end.

Together —— they surged toward him.

"What are you looking at?" Xiao Jingsan asked quietly, leaning over, the pipe nearly touching Su Ming’an’s cheek.

Chao...

...

[Can you... say my... name?]

...

His hand slightly extended, as if trying to grasp something.

His mental state had deteriorated to the extreme; everything before him seemed coated in thick honey, even the loud voice of the Watchman was indistinct.

As if a current passed through his heart, piercing the desolation within.

In that instant ——

He suddenly recalled... many things ——

"Your Highness... Your Highness...?" Xiao Jingsan waved his hand.

Su Ming’an closed his eyes briefly, his gaze instantly feigning confusion.

As long as he could perceive "this is not the first time," many things would immediately flood in. Just like the realization he experienced before the Prophecy Stone Wall. What he lacked was merely a fuse.

"... What are anomalous objects?" Su Ming’an asked aloud.

"Forgot again? Indeed, every time I have to repeat it for you..." Xiao Jingsan said.

Like playing a game that’s already been beaten, Su Ming’an calmly watched Xiao Jingsan repeat, recalling his plan for breaking the game:

Three types of rebounds are known to exist, each with different priorities.

1. The World Grand Rebound spans a long time, remembered only by the Deity and Chao Yan.

2. Little Su’s rebound spans a short time, remembered by the Deity, Xiao Jingsan, Su Wensheng, Su Ming’an, and others.

3. Su Ming’an’s rebound spans a short time, remembered only by himself.

From this perspective, Su Ming’an’s rebound has the highest positional rank. Unfortunately, the Deity’s Grand Rebound has the effect of blocking memory.

This means once the Grand Rebound is initiated, no matter how many times Su Ming’an uses a minor rebound, he won’t recall there was a Grand Rebound. Unless —— at the beginning of the Grand Rebound, he triggers his own minor rebound to return before the start of the Grand Rebound.

——That is to say, when the Deity initiates the Grand Rebound, the world resets from the eighth day to the first day. Su Ming’an would need to commit suicide immediately to trigger his Death Rebound —— thereby reversing time, using a minor rebound from the first day of the eleventh cycle back to the eighth day of the tenth cycle.

The eighth day rolls back to the first day, and then reverses from the first day back to the eighth day. If the Deity’s Grand Rebound is positive, Su Ming’an’s rebound is negative. They cancel each other out, thus time remains unchanged.

But the greatest challenge is —— once the Deity initiates the Grand Rebound, Su Ming’an cannot retain memories. And it is impossible for him to commit suicide instantly during the "start of the instance" without any memory. Unless —— he can remember the past.

So, he set numerous suggestions for himself and succeeded.

After Xiao Jingsan left, Su Ming’an slowly stood up.

——He saw a beautiful girl floating outside the window, her beauty under the moonlight beyond mortal likeness.

She smiled at him, her beauty striking the bullet comments with awe.

However, Su Ming’an no longer felt any amazement. He knew that even those bullet comments were the Deity praising themselves.

——Deity, getting addicted to impersonating Noel, getting addicted to typing comments.

Unfortunately, a Player with multiple cycles keeps all memories —— he’s starting to speedrun now.

Now is the true exhilarating story time.

He won’t linger in this eleventh cycle; once the necessary tasks are swiftly completed, he will immediately return to the tenth cycle with all information, ensuring time stays under five hours to prevent the rebound point from being fixed, avoiding issues.

This eleventh cycle —— is his time to act as he wishes. Any information, any character, can be explored by him. All the obtained information —— will be used by him for a comeback in the desperate situation of the tenth cycle.

——A max-level multi-cycle Player begins to act, while others are still in the state of the first cycle.

"Come on, the thrilling adventure begins." The Deity Noel reached out to him, the pink ribbon fluttering in the wind.

Su Ming’an paused in silence, then smiled and extended his hand.

"Alright."

...

Go be Xiao Jingsan’s concubine, Deity Noel.

...