Through all these resets, only Uncle Fu stubbornly stayed by their side, witnessing Shi Deng’s repeated despair. Only he knew all the truth.
But the cost was equally obvious.
He’d changed from a youth in his twenties into a kind old grandfather with a stern face. Perhaps one more reset, and he’d truly disappear in time’s journey.
Uncle Fu shook his head. “When I became a Moth, my wife who’d just given birth died in an accident, and the child never opened their eyes. Later, taking care of the young master… taking care of the leader became a habit.”
“I secretly regarded him as my own child in my heart, watching him grow up and become better and better,” Uncle Fu said with a smile. “Now I’m old. He’s still young. I can treat him like this old man’s real grandson.”
Uncle Fu thought very openly and freely.
Gradually aging like this was also a complete life.
He felt heartache for that child, but couldn’t help much. Perhaps his companionship could make him feel a bit happier.
“But if anyone bullies him, my cane isn’t just for decoration! Hmph!” Uncle Fu’s cane tapped the floor.
Shi-ge smiled. “It won’t happen. I’m here.”
Uncle Fu: “Isn’t Shi-ge going out? Go quickly. Come back early for dinner.”
The young man nodded.
Before leaving, he closed the window to prevent the old man from catching cold.
He also wanted to visit an old friend.
***
C City.
Thick smoke rolled overhead.
The city’s fading lights were completely destroyed by a level 10 special-grade exotic beast that suddenly attacked.
Countless people screamed and ran out of the city center.
Police and ability users maintaining order guided them.
“This way, this way, don’t panic…”
“Everyone stay safe. Someone’s already handling it. Please watch your step and avoid stampedes!”
A fire-attribute brown bear about ten meters tall continuously spat fire. Flying around were Tiangu ability users who’d come to the rescue.
Leading them was none other than Old Chi.
In his early thirties, unshaven, with a naturally cold and world-weary expression when not smiling or speaking. Biting a tobacco pipe and wearing a Tiangu uniform, he looked like a very intimidating handsome uncle.
Old Chi was a level 11 spatial ability user with his own set of methods for dealing with special-grade exotic beasts.
Shi-ge stood at a light-and-shadow boundary not far away, silently watching.
He knew Old Chi, probably even more familiar with him than Shi Deng was.
Because during the second reset, Shi Deng had cheated, begged Shi-ge for a long time, and had the more mature-looking Shi-ge also become an instructor for Yuan Ting’s trio.
In other words, during the second reset, Shi-ge was Old Chi’s colleague.
[Come to think of it, Shi-ge and Old Chi fought side by side for three years. You could call them comrades-in-arms.]
[What a strange yet bonded relationship. In “Youth Arc,” Old Chi took care of Shi Deng like half a son. Later Shi-ge became Old Chi’s colleague. Tell me, does Shi-ge have memories of Old Chi treating him like a son?]
[He definitely does. But that’s just Shi-ge’s personality—cold and indifferent about everything.]
The battle lasted three hours. The special-grade exotic beast couldn’t hold on. Before dying, it spat its final ferocious fire needle toward Old Chi.
Old Chi had overused his ability and didn’t react in time. Just as he thought he’d have a minor accident this time and prepared himself for mission injuries, he saw that fire needle caught between a pair of well-defined fingers.
A hooded figure appeared before him, showing only the distinct jawline connecting to the neck.
“…!”
Old Chi froze for a second. After reacting, his tobacco pipe nearly dropped to the ground. He quickly stepped back several paces. “Who who who are you?! Scared the hell out of me.”
He paused, suspicious. “Person or ghost?”
Such a strange feeling.
Though he’d never seen this person before, why didn’t he feel any wariness? Instead, there was an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Shi-ge said, “Won’t you treat me to a bottle of orange juice?”
Old Chi thought to himself: I don’t even know you. Why should I treat you? Every penny I’ve earned has been exchanged with my life.
…
Twenty minutes later.
Cross-sea bridge, by the railing.
The vast water surface reflected the city’s lights.
The hooded young man leaned his elbows on the railing, gazing toward the blurred outline of a ship on the distant sea.
Old Chi looked at the young man beside him leisurely drinking fruit juice and finally couldn’t hold back. “I’m saying, who are you?”
The young man glanced faintly at the tobacco pipe in his hand. “You should get a new one.”
Old Chi: “Sentimental. Don’t want to change it. Which side are you from? Free ability user? Brother, haven’t seen you before. You seem pretty strong, friend.”
The young man ignored his overt and covert probing, turning the cup in his hand.
After a long while, he threw out a sentence that stunned Old Chi on the spot.
“I know the Yuan Marrow’s energy is getting weaker. Three years from now, the moment its energy is completely lost will be when the contamination outbreak occurs.”
Old Chi twisted his tobacco pipe, quickly arranging his expression, laughing. “What Yuan Marrow, what weakening…”
The young man said, “Chi Yu.”
The smile on Old Chi’s face faded.
The atmosphere around them grew heavy.
“You know my name,” Old Chi said. “What do you want to say?”
***
F City.
Dark clouds filled the sky. It seemed like it was going to rain.
Yuan Ting and the other two hadn’t used the beast cores they’d hunted to level up, instead taking a steady, step-by-step approach. During this time, their strength improved by leaps and bounds. Cen Le reached the threshold of advanced level, while Yuan Ting and Zhi Ze both rose to level 6.
Wild grass and scattered rocks everywhere looked desolate under the gloomy sky.
Yuan Ting felt rain droplets on his face. “Should we find a place to take shelter from the rain?”
“Prophecy ability is too hard to upgrade,” Zhi Ze said noncommittally, searching for shelter while sighing. “It’s ethereal, intangible—can’t touch it, can’t see it.”
Cen Le: “The opportunity hasn’t arrived yet. Prophesy where we should rest this time?”
“…Alright,” Zhi Ze casually picked up a small pebble. “I prophesy.”
The pebble shot out suddenly.
“Let’s go!”
However, the pebble didn’t lead them to a shelter from the rain. Instead, it flew directly and struck an incredibly tall “stone mountain.”
The instant the three landed—
The “stone mountain” moved, slowly opening a pair of enormous beast eyes.
Terrifying special-grade exotic beast pressure instantly descended overwhelmingly.
“…”
Yuan Ting’s face went wooden.
He sucked in cold air, his voice squeezing out quietly from between his teeth. “Zhi Ze… I asked you to find a resting place, not a place to never wake up…”
Zhi Ze: “…”
Was it still in time to run?
The “stone mountain” suddenly rose high, releasing a beast’s roar. All the stones on its body shattered, revealing the exotic beast’s full appearance.
It was a white-and-purple three-tailed fox, extremely skilled in dream illusions.
A wisp of black vapor swept in from the horizon, instantly rushing into the three-tailed fox’s brow.
[Ahhh, Black Fog!! Damn it, it’s you again. Watch my left hook, right hook, combo punches!]
[Holy crap, this is a special-grade. I remember when they were in danger during Youth Arc, it wasn’t this intense. What if they really get killed?]
[Calm down, calm down. Main character law means they won’t die. This development is clearly different from before.]
[WC Baldy, you all know—that old fox can really do anything. What if they die early this time? Shi baby will definitely reset again.]
[Impossible. It’s clearly Black Fog causing trouble. Baldy arranged this plot definitely not to kill them, right QAQ]
***
Shi Deng’s eyes snapped open.
He pushed open the window and looked toward Yuan Ting and the others’ destination today.
According to the original plan, he went to find Ye Fei to rapidly increase Sister Le and the others’ growth speed.
This time, he specifically adjusted the location of their mission execution to the north because there was a phantom rabbit approaching special-grade level there. The pressure could make their potential explode further.
But that strange feeling just now…
“I want to go check it out. Xiao Deng, will you come with me?”
The kitten meowed once and jumped onto his shoulder.
Shi Deng’s figure instantly disappeared from where he stood.
…
The three-tailed fox curled its tails, leisurely lying in the rain and mist, seemingly having some pleasant dream.
Three human figures were tied on its tail—Yuan Ting, Cen Le, and Zhi Ze. The latter two had already fallen unconscious. Only Yuan Ting continued struggling.
Shi Deng appeared in midair, glanced once, and withdrew his gaze.
They were still alive.
This knowledge made the surging, oppressive aura around him calm slightly.
The youth hadn’t braided his hair into small plaits today. His long hair hung loose behind him. Where it was drenched by rain, the black and dark red slowly disappeared, gradually turning gray-white bit by bit.
Set against the gray, overcast sky, it looked like a painting gradually fading in color.
The moment he appeared, Yuan Ting’s eyes widened dramatically. “Mmph mmph mmph—” He struggled to expose his mouth, weakly calling out, “Shi Deng… leave quickly!”
His eyes reddened. “What are you doing here? This is a special-grade exotic beast. Run, you idiot!”
Shi Deng’s fingertips trembled. He acted as if he hadn’t heard.
The three-tailed fox opened its eyes. Its gaze didn’t look like that of a beast at all.
“Shi Deng,” a small patch of black mist floated above the three-tailed fox’s forehead. The black fog continued speaking. “Too bad the power I can mobilize is only a little. Actually, compared to killing them, I’d rather face you as an opponent.”
Shi Deng: “Does breaking free from the chains of time feel good?”
“…”
The black fog twisted for a moment, laughing coldly. “I really don’t understand what meaning your struggling has. As long as that day arrives, you’ll never be able to stop me. How many more times can you hold on?”
Shi Deng landed on the ground. He’d dealt with this thing countless times and knew it had implications behind its words.
Not wanting Yuan Ting to hear too much information, he said directly, “What do you want?”
The black fog dispersed in thin wisps, reaching precisely to Shi Deng’s feet. “Forward. Take one step. I’ve prepared a wonderful gift for you.”
Yuan Ting struggled to stay conscious, hoarsely murmuring, “No… Shi Deng… don’t…” The scene before him was worlds apart from the Shi Deng he knew—cheerful, innocent, needing protection.
But he didn’t care at all.
That was the friend and brother he recognized in his heart, someone who would go out early in the morning to buy Flying Wings for him, carrying things until his hands were injured.
Shi Deng glanced at them, then pressed his lips together lightly.
He lifted his foot and took one step forward.
Before his vision plunged into darkness, he heard a roar that seemed to have been heard many times before: “Run—”
…
Time flowed backward, the world spinning.
Everything was distorted into a kaleidoscope of illusions and dreams.
When he opened his eyes again, it seemed only a second had passed.
This was an illusion prepared for him by the black fog. Shi Deng immediately recognized it.
It just didn’t seem dangerous. Shi Deng couldn’t figure out what the black fog was trying to do.
This was Yuan Guang. He’d been stuffed into a shell of his past self—he had his own thoughts but couldn’t control his body. He could only watch as things that had already happened replayed once more.
The youth sat in the leader’s chair, wearing complicated black and red intertwined garments, dark red hair tips casually scattered behind him.
That was his first reset. That time, he completely stood on the opposing side from Yuan Ting, Sister Le, and Zhi Ze.
Author’s Note:
Revision complete. These three days I overworked my brain with too much writing volume. The author is spent. Will resume normal schedule tomorrow.
Regarding some revision explanations:
1. The author has an outline for every book, including this short story. Revisions and rewrites are fast because the core outline hasn’t changed—rethinking is relatively simple. What changes is only the story’s expression method and character settings.
Initially, I wanted to use the current method, but considering it was relatively complex and some readers might not understand, I decided to write it in order. However, as I wrote, I discovered that what I truly wanted to express was too far back, making the writing painful and uncomfortable.
This book is currently on a good ranking list. My decision to revise meant stopping updates for three days, equivalent to wasting half my previous efforts.
I told myself it was fine, that I could grit my teeth and write according to the original outline—after all, I could write it out—but it was too uncomfortable. The story had become distorted, not at all what I wanted to present. So on the 11th, after struggling to write over 6,000 words, feeling so miserable I ate one less bowl of rice, and scratching my nearly-bald back of the head for a while, I decided to rewrite.
2. Regarding character additions and deletions:
The protagonist group adopts the classic two-males-one-female iron triangle model. Changed their names thinking some readers might get confused.
Removed Mr. You. The tension between this guy and Shi Deng was too eye-catching. Most attention focused on them, causing other characters to vaguely become background, seriously deviating from this short story’s overall atmosphere.
3. Apologizing to everyone. Stayed up two nights to finish revisions. First time in my writing career to revise like this. Brought you all a poor reading experience, but there are still some treasures willing to wait for me. QAQ Thank you all (bows)
4. There will definitely be readers who don’t like this current version. I can’t make all readers satisfied. If you’re very angry or feel uncomfortable, you can bring your subscription to private message me on Weibo. I’ll send a red envelope to refund the money for the second world.
5. Apologizing again.
***
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1
I just love the original author. Thank you for really doing what you envisioned!