[Shi-ge is his future. After having an episode, he can’t even trust his own future anymore?]
[That kind of cautious testing really stabs right through my lungs QAQ]
[Why must it be this kind of illness? Crying snot bubbles.]
[He doesn’t even believe himself anymore, right? Damn black fog. If not for that illusion, Shi baby wouldn’t have had an incident. Where did Shi-ge rush over from? Probably not Yuan Guang, right? No one dares see him at Yuan Guang, so there’s no need to wear a hood.]
[Sister, there’s a drawing later. He’s on the phone with Old Chi. The two were colleagues during the second reset.]
[Giao, Shi-ge really, I’m crying to death.]
[What’s with the chains on Shi-ge’s body?]
[Took a screenshot, brothers. Counted eleven chains total. Doesn’t match up with the twelve resets either.]
[I want to enter the manga to hear the sound of the Two Realms Song. I want Shi-ge to play it for me. Okay, yes, I want to be the leaf Shi-ge blows (loud voice)]
[Damn, most perspectives focus on Shi baby and the four of them. There are really too few scenes drawn of Shi-ge’s side. Last time when he went out alone to find Old Chi too—it cut off right after Shi-ge revealed his name!]
[The later manga should have more scenes of Shi-ge, right…]
***
The discussion on the forum was good. Gong Du scrolled through it. He did indeed plan to start filling in the script on Shi-ge’s side.
However, from now on, the manga side also wouldn’t be like before where everything had to be drawn immediately. He still needed to discuss this properly with Baldy.
At the beginning, Shi-ge and Xiao Deng were both alternate identities he’d directly proposed for convenience. But later he discovered that to succeed this time, not one of them could be absent.
He also had to help Baldy make the manga world’s story coherent and create the most suitable ending.
Using himself as three people…
But whether it could succeed still depended on the final outcome. After all, he wasn’t entirely confident about this world.
Small Light Orb asked curiously, “If you’d succeeded on the very first reset, the protagonist group wouldn’t know about all those things you did for them. What about your luck value?”
Gong Du said kindly, “I’d just consider it working for free once to gain experience. Don’t your exam officials often go out to do volunteer work too? Besides, you’re so nice. I want to stay with you a bit longer.”
—As if he’d work for free.
Gong Du had a kind of obsessive compulsion about his scripts that ordinary people couldn’t understand. He absolutely had to achieve the ending already set in the script and his own goals.
For example, in the previous world, afraid his plan would be disrupted, he directly sent away the little bird.
The Disease Deity was a kind god with principles and bottom lines. He absolutely wouldn’t allow himself to expend so much effort only to get no luck value at the end.
If by chance he succeeded on one of the earlier resets, he definitely wouldn’t let himself suffer the slightest grievance.
He would make everything he’d done in this world for the protagonist group—every bit of pain suffered, every bit of contribution—all be revealed through “accidents” exactly as it was.
Gong Du thought casually.
Of course, this time was no exception.
This was a transaction.
…
Shi-ge stayed here for a week until Shi Deng’s sensitivity period after the full episode passed.
During this week, even when Yuan Ting and the other two went to execute missions, they’d always leave one person to accompany Shi Deng, lest something truly happen.
Given Shi Deng’s special nature, they even had a printed booklet specifically researching many precautions regarding this type of illness.
Midway through, they sent the thick-skinned Yuan Ting to ask Shi-ge about the reason for Shi Deng’s white hair. Unfortunately, Yuan Ting was quite cowardly. In Shi-ge’s presence, he stuttered without getting out half a word.
“This really isn’t my fault. I just don’t dare speak in front of Mr. Shi. Don’t dare let out a single fart.”
Yuan Ting himself didn’t know why. Clearly Mr. Shi showed no stern expression, but he just felt Mr. Shi could intimidate him even more than Coach Chi.
These seven days passed quite thrillingly.
After Shi Deng’s fever broke, he’d occasionally ask about strange things.
Like ‘how much did our ice cream cost each before,’ ‘did I hate being punished with long-distance running or push-ups more,’ ‘when the four of us ate grilled fish, why did we eat green pepper flavor instead of spicy flavor’… and so on.
Some questions they knew the answers to, some they didn’t. But undoubtedly, those things were only done by the three of them together. Shi Deng wasn’t there.
So they answered truthfully.
Every time Shi Deng listened, he’d freeze for a while, then say he remembered wrong, silently walking away to crouch in a corner somewhere or go hide and withdraw into himself.
When withdrawing, he wouldn’t talk or make a sound. Even his hair strands drooped listlessly without spirit.
At first, Cen Le and the other two were very anxious, fearing he’d get lost. But later they discovered Shi Deng hid in only a few places—all small, narrow corners—never stepping even half a foot outside this house.
During the post-episode sensitivity period, the only people he could barely accept were the three of them, Mr. Shi, and that kitten.
But even so, finding him still took some time.
Especially once, this guy climbed into a wardrobe full of stacked quilts, forcibly stuffing himself inside and nearly suffocating to death.
Fortunately, Mr. Shi seemed to have installed a tracker on Shi Deng, always able to find him precisely, rescuing him before he met his doom.
Sometimes, estimating the time was about right, they’d go dig out the withdrawn mushroom, pat him off, and carry him outside to sun for a while.
A lounge chair was specifically placed on the roof. Mr. Shi would time it beside him. After Shi Deng sunned his front side for a while, he’d be fed some water, then flipped over to sun his back.
When things got slightly better, Shi Deng would voice weak protests, so the plain water became orange juice.
The kitten would also help carry things. The family atmosphere was unbelievably harmonious—hard for others to insert themselves.
Yuan Ting and the other two gradually grew accustomed to instinctively taking care of Shi Deng. They’d even cut a plate of fruit during their rare relaxation time after hunting exotic beasts and go up to the roof to sun together.
Autumn sunlight was always comfortable.
Until the eighth morning when Shi Deng exited the post-episode sensitivity period.
***
[Sunny morning.
Gentle light quietly crept through the window cracks.
The youth wore little bear pajamas, hair messy, sitting bolt upright from bed. He stayed dazed for a long time, a trace of confusion flashing through his deep blue eyes.
Above his head appeared overlapping memory bubbles stacked together.
All from these seven days—stupid things he’d done beyond his control.
Outside the window, bird calls rang bright.
The memory bubbles overhead disappeared, replaced by a string of ellipses.
A moment later, the youth’s ear tips reddened. He covered his head and stuffed himself back into the blankets.]
[Hahahaha Shi baby, what are you doing? Don’t escape. Face the gale!]
[Pfft, originally thought Baldy would draw Shi baby’s post-episode sensitivity period very dark. Didn’t expect it to be quite healing instead (?) In my lifetime I can actually see this kind of scene from Baldy’s hands?]
[The demon lord is actually shy hahaha]
[Mixed feelings, sighing. Mom never thought during your episode sensitivity period, your IQ wouldn’t even match a cat’s—oh no, not even Xiao Deng’s.]
[…]
***
After crawling out from the blankets, Shi Deng acted as if nothing happened, going out to greet everyone, saying he’d fully recovered.
That evening, the table had a sumptuous dinner celebrating this recovery.
Shi Deng didn’t dye his hair again but still wore contacts. Yuan Ting and the other two, seeing he didn’t proactively mention it, forgot about the matter and just assumed his hair was originally gray-white.
After the cheerful mealtime passed and everyone chatted for a while, they each returned to their rooms to rest.
Shi Deng’s room—door tightly locked, windows pulled shut tight. Inside, completely empty. Xiao Deng was also gone.
***
Yuan Guang.
Underground.
A huge suspended stone platform surrounded by thick stone pillars wrapped in chains. The chains extended toward the center, locking down a mass of black fog.
Shi Deng walked before it.
Behind him followed Shi-ge, Uncle Fu, and Xiao Deng.
The black fog emitted a strange laugh. “How was it? Did having an episode feel good—”
Bang!
It was grabbed by a pale, slender hand and viciously smashed into the ground. The floor cracked into spider-web-like fine lines.
The black fog swirled a few times, transforming into an adult man—black hair, black eyes, honey-colored skin, a stud in his right ear. His face crawled with eerie blood patterns. On his body, he wore the garments of Yuan Guang’s previous leader.
This was a body it once inhabited.
Perhaps the previous leader’s original personality wasn’t bad, but after being influenced by the black fog, every generation without exception became extremely violent and sinister.
This face, from humanity’s aesthetic standards, was considered superior. The black fog—
It had no gender but had a name: ‘Yuan.’
Yuan very much enjoyed using this face before Shi Deng.
Wrapped in this shell, its voice also changed from sharp and piercing to low, hoarse, and cold. “What, Shi Deng? Forgotten how you once bowed and scraped before me, cheap as a dog?”
Before the resets, Shi Deng indeed lived cautiously and humbly in Yuan Guang. The previous leader’s face was his nightmare.
Another chain burst from the floor, replacing the youth’s hand earlier, strangling Yuan’s neck and pinning it firmly to the ground.
Shi Deng crouched down. His gray-white long hair trailed on the ground.
In the surrounding void, dim candles flickered faintly, reflecting on the youth’s expressionless face. The depths of his deep blue eyes made emotions unreadable.
He pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his hands while saying softly, “Dog?”
The handkerchief was tossed onto Yuan’s face. Yuan turned its head aside, expression instantly turning vicious.
“Who’s the dog? Don’t you understand yet?”
Dozens of chains appeared from the void, binding Yuan into a posture with palms and limbs on the ground, controlling it to crawl forward. They even made a little tail with chains at the back.
Yuan tried to transform back into black fog but discovered it couldn’t change back. It raged.
“You dare humiliate me like this! When I break free from confinement, when that day comes, I’ll make you unable to live or die! Ahhh—!!!”
The youth laughed delightedly, beside himself with joy. When standing up from the ground, he even swayed, tears of laughter appearing at the corner of his eyes. His jaw lifted slightly as he sighed, with hints of madness.
Shi-ge steadied him, frowning slightly.
“Exhilarating… Xiao Deng, come here.”
The youth beckoned to Xiao Deng beside him. Xiao Deng came over, looking up at him.
The youth pointed at Yuan’s face, touching Xiao Deng’s scarred arm, saying, “Remember how stupid it looks right now. When you return to the past, all those things that will happen in the future—whether you think you can endure them or not—you’ll endure them all. Understand? Of course, if you can escape from Yuan Guang, even better.”
He crouched before Xiao Deng, eyes curving. “Want to torture it more? Tell me, okay?”
Xiao Deng looked at him, quiet for a moment, then extended his small hand to wipe the corner of his eye, removing the tears of laughter.
The youth froze. Two or three seconds later, he patted Xiao Deng’s head. “Then forget it.”
He stood up. From beginning to end, he didn’t glance at Shi-ge once and just planned to leave like that. Uncle Fu sighed faintly, following beside Shi Deng.
“Leader, are you in a hurry to return? If not, stay and have a meal.”
“Shi Deng.”
The young man spoke indifferently. He turned his eyes toward the youth whose figure had stopped in the shadows at the corner.
“This time you reset, you accomplished nothing. You just want to be by their side and re-experience the past once more?”
The youth turned back with a smile. “Shi-ge, currently, yes.”
But he didn’t mention anything about afterward.
After saying only this sentence, he didn’t wait for Shi-ge to inquire again and left with Uncle Xiao Fu, who said he’d prepare a late-night snack for him.
The young man raised his hand to silence Yuan’s continuous cursing, gazing in the direction Shi Deng left.
His eyes remained calm throughout—deep and still as the sea.
***
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152