Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1430 - 81: Extra - Sunny Day in H City (Part 1)
Su Ming’an’s ear echoed with an unknown voice:
"Su Ming’an only has one chance... cannot..."
"It’s alright, I’ll pay the price for this extra chance."
"Second Seat, you... you’re awake?"
"Yes, the real me has awakened. Seeing Luowasha’s situation, Su Ming’an gets along well with ’my future self’ and has become a good friend... Alright, I’ll pay the price, please let Su Ming’an become an ’Awakener’ once more."
"Are you willing to accept the price of doing this?"
"It’s just leading me to a destined fate, but Su Ming’an still has a vast future, he should head towards the ending he desires. My path already ends here, but he’s different."
"..."
"Don’t grieve for me, Bolong. I know you’ve sacrificed a lot too. I’ve sacrificed so much for Su Ming’an not because of friendship or emotional factors, but simply because I believe he is the one most capable of ending all this. I approve of his character and ability, so I’m willing to give him another chance, a chance to let the ’Book of the Universe’ reach its end, a chance to liberate us all."
"..."
"...Alright, I’ve paid the price, this should be enough. Besides that, I sincerely bless him..."
...
"[Su Ming’an.]"
"[May you be born great and act justly.]"
"[May you lift all these shackles binding souls, chaos, and entropic disorder.]"
"[May you never lose your grand vision, ideals, and the blessings of others.]"
"[May you no longer become missed opportunities, unrealized ideals, fragmented wishes, a reality compromised at obstacles, unkept promises, inevitably parted true friends, a Fire Holder left in the night, the eve before dawn, a blood-weeping Nightingale, a dim morning star, broken proud bones, the end of the century, the lament in the crowd.]"
"[May prosperity thrive, and blessings be boundless.]"
"[May rivers never divert, and honor be everlasting.]"
"[Hereby.]"
"[As a true friend.]"
"[May you be embraced by all warmth and happiness in the world.]"
"[May you belong to all the softness and friendship in the world.]"
"[May you head towards an ending you won’t regret.]"
"[May you be happy. Su Ming’an.]"
"Alright, Su Ming’an... wake up."
...
He opened his eyes to a familiar ceiling.
An amber wooden chair, a coat rack with a black trench coat, a wooden cabinet with anime posters, a small silver TV trophy on the table, the computer screen locked...
Su Ming’an slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry.
Gradually seeing everything around him clearly, the chaos in his mind began to fade, and clarity slowly revived.
The next moment, he sat up like a bouncing ball, tightly gripping the quilt as his heart seemed to be gripped tightly.
"...System!" he called out.
He recognized this as his home, his last memory was being killed by the sudden arrival of the Master of the End of All Things piercing through his chest. Logically, with his physical death, he would either transfer his consciousness to a clone or trigger a Death Rebound, he shouldn’t be in such a scenario!
The most terrifying thing was,
the entire left half-year accompaniments, present in his vision throughout—upper left corner’s [Health Points], [Mana Points], lower left corner’s [World Channel], [Team Channel], upper right corner’s [live broadcast room], [Bullet Comments Management], [popularity], including [Backpack Bar], [Pet Bar], [Skill Bar]... all gone!
The vision was utterly clean, with no traces of the game.
He had never encountered such a situation; even in the most terrifying scenarios, these game elements had never left him. Now it was as if he had reverted back to his original world, having ended everything.
Su Ming’an got out of bed, finding himself in the clothes of the day the game began, with shoes intact and tidy.
"Live broadcast room on!"
"Bullet comments on!"
He shouted, with no response whatsoever.
He pushed open the door and stepped out.
—A surge of car flow, people coming and going.
It was dawn, a bright red dawn quietly emerging from the horizon, spilling a wave-like amber gold, like a light mist shrouding H City. The skyscrapers shattered by window frames like closely embracing golden fish scales.
Office workers and students hurried to the subway station, the air filled with the scent of egg roll pancakes and roasted sweet potatoes.
Traffic lights flashed alternately, casting light through the exhaust mist, falling on Su Ming’an stepping out of the community. He looked around, feeling out of place among the busy people.
"Personal information! Backpack Bar! Skill Bar!" he called out while walking.
An old man doing morning exercise in the park cast a strange look, groups of students glanced and laughed, mumbling:
"...What is he calling."
"...Filming a video? Must be one of those shame challenges, don’t know where the camera is."
"...Filming videos so early in the morning, those TikTok creators are so dedicated."
"...Not sure if he’s a high school or college student, he must have an easy time without morning classes."
Su Ming’an ignored others, raising his right hand to look... fortunately, the Full Perfect Clear pattern mark was still there. The flowers of "Devour" and "Faith" on the collarbone remained. However, he tried to trigger a spatial vibration, but couldn’t.
"The abilities belonging to Gods remain, but those belonging to a Player can’t be used, like spatial vibration and annihilation, are they gone..." Su Ming’an repeatedly clenched his fists, even annihilation showed no response.
He shouldn’t have died, could it be a High Dimensions crafted Illusion Realm he’s fallen into? But how does one explain even his live broadcast room being missing?
Could it be the World Game truly ended? So, after the final evaluation, some abilities retained, some vanished. This seems to be the only reasonable explanation.
As for these passersby, perhaps they weren’t part of the remaining six billion not selected into the World Game. Or, perhaps another Full Perfect Clearer apart from him wished for this outcome, maintaining order post-ending, erasing everyone’s memory of the World Game. But he has already become a god, so he hasn’t forgotten.
...Is it like this?
He stood by the road, watching the cars flow endlessly. People doing morning runs were spirited, a young man with headphones was listening to audio books, a school bus roared past... He caught a glimpse of a black-haired girl with a white butterfly bow, drinking piping hot soy milk, sitting in the car reading a book.
For a moment, he had an unrealistic fantasy... If his guesses were correct, the World Game truly ended, and people were living their daily lives, how wonderful that would be.
No need to venture into the Exiled Universe, no need to get annihilated, no endless reincarnation.
Even though such an ending seemed extremely mundane compared to the previous grandiose story, not fitting the widespread understanding, with excitement seemingly unworthy of the tumultuous journey, still unaware of what ultimately transpired, no one thanked Su Ming’an. So many questions buried, never finding exhilarating answers... But for Su Ming’an, this kind of ending, he’s willing.
Yet, who paid the price?
Who led to this outcome?
"..." Su Ming’an continued to walk forward, beginning to expectantly feel the temperature and humidity of the air around him, sensing the freshness of moisture, the fragrance of flowers. He finally began to appreciate how warm the first ray of sunlight was, the human presence around him bringing him to tears... what he once felt, and what he hadn’t, now all embraced him.
Precious and rare, like a fleeting dream.
"By the way, Yuanyuan, Lü Shu..." Su Ming’an felt a vague sense of anticipation and fear. Previously, he and his companions had considered meeting up after the World Game ended, agreeing on a way to reunite — once the World Game ends, come to his city, stand by the largest commercial district, holding a bouquet of flowers and wait.
Since phone numbers might become invalid and online communication may not be reliable, this was the most primitive method they agreed upon to reunite.
Just as now, Su Ming’an couldn’t reach Yuanyuan’s phone, and she didn’t reply to his messages on QQ either.
He initially thought of flying directly to the commercial district but feared causing ripples in the ordinary world, so he still chose the most primitive method — taking the subway.
The moment he stepped onto the subway, he lowered his head, revealing a bitter smile among the crowd that no one else could see.
...What exactly was he hoping for?
Clearly, this was either an illusion or a trap of high dimensions. How could there be such a sudden and beautiful ending? Yet, he couldn’t find a way to break free for now, so he could only whimsically hope it was all real.
——Will there be another Zhai Xing’s "Yasa Acto," who paid the price of the Exiled Universe, while everything is peaceful?
It shouldn’t be. This person should be him.
It should be him finally bearing everything, not someone unexpected. Otherwise, it would be too abrupt and too dramatic. If the Supreme Lord who observed was to evaluate, surely they would give this development a highly negative review. The "Space-time Record Body" they anticipated should have a grand ending with many twists and turns, not such an anticlimactic conclusion.
"Next stop, Lian Commercial District Station..."
Following the crowd, Su Ming’an walked out. He noticed that people frequently pointed at him and even secretly took pictures.
...Do people still remember me? Could it be that their memories weren’t completely erased?
His heart skipped a beat, and he secretly perked his ears to eavesdrop on what they were saying.
"...So handsome."
"...That guy is so handsome, Ah Qian would definitely like someone like him."
"...Look at that boy! He seems so special, quickly take a picture, shh..."
"...Seeing him, I feel like I’m looking at a deity’s sculpture... what’s going on..."
Su Ming’an was utterly bewildered.
His SS+ charm seemed to still exist, which was a huge impact on ordinary people. If he were to become a star, he might become a household name and even be explosively famous worldwide in no time.
His previous worries were indeed unnecessary; even without any particular skills, he wouldn’t starve to death in this era.
As he took the elevator, he garnered countless gazes. Someone even softly asked him if they could take a picture together.
"...Can I take a picture with you?" A shy girl with a ponytail approached, holding a Polaroid camera. Her friend was peeking from the side.
"Sure," Su Ming’an agreed.
After taking the picture, the girl thanked him repeatedly and even wanted his WeChat. However, he suddenly said seriously:
"Do you know who you’re taking a picture with?"
The girl looked bewildered for a moment with a shy expression, then hesitated for a while before tentatively asking, "...I don’t know." After a moment, she bit her lip and gathered the courage to suggest, "You’re not much older, you look even younger than me, so are you a university student nearby?"
"No," Su Ming’an shook his head, "I’m the Savior."
The girl and her friend were stunned.
The photo in her hand was forgotten.
"Do you still remember? The experiences from before." Su Ming’an tried to elicit something: "I used to be a Savior for a period, and in the end, there was a great black snow..."
The two kept shaking their heads, simply thinking he liked making up stories.
"...Do you like the 2D world? I like it too, let’s exchange WeChat..." the girl persisted with him.
After politely declining, Su Ming’an walked on silently.
The sunlight fell on him, and in a daze, he recalled... Earlier, the deity showed him the ending simulation of [HE·Homecoming After], when H City was in a continuous rain. Now, it was a brilliant sunny day.
Has the rain stopped?
The red light stops, the green light goes. He moved forward with the crowd, as if his soul had left his body, quietly soaring towards the sky.
He walked silently, as if he were walking in a nonexistent ideal.
——Until.
By the riverside on the edge of the commercial district, he saw someone.
Holding a bouquet of white daisies, standing there.
——Someone was waiting for him.
——Someone was really waiting for him.
His heart suddenly raced, his footsteps unknowingly sped up, and he swung his arms as he strode forward, harboring faint anticipation and fear—
A white figure, wearing a white cat-eared hat, with a chocolate stick in her mouth.
As he approached, she slowly turned her head, revealing her flowing black hair.
"——Do you like this ending?" she softly asked:
"If you like, I can stop everyone from waking up and prevent the story from heading towards the unknown and death."
"Everything, frozen here, might not be a bad outcome."
"...Ming’an."
The wind stirred, the water rippled.
The September wind of the last day blew golden willows, her strands of hair mingling with the distant branches, as if resonating with a sound like the flow of blood, like the symphony of destiny.
They gazed at each other from a few steps apart, the thin sunlight trailing a golden demarcation line.
——Until the girl completely turned around, holding a bouquet of white daisies, her pupils carrying the brilliance of stars. The black hair danced across her forehead, and her deep black eyes were as clear as ever.
"Dong——!"
The chime of the hour rang out from the tallest building in the commercial district.
The wind also picked up at this moment. The willows by the river, the sparkling water wave, all flowed into her eyes with the rising morning sun.
She smiled.
It was the same old smile, everything felt so familiar.
Su Ming’an widened his eyes, stopping in place. The daisies in her arms soared and brushed against his earlobe.
"——Twelfth Thrones, Observer, Yuanyuan."
She spoke her name, saying no more.
Gently offering the monkey-head mushroom biscuit in her arms:
"...Would you like some? Ming’an."
"Today is a very sunny day."
