Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1432 - 83: [Extra] Sunny Day in H City (Part 2)
"...Look, there’s the high school we used to attend, still as crowded as ever."
Under the brilliant blue sky, the two of them strolled, watching the stream of people coming and going.
Vendors at the school gate bowed their heads, busy with their work, pancakes sizzling in the griddle. The school bell rang, and students rushed towards their classrooms like a swarm. Teachers on electric scooters donned helmets, speeding down the tree-lined path.
Su Ming’an tilted his head back, looking up at the verdant parasol trees. He should have felt calm and peaceful, yet at that moment, he recalled a boy holding an orange cat, a moonlit lake, ruins glowing with red light, and an ice-white snowfield.
No going back now, is there?
Even when seeing the most serene everyday scenes, he couldn’t help but think of the past. Seeing ginkgo trees, he thought of Yasa, seeing tea, he thought of Lin Guang, seeing pies, he thought of Alice...
Yuanyuan leaned forward, hands clasped behind her back. Even as she mentioned experiencing more than four hundred million years, she appeared washed clean of worldly burdens, possessing neither senility nor lethargy, just as she did at the beginning.
"...What is the essence of such a dream?" Su Ming’an suddenly asked.
"This is not a meaningless illusion; you might call it a ’Black Mountain Goat’s Dream.’" Yuanyuan pulled him along, walking nonchalantly onto the campus. With a flick of her fingertips, two teacher’s IDs appeared, and the security guard let them pass without suspicion.
They entered the campus, like a pair of students on a walk during P.E. class.
"The ’Second Thrones: Shepherd of World Radiance and Hour,’ its ability is Genesis." Yuanyuan spoke softly:
"The ’Sixth Thrones·Inorganic God,’ its ability is Devour."
"The ’Seventh Thrones: Lord of Eternity,’ its ability is Memory."
"And as the Twelfth Thrones, I too have my title."
"——’Twelfth Thrones Spirit Dream Master.’ Dream, that’s my power."
"This power initially came from my premonition dreams, which were just useless fragments of memories at first. As the number of reincarnations increased, I began to realize that with my wisdom and acuity, reaching high-dimensional status was exceedingly difficult, and I might not even make it to the last instance. So, I tried to use dreams as my path of power."
"Luckily, I’m quite adept at this. After all, the reason Boss Rabbit invited me was due to my extraordinary spirituality."
"Around the time of over six million reincarnations, I agreed to become an Observer. From that point on, I began to gradually accumulate things belonging to high-dimensional layers."
In an instant, Su Ming’an imagined a white hamster, slowly stacking nuts into its tiny nest. Each time the nest was overturned, the hamster would tirelessly emerge to reclaim and stack the nuts again.
Unaware of his thoughts, Yuanyuan continued:
"Yet, in most reincarnations, until the World Game ended, I never had a premonition dream, wandering in a daze. In some cycles, a single oversight would lead to my death in the Newbie World. In others, memory errors would result in wrong guidance, causing everyone’s death..."
"You know, I did a quick tally, and just in the reincarnations I can remember, I have killed you all over 300 times."
Su Ming’an chuckled, his smile devoid of bitterness, instead feeling a sense of comfort.
"Dreams are such elusive things; most of the time, I only have a few fragmented memories." Yuanyuan said:
"I’m quite weak, and can’t think quickly, becoming an Observer with only one life, where a tiny mistake can end everything."
"But, fortunately."
Yuanyuan lifted her head, golden patches from the tree branches lit up her open fingertips.
"Fortunately, I have enough tries."
"Around ninety million cycles, I was extremely lucky, having several premonition dreams, recalling many past reincarnations. That time, I finally ascended to become a deity."
"Though just a regular deity, becoming one means that ’dream’ has truly become my Authority. In the future cycles, I can gradually refine it."
"Even if I only gain a little high-dimensional energy, know a little high-dimensional information, refine my ’dream’ ability a little each time I reincarnate, I am no longer standing still but moving forward."
"——Eventually, after over four hundred million times, my ’dream’ Authority became strong enough; when my status as an Observer reached its peak, the organizers invited me to become the Twelfth Thrones."
"Twelfth Thrones, Spirit Dream Master."
"I finally... reached the realm of high dimensions."
Yuanyuan’s recount was as light as a feather, her eons of time, countless hardships glossed over in a few words.
They wandered to the school’s lakeside, where white swans fanned their wings, and lotus leaves swayed amid rustling reeds.
Her black hair floated with the breeze, as the young girl gazed at the lotus pond, her voice light and gentle:
"After reaching high dimensions and to continue strengthening myself in the World Game, I sealed my memory and abilities as a high-dimensional being and continued entering the World Game’s cycles as a player."
"Every time I die, I return to the high-dimensional body. Then, I seal myself again, stepping into the next reincarnation."
Su Ming’an sighed softly.
Yuanyuan and he shared a similar fate, both seeking a slim chance of survival through endless cycles.
He had Death Rebound, while she had only shattered dreams. He feared no death, while her slightest mistake meant the end.
"Turns out I was never a solitary island." Su Ming’an shook his head with a smile.
Turns out, he hadn’t been an island even when he couldn’t see anything else.
Noel left, but Yuanyuan was still here.
...It wasn’t really a matter to grieve over, was it?
"After becoming high-dimensional, what I’ve always done is—create a [Black Mountain Goat’s Dream]." Yuanyuan raised her right hand. In her palm was a colorful bubble.
"This was something I wanted to do from the beginning. I realized early on that no matter how strong I became, I couldn’t ultimately protect the Zhai Star people. Unless, I had a little space capable of sheltering others." Yuanyuan said:
"[Black Mountain Goat’s Dream], this is what I’ve been crafting all along. You can see it as a substitute for [small world] and [Eden]."
"At the moment the Master of the End of All Things destroyed everyone, I pulled all their consciousness into this dreamscape."
Su Ming’an looked around in surprise: "So, these passersby are real Zhai Star people?"
He had thought they were all simulated by Yuanyuan, just like the dreams deities had made for him before.
"Yes, they’re real people." Yuanyuan smiled: "You can even find Lü Shu, Yamada Machiichi, and Isabella among them."
"Moreover, I am the master of the dream. I create, control, and observe the dreamscape. By logic, after Lü Shu returns to reality, he would die of an incurable disease, and Yamada Machiichi would commit suicide with the aid of drugs, but I intervened and changed these, now they live normal lives."
"Everyone’s memory related to the World Game has also been erased. Even if some individuals reached high-dimensional levels, like you and Lu, you couldn’t have your memories erased by me, but you are orderly people, you wouldn’t do anything too bad."
"I always thought before, I can’t let you repeat the tragedy of Yasa Acto."
She gently clasped her hands together, sighing softly as she placed them to her lips, her eyes bright:
"...It’s great, I finally did it."
A simple sentence.
Yet it contains so much bitterness and pain.
Su Ming’an’s heart trembled, as this was also a dilemma that had troubled him for a long time. Who knew Yuanyuan had solved it before him.
She had always placed him in a very important position. No need for words, no need for inner conflict.
After a moment of silence, he finally spoke up:
"So, what is the cost?"
If it’s really so good, then why do he and Sique need to make any effort? Yuanyuan’s "Black Mountain Goat’s Dream" directly solved all problems.
Yuanyuan’s hand paused.
A certain regretful expression appeared on her face, as if she knew Su Ming’an would ask this question, which couldn’t be avoided.
Colorful bubbles swirled in her palm, like a piece of sugar on the brink of melting.
"Your physical bodies have already been destroyed, and Luowasha has been devastated, that’s an undeniable fact." Yuanyuan lowered her eyes:
"What I did was pull all your consciousnesses in at that critical moment."
"The downside of ’dream’ is that this is not the real world. As ’dead people’, you will never be able to leave this dream, losing the possibility of ascension and reaching the universe. But we are inherently very weak humans, selfish, foolish, fragile, easily destroyed with a minor mistake, so such a safe dream can be considered a protection for us."
"The benefit of ’dream’ is that I am the creator of the dream. I change all the sadness, I bestow all the beauty."
At this moment, a few strands of golden sunlight fell on her brows, and her familiar features appeared somewhat sacred:
"Many people in this world are trapped in misfortune due to some coincidental factors—disease, natural disasters, a misstep in decisions... But I can change these, making most people’s lives happy."
"The child who should have broken his leg, I filled the ditch at his doorstep; the elderly who should have died suddenly and unnoticed at home, I made sure a neighbor heard their cries for help; the family that should have been ruined by failed investments, I granted them subsistence..."
"Here, as the ruler of the dream, I do my utmost to bestow happiness on everyone. You could say my intervention is a kind of lack of freedom, but feel free to ask those who should have been unfortunate—if I didn’t intervene, would they be willing?"
She clasped her hands together, the small colorful bubble protected like a gem in her palms:
"At first, the idea of creating the ’Black Mountain Goat’s Dream’ was immature, but over the long years, I enriched, experimented with, and practiced my ideas little by little. All so, someday, I could protect you all."
"I’ve always thought, Ming’an, if one day, you, Lü Shu, Noel, Lin Yin, Yamada... all of you fall into failure and death, at least... at least below, there’s me as the last resort, to catch you."
She extended her right hand, her delicate, fair palm seemed to catch the sunlight beneath the tree shadows:
"—Now, I’ve finally ’caught’ you who are falling."
Her hand suddenly clenched into a fist, as if grasping something, her eyes sparkling brightly:
"Even if it doesn’t sound perfect, as if we’ve fallen into a self-indulgent dream: the original world is gone, and as dead people, we can no longer ascend to the universe—"
"But for 99.9% of ordinary people in this world, does this matter? What they want is only to live peacefully, healthily, without risk. Whatever universe, whatever high dimensions, those are things you protagonists of this world pursue. For them, surviving is already not easy. Even knowing full well that the world before them isn’t the original Zhai Xing, but a dream I created, since the sensory experience is identical, why insist on the original earthy planet?"
"Man is the measure of all things, so-called ’homesickness’, ’returning to the planet’, is merely to satisfy one’s own desires and expectations. And this expectation has already been fulfilled."
"For instance, going back to the original world, we should have suffered the pain of economic downturns, with an increasing number of college graduates each year, making it harder to pursue further studies or public service exams every year. Young people would need to fight tooth and nail for a job offer, middle-aged people would live in anxiety over layoffs, worrying about future retirement delays."
"But at a whim, I resolved these issues. I made productivity high enough, economic conditions good enough, so even if people slacked off, they could survive, without having to fight tooth and nail for a few thousand yuan."
"The 99.9% are the ones I look after."
"...Before they fall into the vortex of sorrow, I will rescue them."
"Not everything in this world has to be perfectly successful. We are bound to fail. It’s necessary to leave a little room for the failed, the spurned, and the despised self."
"After all, ’ordinary’ is just like that. Even you, Ming’an, stripped of so many halos and honors, stripped of the blinding title of the Number One Player, standing amidst the crowd like this. Besides having a bit more charm and being more handsome, you... are ultimately just an ordinary person."
"It’s time to accept some imperfect endings."
Reeds swayed.
Waterbirds rippled the lake surface, like dragonflies skimming the water.
A girl gently strolled through the grass, like a swan swimming.
In the quiet, Su Ming’an heard his own heartbeat.
This is what he wanted.
This is indeed what he wanted.
Even he cannot stand in everyone’s position to judge whether Yuanyuan’s way is right.
—A real, potential-dwelling world that might ascend into high dimensions, and a happy, beautiful, safe realm without further development potential, which is better?
In fact, back in the Eighth World, in the "HE・Eternal Dream", Xiber proposed this idea. She hoped to use the power of Jiu Shen to bring everyone in Qiongdi into the dream, allowing them all to be happy. It was only due to the adamant Perfect Pass of Su Ming’an that it was stopped.
But it’s not to say her idea was wrong.
"...But you still haven’t said the cost," Su Ming’an said.
Yuanyuan gave a light smile:
"Because this is just a dream and not the real world, it must exist dependent on me. This dream I placed in the crevice of the universe, not requiring too much resource consumption, can continue until the end of time."
"So, I need to maintain it here continuously. However, a scale of a billion people is not an ultimate burden for the high dimensions."
"Until prosperity never wanes, and good fortunes have no bounds."
"Until the rivers and mountains last, revered for all generations."
"There’re no problems, because no one will harm others here again."
"The world continues to operate as usual every day."
