Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1531: Final Chapter · Guardian of the Shore Arc [23] · “ - 8: The Hometown That Cannot Be Returned To” (Author: Luna)
"Swish, swish—" The sound of writing.
"In this story, there are many who willingly give up the future and stay where perseverance against challenges is most required."
"That female knight, who has a spirit of dedication, once charged at the forefront of the story. Yet when I asked for her thoughts, she was willing to seal the stars and the sea in a glass jar, turning instead to measure the earth with her calloused hands, no longer moving forward."
"When her companions lamented the potential she gave up, she smiled and pointed to the daisies covering the mountains and fields, saying—"
"’These plants, with roots deeply intertwined with the homeland, are weaving the long and profound scars in the story into yellow flames.’
"—’Some growth doesn’t need to climb upward; roots spreading downward can also support an entire spring.’"
...
[Story Title: "Fourth Catastrophe: Building a Utopia in Cyber Wasteland"]
[Creator: Luna]
[Story Category: Cyberpunk, Fourth Catastrophe, Infrastructure Building, Mechanical Ascension]
[Story Synopsis: Lu Xixi, a low-level engineer abandoned by the company, is unexpectedly favored by a deity and enters a small world, becoming the leader of the Fourth Catastrophe.]
["Get thousands of players to help me with infrastructure?" Lu Xixi smiled, knowing that the cold city of technology was about to undergo a transformation.]
[From building windmills, panda exhibits, lavender gardens, to constructing Taihua Mountain; from improving the welfare of the impoverished class to a utopian social system... Lu Xixi, along with her "disaster legion," forcibly transformed the cold data city into the breathing familiarity of old Zhai Xing.]
[They say to future people—]
["Brethren, welcome home."]
[Alternate Titles: "When the Fourth Catastrophe Starts Building Zhai Xing from Scratch," "Invincible While Undertaking Homeland Construction in the Small World"]
...
Time: Third Cycle
Location: Small World
Characters: Interim World Master Su Mianbao, Assistant Luna, Deity Su Ming’an
Su Mianbao (leaping forward): "Father God... I miss you."
(You notice Su Mianbao’s hair is turning white, and wrinkles have appeared on her face. You realize that the lifespan of this Divine Envoy, from the beginning of the small world until today, is near its end.)
(You once worried that she would betray you, fall ill, or imprison you like a sickly madwoman. But in the end, you discovered that this girl never once tried to betray you.)
You: "We’re about to enter."
(Your words are light, yet they ring like a resounding declaration of destiny, causing everyone present to shiver involuntarily.)
Luna (with slightly frosted hair, showing a nostalgic yet gratified expression): "No problem, everything is ready."
You: "How are the first batch of players?"
(After the first batch of players entered, multiple batches followed, and as hundreds of years passed, the time flow in the small world gradually slowed, but the initial group...)
Luna (lowering her eyelids): "They... are basically no longer here. Even with hibernation capsules, even with us taking turns sleeping, the time was too long, too long..."
Luna: "Fortunately, everyone passed away peacefully, lived joyfully, without illness or disaster."
Luna: "As for me... my strength is a bit stronger, I’m still fine."
(Choosing to enter the small world meant she gave up her own future. There are no gods here, no angels, and she had no way to touch the domain of divinity, naturally unable to ascend, with her lifespan limited.)
You: "I’m very sorry..."
Luna (smiling): "You know? The first thing those guys said before they left was to tell you not to feel guilty, otherwise you’d exhaust yourself again. Living a life in such a peaceful world is already an unreachable dream for many. They devoted their entire life for the development of this world, all out of free will."
Luna: "The only pity is... they still didn’t make it to see you arrive before they left."
Luna: "If only I worked a bit harder, maybe they could have witnessed the moment you arrived."
(The pioneers held the flames, you can no longer see which year they fell.)
(This lady looks at you, her gaze carries silent determination.)
(You remember your first meeting on Pulaya’s ship, when things weren’t pleasant between you and she wasn’t nearly as mature as she is now. You might have even become enemies, but the possibility of descending into the abyss vanished the moment she jumped off the train in the Ninth World.)
(Meeting so many respectable people, you feel truly fortunate.)
Luna: "... By the way, I haven’t introduced you to my lover."
Luna: "Come and see."
(You look over in surprise. It’s normal for Luna to have a lover after living here for centuries. She once liked a girl like Xiber, who might she like here?)
(Luna takes you through the misty city, where the familiar features of Zhai Xing are evident on the streets, traffic lights blinking through the rainy mist, pedestrians devoid of the tension from the World Game, only the peace of life. You are bathed under the gray-blue sky, tilting your umbrella, lost in thought as you gaze at the sky.)
(For a moment, you feel like you’ve truly returned home.)
(Luna lifts her head towards the misty drizzle, showing a gentle smile like yours, pointing towards the sky.)
Luna: "My lover is out there."
Luna: "Someday, I will meet her."
(You don’t know whether she’s referring to Xiber, whom she hasn’t forgotten in these centuries, or an unseen lover she’s hopeful to meet. Or perhaps, she’s already considered her lover as her homeland?)
(The homeland beyond the skies, that beautiful blue planet. Centuries of plowing, gazing, hibernation, and waiting, who hasn’t longed for the irreplaceable homeland they cannot return to?)
Su Ming’an: "You will meet her."
Su Ming’an: "Whoever she is, wherever she is, we’ll find ’her’."
(Whether it is an unknown lover or a long-familiar homeland.)
(In the drizzle, holding umbrellas, you stand still. Suddenly, Luna turns back.)
(You see this white-haired lady with a harmonious smile, her shoulders seemingly relieved of a burden... Yes, her waiting finally has a result, you’re almost here.)
(She smiles, as if having achieved a great goal, gently speaking to you, her voice is relieved, joyful, and peaceful, like a blessing.)
"Su Ming’an."
"Welcome home."
...
"Swish, swish—" The sound of writing.
"In this story, there are many respectable Guardians."
"They are sincere, steadfast, upright, and great."
"One Guardian is intimately related to me, yet I often feel guilty. I brought her into the world, became the deity she revered the most, forcibly crafted her soul, and made her live for my plans throughout her life."
...
Time: Third Cycle
Location: Central Building, Floor 132
Characters: Interim World Master Su Mianbao, Deity Su Ming’an
(You met Su Mianbao alone, she sat in her wheelchair, slowly gliding forward.)
Su Ming’an (confirming for the last time): "Are there any problems left on the small world side?"
Su Mianbao: "No, Father God."
Su Ming’an: "Hmm."
Su Mianbao (suddenly): "What does Father God want to do?"
Su Ming’an: "Hmm?"
Su Mianbao: "Did Father God forget? I have experienced the same Emotional Resonance as Father God, any expression of Father God can’t be hidden from me, any thoughts of Father God, I can vaguely detect. Even if I’m made to live on as Father God, others would find it difficult to see the difference."
Su Mianbao: "It’s the matters outside that are not perfect. So does Father God want to fill this gap themselves?"
Su Mianbao: "Father God, do you want to merge with the world? Do you want to become Dawn itself?"
(You stared at her in surprise, painfully realizing once again her resemblance to you, it was you who made her into the exact same shape as you.)
Su Mianbao: "Father God, please allow me to accompany you."
Su Ming’an: "Nonsense."
(You scolded her like reprimanding a child, and you saw the shadow suddenly arise in her eyes. At this moment, you suddenly realized she is still different from you. Because she is subjected to you, yet she admires you deeply. She wants to protect the world and her companions; for this, she must maintain awe and admiration for you, and the conflict of love and responsibility causes her to twist.)
Su Mianbao (persistently): "You’ve seen, wrinkles have appeared on my face, my actions rely on the wheelchair. I’m old, Father God."
Su Mianbao: "Yu Zhu has been bedridden for years, Yue Ying is also lying in the hibernation capsule, their aging is more severe than mine, we’re all about to die of old age, Father God."
Su Mianbao: "I have completed my mission and reached the end of Life... Lord Father God, please grant my one and final wish—when you walk towards your ultimate end, please take me along, let me accompany you through the loneliest final moments, then allow me to perish with you."
Su Ming’an: "..."
Su Mianbao: "Do you remember my birthday, Father God? You haven’t celebrated it even once."
Su Ming’an: "..."
(You have already forgotten the day you Created Su Mianbao, things are too overwhelming, her birthday was not important to you. To you, she was just part of the small world. There were many things more important than this.)
(Sique with the World Master, the World Master with Qi Zhou, what difference is there between you and Su Mianbao? Su Mianbao loves you more, that’s the only difference.)
(The dark-haired woman quietly gazes at you, her somewhat cloudy and aged eyes delicately trace your features, tracing your brows, your nose, your Eternal unchanging semblance. She has painted your likeness thousands of times, none compared to this moment.)
Su Mianbao: "Let this be my one and only birthday wish in these thousands of years, is it possible?"
(You cannot look her in the eyes.)
(You cannot respond to her words.)
(Her life emerged around you, survived around you, died around you. You can’t differentiate if her lifetime originated from loyalty, false love, awe and fear of a Deity, protection of her Brethren, or a lot of mixed emotions. You know this Flame-like feeling is not sincere nor pure, but it is very torrid.)
(Even if it’s fake love, she holds onto it as a treasured possession, living a lifetime with it, even considering it real.)
Su Ming’an: "...Okay."
Su Mianbao (smiling relieved): "That’s great... finally, it’s going to end."
(She is quite pained, you think.)
(Just like you, and now, finally you both are going to end.)
(Next, you talked about the matters of the small world. She said, Su Jingtang never took any significant action, and Su Qing disappeared one day. You didn’t pay much attention to it, whatever secrets were behind it weren’t important anymore, as you’ve chosen a conservative path, and you know how to sacrifice yourself for the best outcome.)
(You left the small world.)
(Su Mianbao looked at your departing silhouette, holding an umbrella.)
Su Mianbao (whispering): "...finally, we can head to the afterlife together, Father God."
...
"Swish——" sound of scribbling.
"These people who never appeared in epic Chapters, whose names aren’t loud, have long prepared themselves to be forgotten."
"Like lantern-bearers in the dark night, silently illuminating the way ahead, only to find as dawn approaches, their palms unknowingly filled with stars."
"Those they supported, the Souls they healed, have long engraved their names in this lengthy psalm in the most sincere ways."
...
[Story Title: "Being a Slacker to Get Rich in a Cultivation World Full of Romance-Brained Characters"]
[Creator: Lin Jiang]
[Story Classification: Romance, Comedy, Cultivation, Relaxed]
[Story Synopsis: Xuantian Sect’s little junior sister Jiang Yingzhu discovers she’s been transported into a cultivation novel filled with crazy romance-brain characters, even the disciples sweeping the floor are performing an ethical drama of ’You love him, he loves her, she loves the dog.’]
[Jiang Wanwan: Thanks for the invite, romance-brain is contagious, I go crazy first as a courtesy.]
[She’s bound to an anti-romance-brain get-rich system, as long as she disrupts romance-brain plots she can exchange for Spirit Stones, thus, the slacker girl walks a path of madness...]
...
Time: Fourth Cycle
Location: Sword Immortal Valley
Characters: Angel Jiang Yingzhu, friend Su Ming’an
(Upon arriving here, Lin Jiang was counting Gold Coins.)
Lin Jiang (whistled): "Welcome, great Su Ming’an, it’s been a long time since we last met, right?"
You: "How have you been recent?"
Lin Jiang: "Hmm? You actually came to check on me? Well, an obsessed romance-brain master tried to make me drink blood, wanting me to become like his white moonlight, I sold the blood right back, haha."
(She didn’t mention the most important topic, you know she founded a welfare fund in the Main God World, dedicated to helping children whose parents and relatives are not around.)
(You also know, having the experience of White Sand Paradise, Lin Jiang started a psychology course on the forum, specifically talking about Healing for split Personas.) 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
Su Ming’an: "Did your illness get better?"
(You remember she has two Personas, one timid, one bold.)
Lin Jiang (raised an eyebrow): "Do I look normal now?"
Su Ming’an: "Normal."
Lin Jiang: "That’s it, to survive in such a World, one always needs some diseases to live happily. If I were still timid, guess what my situation would be?"
Su Ming’an: "But..."
Lin Jiang (laughing interrupts): "But, I know, the New World you’re about to bring us won’t be as dangerous as now."
Lin Jiang: "At that time, maybe I’ll review my illness well and strive to Heal it. But for now, let me continue being a Madman, a Madman no one dares provoke, a Madman happy on their own."
Lin Jiang: "Anyway, thank you for all you’ve done."
Lin Jiang: "Maybe when everything settles in the future, we’ll become good friends. I know many reliable psychiatric hospitals, can give you discounts."
