Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1563 - 36: If Not for His Unwavering Resolve
"Damn! Su Ming’an has turned into a cat!" an untimely voice exclaimed.
This voice drew angry glares from others, and the speaker immediately lowered his head in embarrassment.
The black cat lifted its front paw, pointed towards the door, and then came to the side of the white-haired old grandma in the wheelchair, biting at the hem of her clothes and tugging gently.
"How did they let an animal in here?" Andrew of the United Group frowned.
"This, this is Black Flame!" Suddenly, Mei Yani screamed, covering her mouth. This black cat, isn’t it Su Ming’an’s pet?
Mizushima Kawa Sora furrowed her brow tightly; she could tell... This cat had no contract relation, it was currently in a masterless state.
The meeting quickly paused, with the black cat leading the wheelchair-bound grandma and several players from the Peak Alliance into a room. Others wanted to follow, but were fiercely driven back by a single meow from the cat.
People pushed the door open and entered.
— Under the morning light, the masked young man was as if sculpted from jade, his plain white robe resembling a blooming magnolia.
He slightly turned his head, solemn and silent.
Then, sounds of wailing and lament erupted.
"You’re alive!" Yamada Machiichi shouted, pounding the wall: "If you had said so earlier, I wouldn’t have been sad for hours! My heart’s almost burnt out! My papers nearly torn to shreds!"
"When he feigned death in the Tenth Replica during the Holy Sword, he mentioned that every departure was for a better return, so he didn’t break his promise." Isabella looked up.
"You..." Lü Shu gazed in a daze.
The masked young man slightly turned his head.
In a gentle tone, he repeated what he planned to do next.
"...I’m just journeying backward; the first time jump won’t be too far. I’ll be back soon," Su Ming’an said calmly.
"Really no problem? Then why are you wearing a mask?" Eni, outspoken, directly pointed out the doubt.
"Swallowing the Divinity of the Shitposter Demon has some effects. This is just a cloning, you don’t need to worry too much." Su Ming’an smiled: "If you really miss me, go have a look at that tree on Taihua Mountain."
Yamada Machiichi walked forward a couple of steps, seemingly wanting to grab Su Ming’an’s arm and wail, but for some reason, he stopped as his toes touched the ground under the golden sunlight.
A slightly rough voice leaked from his throat:
"...You promised to travel, don’t forget, I’ve even prepared the route map for the valley store."
"Hmm," Su Ming’an nodded: "Bei Wang left some props, so reviving him is quick. When the situation stabilizes, I’ll revive Lin Yin in the Soul Ferry... as for Boris."
His voice paused:
"Sorry, I don’t know where he went, or what he looked like in the end..."
The atmosphere turned a bit stagnant.
At this moment, the sound of a wheel turning was heard, and among the group of young people, the only elderly, white-haired grandma slowly approached, gently embracing Su Ming’an.
"You’ve already done your best," the grandma said softly: "Until today, it still feels like a dream."
"If it’s a beautiful dream... then I’m happy for everyone’s happiness," Su Ming’an gazed at her pale strands, still remembering her youthful appearance: "You’ve worked hard, Luna."
The aged face revealed a smile identical to the one from old times.
Before leaving, Su Ming’an said to Lü Shu:
"I’ve terminated the contract with Black Flame White Group; now they’ve become stray cats."
"I’ll take care of them, we’ll all take care of them together," Lü Shu responded.
"Feed White Group a little less, it’s too fat, crushing the chest painfully."
"When there’s free time, take it for weight-loss."
"Lu, when I leave, if anyone causes chaos, I’ll rely on you and the Cloud City God," Su Ming’an’s gaze shifted slightly.
"Hmm, don’t worry," Lu’s smile was gentle.
"You and I saw the dream Noel left behind, learned those things, and when the time is right, I’d like to leap through time with you," Su Ming’an said.
Lu’s face showed a hint of delight, indistinguishable whether genuine or feigned. He stopped his palm over his chest, quietly saying: "I’m honored."
Su Ming’an gave a subtle glance at Lü Shu.
Lü Shu silently nodded.
To this day, some things are changing.
The world’s stability is built on Divine-level power, with Su Ming’an and more than thirty familiar companions as the front-line defenders of the world. But a problem is evident—
They come from different backgrounds, ages, nations, temperaments, ideals.
They have lived and died together, sharing life-and-death camaraderie, but reality isn’t a child’s play. If Luna’s nation invades Zhao Yuan’s country, will Zhao Yuan betray the alliance for his nation’s benefit? Or if Isabella’s research institute occupies too many resources due to accomplishments in the World Game, will other researchers gradually grow dissatisfied?
The fairy-tale princess married the prince for a happy life, but what follows is not mentioned. Does the prince change heart? Is the nation as wished?
The protagonist team in esports-themed stories wins the world championship, ending there because that’s the peak. As age increases and state declines, it’s downhill from there, and onlookers rarely think about what follows after the peak.
Just like during the World Game, everyone thought, "We must successfully end the World Game..." as if the moment the World Game ends, everything would naturally be happy and perfect.
But here it must be considered.
Consider— "After salvation."
This is reality.
Su Ming’an knows, most of his companions are not lambs. Lu has killed, Isabella has conducted dark research. Because only madmen fit the World Game, so everyone held hands and came together, but actually, none were "perfect," "steadfast," or "righteous" fairy-tale heroes under ideal circumstances.
Just like before, Lu’s image was always "the gentle, considerate good teammate," yet when the identity of "teammate" under the World Game peeled away, his real identity was "mafia who drowns people."
To this day, Su Ming’an can’t guarantee that he can ensure every teammate’s eternal goodness. He doesn’t want to doubt his comrades in arms but must consider this layer.
Reality is not a fairy tale.
Not everyone holding hands walked over perfectly.
So after advising Lu, Su Ming’an glanced at Lü Shu. As a Third-level God, Lü Shu could check the chaos.
Thinking about this, Su Ming’an couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly—was he experiencing what it feels like to be an emperor in ancient times?
Just as he now trusts Lü Shu more, this reflects the bias of a ruler—everyone has biases in their heart, so personal rule inevitably leads to bias.
Su Ming’an didn’t give a too solemn farewell because he would return soon; why make it seem like life and death parting?
"Then I’m heading back," Su Ming’an looked outside the window, where a ginkgo leaf fell golden: "First, tell everyone I’m still alive."
This word "first" sparked curiosity among people.
"Aren’t you attending any honor ceremonies or something? You don’t know how many people are crazily idolizing you now," Isabella teased, "If you really went back to school, the whole school would chase after you, national male god."
... truly a male "God."
"Later," Su Ming’an smiled, "See you when I return."
For some reason, at this moment, everyone felt a sense of déjà vu.
As if, similar scenes had occurred not just once before.
When Su Ming’an turned around, his companions watched him.
And as he opened the window, when a morning breeze blew, causing a momentary flicker on people’s pupils by the swaying shadows of the tree, from under the window, he was gone.
"Did he leave?"
"Yeah, he left."
"He’s gone again, quickly and far."
"We will guard this place for him."
"No."
"We will guard this place for ourselves. For him, for us, for humanity."
...
Su Ming’an went to see Su Mianbao.
She was older, all her hair white, sitting in a wheelchair, tightly clutching his hand.
"Father God... I didn’t expect you were still alive." Su Mianbao murmured, her voice growing weaker: "I was prepared for death."
"I’m here, there’s no need to be afraid." Su Ming’an looked at her in the wheelchair: "Is there anything particularly important to note?"
"Hmm, after everyone came in, I did a rough scan of the population and found some mismatches." Su Mianbao perked up: "It seems like there are some extras."
"Extras?"
"Maybe some Luowasha people followed along."
"Any particularly powerful ones?"
"This one." Su Mianbao pulled up the data, on the screen was a youth in an oil-painted shirt: "This person’s name is Rocker, with the ability to spend money while creating money. This ability is quite unique, touching the law of conservation of energy, so I noted it down."
"And this one." Su Mianbao presented a round-faced woman: "She’s called Su Qianqian, with as many as one hundred and eight children... and she brought them all with her, which surprised me a lot. Because Zhai Xing’s household registration was already incomplete, I couldn’t trace her original identity."
She listed a few more, all with relatively high strength and questionable registrations. Some suspicious, some not.
"So, possibly stowaways." Su Ming’an said: "Keep an eye on them."
"Hmm, with the Cloud City God and the Sea Emperor around, there shouldn’t be any issues." Su Mianbao said.
"What about Su Qing and Su Jingtang?" Su Ming’an asked.
Su Mianbao hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head, "They ran away."
"Ran away?"
"They took advantage of the chaos and ran away, I don’t know where they went."
"I’ll go look for them in the future." Su Ming’an said.
Before parting, Su Mianbao weakly gripped Su Ming’an’s hand.
"Father God... If you’re no longer here next time you return..." Su Mianbao lowered her head, her forehead lightly touching Su Ming’an’s wrist, mumbling.
"I will be back soon, don’t worry." Su Ming’an indeed felt a sense of guilt towards this dutiful interim World Master.
"...Please bury me at the foot of Taihua Mountain." She finished her following words.
Not even asking for the mountain, just the foot.
Su Ming’an silently nodded.
After Su Ming’an left, Su Mianbao looked at the spot where he had just stood.
She bent down, gently took out a wooden box, swept the dust he left behind into the box, clutched it to her chest, and air-kissed piously.
"Love formed by lies, and lies formed by love..."
...
At that moment, Xiber was munching on sweet potatoes in a mechanical shop on the street.
She squatted by a manhole cover, watching people on the street.
"...Mom, are we going into those iron boxes?"
"...We just got back, need to check our identities, just answer what the adults ask you later, don’t be nervous."
"...I died in the last instance, shouldn’t I be compensated for something! I’ve worked hard through ten whole replicas, surely not less than those casual players who bum around!"
"...Who are you calling a bum? I’ve swung more hammers than you’ve wet your pants!"
"Munch munch..." Xiber was enjoying the delicious sweet potatoes. Many facilities in this small world had become highly automated, producing everything automatically. However, to prevent idle labor, jobs were gradually released.
Seventy billion people suddenly flooding in, just thinking about it was a headache-inducing project.
Suddenly, the girl stopped chewing.
"Shall we go?" she said to the air.
In the shadows behind, a young man in a white robe nodded.
They walked into a room where Li Mingyue and others were already standing.
"Let’s begin." Su Ming’an looked at everyone.
As numerous gleams flashed, ten minutes later, a shining ruby lay in Su Ming’an’s palm.
Just as he was gazing at the gemstone, Dan Shuang suddenly said, "I have to go back, Su Ming’an, Ming Hui has lost the Holy Initiation, needs my combat power to hold the fort."
"Father, I must return as well." Archilev bowed.
"Me too." The witch Sharina nodded.
After helping for a while, they still needed to return to their own worlds. Sharina and Archilev did not have the ability to traverse the Universe; Dan Shuang helped bring them over.
"...I look forward to meeting you all again." Su Ming’an’s fingers tightened slightly, smiling.
"Hey, don’t wear such a gloomy face." Dan Shuang carelessly patted Su Ming’an’s shoulder: "If I could come the first time, then I can come a second time. If you wear this, I can perceive your location, and I’ll come find you next time for some fun!"
She hung a red scale around Su Ming’an’s neck.
"Father, this is a gift from the Pulaya people to you." Archilev presented a yellow parchment: "Previously I feared it would affect your mindset; now I can finally give it to you."
Su Ming’an thought it was some treasure, but upon closer inspection, it was an authentic Teni Tea recipe.
...Yes, the honest sea people knew the God lacked nothing; the local specialty was the most sincere and precious gift they could offer.
"This is my personal gift." Sharina offered Su Ming’an two recipes, one for the witch’s antidote, the other for the poison.
It is said that the antidote can heal bones and flesh, while the poison can kill invisibly; it’s unknown how effective they really are. Terrily Town itself resembled an independent small world. Sharina knew little, only saying that it was supposedly created randomly by someone from the High Dimensions fond of playing Werewolf Killing Game, who left it behind.
Li Mingyue, Chao Yan, and Xiber stayed for the time being.
Su Ming’an accepted the gifts, softly thanked them.
He looked at them and slowly opened the book.
"Swoosh—swoosh—"
The sound of ocean waves.
The sound of turning pages.
Time jumping was not as one wished, just like death rebounds having node limits.
Time was the most mysterious and complex concept of the Universe, even with the blessing of authority, Su Ming’an could only choose the weakest time nodes in time and space to infiltrate, with the risk of losing direction in the turbulence, something he kept hidden from his companions.
The first jump, to ensure his timely return, he conservatively chose the nearest time point—
In a daze, he remembered Noel’s last look before leaving under the World Tree.
It was a silent and painful look.
...
