Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1566: Finale · Crossing the Sea Arc [41] · "He Led the Little Animals Out of Darkness.
——The world has reversed.
Su Ming’an clearly realized this.
He watched as Tian Ying’s angry face turned into a bright smile like sunshine the moment the "reversal" prompt appeared.
The apple lying on the ceiling lay there quietly, as if that was the real ground, its rightful place to rest.
With a quick motion, Tian Ying leaped up, grabbed the bright red apple, and handed it to Su Ming’an.
"Do you like it? Here, eat it." Her smile suddenly softened, as if Su Ming’an’s attack was merely him offering her a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
The bright red scar on her cheek remained, deep enough to see the bone.
The apple on the ceiling, like a flying bird, after landing in the girl’s hand, resembled the heart of a bright red bird, quietly presented before Su Ming’an.
Hui Zi looked at Su Ming’an in surprise: "Why is she so happy after I scratched her? Did you use some charm skill?"
Su Ming’an shook his head, silently contemplating.
The world had "reversed," but there was a certain range. For example, the apple flew to the sky, yet they were still grounded by gravity, indicating the "reversal" was only for certain situations, like the well-known Newton apple story. Moreover, the results of the "reversal" only targeted him; even though Hui Zi acted, Tian Ying only showed favorability toward Su Ming’an.
"I won’t eat it." Su Ming’an threw the apple away, and it flew back to the ceiling, drifting away like a bright red helium balloon.
Suddenly, Tian Ying gently pinched his neck.
"I’m liking you more and more..." Tian Ying gazed at him passionately: "To be worthy of this wonderful affection, I will prepare the most beautiful way for you to die..."
...Madman!
Su Ming’an, without another word, gave her a hard punch.
Tian Ying was knocked back a few inches; luckily, Li Ziqi’s body was weak. If it were Su Ming’an himself, the punch would have shattered her.
...
"Ding dong!"
["Reversal Mode" has been triggered.]
[Npc (Tian Ying) Favorability: 70+20 points!]
...
"I like you so much, I like you so much, I like you so much..." A spine-tingling tone echoed as Tian Ying touched the red mark on her face in a daze, as if drunk, her cheeks flushed as she gazed at Su Ming’an.
"Ah! She’s such a pervert!" Hui Zi quickly rubbed her arms, smoothing the goosebumps all over her body.
...Hui Zi, why are you just watching from the side?
Su Ming’an felt a toothache; even with his "many experiences" and "battle-hardened" nature, Tian Ying’s type of madness was too much, truly a madwoman among madwomen.
"What kind of way to die do you like? You suit my taste so much, I will allow you to choose." The red-haired girl said terrifying words with flushed cheeks: "Poisoned? Strangled? Beheaded... or..."
"She’s already lost in her own art." Hui Zi commented.
...Are you a commentator now?
Su Ming’an hadn’t expected that weak soul, upon recovery, would have such a personality.
Su Ming’an immediately said, "You think I’m great, so why do you want me to die?"
"Hmm?" Tian Ying paused, and said, "If I don’t want you to die, do I want you to live painfully?"
"Who said I’m living painfully?"
"Everyone in this world lives painfully." Tian Ying said, stepping on the mist, her sharp high heels clanging: "Every minute and second of living is boring, stressful, suffocating... but once you’re dead, aren’t you happy? I think there must be many people in this world who would press the button for painless death immediately if they encountered it."
Su Ming’an said without hesitation: "But there are people who want to live, that should not be the reason you judge their lives."
"Hmm." Tian Ying tilted her head, seemingly pondering: "Really?"
She counted on her fingers: "When I was little, dad wanted me to die, and mom threw me into the ditch. They spent the money I earned by selling myself, I got sick, they despised me as dirty, and wrapped me in a sheet to throw me into a pauper’s grave... if it weren’t for a white-haired gentleman feeding me blood, I would have died long ago."
"The words I’ve heard the most are people complaining why this world hasn’t been destroyed, wondering when they can finally rest."
"I spent my earned money on charity, but the poor cursed me for only giving black bread, and used my charity money to buy brand-name phones. I participated in life-and-death games killing people every day, and instead, I received endless cheers and applause, and they all said I was a star player."
"Tell me..." She lifted her head, looking at Su Ming’an: "Since ’restraint’ has become a crime, what’s wrong with choosing ’indulgence’? I kill in life-and-death games, eliminating competitors, what’s wrong with that?"
"Geniuses can survive as pure streams, like the Strawberry Alliance Leader, like the champion of the null-initial Disciple Game... they’re so noble, with such powerful abilities at hand, they could turn the tide even when death was imminent, and us? Li Ziqi..."
She suddenly reached out like lightning, with a sweet smile, grasping Su Ming’an’s throat:
"Your body is so frail, your ability is only to produce fruit, you can’t even hold a sword... struggling to survive yourself, how do you exhibit your ’nobility’?"
Su Ming’an looked at her calmly.
As if provoked by his gaze, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she chuckled deeply: "Before I became strong, to survive in the game, I did anything. In the first level, I shamelessly clung to several men’s thighs, surviving like a toy. The humiliation I endured is beyond your imagination... I crawled like a Little Dog in circles, I swallowed my own severed fingers, I watched them cut off the limbs of other contestants. When the victims begged me for mercy, I could only remain silent—do you think I wanted to stay silent? Do you think I was not noble enough?"
"Yes, I should nobly speak up—’You shouldn’t do this! Please spare him!’ And then what? I’d also have my limbs cut off, left like a dead dog in the past. Because I didn’t have the strength, the strength to match this noble emotion."
"To survive, humans would sooner or later become unrecognizable. What was once called purity was only because they hadn’t been pushed to the brink. Having been dragged into this unsolvable game, we will only become increasingly ugly, increasingly disgusting, increasingly cruel."
"You’re so weak, you can’t even withstand the Poison Gas. I’m ending your suffering, preventing you from falling into the hands of those Evil people and dying without dignity, isn’t that good?"
Amidst the Poison Gas, "Li Ziqi’s" face turned ashen.
However, he slowly said:
"...But if that’s the case."
"How will you witness my future ’nobility’ then?"
Tian Ying’s expression suddenly loosened.
Her eyes went blank for a moment, and she slowly released her hand.
If he died here, then his potential for the future would also vanish, and his path towards nobility would be obliterated.
That was the "nobility" Tian Ying was willing to struggle and fight for, even without any dignity.
She judged that Li Ziqi couldn’t achieve it, but his eyes were so calm...
Su Ming’an smoothed his collar and, after a moment of silence, said softly: "You mentioned earlier that, as a child, someone fed you blood? Was he a man with white hair and golden eyes?"
Tian Ying paused for a moment and nodded.
"Do you know more about him?"
Tian Ying hesitated for a while, perhaps due to high Favorability, she took out a pure white flower: "He gave me a bouquet of Isa Flowers, encouraging me to survive. Beyond that... there’s no more information. If not for this flower, I wouldn’t have the will to live today."
She curled her lips slightly: "Anyway, I’ve already become stronger. If you want it, take it—just like he advised me to survive that day, I too am telling you to live on today."
"No more illness?" Su Ming’an asked.
"Heh, I just realized..." Tian Ying stared at him and smiled slightly: "You are not a Little White Flower; you are a beast... You have the courage to match nobility."
"In this level, you should have explored a lot, right? Do you know if there’s an information room... cough, cough!" Su Ming’an suddenly coughed.
He looked at his palm and found his skin oozing blood.
...Li Ziqi’s body couldn’t withstand the Poison Gas anymore.
"Heh, looks like you’ll die here before matching nobility." Tian Ying continued mercilessly but unhooked a bottle from her waist and hung it on Su Ming’an’s waist.
"What’s this?"
"This is the ’Immunity Bottle,’ capable of protecting someone from Poison Gas harm. That’s why I can move through the Poison Gas effortlessly." Tian Ying’s face was quickly tinged green: "On the third underground floor, there’s a viewing room, which should have key information. Anyway, I’m not interested in looking at it."
"Then how are you withstanding the Poison Gas?"
"Heh, I’ll find another method." Tian Ying pointed at Su Ming’an: "At least compared to you, this ’Little Lemon’ is better at surviving. Don’t worry about your granny, just stay by her side, and she’ll protect you from leaking lemon juice."
Su Ming’an’s eyes flickered.
...Even though he knew Tian Ying’s attitude was a result of this ’reversal,’ her normal state would have been to shoot angrily long ago. Yet, this candid demeanor actually revealed her true nature.
She truly was an incorrigible murderer, a villain who should be executed, who killed many...
If it were I, Su Ming’an himself, seeing her kill so ruthlessly, he would undoubtedly kill her without hesitation, never hearing these confessions. But now, he was Li Ziqi, a seemingly harmless ordinary person. By a twist of fate, he was talking for so long with someone like Tian Ying, someone he would never approach.
If not for the ’reversal,’ he would only be facing a silent corpse.
"Hold my hand." The red-haired villain reached out to him: "With those thin arms and legs, don’t fall."
Su Ming’an didn’t tell her that if he didn’t hide his true strength, those "thin arms" could tear down this building.
His hand moved, and Hui Zi turned into a card and returned to his palm.
They walked through the swirling Poison Gas, faintly hearing screams from afar. The red-haired villain walked in front, while the black-haired ordinary person trailed behind.
"Your ability? Playing cards? Quite interesting." A faint voice came from the front.
"Hmm."
"Barely a peep from you, can’t you say a bit more?"
"Hmm."
"Heh... You really remind me of how dead I used to be. Whatever, let’s just consider it the granny protecting her past self."
"Aren’t you worried I’ll kill you?"
"I can see the hatred in your eyes... You despise my kind who kill recklessly. Maybe you’ll really kill me when you become stronger. But so what?" Her lips curled upward: "I’ve long wanted to die, just wanted to show those evil people a thing or two. Now, my revenge is complete. If you want revenge against me, then go ahead."
Her slanted eyes slightly raised, a pair of rose-like pupils stared piercingly at him through the poison gas, like two burning candle flames, yet unclear in the darkness: "... In that case, you’ll become the next ’Tian Ying’, I’m looking forward to you becoming the best work, Ziqi."
"No."
"Or should I call you ’Little Lemon’, it’s unique. You really got to my heart, brought me joy."
She held his hand tightly, afraid he’d fall behind.
Su Ming’an’s pupils flickered.
... A mistaken reversal, a wrong conversation.
She liked him so much, merely because of a mistaken favorability reversal. Their possibility was supposed to end with one becoming a corpse.
Now, the wrong evil person always tightly clutches his hand, as if holding some precious thing... Perhaps for her heart, overgrown with thorns, no one had been able to reach that 90 favorability level, yet someone mistakenly barged in, bringing her a mistaken full joy, making her sense this admiration and love joyously for the first time.
This was the feeling of happiness and love.
If Su Ming’an had never turned back, the last impression left to him would only be that of an absurd madman.
Amidst the poison gas, everything was quiet.
Until—
"Ahead is a non-toxic zone, there’s a quarrel." Tian Ying stopped walking.
Ahead was an open space, a group of people surrounding it.
"Brother Qi was the first to discover this person, his belongings should go to Brother Qi!" A bespectacled youth pointed at a man on the ground.
A blonde youth lay on the ground, extremely handsome yet dying due to excessive blood loss. People were already discussing the fate of his belongings before he’d even died.
Nearby crouched two or three trembling young girls.
"Eh? Isn’t this the big celebrity Zhou Sheng! Who would’ve thought such a huge star would fall here, huh... Indeed, things are absurd in this game." A seductive woman lifted Zhou Sheng’s face, stepped on his hand: "What big celebrity, now you’re at my feet. Before, I couldn’t even get your album in line."
Tian Ying’s eyes flickered, mischievously crossing her arms, watching this dog-eat-dog among humans.
"—Stop!"
A hoarse, deep voice came from another direction.
A solidly built woman, holding a longsword, walked out, with a full forehead, slender black eyebrows, spirited eyes, wide thin lips, possessing a charm transcending gender.
Su Ming’an quickly recognized her—Qianqin.
She’s here probably because her original self was pushed into a safehouse; those who didn’t make it into the safehouse became Li Ziqi, and Qianqin didn’t meet her, thus ran to save others. This Knight truly follows her creed, putting out fires everywhere.
She looked significantly different from Sique’s memory of the Divine Mountain junior sister. No longer a bit coquettish, more like a warrior.
"That meddlesome Dawn Knight rescuing people everywhere..." The bespectacled youth evidently knew of Qianqin’s reputation, scoffing as he quickly pulled Zhou Sheng, aiming a gun at his temple: "Don’t come closer, or I’ll kill him instantly!"
Qianqin stopped, she hadn’t realized there was a hostage when she came, she came to rescue the girls nearby.
"Drop your weapon!" The bespectacled youth sneered.
Qianqin paused, forced to drop her sword.
"Clang—!" A crisp sound.
"I heard you’re idle, meddling in Brother Qi’s business before, rescuing dozens of piglets from a farm." The seductive woman laughed, looking at a tall, strong man standing at the back: "Brother Qi, finally we have a hostage at hand, how to handle that damned knight?"
The tall man slowly stepped out, looking at Qianqin, said slowly:
"Come, beat Zhou Sheng hard, make him grovel, apologize loudly ’Brother Qi I was wrong’, then we can talk."
Qianqin clenched her fists tightly, she certainly wouldn’t do that, she was here to save people.
However, Zhou Sheng crawling towards her shouted: "Please! Hit me! Beat me!"
Qianqin immediately said: "Don’t be agitated, stay calm, I will save you."
Zhou Sheng cried, slapping himself while sobbing: "Beat me! Please! They know my friends’ whereabouts, if I don’t satisfy them, my friends will be in trouble!"
"You damned knight, why did you come to save me! If you hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have so much pain, maybe they’d release me for fun!"
"Now, without satisfying them, I can’t live nor die!"
"It’s all your fault, being such a do-gooder in this game! You’ve ruined me!"
Qianqin’s pupils contracted.
The scene before his eyes seemed to transform into an absurd black-and-white drama, with the black-clad people wearing white, and the white-clad people covered in black.
The victim did not direct their anger at the perpetrator, but rather at the rescuer who reached out.
No one blamed the trolley, only the person pulling the lever.
For a moment, it seemed as if this was the product of "reversal," where malice and kindness went in the wrong direction. However, this was not reversal; reality was far more absurd than "reversal."
Qianqin took a deep breath and looked at several trembling girls beside her. There was no joy of being saved in their eyes, only numbness and emptiness. Even if they achieved redemption, it wouldn’t take long before they fell back into hell.
——If one had never seen light, they would not fear darkness. But the Dawn Knight, proud and benevolent, brought light, yet cannot ensure the sun will shine forever.
"...Are you going to lend a hand?" At this moment, Tian Ying noticed Su Ming’an’s movement.
"They are blocking the way; if we don’t act, we can’t get through," Su Ming’an said expressionlessly.
"Hehe... Whatever excuse you find. You want to express your ’noble’ empathy, don’t you?" Tian Ying pointed at the trembling girls: "Without me, you would be one of those people, waiting for others to bestow kindness upon you."
Su Ming’an couldn’t guarantee whether, without the "Number One Player’s" ability, he would still possess empathy and compassion, and be able to exhibit his so-called ’nobility’ and savior’s spirit.
At least when looking at the trembling homeless under the bridge, he, who was still powerless, saved money from his own breakfast to buy them a quilt.
He once had ardor, he once had helplessness.
Now, he has.
So, he does.
"If I had never seen light, I wouldn’t fear darkness..." Su Ming’an said: "Some people utter this phrase to blame the light for shining into their darkness, making them unable to adapt to darkness anymore."
"However, for others, this phrase sounds like gratitude for the rare fallen light."
"After seeing the light, even if they fall back into darkness... they already know what light looks like. It is far more beautiful than darkness. They start to know the appearance of light, the direction of light, the path of light..."
He remembered the golden forest.
Remembered the fox quietly standing at the border of light and shadow.
Remembered countless "humans" trapped in the dark pits. They were born in darkness, grew in darkness, fought darkness, cried out with darkness, lay in darkness, thinking darkness was the end, yet saw a path of light landing at their toes.
That light came through sparse tree shadows, trampled by countless bloody footprints millions of times, and dared to be seen... precious light.
...
"——If they had never seen light, how could they walk out of darkness?"
...
He stepped forward and summoned a card.
Hui Zi darted out like a little fox, extending sharp claws to give each of these bad people a scratch, and immediately, the place fell silent.
The bespectacled young man, the seductive woman, the burly man, and several other men... covered their bloody faces, staring blankly at Su Ming’an.
In the next moment, a mountain-echoing sea-surfing cheer burst forth.
Under the influence of "reversal," they viewed pain as joy, hatred as love, and treated the attacking Su Ming’an like a hero.
"So thrilling! I love it!"
"Ahh, too exhilarating, it feels so good, scratch me again!"
"Why am I still following Brother Qi, this one is my true love!"
Amid the indescribably absurd cheers, several victim girls showed dumbfounded expressions; even Zhou Sheng and Qianqin froze on the spot.
They— stared at the approaching Su Ming’an, who seemed to be the core of this absurd black-and-white drama.
Vaguely, he heard the "reverse" flowing river.
He waded through the river, expressionless, walked to the center of the show, dressed in black, as pure as white.
Everything related to him rushed backward with his arrival.
"——Now, I take over here." He said calmly.
No one objected.
Half were bewildered, half were cheering.
A distinctly marked black-and-white drama.
On the ceiling, a scarlet apple quietly floated, seemingly like an inverted heart.
...
