Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1578 - Finale [Part 46]: "Ming.
Su Ming’an opened his eyes.
After the Death Rebound, he returned to the World Tree and opened the book.
"The pink-haired person is an Awakener; no matter which point in time I jump to, it only affects the internal affairs of Luowasha and does not affect the Awakeners. So even if I go back to the previous time point again, the pink-haired person will still follow, and the development will not change much..." Su Ming’an thought:
"Therefore, I must continue to jump forward until I find the image of the Supreme Lord to fundamentally solve all the problems."
Fortunately, he had already remembered the [Twelve Stories·"If I had never seen the light"], his soul would not change with the Death Rebound, even if the system now showed the progress as 0%, as long as he recounted all the stories in the end, the story progression would instantly soar to 100%.
He changed his mind about restarting from the Death Rebound and decided to resolve the issues in one go.
...
[Your current page number is: page 1540]
...
[Death of the Purple Rose] (Can shuttle. Possible possession target: an Awakener.) (You can carry at most one companion and one card.) (Page 1476)
...
This is the only time point that can currently be jumped to.
Since the ’Book Turner’ level is B-level, he can only choose the nearest time point to jump to.
This time, the tasks are twofold: First, at least upgrade the ’Book Turner’ Ability to A-level to jump to earlier time points. Second, do not die, as otherwise, the upgrade is meaningless.
He chose the card Hui Zi and the companion Xiber, believing that this time would not be as embarrassing as last time when he was chased by the pink-haired person because the possession target is very promising. Since it is "an Awakener ", it should be stronger than the feeble body of Li Ziqi.
"As my time jumps become more frequent, the more cards I will hold, Hui Zi is just the first, and in the end, I will have many cards in hand..." Su Ming’an pondered: "My Skills are all expected by the Awakeners, except for the Card System taught by the Black Robed Man, so, ultimately, if I really engage them, the Card System is crucial..."
"World Game King?"
"In any case, I must establish a good persona this time."
White light burst forth, and he closed his eyes.
...
The flames blazed, and books collapsed.
Su Ming’an opened his eyes, and what he saw was the burning Great Library.
—This was the place where Su Wenjun and Qi Zhou both died, beneath the World Tree. Could it be that he possessed Qi Zhou?
He stood up, but felt something was off with the weight.
"...?"
He raised his hand.
—What came into his view was a white paw.
Looking into the small water puddle on the ground, he was a chubby white ragdoll cat. His mind froze for two seconds before realizing—that’s the White Ball.
This spatial white cat always ran around everywhere, occasionally popping out from Su Ming’an’s backpack; he practically never managed its whereabouts, but White Ball was here at that moment?
Yet the system clearly indicated that he would possess an "Awakener", so...
He quickly arrived at an unbelievable answer.
The White Ball...is an "Awakener"!?
—Indeed, it was the influence of fixed thinking; it was never said that an "Awakener" must be human!
In the myriad worlds of the universe, of course, a cat is also a living being, capable of possessing Wisdom, and of being selected by the Lord of Dreams as an "Awakener"!
...
[Su Ming’an knew that this white cat certainly had some issues, or else he wouldn’t keep seeing it jump out of the Pet Bar every time he returned.]
[—Memory Clip No. 416·"The End of the Seventh World"]
...
...So you really do have issues!
He voiced out: "I...I..."
He could speak normally, not just meowing, as expected, this cat had been playing dumb all along.
A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and he spoke: "Transform."
The next moment, his figure shot up, turning into a white-haired youth. Glancing around, the flames roared; he saw no sign of Xiber, indicating that companions and cards are different and do not start with him.
"Cough...cough cough!" A weak voice sounded.
Su Ming’an reverted to his original form, walked toward the source of the sound, and saw Qi Zhou lying on the ground, covered in blood, while the World Master was nowhere to be found.
Su Ming’an realized—originally, the situation was that the World Master killed Qi Zhou, and Su Ming’an killed the World Master. However, the World Master said something meaningfully profound at the end:
"Today I lost to you, Su Ming’an. But I also won, won over my own ending."
"In the new world... please don’t write me again."
After that, the World Master completely closed his eyes.
Su Mingan originally thought this was an ordinary death, but the frenzy in the World Master’s words before death left a trace of unease. Did the World Master think he could transcend the loop? He was a person within Luowasha, confined by the framework; why such confidence?
However, upon flipping back, Su Ming’an found that the World Master was indeed gone here.
The purple rose had disappeared.
He seemed to have burned away all causality, erased all traces of existence, and vanished from the pages, never to be found again even upon review.
Recalling his confident words before death, Su Ming’an suddenly realized that the World Master was one of the few people, like Sique, who retained memories of the Luowasha Reset, so he had ample time to prepare everything. Knowing that destiny is irreversible... he chose complete destruction in the face of death. No one knows how much preparation he made, not even a trace of causality remains.
"Dead without remains, never to rebirth... that guy..."
...
["I have a friend who realized more than anyone the fragility and emptiness of such ’perfection’, and thus chose to reject it," said Qin Si.]
["How is he now?" asked Phoenix.]
["He chose to burn himself under the World Tree, along with the causal lines he found through countless reincarnations. Therefore, I can no longer call out his name—he has vanished from the description range of the Book of the Universe, breaking free from the destiny solidified by ’perfection,’" Qin Si said. "He embraced eternal tranquility and death."]
...
... Heh.
He was the first to try and break free from the destiny of the Book of the Universe, and the first to have the courage to reject ’perfection.’ If he could not achieve destruction, he sought to die before the Book of the Universe was formed.
He truly was an extremely proud person. He preferred a real tragic ending rather than a fixed perfect ending...
Su Ming’an thought for a moment about Su Wensheng with his earrings.
He walked towards the dying Qi Zhou.
Since the World Master disappeared, the causality of "Su Ming’an killing the World Master" also vanished, leaving Qi Zhou injured and lying here without knowing who harmed him.
Observing Qi Zhou’s wounds, Su Ming’an was astonished to find they were caused by a scythe blade!
——Pink-haired person!?
The past had shifted, the pink-haired person caught up!
This was the first time Su Ming’an became wary of timeline changes. Since this wasn’t his own Death Rebound, but a product of the Authority’s gathering, he jumped forward, and real time was still flowing. Therefore, apart from the Luowasha people, he couldn’t judge the actions of high-dimensional forces.
But logically, they wouldn’t accompany him in jumping forward and would remain in the original time.
The pink-haired person actually followed!
"Won’t the past get worse if it keeps changing... Gate of Destiny?" Su Ming’an quickly thought of an anime he had watched.
The pink-haired person is an Awakener and must have guessed he has Death Rebound. So why kill him? Could it be that the Supreme Lord sent someone to stop him from collecting images?
"Pink hair, cold, silent... does indeed match the characteristics of Order Guardian Xiao Bai. Moreover, Pudding and Xiao Bai share the same origin, so if Pudding is an Awakener, it’s reasonable for Xiao Bai to be an Awakener too..."
"Pink-haired person... is she Xiao Bai?"
Suddenly, there was movement in front.
A hand reached out and touched him.
"...Kitty?" Qi Zhou weakly looked at him, his eyes slightly brightening.
This guy, wearing a cat-eared hat, was clearly a cat lover; almost dying, yet still petting the cat.
"Was it a pink-haired person who attacked you?" Su Ming’an asked.
Qi Zhou was momentarily stunned and remarked, "You actually speak human language."
"Never seen a Ragdoll Cat Clan?" Su Ming’an said. "Cat lover, answer the question."
"I don’t really remember why I came here..." Qi Zhou showed a struggling expression. "I remember following someone I intensely hated, wanting to play a dirty trick on them. Only when I got here did I realize I’m alone... Who am I hating after all?"
This is the effect of the World Master’s disappearance.
Qi Zhou was here to assassinate the World Master and followed over. When the World Master disappeared, Qi Zhou forgot why he came here. As if a puppet in a book, when the puppeteer pulls the strings, the remaining puppet becomes lost.
Qi Zhou spent his life hating manipulation... yet in the end, he forgot who was manipulating his destiny.
That control-obsessed father figure—the World Master—is gone.
"Kitty." Qi Zhou touched again, his stomach still bleeding.
This guy faced people with such arrogance, yet showed pure kindness towards cats.
"I got here and saw a pink-blue haired person, she sliced me once, realized I was alone, and she left," Qi Zhou said. "Kitty, who are you?"
Su Ming’an contemplated that, to enhance the "Book Turner" ability, he should start establishing his persona now.
He said, "I appear as an ordinary Ragdoll Cat, but secretly I’m the Old God Asasto, the Old Leader, the Torch of Wasteland..." He patiently recounted his long persona again.
Qi Zhou listened, dazed, before saying, "So many people."
Su Ming’an already knew through the Book of the World that this moment was crucial, with two major events.
First, Hui Bai, Xiao Bai, and Ran Bo are creating the Rin Clan in Experimental City.
Second, Shi Ying found a nearly limitless energy white stone.
"So... which side to go?" Su Ming’an took off running.
"Hey!" Qi Zhou immediately shouted. "You’re just leaving like that?" He clutched his bleeding stomach, intestines almost spilling out.
...Right, Qi Zhou now meets the conditions to become a card. Just as this guy is dying, becoming a card can save his life.
Su Ming’an initially wanted to say, "Become my card, fight alongside me," then he quickly changed his course of thought, remembering he had to act out the persona, and promptly said:
"——Would you respond to my call, hang on my blade, and become the guardian of the Old God Asasto?"
Having spent much time around Yamada Machiichi, this 二次元 figure, Su Ming’an masterfully grasped this speaking style, not just by watching.
Qi Zhou paused.
Then he smiled wryly, saying, "Do I have room to refuse? Save me, kitty."
In the past, he was absorbed in revenge, intent on strangling the World Master. However, the World Master’s abrupt disappearance left him as if suddenly thrown onto a deserted snowfield, not knowing which way to go. He couldn’t tell if this was good or bad.
Luckily, he had the cat.
...
"Ding-dong!"
The dying youth transformed into a crystal-clear card, lying in Su Ming’an’s palm.
...
[You have obtained "SR Card·Qi Zhou"]
[Class: Knight (Frontline)]
[Belief God: None]
[Personality Alignment: Chaotic Good]
[Darkening Value: 70 points]
[Level: lv.62]
[Positional Rank: 0 Star]
...
Holding the card, Su Ming’an returned to human form.
Unexpectedly, Qi Zhou’s voice sounded next moment:
"You should turn back into a cat..."
"Why?"
"I don’t like humans."
"...You need to cure this cat obsession."
"Humans aren’t as cute as cats."
"Then don’t you even dislike yourself?"
"Yes, otherwise, why do you think I wear a cat hood?"
"I’m not a cat, I’m human."
"A cat is just a cat."
The conversation was fruitless, and Su Ming’an broke through the space, sprinting away.
He remembered that the white cat always had a terrifying passive skill:
...
[Talent Passive Skill·Space Companionship: The ’Space’ ability synchronizes development with the player’s ability, with no need to share player’s experience, automatically leveling up, being a growth-type pet.]
...
So, whatever level Su Ming’an’s space ability reached, the white cat would correspondingly become stronger. Although it was limited by its pet status and could not become a god, it was already one of the strongest among pets.
He quickly ran toward the Central Laboratory, paying more attention to Hui Bai’s artificial Lin Clan than Shi Ying’s white stone. However, when he entered Experimental City, he saw a familiar figure—
With slightly curly powder-blue long hair and wearing a carved mask, holding a scythe in one hand and a leaf in the other.
This guy was actually waiting in ambush!
Su Ming’an immediately threw out a spatial vibration.
"Boom——!" With a loud bang, the pink-haired person’s figure staggered for a moment, looking coldly at Su Ming’an.
... This guy dared to confront head-on, so their strength wouldn’t be below a second-level god.
After testing, Su Ming’an transformed back into his original form and ran, breaking open several spatial cracks along the way. Although the white cat’s strength was inferior to the pink-haired person, it excelled in space attributes and was extremely swift, quickly leaving eight streets behind.
Unable to get close to Hui Bai for now, Su Ming’an chose to approach Shi Ying first.
...
"Ding-dong!"
[You triggered "Eleven Stories·The Kindly Nightingale"]
...
The space broke open, and Su Ming’an’s foot landed on something.
He looked down, and it was Lunxue. This teammate had never been very present, yet here she was.
This person was sneakily hiding in a cabinet, and Su Ming’an stepped on her as he landed.
"Are you Su Ming’an’s pet White Ball? You really run around everywhere." Lunxue saw Su Ming’an and whispered, "Shhh... Don’t make a sound, I’m being stalked by a madwoman, hiding from her."
... Madwoman?
"Her name is Hui Zi, trying to snatch what’s in my hands." Lunxue pointed to the white stone she was holding: "This thing is full of energy, given to me by a red-haired woman named Shi Ying, she wants to sell it to the laboratory, and I’m considering intercepting it."
Su Ming’an quickly understood the situation.
Shi Ying eventually decided to sell this white stone, trading it for future glory and wealth.
She merely came upon this white stone by chance and, after a brief chat, found that it could continuously supply cold. If she sold it, she could earn a lot of money.
What is friendship, in the eyes of someone nearly starving, can it be eaten?
Su Ming’an had witnessed Tian Ying’s ruthlessness, so he could understand Shi Ying’s decision. Tian Ying and Shi Ying were like him and his clone Ming Ying, originating from the same source but heading in different directions. It’s just that he didn’t know what made Tian Ying so cruel while Shi Ying remained an ordinary girl.
"Hui Zi?" Su Ming’an asked Card Hui Zi.
"I’m not the one who grabbed the stone; I’ve always been in your card space... That’s ’Past Hui Zi.’ Also, the ’Awakener Hui Zi’ who possessed me." Hui Zi said in his mind: "Since you’ve already killed her in the future, this ’Hui Zi’ should be a product simulated for causal completeness, acting according to ’Awakener Hui Zi’s’ behavioral logic, doing the same things ’Awakener Hui Zi’ did in history."
——So, treat the Hui Zi of this time period as ’Awakener Hui Zi.’
Su Ming’an looked at the white stone; the white stone was obviously angry. Shi Ying was its first friend, yet it was sold by its friend.
Su Ming’an tentatively called out:
"Great Emperor?"
"What Great Emperor, I am Super Stone!" the white stone retorted.
"Great Emperor, you truly have many segments." Su Ming’an said.
"I am Super Stone!" the white stone emphasized.
Su Ming’an didn’t know what Su Liujin did to create so many segments; the white stone didn’t know who it was.
"You guys... really want to sell me to the laboratory?" the white stone was silent for a moment.
"Oh, I originally wanted to swallow you privately." Lunxue lamented, "A working person finally saved up a little private money. But since the White Ball came, I can’t hide it from Su Ming’an anymore; I have to take you to my boss."
She fully embraced the persona of a "working person," calling Su Ming’an the "boss."
Su Ming’an glanced to the side.
——However, in the original timeline, Lunxue didn’t take the white stone to him, and Lunxue even ended up disappearing.
What happened next here?
The white stone was silent for a moment, then spoke:
"For the world, I understand."
"I don’t know who I am, fumbling as I wake up... finally met a friend, she turned around and sold me... I’m just a stone, what can I do? I cannot become human, nor can I have my own life and future."
"Perhaps becoming energy is my only outcome. I can understand if you sell me."
"Humans, whether good or bad, I no longer believe in you. Shi Ying said that all humans are kind; indeed, it was a lie."
Lunxue clicked her tongue: "There’s a bit of a conscience conflict... Boss Cat, what do you think?"
She called Su Ming’an the "boss," thus calling the White Ball the "Boss Cat."
Before Su Ming’an could speak, suddenly, the cabinet door opened.
A beautiful blonde girl with purple eyes smiled at them.
...
On the other side, the Ocher Plain.
Shi Ying took a few steps, constantly reminding herself not to go soft, not to look back.
...By selling the white stone, she could get a large sum of money, and upon entering the New World, would achieve happiness.
No longer would she have to sell herself, nor remember the memories of being scorned by her parents... Yes, I must become bad, only by becoming bad will this world respect you...
If I openly become bad... will I become a powerful person? Shi Ying gazed at the sky, tightly holding Marthalia’s hand.
"Cough, cough cough..." Without the white stone, Marthalia quickly weakened, under the scorching heat of the Red Sun, she was drenched in sweat.
"Madam, just endure a bit longer, once the New World sets sail, it won’t be this hot anymore... We’ll earn a large sum of money, then clothes, gourmet food, a big house... everything will be ours..." Shi Ying comforted her softly.
Suddenly, silently, a person stood behind her.
Startled, she drew a dagger from her waist and pointed it at the person: "Who are you!?"
The person laughed, a few strands of golden hair peeking out from beneath a black robe: "I am just a passer-by, happening to overhear your troubles. Are you really going to abandon that stone? I just saw you were conversing happily with it. You declare ’all humans are kind,’ then turn around and sell it."
Shi Ying clutched her dagger, flaring up: "What’s it to you, who are you! I’ve heard from some bigwigs, blondes aren’t anything good! Citizens beware!"
Soon, her expression changed, hearing the notification from her Golden Finger:
"Ding dong!"
[Detected before you: Strategy difficulty of six stars.]
...
The strategy difficulty of six stars, this, this isn’t an ordinary person...
"Go on, retrieve it." the black-robed man smiled, "I will accompany you, assist you."
Shi Ying dared not refuse, heading towards the laboratory.
Behind the black-robed man, another voice emerged: "Are you truly going to help her retrieve the white stone?"
The black-robed man turned, laughing quietly: "How could I? So much energy obviously belongs to me. However, what she doesn’t understand is, she was the first to find the white stone, only she can easily destroy the white stone’s protective shield to access its energy. While we must exert much effort... Furthermore, I’m more worried about you. You don’t plan to deliver the white stone to Su Ming’an, do you?"
He looked in the direction of a youth in a white suit, a star and moon brooch on his chest, silver chain slightly swaying.
"Of course not." The youth in the white suit smiled, spreading his hands.
"Yes... You’re already free. Speaking of clones, is betrayal a tradition?" the black-robed man’s deep blue eyes softened, "After eliminating Su Liujin and the emerging Rin Clan, you can ascend without hindrance—Future Eden Realm Master, Sir."
"Ming."
...
