Episode ①②
Part Two
“If it’s lacking, we must replenish; if it’s excessive, we must remove the excess. The world is that simple. Its essence is a glass ball.”
“Actually, I’ve always known this. I just didn’t connect it to the world we inhabit.” From “it” before me, I learned about the nature of the world and couldn’t help but marvel at how complete its construction was. Many people have said that the universe we exist in was born by chance, but I don’t think so. It’s designed too ingeniously; it’s a ‘precision equipment’ that even mechanical clocks and electronic components can’t match. The world is the most perfect host in existence, equipped with the most powerful system called the causal cycle. It continues to operate normally even after being split into two.
“Remove the excess. What is considered ‘excess’?”
“What do you think? What is excess to the original world?”
I fell silent once more. What is excess to the original world? It’s not even an answer, just a fact. But despite the fact, I don’t want to admit it. Because that would mean denying the existence of Lou Ling and Lou Yi, and denying the existence of her before me.
“‘It’ replenishes according to instinct, but after replenishing, it ‘overflows’…” ‘It’ touched its index fingers together and then separated them as if flicking them apart. “A rejection reaction occurred between ‘us,’ and the ‘big ball’ pushed away the ‘small ball.'”
“Ah, so that’s how it is. No wonder Ling appeared in that place with me.” That place, the starting end point. The place where the universe is born and ends. Because like Jiuyuan, I am ‘the first being to possess a soul,’ a candidate for the record keeper of truth, Akashic Records, as a database for cosmic evolution and the journey of souls. And one more condition needed to be met, the world was about to reach its end, and the distance to the starting end point was very close, which is why I was able to reunite with Jiuyuan there. I never understood why Ling would appear in that place then – I only found the answer moments ago. Unlike me, who was brought into the ‘Origin’ by Jiuyuan, Ling suddenly appeared there. I thought Ling could appear in that place because she was the world, but that wasn’t the reason. Now I finally know. It’s because she was ‘repelled’ out.
A world that is imperfect, with both sides repleting each other. It became excessive, so one side was ‘flung out.’ Ling was the one who was flung out, excluded from the world, and returned to the Origin. And then she met me.
“Afterward, because of your wish, she replicated a new world as the seed of a new world. Then, reaching the ‘same point in time,’ you merged the two worlds using the condensed… that is, immense Destiny Power.” The girl’s two index fingers came together again, from fingertip to pad to the base of the finger. “The world centered around ‘me’ and the world centered around ‘Lou Ling’ were mixed together, like pigments mixed together. Once the boundaries disappear, they will continue to mix, ushering in the dawn of the ‘new world.’ This is everything that has happened so far.”
“It seems like a perfect ending. ‘As if nothing happened.’ The new world you created is very good. Peaceful daily life, tranquil environment, no uncertainty, endless cycles, and no more errors will occur.”
“I know you’re about to say ‘but’ to turn things around, right? Otherwise, there would be no need for you to talk to me at length.” The girl smiled, not angered by my sarcasm.
“Yes, but.” She swayed her legs, as if stating an unalterable fact. “The essence of the world hasn’t changed. You had Lou Ling replicate ‘me,’ so the world still maintains its original rules. Or rather, it’s impossible for her and me to escape this instinct, because the ‘heavenly law is constant’.”
The world’s instinct?
“And the closer it gets to the ‘end point,’ the more unstable it becomes. The ‘first round’ is about to end. If this problem isn’t resolved before then…”
“Wait, wait, wait!” “End point? No, there’s no end point anymore! This world has been connected end-to-end by me, so points of beginning and end shouldn’t exist anymore!” “I don’t quite understand what you mean by ‘end’… this world shouldn’t have such a thing.”
“Indeed, because it’s connected end-to-end, it’s not an end point… My wording was imprecise. Let’s use a different word, how about ‘save point’?” That’s a rather familiar term. But, wait, a save point? SJ SF Light Novel Wait, hold on! “Hey, hey, does this mean ‘this round’ is about to end?” “Yes, the world of the first playthrough is about to end, and we’ll immediately enter the second playthrough.” Hey, no way! We haven’t even gathered everyone, and we’re already entering the second playthrough?! Why would this happen!
The girl looked at me strangely and retorted, “You don’t know about this, do you?”
“I know crap!” I shouted in agitation. I truly couldn’t calm down. I’ve waited for billions of years. Billions of years! And now you’re telling me we’re entering the second playthrough before everyone’s even gathered? I’m going crazy. Even with the best mindset, I’m about to break down. It’s like a compulsive gamer playing a game, being forced into a second playthrough without completing the full collection in the first one… Unbearable! Moreover, this isn’t a game, it’s reality! I haven’t found Xueqing, and Yu Hui hasn’t responded yet. How can we enter the second playthrough! And I’ll have to wait for billions of years. Can I really remember? Can I wait again? Won’t I go insane?
“How can this be?”
“Because the original world is like this. Both me and yours, ‘before we were split,’ the world was destined to end at this time.”
“‘Before we were split…'” Was it… the original world? To be precise, that was the ‘first playthrough’… no, the ‘zeroth playthrough’ world.
“Yes, hehe, didn’t the one who personally killed ‘us’…” The girl chuckled playfully, rubbing her neck with her thumb, then corrected herself mid-sentence. “Oh, no. At that time, neither I nor Lou Ling had self-awareness. The world was still a ‘pure world.’ So, it should be said, yes, the one who personally ended the world was you, Juncheng An.”
“…” Actually, to be precise, it wasn’t me. Because I haven’t experienced those events. However, it’s true that something like this ‘happened.’ In that world, I had a different encounter with Saint, and I, abandoning all my Fates, personally ended the world to see Jiuyuan. The girls who refused to accept this ending entrusted everything to Lou, who was then renamed ‘Zihua,’ and according to Zi’ai’s plan, they returned to the past and changed the world. Because of this, the world was damaged, and some fragments broke off… This is the cause and effect.
“But the world has already changed. The same ending shouldn’t happen again, right?”
“What are you talking about? Didn’t you reunite the world to its original state?”
“!!!!!” At this moment, it was undoubtedly the most shocking moment of my life. I could no longer clearly describe my feelings. My heart skipped a beat and then stopped. Goosebumps rose all over my body, and a chill surged from the soles of my feet to the top of my head, like ascending to heaven. Shock, absurdity, realization and regret, then the foolishness of not realizing this, and finally, a deep sense of powerlessness. It was like walking through a complex maze for a long time, finally seeing the exit, running towards it excitedly, only to find a sign on the door reading ‘Starting Point.’ The feeling of Sun Wukong being unable to escape Buddha’s palm must be like this.
“You really are stupid. This infinitely looping world was created by you. Didn’t you ever consider this? When to ‘enter the second playthrough,’ and so on.”
…I felt my own stupidity once again.
“You’re quite self-aware.” I covered my cheek, my thoughts not stopping. The world split because of me, and was restored by my hand. After I merged the two worlds, the world became complete again. Not only complete, but it even had extras. But leaving that aside for now, if it’s complete, then the arrangements of the system called Fate have also returned to their original state. That is to say, ‘what is meant to happen will happen.’ The process might change, maybe this time it won’t be me who ends the world, but the ‘ending of the world’ itself is bound to happen. Because this is Fate. I’ve witnessed it countless times. And to defy Fate, to change Fate, one can only use Destiny Power. …Under my rules, no one in this world can use Destiny Power, not even me. There’s no way out. That’s why Miss Shirley couldn’t observe the future. I thought she had lost the ability to observe the future, but that wasn’t the case. The inability to observe the future was because ‘there was no future to observe.’ The world will restart soon, from the beginning.
“Hahahaha!”
“What’s wrong? Have you gone mad?”
“Yes… mad… I truly did something superfluous. Really, so stupid.” I shook my head, and that’s the end of my lamentations. Although it was foolish, it was also my choice. It was my own wish. Eating the bitter fruit of my actions, I wouldn’t say so. At most, it’s just bringing trouble upon myself. But since I’ve made my choice, I won’t whine like a woman. I just need to accept it.
“Continue. You were saying what would happen if the excess problem isn’t resolved before then?”
“If the ‘excess part’ is not resolved, the world loop you established will not hold. At the end, you and she will repel each other again, and the ends will separate once more. It’s like a covered magic card’s ‘Fusion Cancel’ negating the fusion.”
“I see. So, the ‘compensating for deficiency’ problem must be resolved before entering the second playthrough world. The loop was established by me, to allow Jiuyuan to be freed. This is necessary. So, this loop cannot be broken like this.” ‘It’ nodded and said, “That’s right. So, you need to make a decision now. Which part will you ‘abandon’?”
Once again, it’s time for a decision.
