Chapter 66.66: Eternity and Continuation
“One hundred and thirty-eight hundred million…”
This is the time since the birth of the universe. Could it be…!
“Ah, in reality, the perceived time isn’t that long. Most of it was spent sleeping, so I guess I’ve made up for all the sleep I lost as a zombie.”
Juncheng yawned, his languid demeanor dissipating the tense atmosphere.
“Haa~ There are about twenty minutes left until the world collapses completely. We have plenty of time.”
“What… are you going to do…”
My voice was choked with emotion. Just seeing him again filled me with such excitement that my feelings couldn’t calm down for a long time.
There was a sense of completeness, where seeing him alone made it all worthwhile. If that were the case, even if the world were to meet its end like this, I could still persevere if I had to return to that desolate, empty endgame once more.
“I already told you, I’m here to change this ending.”
Change this ending…
But what else can you do… the button has already been pressed, the countdown won’t stop, it’s all over…
It’s because of me…
“Don’t rush, I’ll explain later. Let’s deal with this scene first.”
Juncheng patted my shoulder, then walked over to another girl, Bai Yuhui.
The girl seemed to sense his presence. Although she had long lost her reason, she still managed to reach out and caress his cheek, calling his name.
“Lord Juncheng…”
“Yuhui… you’ve worked hard. I will take on your curse. Rest well now.”
The blackness that enshrouded Bai Yuhui receded, revealing her body once more. Bai Yuhui fainted into Juncheng’s arms, and he wrapped her with his own clothes.
The black smoke then coalesced again, returning to Zi’ai An’s form.
However, her body had already faded considerably, a sign that even her last traces were about to disappear.
I had copied Zi’ai An’s memories from the Akashi records and then added them to the Non-existent, which was how I managed to recreate Zi’ai An.
But she would be disappearing soon too, her traces being wiped away.
“Zi’ai… I troubled you again.”
“Hoh, you still remember? Explain what’s going on. Your body isn’t even put back together yet, how did you suddenly appear? And it seems like you took another harem while we weren’t looking…”
Zi’ai An crossed her arms and glanced at the fragments of the world, and also Lou Ling.
Even though she knew she was about to disappear, Zi’ai An showed no signs of panic.
Meanwhile, the fragments of the other world showed no concern for what was happening here, as if she were an outsider… Wait, is she really just a fragment of the world? Isn’t she complete now?
But if she’s complete, how can she descend in human form… Impossible!
“It’s too troublesome to explain… First of all, even if you put my body together, it wouldn’t wake up, because ‘I’ am here.”
“…Your consciousness?”
My consciousness?
Earlier, I had indeed used the collective consciousness of humanity, the great consciousness ‘Hypnos,’ to summon Juncheng’s consciousness to my endgame location. But when I left, Juncheng should have left there too.
…Could it be… he didn’t leave?
“Yes, my current state is similar to Zihua’s. No body, no soul, only consciousness… However, because Ling helped me create a body, I’m not as struggling as Zihua… but it’s definitely unstable, hehe.”
“Like Zihua… You’ve done something very dangerous. How can you still laugh…”
“Well, I couldn’t help it. But it does feel strange without a soul. I should get my soul back first. Miss Shirley, can you put my body and soul back together?”
The maid, who had been serious just moments ago, softened her demeanor upon Juncheng’s return. She bowed respectfully and replied,
“Of course, no problem. It was my carelessness before, to have separated you without your consent…”
“It’s fine, in the end, I should thank you. If Miss Shirley hadn’t separated me, I wouldn’t have thought of this method.”
“It is my honor to serve you, Master.”
“You should still call me Young Master. It makes me a little uncomfortable.”
“Very well, Young Master Juncheng. I will restore your body and soul immediately.”
The maid canceled the paradox ability, and Juncheng’s body and soul, which had been divided into seven parts, were reunited. However, just as he himself had said, the body did not wake up.
“Then… I’ll take back my soul. This body is now vacant. Heh, my life-sized soft body doll? Does anyone want it?”
“Tch, who would want something like that…”
Lou Ling spat, sounding disdainful, but her eyes were glued to Juncheng’s body.
“If you don’t mind me gifting it to the Young Miss, she would be very happy.”
“Ahem, I was just kidding… This body is still useful. This is for you.”
Juncheng said, looking at me.
“Me?”
I pointed at myself reflexively and asked.
What would I do with this body…
“Miss Shirley, please change this body into a female one.”
“Wait, what are you going to do?”
“Hmm? You want to be a man? Well, that’s not impossible… Uh, but it feels weird. I’m not very accepting of male-male relationships… Hmm, if it’s cute, it’s somewhat acceptable, but looking at myself…”
Juncheng looked troubled, crossing his arms and uttering nonsensical words like ‘Hmm… Should I be the top or the bottom…’
“No, I don’t understand what you mean!”
“Ah, I didn’t explain it clearly. I want you to use ‘this body’ and then… you should return your current body to Keling.”
“What…”
Juncheng looked at me and repeated himself.
“Return your body to Keling. You aren’t her.”
You aren’t her…
Those words pierced my heart, leaving me utterly bewildered.
“An Keling is my younger sister, but you are not.”
“I…”
Then what am I?
Didn’t I come into existence by your side as An Keling?
“Don’t you want me anymore?”
You don’t accept me?
“I, indeed…”
Indeed, I had done something unforgivable.
But that was because they… No, it was ultimately because I, arrogantly, myself, designed all of this, thinking I could control everything…
“Because I made them all…”
“Listen to me.”
But I had waited for so long, just to see you. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Is it not too much?
Why can’t I be the only one…
Is it because I wasn’t by your side?
As expected…
“As expected, in your heart, I’m not as important as they are…”
“Listen carefully!”
“Eeeek!”
My butt was smacked hard, a fiery sensation spreading from the surface, the impact reaching my abdomen.
I clamped my legs together, feeling a strange sensation.
Ugh…
“If you keep not listening to me, I’ll push you down right now!”
Fine then…
“Okay…”
No, what am I saying!
Ugh… I feel like I want to agree to all his demands, no matter what he says.
I’ve already been molded into his shape.
“Listen carefully. Of course, you are not Keling. You are different, but it doesn’t mean I want you to disappear like this. I want you to stay by my side. Rather, I want you to exist with my body, in a brand new form. Not by depending on others, but as yourself.”
“As… myself?”
“Yes. Didn’t you just give yourself a name? Jiuyuan… It’s a good name. You’ll be called Jiuyuan An from now on.”
“Jiuyuan An…”
My name.
“So, back to the previous question, my body will be used by you. So, do you want to be a woman or a man? I don’t mind either way…”
“You say you don’t mind, but you still hope for another beautiful girl in your harem. What a superficial man.”
Lou Ling looked at Juncheng with disdain, her face disgusted as she spat.
Zi’ai An also feigned mechanical speech,
“Juncheng, congratulations. You’ve finally become a true scumbag.”
“Don’t say that about me…”
Is that so… this is the bond between him and them…
That’s right, I’ve seen it countless times…
And this time, I, too, can finally build a bond with him like they did…
Then…
“I want to be a woman.”
“Is that so? Once you decide, there’s no turning back. There won’t be any messy stuff afterward.”
“Yes, I want to be your woman.”
Hearing my definitive reply, Juncheng scratched his head and said,
“Oh dear, this is… quite embarrassing.”
“Clearly overjoyed on the inside.”
“And sporting a silly grin.”
“You’re getting the best of both worlds and playing modest.”
The three of us, one sentence each, coordinated perfectly.
Yes, this is the feeling… hehe… This is the sense of belonging I’ve always wanted.
“Uh… Miss Shirley, please proceed.”
“Understood. Female gender. Then, what about appearance and body type?”
“I’ll decide that myself.”
Since I’m going to exist as myself, my appearance should be my ‘own’ appearance.
This is how I truly am.
Yes, Juncheng was right. I am not An Keling, nor am I his younger sister.
I will accompany you, continuing on this journey, in the appearance I had when I first accompanied you.
By means of a shadow, transferring my soul and consciousness into Juncheng’s body, in a sense, it’s like merging with Juncheng, hehe…
Opening my eyes once more, I had a new body.
In front of me were Juncheng and a groggy-looking An Keling who had just woken up.
“Ugh… Brother?”
“Yes, I’m here. You must be tired. Go to sleep. Everything will be alright when you wake up.”
“Mmm… Brother… Don’t leave us again…”
“I won’t. ‘Never’ again.”
I felt that his expression was very heavy, his eyes so deep that they were unfathomable.
An Keling only woke up briefly before falling into a deep sleep again.
Juncheng came to me and said with a smile,
“So, the most important segment is next… However, I’ll leave the decision to you. Whether to continue or not is up to you.”
“What? Although I guessed you might have a way to break this stalemate… I still don’t know what decision to make.”
“That’s true. Then let me explain… There should still be enough time…”
Juncheng pondered, while Lou Ling reminded him from the side.
“There’s about ten minutes left. If you speak quickly, it’s enough, but then she won’t have time to hesitate.”
“I don’t need time to hesitate. Tell me.”
“Okay… Then I’ll start from after you left. After you left, I was left at the endgame. I didn’t disappear… perhaps because I am also an Akashi Recorder.”
“What! You are too…!”
Juncheng is also an Akashi Recorder! …Come to think of it, it’s possible. It was indeed both of us who created souls at the same time, so it’s not strange that Juncheng was chosen.
“Yes, but I was probably just a backup. When you collapse from an overload of information, it would be me… Well, anyway, because of this, my consciousness remained in that place, the origin endgame. Lou Ling also came in.”
“Ling… a fragment of the world?”
“Yes. It’s probably because when you were filling the paradox world just now, you ‘mixed’ with this world, so Lou Ling also appeared there.”
“It was just now, wasn’t it? When I used your left hand, Juncheng, to activate Destiny Power and tried to destroy this world, she stopped me.”
Was it then?
I filled the world’s cracks with parts of myself, which resulted in the world being restored to its ‘primordial’ state.
“Something happened between us there… I won’t go into details here. In short, I found a way. Based on Ling, we recreated a new world, almost identical to this one.”
“You… copied a world?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
Copied a world?
Because there was a fragment of the world, they just completed a whole world?
That’s why I felt Lou Ling was intact just now… because she was already a separate world!
“We couldn’t meet because you were at the ‘end point of the world,’ while we were on the ‘world line’.”
That’s right, that’s why I had to wait…
There was no other way…
“If that’s the case… then simply ‘erasing the point’ should suffice.”
“Huh?”
Erasing… the point?
“Simply put, it’s connecting the ends of these two worlds, the current world and the world Ling created, reversing their positions and detaching from the entire system to form an independent loop.”
“Connecting… two worlds… together?”
“Yes. This way, there will be no so-called ‘point.’ It will be ‘all lines.’ But in doing so, the two worlds will merge and become a closed loop.”
A closed loop…
“I see. I understand what you mean. You want to create an infinitely looping world?”
“Yes, as expected of you, Zi’ai, my confidante.”
“But this will repeat forever.”
“Yes, not only will it repeat forever, but while different choices will indeed bring about changes, they will be reset ‘next time’… Hmm, in that case, a loop isn’t quite right. It should be a Möbius strip, shouldn’t it?”
A Möbius strip, an infinitely looping surface.
“But this way…”
“This is a ‘necrotic’ method.”
He knew, and that’s why he did it.
He understood the outcome, yet he still chose this method.
“This means none of us will have an ‘ending.’ There will never be an ‘END,’ even so…”
“I’m willing!”
Hearing my answer, Juncheng gave a wry smile.
“Really… don’t answer so quickly. It will truly repeat forever. Even if you get bored, hate me, or regret it, it will keep looping… it will never stop.”
“It’s okay… I don’t want to be separated from you again… It’s fine if we just keep endlessly reincarnating like this…”
“That’s really heartwarming…”
Please bear the full weight of this heavy emotion.
As long as I can be with you, nothing else matters…
“I have one more question. In the reincarnation, will others still remember?”
“Yes, their memories will be retained. First, me. Because Ling… the world is my woman. Uh, don’t kick me… Anyway, I won’t forget again, and I can’t die. Each time, I will wait for the same long period, waiting to meet you all.”
“Then Jiuyuan, she will also retain the memories of the reincarnation like me. Regardless of the form, the world needs truth. Of course, Miss Shirley too… I’m sorry for dragging you into this, but you will also reincarnate with us.”
“Hehehe, I originally thought I would have no regrets if I could accompany the Young Miss for the rest of her life… Is that so… I can continue? Thank you so much, Young Master Juncheng.”
“I’ve dragged you into this… You don’t need to thank me, Miss Shirley.”
Juncheng, you don’t understand. She’s the same as me. I found my belonging with you, and she found hers with Ji Lianbing.
That’s why we can calmly accept this reincarnation.
“What about Lan and Lianbing?”
“They will remember too. all the Fs will fall into this reincarnation, including Keling. However, it’s not precisely because of me, but because of Jiuyuan… Uh, she’s using my body right now, so they will all retain memories as a part of Jiuyuan, but…”
“I know. I can’t, right?”
“…Zi’ai…”
“It’s fine. I was just a ‘trace’ to begin with. Please take care of the real me.”
“If you push that me down, it’s a crime.”
“Ahem, I would never do something so perverse.”
“I hope you would.”
“Eh eh eh?”
Zi’ai An will not enter the reincarnation with us. Because she was created by me, a residual image of memories.
Having nothing, and being unconnected to anything, naturally, she cannot continue…
“I’m sorry…”
I apologized involuntarily.
Because of my selfish desire, I brought you here, only to be unable to take you away in the end.
“I have one last wish. When I saw you dancing with Ji Lianbing in the Mirror World, a small wish appeared in my heart…”
Black energy transformed into a black evening gown. She tucked her hair back.
She walked up to Juncheng, smiled, and extended her hand.
“May I have this dance?”
“Heh… It is my honor.”
In the brilliance of destruction, the two danced gracefully.
Lou Ling took my hand, her meaning clear. Soon… the end of this world will connect with the beginning of the next. The two worlds will become a closed Möbius strip, repeating infinitely.
But each time will be different, won’t it?
Thinking about it, it’s not a ‘loop’ but a ‘spiral.’
Everything will be alright…
We will all find happiness.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
“I did it willingly, because, I am your other half, aren’t I? Hehe…”
…
When the child is silent,
Life arises.
When the lord is silent,
Life perishes.
Cycling endlessly,
Starting anew repeatedly,
Everlasting life.
…
The End………..?
What a joke.
To be continued, forever.
