"滴滴...嗒嗒..."

As the invisible ticking of a clock traversed the surface of the world, Yan Huan's consciousness flickered between light and dark in an instant.

Just a second passed, and the reality where Ye Shiyu still stood faded like an oil painting, finally transforming into another scene.

Before him was a cramped, sealed rental room.

There was no odor in the room, but the visible windows and door gaps were sealed with paper strips, making the space exceedingly dim.

Yan Huan blinked and, as he slightly moved, realized that his hand was still gripping a knife.

He seemed to be...

Guarding against something.

And in front of him was a phone placed on the table.

"..."

Yan Huan stared blankly at the narrow room, clearly feeling the difference from reality.

The only similarity was that the time had reached 4:45.

He had already entered the if line.

"Meow~"

On his shoulder, a black shadow gradually solidified, opening a pair of emerald-like feline eyes.

"Meow..."

"Meow, in this if line, you look a bit chubby meow!"

"..."

Yan Huan touched his chin, indeed feeling a bit of soft flesh.

Furthermore, he felt some stiff stubble, as if it hadn't been shaved for a while.

Which if line had he traveled to?

Yan Huan was a bit curious and picked up the phone.

Inside, a reflection of his haggard appearance with heavy dark circles and a face full of stubble appeared.

Hmm?

And soon after, the phone unlocked to reveal an array of messages from Hitomi Sakuragi.

"Honey, let me explain..."

"I didn't mean to spy on you..."

"I just wanted to see what you were doing... things have only gotten serious recently..."

"I was worried about you interacting with other girls, so..."

"Especially recently, with you and other girls again... I've been anxious at home..."

"Please reply, honey, I was wrong..."

"I won't spy on you anymore, really, I swear..."

"Honey, tell me, where are you?"

"Where are you?"

"Where are you?"

"..."

The last message was sent seven days ago.

Looking at the messages, Yan Huan quickly flipped the phone over, taking a deep breath.

He seemed to know which if line this was.

Fortunately, he was still in a safe place and only needed to stay there for a day.

"Phew..." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He took a deep breath and looked at Meow beside him.

"Okay, from now on, you must listen carefully to every word I say, meow!"

Meow wagged its tail and got straight to the point,

"First, remember well that when you directly 'replace' your own situation in any scene like this, it means you are in an if line, meow!"

Yan Huan nodded. Meow's statement indicated the importance was in the latter part,

"So if I travel to a real timeline, I won't replace anything, right?"

Meow nodded seriously and continued,

"Exactly, meow! Things in the if line are all illusions, becoming real only briefly because of your presence...

"But the real timeline is different. You've truly traveled to a time period that has actually occurred, encountering events and people that have already happened...

"Including yourself!"

Hearing this, Yan Huan rubbed his chin in thought, feeling a headache coming on.

He had watched many sci-fi movies, and when something like this occurred, famous dilemmas like the 'Grandmother Paradox' would arise.

"...It's best not to meet my past self anyway, since the goal this time is related to Bai Yi, right?"

To reduce complications, Yan Huan decided so.

Meow nodded and said,

"Very good, meow! You have already developed a basic 'time-travel safety awareness', meow!"

"Time-travel safety awareness..."

"Wait a moment, meow..."

As it said this, Meow stood on its hind legs and used its front paws to search its belly.

Soon after, like Doraemon, it pulled out a golden gear-shaped ring.

"Put this on, Yan Huan!"

"What is this thing?"

Taking the ring, Yan Huan asked.

And Meow resumed its four-legged stance and passionately explained to Yan Huan,

"This is a tool to observe world lines, meow. With it, you can not only choose the time period to travel to but also check the stability of the world line..."

Stability?

"Yan Huan, you must remember, meow, changing a world line is like replacing components in a pre-built set of blocks.

"Contrary to the general impression of the 'butterfly effect,' the logic of world line operation is an 'anti-butterfly effect.' It will go to great lengths to maintain system stability.

"Completely changing predetermined events is challenging, requiring repeated attempts at various times to correct them gradually.

"Meanwhile, the more things you change, the more resistance you will face from the world line.

"However, I don't know the exact form of the resistance and you'll have to study it on your own."

Meow looked solemnly at Yan Huan while gazing at the golden ring,

"If you act too hastily and change too many variables at one time, it can cause a system collapse... leading to the annihilation of the world line."

Annihilation?

"What would happen then?"

"It would be complete destruction, meow! That would be worse than having the modifier descend, meow!"

"..."

That's quite severe.

"But the problem is... I only have two Universal Keys. Using one to travel to the if line and another to travel to the past... without a permanent solution, how do I make changes?"