Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1657: Interlude: "The Archipelago Never Arrives

[Life is but a great dream.]

[The dreamer who drinks, cries at dawn; the dreamer who cries, hunts at dawn. While dreaming, one does not know it’s a dream. Upon awakening, one realizes it’s a grand dream, only the awakened can see the brilliance of the play, and also know the curtain must fall.]

[Holding on to appearances traps you in dream, upon awakening one realizes the dream is also real.]

...

Star rivers slowly swirl in the sky, golden rivers branch forward, reflecting sparkling fragments.

Noel Agnini steps into the golden river.

Before him is a slowly spinning gigantic film, stretching from the edge of sight to the horizon, scenes appear on its glossy multi-faceted surface, the lower half soaked in golden river water, raising endless waves, droplets like solid gold particles.

His footsteps move from the film’s beginning towards the distance, gold particles flow with his boot heels, as if crushed planets.

As he walks forward, the film’s scenes continuously change...

"The 819th time, the Priest Su Ming’an, dubbed ’World Game’s Number One Poison’, used the ’Destruction Suction’ Skill to kill the giant Insect Mother, winning the final victory of an instance..."

"The 2189th time, Su Ming’an, specializing in mechanical pets, controlled the mecha named ’Mo Bai’, alone rushed into the depths of the star sea, using a galaxy-shattering self-detonation destroyed the High-dimensional Tower of Mekhia that coveted Zhai XIng..."

"The 7181st time, Su Ming’an proved the rules of the World Game, beginning his journey to break away from the Game, humanity sails like wind toward the distance..."

"The 17991st time, residual memories of some players increased, during the final stage of the World Game, people like Atlanda start vaguely recalling past failed memories. After an exciting bet, Su Ming’an took the Organizers’ position..."

"The 31912th time, as the cycle count increased, Atlanda self-proclaimed as ’Prophet’, began posting various foreseeing threads in the forums. This announced the emergence of some ’Awakeners’ among players. Subsequently, Su Ming’an discovered this group, used them for leaving memories for future cycles, humanity launched a counterattack..."

"Afterwards, under Su Ming’an’s lead, the endings of human civilization became more diverse, expansive, profound."

"The 43818th time, Su Ming’an became a god, during resistance against Organizers, was cosmically polluted and mutated, became the final evil dragon slain by humanity..."

"The 76739th time, Su Ming’an led humanity to hide in the World Game’s deepest layer, vanished from the Organizers’ sight, awaiting them was an endless winter...or a spring that would never arrive."

"The 89921st time, under the lift of top players like Su Ming’an, humanity achieved group consciousness and dimensional ascension, however, it’s unclear whether this is a civilization of billions of lives, or a struggling collection of walking dead."

"The 99819th time, Zhai XIng suffered an unexpected high-dimensional attack, Zhai XIng destroyed...Su Ming’an drifting in the universe, alone gathering civilization’s remains, gradually fading in eternal solitude..."

"The 110181st time, the most ideal situation appeared - Full Perfect Clear succeeded, Su Ming’an wished to save Zhai XIng, without wish conflict, all returned home safely. Perhaps it’s a HAPPY ENDING...is it."

"[But, ’It’ opened the book, and the story began anew]."

"I start to doubt, perhaps there’s no true HE in the world. Because no matter what, it always starts over again."

"Only Su Ming’an...he’s always persisting, always saving, he never felt any cycle was meaningless, even if he starts over, he must live well each time. Truly a terrifyingly obstinate fellow, foolish yet clever, weak yet strong..."

"I once advised him, not to treat covered time as never happening, in the end, the boomerang hit me. But what he wants...is too much indeed."

"The 157192nd time, the most frightening situation appeared. Su Ming’an also began recalling past failed memories like Atlanda, he had the potential to become an ’Awakener’. His every survival or demise could fall like a comet, or remain eternal as the universe, he accessed too much preserved strength...his soul began to erode, with accumulated memories across cycles, each awakening his soul’s erosion worsened..."

"Based on preserved memories, he began continuously attempting, while protecting the world, seeking more truths."

"Greedy person...wanting both, how possible."

"The 212892nd time, endless cosmic rainbow light engulfed Zhai XIng..."

"The 283728th time, the entire Solar System became a phantom dream..."

"The 356281st time, a devastating AI crisis..."

"The 416271st time, Zhai XIng became a snow-covered eternal ice ball..."

"The 466172nd time, high-dimensional attack..."

"The 492181st time, Black Hole..."

"The 532819th time, cold wave..."

"The 585642nd time, planetary collision..."

"The 632901st time, Su Ming’an discovered the existence of ’Black Water Dream Realm’..."

"The 810291st time, Su Ming’an understood cosmic cycles, deceived ’their’ observation..."

"The 841182nd time, Su Ming’an delved into the universe’s depths, continually climbing upwards..."

"The 852719th time, Su Ming’an ascended as a powerful high-dimensional, found a method to leave information across cycles..."

"The 901728th time, Su Ming’an once again walked a farther path, inherited the World Game, became the eternal Lighthouse in the universe..."

"I cannot deny, as times increase, he’s constantly delving deeper. However, his soul’s erosion became extremely severe, even just recalling memories would result in instant collapse."

"..."

Noel closes his eyes.

Moments later, he opens them, swallowing unspoken words.

He walks forward, film after film flies past, each one’s end becomes endless void. No matter how beautiful, moving, or awe-inspiring past scenes were, spring blossoms, clouds cleared...in the end, all inevitably turn into darkness, silent void, as if the end of all time.

Glimpses shine on shadows, only a line representing conclusion gleams in the dark film, marking each civilization’s end.

[BE·Silent]

[BE·Winter]

[BE·Islands Unreached]

[BE·Death of the Swift]

[BE·Holy Fire’s Reversal]

[BE·Pride and Prejudice] 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

[BE·Epitaph of the Noble]

[NE·Goodnight My Friend]

[NE·Land of All Beings’ Wishes]

[NE·Farewell of the Wanderer]

[HE·After Returning Home]

[HE·Her Sunny Day]

[HE·Never-ending Solo Dance]

(999999+)

...

Film after film flies skyward, without any form or sound, merely for life to "see and understand" transformed into film’s form.

What exactly provided these "films" with "ending descriptions"?

A short line, based on what rules condensed?

What existence judged civilization’s fate this way?

The blond youth looks up, deep in a collapsing nebula, resplendent blue and purple condenses into countless mist clouds, his feet wade through the golden river, sees the depths of the "Cosmic Library", surging with endless causality.

The azure flowed in his eyes, as if countless ambitions were growing.

Suddenly, the light converged, and the black water gradually condensed into a human shape.

A head of star-cloud-like pink long hair fell, mixed with star-like deep blue, devoid of facial features, seemingly formed just for the "human shape." It looked over.

"I’m here." An androgynous voice came, and upon closer listening, it was the pink-haired man who had been relentlessly pursuing Su Ming’an. The identity was mysterious, strength formidable, and the reason for pursuit was unclear.

"Have you fought him before?" Noel said.

"I couldn’t kill him."

"Either you kill him, or he kills you, those are the only two outcomes." Noel said, "I don’t think you can win against him."

"You seemed to want me to kill him before." The pink-haired man said, "Why has your attitude taken a 180-degree turn, hoping I’ll be killed by him now?"

"Ah..." Without waiting for Noel’s response, the pink-haired man muttered to himself, "Because this time he has walked a path never before traveled, a result of his previous cycle’s accumulation and build-up. And you have already sold yourself to ’It,’ you cannot reach the end."

"Only he can face the Lord of Dreams..."

"You are a mad gambler, once you believe he can do it, you will stake everything..."

"You misunderstand." Noel shook his head, "I am not someone who easily gives trust, nor is he. In the end, he and I are isolated islands unable to cross the waters, he has his road to walk, I have my course to navigate."

The pink-haired man was silent for a moment and said, "What was the outcome of his last reincarnation?"

A filmstrip flew over, clutched in its hand.

——"[Eternal guiding Lighthouse in the Universe.]" Noel Agnini said.

The pink-haired man lowered its gaze, seeing on the filmstrip stardust swirling, whirlpools spinning, with the shadow of a lighthouse over a giant heart, sailing in the depths of the universe. The not-so-young captain raised the sails, with the eager first mate and navigator at his side.

"..." The pink-haired man lowered its smooth cheek, "This is probably the first time he has completely inherited the World Game’s Strength, with his Skill, he must have left many clues for the next, which is this time, only now he cannot yet remember, it’s not time to uncover... What about the time before last reincarnation?"

Another filmstrip flew over.

——[Death from the ocean].

An ending full of sacrificial spirit, a white Deity deceived everyone with a lie, disguising as a "wall" with a "mirror", deceiving the world as the final Evil Dragon.

In the depths of the filmstrip’s Shadow, a vast tree came crashing down, a slender figure holding a blade stood before the ruins, like a god-slaying Hero, but his shoulders had already collapsed, no longer able to support the proud spine.

This ending was vast and shocking, yet in the macro sense seemed like dust. Because it was merely a Death, a Deity died, unable to undergo Rebirth, on the cosmic scale it was nothing more than a fleeting moment.

"The time before the previous time?"

Another filmstrip flew over.

——[The last Holy Meal]

"Ah, this one..." The pink-haired man mumbled.

It was silent for a long time, without making any Evaluation.

Immediately after, countless filmstrips followed.

Those were the time before, the time before before... and countless already occurred endings.

[Utopia of you, him, and It]

[Sealed by me]

[Who is Su Ming’an?]

[The widow]

[Endless years]

[Unable to save]

[Why does the nightingale’s heart beat?]

[Fire Holder left in the night]

[Spare Zhai Xing, take me]

(999999+)

...

Countless "filmstrips" danced in the air, if people saw this scene, they might marvel... this is truly a dense and endless snowfall.

——Only the voice deep in the universe knows, this is proof of one person and a group of people fighting endlessly.

Even if they exhausted endless blood, sweat, and tears, endless years, every end leaves only a brief "filmstrip" as proof, with other traces washed away with the tides, leaving unremembered dust and regrets.

Noel silently watched these futures, murmuring:

"Among all the endings... the probability of Zhai XIng surviving and living for five hundred years... is only 2%."

"The probability of living to a thousand years... is only 0.2%."

"Even what seems like the happiest ’most people survive happily, Su Ming’an and his comrades return home’ ending... ultimately leads to a Void of Darkness."

"Even if everyone escapes into Yuanyuan’s Dream Realm, Human Civilization will gradually extinguish like a candle flame, without potential and future, merely parasites enjoying retirement under High Dimension protection, unable even to leave the Solar System."

"Even if Su Ming’an and I perish together, such civilization remains fragile, someone needs to return home, and a shadow of Darkness has already set its sights here."

"——To recover all that is lost, one must first reach all that is lost."

Noel gazed into the deep end.

Along this journey, there will be billions urging that person to turn back, persuade that person to accept mundane happiness, scold that person for not choosing the peace at hand... Can that person bear the names of "demon," "madman," "stubborn," "dictator," "why not turn back" ... unwavering, and proceed to the end?

Suddenly, the pink-haired man sensed something, swept through the ocean of filmstrips, looking in a certain direction: "The final battle is here, I must set off."

There lay a golden river of Time, the thickest and strongest, leading to the present reality.

Noel turned his head, pressing down the brim of his hat.

"[The Savior Su Ming’an needs to kill three members of the Rin Clan to obtain the Key, use the Key to break the seal of the Demon Mother Goddess, awaken the Demon Mother Goddess as a companion. Subsequently, he needs to draw the Holy Sword, defeat the Radiant Mother God, break the Radiant Mother God’s influence, and find the truth to halt Observation]..." Noel looked at the chaotically flying filmstrips,

"[And the pink-haired attacker, as always, standing in Su Ming’an’s way, trying every means to kill Su Ming’an, unaware of this pink-haired man’s purpose and identity.]"

"[Only the pink-haired man knows, the outcome is either he kills Su Ming’an, or Su Ming’an is killed by him. So no matter how people scold, beg, he will act mercilessly.]"

"[As for why, this remains an unsolved mystery...]"

The pink-haired man ignored Noel’s murmuring, took a few steps, and just before setting off, suddenly turned and said: "You won’t backstab me, will you? Cosmic renowned traitor."

"What kind of title is this?" Noel shrugged, "No one will interfere in your showdown. I can only observe now... observe the Development of events."

"If it fits your expectations, and you discover a probability to cease Observation, you will assist him. If it diverges from your expectations, suspecting ending in yet another cosmic Reincarnation, you will seek to stop him... You truly are a sufficiently ruthless guy, what do you take your True Friend as? A tool or a weapon? Have you truly regarded him as a companion? Those fans madly adoring you on the world forum will have their hearts broken." The pink-haired man said, "You are the coldest, most selfish, most ruthless, and most profit-driven guy I have ever seen."

Faced with the pink-haired man’s accusation, the fox remained silent, offering no defense for itself.

Endless filmstrips fluttered until the silence finally ended, the fox’s voice slowly emerged:

"But he already..."

...