Welcome to Rewind World Game
Chapter 440 - 437: 【Long Time No See】

Chapter 440: Chapter 437: 【Long Time No See】

"I represent the God of Reincarnation and Imperfection."

"I love humanity and thus, I love you."

"That key lies in front of that door."

"If you turn around,"

"please see me, hold me tight, believe in me."

"Time is fleeting, the years a mere moment."

"Dreamer, I have made time stand still for you."

"— ’Jiu Shen: Reincarnation Chronicles’"

...

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Several harsh coughs erupted.

Just after opening his eyes, Su Ming’an took a breath and inhaled a smell of dust.

The air carried an irritant, like inhaling volcanic ash, a gritty particulate feeling that burrowed straight into his throat.

"Cough, cough, cough..." he coughed violently, his hand searching along the hard bed frame, flipping over the thin blanket to access the system mirror.

It seemed that this was still a role-playing world; the appearance he had now was not his own but did bear some resemblance to him.

The person in the mirror, with black hair and eyes, had eyes reddened from the intense coughing, overall looking like a young man, seemingly no older than twenty-five.

He wiped the tears from his eyes caused by the coughing and noticed a name floating above his head.

On closer inspection, it was indeed the three characters for "Su Ming’an." Behind it was a parenthesis: (This name is only visible to players).

It seemed that even in a role-playing world, other players would still know who was who, preventing situations where players could deceive each other by impersonating NPCs.

The bullet comments were already on time, starting to anticipate the circumstances of this world:

"It looks like a Medieval backdrop."

"It’s very dark outside the window, and the environmental brightness isn’t too high. It seems like there is something black floating in the air... smog perhaps?"

"Su Ming’an seems to have possessed a poor lad? That’s rare. Before, he was either the famed Sage Master or the once savior, the God of Yun Shang City. I thought he was always going to follow that noble theme."

"Could it be a story of a fallen noble’s stunning reversal? I’m starting to look forward to it..."

"But this time, there won’t be a young lady proclaiming, ’In this world, there is no woman who loves you more than I do,’ nor someone calling him ’Rin.’ This time when he woke up, there was no one beside him... "

"And nobody will be calling out ’Captain’ to the live chat room either..."

"Hey, will you ever stop? Enough, enough!"

"..."

"Cough, cough! Cough, cough..."

Su Ming’an wiped his face.

He hadn’t expected that the moment he opened his eyes, he would be greeted by a bout of violent coughing that just wouldn’t stop, as if something was blocking his throat.

Seeing his condition getting worse, he immediately twisted open a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and rapidly gulped it down his throat. After moisturizing his throat, he felt much of the weird obstruction sensation in his throat had disappeared.

...Was it because he had breathed too hard when he opened his eyes?

He got up and followed the sound he had heard just before his eyes opened, the crisp sound of something hitting the ground.

Pushing the door open, he saw a rusted key lying on the stone steps in front of him.

It must have been this key that had made the falling sound just now, though it was unclear who had thrown it there.

He didn’t rush to pick up the key but instead looked up first, taking in the environment outside the door.

The first thing that caught his eye was a vivid red figure.

It was a figure cloaked in a red robe, currently standing outside the door, with his back to him.

The sky facing the figure in the red robe was not the normal night sky but exuded a strong sense of ill omen.

It was as if black ink was smeared across the sky, altering the originally silent colors into uneven shades, resembling some twisted creature struggling and tumbling in the air, making one feel somewhat nauseous.

Below the sky lay craggy, black fluid substances, piled up like small hills around, resembling congealed sludge completely enveloping this piece of land. Even the nearby trees were entwined with dark black mist.

This was a zone akin to a forest. However, those trees were all pitch black, as if tainted with filth, even their leaves were dead black, like cicada shells devoid of any sign of life.

The house where Su Ming’an was, was a cabin in the mountains. The black mud, like a large pile of garbage, nearly surrounded the cabin.

It was now past midnight, deep into the night, and the lighting was very poor, only a dark moon hung in the sky, casting a weak light, barely allowing him to make out the scene outside the cabin.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Su Ming’an took a breath and choked on the black particles in the air, starting to cough violently.

From the current situation, the environment of this world was definitely not good. Not to mention the eerie sludge covering the land, even the air quality was like being filled with haze, visible black haze at that.

...It was like a world that had been "polluted."

As he coughed, he walked out from the house, the wooden door making a creaking noise as if it was about to break from the push.

He lifted his eyelids, thick sludge filled his vision, and he took steps as if struggling through a world encircled by black mud.

In the pitch darkness, the person in a blood-red robe in front of him remained motionless.

The vast, dark sky stretched behind that person, and under the dense cloud-like night, that figure seemed slender and gaunt.

Yet, the color on that person was extremely vivid, like a fierce fire jumping in the darkness of night, stubbornly blooming the brightest of lights amidst the dark hues.

The person in the red robe simply stood there, the particles floating around unable to get close, like a flame that had dispersed the gloom, like a teetering blood-red flag.

—It was like he was silently struggling against this dark world all by himself.

I didn’t understand why.

That was merely an exceedingly insignificant figure.

But when Su Ming’an saw him standing under the rolling black night, he felt as if the other was struggling against the entire world.

It was like seeing an oil painting engraved in his mind, full of epic sensation, making one involuntarily hold one’s breath, not wanting to disrupt this artistic sensation.

That exceptionally bright red quickly became etched in his eyes, like a fierce fire burning at the bottom of his eyes.

As he approached the person in the red robe, Su Ming’an heard the familiar system start its prompt.

[Welcome, players, to the Eighth World!]

[World Name: Divine Festival]

[Basic Quest for All Players: Please, along with your "Guide," do everything in your power to survive until the last moment of this world!]

[Player’s Personal Advanced Quest: (determined by the role played by the player, currently being assigned...)]

[Perfect Pass: (will be activated when players survive to the "final stage")]

...

"Ding Dong!"

[Ruler’s Quest: Pose as NPC (Boss Rabbit), patrol the domain of this world, current progress: 1/100]

[Quest Reward: Advancement in "Ruler" status.]

[Quest Failure Penalty: Demotion of "Ruler" status to Second Rank.]

...

At that moment, Su Ming’an, through the split screen, observed that Shadow, disguised as Boss Rabbit, had already started wandering around the field. Shadow had an invisible barrier around him that could help him fend off the black mist floating in the air, perhaps a unique understanding of spatial abilities by Shadow.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Su Ming’an watched for a while and then quickly withdrew his attention. He kept coughing, and felt his temples throbbing intensely, seemingly having an ominous premonition.

He chugged mineral water and massaged his temples, stepping down the last stone step, planning to greet this "Guide" standing in front of his home. If nothing unexpected happened, this person should be the Guide he was matched with, although he had no idea which ability the other possessed.

He was prepared that, if the other’s ability wasn’t too bad, he wouldn’t reset and choose again. After all, reselecting was no different from blind choosing; he might even end up with a worse Guide. The drawbacks of repeated deaths weren’t easily balanced by the gains.

He coughed violently, and after a few coughs, he felt as if he had finally expelled that gritty feeling.

Learning from this mishap, he decided that in this world, he would avoid deep breaths or rapid breathing to prevent himself from choking to death.

"Are you my Guide...?" he asked, walking towards the person in the red robe.

However, as he took steps, he suddenly felt something was wrong with his vision.

In his usual field of vision, there were two bars on the left, one green and one blue— the green bar represented Health Points, and the blue bar represented Mana Points. But now, he saw a slowly emerging bright orange bar located beneath the other two.

"..." Su Ming’an furrowed his brows, his mood which had been somewhat relaxed a moment ago was now completely stirred up.

... How is it you again.

He really wanted to erase this suddenly emerged disgusting orange bar.

Meanwhile, the system voice continued to broadcast relentlessly in his ear:

[The Eighth World includes a Sanity Value ("Sanity Value") setting.]

[Please note: The sanity value is closely related to the player’s mental state. Being too high or too low will trigger different events affecting the final outcome of this world’s storyline!]

[Please monitor changes in your sanity value at all times.]

...

[Sanity Value: 90/100]

...

Perhaps because Su Ming’an had rested well in the past few days, his sanity value was at a robust 90 points, much better than when he started in the Sixth World.

But... upon seeing this value, his mood was already horribly soured. No matter how high the orange bar’s value was now, it looked very annoying.

However, the emergence of the sanity value actually made sense. After all, compared to previous worlds, the environment of this world seemed much darker, as if born from sludge, with the tree branches on either side being pitch black, reminiscent of a horror fairy tale.

Dark shadows clawed at the sky, as if alive clouds were struggling in the shadows. Su Ming’an had only walked a few steps when he sensed some strange whispers by his ear.

"...West..."

"...Attention..."

"...Bo’er and Jiu Shen..."

The whispering sound was unclear, even making one wonder whether it was the wind passing by the ear. In this unusually quiet and oppressive night, even the wind seemed to roar.

Merely listening intently, Su Ming’an’s sanity value quickly dropped by 3 points, and he immediately withdrew his attention.

Hearing the noise of Su Ming’an walking closer, the figure in the red robe slightly turned his head, revealing a strand of floating silver hair.

The bright red robe gently swayed with the person’s movement, like a flower blooming in the sludge.

"Are you awake?" the man in the red robe said softly, his voice hoarse.

"Are you my Guide?" Su Ming’an repeated.

"Yes, I am your ’Guide,’ adventurer," the man in the red robe paused momentarily after speaking, as if in thought.

The night breeze gently lifted the red robe, from which a low whisper floated out.

"Strange." said the red-robed man, "I seem to have forgotten a lot of things..."

After saying this, the red-robed man fell silent, seemingly lost in a prolonged silence.

After waiting for a moment, Su Ming’an, seeing that the red-robed man kept silent, directly asked:

"—So, my Guide, what ability do you possess?"

He wanted to know what ability this red-robed figure he was matched with possessed. It was crucial for his smooth progression in the Eighth World.

Hearing his question, the red-robed person let out a faint sigh.

The sigh was so faint, like a feather floating in the night wind.

"Guides possess various abilities... Puppets, necromancy, insight, mirroring, dueling, explosion... I know the other ninety-nine Guides, they... most of them are omnipotent, nearly invincible in their domains... Unfortunately, I am the least noticeable among them. Being assigned to me, I can only say... I’m sorry, adventurer, your chances of success are not great," the red-robed person said.

Su Ming’an slightly frowned.

According to the rules, he had learned that "Guides" seemed to have a very important position in the battles of the Eighth World. Not only did the Guides lead players, they also helped players fight in critical moments and, when affection was sufficient, they would even teach their abilities to the players.

If his Guide lacked potential, if it couldn’t come into its powers, then he needed to change his strategy. Even, he could choose to reset and blindly select another Guide, at least there was a high probability that he wouldn’t pick the least capable Guide again.

"Then, who are you?" Su Ming’an still asked, needing to at least understand the person’s name and abilities.

The figure shrouded in the red robe finally turned around.

White hair fluttered in front of the red-robed person’s forehead, showcasing a pair of exceptionally bright eyes.

Upon seeing his appearance, the red-robed figure seemed to freeze for a moment, and it was quite a while before he spoke.

The night wind blew over that bright crimson hood, and the eyes that showed through seemed somewhat reddened as if accumulating a sudden sheen of tears.

"Um..." As Su Ming’an was about to speak, the red-robed figure, as if awakened, shuddered and quickly spoke.

"I am named Xiber. My ability is utterly useless in combat, nor can I achieve victory. If you insist on accompanying me, what awaits you is only death," the red-robed person wiped the corner of his eye, removing the faint trace of tears, "Sorry, it might be just the wind."

"It’s alright," said Su Ming’an. "At least let me know what your ability is first."

He knew he had been matched with a weaker player and probably needed a replacement, but before making a new choice, he at least needed to clearly understand the other’s situation.

At this time, a somewhat eerie shadow firmly covered the red-robed man’s face, securely hiding his actual expression, leaving Su Ming’an unable to discern his true appearance, seeing only a pair of pale eyes.

"My ability will only disappoint you."

Xiber said softly:

"It is just... devoid of any combat power... "

It seemed difficult for him to admit how weak his ability was, and Xiber’s voice paused for a long while before he slowly continued:

"... merely ’prophecy’."

Upon hearing this word, Su Ming’an, who had been ready to reset and start over, was slightly startled.

What had he just heard?

—Prophecy?

"Give up on victory, hide, adventurer. I’m sorry, I’m too weak. I cannot defeat anyone, nor do I possess any direct combat abilities... What awaits us in the end is only death..."

The red-robed figure turned around again, their overly pale hands exposed amidst the black mist, emitting a faint sizzling sound.

The overly large red robe gently floated in the night wind, like a fiercely burning flame.

... The red-robed figure seemed to return to that silent contemplation of the night.

Like a human holding up a torch, declaring a warfire against the gods in the sky.

Yet, the silence at this moment felt even more agonizing.

Gazing at the lonely standing prophet, Su Ming’an stepped forward and placed a hand on the other’s shoulder.

He encircled him with a pressure that was neither too light nor too heavy, in a posture that was neither offensive nor distant, as if offering a friendly encouragement.

... O prophet.

His eyes slightly narrowed.

... This is a perfect ability pairing.

"But I need you," he approached the bright flash of red robe, whispering softly, dismissing his previous thought of switching partners, his tone almost tender, "Let’s achieve victory together, shall we?"

The red-robed figure’s voice trembled: "Adventurer, I must remind you, I am the weakest of all, I am ranked 100th among the guides..."

"It doesn’t matter." Su Ming’an spread his arms as if standing behind an about-to-be-extinguished torch, taking over that tiny flame.

In the silent black night, he leaned down as if embracing a small fire.

"... Because I am ranked number 1 among the adventurers."

He said:

"... Let’s achieve victory together."

...

...

[Final Divine Festival: 15 days remaining]

[Remaining survivors: 100 people]

...

[No.1 Adventurer·Current Sanity Value: 87 points]

[No.1 Adventurer·Current Guide: Xiber (Prophet·Ranked 100th among guides)]