Welcome to Rewind World Game
Chapter 556 - 553 - The End of the Eighth World

Chapter 556: Chapter 553 - The End of the Eighth World

[World countdown completed—welcome back, player!]

...

[Detecting physical damage status...]

[Repair in progress...]

[Repair complete! (Note: Player’s mental state system is irreparable, please adjust on your own!)]

...

Su Ming’an opened his eyes, but his body didn’t straighten up.

His legs went weak, uncontrollably falling back, collapsing onto the bed behind him.

His gaze wandered on the ceiling of the personal space for a moment, supporting himself to sit up, beginning to dry heave beside the bed.

In Qiongdi, there wasn’t anything particularly unusual, but upon returning, the difference between the two worlds became crystal clear. His throat still tasted of volcanic ash and curse particles.

Now that he breathed the exceptionally fresh air, he realized just how extremely poor the environment of Qiongdi was, the contrast in air quality was too stark.

"Cough, cough cough..." It took him a long while of coughing to somewhat alleviate the strange blockage in his throat.

From the fifth day, his san value started to plummet steeply, and he even spent an entire day trapped in illusions; such damage was irreversible.

He was just stubbornly persevering through it, dragging himself on like Xiber.

In the later stages of the instance, his san value continued to hover at an extremely low 50 points.

The permanent damage this Eighth World caused him was even more severe than that of the Sixth World, some damages were irretrievable and accumulated over time.

If there are more san-dropping instances later on...

He lay on the bed, his thoughts slowly mushing to a pulp in his mind, his vision gradually dimming, and in silence, he closed his eyes.

...

When he woke up again, Su Ming’an felt an unprecedented level of exhaustion.

It was as if his whole body were bound with stones, his limbs somewhat disobedient, and his entire being sank into the mattress.

His hands clutched tightly at his chest, struggling to catch his breath.

...He almost thought he wouldn’t wake up.

...Would it be a stroke of luck if he really didn’t wake up?

He glanced at the time, January 16, 2022, 2:40 PM.

The duration of the Eighth World was from January 1st to January 15th, a full fifteen days. He had slept a whole fourteen hours. The feeling of fatigue had somewhat subsided, but he still felt some discomfort—obviously so.

It was as if there was a stone stuck in his heart, he felt a distinct sense of panic.

And the most obvious—was the color tone before his eyes.

The world in his sight had dimmed a lot.

It was as though the saturation had been turned down in his field of vision. What used to be an orange-colored wooden cabinet had turned into a grayish-yellow one, and the pure white walls had become a dulled gray. Even the usually steady ceiling lights seemed dim.

It was as if someone had draped a veil over his eyes, the colors of black, white, and gray began to invade the former spectrum of colors.

Instinctively, he looked to the upper left corner where his san value usually was, and after not seeing the conspicuous orange bar—like waking from a dream, he came to the realization that it was his rest time, there was no san value anymore.

...Is this a lingering mental impact from the Eighth World?

He remembered, Yamada Machiichi once said that during the period when he had severe depression, everything he saw was in black and white. The trees, the sky, and the roads, all shrouded in gray. When he saw the river in the morning, he even thought of throwing himself into it.

...But Su Ming’an never thought that he would have anything to do with such an illness.

This might just be some residual effects.

He supported himself on the wall, slowly standing up, staring at his personal space which had clearly become much grayer.

"Ding-a-ling—"

The prompt for video communication suddenly sounded.

He opened the communication interface and realized there was a bunch of missed calls. Since he had only added Noel, Lv Shu, and Lin Yin as friends, all the incoming calls were from them.

He chose to answer and saw Lv Shu’s face.

"Awake?" Lv Shu seemed to be sitting by his desk, drinking tea—whenever he was on a call, he always appeared to be appreciating tea.

Su Ming’an noticed more distinctly that in his eyes, the sunlight on the windowsill behind Lv Shu had also dimmed significantly.

"Su Ming’an, I want to help you a bit more." Lv Shu said, "You can bring your white cat and black cat to me, and over these three days, I’ll help you nurture them."

He decided to give up his precious rest time to help Su Ming’an with the cats.

"Alright," Su Ming’an said.

Lv Shu continued, "There’s still no definitive news about the Ninth World, it’s unknown what type it is—some speculate it might be a radiation apocalypse or cyberpunk since these two worlds have never appeared before. Others guess it might be a world divided by nationalities like the Third World, which for us in Dragon Country could possibly mean wuxia or xianxia. But no matter what, the Ninth World will definitely open in three days, so rest well."

"Mhm."

"...You seem very tired?" Lv Shu suddenly put down his teacup.

"Is it that obvious?" Su Ming’an said.

"Quite obvious." Lv Shu nodded.

"..." Su Ming’an was silent for a moment.

There was a slight flicker in his eyes.

"Lv Shu." He closed his eyes, "The psychological residue is getting worse. Everything I... see is becoming darker."

Upon hearing this, Lv Shu panicked as if it was more alarming than if he had the problem himself:

"What should we do? Should I try cultivating another pet for you to play with?"

Su Ming’an immediately remembered the ugly dog Lv Shu tried to give him at the end of the Sixth World.

That dog was downright hideous.

"No need," Su Ming’an decisively refused, "I’ll continue to rest."

"Then I’ll continue searching for some useful information on forums for you..." Lv Shu said.

After a few simple exchanges, Su Ming’an hung up the call.

He knew Lv Shu was anxious, but Lv Shu was not a psychiatrist, not a powerful mental drug; what Lv Shu could do was only what he had the ability to do to his utmost—like what he was best at, nurturing a pet.

Lv Shu would do what he could, without any grandiose frills.

So, upon hearing that something was wrong with Su Ming’an, Lv Shu’s first reaction was to cultivate a pet. Because that’s what he was proudest of and believed to be his most "valuable" contribution.

Su Ming’an lay down again.

Merely being anxious was of no use.

...Maybe it was just a temporary psychological issue?

...Maybe it would all be better after three days of rest?

He closed his eyes, and the unfinished end-of-day summary continued to ring in his ears.

"Ding dong!"

[Congratulations on a Perfect Pass!]

[World Review:

During character selection phase, chose Boss Rabbit as Cloning substitute.

Day One—Day Three: First entered Qiongdi, played the role of (Xiber Fantasy Creation), gained good feelings from Xiber, learned the basics of Qiongdi’s Curse.

Participated in "Surprise Q&A" Silver Star Replica, first encounter with (Fengchang), first encounter with (Fang Ping).

Signed a contract with Spacer·Kael Nashe, participated in "Cursed Ghost and Humans" instance.

Kael Nashe died. Participated in the "Black Lamb and the Night of Dawn" instance, killed Meiyatu and Po, obtained the [Black Lamb Authority], and learned the faith rules of Qiongdi.

The fourth day—The fifth day: Entered the First Tribe, met the Saintess impersonator Noel, discovered the underground passage laboratory and the letters from Zhao Weidong’s family. Led by the Raven, returned to five years ago to save (Feng Qiqi) and (Cici). Rescued Xiber in Tentacle Castle and gained [Energy].

The sixth day—The seventh day: Developed the "Lighthouse Church", gained [Faith] in the name of Bai Shen. Hallucinated due to low SAN values, and teammates Yamada Machiichi and Luna died. Sha La died in madness.

The eighth day: Participated in the succession ceremony of the First Tribe, performed the descent ceremony in the name of Bai Shen, established a Barrier, suppressed (Jiu Shen·Evil Aspect), and learned about "Epochal Change Theory". Obtained [Black Python Authority]. Fengchang died, achieving HE·Heart’s Blossom. Chang Sheng’s mother died.

The ninth day—The fourteenth day: Met (Little Love), participated in the "Ancient Castle Mystery" instance, and won.

The fifteenth day: Overturned the Black Wall. Started the final phase of "Divine Festival". Yuan Shuangshuang died.

Helped Xiber complete the ninety-ninth victory of Reincarnation as Bai Shen, completing the time loop. Achieved Perfect Pass·Reincarnation Line·TE Day of Blossoming.]

...

[Eighth World·Overall Evaluation: Completed Basic Quest, completed Ruler’s Quest, completed (Fengchang) character ending quest. Perfect pass 100% progress.]

[Evaluation Level: SSS (Perfect)! (World Ranking: 1/100 (Remaining players when the world ended)!) ]

[Points Earned: 150.]

[Additional Battle Points Earned: 20.]

...

[Detected entry into the final phase of the Reincarnation Line, calculating feedback rewards...]

[Eighth World additional skill (already returned to instance):

Black Lamb Authority (Shield): Spend 100 Emotion Value to establish a Shield.

Black Python Authority (Annihilation): Spend 100 Emotion Value to attach Annihilation.

Black Crow Authority (Curse): Spend 100 Emotion Value to cast a Curse.]

...

[Please choose the Authority you wish to keep? (The Authority will be adjusted according to the skill rules of the world game).]

...

Su Ming’an thought for a moment.

The Black Python Authority represented annihilation, but he didn’t lack killing methods for the time being, having Spatial Vibration was enough; annihilation was only needed in some suicidal and door-breaking scenes.

The Black Crow Authority represented curse, which was even worse to choose. Qiongdi had already been tormented by curses to such an extent; he couldn’t keep such a dangerous skill with him.

By this logic, the Black Lamb Authority, representing Barrier, would be the best choice. He now had no shortage of offensive methods, what he lacked was defense; always relying on the Defensive Barriers gifted by previous players was not a long-term solution.

"Black Lamb Authority," he said.

...

[You have chosen (Black Lamb Authority).]

[You obtained the active skill (Lamb Barrier)]

[(Lamb Barrier): Spend a certain amount of Emotion Value, a Barrier can be established at the position of your palm. The duration, size of the area, and sturdiness of the Barrier are affected by the Emotion Value input.]

...

Su Ming’an’s eyes lit up, he remembered that he still had a passive [Spatial Comprehension], learned from the Space Guide Kael Nashe, which allowed an additional perceptive learning ability for spatial constructs such as Barriers and Shields, perfectly matching this Lamb Barrier.

...

[Additional Easter Egg Points Earned: 5*6=30.]

[(Easter Egg·Best Coser Boss Rabbit): "Why is this Boss Rabbit so cheeky today!" (During the patrol of Qiongdi, no player exposed the true identity).]

[(Easter Egg·Blessing of Chang Sheng): "Hey, hehe, hehehe... Mom, playing games..." (Chang Sheng did not die within the fifteen days of war).]

[(Easter Egg·"Save me save me save me"): "Sky—Sky—Sky—" (Fell into an illusion and successfully woke up on his own).]

[(Easter Egg·Dark Demon King and Deity Believers): "What if they want to drag me to a god sacrifice?" "—Then I’ll kill a god." (Successfully saved the past Feng Qiqi and Cici).]

[Easter Egg·Beautiful New World]: "Su Ming’an, today is the happiest day of my life." "The ocean... it’s gone." (Successfully overthrew the Black Wall, witnessed the Apocalypse.)

[Easter Egg·Time Loop]: "Lighthouse Sect Hierarch, you truly are a deity, aren’t you?" (As Bai Shen descends upon Qiongdi.)

...

[*(Special Easter Egg·"Good Night"): "You’re so kind, good night." (Witnessed the death of Yuan Shuangshuang.)]

[*(Special Easter Egg·"Heart Flower"): "I wish... to indulge with my tribespeople in blissful ignorance." "I’m sorry... Cici." (Witnessed the death of Fengchang.)]

[Special Easter Egg rewards will be sent to the Player’s mailbox.]

...

[Starting live streaming, according to the total heat of the live room, you have earned Live Streaming Points: 150 Points]

[Total Points earned: 350 Points]

[Received Easter Egg Evaluation (Appreciation from the Organizers): Congratulations, Ruler.]

...

[Received Prop (Xiber’s Tracking Compass)]

[Xiber’s Tracking Compass (Red Level): Record the appearance of a player or NPC you have met in the current instance in the compass. During the duration of this instance, you will continuously receive the location of that player or NPC. Number of uses per instance (3/3).]

...

"Ding-dong—!"

With a clear sound, a brass-colored compass fell to the ground, which Su Ming’an picked up.

Touching the compass, he seemed to see through the slightly reflective copper surface the red-robed girl who had given it to him on the first day of the war.

[I will be with you until the end.]

[Xiber, I will let you... see the ocean and the blossoming flowers.]

...But in the end, she had not seen them.

Nevertheless, she will eventually journey through the long years, finding a flower of hope in the depths of despair.

He should congratulate her.

He put the compass away.

This thing was an excellent pursuit prop; once you met with a player or NPC, it would be nearly impossible for them to escape, as their exact location would be continuously known throughout the instance.

It would be very strategic for team positioning as well, at least there wouldn’t be a repeat of Mo Wen from the Seventh World who lost his way after entering the library.

...

"Ding-dong!"

[Reward distribution completed!]

[You have successfully advanced to Ruler·Fourth Rank.]

[Acquired new privilege: Learning rights in the world you can return to.]

[（Ruler·Junior World Constructor）: "Dear Ruler, you are now able to learn some extra techniques in the World Replicas you can return to."]

...

Su Ming’an’s gaze sharpened.

But he did not rush to examine the skill closely. Instead, he took out a piece of white paper.

He used a pen that came with his personal space to write three neat characters on the white paper.

...

[Thank-you letter.

Dear Su Rin...]