Welcome to Rewind World Game
Chapter 711 - 708: "Grandpa.

Chapter 711: Chapter 708: "Grandpa.

Kaius Tower Rest Period·City of Measurement

"Kaius Tower seeking team! Need a friend with healing skills! One spot left! Only five hours until we return to Kaius Tower, hurry up!"

"Kaius Tower Doomsday City accounting position open, looking for someone with accounting knowledge! Knowing how to make journal entries is fine! Someone will help check if debits and credits don’t balance, add my number OKO982+++"

"Our team has a position available for the Captain of the Fourth Logistics Team in the Freedom Faction’s Third Legion, urgently summoning a plant team responsible for fertile farmlands, rewards will be shared, PM for details..."

"I’m a Mentality Series Second Rank player, my teammate died in the Dawn War, urgently need a front-line teammate, need a t!"

"T? Where’s a t? Sister, look at me..."

"..."

The deserted mall was bustling with noise.

Almost no NPCs passed through this abandoned mall, which players have turned into a gathering place for activities such as forming impromptu teams, sharing clues, hiring mercenaries, and outsourcing tasks.

Looking around, the mall was crowded with players of all shapes and forms, resembling the crowded taverns in online games. Since Kaius Tower entered its rest period, all competitors returned to the City of Measurement in the 102nd year after the Catastrophe, with five hours of rest time, leading to a swarm of players gathering here.

Su Ming’an stepped into the mall, shrouded in a black cloak, taken aback by the scene before him.

—In the ten-story mall, players were climbing around like monkeys, some hung from the tops of elevators, dancing as if electrocuted. Others were scaling the railings. Some darted back and forth as if they had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as if they had cockroaches on their bodies. Players were seen crawling and wriggling in dark corners.

"—I want to be in love! I want to date an NPC miss— I can’t find a match!!" a male player shouted as he wildly danced in the air, propelled by a flying prop.

"—Looking for a teammate, looking for a teammate here! In need of a teammate!" cried out a female player hanging upside down from the chandelier on the 11th floor.

"—Anyone want to take a look at the battlefield? I have a guide here, one-hour tour of the Dawn War battlefield! Not responsible if you get blown up!" a child yelled out, holding a bullhorn.

Witnessing this spectacle, Su Ming’an almost thought he had walked into a mental hospital.

But on second thought—Players’ behavior has always been free-spirited, and it’s normal for them to climb around the mall to kill time while waiting for their team. He’d even heard of male players who liked to strut and strip in front of NPCs; this crowd seemed relatively normal by comparison.

Standing next to Su Ming’an, covered in a black cloak as well, was Noel. They stood still at the entrance of the mall, slightly out of place.

"In previous instances, there would also be these ’player gathering spots,’" Noel said. "Like ordinary players, sometimes a teammate might die midway, or some tasks might be beyond their capacity, so they would negotiate to form a new team. Some would also set up stalls here to sell props and equipment they didn’t need."

"I see..." said Su Ming’an.

"They’re too far removed from you, so you wouldn’t know," Noel remarked.

Looking at the scene resembling a monkey house, Su Ming’an suddenly felt that NPCs like Tretiya and Xiber who were madmen actually seemed quite normal, "Maybe we should keep our distance..."

The two were about to move forward when they were stopped by a man radiating blue light.

In the game system, players can choose whether to turn on the glow effects of their equipment. If activated, White Level equipment will emit a white light, Green Level will emit a green light, and so on. This man, clad in Blue Level equipment, was considered quite good among the players.

"First time here? I am Ruiz Wang, the intermediary from the Chariot Guild. Whatever you need, you can ask me," the man blocked their path. He identified that Su Ming’an and Noel looked unsure of their objectives and correctly assumed it was their first time here.

The Chariot Guild was not very famous, but Su Ming’an had heard of it.

Unlike the super large guilds such as the [Lighthouse Guild], the [New World Guild], and the [World Tree Guild], many guilds lack the capability and can only specialize in certain domains. For example, the guild in which Lin Yin is, only takes in players who are healers.

Among them, the [Chariot] guild, is aimed to "act as trading intermediaries for players in game instances". They are stationed at "player gathering spots" in various instances, helping people exchange quest rewards, assisting with team formations, selling clues, acting as information brokers, and so on.

"We’re just looking around," Noel said.

The astute king started to make a pitch, "The two of you, I have clues for two Blue Level side quests here, with clear locations and action routes, priced at 80 Points equivalent, want them?"

Noel shook his head.

"Then... I also have a hard-to-come-by captain position for the Third Squad of the Fourth Army of the Freedom Faction, interested?" the astute king quickly followed with a few steps closer.

"Huh?" Su Ming’an paused, "You can sell a captain’s position?"

"We have players that have infiltrated high positions within the Fourth Army with the power to nominate, and some leaders are also in good relations with them. As long as you aren’t too foolish, it won’t be a problem to be a captain. Just think, even though the Dawn War has ended, it’s only been 49 years since the Catastrophe, and who knows how many benefits you can reap by the time it reaches 72 years, interested?" the astute king pinched his fingers together.

Su Ming’an stopped in his tracks.

"Who is... selling these captain positions?" he asked in a calm voice.

"I can’t tell you that, but rest assured, we have an after-sales service, guaranteeing that you can take the position of captain. If you’re not interested in this, we also have lower-level positions, like team captain." The astute king spoke proudly, "Don’t worry, the surveillance system during the war was a mess, no one in the high ranks of Freedom Faction will notice."

"Oh," Su Ming’an said.

He was already recalling which faces held the high positions in the Fourth Army.

By the way, he’d have Su Rin completely restructure the surveillance system when he got back; what a mess it had become.

Seeing the two silent individuals, the astute king thought for a moment, then said, "If you’re still not interested, we also offer some additional services, like completing quests for you, or helping you get close to some NPCs, and so on."

"Get close to NPCs?" Noel suddenly asked, "Can you help me get close to Acto?"

"Which Acto?" the astute king didn’t react at first, but after a moment, he exclaimed, "Yasa Acto? Su Ming’an?"

"Right," Noel said.

"This... you’ve given me a tough problem. You need to tell me why you want to see him, so you don’t get me killed too," the astute king hesitated for a moment, but then nodded.

"I’m interested in him, I want to meet him," Noel said with a smile.

"Oh, that kind of reason, sure," the astute king seemed unsurprised.

"From the sound of it, I’m not the first one who wants to approach Acto?" Noel asked.

"Of course not, you’re about the 89th one. We’ve taken all 88 before you there, to meetings, military exercises, just passing by... all have met with Acto. Even though they’ve never spoken a word, it still counts as mission accomplished." The astute king said, "Decided? Once we’ve decided, we will sign a trade agreement, and I’ll take you to see him after five hours."

Su Ming’an: "...88 people?"

"And you, brother, what do you need?" the astute king looked at Su Ming’an, who had been silent all along.

"I’m going back to increase my personal guard to five hundred people," Su Ming’an said.

"Huh?" The king didn’t understand what he meant. "Buddy, you..."

Su Ming’an had already grabbed Noel and walked away quickly.

"These players are really something," Noel remarked. "I thought your defenses were solid enough, but to think, 88 people were able to sneak in to see you. What are these people even doing in the game instance?"

"Looking at giant pandas," Su Ming’an replied.

He had registered a "high reward for Lv Shu" notice on the bulletin board of the mall, offering a Purple Grade Equipment as the bounty. Purple Grade Equipment was still outrageously hard to come by at this stage, and as soon as the information was out, all players still monkeying around immediately gathered around.

Next, Su Ming’an went to the Core Area and issued a "citywide bounty for Lv Shu," working both NPCs and players together.

Before he could ascertain the relationship between Lin Guang and Lv Shu, he would still make every effort to search for Lv Shu.

After that, he and Noel took a trip to a factory in the Core Area and recorded the weapon and equipment assembly line technology on his personal terminal for use in the Kaius Tower.

During the five-hour break, he was busy the whole time until his return time approached; only then did he walk out of the factory, covered in dust.

Noel watched him in silence as he completed all this and suddenly asked, "Feeling a bit more relaxed?"

"What?" Su Ming’an said.

"That mall earlier was pretty interesting, right? You saw how happy those players were," Noel commented. "I sometimes go to those player gathering spots for fun, too. There’s often talent shows there, people playing guitar, dancing, chess competitions... Many couples met there, and some groups took root there, becoming friends who would never abandon each other... Actually, the World Game is rather fun. It’s not entirely a bad game; many people have found their joy. It’s just especially harsh on you, which has kept you from experiencing the fun."

"Fun..." Su Ming’an said.

"I’ve always wanted to tell you, games are meant to be played with a smile, yet I seldom see you smile," Noel said.

"Now the forums are filled with speculations and doubts about your authority, as well as the organizers of the Ninth World’s tests on you... Can you still play with a smile?" Su Ming’an asked.

Whenever Su Ming’an looked at the barrage now, the screen was plastered with topics about "Edward’s death news" and "Noel’s high-dimensional authority." He could imagine the kind of shock that awaited them when the Ninth World ended.

"Haha," Noel laughed briefly.

He looked up, "I don’t care."

He blinked, ignoring the crazily surging barrage in the upper right corner, and repeated, "I don’t care."

Su Ming’an followed Noel’s gaze upward.

The sky of the City of Measurement was greyish-white, not the blood-red that filled the heavens fifty years ago, where one could faintly see the twinkling stars. They stood between the skyscrapers of the Core Area, like two inconspicuous street lamps.

Crossing decades repeatedly, Su Ming’an always felt as if he were still in a dream, even looking at the sky seemed unreal.

"Whoosh—"

The countdown hit zero, and the glorious white light of Caius gradually enveloped them.

"The most important thing for a person is to learn when to hold on and when to let go. If you find you can’t keep everything, better to learn to make decisive choices," Noel said, looking up at the sky:

"You’re not a god, Su Ming’an. What’s most important is to make yourself happy. You might try to enjoy the happiness of an ordinary player..."

...

[Caius Tower·Catastrophe 59 years]

Su Ming’an opened his eyes to pitch darkness; he felt around him, encountering the hard texture of metal.

Glancing at his wristwatch, only ten years had passed, which was a relief.

He heard some voices.

"—I hope you can hand over some of the survival resources, like fur, straw, cotton cloth. Or provide us directly with ’Source’ to produce on our own."

"Impossible, the Dawn System needs the Source."

"—Is that system really more important than living people? They are all our brothers! Would you watch them freeze to death? [One and a Half Dimensions] has already been invaded to such an extent, we cannot fall back any further! Saving those who are still alive is what’s most important!"

Su Ming’an hadn’t yet determined his own location when he heard voices arguing above, as if hundreds of people were facing off on the surface.

He stretched out his hand and pushed at his surroundings. Sure enough, he was inside an underground hibernation capsule. Each time he returned to the City of Measurement, his original body would die, and a new version of himself would emerge from some underground hibernation capsule.

He cut through the hibernation capsule, continuing to listen to the argument above.

"—Yasa Acto has been dead for ten years! He’s been dead for ten years!! No one else can activate the Dawn System to take us to lower dimensions! Are humans supposed to keep retreating until there’s nowhere left? "

"I won’t allow you to insult the City Lord! He’s not dead, he will come back and lead us to survive. He promised us ten years ago."

"—Hah, hahaha... What a joke, that’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard! You’ve used this reasoning to hoodwink the residents for ten years, always saying he’ll return. Can he pop out of the ground now? Even if he’s not dead, he’s just a deserter, abandoning all responsibilities to live his ordinary life! He’s a big liar! If you’re so sure, then let him pop out of the ground now, if he does, I’ll call him grandpa!"

"Boom—!"

The red dirt sprayed, and metal fragments exploded outwards. The hundreds of people who were confronting each other all looked up in unison, their hearts skipping a beat.

In the center of their field of view, a man in a white coat emerged from the ground, snow falling upon his jet-black hair, his pure gray eyes standing out conspicuously.

His statue stood tall at the center of Doomsday City, carved by the new Deputy City Lord’s own hands. His image represented the rise and freedom of human ranks, and for ten years, his name had been sung reverently.

No one had imagined that this day, he would suddenly burst from the ground like a groundhog.

Su Ming’an turned his head to glance at the leader of the battle group, Sen Kylstia. Among these people, he saw many familiar faces – there was Xi, Cheng Luohe, and even the owner of the black-robed tea house.

Finally, he turned to the person on the other side who had claimed he would call him grandpa.

"Yo, a familiar face," Su Ming’an said. "Go ahead, call me."

...

...

[TE1·"Pioneer Immortality, Eternal Dawn" Perfect Completion Progress: 99%]