CHAPTER 1025: CHAPTER 1022: "——KEEP WINNING.

After walking out of the church, Chao Yan’s legs kept trembling. She clutched her long skirt, trying not to turn back. She was afraid she couldn’t resist looking back at Su Ming’an. Even though they were still "strangers" at this point.

Control yourself, control yourself... Chao Yan.

Right now in his eyes, you’re just a suspicious stranger.

"Alright, alright, the next step..." she breathed lightly.

The blue moonlight draped over her long skirt.

She stumbled forward, crushing the moonlight underfoot.

...

[Chao Yan’s Notes:]

[Game Days: Fifth day, early morning.]

[Inner Notes: Su Ming’an has basically understood this world, and the preparations are complete. Next, I can inform him of the "Little Su Rebound" information so that he can use his own "Little Su Rebound" to deeply explore this world.]

[The best way is to kill him once directly, letting him trigger the "Little Su Rebound".]

[However, this step is the most difficult...]

...

This cycle of Su Ming’an was too smooth in the early stages.

Chao Yan had been waiting for him to die once so that he would know he has "Little Su Rebound", but by the fifth day, he hadn’t died yet. Helplessly, she had to take action herself.

In the previous nine cycles, she had been his enemy, was very familiar with his skills and combat methods. Although he is strong, if she understands him well enough, she may succeed in the assassination.

"First... need to strike while he’s asleep." Chao Yan held a pencil, jotting down in her notebook: "I happen to have Immortal’s Talisman - Dormancy, which can let him die in his sleep. However, if he is not asleep... I must first avoid his spatial vibration. Then, when he performs judgment, I won’t be able to dodge, so I must simultaneously trap him in control the moment he performs judgment... Only then can I survive..."

She gazed at the moonlight outside the window.

Then she slowly approached the door, taking out the Immortal’s Talisman - Dormancy.

...

["You are affected by (Immortal’s Talisman - Dormancy) command, unable to move!"]

[Su Ming’an couldn’t see the face of the enemy until his chest was pierced.]

...

Chao Yan’s assassination succeeded, Su Ming’an indeed died once, but after rebounding, he quickly responded.

[After rebounding, Su Ming’an heard footsteps at the door, followed by the sound of the key turning; the assassin had a key.]

[Su Ming’an immediately threw a spatial vibration towards it. In an instant, the assassin seemed to have foreseen everything, stepping onto the top of a kerosene lamp, finding the thinnest point of the spatial vibration just right, and swiftly leaping towards him. At the moment he performed judgment, the assassin’s talisman transformed into a gale, attacking.]

[——The assassin seemed to know him very well.]

...

Chao Yan stumbled as she fled, her arms full of blood marks from spatial vibrations. Even with her abundant experience, she was nearly torn apart by this violent attack.

Once she completely shook off Su Ming’an, she knelt in the bright moonlight, blood pooling beneath her.

...

[Chao Yan’s Notes:]

[Game Days: Fifth day, morning.]

[Inner Notes: The assassination failed, he wasn’t in a dream patrol, but rather completely awake, as if specifically waiting for me—how could that be? At this point in time, how is it possible he wasn’t in a dream patrol? It seemed like... he had foreseen it.]

[What’s going on? What’s going on? What’s going on? Based on his usual actions, he would definitely be asleep! This is the only thing I didn’t anticipate. It’s as if... he already knew he would be assassinated by me.]

[Just at that moment, he seemed to transition from an "npc" in my eyes to a "player"—because he performed completely unexpected actions, deviating from his same old routine. What made him take a completely opposite action?]

[...Temporarily give up the assassination.]

[He’s going to start investigating the Ark Project, today I’ll give him a few candies.]

...

All plans began to deviate from the fifth day.

For the first time, Chao Yan felt—the situation was spiraling out of control.

After Grandma Lin died, Su Ming’an and Wang Mingming, Han Han, Shang Qi strolled along the riverside. According to past cycles, Su Ming’an would return to Dao Ya City after the walk.

However—Chao Yan hadn’t anticipated at all.

This cycle, a deity was blocking the cross-river bridge, directly inviting Su Ming’an to its home. Just like the Demon King blocking the newbie village entrance.

On the bridge, the deity’s white hair blew in the wind, flashing a meaningful smile to the camera beside, as if mocking her.

"How could this happen... The deity actually acted so directly..." Chao Yan stared at the scene on television, cold sweat running down her back. She never expected the deity would snatch him halfway; she hadn’t boosted enough favorability with Su Ming’an yet. In this situation, he would likely agree to become an angel for the deity under various coercion and temptation. Then, the deity would implant a control mark during the angel ceremony.

Despite the previous nine cycles, the deity had never been so aggressive. This time, it seemed very eager as well.

Fortunately, Chao Yan had given him a candy in advance, otherwise this cycle would have been completely ruined.

"Su Ming’an. You... must... choose me..." Chao Yan clasped her hands in prayer towards the air.

...

[After viewing the Fire Transmitter portraits, the deity proceeded with the angel ceremony with Su Ming’an. Watching the tentacles gradually turn ominously blood red, Su Ming’an felt a crisis.]

[At this moment, the three items on his body began to glow.]

[Chao Yan’s candy.]

[Li Mingyue’s cross necklace.]

[Xiao Ying’s peach blossom cufflinks.]

...

Chao Yan did not know whether Su Ming’an would choose her. Among the three, it was very clear who he trusted the most.

"You’ll probably choose Li Mingyue." Chao Yan gazed at the moonlight outside the window, her pupils devoid of any hope. Whether judging from this encounter or his usual actions, he would definitely choose the Li Mingyue he trusted most.

Yet she... This time she was merely a bothersome riddler who couldn’t speak clearly. How could he choose her?

If he chose her, she could take him directly to the world’s edge, removing the control mark on him today... and there wouldn’t be... Su Wensheng’s assassination of Su Ming’an in the ocean afterwards. If he chose Xiao Ying, Xiao Ying would bring him to find her.

But he... would really only choose Li Mingyue—this is the worst choice.

Aside from learning about Li Mingyue’s "Immortal Talisman·New" and a rule book written with Li Mingyue’s life, Su Ming’an wouldn’t gain any other information.

At this moment, Chao Yan felt deep despair. Since the first cycle, a heavy sense of destiny had wrapped tightly around her, like spider threads dangling over her neck.

"You really resemble an npc... Su Ming’an."

"You could be a little more capricious, attempt actions you wouldn’t normally take..."

...

[Chao Yan’s Notes:]

[Game Days: The Seventh Day, early morning.]

[Inner Notes: He has been marked with a deity’s control mark, so I must defeat the tentacle monster by the sea to let him cross the world’s edge and remove the control mark.]

[This isn’t going to be easy, but there’s no other choice.]

[Because he didn’t choose me.]

[Su Ming’an, oh Su Ming’an, you’re truly... too difficult to strategize. Too close to you, you won’t value me. Too far from you, you won’t trust me.]

[If I also had a favorability display for you, what would my favorability be—amount to?]

...

Chao Yan stood at the beach, the waves brushing against her bare feet.

```

Strands of black hair rose with the wind as she, alone, walked toward the massive tentacled monster, once again looking up at the starry sky.

The starry sky remained beautiful, the stars exceptionally bright. The people of this cycle had been tracing history, making the sky increasingly splendid, and she could vaguely see the Shadow.

She walked alone toward the sea—the pitch-black sea under the night was the most lonely, vast, grand, and terrifying sight in the world. Yet, the girl walked toward it in thin clothes, barefoot, step by step.

No one accompanied her, no one helped her. She walked through these repeated ten days alone, facing someone always unfamiliar.

Until now—the other protagonist would never know how much she did for him in secret. He wouldn’t know—if there weren’t her in the shadows of the story, he would have shattered under the light long ago.

And she wouldn’t know—in his eyes, she was an unchanging behavior mode npc in his Death Rebound. Just like how after his rewind, she would still come to assassinate him.

Both of them constantly shuttled through the rewinds, regarding each other as "npc with fixed behavior patterns," reminding each other, missing each other, despairing with each other.

Lonesome to each other.

Flower and leaf never meet.

"When she opens at noon,"

she slowly recited a poem Su Ming’an had read to her more than five times.

"Hard as coral."

She raised her sword, her hair dyed the color of flames, her whole body starting to burn like a fierce fire.

Liquid began to flow out from her entire body, as burning brought pain and heat. Her head full of flaming red hair floated behind her, flames like the feathers of a bird, flaunting behind her.

It hurts so much.

...but no one cares.

No one cared about a girl at the edge of the world. She did not possess any powerful ability, nor did she have a particularly strong faith. She could only defeat the tentacled monster by life burning, to save the other protagonist from his plight. No one knew her name, no one knew her sacrifices.

In this vast, long, despairing tragedy film—the screen never displayed the heroine’s story. The perspective always focused on the persistent male protagonist, and all the audience never saw what the heroine did in the shadows.

She could no longer remember how many times she had burned her life.

In the long journey, through repeated cycles, over and over again... she couldn’t remember anymore.

Sometimes it was to escape a predicament, sometimes to save him, sometimes to push the plot forward—

"The sun approaches the glass,"

Every time it would hurt a lot.

Her brain felt like it was being burned, her retinas seemed to turn into flames, and those pretty, colorful tones turned into dark gray and black. Her nostrils filled with gas that nearly scalded her; her lips developed blisters, and her throat emitted the sound of boiling water.

Yet this pain, made her smile.

She wasn’t not afraid of pain, just... mocking her own fate— what was she fighting against? Using a human body to defy a god who wields Rewind Authority? Or as a "Player," defying the supreme High Dimensional beings?

How proud—how conceited—must she be to always keep going like a moth to a flame?

Her head of red hair fluttered, like the feathers of a bird in the flames, but her eyes still shone brightly.

"...so that she may shine."

"Zzz—!"

The next moment, a brilliant flash erupted from her body.

Like a sharp Chang Feng—like a phoenix made of flames—like a fiery red arrow of red lotus—rushing toward the enormous tentacle monster that obscured the sun and sky.

The wind roaring in the decayed forest couldn’t reach. The swallows spreading their wings in the waves, just as her sword.

"Swish—swish—swish!"

Today is the seventh day of the tenth cycle, Su Ming’an’s progress this cycle is slow, he hasn’t started collecting Faith yet—she knows well, it’s unlikely she could defeat the tentacled monster. But if she doesn’t fight, it would be too late to save him.

After the struggle—

She still finds herself all alone.

"Su Ming’an..."

The girl’s voice disappeared into the fierce flames, burning into charred ashes.

She seemed to smile, or maybe shed tears no one could see.

...

In the afternoon, Su Ming’an stood in front of the stained glass window, reciting, when suddenly, he saw flames ignite in the sky, lasting nearly an hour before dimming away.

The setting sun lowered, the flames in the sky seemed to have lessened. In the church, Su Ming’an looked at the distant fire, always feeling as if something important had happened.

He felt the candy in his pocket heating slightly, and upon taking it out, the lemon candy was already shattered. He unwrapped it, put the broken pieces in his mouth—Chao Yan’s candy was very sweet, he wondered what she was doing now.

...

—What is Chao Yan doing.

—She is burning her life for you.

...

Su Ming’an.

You will not remember me.

You will not choose me.

Therefore, I need to bear this bitter fruit for you.

You are not wrong, you have not let me down—because I want you to win, I only want you to win against that deity.

If like a burning moth I perish in flames—

At least, perhaps you might discover, in a quest to keep the npc Chao Yan from dying, that Little Su rewinds, saving me. If you really view me as a stranger, never saving me, then see you in the eleventh cycle.

Wait for me at the end of the Time—Protagonist.

However, maybe I am strong, maybe I can really succeed in defeating the tentacled monster—then, please seize this opportunity, I beg you...

I’m begging you,

—Please win.

...

In a coma, Su Ming’an heard two voices.

"—At three in the morning, I received the news of Chao Yan’s death."

"—Yes. Your resistance this time has failed."

...

The voice—like an unfinished, scorching, painful wind. Like the girl’s final painful, desperate, silent breath.

Everyone was trying their best to guide him, only hoping he could...win.

Destiny formed a repeating web, and he was the burning butterfly within it.

"Crash—"

Candy melted, falling into the sea.

Together with the charred body of the girl, falling into the ocean, flaming hair turning to ash.

Her pupils burned into a whitish gray, unable to see any Dawn.

In the distance, the sunrise ascended.

The wild geese flew high, the new day as usual.

"Chao..."

"Yan."