ca-book Chapter 1705: Finale · Crossing the Shore Arc [48] ·
Chapter 1705: Finale · Crossing the Shore Arc [48] ·
"Click."Su Ming’an pressed his earpiece.
His eyes were dim, a fierce gleam flashed in his pupils. A violent sensation crashed into his heart.
"Boom—!"
A burning beam fell, landing by his foot, the surging wave of fire roaring by his ears, the scorching air penetrated his lungs.
...
...Lin Yi.
She is not a player in this cycle.
...
——She is a phantom from a certain universe cycle.
She was once a comrade who truly existed in a timeline now forgotten by him.
In certain cycles, as a powerful player, Lin Yi had visited the "Source Point" more than once like many other players, leaving traces here that formed her phantom presence.
But in this cycle, Lin Yi unexpectedly sacrificed herself to save others in the seventh instance and couldn’t be resurrected, ending her glorious journey prematurely. So... she, who should have known Su Ming’an and even become friends, is now known by no one.
At the beginning, when she saw Su Ming’an the first moment behind the cabinet on the first floor, Lin Yi helped him like a skilled teammate, precisely because she knew him. She shared her information and concussion bombs, searching and gathering intel along the way. Upon entering the basement, she actively distracted the Horror Grandma, allowing Su Ming’an to safely unlock. In the end, she even handed the gun to Su Ming’an.
In the cycle where she existed, they might have been comrades fighting side by side, or travelers whose paths briefly crossed. In that now obliterated timeline, to Lin Yi, Su Ming’an was a real, flesh-and-blood person.
But to him—to the Su Ming’an who only possesses clear memories of "this one cycle", she is a complete stranger. She is merely a mysterious girl, silently extending a helping hand and then disappearing silently in the desperate sea of flames.
"...But I forgot." Su Ming’an murmured.
Through countless universe cycles, after the third level, he had made a clear realization.
——He does not consider the "self" from those past cycles to be him, only acknowledging the self in the current cycle. That is, only acknowledging the part of the self with clear memories.
Rationally, this can’t be called correct; after all, the past self is also the self, just spanning a longer time. But every decision was made by the self, and every experience was undergone by the self, not anyone else.
Each cycle is a complete lifetime, inevitably filled with extreme love and desire, painful losses, involuntary betrayals, bloodstained sins... and countless individuals who once existed like Lin Yi. He must have walked through some extreme endings. Such as losing oneself to devour the world, becoming an Evil Dragon and being killed by humanity, perishing together with Noel...
Just imagining the vastness of forgetting akin to the Star Sea is enough to feel intense pain.
Even in this cycle alone, his shoulders are burdened heavily, hard to sustain.
For the ultimate victory with the highest odds, he must remind himself... to only focus on this cycle, recognizing only this self in the current cycle. Like Luowasha’s "Narrative Anchor Point," firmly pinning self-awareness in this cycle, now only acknowledging the life with clear memories, personal experiences, emotional resonance. Temporarily viewing the past countless cycles as a blurred background, lost historical records...
After all, a person is fundamentally composed of memories and experiences. All comrades, all juniors and seniors, all spectators, all friends, even himself only recognize him based on this cycle, he is just this self.
"Huff, huff..."
The roaring flames reflected in his eyes.
"Lin Yi!!" Su Ming’an shouted her name. He finally knew her name.
"Thunk—!" Wood fell with flames, Su Ming’an wrapped his hand with cloth, picking up a scorching steel pipe, its heat burning his hand red and swollen. He brandished the steel pipe, sweeping away wood and dust blocking his path.
According to the map in his mind, he stepped over the uneven floor, crawling toward the direction of the storeroom, coughing incessantly from the thick smoke, almost suffocating.
At the end of the corridor piled with rubble, he saw her.
A girl with multicolored hair clips sat slumped in a corner, her left leg pierced by a piece of wood, her right leg crushed by a slab, her skirt’s pink and blue patterned fabric stained crimson.
Her makeup was smudged by the heat, red, purple, blue, smearing her face in a dusty hue, faintly exposing a plain face beneath the heavy makeup, revealing no longer covered freckles. Blood dyed her complicated dress, her arm hung limply.
She seemed to have heard the commotion, slowly raised her head, eyes like stars embedded in a crimson gaze still clear, reflecting Su Ming’an’s disheveled figure.
Upon seeing him, her eyes suddenly brightened, like sparks rekindled in the ashes. Then, she bared her teeth, seemingly trying to smile.
[You finally called my name, previously you seemed so distant, I thought you were in a bad mood, didn’t dare to say anything harsh.（＾∀＾●）]
"Can you still walk?" Su Ming’an’s eyes dimmed upon seeing her, with both legs trapped, how could she move.
[I wasn’t planning to leave, since you’re here, I’ll give it a try, just give me a moment. (′▽`) ]
[02:09]
[02:08]
"Whoosh!"
Under Su Ming’an’s surprised gaze.
The girl pulled out a pack of pink hallucinogenic powder and stuffed it into her mouth, precisely Mingcheng’s research product from the wooden building.
"You’re eating that..."
[Mhm.] The girl quickly swallowed, [Otherwise, it would hurt.]
The next moment, she decisively picked up the blade strapped to her leg, and swung it!
The right leg pinned down was cut off at the knee, revealing incompletely cut ghastly white bones and shredded flesh.
[Help me, please.]
Su Ming’an immediately stepped forward to support her. Her left leg jerked hard, lunging forward!
"Whoosh...!"
The steel rod piercing her left leg fell out with her motion, and at the same time, a large amount of fresh blood splattered everywhere, leaving a gaping wound running through her leg.
She took a breath, unable to utter a word of pain, as Su Ming’an carried her and charged towards the third floor.
[So this is what it’s like to take medicine! Soft and floaty, comfortably like flying on a rainbow, it really doesn’t hurt anymore!] She struggled to lie on his back, [I can tell mom these details when I go back, the information can be completed now.]
[Horror Grandma is on the third floor, right? She’s definitely blocking the rooftop, we don’t need to lower our voices, why aren’t you talking?]
Su Ming’an said nothing.
Maybe it was to set a mental trap for him, maybe it was deliberately meant to shake him – Su Ming’an encountered her, Lin Yi, in the fifth game of the trial.
A phantom he had already forgotten.
She didn’t even realize she was a phantom. In her eyes, she hadn’t died in the seventh instance but had lived on, joining Su Ming’an in this Source Point Trial.
Since understanding the concept of the universe’s cycle... Su Ming’an knew that one day he would have to face this, he had to firmly hold onto his own understanding.
The fire blazed more fiercely, and Su Ming’an vaguely heard Si Nian’s cries, guiding his direction.
[01:54]
[01:53]
He took a searing breath. Thick smoke and heat surged into his lungs.
[By the way, what did you mean when you asked me ’which time’ just now?]
After two seconds of silence, Su Ming’an decided to tell her the truth.
As he broke through the flames, he briefly narrated all of it. Lin Yi had already died this time. She was a phantom left behind by her numerous visits here.
From Lin Yi’s perspective, she entered the "Source Point" and was participating in the second round of the game along with her companion Su Ming’an. However, from Su Ming’an’s perspective, she had already died in the seventh instance.
Even if he carried her to the rooftop... she still could not get out. She was a ghost trapped in the game, meant to shake Su Ming’an, and ultimately she would disappear.
Suddenly aware of the truth, the girl on his back remained silent.
"Boom——!"
The blazing fire caused the corridor’s pillars to collapse, the walls to fall, and Su Ming’an immediately twisted and grabbed the hemp rope. The stairs had burned to pieces, with only the hemp rope left by Si Nian hanging in the gap between the second and third floors.
"Climb the rope, I’ll push you up!" Su Ming’an shouted.
At this moment, he saw her short chestnut hair for the first time, her simple chestnut-colored short hair swaying in the firelight. The originally bright and dazzling blue twin tails had vanished.
[The wig was inconvenient, so I took it off.] The voice, silent for a few seconds, sounded lively again, as if she hadn’t heard the truth at all.
She raised her head high and grabbed onto the steel bar of the third floor. Even with Su Ming’an’s full support from beneath, she kept sliding down.
The severed limb was still dripping blood, a horrific sight to behold.
...
[01:33]
[01:32]
...
[01:24]
[01:23]
...
[No way!] After a few seconds of trying, Lin Yi realized she could not climb up; she didn’t have enough strength to pull herself up such a height, and her legs could hardly move.
She immediately let go of the rope, indicating for Su Ming’an to climb, she would push him up.
"If I go up there, you definitely can’t get up!" Su Ming’an grabbed the rope and said immediately.
[I’m not going up! I’ll help you!] She lifted him with strength.
She tilted her head back, using all her might to raise him high.
[I’m a ghost who can’t leave this game.]
[Yet you still need to get out!]
Fire danced fiercely as Su Ming’an exerted all his effort to climb the rope, but his college student’s weak physical strength made the action exhausting. The extreme heat and great physical exertion furthered his struggle, sweat dripped from his forehead as he inch by inch crawled upward...
"Clink."
Warm hands continued to support him.
One of the girl’s legs was only down to the thigh, with the stark white bleeding bone visible. Her other leg was braced against a slanted rebar, her only point of leverage. Sharp, rusted nails pierced her calf, blood pouring instantly, yet she kept straining, lifting him up.
She only had one leg left, and her only option was to impale herself onto the nail, using the rebar for leverage.
[Wrap the rope around your arm a few more times! Grip it with the inside of your knee! ... Upwards! Don’t stop!] Her calm inner voice transmitted.
The rough hemp rope tore Su Ming’an’s arm skin, the inside of his knee stinging painfully.
He gripped the hemp rope tight, his palms aching, climbing upwards.
Crimson flames soared, and it felt as if his vision filled with blood. Dust fell silently, and the building’s pillars collapsed.
...
[01:08]
[01:07]
...
Finally, after his palms blistered painfully, he panted and climbed up to the third floor. Such a simple action, once a leap would get him up there, but as an ordinary person, it was so difficult.
[Go! Don’t look back!] Her trembling inner voice came from behind.
Time was running out, he had to sprint with all his strength.
In front, three meters away, the Horror Grandma heard the noise, quickly looking over, spotting him, she grinned bloodily, lift up an axe, and swung it over!
An evil wind pounded his face, the stench of blood filled the air!
"Mingcheng! Mingcheng!!" The old woman shouted excitedly, "You’ve returned, I made... made longevity noodles..."
Her so-called longevity noodles were the intestines of a dead player, coiled up in an iron pot.
Su Ming’an immediately dodged to the side, taking out a concussion bomb from his waist... Huh? Why a concussion bomb? He intended to throw a screwdriver.
He remembered that the concussion bomb he found was already used to blow up the middle of the corridor, so where did this extra one come from?
No time to think about it, the concussion bomb was much better than a screwdriver, a real lifesaver, so he threw it out immediately!
"Boom!" A burst of explosion!
The old lady screamed in pain, covering her eyes as she fell aside, and Su Ming’an rushed towards the rooftop on the collapsing floor!
At the end of the corridor, a small ring of light resembled the end of a tunnel, the escape rooftop was right there!
...
[00:59]
[00:58]
...
In his run, he turned back once.
Beneath the hole in the floor, the girl’s chestnut hair fluttered, appearing like a cluster of dark red fireflies in the firelight. Her face bore several wounds, the bandage on her arm already seared black, one leg deeply impaled on the rebar, the other leg a bloody mess...
She stood amidst the flickering flames... Void and like a phantom, a broken butterfly’s wing.
Feeling his gaze, she slowly looked up.
Her curled, long blue eyelashes slowly raised—
The salty, bitter tears almost drenched her cheeks, her blurred red eyes looked over. What color were her real pupils, and what did her face under the thick makeup look like, was she truly the plain child she claimed to be... Su Ming’an would never know.
He saw a vague, beautiful smile, like a mirage.
...
[00:55]
[00:54]
...
The corridor was long, with broken planks and sunken pits everywhere. Su Ming’an picked up a steel pipe, swinging it wildly, violently charging forward!
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Flames scorched his face, and he exhaled heavily the hot air, his trachea scalded.
Lin Yi found a place to rest, she didn’t have to run anymore, her mind a jumble of thoughts all melded together.
Su Ming’an pressed his headset, the signal inside the wooden building was poor, her inner voice rapidly flowed in his ear, like a chattering bird, clearly about to vanish, yet her tone was so cheerful. If his hearing wasn’t exceptional, he wouldn’t have caught it clearly:
...
[Just now, I was genuinely shocked, couldn’t reply for several seconds, not out of sadness, but surprise!]
[It’s okay! At least we know each other now!]
...
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Facing the obstacle in the middle of the corridor, the middle part had already been smashed by the Horror Grandma, with the scorched refrigerator and TV toppled to the side, sparking dangerous electricity.
Su Ming’an clutched the protruding wooden block on the wall and swung himself over. The flames licked his cheeks, stinging the exposed skin painfully.
He tread on the creaking floorboards, coughing, and moving forward.
Beside him, Lin Yi suddenly had a thought, and her tone carried a hint of laughter:
...
[Right, let’s forget it!]
[——I will forget the memories you can’t recall! After all, it would be too sneaky of me to look at you through memories you can’t remember! I just checked my watch, it’s been forty-three minutes and fifty-six seconds now! I will consider this brief forty-three minutes and fifty-six seconds... the time we spent together in the wooden building, as our first memory! This will be all my memory of you.]
[Hypnosis, hypnosis... after taking the medicine my mind feels light and dizzy, I need to hypnotize myself, to forget... forget the parts you don’t remember! This way, we meet again anew.]
[This day, these forty-three minutes, I first met you, I got to know you.]
[Nice to meet you! Su Ming’an! I am Lin Yi!]
[I guess the reason I was able to meet you might be because some high dimensions want to entice you, want to make you waver, right? Don’t think that way, it’s not your fault!]
[If you encounter such a situation again in the future, never feel guilty. You can... think of us as small boats beside the Lighthouse.]
...
"Hah...!" Su Ming’an swung a steel pipe forcefully, shattering the wooden board flying toward him.
The raging fire brushed past him, sharp wooden splinters pierced his cheek, drawing blood and flesh, he gritted his teeth and strode forward.
Dust covered his face, he stared straight at the glowing rooftop at the end of the corridor, as if seeing dawn. His whole body was in pain as if it had been soaked in sulfuric acid, burning, flesh rotting.
She was left there, unable to move, unable to speak. She was destined not to leave this Game, she should feel more desperate than him.
But her inner voice was positive and happy.
...
[As long as the Lighthouse is always there, shining brightly. The boats come and go, some remember the Lighthouse’s position and sail towards you, some just glance and pass you by, some use your light to sail far... but as long as the Lighthouse is still shining, all boats can see you.]
[Perhaps my boat missed you this time, next time, the time after next, whenever I sail across this sea again, as long as the Lighthouse stands, I will have the chance to see that beam of light again, get close again, become friends again, won’t I? (′▽`)]
[This time I just unexpectedly returned early. But the Lighthouse is still in the ocean of infinite possibilities... as long as you keep sailing, as long as you head towards the light... we will always...]
...
"——No more!!!"
Su Ming’an ran, his voice hoarse from inhaling too much Poison Gas.
His voice carried a tremor he hadn’t noticed himself, "This time... might be the last time."
She would realize she was already dead, and the dead can’t change anything.
She should feel wronged, should cry, despair, become hysterical, beg him to give up moving forward, try again——
The flames roared.
Time seemed to pause for a moment.
Below the hole on the second floor, Lin Yi looked up, her face full of smoke and blood stains, she put on the blue wig again, the blue hair curled by the heat waves. She couldn’t see his pained and distorted face, but she heard his voice shouted from upstairs.
She couldn’t move anymore, both legs numb, her bones exposed, blood and flesh blurred.
Behind her, a massive and heavy corridor pillar, slowly collapsing with the burning flames, pressing towards her, the shadow of death gradually covering her entire body——
And then.
She stretched out her hands.
As if playing an electric piano, as if disc jockeying, the blue-haired gothic girl closed her eyes, smiling with waving hands.
Her lips moved slightly, unable to make any sound, and no one would know how melodious her voice might be.
Only the rigid, cold, mechanical synthesized sound, flowing gently into the Number One Player’s ears with her dance-like gestures——
...
[Will you succeed this time?]...
[That’s great.]
[（^O^）]
...