[Ding—]
[Female lead death detected, world will activate refresh program—]
[Countdown 09:59]
In the laboratory, Su Huan suddenly heard an electronic voice in her mind.
Her movents abruptly stopped, then she lowered her eyes and said flatly: "Tang Tang succeeded."
"What?" Shi Qiubai beside her was struggling with the glass shards on her body. She supported her waist with one hand while gripping the glass shard in her lower back with the other, slowly pulling it out in small movents.
The shard caused secondary damage to the wound, making her face turn pale with pain, but she still gritted her teeth and endured it.
"Tang Tang is dead." Su Huan spoke again. "Ning Yu is also dead. The world is activating the refresh program, remaining ti—ten minutes."
Shi Qiubai's hand trembled slightly, causing the glass shard to move and bringing waves of pain. Her forehead was covered in fine sweat.
"Then, then Sister..."
She wanted to ask what would happen to Shen Xiaoyu, but when she looked up and t Su Huan's gaze.
Her gaze was calm and aningless, yet it made Shi Qiubai's heart clench violently.
Shi Qiubai rembered what Su Huan had once told her—to keep her Sister alive, she had to let her complete the mission.
But...
"Let's go see Xiaoyu." Su Huan stood up and looked outside.
Silently, the people at the door had disappeared, and the laboratory was empty. The instrunts seed to be dissolved by sothing, disappearing into the air bit by bit from top to bottom.
Shi Qiubai endured the pain as she got down from the bed, the wound tearing open again and bleeding down her clothes.
She unceremoniously grabbed Su Huan's arm. "Help up, I can't stand steady."
Due to excessive blood loss, her vision kept going black, and every step sent stabbing pain through her lower back.
Su Huan's expression wasn't good, but she didn't push her away either.
The two slowly moved outside toward Shen Xiaoyu's room next door.
Shen Xiaoyu lay quietly on the bed, her face ashen gray, already beginning to dissipate from her arms.
"Sister!" Shi Qiubai's expression changed dramatically as she took two steps forward, but her weak legs made her stumble and fall beside the bed. Her trembling hand wanted to touch Shen Xiaoyu but stopped.
Su Huan stood frozen in place, quietly watching sothing that looked like a square computer above Shen Xiaoyu.
[Mission failure countdown 7:37—]
Shi Qiubai couldn't hear it, but she felt it clearly—it was the system's voice, along with the sound of a clock ticking.
In that mont, countless thoughts flashed through Su Huan's mind, but she couldn't grasp any of them. She could only stare at the system with wide eyes, her mind completely blank.
"System, what counts as reducing the corruption value?" she suddenly asked.
Shi Qiubai was imrsed in sorrow when she suddenly heard this and turned to look at her. "What system? You can see the system?"
Su Huan raised her chin toward the system. "Right here. It's reminding us that we only have seven minutes left for the mission."
Su Huan stepped forward and suddenly placed her hand on Shi Qiubai's shoulder, gripping hard as she looked down. "Now it's your turn. Reduce the corruption value and let Shen Xiaoyu leave."
"No..."
"You don't agree?" Su Huan grabbed her neck and pressed her down in front of Shen Xiaoyu. "Look at her face and say those words again! These past few years, why did you desperately oppose ? Wasn't it to find Shen Xiaoyu? But when she ca back, what were you doing? You kept saying you liked her, loved her, wouldn't allow anyone to approach her, yet selfishly wanted to trap her in this hellish place."
She laughed self-mockingly.
"How are you any different from what I was before?"
Shi Qiubai shook her head. "No, no! I'm different from you, I truly love Sister!"
She bit her lip. If it weren't for the damned system, she was confident she could make her accept her—they would be together eventually!
Su Huan shook her head. "What's the use? Your so-called love won't keep Shen Xiaoyu alive! You'll only accelerate her death."
Shi Qiubai's chest felt like it was suddenly stuffed with cotton, making her unable to breathe.
"Let her go ho." Su Huan said. "At least there would be sothing to rember."
"But, but..." Shi Qiubai murmured, unable to speak as her eyes gradually reddened.
Really can't bear to let go...
[System countdown 5:00] The system's voice rang out again, urging: [Su Huan, hurry up, there's no ti left!]
"Let her go back." Su Huan said. "She never belonged to this world anyway. Letting her go is good for all of us."
Shi Qiubai said nothing, slightly closing her eyes and swallowing all the bitterness and unwillingness.
Su Huan's expression suddenly darkened as she raised her voice angrily: "Shi Qiubai! Do you have to watch her die in front of you before you're satisfied?"
[Villain corruption value -1]
Shi Qiubai's face was covered with exhaustion and sorrow, her lips moving but unable to say a word, only tears continuously falling.
"Sister, why! Why is it like this? Why..." Just when she was ready to stay with her sister forever, they had to face separation again.
[Villain corruption value 1]
[Villain corruption value 10]
[Villain corruption value 100]
"Why! Why !" She bit her lip until blood seeped out, gathering and dripping.
Despair struck as she fell into madness. "Why of all people! Why give hope only to make despair? How, how can this be!"
Shi Qiubai covered her face, screaming hoarsely and crying loudly.
Su Huan beside her felt a dull pain in her heart that almost made her unable to breathe, but there was no ti to think now. She grabbed Shi Qiubai's head, forcing her to open her eyes and look at Shen Xiaoyu.
Her arms were already gone, and the dissipation was spreading toward her body. Soon the entire person would disappear.
"This is the system's plan. If we can't wake Shen Xiaoyu up, she can only die with us!"
[Countdown 4:00]
"Only four minutes left. Shi Qiubai!" Su Huan was so anxious her chest heaved like bellows, her heart feeling like it was being fried in oil.
"If, if Xiaoyu dies, even if the world restarts, I won't let you go! I'll make you suffer a thousand tis, ten thousand tis more than your ending!" She threatened coldly.
Shi Qiubai didn't care anymore, shaking her head indifferently. "Dying at your hands or dying at Tang Tang's hands—is there a difference? We're all just pawns under the system!"
When the world restarted, everything would return to zero.
All she would have was her predetermined fate, being a puppet.
Shi Qiubai blinked and looked at Shen Xiaoyu as tears fell. Her hand powerlessly moved to her lower back, using all her strength to grip the shard embedded there.
"No, we won't give up! Even if I die, I want to die by my own hand!" She trembled all over but still persisted.
Su Huan shuddered and unconsciously released her grip, looking at her actions in shock.
Shi Qiubai took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and pulled out the glass in one swift motion. Blood flowed even more freely, as if her life was about to drain completely.
She loosened her grip and the glass shard fell to the ground, imdiately shattering into pieces.
"Even if it's just once, I want to win!" She smiled, gazing at Shen Xiaoyu with gentle, tender eyes. "Su Huan, I really envy you. Although you failed, Dister loved you. But she doesn't love —she was even willing to give up the mission."
Su Huan remained silent, sitting by the bed and gently stroking Shen Xiaoyu's cheek.
[Countdown 3:00]
"Su Huan, ask the system if completing the mission ans Sister can leave imdiately?" Shi Qiubai said.
[Yes. And will take the reward with her.]
Su Huan relayed this while asking about her own confusion: "Reward?"
[Upon completing the mission, the host can take one person who doesn't belong to this world from the dinsional world.]
"Soone who doesn't belong to this world..." Su Huan's expression tightened. "Nian'an!"
Shi Qiubai couldn't hear the system's words and could only listen to Su Huan's explanation. "Sister ca back for Nian'an?"
Su Huan felt a huge weight lift from her heart and nodded. "Nian'an, like Xiaoyu, doesn't belong to this world. The system even considered killing Nian'an."
Shi Qiubai suddenly rembered that Shen Nian'an had received critical condition notices when she was born. She had thought it was because Su Huan hadn't taken good care of Sister's child, but it turned out to be because the system was xenophobic and wanted to eliminate Shen Nian'an, this unexpected product.
And Sister had chosen to return to this world because she knew about Shen Nian'an's situation in advance.
"So that's how it is." She murmured. "No wonder Sister didn't want to be with . I was never her target. I thought I had t soone I could spend my life with, but..."
Shi Qiubai leaned weakly against the bed. Due to excessive blood loss, her face was pale as paper, and her weak body trembled uncontrollably as cold invaded her heart.
"Shi Qiubai..." Su Huan called her na and reached out to touch her body, only to feel an icy coldness.
She was going to die.
"All this ti, I thought you had wronged Sister, but I never thought about what you had to bear. If I were in your position, I might not have done better than you."
Knowing the truth about this world sixteen years earlier than them, even knowing she was just a controlled character, she still resisted.
Su Huan's throat choked as she sobbed, unable to speak.
At this mont, the system broke through its restraints, its voice ringing in both their ears: [Countdown one minute.]
Shi Qiubai looked at the white world outside the door—everything had dissipated, and the world refresh was about to end.
"Real and fake, fake and real."
"All of this is nothing but illusions, a fleeting dream."
[Villain corruption value has been cleared to zero.]
[Congratulations host on completing the mission, mission reward will be distributed—]
[Mission reward has been distributed, congratulations host on achieving your wish.]
As the voice sounded, Su Huan saw Shi Qiubai's eyes beco unfocused as she collapsed to the ground from lack of strength.
The white light had spread to her feet, swallowing Shi Qiubai.
[Countdown 00:30]
At this mont, only Su Huan and Shen Xiaoyu remained in the entire world.
Because the mission was completed, Shen Xiaoyu's body solidified at this mont, and her ashen face beca rosy.
As if ti had flowed backward, they returned to those days when Shen Xiaoyu was unconscious.
Su Huan withdrew her gaze and looked down to arrange Shen Xiaoyu's clothes, her eyes full of tenderness as she looked at her. After a mont, she bent down to hug her one last ti and devoutly kissed her lips.
"Ti passed so quickly. Now that it's ti for our final farewell, I really can't bear to let go. We finally t again, but we never even had a warm al together."
As soon as the words left her mouth, her voice choked up and tears fell.
The white light coiled around Su Huan's feet like a snake, slowly winding upward, following her body to gradually devour the bed and the sleeping Shen Xiaoyu.
Su Huan acted as if she couldn't see it, forcing a stiff smile. "But it's good that our daughter is going back with you. Then I have no more attachnts. You must be happy in that other world!"
"Xiaoyu, I love you."
The suddenly surging white light gradually swallowed her entire being, leaving only one last voice.
"Just... forget about ."
[World refresh completed.]
[New world activation countdown—]
[3]
[2]
[1]
○
Modern tis.
On the soft large bed, a woman in her sleep was covered in sweat, her expression terrified and desperate, as if she had encountered sothing and was struggling but couldn't escape.
"Run! Run! Run!"
Her voice trembled constantly from urgency and fear. "I don't want to die! I can't die!"
"Run... run!"
Bang—
A loud noise, and the woman scread.
"Ah—"
Shen Xiaoyu suddenly opened her eyes in the explosion, covered in sweat, staring blankly at the ceiling with vacant eyes, breathing heavily.
After a long while, her spirit stabilized, and her tear-filled eyes looked at this familiar yet strange room, her mind completely blank, unable to think.
"Xiaoyu?" A familiar voice ca.
Shen Xiaoyu turned her head and t a worried gaze.
She stared at the face before her, and her brain, tense from infinite deaths, finally began to slowly function.
"Mom?"
"Xiaoyu, how are you?" Mother Shen frowned slightly, tears in her eyes, her hand trembling as she stroked her head. "Are you alright?"
"I..." She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
[Host.] An electronic voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
[...System? I, I'm back?] She asked in confusion.
[Yes, the redemption mission has been completed, and the villain corruption value has disappeared.]
Shen Xiaoyu frowned, even more puzzled. [How could it disappear?]
She clearly hadn't done anything and didn't even know what had happened.
The system was silent for a mont, then told her that the repair system had trapped her consciousness in an endless explosion loop, and briefly described what happened after the car explosion that caused her coma.
Upon hearing about Su Huan's experints, Shen Xiaoyu's eyelashes trembled slightly. Then there was the kidnapping of Tang Tang, and stimulating Tang Tang to kill Ning Yu at the wedding and then commit suicide to try to escape system control.
Shen Xiaoyu closed her eyes with an unpleasant expression, especially when she finally heard that Shi Qiubai had finally let go of her obsession under Su Huan's persuasion and chose suicide to resist the plot. Her eyes finally reddened.
[Then they...] The question reached her heart, but she didn't know how to ask.
With the new world's activation, everyone returned to their original positions. They wouldn't rember her, nor would they rember having resisted the plot.
Perhaps forgetting was the best thing for them.
Tears flowed from her eyes drop by drop, falling on the blanket and splashing into brilliant but brief little flowers before quickly disappearing.
Shen Xiaoyu wiped away her tears. [Where's my daughter?]
[Already on the way. The host will see her soon.]
[Alright, mission complete. Goodbye, host.]
As the system's words fell, Shen Xiaoyu seed to feel sothing withdraw from her brain, light and airy, quickly disappearing.
Her body felt no different, just like when the system first arrived.
"Xiaoyu?" Beside her, Mother Shen's cautious voice ca.
Shen Xiaoyu ca back to her senses and turned to look at her. Her thoughts turned for a mont, and just as she was about to speak, she heard a familiar crying sound.
Mother Shen looked puzzled. "Where is that child crying coming from?"
Shen Xiaoyu's expression changed as she hurriedly got out of bed and followed the crying sound into the bathroom. When she pulled back the bathtub curtain, she saw a little girl who looked five or six years old sitting in the bathtub hugging her knees, crying until her nose was red.
The little girl looked up as if startled, her eyes lighting up when she saw her, then crying even more pitifully.
"Mama!"
Shen Nian'an hurriedly climbed out of the bathtub and threw herself into her arms, holding her anxiously.
Shen Xiaoyu held Shen Nian'an as if embracing her entire world.
"An'an, we will never be separated again."
"Xiaoyu, this child is..." Mother Shen had heard everything just now and stood at the door in shock, looking at the child in her arms who resembled Shen Xiaoyu sowhat, her eyes wide with amazent.
"Mom, this is my daughter, Shen Nian'an."
Mother Shen covered her mouth in surprise. "What on earth is going on?"
Shen Xiaoyu's hand patting her daughter's back paused, and her face finally showed a smile.
"It's a long story. Mom, I'll tell you slowly."
(Main Story: Completed)
Tl/note: That's the end of the main story, and it ended mainly without our MC lol. But we still have so side story chapters, I'd say with a "fix it" plot. Su Huan pursuing Shen Xiaoyu in the real world! I have countless not so good thoughts about the novel's characters, yet I think she's the one deserves her own redemption arc even a little.
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