Foolish Game of the Chapter 1217: Lost Contact

A body like a mayfly, with nowhere to rest.

That was exactly how Cheng Shi felt while drifting through the Real Universe.

He had thought that gazing upon the Real Universe from beneath the world ant he had seen its truth. He never expected that only by venturing inside would he understand its true vastness.

This starry sky was completely unlike the Void. The Void was equally hollow and expansive, but at least darkness was the Void's camouflage. Wrapped in endless black, one's vision never extended infinitely — you could only focus on the space directly in front of you.

But the Real Universe was not dark. Lonely, distant stars illuminated the entire sky, making you feel as though your vision stretched on without limit.

Those brilliant stars hung overhead like guiding signposts. Yet the mont you tried to follow their light, you discovered that no matter how hard you pushed forward, they remained just as impossibly far away.

In that mont, the phrase "fate like stars — gaze but never reach" was made utterly, painfully real.

Awash in unprecedented solitude, Cheng Shi felt no sentint in his heart — only gravity.

Big Cat was gone.

Sure enough, the unexpected had arrived the very instant he stepped beyond the world.

What made it worse was that in this starry expanse, it was nearly impossible to find a reference point for navigation. A single person's movent was negligible compared to the distance to any of those faraway stars. No matter which direction Cheng Shi went or how far he traveled, the positions of the bright stars in his field of vision never changed.

Stable as a 360-degree wallpaper.

With no other option, Cheng Shi pulled out the Thorn Weeping Rite and used his ntal energy as a standard for asuring distance.

His talents still worked — which ant he could use the dice to swap back to his "starting point." By controlling the timing and maxing out the dice's swap distance, he could explore the surrounding area as efficiently as possible.

He knew this cautious thod would never lead him to the Authority. But finding Big Cat or Qin Xin before the Authority was the steadiest approach.

Yet the search dragged on for who knew how many days.

Good news: in the Real Universe, the Faith Ga's constraints no longer applied. Even when the usual ti ca around, Cheng Shi didn't have to undergo a special trial.

Bad news: he still hadn't found anyone, and he was going out of his mind.

The eternal solitude was not a joke. Combined with the anxiety of the Real Universe's uncertainty, the oppressive weight of the Creator looming above, and the maddening silence from Brother Mouth and Eye Bro alike, Cheng Shi had already steeled himself for the worst.

The only reason he hadn't given up was his ironclad belief that the Fun God would never just send him and Big Cat to the Real Universe to die. As for whether that belief was itself a lie — whether it was just another tool He used to shatter what was "fixed and destined"...

Cheng Shi didn't dare think about it. He couldn't afford to.

The mont a new fear was born, the endless spiral of doubt would beco the last straw that broke him.

So he cast aside every distracting thought and searched in grim silence.

Several more days passed. Only after confirming that every area within the radius of his "maximum swap ti" had been thoroughly covered did he finally decide to try another approach:

Create so massive noise — loud enough for Big Cat to know he was here.

He knew Big Cat must also be searching for him. Given her fear of the Real Universe, she would never advance recklessly. She was most likely anchored in one spot, carefully exploring her surroundings.

If they were too far apart, two people turning in circles would never et. There was even a more absurd possibility: their search radii might actually overlap, but they had explored the overlapping zone at different tis — dooming them to never cross paths.

So Cheng Shi decided to make so noise and break the deadlock.

But this carried risk. The reason he hadn't done it earlier was the fear that the commotion would attract not Hong Lin, but sothing else lurking in the Real Universe.

No one knew what was hiding out here. Even though his days of exploration suggested he was the only living thing in the Real Universe, Cheng Shi still refused to take the gamble — until every steady, cautious plan had been exhausted and he was left with nothing else.

Cheng Shi pulled out a small magic bomb, detonated it instantly, and swapped back to his position from a few minutes earlier.

This way, he could observe the blast point while maintaining enough buffer distance if danger approached. His steadiness was pushed to its absolute limit — but even that limit yielded no answer.

The Real Universe remained as silent as ever.

Cheng Shi's expression was dark and unreadable. He appeared out of options, but in truth, a new idea had ford.

Since the explosion hadn't attracted any other life, he could safely use tid bombs to extend his search range. His supplies were limited, but it was better than doing nothing.

He couldn't afford to waste all these days only to return ho with bad news for the Destined Ones. That would make a mockery of their destiny.

Cheng Shi let out a heavy breath. He realized he had still been thinking too simply. So things the Fun God could do — but a re mortal possibly couldn't.

The identity of Yu Xi could fool people in the original world, but when divine power was truly needed, a fake was still a fake — like a pale lie that crumbled at the first touch, offering no one any backbone.

After three more days of exploration in the Real Universe, the accumulated pressure nearly drove Cheng Shi insane. He detonated his last bomb, watched from afar for a mont, and when no response ca, closed his eyes. Silently, he turned and walked back toward the "starting point."

It was ti to go back. But this wasn't surrender — it was a supply run. He would never abandon Big Cat in the Real Universe, and he trusted Big Cat wouldn't be foolish enough to just wait in place either.

Maybe she had already returned to the original world and was waiting for him.

But how to get back was another problem entirely. There was nothing resembling a "Peeping Mirror" near his arrival point. The area was completely empty — just a "starting point."

He had anchored that location because he feared it might be connected to the way ho. And now, returning to the starting point, he fell into a second predicant.

'Where is the road?'

In that instant, a sliver of genuine panic crept into the heart of a man who had been deceiving himself all along.

He began to think the thoughts he'd been too afraid to think.

This only made his state worse. He floated limp among the stars, like a walking corpse.

The grand adventure he had so boldly proclaid seed to have reached its end — a tragedy, cut short and unceremonious.

But would it really end this way?

Beneath this starry sky, every period had a magnificent and unforgettable story before it. This mont was no exception. And so, the turning point arrived right on schedule.

Right there at the starting point, right before his eyes, a figure materialized. Looking at Cheng Shi's ever-shifting expression, she gasped in shock:

"Cheng Shi?!

How did you get here before ?"

"!!!!!"

It was Big Cat!

Hearing her voice, Cheng Shi jerked his head up. At first, he couldn't even believe Big Cat had really appeared. He was still questioning whether it was just a hallucination born of his spiraling delusions.

He slapped himself hard across the face. When the sharp sting of real pain registered, he suddenly burst into wild, almost manic laughter and pulled Big Cat into his arms.

"Wait — hey, you—"

But just as Big Cat stood there, startled and flustered, the cold point of a blade pressed against the back of her neck.

The man who had been laughing wildly a second ago turned ice-cold in an instant. His voice was utterly frigid:

"You're not Hong Lin. Who are you?"

...