Translator: Xena
Jian Xie withdrew his gaze from the monster and looked around the familiar hotel.
Here, he endured countless cycles of suffering, experiencing many unpleasant things that nearly shattered his spirit.
Suddenly, Jian Xie stood up abruptly.
The clues all came together.
The monster had been vigilantly watching the human’s every move. His sudden movement of standing up startled it, and it almost cried out.
Especially when it looked up and saw the other person’s icy expression, it didn’t dare to even breathe.
How chilling.
The human before it seemed to have completely forgotten about it, lost in their own thoughts, yet the aura emanating from them still suppressed it completely.
In a flash, Jian Xie understood what had been puzzling him all along.
Considering the attributes of [Wandering Hell], the so-called “subsidiary hell”, he could easily find out that it was the guardian of all hells with just a quick search on his phone, but he had never thought of it that way before.
If hell was likened to a prison, then there were bound to be iron gates.
Since he could pick up other daggers and use them at will, and the Wandering Hell was precisely the gate that imprisons the monsters, then only by mastering it in advance could he have the chance of controlling the other hells.
It was like a filtering mechanism, a pass.
He must possess the one and only key to locking the monsters deep within hell.
Jian Xie kept wondering why he couldn’t use the third dagger he had picked up.
After all, the idea of getting past the ‘animated story line’ was just a way for him to amuse himself and wasn’t really that rigorous.
But now he knew that he has always had it.
Even before he knew about the existence of the evil god within his body, he had already awakened this dagger, which was why he was qualified to possess the other hells.
Jian Xie realized some things.
Then, he suddenly found himself amused.
His emotions have always been very detached, and even when he did show something, it was nothing more than a ripple that quickly subsided.
But he knew when he first ate a monster, when he gambled on baseless luck to blackmail Fu Huanyu, and when he heard Qin Zhuo confide in him, he felt a strong, powerful emotion well up inside him—one he had long since lost.
He simply has a higher threshold for emotional triggers than others, which inevitably suggested that there were some issues within him.
Jian Xie slowly said, “That so-called time loop… I created it myself.”
As the monster dressed as a student said, it only remembered placing the prop that could incite evil thoughts in humans and knew nothing about the so-called time loop.
Jian Xie examined its memories and found that it had not lied, nor had it come into contact with any accomplices throughout the entire incident.
Therefore, after eliminating all possibilities, only one conclusion remained.
—He triggered this cycle unconsciously.
The effects of [Wandering Hell] were quite obvious.
It meant that once someone found themselves in some situation, they would suffer through all kinds of torment. When the person being subjected to this finally has nothing but a frail, useless body, repeatedly resetting time and using different disasters to destroy their personality becomes the best and most optimal choice available
Jian Xie knew that the intense feelings within him had resurfaced once again.
It came as an overwhelming force like a tidal wave, which made it impossible for him to ignore.
He looked at the monster trembling inexplicably before him and said in a peculiar tone, as if deep in thought, “I think I understand.”
Monster: “What are you saying?”
“You were able to escape out of hell because a player brought the ‘key’ out with them, which opened the door and gave the monsters and other players a chance to escape hell. But for some reason, that player lost the ‘key.'”
“ And there I was, the one who found this ‘key’.”
Jian Xie considered countless possibilities as to why Qin Zhuo had said that those daggers had already chosen him.
He even wondered if he had unintentionally entered hell and escaped, but lost his memory. However, the truth was surprisingly simple—
Jian Xie was innocent, an insignificant person, someone ordinary who passed through the other world.
His only special quality was that he managed to retain his sense of self amidst the torment of the [Wandering Hell].
It could not defeat him, so it yielded to him.
Qin Zhuo played a role here that was no different from that of [Wandering Hell].
He was drawn to Jian Xie, succumbed to him, indulged in his feelings that shouldn’t have existed, and fell in love with this human who should have been dragged into hell the very first time.
Thinking of Qin Zhuo, Jian Xie couldn’t help but smile.
It certainly felt very strange without the other by his side, even though they had only really known each other for about a month.
He said, “…You brought me back here to make me realize these things, but besides that, there must be other reasons as well.”
Although talking to himself made him seem like a madman, Jian Xie didn’t know how to communicate with [Hell] properly.
But considering the fact that Wen Heshu said he could feel a beating heart inside the box, he thought that these hells actually has a mind of their own.
Llike a living being.
Those few monsters he had encountered earlier had also indirectly confirmed his idea.
Jian Xie received no reply.
He turned and left the sofa, ignoring the monster’s fixed gaze behind him. He.simply said, “I know this is all fake. I didn’t go back to the past. My parents died a long time ago. If you want me to feel nostalgic, you don’t need to.”
There was a rustling sound in the air, but otherwise there was still no response.
It seemed as if it was observing him, waiting for him to make a decision.
The atmosphere became tense.
Just then, Jian Xie’s parents turned around holding the newly issued room key in their hands, and waved to him, signaling him to come over.
He paused for a moment, then finally walked towards them.
His mother stroked the back of his neck, smoothing his hair that had been messed up while he slept in the car. It was a gentle, nostalgic touch.
Even his father, who was actually quite irritable, looked at him with a worried expression.
In the past, whenever Jian Xie walked home from school, he would stare at his classmates’ parents, taking in their happy families and daily lives.
It belonged to the invisible life he envisioned before meeting Qin Zhuo. A life that was now slipping further and further away from him.
……
His mother said, “Is there anything you’re dissatisfied with about this kind of life?”
These were words she never said at the original timeline.
Jian Xie suddenly realized that [Hell] had placed him at a familiar point in time because it was waiting for something.
He finally understood why he had felt an extremely uneasy premonition when he felt Qin Zhuo gone.
This unease foreshadowed his likely loss of Qin Zhuo in the coming days ahead.
Long ago, the omniscient and omnipotent evil god had given him a hint.
This was the choice It was giving him.
So far, all of Jian Xie’s misfortunes have been caused by his involuntary exposure to the ticket to [Hell]. Therefore, he actually had no choice in the matter. Once he came into possession of [Hell], trouble naturally found him. This was not something he could control through his own will. He was, in fact, in a very passive position.
However, there was still a chance for Jian Xie to revert back to being an ordinary person.
He could choose to give up possession of the third dagger, in which case he would automatically lose ownership of Hell and be able to do whatever he wanted.
Qin Zhuo probably felt that he should have the right to decide the direction of his own life.
Should I spend the rest of my life dealing with monsters, or should I just live as an ordinary person, blissfully unaware and carefree?
……
Jian Xie did not open his eyes.
It was the same as last time, yet somehow different.
He could feel himself lying on something soft while cold fingertips casually ran through his hair.
He rolled over, opened his eyes, and found himself lying on Qin Zhuo’s lap.
The other person was looking down at him, their posture lazy yet arrogant, like a ferocious beast restraining its bloodthirsty nature yet inadvertently revealing a trace of ruthlessness and desire.
“Thanks for the gift, but I’d much rather have you in my life”
【……】
Jian Xie looked up at him, seemingly unaware of what he had just said. “Before you came into my life, I only had one goal, which was actually quite boring. If the future is nothing more than a series of goals, then that can’t really be called living. And I’ve discovered that only when I’m with you that I have the desire to enjoy life.”
A house that looked like a show home, no desire for social interaction, and no appreciation for the joy of capturing life through photos—
Qin Zhuo changed all of these things.
Jian Xie buried himself in his arms. He reached out to hug the latter’s waist and tightened his grip, causing the them to chuckle softly above his head.
Suddenly, he sensed something was wrong.
“You have a physical body?” Jian Xie frowned and asked, “How long have I been unconscious? Has the time not passed yet?”
If he remembered correctly, Qin Zhuo only had a little over an hour to maintain physical form. But the person he was holding now—though his body temperature was significantly lower than normal—was indeed a physical being. He also didn’t get the same sense of impermanence he’d felt with the black mist before.
Qin Zhuo calmly said, “I’d already solved the issue by the time you made your choice.”
Jian Xie: “…?”
“Tell him.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the person he was holding move. Then, a voice that was both strange and familiar came from in front of them, sounding quite restrained.
“—No-no problem.”
Upon realizing that someone was there, Jian Xie immediately released his grip on Qin Zhuo and straightened up from the other’s embrace.
The evil god immediately clicked his tongue.
