DM Chapter 4

Even if You Don't Die Now, You will Die in the Future.

Posted by April Fox, ? Views, Released on December 10, 2024

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Chapter 4: Even if You Don’t Die Now, You will Die in the Future.

The lighthouse assistant remained unmoved, “Sorry, I fail to see the rationale in what you’re saying. In any given space, every second, there are countless souls departing this realm every passing second. They may not all be as young as you, nor are they all solitary souls. Where there is life, there will inevitably be death.””

Seeing Jiang Xiaoyuan in extreme terror, the lighthouse assistant unexpectedly attempted to console her.

He earnestly said, “Even if you don’t die now, you will die in the future.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “…”

For the first time in her life, she encountered such a stubborn person who wouldn’t yield to reason, leaving her momentarily speechless.

In a desperate attempt to cling to life, Jiang Xiaoyuan stumbled backward, her foot colliding with something solid. With a sudden realization, Jiang Xiaoyuan suddenly turned around and found that the high platform was already within arm’s reach!

An invisible force was pushing her towards the deadly cockpit. Jiang Xiaoyuan instinctively waved her arms, and the shards of glass, originally frozen in mid-air, “came to life” the moment they touched her wrist, flying out in a predetermined parabolic curve and leaving a few shallow cuts on her wrist.

The pain jolted Jiang Xiaoyuan back to reality, shattering the illusion of safety she had desperately clung to—this was real, not a joke. The lunatic dressed like a coffin really intended to stuff her into a car just crashed into a tree.

Jiang Xiaoyuan screamed hysterically, “This is murder! Murder! Ah—”

The lighthouse assistant defended without changing his expression, “I have not murdered you, nor was it I who crashed into you.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan felt utterly hopeless. She had felt so lucky just a moment ago, but now she hated the so-called “time accidents” even more. The more fortunate she had felt just a moment ago, the more she now hated the so-called “time and space accident.” If it hadn’t been for that, she would have died in an accident at most, possibly going to meet Michelangelo painlessly within seconds – it would have been better than watching herself approach death bit by bit.

Twenty minutes ago, Jiang Xiaoyuan still felt incredibly powerful. She held a huge secret weapon over Feng Ruixue, and she could easily poke and prod her. She even felt that there was nothing in the world that she couldn’t buy as long as she wanted it. However, at this moment, Jiang Xiaoyuan felt like a tiny ant. A gust of wind could blow her over, and a leaf could crush her. All the despicable elements of the world, wind, snow, rain, and dew, held the power of life and death over her.

In a person’s dying moments, no matter how rich they are, how beautiful they are, or how powerful they are, all of it fades away. She became the lowest person in the world. She would do anything to have one more minute.

Suddenly, a voice rang out from the high platform, “Pause—transmission program, pause.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan was suddenly suspended in mid-air. She crawled on the ground like an octopus, wishing she could grow suction cups on her ten fingers to become one with the heavens and the earth.

Her hat was cast aside, her long hair obscuring her face as her insides turned to ice. Trembling from the cold, she looked up at the lighthouse assistant’s gaze, only to see another figure, adorned with glowing buttons, approaching towards them.

The lighthouse assistant asked quietly, “Ming Guang, what are you doing?”

Without answering him, the newcomer approached Jiang Xiaoyuan, studied her for a moment, then smiled gently, stooped down, and extended a hand to her. “Madam, are you alright?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan snapped out of her near-death state, still dazed and overwhelmed by his sudden appearance.

This person’s face also looked computer-generated, but it was very skillfully done, perfect in every way, so beautiful that it was almost indistinguishable from male or female, and even had an indescribable air of falsehood.

Ming Guang gently rolled up his pants legs, crouched beside Jiang Xiaoyuan, and tenderly wiped away the tears staining her cheeks.

“My colleague here,” Ming Guang pointed to his own head, “is missing a piece of programming, causing some communication issues. I’m sorry about that.”

Upon this revelation, Jiang Xiaoyuan realized she had narrowly escaped death at the hands of someone with a malfunctioning mind. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled to catch her breath, clinging to Ming Guang’s sleeve as if it were a lifeline. “I… I…”

Ming Guang offered a comforting pat on her back before turning to address the lighthouse assistant. “The feeling of sudden death and knowing one’s fate but being unable to prevent it while in good health is completely different. We have no right to impose such immense pain on others.”

Finally, someone who could speak human language. Jiang Xiaoyuan was deeply moved. The lighthouse assistant, on the other hand, frowned – this action was quite human-like.

“Why was she separated by the time storm?” Ming Guang continued. “I’ve reviewed the records of this time storm, and the fundamental reason was your miscalculation. Don’t you think you should take some responsibility?”

The lighthouse assistant gazed deeply at Ming Guang, his extremely human-like eyes showing fluctuating emotions.

The lighthouse assistant fixed his gaze upon Ming Guang, his eyes displaying a striking resemblance to that of a human, yet tinged with uncertainty.

Ming Guang turned to Jiang Xiaoyuan: “Okay, stop crying, I’ll ask you to activate the error correction procedure special provision.”

The lighthouse assistant interjected, “But…”

Ming Guang raised his hand to interrupt him, his lowered eyes seeming somewhat indifferent, yet his tone remained gentle. “Assistant, for person involved, the constructs of time and space hold little significance. What matters is the experience of the present moment. You made her linger for so long before death. How would you feel if you were in her shoes?”

This sentence almost brought Jiang Xiaoyuan to tears again, but she had already collapsed in embarrassment once. Now, she struggled to regain her composure, unwilling to completely lose her dignity. She quickly tidied her messy hair with her hands and murmured, “Thank you.”

A faint smile curved Ming Guang’s lips, though he remained silent.

The lighthouse assistant remained silent for a moment, like a malfunctioning robot. After a while, his gaze shifted slightly, as if he had just finished running a long program.

“Permission granted,” the lighthouse assistant said.

Jiang Xiaoyuan took a deep breath, feeling the blood rushing back into her numb limbs.

The lighthouse assistant, however, looked down at her, his glass ball-like eyes fixed on her for a moment. In that moment, his eyes bearing a strangely human-like expression, as if it contained pity and mockery that were ready to burst out.

Before Jiang Xiaoyuan could react, the lighthouse assistant averted his gaze. “I’ll get the contract.”

With rhythmic footsteps, he walked away.

“What did you mean by ‘special provision’ earlier?” Jiang Xiaoyuan regained her senses and asked, suppressing her hiccups.

“Oh, this is easy to solve,” said Ming Guang, his voice naturally relaxed and cheerful, as if the sky falling down was no big deal – of course, the sky falling down was really no big deal, as long as it wasn’t his sky that was falling.

“We can artificially add a pathway before your time point, so to speak…” Ming Guang explained, “Simply put, this pathway can freeze your time for five seconds, giving you enough time to get into the cockpit and fasten your seatbelt. Injury is still inevitable, but there should be no danger to your life. Can you accept that?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan didn’t even have time to think about the rationale behind this statement. She mustered all her strength to prevent herself from bursting into tears of relief. Apart from nodding, what else could she do?

However, if she had been more exposed to the sinister side of human nature, she should have understood that such a large pie falling from the sky might not be filled with anything good.

“Of course, the laws of time and space are extremely complex,” Ming Guang continued, looking at her with his unbelievably beautiful eyes, “Otherwise, chaos would ensue, wouldn’t it?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan was taken aback.

“Constructing this pathway isn’t simple because your time and space have a tremendous gravitational pull on you,” Ming Guang said, “As you approach, it will pull you in. Therefore, we need to utilize another parallel space. We’ll briefly place you in another parallel space, establishing a certain connection between you and that space, utilizing the principle of non-intersection and mutual cancellation between the two spaces. Like two repelling magnets, we can maintain a brief stability in the pipeline, albeit short, it should be enough for you.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan had never felt guilty for not studying properly before. Now, she finally realized the problem. After hesitating for a while, she murmured, “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite understand.”

“You are very emotional right now, I can understand. I’m afraid you won’t be able to listen to me explaining some time and space laws, so I’ll make a long story short,” Ming Guang smiled tolerantly, and like a magician, he took out a small comb from his coat pocket and handed it to Jiang Xiaoyuan, “Your hair is messy, fix it.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan awkwardly took it, feeling her ears heat up.

Ming Guang: “You just need to know that we’re going to send you to another parallel spacetime, where you’ll stay for a while until you establish enough connection with that world to safely send you back.”

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “Oh… you are going to send me to another world, then I… I…”

“You are still you, but just another you,” Ming Guang said as he looked at her, “But there may be some differences. Although you seem like the same person, and even share the same DNA, your identity and personality may be completely different. You may need to adapt for a while, but it’s okay. Your ultimate goal is still to return to your own space, right? It’s just a role. Remember, don’t get too caught up in the role in the parallel space.”

As Ming Guang spoke, his gaze seemed to focus solely on her, as if she were the only person in the world. His eyes were focused and full of warmth, nothing like the coldness of the lighthouse assistant. Jiang Xiaoyuan, despite being an ignorant young girl, was almost swayed by his charm.

Beauty is a magical thing that has an incredible influence on people.

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “If I…”

Ming Guang raised a finger to his lips, gently shushing her, “If you become too caught up, the other spacetime will exert too much attraction on you. You might be defaultly regarded as a person in that spacetime, and then you won’t be able to return. Understand?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan hadn’t thought about this risk, but she soon felt relieved—what did it matter if there was a risk? It was still better than being stuffed back into that terrifying car and meeting a dead end.

Anything is better than death, right?

Jiang Xiaoyuan: “How long do I have to stay there?”

“About a month or two,” Ming Guang said, “Don’t worry too much. After all, you’ve lived in your original spacetime for so many years. A unfamiliar space-time generally won’t have much influence on you. Just go with the flow—good, the assistant has prepared the contract. Take a look and sign it if there are no problems.”

The silent lighthouse assistant was like an invisible statue. Jiang Xiaoyuan barely noticed his presence without Ming Guang’s reminder.

The lighthouse assistant opened his hands slightly, and a transparent screen appeared in front of Jiang Xiaoyuan.

The dense paragraphs of text made her head hurt. In her entire life, apart from textbooks, Jiang Xiaoyuan could probably count on one hand the number of books she had read from cover to cover, and most of them were comics. She would fall asleep after reading 3,000 words – and that was still in her native language. If it were in a foreign language, she would have to cut that in half.

But it was a matter of life and death, so Jiang Xiaoyuan forced herself to read the convoluted terms slowly and laboriously. Who knew that Ming Guang next to her would suddenly say, “Actually, it’s no use for you to read it. It’s just a formality. Are you really willing to go back to the car that just hit the tree?”

Jiang Xiaoyuan’s already muddled mind was thrown into further disarray by his words.

“You should hurry,” Ming Guang said. “This wave of time storms is about to pass, and the gravitational pull of your own spacetime on you might be…”

Following his words, Jiang Xiaoyuan subconsciously turned her head to look at the deadly platform behind her. Whether it was her imagination or not, she always felt like the she could see the shadowy, life-threatening figure of the cockpit appearing on the platform again.

She panicked, “I’ll sign right away. Tell me how to sign, quickly!”

Ming Guang, as if he had foreseen her weakness, smugly swiped his hand in the air, pulling the long terms all the way to the end. Then he gently took Jiang Xiaoyuan’s hand and slowly but firmly pressed her finger onto it.

With this press, Jiang Xiaoyuan’s heart suddenly skipped a beat for no apparent reason. The next moment, the transparent screen in front of her displayed the word “Completed,” and the entire thing lit up before disappearing.

Jiang Xiaoyuan quickly pulled her hand back, looking at Ming Guang warily.

“Remember what I said,” Ming Guang stood up. ‘ll be back to pick you up in a month or two. Now, go.”

With that, he waved his hand, and another scene appeared on the high platform, like a crossroads on a narrow road.

Jiang Xiaoyuan, like a slow-moving startled bird, stood up hesitantly, stepping onto the platform one step at a time, stopping every two steps.

Suddenly, she remembered something and turned back to ask, “Wait, I just remembered. If I go, won’t the original ‘me’ in the other spacetime be replaced by me? What will happen to her?”

“She’s already dead,” Ming Guang squinted at her, his smile both beautiful and cunning, “Don’t worry, no one will know.”

No one will know, except Jiang Xiaoyuan herself.