ABSTIWTVMST Chapter 148

Adding all the chili peppers from the chili base, plus all the chili peppers from the research base and the new area, plus the chili peppers harvested last time—by the time it came to the very end, Xu Chenghao’s hand suddenly paused, hovering above the “=” key for a long while, not daring to press it down.

The closer he got to the result, the more he didn’t dare to look. Just as Xu Chenghao gritted his teeth, working on building up his psychological readiness, a hand suddenly appeared in his field of vision and, moving swiftly, pressed the button on his behalf—

“A total of forty-one million three hundred and twenty thousand chili peppers.” The voice that came from behind successfully drowned out the computer’s report. Xu Chenghao turned his head and was caught off guard, crashing directly into a pair of silver-gray eyes. He seemed to be smiling, yet also seemed devoid of emotion, and said calmly, “Congratulations on successfully completing the task.”

Xu Chenghao stared at him blankly for a few seconds before abruptly reacting, rising to his feet excitedly and saying, “I did it! You have to fulfill your promise!”

“Of course.” The system extended its hand, and when the palm opened, it revealed a small black cube with six square faces. He tossed the black cube to Xu Chenghao and smiled as he said, “This is what you wanted.”

Xu Chenghao caught it, turned it over in his hands several times, but couldn’t figure out how to use it. “How does this thi—” His words came to an abrupt halt. Xu Chenghao looked around at the now-empty space in a daze.

This glance revealed something alarming—Xu Chenghao noticed Jing Yicheng still crouched in place, frozen in the posture of having just pulled his hand back from the calculator. The calculator, which should have been cradled in Xu Chenghao’s palm, was now suspended mid-air. His entire body drew in a sharp breath, and he stumbled back several steps in panic.

What… what is going on?

Has time stopped? Or has he been isolated?

Wh-where is the system?

Xu Chenghao gripped the black cube tightly and cautiously looked around at his surroundings, only to find that the spot his thumb had touched suddenly displayed a triangular symbol… a symbol similar to a pause/play icon, which he tapped to open.

Time forcibly began to rewind. It was as though he was walking backward along a corridor of memories, watching the radiant walls occasionally flash with scenes from his and Jing Yicheng’s shared past… from the tension and hostility of their first meeting, to their later peaceful cooperation; from their gradually improving relationship to mutual affection being confirmed. He had been hurt because of the other, and they had also once been separated, but in the end, they reconciled and continued to love each other as always—so much so that they even met each other’s parents and began preparing for marriage.

What should have been scenes full of warmth and love, due to the reversal of time, turned into a couple transitioning from loving husbands to strangers. Xu Chenghao lowered his eyes slightly, and only when the surroundings returned to darkness did he purse his lips and ask, “System, you’re there, aren’t you?”

Unexpectedly, this time the system did not echo in his mind, but instead appeared behind him, saying calmly, “I’m here.”

Xu Chenghao tightened his grip on the black cube, his gaze wary: “What exactly do you mean? Could it be that the ‘changing the ending’ you mentioned means rewinding everything back to the beginning?”

The system remained calm: “Is that not allowed?”

Xu Chenghao retorted unceremoniously: “You make it sound like a joke.”

The system glanced at him unhurriedly: “Not completely stupid.”

Xu Chenghao: “……”

“I’m not in the mood to joke with you! Tell me clearly how to use this thing you gave me, and what exactly you want to do now!” Xu Chenghao snapped, “Otherwise, just send me back—stop wasting time here!”

The system raised an index finger and pressed it to the side of his own lips: “Shh, calm down. Let’s first talk about the original question.”

“What question?”

“The question of your first choice,” the system said. “At the beginning, there were three options placed before you: ‘heartache,’ ‘chrysanthemum pain,’ and ‘face pain’—you chose the last one, the ‘face pain’ that came with a bonus of going home. Do you still remember?”

“I remember, but I regret it now. I want to stay.”

“Don’t be hasty yet.” The system raised a hand to interrupt him and explained, “You still don’t understand what those choices truly represented. Once I finish explaining, you will have one more opportunity to choose again. Remember, this is the final time.”

Xu Chenghao frowned slightly, still watching warily: “Go on.”

“The first option: you can leave the world inside the book and return to your own life, which is simple but real. As a participant in this storyline, we will compensate you with 200 million yuan in cash. You can also view it as a reward for experiencing a transmigration into the book. But at the same time, you will forget most of what happened in the book world, including the lover you once dearly loved.”

“The second option: you can choose to stay, but once the decision is confirmed, you will never be able to leave the world inside the book. You will live and die with the characters of this world, and the choice can never be changed. At the same time, System No. 2333 will be unbound from you, and all previous rewards and benefits will be reclaimed. You will no longer be able to foresee the future or possess any ‘golden finger.’”

Xu Chenghao asked warily: “Has Jing Yicheng’s ending been rewritten?”

System: “That depends on your choice. If you choose to stay, then starting from the moment the system is unbound, both your and Jing Yicheng’s endings will change; if you choose to leave, he will still meet the ending that was written in the book.”

Xu Chenghao frowned: “So the time reversal you mentioned is just rewinding things to the beginning so I can choose again?”

System: “More or less. So—what is your choice?”

Xu Chenghao didn’t even blink: “Then I choose to stay!”

System: “Are you sure?”

“Sure!”

The system suddenly curled its lips into a smile: “Congratulations, your wish has been granted.”

What did that mean? Xu Chenghao was about to ask again, but the system had already retreated into the black area and vanished.

At the same time, on the other side, a dark area was suddenly pierced by light. As the gap grew wider and wider, Xu Chenghao finally saw clearly—it was a door, and someone was pushing it open to enter!

The other party seemed to be injured. In the darkness, the faint sound of him inhaling could be heard, followed by a sudden pa—the lights abruptly turned on… Xu Chenghao instinctively took a few steps back. As he squinted to adjust to the light, his mind raced to come up with an explanation for appearing in someone else’s home. But when he caught sight of the figure under the light, he suddenly jolted in shock, eyes widening abruptly—

The young man who entered was wearing formal attire. His expression was composed, his posture calm, but—his head had a gaping wound, with dried blood all around it.

Xu Chenghao covered his mouth in shock, watching as the man sat down on the sofa expressionlessly, watching as he suddenly furrowed his brows… Xu Chenghao was certain—at this moment, he must be talking to the system, and without hesitation choosing the third option among the three!

That’s right—this was exactly the first day he transmigrated into the book world!

But he had already made his choice. Why was the system still showing him these scenes? Could it be that unless he chose the “chrysanthemum pain” option at the very beginning, things wouldn’t truly end? Then what was he supposed to do now?

Xu Chenghao gripped the black cube in confusion, but had no idea what to do.

The young man before him, just like before, quickly made his decision and went to the bedroom to rest. Xu Chenghao frowned and followed him, like a ghost haunting behind him—watching him sleep, watching him go to work, watching him reject An Rouyu, watching him confront the villain head-on, watching him… wait!

Xu Chenghao stared at the young man in front of him, who was eating slowly, and frowned slightly—he wasn’t planting chili peppers!

Yes, his behavior seemed roughly the same as in Xu Chenghao’s memory, but there were absolutely no signs of planting chili peppers.

This… wasn’t his memory?

The confusion in Xu Chenghao’s heart grew larger. He continued following behind the young man, watching him grow increasingly estranged from the male lead, watching him grow increasingly close to the villain, watching them support one another through three years, and when the female lead returned—everything suddenly fell into chaos.

After unintentionally witnessing the villain help the female lead, the young man concluded that the villain was still the same villain from the original plot. Thinking that the other would become his enemy and harm him, he took the initiative to distance himself from the villain, attempting to sever all ties.

But how could the villain agree? In the push and pull between them, upon realizing his feelings for the young man, he came back with a frenzy like a madman.

What followed was a hundred thousand characters of “Listen to me explain!” — “I don’t want to listen!” type angsty drama. Xu Chenghao stared dumbfounded at the entire series of events; even if he were more foolish, he wouldn’t still believe this was his memory… Wh-what on earth is going on here???

The tragic ending of the melodrama was that the villain went mad and kidnapped the young man, but after the young man resisted, the two of them ended up falling out of the airlock together—and it abruptly cut off there.

While Xu Chenghao was still dumbfounded at how this development came about, he was suddenly yanked away by a powerful suction force. When he opened his eyes again, he realized his body was falling—and falling with him was Jing Yicheng’s familiar yet unfamiliar crazed face.

Jing Yicheng refused rescue from his subordinates. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Xu Chenghao, and in the roaring wind, his voice broke as he shouted, “Why won’t you believe me!”

“Xu Chenghao, are you a rock?!”

“Can you really not feel my feelings—do I really have to die for you to see it?”

“Xu Chenghao… did you really never like me at all?”

At some unknown point, his eyes welled with sour tears. Xu Chenghao wanted to answer, but when he opened his mouth, half his stomach filled with cold air. The more anxious he got, the less he could speak. He could only helplessly grip Jing Yicheng’s wrist, sobbing uncontrollably.

He did like him… he did like him…

But unfortunately, Jing Yicheng couldn’t hear. He caught the rope tossed down by his subordinates and tied it around Xu Chenghao’s body—yet he suddenly spread his own arms, and during the rapid fall, he shouted each word clearly: “I’ll prove it to you!”

Xu Chenghao’s eyes flew wide open: “No!!!”

Bang—

Even though he clearly knew this wasn’t real, when he saw Jing Yicheng truly crash to the ground and lose his life, Xu Chenghao’s tears still poured down uncontrollably. He heard himself screaming like a madman for the system, begging it to save Jing Yicheng, begging for one more chance to choose again.

The system said: 【Ding—Host, are you up for a high-stakes gamble on time reversal?】

【Ding—The gamble is this: I will seal away your memories and send you back to the starting point of transmigrating into the book, to verify whether—starting over—you will still fall for him.】

【Ding—There are two possible outcomes. One: you succeed, fall in love with him again, and change the ending. Two: you fail, and must become an emotionless system and work with me… Of course, being a system is no good job. Becoming a system means you will no longer be yourself, no longer be Xu Chenghao. You won’t belong to any world—you will become a monster abandoned by time. So… think it through.】

Xu Chenghao heard himself say: “I’ll gamble! As long as he comes back, I’ll gamble!”

【Ding—Recording successful. High-stakes gamble officially begins.】

The author has something to say:

System: Surprised? Unexpected?

T/N: I’m really surprised by this I didn’t expect this to be such a tragic love story aww~ sobbing*.