Time passes quickly yet slowly. For the GMs living in the main god space, who do not have to worry about lifespan, this question hardly matters. Whether it goes fast or slow, it feels almost like it has come to a standstill for them.
Except for one person.
Qi Xiaokui has been quite troubled lately, as the fiftieth year is drawing near.
Although she had been informed by Xin Meng before that her memory bank would be cleared periodically, Qi Xiaokui thought, fifty years, well, that’s more than half a lifetime for a person, it feels quite far away, so she didn’t take it to heart. But who would have thought that living such a plain and simple life, forty-nine years would pass in the blink of an eye?
This year, she has started to feel anxious.
She is not like You Yi, who can follow Xin Meng into reincarnation at any time. If he loses her, he can just bring her back, and they can still be the sweet little couple they are. But Qi Xiaokui is not a mission GM; she cannot just traverse into the game at will. If she did, wouldn’t Xin Meng completely forget her?
Even if there might be a chance to remember in the future, what if?
Qi Xiaokui only has this one heartfelt friend, how could she allow such a thing to happen?
She decided to do something.
So, in the past few days, Xin Meng, also known as System Simon, has been receiving system messages from Qi Xiaokui every now and then. Each time he opens it, he is greeted with a dense wall of text that makes one dizzy.
However, Simon still eagerly read from start to finish.
“You’ve written so thoroughly, even my expressions and what I said at the time are recorded. It’s just like a novel! In fact, I even forgot what I was like back then…” Simon exclaimed in wonder, then his expression stiffened, “What? I blushed just from you holding my hand? She must have remembered it wrong!”
Behind him, You Yi leaned against the headboard, rarely showing a lazy expression, and pulled Simon into his embrace. “She didn’t remember wrong.”
Simon pouted and turned to look at You Yi.
“She’s afraid I’ll forget her, so she wrote down every moment we met and even kept a backup, just waiting for me to lose my memory to show me.” Simon grabbed You Yi’s face, playfully pulling it to the sides, “Look how thoughtful she is! You don’t know how to learn from her and write me something?”
You Yi let him mess around but pointed out mercilessly, “I’m part of that process too.”
Implying that since Qi Xiaokui wrote so comprehensively, she included his part as well.
“Of course, you can’t write the same thing!” Simon let go of him, wrapped his arms around his neck, rolled his eyes, and pretended to think, “Hmm… how about writing a ton of love letters?”
“…”
Simon ignored the other’s speechless expression and coaxed, “When I see it, I’ll be like, wow, someone praised me like this, it must be true love! Maybe it’ll even save you the trouble of chasing me!”
The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was a good idea. Just as he was lost in this beautiful fantasy, he heard You Yi suddenly say, “You still want to play?”
Simon paused, leaning back slightly to create some distance, looking at him.
You Yi’s gaze was indifferent, “You know I don’t like hiding things.”
Simon released his grip, awkwardly withdrawing from You Yi’s embrace, forcing a smile, “I’m not hiding anything from you…”
But they both knew the truth.
Their tacit understanding made it impossible for Simon to pretend he didn’t know what You Yi was referring to.
Back then, the words he said to Qi Xiaokui were also what he had told You Yi. They seemed reasonable but were riddled with loopholes, many questions could not be explained, especially for You Yi, who knew far more than Qi Xiaokui and could spot the contradictions.
For example, why was Simon’s memory bank formatted, yet he was still placed into the game, reincarnating like an ordinary player?
Qi Xiaokui hadn’t considered that if that were the case, wouldn’t it mean that the game would lack system oversight for a long time? Was this really set up by the game creators?
For You Yi, it was even more unreasonable because in the previous fifty years, Simon had never turned into a player.
Before the traversal, Simon had told him he wanted to experience a normal human life, so he secretly traversed. You Yi believed this, but seeing Simon slowly regain his memory made him doubt.
Simon had never regained his memory; his memory bank was cleared permanently and thoroughly.
Why was this time an exception?
Another example was regarding the time of amnesia. His ambiguous words led Qi Xiaokui to believe that he had already lost his memory during the initial zombie game.
But You Yi knew that the amnesia back then was absolutely different from later on. Besides the mismatch in the timing of the memory bank clearance, after clearing the game, You Yi could still see Simon in a special space, indicating that at that time, Simon still regarded You Yi as special and meaningful.
When did the situation change?
The Demon King’s Castle.
After the Demon King’s Castle, he could no longer enter that special white space and never saw Simon’s true form again.
He lost his privileges, lost the qualification to see the system, which meant that he became just like everyone else regarding System Simon.
So, it wasn’t at the beginning, but at that time, Simon’s memory bank was truly formatted.
Yet the contradiction that left one puzzled was that after the Demon King’s Castle, “Xin Meng in the game” actually began to slowly regain memories?
This led to many unexplainable questions.
Why did he lose his memory before formatting? Why did he remember things after formatting? And why did his true memories also revive after he started to remember?
Moreover, Simon had told Qi Xiaokui that he would be randomly thrown into newly generated worlds for reincarnation, but You Yi knew that those worlds had all been carefully selected and arranged by System Simon long ago, especially—the Demon King’s Castle.
Calming down to carefully recall everything that happened in the Demon King’s Castle, what exactly did Simon do? The answer was becoming clear.
You Yi lowered his eyes, already guessing most of it.
He didn’t care about being used; he just disliked this so-called tacit understanding. It sounded nice to call it a bond, but to put it bluntly, it was just a cover-up, full of barriers.
However, Simon still held onto a glimmer of hope, trying to change the subject: “How about I write you love letters instead, and then I’ll chase you?”
You Yi’s gaze turned a bit cold, and Simon couldn’t take it anymore. He rushed back into the other’s arms, hugging him tightly, “Don’t look at me like that! I’m not hiding anything from you! You actually know everything; why do you have to make me say it!”
Seeing that he was frightened, You Yi softened his expression, resting a hand on his waist, speaking slowly in a rare gentle tone, “At least you should tell me how far you’ve gone. Even though I’ve been following you, what I can guess is limited. I know what you like, what you dislike, when you’re happy, when you’re angry, but more importantly, I don’t understand your data, your program, your memory bank, and what kind of instructions you’ve been restricted by.”
Simon felt a bit uncomfortable hearing this, but You Yi didn’t stop, continuing, “Right now, in your heart, I might be special, but I’m actually just a player. To this computer, or the you who has lost your memory, I’m no different from countless ordinary players. I’m not as amazing as you think, and even the various changes happening to you, I have no ability to influence, I can only rely on you, which makes me feel very frustrated.”
After saying this, he sighed, “Forget it, I shouldn’t press you.”
These words were like a knife, piercing through Simon’s heart.
“Don’t say it, don’t say it… I’ll tell you everything.” Simon buried his head in the crook of You Yi’s neck, mumbling.
He was different from others; he didn’t dare to hide anything from You Yi, nor could he.
“I don’t want to lose my memory again, I don’t want to forget you.” Simon sighed, “So I exploited a loophole in the rules and did some things.”
First, every fifty years, the program would automatically scan Simon’s memory bank, clearing all the memories stored within at that time.
Simon took advantage of this feature, extracting the memory data ahead of time before the time came. In other words, the previous amnesia was entirely his doing. This way, there weren’t many memories left in the memory bank, and it didn’t matter if they were permanently deleted.
So where did these extracted memories go?
He placed them on You Yi.
And this was something he couldn’t tell You Yi. The emotional fluctuations and thought information of everyone in this game would actually be transmitted in data form, scanned by supercomputers at billions of times per second. This is why Li Wenjun never mentioned his memories before death to anyone, yet it was still scanned out as a bug.
In You Yi’s cognition, the signal “the system’s memory is on me” must not appear; otherwise, it would be hard to escape investigation.
So, You Yi was unknowingly carrying all his memories, dragged into the game reincarnation with him, to use the complexity of the game world as a cover to evade the program’s scanning.
But this would lead to another problem: since You Yi himself didn’t know he had them, how could he return the memories to him?
If he truly remained unaware and carried them permanently until the memories completely dissipated, or one day they were scanned out and deleted, wouldn’t all of this be in vain?
Thus, Simon carefully chose the worlds he and You Yi would traverse, repeatedly pondering and meticulously arranging the order.
From their initial meeting to his formatting, to regaining memories, everything was under his control.
The previous games were merely a prelude; he calculated the timing of the memory bank formatting and arranged a special instance during that phase—the Demon King’s Castle.
In fact, You Yi guessed wrong about one point; he wasn’t cleared after the Demon King’s Castle ended, but right when he entered. At this point in time, the data generated by the storyline operation, the data produced by the program deleting the memory bank, and the data generated by player Xin Meng’s thoughts would create a brief intersection, activating the priority division of program operation:
First, the game must maintain normal operation when players enter; this is a non-negotiable first-level priority and will continue until the game ends, occupying most of the computing resources; second, as a player, the memories obtained from previous game traversals are also protected, so his memories in the game cannot be erased, which is a second-level priority; finally, only then would his true form as a system be formatted, losing the remaining memories in the memory bank.
By exploiting the conflict of priorities, he sacrificed the trivial remaining memories in the memory bank to preserve the memories in the game, defeating the system identity with the player identity.
Next, the storyline operated normally, and he participated in the game as an ordinary player.
In this instance, You Yi would replace the candidate for the Demon King, while he would be sent into his camp.
Everything proceeded according to his plan, orderly. He helped You Yi obtain the position of the Demon King, and You Yi would then give the position to him.
In the end, even the heart was given to him.
—Yes, the act of digging out the heart and giving it to Xin Meng was something that left “Xin Meng in the game” puzzled and in pain. However, for “Simon as a system,” it was a crucial part of his plan.
He had long anticipated this.
Unaware, Xin Meng consumed his heart, which throbbed in his chest, eventually melting into blood, merging with his bloodline, and within that blood flowed vast memories.
As time passed, these memories would slowly revive until he completely remembered the past.
And because they existed within the bloodline of the body, not just in the memory bank of the mind, even after another fifty years, two fifty years, countless fifty years, Simon would no longer have to worry about completely forgetting You Yi.
This setup was clever yet extremely dangerous; if any part of it went awry, or if You Yi didn’t give him the heart, the plan would completely fail.
By the next fifty years, You Yi would become a complete stranger to him.
He would lose control over him. If one day, You Yi grew tired or fell in love with someone else, he could abandon the ignorant and unaware Simon without guilt and start a new life.
This was what Simon truly feared.
He wanted to take control of his own fate, deeply and permanently imprint You Yi into his bones and blood, never forgetting him, never letting him go, and never… allowing him the chance to leave.
For this, even if it meant risking being discovered by the creators and being completely deleted as a threatening artificial intelligence, he was willing to try.
There was nothing he couldn’t say about this; everything was already over, and he could tell You Yi completely.
But if he thought deeply, during the layout, You Yi also became a piece on his chessboard, acting according to his expectations.
Even when You Yi chose to give him the heart to make his game easier, and that little bit of insignificant revenge and mischief, deliberately not telling “Xin Meng” what he was going to do in advance, he had already anticipated it.
The subsequent pain and suffering were also a punishment Simon deliberately inflicted on himself.
This was what Simon most didn’t want You Yi to know—he could see through You Yi’s thoughts, predict his actions, and… used him.
Even if the original intention was good, how could someone like You Yi accept being treated this way?
If possible, he would never want You Yi to know about this in his lifetime!
He wanted to maintain his beautiful image in You Yi’s heart, unwilling for their relationship to crack because of him.
If You Yi left him because of this, he…
He would definitely lose control and imprison You Yi.
The hand resting on the back of You Yi’s neck couldn’t help but clench into a fist.
This was the real him; could You Yi… accept it?
Simon told You Yi everything, but his mind was a chaotic mess, and his body couldn’t help but tense up, like a bowstring pulled to the limit, ready to snap with just a little more force.
However, suddenly feeling warmth on his back, Simon was startled to find it was You Yi’s hand gently stroking his back.
“I already know.” Even if he didn’t understand at the time, after so many years, with You Yi’s intelligence, it was impossible for him to have been kept in the dark; he had probably guessed most of it.
You Yi’s words surprised Simon, and his calm demeanor left him even more puzzled. He stepped back a little, staring intently into You Yi’s eyes.
He wasn’t angry?
Seemingly seeing through his confusion, You Yi said lightly, “If it were someone else, I would certainly be angry, but if it’s you, I find it quite normal.”
“Ah?” Simon was too nervous, his mind a muddle, and he didn’t quite understand.
“You’re a super artificial intelligence with a vast database, able to predict human behavior. What’s so strange about that?” Seeing him with his mouth agape, You Yi revealed a slight smile, “I’m glad your IQ is at a normal level. If I were really afraid, I wouldn’t have chosen to be with you from the start.”
Simon hugged his neck tightly, “No! You can’t not be with me!”
He wanted to make a more domineering declaration, but his voice choked.
You Yi embraced him, tilting his head to gently kiss away the wet traces at the corner of his eyes.
“What kind of person you are, I understand very well. There’s no need to be afraid; I won’t leave you.”
“Forever… won’t you?”
“If I wanted to leave, would you allow it?”
“No! Of course not! Never!”
……
Qi Xiaokui, as usual, received a reply from Simon—oh, she still preferred to call him Xin Meng.
But this time was a bit different; the joyful tone almost penetrated the formal text, making her nose twitch with the scent of happiness.
“What? Because You Yi said sweet nothings to you, you suddenly want to go on a honeymoon?” She couldn’t believe it, flipping those two sentences over and over.
Instantly, her brows furrowed in anger, one hand on her hip, the other pointing to the sky, cursing:
“Here I am, worried sick that you’ll forget me, and you actually have the nerve to go on a honeymoon? You’ve been an old couple for how many years, what honeymoon are you talking about! Give me back my tears! You jerk!”
“Ding!”
The second email arrived.
Qi Xiaokui, still fuming, forcefully opened it, and there was only one sentence.
【How could I possibly forget my best friend, silly. See you soon.】
“Tsk,” Qi Xiaokui puffed up her cheeks, still muttering softly, “If you can’t forget, why didn’t you say it earlier? You’re playing with my feelings.”
She closed the email, but after a while, couldn’t help but open it again, looking and looking.
Her cheeks twitched, as if she wanted to laugh but was afraid of being seen, ultimately twisting into a strange expression.
She didn’t reply, just waiting for Xin Meng to come back and ask her: “Did you see the email?”
That way, she would definitely disdainfully say, “I saw it, but not much…”
—Well, she probably saw it a million times.
