Shen Yi found a random excuse and left, not chatting much with Shen Xun.
After seeing that he was safe, she finally felt completely at ease.
For the following time, Shen Yi devoted herself to studying the art of how to kill White Sparrow.
The first time was unfamiliar, but the second time she knew the ropes.
By the third, fourth, and even the dozenth time, Shen Yi had learned to banter with him to stall for time, seeking to deconstruct his moves in the process.
From loading the save file, to dying.
From beginning to end, Shen Yi was all alone.
Her deaths were exceptionally lonely.
The system couldn't help but say, [Shen Yi, why bother?]
[Aren't you tired?]
Shen Yi looked at the familiar ground.
Was this the dozenth time she had come here?
...She couldn't remember clearly.
Her mind was a chaotic mess, feeling as if it were stuffed full, yet simultaneously hollowed out.
Shen Yi did not answer the system.
Since the system could let her reload the save file time and time again.
—Then she would save Shen Xun even if she had to die trying.
The system couldn't understand her.
Shen Yi sensed that the system seemed to feel sorry for her.
This world consciousness was quite humanized. She looked up at the sparse stars in the night sky and half-joked, "System, aren't you going to play some background music for me? I'm so pitiful."
Shen Yi felt that in this situation and setting.
If there was some hyped-up background music, it would perfectly suit her right now.
The system didn't play dead this time.
It actually played an ultra-hyped BGM in her mind.
[Love you walking the dark alleys alone, love the way you refuse to kneel, love you confronting despair, refusing to cry.]
Shen Yi: "..."
This is cursed.
Shen Yi told it to turn it off.
The system said, [I just wanted to make you a little happier.]
[Did you know? Every time you die, your expression is so sad.]
Shen Yi fell silent.
Sad?
What was she thinking right before she died?
She was thinking, why couldn't she be a little stronger?
She was afraid that even if she repeated this tens of thousands of times, she still wouldn't be able to save Shen Xun.
He would still die.
Just like in the script.
Shen Yi felt an uncontrollable surge of fear. She was terrified that her endless cycle of endings would only result in losing everyone.
The system hurriedly comforted her:
[Shen Yi, don't be afraid. You are the protagonist. As you grow up and mature, the more rules I can control.]
[Even if you can't kill him, your growth rate during these repeated reloads is exceptionally fast.]
[Soon, we will be able to choose any point in time to reload, rather than being restricted to just the same day.]
That was indeed a pretty good cheat.
But the problem was—
Shen Yi remained expressionless. "If I'm the protagonist, why is he so hard to kill?"
The system went quiet again.
After a while, it told her:
[Actually, no matter which timeline's version of you achieves happiness, my restrictions will loosen a bit.]
This was the perk of being the protagonist.
It was just that, so far, no matter the timeline, its host had always been a pitiful little thing.
Shen Yi: "Are there other timelines?"
The system replied, [The universe is static. The stories on each timeline are different, and naturally, the endings are different as well.]
Shen Yi gave a soft "Oh."
Thousands of versions of herself,
thousands of endings?
Then she wanted to be the Shen Yi who achieved happiness.
Shen Yi would work hard for that.
Taking a deep breath, she suppressed all those messy emotions.
She said, "Again."
...
Repeated time and time again.
As if she knew no fatigue.
Shen Yi successfully experienced all sorts of deaths.
Having her throat slit, her neck snapped, being kicked off from a high place, being shot by a bullet.
In the end, Shen Yi became completely fearless.
She simply treated this day like a game dungeon, grinding it like crazy.
She refused to believe she couldn't kill him.
Yet another time.
White Sparrow looked at the girl who appeared in front of him. He stared at her, feeling inexplicably tired.
But he clearly hadn't done anything.
He didn't know why he had this kind of feeling.
As if possessed, the man blurted out:
"Aren't you tired? After so many times?"
Shen Yi froze on the spot.
In that instant, the night wind blew through the concrete frame of the abandoned construction site, letting out a whimpering sound.
Shen Yi looked into his eyes and suddenly felt a chill down her spine.
From White Sparrow's perspective, this should have been their first meeting.
Then...
What did he mean by "so many times"?
Shen Yi was truly shocked.
"What do you mean?"
White Sparrow also snapped back to his senses, realizing his words were a bit strange.
The man simply changed the subject, putting one hand in his pocket, looking at the girl expressionlessly:
"I can't figure out what exactly drove you to come see me."
"You can't beat me," White Sparrow said. "Is throwing your life away that amusing to you? Or are you simply not afraid of death?"
Death was not as simple as just pain.
More than pain, it was psychological terror.
Shen Yi had seen this face so many times that it even made her a little nauseous.
With a pale face, she said, "You have your choices, and I have my reasons."
It wasn't that she wasn't afraid of death.
Cowardice is human instinct.
Shen Yi was terrified of dying the most.
In her eyes, the one who wasn't afraid of death was actually this man named White Sparrow.
After hundreds of clashes.
Finally, through Shen Yi's repeated early predictions.
She was able to successfully kill him.
But this son of a bitch insisted on taking her down with him at the critical moment.
Shen Yi had perished together with him countless times.
...
After yet another mutual destruction, Shen Yi powerlessly cursed in her heart.
It was just that...
Unlike the previous dozens of times where she had died completely alone.
In her daze, right before she died, Shen Yi saw someone she never expected to see appear in front of her.
She saw Shen Xun.
The young man's face was deathly pale and slightly distorted by fear.
She had never seen Shen Xun make such an expression.
The always-calm Shen Xun was kneeling beside her, his entire body trembling as he held her.
The voice by her ear was fragmented by extreme panic—
"Xiao Yi..."
