Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 334: Chapter 197: Calamity Fog

”Trapped in a time loop?” Wu Chang couldn’t help but ask.

He Yun opened the can in his hand and said, ”Everyone in the Underground Shelter, like the two people you just saw, our lives are anchored at a certain point in time. Once we die or our lives undergo a drastic change, Life will revert back to that node.”

”No matter what happens in between, physical or mental traces will fade together, as if nothing ever happened.”

Wu Chang was silent for a moment, not knowing how to respond, and could only say, ”It sounds like a different kind of immortality.”

”Immortality?” He Yun sneered.

”Here, everything is unchanging. No matter what we do, we can’t leave a mark on our lives. Those important moments we vowed to remember forever might leave us with no memory as soon as we wake up.”

”When you work hard to learn, gain enough knowledge, push your body to its limits, and possess skills everyone praises. When you win game after game, becoming the center of attention in the Shelter, standing on the final stage, the moment you change too much, you reset back to being the confused teenager staring at the game poster ten years ago.”

”Can you imagine that feeling?”

Wu Chang just thought for a moment and couldn’t help but frown.

For those who just want to lay flat and do nothing, it’s great, but for those with dreams, who yearn to accomplish something, this setting of change equals reset is just too brutal.

If it’s just one person, it might be okay. After all, losing all memory would mean not knowing how far one had come.

But in a city, everything you’ve done leaves traces elsewhere. When you know you were just one step away from your dream’s end, only to be reset to the starting point the next moment, that contrast would surely drive anyone insane.

He Yun crushed the empty can and casually tossed it to the ground, where a garbage robot came by, grabbed the trash with its mechanical arm, stuffed it into its mouth, and after beeping, a metal coin rolled out of its recycling slot into a metal storage bin below.

”When you realize all your efforts only lead to more regret and maddening disappointment, people stop changing and strive to play their original roles.”

”Do you still think this is a form of immortality?”

Wu Chang didn’t answer. No wonder the original inhabitants of Underground Shelter No. 88 all seemed to have superman complex, teetering on the edge of danger or rushing madly toward it.

Maybe this is the only way they can feel alive.

He looked at He Yun and asked, ”You’re not as crazy as the others, aren’t you afraid?”

He Yun turned to go upstairs, leaving behind a quiet reply.

”In this underground office, whatever happens is not a major change for me.”

Before long, He Yun came back downstairs, dressed, and began to usher him out.

”I have to go work, and you need to leave too.”

Wu Chang excitedly came to He Yun’s side and asked, ”What are we doing today?”

He Yun paused for a moment, as the word ”we” sounded particularly jarring in her ears.

”There’s no ’we,’ only you and me. I do my things, and you go your way.”

Wu Chang said to himself, ”What I need to do now is to get familiar with this Underground Shelter. In my experience, there’s no better way to understand the local customs than hanging around with local friends.”

He Yun looked at Wu Chang in surprise, ”You have local friends?”

Wu Chang looked at her and nodded.

He Yun realized something wasn’t right, pointed at herself, and asked, ”You’re not talking about me, are you?”

Wu Chang naturally responded, ”Where I’m from, staying at each other’s house already signifies a close relationship. So I consider us friends.”

He Yun took a sharp breath, realizing she was really stuck with this guy.

Wu Chang continued, ”Besides, people here are very unfriendly. I’m afraid that if I can’t control myself, a big noise might arise from self-defense. If I’m not within your sight, you won’t feel at ease.”

If before he was just thick-skinned and persistent, his words now carried a slight threat.

Wu Chang’s words hit He Yun’s worries head-on. As a native and one of the strongest in the Underground Shelter, He Yun understood the weight of the Underground Shelter well.

With Wu Chang possessing teleportation ability and great Destructive Power, if a conflict arose with locals, it would likely be the locals suffering a big loss, with little means to deal with Wu Chang.

After all, the Underground Shelter is on the technology side of the Plane, incapable of preventing spatial jumping.

After hesitating for a moment, He Yun compromised.

”Listen, you can stay by my side, but don’t cause trouble. Without my permission, you can’t make a move, or don’t blame me for being unkind.”

Wu Chang grinned, ”I knew we were good friends.”

The ancestors were right, when dealing with gentlemen, you must deceive them skillfully.

He realized He Yun didn’t like using violence or killing recklessly, and so he repeatedly achieved success by being thick-skinned, pushing to stay at her place overnight.

He also saw that He Yun, unlike the other locals, was rational and responsible, which allowed him to semi-threaten her into binding their actions together.

If it had been those lunatics he encountered last night, Wu Chang’s tricks wouldn’t stand a chance. Those superhuman kids would have emptied their magazines long ago.