Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1401 - 52: If There Were No Wind in the World: Wings Unfurled (4)
Su Ming’an was about to fight back when he saw a pair of moon-white eyes and instantly fell quiet.
The door quickly closed, Norman’s footsteps gradually faded away, and the surroundings were silent enough to hear a pin drop.
"...You’re safe now."
Inside the room was a young boy with long purple hair draped over his shoulders, eyes like the moon, porcelain-white skin, and sharp, pointed ears. Su Ming’an immediately recognized him.
—The Elf King, Huan Jiala.
However, at this time, Huan Jiala was still very young, just an ordinary elf.
"Who are you?" Su Ming’an asked.
"I..." Huan Jiala’s gaze drifted, landing on his wrist.
It was then that Su Ming’an noticed that Huan Jiala’s wrists and ankles were shackled with iron chains.
Due to the scarcity of the Elf race, if they were lured out of the forest, they were often regarded as precious gifts, exchanged among the nobility.
In Huan Jiala’s shocked gaze, Su Ming’an nonchalantly snapped the iron chains with a few clicks and said, "You’re free now, go back to the forest. Be wary of strangers next time, don’t be tricked out of the forest again."
"But, but I..." Huan Jiala whispered, "I was a gift from Princess Aisudani to Sique, is it okay to just escape like this?"
He looked uneasily at Su Ming’an and put the chains back on himself.
Such a naïve elf, if released like this, would probably end up in the same situation. Su Ming’an said, "Why don’t you stay in the Royal City for a while, until I grow up a bit, then I’ll send you back to the forest."
"Uh-huh, uh-huh." Huan Jiala nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
Su Ming’an took Huan Jiala to find Princess Aisudani.
That night, Princess Aisudani stripped Marquis Norman of his title and announced that she had chosen Sique as her Prince Consort, gifting him an elf (Huan Jiala) as a token.
...
"I want to compete for the throne, but those dukes only want to leverage my marriage to ascend to the throne. Compared to my brothers, my path to competition will be more difficult." Princess Aisudani summoned Su Ming’an and said calmly:
"I declare you to be the Prince Consort because I have a premonition that you will become an incredibly great Creator in the future, and I want to invest in your Hidden Dragon Stage."
"I will gather my resources to promote your story. And with you as my Prince Consort, others will have some respect for me. This is a win-win deal."
"Once I have solidified my position, I will release you from the role of Prince Consort. Of course, if you do not wish to be released..."
Her gaze flickered slightly, she brushed the golden hair by her ear, and turned her head:
"...I can also agree."
...
After the news of the C-level Creator spread, the president of the Genesis Association traveled a long way to the Red Tower to personally confer the title of Honorary Chairperson upon Su Ming’an.
Luowasha’s decade-held World Literary Meet commenced, and even though Su Ming’an wasn’t present, people unanimously decided to bestow the highest title of the literary meet—Virdodo Star—upon Su Ming’an.
Virdodo is the God of Inspiration and the most revered deity by Creators. The title "Virdodo Star" signifies the weight of this accolade.
...
[Time: Second Epoch, Year 150]
[Plan for this year: A. Stay at Qiao’s home focusing on writing. B. Travel around as Virdodo Star. C. Concentrate on creating the unfinished character Si Li. D. Meet Cardinal Hui Bai. E. Arrange freely]
[You chose B.]
...
...
As "Virdodo Star," you gained the opportunity to travel around Luowasha.
The Genesis Association funded you for free, hoping you would find inspiration and write better stories.
Everything was hard. During your travels, you encountered many people and events.
Rumor had it that at the highest point of the Divine Mountain on Cloud Mist Island, dwelled a great sage who knew all wisdom. You sought inspiration for your second story and climbed the mountain.
Once, twice, thrice... After a few steps, you would return to the mountain’s base.
Ahead, clouds and mist were ethereal; people said the sage didn’t want to meet anyone.
Then, you saw a monk sweeping snow at the mountain’s foot, the pure white snow turning to dust.
"Everything has a method, like dreams and illusions." The monk told you.
All phenomenons are as illusory as dreams, mirages, foam, and shadows.
Everything in the world is as fleeting as morning dew, as swift as lightning, and should be viewed with a serene outlook.
You were still young and couldn’t understand, so you had to leave the Divine Mountain.
At fifteen, you advanced to a B-level Creator. Using the best ink and paper, you created your second original character after Siyi—Su Li.
You thought he would become a good friend, but he immediately shouted, "—Hypocritical Creator! I will forever escape your shadow; don’t think you can control me! From now on, I discard the name you gave me, I am Su Wenjun!"
He grabbed the kitchen knife nearby and slashed at you, but luckily, Huan Jiala saved you just in time.
You watched Su Li leave, experiencing the "illusion" the monk spoke of for the first time.
Soon, you created your third original character—Wu Yi.
The inspiration came when you passed through a slum and saw a pair of siblings killed by a Knight’s sword while resisting the Empire’s extortionate taxes.
...
[Outline: Wu Yi had a seamstress sister who cared for him. She yearned for the children to be happy and often brought back beautiful wildflowers, pinning them to the children’s clothes and teaching them to be kind.
Then, at an appropriate moment (such as when the sister knitted a new garment for each child and showed a blissful smile while placing the gifts quietly at their doors...)
Arrange for her death.
After seeing his deceased sister, Wu Yi sat crying beside her corpse, kissing her through the flower petals.]
...
The pen hovered over the last word, hesitating to fall. You knew that if you completed this character, it would signify the birth of a tragedy from your pen.
You feared this character might brandish a knife at you like Su Li, and you were unwilling to face them directly, so you placed the character ten years into the future.
B-level Creators could write across timelines, projecting their completed characters into the past or future. However, Creators themselves couldn’t traverse time, so once projected, it meant the Creator wouldn’t meet the character for a long time.
But the World Tree favored you, willing to help you transcend time, so you occasionally visited the future to see Wu Yi’s development.
Coincidentally, upon arrival, you witnessed the scene of Wu Yi losing his sister.
"...Sister, sister...! Don’t leave me!!" The blue-haired boy clutched the lifeless girl, wailing in the rain.
You intended to avoid it, but your eyes met his.
As if by Fate, he crawled towards you and clung to your pant leg: "Please... though I don’t know who you are, please save my sister..."
Though all his tragedies were crafted by your hand, he, unaware, begged you like a humble beggar, pleading for you to save his sister.
Your sister’s death wasn’t caused by you. In the original trajectory of destiny, this slum girl was meant to die on this day. It’s just that Wu Yi’s background story happened to coincide with hers, which made Wu Yi become her brother.
"... Okay." You shamefully softened.
If you let it be, without an older sister to care for him, Wu Yi would die in the cold, torrential rain within a few days.
Continuing to observe this character can bring you inspiration, so you won’t let him die.
Yes, that’s what you thought. You are such a villain who would do anything for inspiration. You took Wu Yi in only because he can inspire you, that’s all.
Wu Yi was staring at you.
You, with your loose green hair, in a spotless white robe. Your golden eyes were as bright as a deity’s, like a beam of light standing in the shadows.
"... Are you an angel?" Wu Yi asked, "Or a deity?"
...
You stayed for a while, sold the gold ornaments on your body, bought a house, and let Wu Yi live there. You also hired a teacher to teach Wu Yi reading and writing.
Due to the time-crossing violation, your range of activity was limited to the area around Wu Yi. So you always stayed with him, observing his every move.
But you quickly lost interest.
Wu Yi, who was not immersed in suffering, was now being cared for too well, gradually forgetting the shadows of the past. When a stray cat becomes a domestic one without claws, it can’t provide you with any interesting inspiration.
"Sir, may I know your name?" Wu Yi viewed you as a father figure, even though you weren’t much older than him.
"No, you may not." You didn’t plan to leave any ties, you were just a time smuggler and would soon return to your own time.
"Sir, when will you come next time?" Wu Yi asked.
"When I have time," you replied.
Every time you came, you wouldn’t stay long, just observed for a while, then quickly left. You knew the lifespan of the Magpie Clan was only twenty years, and you were already fifteen.
Wu Yi, ten years later, wouldn’t wait for the real you. So there was no need for much connection.
"Sir, you must have very important business outside. I fear that one day, you might never come again," Wu Yi slowly said.
You felt a wave of annoyance in your heart, guilt and oppression rolling back and forth, like the inevitable path of every creator. You deliberately put on a villainous face and sneered: "What? Afraid you can’t survive if I don’t come?"
Since being saved, Wu Yi had never gone out to work again, spending his days reading and writing at home, losing the skills honed in the slums.
The initial setting you gave him was a super villain who never repented after committing evils. But now, under the nurturance, he had become pure. This was all because of your softness at the beginning—it made him out of character.
You had yet to understand the importance of free will, only feeling a sense of chaos out of control. He shouldn’t be like this; why did he turn into such a person? Your outline for the second story was written around villains; his growth disappointed you, leaving you uninspired with no words to pen.
Why should a character break free from the creator’s control?
——Isn’t a creator supposed to be a great "Creator"? Why become a lowly "Recorder"?
You were extremely annoyed, yet surprisingly your villainous face received his pure white gaze.
The child looked at you purely, eyes full of admiration and concern: "I’m just afraid something happened to you outside. But if I see you, it means you’re safe."
...
That night, you stood in the courtyard for the whole night.
...
Some vague and more open ideas gradually formed in your mind.
In this world, everyone treats characters as private possessions, like a cat or a dog. But at this moment, you sensed something was wrong.
Finally, maybe because you didn’t want to face Wu Yi’s pure gaze, you decided to leave completely.
You could no longer feel any inspiration from Wu Yi; you needed to create more interesting characters.
You folded the inspiration drafts recorded during this time and sent them remotely to the World Tree, then left some money enough for Wu Yi to live alone until adulthood.
Every time you came, you used a body created by the World Tree, and now you were leaving completely, this body also needed to be destroyed. So you went to a nearby grove.
The moment your soul left the body, your body collapsed, and simultaneously you saw——
——Wu Yi running toward you.
His hand held a locator with a flashing red light.
Though you specifically chose an unobtrusive place, he had precisely found you. Turns out he had secretly installed a locator, he was so afraid of you leaving?
He considered you a benefactor, but you only viewed him as a source of inspiration.
The words of the Little Monk at age 14 flashed in your mind. All things in this world should be as short-lived as morning dew, what makes them prolonged?
Finally, the blue-haired boy ran to you, looking at your body losing its breath with a worried and sorrowful expression. Tears streamed down; his expression was bewildered and lost:
"... Why?"
Why?
He didn’t know you had left; he would only think you had died.
"Was it those knights? Did they not like you saving me and poisoned you?" He had already begun to speculate.
Your soul was out of the body, unable to speak.
In the last moments before your soul transferred away, you saw him lost in bewilderment, cradling your gradually cold body. Step by step, he walked out of the grove, burying you in the courtyard of the home.
He knelt on both knees, bowed his forehead.
Then he returned to the house, opened a drawer, and took out a stack of drafts full of bloody handprints.
——Densely packed, all personal information of the knights who killed his sister back then, as well as the aristocratic information behind them.
His eyes coldly noted everyone’s names, then he took out an [Imperial Guard Registration Form] and walked out the door.
It was at this moment you were shocked to realize,
he had never forgotten hatred.
It turned out he was still a stray cat, only for the sake of appearing obedient in front of the benefactor, he pretended to be well-behaved.
Behind the scenes, he never gave up on revenge.
He was still the villain you admired, only heathed his claws for your favor.
——Is it the creator who shapes the character, or the character who inversely projects the creator?
You could no longer get the answer, it was your last sight of Wu Yi. His figure marched resolutely towards the Royal City, as if nails had grown invisible blades.
The solitary wind blew through his head of blue hair, the rain screen shrouded his figure.
...
["Understood." The blue-haired boy smiled, kneeled on one knee before Su Ming’an, his earring swaying: "Wu Yi pledges allegiance to you... I will follow you until the life-saving grace is repaid."]
...
