Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1646 - 4: OE - The Guiding Lighthouse in the Universe (Part 1)
[If this world were an endless plain, we would always reach a new east if we kept driving eastward.]
[— Herman Melville, "Moby Dick"]
...
A few nights before the execution of the World Master.
In the pitch-black room, a flicker of candlelight danced, and Vice World Leader Kelsa walked into the darkness, looking towards the end of the shadows.
He saw the World Master curled up in a broad chair, with a bitter aroma delicately winding through the air. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows behind Him, the bustling city traffic flowed silently, and the night was like velvet wrapping around Him. His eyes were closed, seemingly pondering something.
At that time, it was the year 2118, and the "Creation Plan" was in full swing. Humanity firmly believed, according to Su Ming’an’s words, that as long as people wrote a hundred thousand beautiful world lines, they could break through Bright Pearl Star’s barrier and successfully fuse the two planets. Yet those in the know understood this plan was mere nonsense. How could a high-level civilization’s barrier be broken down by mere writing, otherwise Dieying wouldn’t have put in so much effort before.
So, for a full seventy years, was Su Ming’an just deceiving humanity, giving all mankind a false hope?
Vice World Leader Kelsa, holding a candle holder, gazed at the curled figure in the depths of the night, muttering, "World Master, we can’t find another habitable planet, nor can we penetrate the civilization barrier of Yizhu Star, what are we to... How do we go on?"
"When that day comes, you will know." A slightly cold voice came from the darkness, Su Ming’an’s voice.
He rarely smiled or showed emotion, his voice always calm and slightly cold, as if He had long since become a qualified Deity,
"Which day?"
"That day—when I announce that this plan was a lie, when people see me as a sinner who deceived all of mankind, when Lü Shu climbs the mountain to kill me."
"You intend to... incite people’s negative emotions, play the role of the Evil Dragon, imitate the Holy Initiation? But even so, it is impossible to break the civilization barrier."
"That’s just extra." Su Ming’an suddenly looked at him and said, "Kelsa, you still have a chance to escape."
Kelsa understood that if Su Ming’an released the truth that day, humanity’s fury would inevitably implicate him. He lowered his head, his blue eyes burning like fire in the dark, and bowed:
"Five years ago, you adopted me, meticulously nurtured me, elevated an ordinary village boy like me to the position of Vice World Leader. At that time, I already knew I was a decoy, to divert attention from your true trusted confidant—Lü Shu. With me out in the open, he could safely hide. I’ve basked in the glory you bestowed, naturally, I’d bear the obligations. I won’t flee, not even in death."
Su Ming’an’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
He had reached a point where his emotional fluctuations were minimal, yet the words of the minute figure before him still moved him.
"Deity." The young man lifted his head, gently spreading his hands,
"I really liked something my Grandpa Vino, who adopted me, said—"
"[Oh Deity, tell me, what significance is there in staying behind, watching over our homeland for a lifetime?]"
"[We are about to leave this planet, it’s just a magical place, not our real homeland, Zhai Xing; no one remembers it. Yet I guard the magical memory, walking, guarding... like watching over a river doomed to flow.]"
"[Actually, when I was young, I really thought of becoming a Flying Bird, soaring into the sky. Unfortunately, it seems I’m tethered by something, tethered by something...]"
"Grandpa Vino pondered a lifetime and never understood what tethered him. Maybe I’m a bit smarter than Grandpa; I’ve long thought it through."
The young man slightly lifted his head, revealing a naive, pure smile like a Flying Bird:
"... It’s [love]."
Love.
For which humanity strives with no stone unturned, and Deities sink eternally into the yellow springs.
In the darkness, the Deity opened His eyes.
Like intersecting rays of light, like a vast wind, when those pupils gazed over, it seemed as if countless arcs of rainbow light were seen. For a moment, the pale walls seemed to bloom with golden daisies.
Kelsa had never approached this Deity; His heart seemed to have become a frozen universe, reachable only by the first of people, what the later saw was only silence.
—In this Deity’s eyes, what role did he play? An ephemeral minor character? Dust willing to die? Footnotes mentioned in just a few words?
Compared to the vast future, he was just an insignificant character, a smoke screen to protect Lü Shu. How could a mayfly enter the heart of an Immortal?
Hadn’t He once, like himself, just been a passionate youth eager to be a Hero? What froze His passion, and what shaped Him? On the day His ideal was realized, when He fully unveiled the back plan of this project—would He show a pure, beautiful smile like a tea flower?
Unfortunately, he would not witness it.
"Eat the Lord’s coin, be loyal in the Lord’s service, so it goes."
...
On December 31, 2118, World Master Su Ming’an publicly announced that the "Creation Plan" was a lie—Humanity was destined not to break the barrier of Yizhu Star, and the hope they carried for seventy years had been wrong from the start. They could no longer find another planet, destined to slowly perish under the high-dimensional chase and resource depletion.
All humanity fell into chaos and anger, targeting the proud, indifferent Deity.
At this moment, Bei Wang and Lü Shu stepped forward.
...
[In the footage, Lü Shu, with absent eyes, said in a deep voice, "I think you have all heard a name—Bei Wang. Over this century, he has been committed to recording information of extraterrestrial objects, already touching upon high-dimensional realms, even possessing a small world. To reverse the fate of Earth being devoured by Yizhu Star, we can depart Earth and head to Bei Wang’s small world, abandoning this destined sinking ship!"]
...
In an instant, extreme despair transformed into extreme hope, everyone clung tightly to the last straw—if they could just slay the World Tree turned from the Deity, using the Deity’s flesh and blood to nurture Bei Wang’s small world, humanity could board this last Noah’s Ark.
Hasn’t He already corrupted? His humanity had been worn away over long years, understandably so. They also appreciated everything He had done, but once He became a hindrance to civilization, the choice was clear.
Slaying God was imminent.
In the topmost office of the World Hub, the blond, blue-eyed Kelsa sat behind a broad desk, a leather-bound diary spread open in front of him, the pen smoothly moving, leaving behind the last few lines of clear and neat handwriting:
[New Epoch Records, Morning of December 31, 2118]
[Everything is proceeding according to the World Master’s plan.]
[Today, World Master Su Ming’an announced to the entire world that the "Creation Plan" is a lie and returned to slumber at dawn.]
[The world’s anger and despair, all within the plan, without fault.]
[According to the "Emergency State Law" and pre-authorization from the World Master, Mr. Lü Shu, Mr. Bei Wang, and the Union Government Emergency Committee will temporarily take over command of civilization.]
[According to the previous arrangement of the World Master, proceed with the next step of the plan.]
[Personal duty fulfilled.]
[May civilization... move forward.]
...
The pen paused slightly on the words "move forward," Kelsa closed the diary, slowly capped the pen, placing it aside with meticulous precision, as if this was just one of countless routine tasks.
Afterward, he was calmly taken away and imprisoned.
On the morning of December 31, 2118, under the eyes of the world, the executioner Lü Shu ascended the Divine Mountain, and the Deity fell to Lü Shu’s blade.
This scene was lamentable, for they had once held immense reverence for this Deity.
People lamented that since the Deity was now dead, they awaited the opening of Bei Wang’s small world—
However, this was just a second lie.
...
["Su Ming’an, you knew the barrier could not be crossed, do you intend for people to enter Bei Wang’s small world?"]
["No, that is also a lie, Bei Wang’s small world cannot hold everyone."]
["One lie after another, what are you trying to achieve?"]
["I can’t tell you the truth, I fear someone might overhear. Just do as I say without asking the reasons, okay? At the right moment, deliver the correct blow."]
["...You’re so cruel, Su Ming’an."]
["I’m sorry."]
["...Okay, if this is your wish, I will help you realize your dream."]
...
——The Cloud City God raised His head.
Under the overwhelming brilliance of the deity-slaying light—under the lenses of the whole world—under the collapsing giant azure tree, he revealed the second truth.
—The small world of Bei Wang, even with the nourishment of the World Tree, is still insufficient to accommodate everyone.
This is still a lie.
He mercilessly closed the lid of hope and told the people—that no matter which path they choose, they actually lead nowhere.
As if people are doomed to perish.
As if the ones in power are merely toying with the emotions of humanity, extracting their feelings, and letting them go from paradise to hell, and then from hell to paradise.
Since the barrier is utterly impossible to break, and Bei Wang’s small world cannot accommodate humans, is humanity destined to die? Why deceive them repeatedly?
Just when people were furious and collapsing—they suddenly noticed the changes in the world.
...
"What’s going on..." A geologist, sleep-deprived from staying up late, picked up his coffee cup, intending to take a sip, only to find the coffee inexplicably slanted to one side, as if gravity was unbalanced.
At the same moment, at an observatory in Dragon Country, a technician routine glanced at the star chart, but noticed two planets approaching each other.
"Fusing, fused...?" The technician trembled with disbelief, unable to discern whether it was confusion or ecstasy.
—At the moment of the deity’s death, two planets began successfully merging, and the small world suddenly disregarded the previously insurmountable World Barrier of Yizhu Star.
The news spread like wildfire within communities, igniting the global network, and all academia was in an uproar. No theory could explain it, as clearly the "Genesis Power" couldn’t possibly shatter that civilization barrier.
"Why is this!?"
"Clearly, it’s the deity’s lie, but why...?"
"Why did the two planets successfully merge upon the deity’s death? How does one explain this principle?"
People were confused and bewildered.
—So, what exactly was the "civilization barrier" of Yizhu Star that blocked humanity for seventy years? If it was an indestructible wall, why did it only permit a few hundred thousand to enter? If it wasn’t indestructible, why could it block seven billion people from entering? What role did Su Ming’an’s plan, ten thousand world lines, and the seemingly absurd "Genesis Power" play here?
Among the stalemate, countless people were scratching their heads, yet it was the simplest child who inadvertently uncovered the truth.
In the eastern Dragon Country, the elderly Yang Changxu was teaching his great-grandson to read. Four or five-year-old Xiao Yang was looking at the new word on the tablet—"mirror," babbling the phonics. The tablet displayed images of various mirrors: dressing mirrors, rearview mirrors, funhouse mirrors...
At that moment, the television was broadcasting, marking out the "civilization barrier" of Yizhu Star that had troubled humanity for generations, and experts were heatedly debating why the small world had suddenly successfully disregarded Yizhu Star’s barrier.
Xiao Yang raised his little face, with bewildered eyes looking at the "barrier" on the screen. In the child’s unbound mind, a simplest association was made. He tugged at his mother’s sleeve beside him and uttered a stunning phrase:
"Mom, look at that shiny circle... it seems like a big, big mirror!"
Innocent words, yet like a striking lightning.
The child smiled innocently, but everyone was struck like by thunder.
"Mirror... Mirror!?" The elderly Yang Changxu was startled, straightened his hunched back, although very old, and his mind dizzy, at this moment, as if struck by lightning.
Initially, he thought the child naive, but when Yang Changxu looked at the "barrier" on the star chart, a wild thought hit him.
He suddenly jumped up, eyes flaring:
"Mirror... That’s it!"
...
—What if, from the beginning, the essence of that "World Barrier" wasn’t an all-blocking "wall," but a "mirror" instead?
...
In humanity’s habitual impression, the "World Barrier" is a wall, indomitable and airtight, keeping the likes of Dieying firmly outside the civilization.
However, once this new idea emerges, it can no longer be ignored. Simultaneously, the demise of the World Master subtly relates to this hypothesis.
The news quickly fed back to the newly established World Fusion Research Headquarters. People began revisiting a fundamental question: why could tens of thousands of "pioneers" initially cross the barrier and reach Yizhu Star for basic construction, while later, seventy billion globally pooled efforts were blocked outside?
Theoretical physicists started madly theorizing along the "mirror" line of thought—if that wasn’t a traditional material barrier but a rule layer on a cosmic scale? If it wasn’t that it "blocked" the Zhai Star people but reflected their attempt to go to Yizhu Star, along with humanity carrying different elements, completely "reflected" back?
——What if it’s "reflection," instead of "blocking"!?
——What if what humans have been trying to "break through" is actually the projection of their own perception!?
And the hundred thousand world lines of Su Ming’an’s "Genesis Plan" are using countless possible "world settings" to wash over, cover, or "persuade" this mirror, so that it no longer reflects all forms of humanity, but instead tends towards uniformity, until it allows passage!
"The Genesis Plan isn’t some nonsense plan, nor some absurd method where ’just writing can break through the barriers of advanced civilizations’..." Yang Changxu suddenly felt a wave of shock and reverence in his heart, reverence for Su Ming’an, who from the beginning realized this was the best plan, "It’s entirely effective... It’s the optimal special attack targeting the essence of the barrier!"
...
"——I see."
Seventy years ago, during a patrol, Su Rin approached the surface of Yizhu Star and gained insight into the essence of the barrier, golden eyes flashing with understanding; he suddenly laughed, finding it interesting.
"Is it? It’s not a ’wall,’ more like a ’mirror.’" Su Ming’an touched the halo on the surface of Yizhu Star.
"What do you plan to do?" Su Rin asked.
Su Ming’an’s eyes flashed with contemplation, speaking softly: "This towering ’barrier’ is essentially an ’information filter.’ When small groups attempt to cross, they are like emitted single particles, able to pass and successfully reach the other side—this is why tens of thousands of our explorers were able to successfully enter before."
"However, when seventy billion people, carrying a unified, intense, colonizing collective consciousness like a strong spotlight focused on the crevice, the certainty of collective observation led to collapse. They were no longer uncertain probability waves but became a definite macroscopic object. This object was reflected back by the ’mirror’ of the universe."
At this point, Su Ming’an tilted his head and said:
"So, the reason this barrier is unbreakable is because seventy billion people collectively decided and determined the reality of its impassability."
Su Rin crossed his arms, "You speak about this in quite a logical manner."
"I don’t like your sarcastic tone."
"It’s a compliment." Su Rin glanced forward, "So how should we deal with this barrier? Since its essence is a mirror, it can’t be broken violently."
Su Ming’an’s mouth pressed together, seemingly pondering: "Su Rin, what do you think, if we want to pass through a [mirror], what’s the best way?"
In the silent universe, the stars shine brightly, everything silent.
Su Rin closed his eyes, opened them a moment later:
"——To illuminate the mirror."
Not to break it, but to reflect it.
When a person gazes into the mirror, the mirror reveals the person’s image within it.
Their silhouettes are reflected beneath the slow rotation of the Colorful Planet, akin to frost under the rainbow, indistinct and distant. Su Ming’an gazed at the vast sea of stars, thinking of a sure-fire plan:
"...In the next hundred years, I will initiate a ’Genesis Plan,’ selecting a hundred thousand creators to write a hundred thousand world lines. This is not to amass energy to ’smash’ the mirror, but to write reflections."
"Based on the information I’ve accumulated in Luowasha—the light-dark side theory. The reality in which life exists (dark side) and the illusory side (light side) are like two sides of a coin, while the mirror is the boundary connecting light and dark."
"What creators need to do is continuously write into the mirror countless possibilities that are beautiful, full of hope, about the fusion of the twin stars, ultimately forming a clear ’reflection’ beneath the surface (light side)." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
"When enough ’reflections’ are solidified on the light side, causality reverses—not first Zhai Star people struggling to cross, leading to the fusion of Yizhu Star; but first defining the reality ’Zhai Star Humans exist within the mirror,’ and the mirror beyond must respond accordingly to fit the written ’result.’"
——They don’t pass through by reflecting themselves into the mirror.
——Instead, they first write the "reflection" into the mirror through the crevice, causality reversal, with the mirror reflecting them beyond it.
"To let someone enter the mirror, the only way is..." Su Ming’an’s lips curved into a smile, as if solving a long-standing riddle, "First let the mirror’s interior cast our image, then the logic of us gazing at the mirror must exist outside it."
"Thus, we will no longer be rejected by this civilization."
Two worlds don’t physically shatter barriers but become an indivisible whole.
The hundred thousand world lines written by humans are possibilities for Zhai Star people, humanity’s ideal form... When the reflection on the light side is optimized to perfection, this optimization also reverse-maps back to the Zhai Star people themselves.
...
——They, like Word Spirits, wrote the "self" across, while simultaneously reshaping the "true self" on this side.
...
