Welcome to Rewind World Game-Chapter 1690 - 33: Going Home with You

Su Ming’an watched the number of people decrease, his gaze lowered, and he clenched his fist.

"Don’t worry." Suddenly, he heard the familiar voice beside his ear.

Soft, clear, and firm.

"...Yuanyuan!?" He immediately looked up, but could not see her.

"It’s me, I’m transmitting my voice to you from the World Game. The rules said it might not be possible to rebirth, right? I’ve already researched with the Eleventh Thrones, the power of the firewall is gradually increasing. The deeper you variable players go, the greater the influence. In the early trial periods, we could use the mechanism of the Universe organs to transmit the souls of the failed back to the World Game, as you still have the ’Player’ identity for blessing, but it gets more difficult later on, potentially really no rebirth." Yuanyuan’s voice came, "Advise them to leave now, there’s still a chance, we can still pick people up. Going further, it’s real death."

"Is everything fine now?" Su Ming’an asked.

"How could the failed be fine? Once they are here, there’s definitely an impact. Their bodies have fallen, only their souls remain; our authority can only do this much." Yuanyuan said, "People who exit now can only preserve their consciousness, their bodies will not remain. You transmit this to them."

"I mean." Su Ming’an asked again, "Are you okay now?"

There was a pause on the other side.

Soon, a subtle stillness.

Transmitting so many consciousnesses back to the World Game, even with the help of a mechanism, wouldn’t she be affected?

"I... am fine." Came the reply.

"Really?"

"Really, trust me. There’s help from Starfire, and some other forces."

"Hmm, I trust you." Su Ming’an would not say more, he only said, "I wish to return home with you."

"...Okay."

Among all, the hardest to return home was Yuanyuan.

She had climbed the cliffs of High Dimensions early on, so Su Ming’an and others wouldn’t have to infiltrate among the Organizers, so they could travel the broader world. But how can the most passionate traveler be bound with chains of rules, trapped in an organ that can’t be broken.

He stood at the highest point, looking down as millions stood bewildered, like a field of black reeds scattered by the wind. They had just gone through a selection process, some are yet to recover from the tension of the "Prisoner’s Dilemma", others bewilderedly look around for their disappeared companions, eyes habitually casting toward the high Lighthouse.

Su Ming’an relayed Yuanyuan’s words to everyone.

Once the words fell, the silence was dead.

Starsand paused, black waters smooth, a million pairs of eyes, a million souls.

Then, someone shouted out.

"I... I quit! I want to go home —!" A sharp female voice cried out, "Save me, let me go back! I shouldn’t have come, I shouldn’t have been greedy... Mommy, mommy..."

Her voice was like cold water thrown into boiling oil, countless emotions mixing into a giant wave.

"The body’s gone? What’s this but death!"

"Had I known, I shouldn’t have come in! Who dragged me here!!"

"No, no way! Stay and fight, what if it succeeds? What if I understand something? Then what does losing the body matter! The riches are sought in danger!"

"Be rational! We’re ordinary people, what can we compete with high-dimensional mechanisms? Su Ming’an said, the death rate will rise! Now the consciousness can go back, further ahead, even that can’t go back!"

"In reality, I’m a waste, lying in bed waiting to die, better to come in and fight! If I fail, it’s just a different form of dying, if I succeed I can stand up! I’m not leaving!"

"Ugh... but I’m really scared..."

"Don’t crowd! Let me through!"

"Brother, don’t listen to their scare-talk, see Su Ming’an is still up there? He definitely has a way to bring us to clearance! Bet with him!"

"Why is it his duty to bring you? The rules are clear, he clears, then we all clear! We are, frankly, burdens! Leaving now still keeps some dignity, don’t become the stepping stones, and dying without a memory!"

"Who you calling cannon fodder?! I volunteered to help!"

"Help? Don’t flatter yourself! What help can you offer? Back in that Prisoner’s Dilemma, did you help? It was Su Ming’an who made it through!"

The crowd began to move violently, like a black ocean stirred by the wild wind. Some began desperately pushing towards the outer rim, others stood like nails in their spot.

Su Ming’an watched silently, he saw the player who once called him "Mommy," now crying her heart out, dragged out by companions. He saw Xiao Xiao and Wang Zhenzhen huddling closely, discussing matters in a low voice. He saw Hang Xin, pale, leaning against Talia, Hang Xin holding her, lips pursed tight, eyes looking towards Su Ming’an. He saw Mo Yan with head up, staring at him through the chaotic crowd.

All living beings, displayed. No pure bravery, nor complete despicability.

Chen Yuhang tightly grasped the smooth edge of the Blue Whale, knuckles white. He, closest to Su Ming’an, clearly saw Su Ming’an’s hand hanging at his side, fingers slightly curled.

God... does he feel the weight too?

If Brother Wang were here, what would he choose? Probably boast saying "We’re here anyway" and be scared out of his wits.

Chen Yuhang kinda wanted to laugh, but his nose prickled sharply.

"Lu." Su Ming’an suddenly said softly, "Do you think, how many will survive among those who remain?"

Looking at this number, more than half still choose to stay. After all, they’re here already, hoping to take a chance, or desperately wishing to support Su Ming’an.

Lu stood by his side, silent for a moment: "I don’t know, at least they are brave."

Su Ming’an’s gaze swept over the faces filled with fear, frenzy, resolve, and apathy. He saw Alger curled in another corner of the whale, arms tightly wrapped, seemingly trying to isolate from the chaos; he saw Evelyn and Perlo, the two demons levitating calmly nearby, indifferent to the turmoil below; he saw Najasha, the crazy sea monster standing at the edge of the crowd, gazing emptily at the boiling masses, as if watching a drama unrelated to itself.

Su Ming’an shifted his gaze.

He had no right to choose for anyone, waiting for people to decide on their own, waiting for the tide to separate.

Gradually, amidst the confusion emerged two distinct streams, one flowing outwards, one against the current, converging towards Su Ming’an’s center. Among them, some eyes steadfast, some steps hesitant, some faces filled with tears.

The number remaining visibly decreased. From more than a million to less than a million, although it surprisingly didn’t reduce too much.

Looking at the faces marked by tension and fear, Su Ming’an exhaled a breath.

Where there are players, it’s always unbearably noisy, like ten thousand ducks quacking. It’s the same now, lively like a big market.

"We’re already here, in the base, going back before even fighting? Captain Yang will whip me with a belt! Anyway, I’m not going back, whoever wants to go back can." said a man firmly. The "Captain Yang" he mentioned might be Su Ming’an’s old acquaintance, Yang Changxu.

A boy who looked South Asian, with dark skin and teeth appearing very white in the dim light said: "I’m not going back, I want to earn points at the last moment to buy a house for my parents to live in! So they don’t have to live under gunfire anymore!"

"I want to defeat Su Ming’an! I want to live in a big house, I want to meet my mom and dad!" Flame Lolita Bonnie blended in among them, clearly deceived by some mischievous player into spouting these words.

"I want to help him, I must help him... my radiance, Su Ming’an..." Su Shi stood quietly among the crowd, wearing a mask to hide his face, fiddling with the necklace around his neck.

This time, the most interesting mechanism is that the Casual Players’ score wasn’t cleared after participating. They remain Casual Players, unable to buy anything adventure-related or gain Adventure Points, but they can receive rewards inherent to the Source Point. Rewards like comprehension of concepts, skills, finding treasures, or store items.

They are like a bug, not transferring from Casual Players to Adventurer Players, but appearing inside the Source Point as Casual Players. It’s this incentive mechanism that dares so many Casual Players to come over.

Among the crowd, a young girl hugged a white dog doll, her eyes moving: "I have to be strong... I want to meet my idol... Oh, didn’t my idol Lü Shu come in..."

Su Ming’an listened quietly to these words, and spoke again, still intending to persuade: "The following levels will likely require competition..."

There was a moment of silence in the crowd.

Then, someone shouted first.

A hearty female voice rang out: "If it’s competition, then so be it, there are so many of us. At worst, we’ll just rely on our abilities! Maybe we can even catch a bit of the Number One Player’s glory and get some leftovers! Isn’t that right?"

Laughter erupted, slightly easing the tense atmosphere. Then, numerous voices merged together:

"Exactly! Hey Su the God, lead us along!"

"Even picking up some Experience Points is fine!"

"We’re already here..."

"Let’s treat it as a company-sponsored trip..."

"Su the God, just let us tag along for some experience!"

"Rest assured, when it comes to it, we know our limits! At least let us accompany you through this toughest part of the journey now!"

"Give us a chance! What if I get lucky and pick up an unwanted Authority?"

"Brother Deng, don’t listen to that nonsense about dragging out timelines, what’s wrong with seeking perfection? If you stop before the adventure’s over, it’ll leave big hidden dangers, right? I trust you, I’ll follow you! No matter what master of the eyes, nose, or backside shows up, I’m with you!"

These words were a mix of subtlety and bluntness, carrying accents and life experiences from across the world. Not too many bold declarations, they conveyed pragmatism, even a bit of cheekiness.

A group of death-defying Fourth Catastrophe victims, a group of death-defying lively people...

Among them, Violet, Mo Yan, Leslie, Rimu Sheng, Agnes, Joy, Xiao Xiao, Wang Zhenzhen...

Even though the crowd surely contains some who don’t respect or are hostile to Su Ming’an, treating this adventure as mere opportunism, thankfully, what he hears is all pleasant. Even those who genuinely can’t stand Su Ming’an, have no faith in humanity, or even wish to destroy the world... wouldn’t say it at this moment.

Su Ming’an looked at them, slight ripples in his calm gaze.

In a corner, Chen Yuhang secretly wiped the corners of his eyes, sniffling, muttering softly:

"Why so emotional... Brother Wang isn’t here, no one’s making jokes."

Su Ming’an nodded very slightly, as if in approval.

He turned around, no longer looking at the team behind him.

"Let’s go."

Over the black water, it’s no longer suffocatingly crowded, with some distance now between the remaining people, not jostling shoulder to shoulder as at the start.

A new door gradually opened.

...

World Game, Control Room.

An altar with the smell of burning joss paper, at the deepest seat, a figure faintly revealing cat ears.

Yuanyuan held a longsword, its tip resting on an old rabbit doll’s chest. The rabbit’s eyes drooping weakly, stuffing leaking from the torn seam.

Behind Yuanyuan were Starfire and the Eleventh Thrones. Opposite them, Xiao Na transformed into a humanoid of striking red.

"Brain, we’re not attacking you, just need a Soul Transference permit." Starfire said blandly.

Xiao Na looked coldly at him.

Starfire said: "The universe’s organs meet cells, Source Point’s firewall manifests as ’Game Trials’ due to ’Player’ identity, creating conflict between soul return mechanisms post-failure and Source Point’s obliteration mechanism, it’s a gray area. We’re not grabbing souls from Source Point, just exploiting rule conflicts, technically not violations."

"You and I both know, the real trouble now is ’Source Point’ and ’World Game’, these two universe-level existences are clashing. Su Ming’an’s actions brought ’cells’ and ’organs’ face to face, giving us both headaches."

No one expected Su Ming’an’s search for the Demon Mother Goddess would cause the World Game and Source Point to collide. Even the cosmic organ World Game, recklessly impacting Source Point, experiencing interaction with millions of players’ data, is extremely fragile now.

Su Ming’an, this player, plunging into Source Point, is like a spark falling into sophisticated machinery, triggering a chain reaction that discomforts the World Game, one of the "organs".

Xiao Na’s gaze fell on the cat ears in the shadows.

That presence watched silently from start to finish, without any emotion revealed.

The grand hall fell into a standoff, with only the smell of burning joss paper in the air.

Finally, Xiao Na stopped blocking Yuanyuan; she had no desire to perish together with these three rebellious "parasites". Meanwhile, Yuanyuan finally successfully guided the souls of the defeated into the Dream Realm.

As the tense confrontation relaxed, Yuanyuan gradually looked towards the cat ears in the shadows.

... Who is it?

As early as the third instance, this presence had summoned Su Ming’an and handed him the Ruler’s Black Card. It’s not any of the Organizers, nor a native life form like Xiao Na, who could it be?