Chapter 135 She felt extremely, extremely regretful...
Fu Qing was plunged into darkness in an instant.
The system repeatedly issues alarms in a cold, emotionless voice.
[Host confirmed dead]
[Unbinding in progress...]
[We will search the world for the next suitable host...]
[WARNING! No humans survive in the current timeline. Host cannot be changed!]
...
Just like last time, Fu Qing saw a series of images flashing before her eyes.
But this time it needs to be more complete, coherent, and grand.
Those were her memories from her first life.
She looked at herself in her swaddling clothes, closed her eyes, and could even smell her mother's fragrance and feel that warm, incredibly real and reassuring embrace.
The baby grinned and blew out a happy bubble. The gentle-looking couple in the picture exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.
She watched herself grow up, learning to speak, walk, and run.
She ran faster than others, excelled in her studies, and even in games, she was always the one dominating others. From childhood to adulthood, she was always the "other people's child" that parents talked about. From childhood to adolescence, she lived a carefree life.
After the college entrance examination, she easily got into her desired university. During the long summer vacation, she set off on a journey alone with her backpack, doing odd jobs, sleeping in internet cafes, and turning over harassing thugs to the police station. Her life was so rich and exciting that it was dazzling. The occasional phone call from home became an interlude in her life.
In the eyes of the eighteen-year-old Fu Qing, the world was vast and she could roam freely, so full of vigor that she could hardly see anyone around her.
"..." Fu Qing, in mid-air, reached out and touched the lines at the corner of her mother's eyes on the video call, but her fingers only touched nothingness.
Time flies, and she rushed to register, throwing herself into the equally vibrant and busy university life. The calendar pages turned one by one, and time froze on the day the virus broke out.
Fu Qing rescued her roommate from the zombies, and the group hid in the dormitory together. Just as she was about to call her parents, she received a call first.
The two men carefully apologized to her over the phone, saying that they had wanted to come to the school to surprise her, but they were stuck on the road.
They called to say a final goodbye to her.
Fu Qing looked at the unfamiliar version of herself and, ignoring the system's attempts to stop her, ran out of the school like a madwoman. She only found two familiar-looking zombies in the car, bound to their seats by seatbelts, desperately reaching out their hands when they saw her.
But it was no longer about giving her a hug.
She knelt on the ground, staring blankly for a long time. When she stood up again, her eyes were vacant, her lips moved, and she silently swore to the electronic voice in her mind:
"I will personally kill all the zombies in the world to avenge them."
...
[The attempt to save the world line has failed, and the second loop is about to begin.]
[The second cycle begins: two years before the apocalypse]
[In accordance with the demands of global consciousness, death data will soon be revised.]
[Zombie-related deaths have been eliminated]
[Memory grafting complete]
Fu Qing closed his eyes.
The scene shifts, and she sees her second self stepping into the university gates, a bank card tucked into her arms.
Kari is the legacy left to her by her parents. She has long since emerged from the shadow of their deaths and is ready to embrace a brand new college life.
She forgot the cause of her parents' deaths, attributing it to a vague "accident" in her subconscious and then letting it pass by lightly.
...
[A new host will be selected soon. Based on the requirements, 159 candidates have been selected who meet the criteria.]
[New host confirmed: Zhao Yunxiao]
[Binding in progress...]
[A new cycle begins; the entity is about to fall into slumber to undergo self-repair. Expected completion time: the day the apocalypse arrives.]
[I am about to leave this cycle of reincarnation. My memories are being archived. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this record will not be reopened.]
After a few seconds of silence, the system's voice reappeared, tinged with hesitation.
[In the event of an unforeseen circumstance, this record can only be restarted for one person.]
Therefore, following human convention, I think I should perhaps say this in advance...
"Host, it's been a long time."
*
When Fu Qing woke up in the simulator, she stared at the ceiling of the room for a long time, unable to come back to her senses.
It's as if I've already lived my whole life inside it.
No, to be precise, that was indeed her entire life.
After finally calming herself down, Fu Qing stepped out of the simulation pod and glanced at the clock on the wall.
Less than half an hour has passed.
The system in my mind emitted two untimely crackling sounds, which, in a human's case, might be equivalent to two hesitant groans.
[Host, it's not that I didn't want to be honest with you before, it's just that my actions had to comply with the rules...]
I can provide items and secrets related to world lines, but the host must pay a corresponding price.
Therefore, this cost is quantified in the form of "upgraded global influence".
Fu Qing hadn't intended to blame it in the first place, and absentmindedly hummed in agreement.
Having spent two lifetimes together, the system had grown accustomed to her aloof personality and immediately became lively again, saying happily, "I knew you wouldn't blame me!"
Fu Qing: "..."
She suddenly recalled that shortly after the first monthly exam, when she had just learned of the existence of the devout, she was feeling vaguely anxious about it.
To reassure her, the system once unintentionally said something that made her believe in it and in herself.
Believe in yourself...
That's what this sentence actually means.
"And in my previous life," the system stammered, then continued, "I'm sorry, I couldn't lead Zhao Yunxiao to complete the mission."
As promised, Fu Qing did indeed hold on for a long time. However, without the system and her cheat ability, and having lost her memories of her first life, she had no way of knowing that Zhao Yunxiao had actually died long before that.
The mission failed once again.
At the moment of Zhao Yunxiao's death, the system immediately changed hosts, but it could not choose hosts arbitrarily. Instead, it had to select the person who best met certain conditions within a certain range, randomly bind to them, and the time interval could not be too long.
When Zhao Yunxiao died, Fu Qing was not by his side at all; in fact, she was thousands of miles away, so it was impossible for her to be associated with him.
The system eventually chose a soldier responsible for protecting Zhao Yunxiao as its next host. However, the soldier had already fallen into the zombie horde and soon died as well, at most hearing a sound in his mind before he died.
Later, when there were no more humans in the vicinity, the system returned to its ethereal form, wandering among the omnipresent world consciousness until Fu Qing was about to die. Only then did it muster its last bit of strength to rush over and find her.
This action consumed its last bit of energy, and coupled with the failures of the two previous lives, it directly resulted in arriving in this life several months later than the Zombie King.
...
The system's apology sounded quite apologetic.
Fu Qing's thoughts wandered for a moment. She hadn't noticed it before, but now that she had seen the records, she suddenly felt that compared to the tone of her first life, the current system seemed to be a little more... "humanized"?
She stopped thinking about it and shook her head. "Didn't you say before that 'there are only one in ten thousand examples of successfully resisting the world's consciousness'? Besides, to meet the condition of handing it over immediately, Zhao Yunxiao was destined not to be a skilled martial artist. He can't blame anyone for his failure."
She knew before she placed her bet that it was a gamble, and that they had simply lost.
"Besides, you have also fulfilled the rest of your promises."
Before she died, she didn't have much time to think or make more arrangements. Her desire for a group of partners who would never betray her was more of a wish than a promise.
But the system actually did it.
Fu Qing himself probably never imagined that he could achieve this goal by running a school.
The system listened and finally felt much better.
They chatted amongst themselves until they stepped outside.
The sunlight made Fu Qing squint, and she was not used to it for a moment. Against the light, she saw Lu Yan waiting outside.
The latter noticed her immediately, frowning as he said, "You ran out without a word of explanation, I was worried and came to check on you... What's wrong?"
He was halfway through his sentence when he saw her expression and his face changed.
Fu Qing was taken aback by his question. She had been talking to the system in her mind the whole time, and only when she suddenly spoke did she belatedly realize that her voice was hoarse: "What's wrong with me?"
She didn't think there was anything wrong with her.
Logically speaking, she has no memories of spending time with her parents in this life, so a mere half-hour replay is not enough to establish any deep emotions.
Taking a step back, this was the path she had chosen willingly in the past. Only by entering the next life would she have the chance to avenge her parents and deceased relatives and friends, even if it meant being forgotten.
But she still felt regret.
It's a very, very regrettable situation.
Fu Qing swallowed the dryness in his throat and said bluntly in a flat tone, "You've been hiding the fact that you're a devout believer because you're afraid I'll use it to do something?"
Lu Yan concealed the fact that the believers were searching for Fu Qing, partly because he didn't want her to bear the psychological pressure of the shelter's destruction.
Another reason is not hard to guess.
He knew Fu Qing too well, and he knew exactly what she would do after learning this.
Lu Yan's expression turned extremely ugly in an instant. He froze on the spot, wanting to say something, but every word he uttered was extremely difficult.
“We’re making good progress in this life, and we still have students, so you don’t need to…”
Fu Qing patted his shoulder and walked forward. As they passed each other, her gaze passed over his shoulder and fell on a group of middle-aged people sweating profusely and exercising hard on the playground. The corners of her lips curled up imperceptibly, and she seemed lost in thought. She said softly, "But they still have their parents. For those of us who have died once, if we die again, no one will feel sorry for us."
Lu Yan closed her eyes, recalling the last time she had to go back to save her friends in the factory.
He was just as helpless back then.
He could never stop her from making decisions.
"but……"
Fu Qing's voice suddenly paused. She saw that Xu Mingyue had somehow mingled with Bai Tang in the training group. Xu Mingyue was running backwards with ease, constantly encouraging Bai Tang, while Bai Tang was clutching her stomach, waving her right hand wildly, and grimacing as if begging for mercy.
The two saw her at the same time, and Xu Mingyue jumped up and waved to her and Lu Yan.
This year of peace was far too short.
Fu Qing couldn't help but wonder if Fang Zhou would still exist if the system changed hosts.
Where are Lu Yan, Xu Mingyue, Bai Tang, and Grandma Liu?
For the first time, and very rarely, she hesitated, took a deep breath, and gently lowered herself down.
"...There's still time, let me think about it some more."
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