The Explosive and Badly Ended Stand-in Story (Thirteen)
The words were accompanied by thunder, the sky darkened, lightning struck, and thunder continued.
Jiang Yuanshi's soul was shaken.
A strong wind blew in the sky, creating a vortex that pulled his consciousness away, accompanied by a sigh and an apology.
Thank you...I'm sorry.
Jiang Yuanshi opened his eyes again.
He floated in the air and watched the tall man stretch out his hand to pinch the neck of the young man in the wheelchair, the veins on his hand bulging. The young man raised his head, his eyes as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
The wheelchair was pressed against the edge of the rooftop. He heard the young man say, "Unfortunately, there's no gap on the rooftop this time."
It’s Jiang Yuan.
Gu Zhi paused when he heard that, and moved closer, his eyes tracing the other person's outline. Staring into those eyes, he chuckled and said, "We meet again, brother. You finally came to see me, but... why did you come so late?"
As he spoke, he increased the strength in his hands.
Jiang Yuan raised his neck but did not answer.
Gu Zhi didn't care about not getting an answer. He just nuzzled Jiang Yuan's cheek and said, "Why are you only willing to show up to see me now? I've done so much to see you, why are you only willing to see me when we're about to die... I've done so much for you."
Jiang Yuan's eyes were dull as he murmured, "You did this for me... You arranged for someone to blow up my sister, causing her to be infected in the ICU, and then tricked my grandmother into losing her mind and ultimately dying. Was all this for me?"
Jiang Yuan recounted a plot even more explosive than the original novel, with the accused showing no remorse. "Of course! Otherwise, how could we have met, brother? Otherwise, why would you be with me? I said no one can possess you except me. This is your punishment for leaving me and going with someone else. We were dependent on each other in the orphanage, but you left with someone else. And then, I killed all the outsiders who invaded your body. No one can replace you."
Gu Zhi expressed his twisted love to Jiang Yuan incoherently.
What's going on?
Jiang Yuanshi floated in the air and watched silently.
It was hard to say whether it was his consciousness or soul. The translucent body floated in the air and one could only hear those strange words but could not get close.
However, he summed up some truths between the lines. The characters in the novel world can generate self-awareness and will be erased after the consciousness awakens.
As for the reason, Jiang Yuanshi pressed his solar plexus, his mind filled with the alarm sound of [The character's consciousness is suspected to have awakened, and is being investigated. The possibility of a reset is increasing].
What is the purpose of awakening and erasing? If nature can generate self-awareness, what is the use of the host?
Ripening prematurely?
Jiang Yuanshi felt that the system hadn't told him the whole truth. He silently looked at the glowing spherical slime floating in the air beside him and said quietly, "Tell me, Mr. System. I'm going to fail anyway, so let me die with a clear mind."
Jiang Yuanshi's eyes were dead, as cold as if he had killed fish for ten years at RT-Mart. System Z01 felt a little scared when he was stared at, and the slime ball of light was steaming.
In fact, this was the first time that Z01 knew that the character could develop self-awareness, and he even suspected that he knew about the existence of book travelers.
Jiang Yuanshi said silently, "It doesn't matter. 1. Why does the character's awakening need to be erased and the world reset? 2. What is the host's purpose other than completing the mission? 3. Novels have their own readers, so what is the point of generating and running the novel world? Choose one of the three."
Jiang Yuanshi thoughtfully gave three options, but the system could not answer the first two options because he himself did not know. According to the current situation, only the Lord God could touch the truth, and the system had no authority.
The system remained honest and answered the only question it knew the answer to, "Option 3: The generated plot images of the novel world will be made available to creatures in other dimensional worlds for viewing, thereby gaining willpower."
Jiang Yuanshi looked at the situation below, not knowing what they were talking about. Jiang Yuan slapped Gu Zhi in the face. Gu Zhi touched the place where he was hit and laughed.
Why reward him? Jiang Yuanshi felt exhausted.
"So you mean that the characters' interactions will be projected in real time to the creatures in other worlds, just like filming a TV show?" Jiang Yuanshi looked around. "Are there any hidden cameras around me?"
The slime ball nodded and then shook its head. "It's consistent with the human TV series in terms of meaning. The interactions between the characters in the plot will be recorded according to the original work, but it's not real-time. Character interactions take time, so to save readers from waiting, an edited version is usually released every three systems."
How is this different from filming a TV series?
"As a repairer, the host's words and actions are not counted except for those in the original novel. There are no hidden cameras in this world. The Book Transmigration Bureau records the entire world. To put it in human terms, this world is full of eyes."
Jiang Yuanshi: "..."
That’s a very good description. Don’t describe it again next time.
The system is no different from a horror movie. This world is just a huge Truman.
Every role is included, except for the host and the system staff.
But will it be edited according to the original novel? Jiang Yuanshi asked, "Your world is no longer functioning, and you're still editing according to the original novel?"
Are you remaking the original work so seriously?
The system replied seriously, "In human terms, the Book Transmigration Bureau is primarily responsible for adapting novels into television dramas, thereby gaining the willpower of readers in other worlds. The Book Transmigration Patch Department is responsible for adaptations, ensuring that the already problematic novel worlds continue to operate."
"But according to the rules you mentioned, apart from not allowing Jiang Yuan to die, everything else basically has to follow the original novel. What's the point of that?"
System: "Adaptation is not random editing."
Is this how it's used? Jiang Yuanshi couldn't help but complain, "The film and television industry needs you, if you really can't make it, change your career."
System: "Why?"
Jiang Yuanshi: "But as far as this world is concerned, wanting Jiang Yuan to live is contrary to the original story, and is no different from going against the will of heaven. You initially proposed the plan of being with Gu Zhi. Listen to what Gu Zhi said. Is it possible to be with a murderer?"
System: "The department will cut it."
Jiang Yuanshi sighed, reaching out to pinch one side of the ball of light, "No, you edited the original work for the readers to see, but the willpower was not enough to keep the world going. You've patched it dozens of times and it still doesn't work, which means the readers don't want to read the original work at all!"
"If you don't make big changes, you're going to go bankrupt, Mr. System!" Jiang Yuanshi tried to wake up the system, but unexpectedly, the ball of light became very ductile and turned into a long, soft strip when he pulled it.
It looks like rice cake. It feels good.
"Hello, Suzhu, please let go." Jiang Yuanshi was a little too nervous, and when the system reminded him, he quickly let go, "Ah, sorry."
The system floated in the air and bounced back into a ball, replying, "It's okay. Your suggestion has been sent to your superiors. Please wait for a response."
Jiang Yuanshi: "You really agree?"
He was just complaining casually, but it would be useless even if he agreed now. After all, the business was about to reopen and he was still in debt of several hundred wish points.
"Considering the failure rate of this world, what you said makes sense." The system replied.
Jiang Yuanshi: "Hasn't anyone complained about this before?"
System: "Based on analysis of some host cases, there are none. Reasons: 1. This world has more bugs than 90% of previous worlds; 2. No NPC awakening cases; 3. Deviating from the original story is extremely dangerous, and hosts rarely break the plot; 4. The system screens hosts, prioritizing the terms 'obedient', 'calm', 'well-behaved', 'compliant', and 'rules'."
Okay, I understand. The last sentence is the key point. The underlying meaning is that the hosts chosen are too obedient, and Jiang Yuanshi is a character fraud.
Jiang Yuanshi kept smiling, "I'm really sorry for not being obedient, but why don't you choose people with other personalities when you go to the bookstore? It's impossible that all those who die are obedient."
The system gave a calm response: "The Transmigration Bureau selects hosts from multiple species, multiple worlds, and multiple universes."
Okay, that's okay.
Jiang Yuanshi pointed at the two people below who were about to commit suicide for love, nodded his head, and changed the subject, "When will the reset be?"
"Just 5 minutes have passed. Still analyzing. Please wait."
If you don't reset it, you will be strangled to death.
I don’t know why Gu Zhi is so obsessed with committing suicide with Jiang Yuan. He could have kidnapped them together if he had the time.
The character's awakening personality has nothing to do with what is written in the novel.
Jiang Yuanshi listened to Jiang Yuan questioning Gu Zhi about why he hurt his family. Gu Zhi replied, "You can only have me by your side. You can only look after me. They are too much of a hindrance. With them, you no longer care about me. You picked me up from the orphanage, but you abandoned me again."
It can be said to be a story of the farmer and the snake. The other person saved your life out of kindness. One of the best outcomes for orphans is to be adopted. Jiang Yuanshi also remembered that in the original book, Gu Zhi was taken away from the orphanage by the Gu family very early, so who is to blame?
Jiang Yuan: "I was adopted after you were taken away."
Jiang Yuanshi: ...
Gu Zhi's eyes were red as he pinched the man's neck and said, "If it weren't for you, if you hadn't picked me up and brought me to the orphanage, I wouldn't have been misunderstood by those people in the Gu family! I wouldn't have been bullied by those bastards in the orphanage!"
Jiang Yuanshi took a deep breath and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
Neurological, hopeless, pure nitpicking. Speaking of which, don't you, Mr. Ba, always like to pinch people's necks, pinching for a long time before charging up for an attack? And Jiang Yuan, please beat him up, beating him to death is also a way to die.
But Jiang Yuan seemed to be frozen in place, and could only use his fists and slaps at most.
Jiang Yuanshi was very tired. While knocking on the protective barrier, he asked the system: "Why does the NPC awakening look like Jiang Yuan is being controlled?"
The system approached the barrier, its long eyes flashing with light, the same data flow as when Jiang Yuan was running the code, "Detected that Jiang Yuan's character is imprisoned."
"Is Gu Zhi there?"
"No."
Okay, another plot twist. Just as the system was about to attach the barrier, a hand reached out to block the view, and the system was gently pushed back.
Just as the system was about to say that the host was blocking its view and couldn't analyze it, the other party withdrew its hand and said in a calm tone, "Stay away, or you'll be burned into a fire slime."
The system did not understand Jiang Yuanshi's words. It just detected that the data of the host's hands was incomplete when scanning the host, and there was a large area of electric damage and then reorganization.
The long-lined eyes blinked. Jiang Yuanshi's form now resembled an abstract human figure drawn by a child, lacking facial features but possessing all five senses. His voice was like a cube of metal gently dropped into a stream, cold yet gentle. "System, what is the probability of reopening next time?"
System: "Resetting the world backtracks means starting the mission over again, 100% probability."
"But the chances of survival are uncertain. Even after awakening, there are still restrictions. What if even your willpower is restricted once you restart? After all, this world is full of bugs."
"Cards exchanged for willpower cannot become invalid—" The system stopped mid-rebuttal because the host's words were extremely reasonable.
Jiang Yuanshi looked up at the sky and said softly, "Ten minutes have passed."
As soon as the words fell, a warning sounded:
[Detected that the character Jiang Yuan's consciousness has awakened. The world is about to reset. Countdown 10 seconds.]
Gu Zhi is fine? Jiang Yuanshi laughed in anger.
The sky darkened completely, buildings began to crumble, debris was sucked into the vortex, and the entire city flowed backwards into the sky.
Jiang Yuan and Gu Zhi gradually became invisible. Gu Zhi looked up and said with a smile: "It's a pity, we will have to meet again next time, brother."
Everything seemed like the end of the world.
However, the next second, a sound was heard.
drop--
Everything paused and turned gray.
[Congratulations to the host for successfully redeeming the card. Time rewind has been used. Duration: 60 minutes. Effect: Rewind time, ignore everything. Redemption requirement: 6% of the host's soul (cannot be recovered)]
A blood-red eye opened in the vortex, staring in a certain direction.
Jiang Yuanshi used his hand to return to the floating system and said with a smile:
"Mr. System, I didn't use my willpower this time, so I won't report it."
"By the way—" He raised his eyes and met hers, saying nonchalantly, "Sorry, I hate restarting the game at the crucial moment."
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