Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Infinite Loop!
After traversing all seven levels, he returned to the first level.
The cycle would repeat endlessly, until eternity.
A scenario he’d only ever seen in horror movies, he never imagined it would actually happen to him.
Li Yuebai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; he felt a chill run through his body, a chill he’d never felt before.
Just like last time, Ye Qing reappeared.
He seemed to have forgotten that he’d already been exposed once, continuing to impersonate the Ye Qing from his complete memories, appearing before Li Yuebai.
“This time, you still won’t choose to kill me?” Ye Qing approached step by step, extending his icy hand to touch Li Yuebai’s forehead: “Or do you want to be trapped here until you die?”
“No.” Li Yuebai grabbed his wrist and forcefully shook him off. Ye Qing smiled, hugging him tightly, his icy body pressed against his, the chill seeping into his bones through their skin.
“The person you’re holding right now has become a demon. Everything he’s done is because you didn’t kill him.” Ye Qing repeated each word in Li Yuebai’s ear, his voice hoarse. “Once is fine, twice is fine, but what if it goes on for a thousand times? Ten thousand times? You really won’t draw your gun and just end it all cleanly?”
Li Yuebai let Ye Qing hold him numbly, without resisting.
Yes, no one could endure the torment of endless loops. No matter how strong a person was, they would be worn down to exhaustion, to the point of collapse, to the point of having to obey the orders of the leader.
“System…” Li Yuebai called out to the system in his mind, “Check the time, and what are the victory conditions for this world?”
The time was actually displayed in the lower right corner, with twenty hours left.
“Dear host, the victory condition is to kill Gao Chengyu himself.” The system answered honestly.
A very reasonable condition, but Li Yuebai had no idea where Gao Chengyu’s real body was. From beginning to end, he had only appeared in the form of a phantom.
Even if he knew where he was, he had no confidence in defeating him.
“Then tell me first, how can I escape this damned infinite loop!” Li Yuebai glared angrily at the system.
“Dear host, that depends on your skills,” the system replied politely.
An expected answer.
“Where is the real Ye Qing? Contact him for me,” Li Yuebai commanded.
“Huh? The real Ye Qing?” The system seemed to be feigning ignorance or setting up another obstacle: “Isn’t he right here? Why do I need to contact him?”
“This is fake. I’ll repeat myself, where is the real Ye Qing? Contact him for me.”
“Dear host, I’ve already said, he’s right here.” The system’s voice was somewhat mocking: “You can contact him yourself.”
Right here?
This sentence, upon closer examination, was terrifying, sending chills down Li Yuebai’s spine.
He shuddered, pushed aside the fake Ye Qing, and looked around.
The surroundings were empty, of course. The only living thing was the crow that had been perched on the windowsill.
A crow…
Li Yuebai felt like he was going crazy.
He walked slowly towards the crow, crouched down, looked at it, and cautiously asked, “Xiao Ye, is that you?”
The crow flapped its wings noncommittally.
“How many stars are in the sky? Answer me,” Li Yuebai asked again, unwilling to give up.
Caw, caw, caw, caw.
The crow cawed four times in unison.
“What power of ten is the unit?” Li Yuebai’s eyes widened suddenly.
The crow hopped eleven times.
Four hundred billion, that’s right.
Ye Qing… this crow is Ye Qing…?
Li Yuebai was momentarily stunned by his own crazy thought.
He lowered his head, reached out to touch the crow, but was afraid of scaring it away.
Judging from the crow’s gaze, it roughly understood his thoughts.
Li Yuebai didn’t know how many thoughts raced through his mind in that instant, and the next second, he pulled out the gun from his pocket.
“Damn it, you think you can fool me with such clumsy technique?” Li Yuebai roared, pointing his gun at the crow and pulling the trigger without hesitation, aiming for its heart. “Get lost!”
He was so angry he was about to explode; if he didn’t vent, he would really go crazy.
The crow was startled, its body flashing away, barely dodging the bullet, cawing loudly as it flew out the window. However, it was still grazed by the silver bullet, a few drops of blood and countless black feathers falling down.
With its injury, the illusion of the fake Ye Qing dissipated once again.
Before firing, Li Yuebai was 100% certain— that crow was the spellcaster, the vampire who used magic to create the illusion.
“Dear host, you were too impulsive,” the system laughed. “What if it really was Ye Qing?”
“Impossible.” Li Yuebai put the gun away. “Do you remember what time it was when we first arrived at Seven Star Tower? This crow was already here then.”
“Three hours ago,” the system replied.
“And the last time I contacted Ye Qing, he was still at the beach.” Li Yuebai took out his phone and used the calculator to calculate the distance. “Even at the nearest beach, Ye Qing couldn’t possibly have arrived here before me. This crow can’t be him.”
“Even so… what if…” The system still felt he had acted too rashly.
“There are no ‘what ifs.’” Li Yuebai disgustedly brushed away the crow feathers that had fallen on him. “The real Ye Qing would never remain quiet and do nothing while seeing a fake version of himself entangled with me.”
This crow could only be the spellcaster.
Its eyes, its cries, were always connected to the phantom’s every move. It knew the answer of four hundred billion. After it was injured, the phantom disappeared… everything pointed to one answer— it was the spellcaster.
“Even if it is the spellcaster, dear host, you’ve misjudged and haven’t killed it. What should we do?” The system feigned concern.
“It’s injured.” Li Yuebai walked to the windowsill, carefully picked up the few black feathers, and dipped them in the crow’s blood dripping onto the windowsill. “After it’s injured, the illusion’s power will inevitably weaken, increasing its chances of escape.”
“That’s not necessarily true…” the system said.
“You can’t escape.” – An extra line of writing appeared on the parchment.
“Yes, dear host, do you know this rule— only the caster can escape from the illusion created by the spellcaster,” the system said.
“Then you’ll see.” Li Yuebai sneered, leaving the window and stepping onto the stairs leading to the second floor.
“Wait, dear host, why are you still going up?” the system hurriedly tried to dissuade him: “Don’t you know the consequences of going up? It’s useless, it’s an infinite loop…”
“Precisely because I know, I insist on challenging the spellcaster.” Li Yuebai’s steps showed no sign of stopping: “I want to know, will I be the one whose spirit is pierced first, or will I exhaust its magic power first… How much magic power does it consume to maintain this illusion, this infinite loop? Think about it carefully…”
“You’re really brave.” The system’s tone was somewhat sarcastic.
It wasn’t bravery or stupidity, it was just that there was no other choice.
If he stopped, standing in the empty tower, looking around at the gloom, he would only feel more desperate.
No matter how tough Li Yuebai’s attitude appeared, deep down he was uncertain.
He often suspected that he might collapse at any moment.
The second loop, the third loop, the fourth, the tenth…
Time passed hour by hour, and the countdown quickly became 10 hours.
Ten hours later, if Gao Chengyu hadn’t been defeated, this journey would be a loss.
In what seemed like the umpteenth loop, Li Yuebai once again witnessed the fake Ye Qing drain Xiao Wan’s blood right before his eyes.
But this time, Ye Qing’s figure seemed much fainter, and his movements faltered and froze.
Had the spellcaster finally given up?
Li Yuebai leaned against the wall, struggling to breathe.
His heart ached as if it were being torn apart, his hands trembled, his throat felt like it was about to crack, and everything before his eyes became blurry.
Blurred…
Li Yuebai watched helplessly as everything before him was like winter glass, covered with a layer of frost.
Had his physical functions reached their limit, or had the spellcaster’s magic reached its limit?
The next second, he heard a cracking sound. Right in the center of this tower, a tiny crack appeared in the air, like a glass barrier being struck hard.
This was… a barrier?
Unfortunately, the cracking was quickly stopped; it didn’t continue to widen.
Li Yuebai forced himself to walk to the crack, feeling as if he were observing through glass.
Through this blurry “glass,” he saw a familiar figure.
It was Ye Qing.
This Ye Qing was completely different from the one in his memory, yet Li Yuebai recognized him instantly.
He was wearing a classic everyday suit, but it was stained with strange red and blue dye. He was tall and thin, and looked terrible, completely different from the calm and collected Ye Qing in his memory.
Was he…crying?
Perhaps it was just the blue tear, but from this angle, Ye Qing really did look like he was crying.
Why was he crying? Was it because he couldn’t find him?
Li Yuebai slammed his fist hard against the cracked glass, but no sound came out.
“Xiao Ye, come here…” he began, only to find his voice hoarse. After such a long journey, without a drop of water, this outcome was almost inevitable.
Even with this voice, Ye Qing didn’t hear him at all.
They were separated by a barrier, separated in two completely different worlds.
Li Yuebai walked around the tower once, finally forced to accept this cruel reality.
Through the glass, Li Yuebai could see that Ye Qing was also in the Seven Star Tower, on the second floor.
But Ye Qing couldn’t see him at all.
Li Yuebai could only see him through a small crack in the glass.
Sound, smell… everything was completely incompatible.
In an instant, Li Yuebai finally understood what the system meant by “he’s right here.”
Ye Qing had arrived here after hearing Gao Chengyu’s conditions, perhaps a step later, a few hours later, but not by much.
Yet, for ten long hours, Ye Qing had faced only an empty Seven Star Tower— no him, no Gao Chengyu, no vampires, nothing at all.
Perhaps Ye Qing had asked the system: Where is Li Yuebai?
The system’s answer could only have been: Right here.
Right here, but they could never meet.
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