"Today isnât that day, is it?" Gu Mian glanced at a box beside the table following the numbers. The big box was open, revealing its contentsâa neat stack of stone digits, unused ones inside.
"Is it December 9 now?" He turned his gaze back to that string of numbers, staring at "12" and "10" for half a second.
Slaughter came to the table and swiftly dug into the box, retrieving four numbers: 1, 2, 9, and arranged them below 12 and 10 to form 12/9. Gu Mian guessed he was recording the rollback time.
"Yes, today should be New Calendar Year 974 December 9, but half an hour ago I found the date set here was the 10th. Every time I set the date, I confirm repeatedly, it wouldnât be wrong. So when I noticed it was the 10th here, I realized the world might have rolled back."
After arranging the numbers 12 and 9, Slaughter turned to Gu Mian: "After realizing the date was wrong, I immediately placed todayâs date underneath and was about to confirm in the cave at the bottom, but saw Fatty as soon as I went downstairs...
"Seeing Fatty, I realized something might have happened here before the rollback, rushing to see the statueâs changes below, I even forgot to bring this."
Slaughter gestured towards the bed, Gu Mian turned his head, and there lay a round helmet.
"Iâve answered your question, now itâs my turn." Slaughter shifted slightly to face Gu Mian directly, having a bunch of questions, "Yesterday... no, last time, how did you come here? How did we meet?"
When asking, he glanced at the clock on the wall.
Due to sensitivity to time issues, there was no shortage of clocks in Slaughterâs room, four at a glance: two hung on the wall, one on the table, and one placed on the bed.
This time, Gu Mian didnât let him draft a declaration, but vividly depicted how he came across here while delivering parcels, how the hospitable Slaughter invited him in and enthusiastically showed him the remains of Evil God statue, the two becoming fast friends.
But good times didnât last, the evil earth envious of their friendship, forcefully rolling back five times to tear them apart. Seeing Slaughter who no longer recognized him, Gu Mianâs heart ached as if pierced, deciding to name this Chapter "Amnesia" if ever turned into a novel.
As the nonsense wrapped up, Gu Mian also made a symbolic display of false expressions, feigning grief for two seconds.
Listening more made Slaughterâs brow furrow tighter, the scar across half of his face wrinkling along, visibly wanting to throttle the person before him.
Finally, Slaughter relied on Gu Mianâs story to deduce a hint of reality: "I probably recognized you because of the brooch you wore. I have the same one..."
As he spoke, Slaughter pointed to his collarâs green brooch, then felt the gesture unnecessary, Gu Mian probably had looked closely at it before the rollback.
"It was left by Xu Xingcheng next to the statue, like a token, or a message. After the circus accident, Mr. Slaughter came looking for me, saying the notable No.9 in the Slaughter Game wasnât dead and had colluded with Carnival and Circus leader Lu Yi..."
Mr. Slaughter shared a similar name with Slaughter, but their appearances were worlds apart.
Gu Mian recalled the pale little guy, seeing Slaughter tossed down by Lu Yi during the circus audience blast, never expecting his survival, spreading reports everywhere.
"At that time, one of his hands was in plaster, using the other to gesture at my collarâs leaf brooch, saying No.9 in the Slaughter Game also wore a brooch identical to mine. I was a bit surprised, thinking Xu Xingcheng returned."
Slaughter glanced down at the green brooch on his collar: "Later, from people from other worlds I found out the person Slaughter talked about wasnât Xu Xingcheng, but you, Gu Mian;
"Frankly, Iâd heard of you already then, the infamous game bug. The game company launched many items related to you, associations about you existed across worlds. I never thought youâd have this leaf brooch, or be connected to Xu Xingcheng."
Gu Mian reached out to stroke the brooch pinned on his white coat, its surface smooth, as if touching a gem, Evil Godâs craftsmanship and taste were indeed exquisite: "It was given to me during my first visit to this world."
"He left this brooch by the statue for me, later giving you an identical one on your first entry into this world, seems he planned our meeting long before."
Listening to Slaughter, Gu Mian couldnât help suspecting his ninety-nine delivery tasks were also orchestrated by Evil God.
After all, he came to the Secret Forest to deliver parcels; he wondered if the delivery bike rode from Bird Bandit Express still existed.
With that in mind, Gu Mian glanced down at the mechanical dog squatting by his feet, since it hadnât disappeared with the rollback, the delivery bike outside might still remain.
"He probably wanted me to lead you to the underground statue, looks like I did it." Slaughter, having lost memories from the last round, glanced back at the foldable door to the underground, expression complex.
Though he forgot pre-rollback events, now it appeared heâs done Xu Xingchengâs bidding.
"You indeed led me to the statue, even telling a motivational tale of a hero overthrowing feudalism." But the storyâs ending wasnât quite successful, the underground statue fractured along with this less successful conclusion.
Yet Xu Xingcheng painstakingly lured him here, was it simply to tell a story, and see how his statue cracked?
Gu Mian felt this trip seemed rather fruitless.
Then came the sound "Are you happy?" from near his feet.
He looked down at the machine dog making the noise.
Well, not entirely fruitless; at least heâs got a dog.
Gu Mian shifted his gaze from the dog to Slaughterâs face: "Did he leave anything else behind, like âEvil Godâs Giftâ?"
Slaughter remained silent for a few seconds, seriously recalling if Xu Xingcheng left anything else, finally shaking his head and taking off the leaf brooch from his clothing: "He only left this, handing it to you."
Gu Mian accepted the leaf brooch he handed over, seemingly just a regular brooch, receiving no special item notification, no unusual occurrences.
"Perhaps youâve received something unseen." Slaughter suddenly said from the side.
Gu Mian remained silent for half a second, the words felt like Xu Xingcheng painted a big picture, perhaps what he received was his high expectations?
Slaughter looked again at the stone date on the table: "I think you should leave, the Upper Class People must have known about the rollback, likely rushing here."
After all, the pivotal Evil God statue is here.
Gu Mianâs renown in this world is considerable, being the most popular guest of two top reality shows.
If recognized by those Upper Class People, theyâd certainly chase him for autographs.
But with a tight schedule, he had to hurry to join Lu Yi in the next trial show, only able to evade these fervent fans first.