Chapter 982: Return to the Game (2/2, Requesting Moon Tickets)

Zhi Zhi puffed out her cheeks in anger, crossing her arms and glaring at Fang Yue.

【Stupid Fang Yue, I'm not talking to you!!】

She was already tired from expending so much energy, so she immediately lay down on the bed, rolled onto her side, turning her back to Fang Yue and pulling the blanket over herself.

"Asleep?"

【Asleep!!】

Fang Yue scratched his head. Fine, sleep if you want—why yell so loud?

To be honest, he had absolutely no clue about the Heavenly Chains.

Of all the words left by Wanfa Xianren, the only thing he could make sense of was Youquan.

Youquan connects above to Youquan Bridge and hides below the Flowers of the Other Shore.

Those Flowers of the Other Shore were precisely what Lord Han had once longed for—the sole hope to break through the limits of the Spirit Root and achieve immortality.

Yet throughout his journey across half of Qing Guo, Fang Yue had found not a single shred of information on this.

If not for Lord Han's unwavering belief, he might have doubted whether Youquan even existed beyond legend.

He sighed, realizing thinking about this now was pointless.

He vaguely felt it was due to his own limited knowledge—if one day he could reach legendary places like Youquan, Jiu Yuan, Tianhai, or Wanyun, perhaps he'd learn something.

For now, he should try logging back into the game.

Fang Yue lay back on the bed and closed his eyes.

System Prompt: Account anomaly—currently unable to log in. Please wait a moment.

Fang Yue: …

The Game Watch still showed red.

Fang Yue tried several more times, sighed, and got up from the bed.

"Can't get in… Last time, Time Rewind cleared the records—why won't it work now? Could this damn system actually upgrade itself?"

Fang Yue was frustrated, unsure whether it was a system issue or his own mistake.

"Zhi Zhi."

【Busy!】

"... Use 【Time Rewind】 for me. I can't log into the game."

【Figure it out yourself! Hmph!】

"Zhi Zhi, my Zhi Zhi, my most adorable Zhi Zhi, my most beautiful Zhi Zhi…"

【Puff puff!】

Zhi Zhi suddenly flung back the blanket, her face straining to hold back a grin—her triumph was almost overflowing.

【More! Praise more! Great and noble Zhi Zhi can do anything!】

Got her hooked.

"Use 【Time Rewind】 for me. We probably need to clear the data again."

【No, Fang Yue, think carefully—you were kicked out of the game only when you were nearly dead. Before the system's feedback fully took effect, we used 【Time Rewind】, meaning we reversed time before the expulsion even happened. Logically, you should be on the whitelist in reality.】

【But now you can't log in, which suggests the system has changed. Repeating the same method twice should've raised suspicion—let alone…】

Zhi Zhi hesitated, then told Fang Yue about how, inside the game, she had felt watched by an unimaginably terrifying presence—as if it had transcended infinite time and space.

"Something like that? Could it just be your imagination?"

【I'm not sure… but I definitely felt observed from an impossibly distant place. It's likely that presence startled the system, causing it to ban you outright.】

"So even though I can use Time Rewind to revive my in-game character, I myself can't return to the game because of the system's restrictions?"

【That's probably it.】

"... What do I do? I can't ignore all the tasks waiting for me in Jingcheng—especially given how dangerous it is right now. I have to get back into the game to protect myself."

If my in-game character—Captain Wu and the others—get killed again, even burning my lifespan to rewind won't help.

In reality, using rewind to affect my in-game character costs me my lifespan—I can't afford it!

One time might still work; the second time, I'm done for.

【I don't know either… You'll have to follow your original idea—find a way to smuggle yourself in.】

Smuggle…

Fang Yue sighed. He'd come up with the idea of smuggling purely from guesswork.

But the risks of smuggling surely aren't simple—if they were, the Alliance would've acted long ago.

As Fang Yue thought this, Zhi Zhi suddenly widened her eyes in terror, pointing at him.

【Fang Yue! Fang Yue! Your body—your body!!】

Body?

Zhi Zhi's sudden reaction made Fang Yue freeze. He instinctively looked down—and his pupils shrank, his mind going suddenly blank.

Because his chest was once again… turning into Paper.

His chest was slowly sinking, flattening, taking on a paper-like texture—and spreading outward!

"H-how is this happening?!"

Fang Yue's face turned deathly pale. A sudden, sharp pain lanced through his heart—he nearly fainted. Only one thought filled his mind.

"Could something else have gone wrong in the game…?"

【No! Not from the game!】

【Fang Yue—it's a side effect! A side effect!】

【Even using my power in reality still causes side effects!】

【We used 【Time Rewind】 to suppress the game's feedback—but we're still using my power in reality!】

【Now, the side effects from using 【Time Reversal】 earlier are beginning to manifest!】

Fang Yue's heart clenched at those words.

"Th-then what should we do?"

【... Reverse! Reverse again! Use Reversal to suppress the Reversal!】

Matryoshka?

In the face of life-and-death crisis, Fang Yue's comprehension shot straight up, and he understood the parchment's words in an instant.

"But doing that, isn't it just creating a death loop?"

【Yes! But only by doing this can you live a little longer. Otherwise, once your whole body turns to paper, you won't even have a chance to survive!】

Fang Yue understood—the parchment was right. He had no room to choose at all!

"... Understood. Parchment, activate Time Reversal!"

【Time... Reversal!!】

Lifespan, burning madly! -

1 year! -

5 years! -

10 years! -

30 years!

Fang Yue seemed to see system prompts popping up endlessly above his head, showing his lifespan decreasing, his heart pounding away.

He was nearly watching his remaining lifespan plummet at breakneck speed.

From just over a hundred years, it dropped all the way down to the final five years before finally stopping.

Lifespan: 5 years.

Five years... only five years left.

Fang Yue took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and the paper-ification across his body had already been reversed back.

"Suppressed?"

【Suppressed!】

【But... the next backlash will probably come even faster!】

【You have to find a way, Fang Yue. Either obtain more lifespan and keep this death loop going on and on! Or... find a way to break out of it!】

Selection menu, long-press this chapter, re-download

(End of this chapter)