Chapter 42

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

Certainly, as the host said, this is not just recreating the old décor… Here, even the position of a screw, an energy cell is completely the same as the day the host and the antagonist met.

Even it, an outside observer, when looking at the scene recreated in the projection, and then comparing it to the real-world placement, would get the false sense that the host would ‘unintentionally’ walking through the door as a new customer and curiously look at Shi Cangyuan as he examined him.

Even the system is surprised like this, so not to mention Bai Lianhua, the one that’s actually experienced it… It was when he thought that that broken piece of energy cell looked more and more oddly familiar that he had this ludicrous conclusion.

Since an energy cell that was just broken to that degree, ending up with that exact appearance as if bitten by a dog couldn’t just be anywhere. Also, if he remembered correctly, that one is now already a super old model in this world. When he and Shi Cangyuan first met, it was already on the verge of discontinuation… Now it would probably be quite difficult to find another one anywhere.

Yet, now that his conclusion is really confirmed, Bai Lianhua almost feels like he doesn’t know what to do.

What a shock… Those things back from those days have been long gone, of course, so now these stuff in front of him, are likely to have been recreated one by one personally by the antagonist through his memories.

And Shi Cangyuan wasn’t like him who could ‘cheat’ with the system that could recreate the memories for him.

“Is this true love…” The system can’t help but murmur, “host, say, even though we haven’t met the antagonist yet in this world, but even with just this dedication, I find it hard to believe if the antagonist isn’t head-over-heels for you, you know.”

“Amazing. Host, you can just lightly flutter your sleeves and go away clean, but you also took away the antagonist’s lovestruck heart, tch tch tch.”

“It kind of feels like we didn’t have to do anything and the antagonist has already decided to kneel and sing 'Conquer' … Host, I’ll be looking forward to seeing you winning without doing anything~”

“… Shut up, ok?” And think about who’s fundamentally to blame for this for a moment, would you?

Bai Lianhua feels a bit dazed looking at all this. He quietly sits inside the shop for quite a while, before getting up and leaving the shop, closing the door again.

He knows where he should head next.

——His previous residence.

Since Shi Cangyuan even had the time to keep this little storefront in the same state as they first met, then what about the house he personally bequeathed to Shi Cangyuan?

——Before he left the world, even if he knew Shi Cangyuan was talented enough and had bright enough of a future to never be in need of money again, but since he’s a good person, a pure white, flawless white lotus, so Bai Lianhua still transferred all his personal wealth to Shi Cangyuan through official channels, that he could see fit to deal with as he liked.

Even this little shop he ended up taking care of so meticulously, then Shi Cangyuan has probably kept his house as well and didn’t sell it?

Or perhaps… he could even see the antagonist himself.

Bai Lianhua walks slowly towards his ‘house’ following the memories he had.

Unexpectedly, it’s just been a dozen years, but there’s been quite the change to the neighbourhood. The streets that used to be quite buzzing with activity seems to have become much more deserted for various reasons. Many residents have already moved away.

Bai Lianhua discovers to his surprise that it kind of felt like those old neighbourhoods waiting to be refurbished in his past world?

When he bought his house this was still a popular hotspot… Sure makes one feel melancholic.

Bai Lianhua turns left and right at the corners and he finds the familiar building. He hesitates a bit before approaching the identification system outside that’s already dated. His hesitation was for nought, though, as the front gate opened without delay. Bai Lianhua is let inside easily.

The system can’t help but mock him, “hehe, host, be a bit more courageous. The antagonist wouldn’t eat you, you know… You’re that white moonlight in their minds that they hold carefully so that it won’t disperse!”

Bai Lianhua “…”

“You know, it’s because I’m this stupid white moonlight that I’m scared.”

… He’s had enough traumatic experiences dealing with the antagonists in the previous worlds.

It is because the antagonists always had such deep affections for him that were out of his expectations that he didn’t know how to deal with and was anxious… If he were just some extra A or mob B to them, he wouldn’t have become someone who’s kind of ‘more and more nervous when going back home.’

He never imagined that the small amount of genuine goodwill and kindness he gave in his white lotus missions would net him such unbearably intense and deep emotional responses.

“Why isn’t there an antagonist in just one world that is purely just grateful for me?”

He’s super willing to get friend-zoned!

System “…” Ho, impossible, not even in the wildest dreams… Host, you have a special flirting technique that you don’t even know you have.

It goes ‘ho ho’ dryly, “host, you sound like you want a beating. Though this is even more fitting with our white lotus character setting…”

#I only want to be a quiet little white lotus, why do you end up liking me# feels so naturally scummy… Emm, sure, no problem!

Bai Lianhua ignores the system’s comments, because as he entered the house, he can already see Shi Cangyuan quietly sitting in the living room.

Shi Cangyuan is no longer the dark broody teenager Bai Lianhua saw in the small shop back then, nor the bright, eyecatching person he was when he had retaken ‘Dicarus’ later. There’s a feeling of calm and gentleness that’s settled down through the ages. If nobody says it, perhaps there wouldn’t be anyone who could connect this Shi Cangyuan here to that legendary God of War of the entire galaxy that’s unparalleled and undefeated.

He is still Shi Cangyuan, though, no mistake.

——He’s really here.

Bai Lianhua can’t help but stop when he sees the antagonist so unfamiliar from before.

Meanwhile, sensing his entry, the door behind him as already quietly closed… And so Bai Lianhua feels even more nervous.

Even though this is supposed to be his residence, and all around him are familiar furniture, but the Shi Cangyuan in the middle of it gives him a bit of an anxious feeling.

Meanwhile, Shi Cangyuan just looked at him quietly, only perking his lips upwards after a while, saying quietly, “welcome back.”

He lightly chuckles, “I’ve been waiting for you since yesterday, thinking about how long it’d take you to come find me.”

Bai Lianhua widens his eyes, not knowing what to do, “how did you know…” And then he realises, “the biometric magnetic chip?”

He didn’t conceal the signal from his own biometric magnetic chip since he returned… Also a way of luring the antagonist. Since, according to the system, if Shi Cangyuan would come find him, that’d be nice too.

Shi Cangyuan nods, “yep. Yesterday, I received the signal from your biometric magnetic chip.”

It is the first time there has been a response the dozen-odd years he has been doing it.

“And a few hours ago, I received notification that someone has opened up the door of the store——Only you and I had the authorisation to do that.”

So I was waiting… Since you should have guessed where I was, then would you come find me?

Bai Lianhua bites his lips, “then the arrangement in the store…”

Shi Cangyuan gets up and approaches Bai Lianhua, step by step, “yep, it was intentional.”

He’s smiling along, “you noticed that, huh… You also remember the day we met.”

Bai Lianhua moves his lips, but he can’t just say something like “Of course I remember.”

After I realised that you had left, I actually spent a while inside that small store all by myself.”

“Not opening the door.”

“I recalled as best as I could the memories of my first meeting with you. I tried not to miss any single detail, and bit by bit I’ve recreated the scene of our first meeting.”

“I really hoped that one day I would again see you come in and ask me if I could repair this or that with a curious expression…”

“I wanted to meet you again, I wanted to hear you complain about all sorts of ludicrous, unthinkable scenarios in mecha repairs to me… I was even nostalgic for that past me that had genetically collapsed, becoming a useless person, but was fortunate enough to meet with you…”

“Yet never… I never met you again.”

Over time, he has regained his sanity, and realise that this is just a delusion he has.

“Doesn’t it sound laughable.”

When he says this, Shi Cangyuan is already standing right in front of Bai Lianhua, less than a few dozen centimetres from him.

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