Chapter 417: Epilogue
Chapter 417: Epilogue
Chapter 417: Epilogue
Epilogue
China, Jinzhou City, Chen family’s abode:
“Big Brother isn’t home! A rare opportunity! Action!
“Task code, 478.”
Chen Yike, who was now 18 years old, sneakily approached Chen Yu’s room with a magical lock-picking device she had bought from the Virtual Network. She then inserted the device into the keyhole and began fiddling around with it.
“Secret covered in the dust, reveal yourself to me!”
Click.
Suddenly, a crisp sound appeared, uplifting Chen Yike’s spirits. She then promptly pulled open the door in joy.
However, she couldn’t help but be stunned in the next second.
This was because standing behind the door was actually a figure she was familiar with.
An attractive face, ample breasts, a slender waist, healthy legs—this person was none other than Little Peach.
“You are…” Frowning, Chen Yike said, “Wait… I think I’ve met you before…”
“I’ve met you before as well. Demacia!”
After saying so, Little Peach swung the Amnesia Bat straight at Chen Yike’s head.
Thump!
Chen Yike: “…”
Thud.
The girl fainted and collapsed to the ground.
“Happy summer holiday.”
After saying so, Little Peach bent over and grabbed one of Chen Yike’s legs. She then dragged the girl into the room as if she was dragging a corpse.
Inside the room, the husky, who was reading a book, lazily raised its head and asked, “How many times does this make this month?”
“It’s the thirteenth time.” Putting Chen Yike down, Little Peach straightened her back and patted her hands. “How troublesome. Why is Mr. Chen still insisting on keeping Yike in the dark? His parents, Erke, and Sanke clearly know of his identity already.”
“Didn’t Chen Yu tell you already?” Closing its book, the husky grinned and said, “It’s for the sake of setting the mood. Keeping everything unchanged is the best gift for the audience.”
…
China, Beijing:
Inside an unlisted courtyard…
The middle-aged team leader slowly removed his badge and placed it within a small, delicate box. He then scanned the crowd in the room before focusing his gaze on Big Sis Wu.
“Little Wu.”
“Leader…”
Revealing a smile on his aged face, the middle-aged team leader patted Big Sis Wu on her shoulders and said, “I’ll leave this entire team in your hands from today onward. Although the team’s focus is no longer on monitoring Chen Yu, its importance is still indisputable. So, you must remain cautious at all times.”
“Leader.” Nodding heavily, Big Sis Wu said, “I won’t disappoint the organization’s trust and your education.”
“Mhm. You have been my partner for many years, so I am confident in your ability to do things. It is also thanks to you that I get to retire so soon. I’ll be taking my leave first. Everyone, no need to send me off. Work comes first.”
After accepting the small box, Big Sis Wu stood still as she watched the middle-aged figure’s back gradually moving away from her, complicated and melancholic feelings appearing in her eyes.
Just when the middle-aged team leader’s back was about to disappear from her sight, she finally couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted, “Old Leader!”
“…”
The middle-aged team leader stopped walking but did not turn his head around. “What is it, Little Wu?”
“Your…”
“…”
At this time, everyone present also looked at the middle-aged team leader with a solemn gaze. And as if there were a thousand words stuck in their throats, they found it difficult to even speak.
“Your…” After taking a deep breath and pondering for a long moment, Big Sis Wu asked, “Your name. What is your name?”
“…” His lips curling upwards, the middle-aged team leader strode forward and disappeared in Beijing’s morning mist. “I…
“Am not fit to have a name.”
…
…
…
China, May 7, 2020:
In a small bungalow far from the suburbs…
Three Rows sat in front of his table and typed the last punctuation mark. After doing so, he leaned back against his chair lazily and let out a sigh of relief.
After a short moment, he opened his eyes and scanned his study that was filled to the brim with books, his throat feeling itchy for some inexplicable reason.
Because of the sunlight coming in through the window, the dust collected atop the old books looked incredibly conspicuous.
Rather than call this room a study, it would be more apt to call it a warehouse.
“Cough… Cough, cough…”
Leaving the study, Three Rows arrived in the bathroom and turned on the faucet.
Splash.
The cold liquid splashing against his hands energized him, and his thoughts immediately became much clearer.
Pooling some water in his hands, Three Rows held his breath and scrubbed his face with force. Immediately afterward, his heart sank.
Hurriedly opening his eyes, he found that sure enough, a strand of blood was flowing out of his right nostril, staining the basin red.
“Did I scrub too hard? I haven’t had a nosebleed for the past few days already…”
After drying his hands, Three Rows blocked his right nostril with a paper towel. He then raised his head and looked at the ceiling for a while. When he felt that his nosebleed had stopped, he replaced the bloodied paper towel with a new one. Afterward, he washed off the bloodstains on his hands, turned off the faucet, and walked out of the bathroom while clutching his suffocated chest.
“Are you dying?”
A man’s voice suddenly came from the living room.
Snapping his head around sharply, Three Rows looked at the origin of the voice. “Who are you”?
“In response, the man seated on the living room sofa stood up lazily and said, “You should know me very well. My surname is Chen, and my name is Yu.”
“Chen Yu?!”
…
“So, that’s about it.”
Thirty minutes later…
After Chen Yu finished explaining everything inside the study, he picked up the apple on the table and took a bite out of it. While chewing, he concluded, “Eventually, I flew out of the edge of the universe, arrived here, and found you.”
“Unbelievable…” Three Rows muttered in a daze.
“That’s right. It’s unbelievable. I never thought I would actually be a character you created.”
“The part I’m talking about is the part where you actually flew out of the universe’s edge.” After calming down, Three Rows removed the paper towel in his right nostril and muttered, “After all, there was no such rule in the setting I created.”
“Oh?” Narrowing his eyes, Chen Yu stated, “This means you know you created that universe of ours.”
“Of course I know.”
“Are you God?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I think that only God can have the ability to create the universe. The more I know, the scarier I find this universe to be.” Swallowing the apple in his mouth, Chen Yu looked at Three Rows and said, “However, looking at your frail appearance, I really can’t pair you up with the word ‘God.'”
“I pulled too many late-nighters,” Three Rows said while holding onto his chest. “Just three months ago, I was still a man capable of six updates per day.”
“Why don’t you go to the hospital and get a check-up?”
“I did. The doctor said the only cure is to rest.”
“A physician?”
“A rhinologist.”
“…”
“Don’t look at me like that.” Taking a deep breath and feeling a lot more comfortable, Three Rows said, “I was fortunate I could even find a doctor. The epidemic outside still isn’t over yet.”
“I’ll treat you.” Rolling up his sleeves, Chen Yu said, “I know medicine.”
“Don’t touch my shoulder!” Three Rows bellowed.
Chen Yu: “…”
“I won’t die. I’ll be fine after some rest.”
“Rest?” Taking a glance at the schedule stuck on the nearby wall, Chen Yu read out what was written on the schedule, “Visit the filming team for scriptwriting in five days. Write a plot and script for a game company in late May. Start a new book in June. Visit Zhengzhou on June 26 to teach a three-day class… You call this rest?”
“I’ll get to rest if I push back the new book’s publishing date to July,” Three Rows said earnestly. “The others cannot be pushed back. I already accepted the pay.”
Chen Yu: “…”
“It’s all work that got pushed back because of the epidemic. There’s nothing I can do about them.”
“This is…a film adaptation plan?” Looking at another schedule, Chen Yu frowned and asked, “Is it for the novel I’m in?”
“Keep on dreaming. You’re going to shatter people’s view of protagonists if you get a film adaptation.” Tearing down the schedule and crumpling it, Three Rows said, “It’s for a short romantic comedy I wrote last year. It even passed Wanda Pictures’ three evaluations. However, the epidemic hit afterward, and the entire project was canceled.”
“…My condolences.”
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s stop this topic and talk about other things. How many days do you plan on living here?”
“I’ll stay here for a day and leave tomorrow.”
“Why the hurry?”
“I want to know what’s outside this universe of yours.” Putting on a stern expression, Chen Yu said, “This concerns my ultimate understanding of the universe. I’m not here on vacation.”
“You should just give up, then.” Sneering, Three Rows said, “There’s no meaning even if you continue flying out of the universe.”
“What do you mean?”
Instead of answering, Three Rows stood up, pulled up his phone, and opened Qidian’s reading application. He then pointed at Transdimensional Review and said, “The answer is in this book. I’ve pointed it out to you before.”
“Pointed what out?”
“For example…” Tapping into the book, Three Rows said, “Do you know about wave-particle duality?”
“I do.” Nodding, Chen Yu said, “Wave-particle duality refers to all particles and quanta. It can be described not only in terms of particles but also in terms of waves.”
“Yes. For example, light. When people are not observing it, light exists as waves and can easily pass through double-slit experiments. However, so long as people open their ‘eyes’ to see it, light loses the characteristics of waves and takes on the more precise particle state. Have you never thought about why this is the case?”
“I did, but even in our technologically advanced universe, we cannot find an accurate explanation for this phenomenon.”
“Have you played video games before?”
“I have. Why?”
“There is a very interesting rule in video games.” Smiling, Three Rows said, “Only the game’s systems and images that are within the player’s view are rendered. However, in the places where the player cannot see, images will become static, NPCs will disappear, and events will stagnate.”
“This is to conserve resources.”
“Yes. Now, look back and think about wave-particle duality.” Lowering his tone, Three Rows said, “The light that we cannot see will come in the form of waves. Yet, once we observe it with our eyes, it will take on a more complex and accurate particle form…”
“You mean…” Hearing this, Chen Yu felt a chill crawling down his spine.
“Yes. There is also wave-particle duality in my world…”