Returning memories

“Among the‌‌⁠​​​‌‍⁠⁠‌‌​⁠‌‍​‌⁠‍‍‌⁠‍ Spire’s high command, he’s actually the most childlike one,” An Ning said, taking a sip of hot milk, his tone peaceful. The truth of things often contradicts their appearance.”

Zhu Tao could only nod, kneading the dough in his hands over and over. He suddenly looked up, frowning. “Why are you talking like… this today?”

An Ning raised his eyes. “Like what?”

“Deep, comprehensive. Like someone,” Zhu Tao pursed his lips. “Like Codex.”

An Ning laughed. “Probably because I lived with him in the church for a while. By the way, he plans to move out.”

“Move out?” Zhu Tao almost spilled his bag of cinnamon powder. “Where is he going?”

“Back to school. What was the name of the school he’s applying to… supposedly the institution with the richest collection of books in the world. He’s looking forward to it.”

After listening, Zhu Tao stood straight for a long while before slowly sitting back down.

“That’s good. He loved reading before the aberration,” he murmured. “Then go back to school. That’s the trajectory his life should have had.”

The room fell silent. An Ning continued to flip through a butterfly encyclopedia while holding his hot milk, Chao Wu toyed with her rock equipment, and Zhu Tao grabbed a handful of cinnamon powder to sprinkle into the dough, continuing to knead vigorously.

After a while, An Yu appeared, dragging his slippers. His white hair was as messy as a bird’s nest, and his eyes were half-closed. He walked straight past everyone into the kitchen, put on thick insulated gloves, pulled a whole tray of freshly baked cinnamon rolls from the oven, and immediately turned to slip into the elevator.

“Stand still!” Zhu Tao snapped in exasperation. “You eat every batch I bake. When am I supposed to get a sample to your shop for photos?”

An Yu stopped, seemingly processing the sentence.

Half a minute later, he finally opened his eyes a sliver. His golden gaze swept over Zhu Tao’s face. That pure, innocent look made Zhu Tao’s voice soften again.

“Sigh, I just can’t figure it out. Aren’t you just an ordinary person now? Still this hungry?”

An Yu said honestly, “Slum kids can eat a lot from a young age. It has nothing to do with Him— with the one who left. Besides, this is for me to eat with the Commander. I’d be full after half a tray by myself.”

Half a tray is still out of this world.

Zhu Tao was speechless. An Yu felt a bit bad about just walking off with the tray, so he stood there racking his brain for a topic.

“Is Bo still in the Polar Region with that little bird?”

Zhu Tao gave an “mhm.” “Xi De left, and a little phoenix popped out of nowhere. The former Descending Swamp is now a water lily pond with a sturdy black rose growing in the center. Do you think these lives that appeared out of thin air are really them?”

“Maybe just a part, some traces they left behind in this world,” An Yu yawned. “Like those snowflake fragments.”

“What snowflake fragments?” Chao Wu put down her guitar. “Isn’t it all normal snow outside now? Are there still twisted spacetimes?”

An Yu didn’t say a word.

Those golden eyes finally opened completely, looking past them and out the window.

It had snowed heavily for several days in a row, starting from the night Bo found the little red bird until this morning. The meteorologists said this was likely the last snow before the spring blossoms.

He had indeed lost his spacetime manipulation abilities, but it wasn’t until last night’s snow that he realized that while he couldn’t control it, he seemed to have retained a subtle spacetime perception.

Mixed in with the heavy snow were some of the former snowflake fragments.

Qin Zhilu said that perhaps the energy driving entropy reduction hadn’t fully dissipated yet, like a lingering Buddhist chant, still repairing the scattered bits of chaos the world hadn’t yet perceived.

But without a doubt, the era of safety had returned.

“So that’s how it is…” Zhu Tao gazed blankly out the window. After last night’s heavy snow, the world outside was coated in a reassuring layer of white. “They say you can perceive which chaotic spacetimes are in the fragments, is that true?”

An Yu nodded gently, explaining, “That’s why I’m certain that little red bird is indeed a trace left by Xi De, even though it isn’t him.”

“What else did you see?” Chao Wu asked immediately.

An Yu casually gave a few examples, mostly ordinary people who had died in disordered zones. He didn’t know them; those life fragments just flowed past his eyes. He forgot most of them and remembered some special ones, nothing more.

“I’m going back.” An Yu lowered his golden eyes again, his hands tightening around the edges of the baking tray. “The Commander is waiting for me for lunch.”

As he spoke, he stepped back into the elevator. The transparent car quickly carried the slender figure out of everyone’s sight.

“He doesn’t seem very happy,” An Ning said suddenly.

Chao Wu was surprised. “Really?”

“I felt it too, like he’s a bit unhappy.” Zhu Tao muttered, then shook his head. “Not exactly unhappy, more like he has some regrets.”

An Yu broke a sweet, soft piece of bread in half, sitting side-by-side with the Commander by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the snow and eating.

“Commander, the snow has stopped completely. This time, it won’t fall again,” he suddenly muttered.

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

“I saw many old friends in there, their whole lives.”

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

“Mhm.”

Don't scrape

Don't copy

“Because he didn’t want you to look back,” Qin Zhilu stroked An Yu’s hair gently. “He truly protected you, unlike the others.”

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

Zhu Tao rarely saw An Yu sad.

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

About this world, about the living and the dead, all the undiscovered vitality and cruel darkness.

Don't scrape

Don't copy

Because he knew An Yu truly loved money. No matter how much he saved, a new deposit always gave that fellow a sense of security.

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

The dining area required a reservation and was very quiet. A rare peaceful spot in the shop.

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

“I knew I’d run into you here today.” Mizutani Mo smiled at him. “It seems that although I’ve lost my precognition, I still have some inklings regarding my friends.”

Don't scrape

Don't copy

It wasn’t until Zhu Tao sat down and listened to Codex talk for a long time that he finally snapped out of it.

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

He murmured to himself with a look of slight confusion, “I wonder why that is…”

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

At the time, he had only taken those words as a friend’s comfort. Now he finally realized that a selfish creature like An Yu wouldn’t have the awareness to comfort others; he just said what was on his mind. What he said was the truth.

Don't scrape

Don't copy

“University?”

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

Mizutani Mo breathed a sigh of relief and added, “One more thing. I heard you collected those eerie scattered pages. Could you return them to me? After all, they are a part of me that was severed; the right to dispose of them should belong to me.”

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

“That was a clue left by the past me for the current me.”

Author’s Note:

Snowflake fragments
[Zhu Tao (5/5)]
[Merely a Grapevine]

The cinnamon roll collaboration with Corner Bakery is on the market.

It was the last city-wide celebration before the reconstruction of the Main City.

The bakery’s threshold was practically worn down.

When the packaging came out, both An Yu and the Commander were stunned for a long while.

They both thought the logo I designed would be a bunch of grapes.

But they didn’t expect it to be a composite image.

An old book, my friend.

A seed museum, my ideal.

A little wolf with rabbit ears, my commander.

My lover.

The three marks made the small bread and Spire logos next to them look dull and colorless.

People even debated hotly on social media about what these patterns represented.

It occupied the trending searches for several days.

So, do not look down on the wisdom of a mere grapevine.

I raised an eyebrow at An Yu.

Just such a mere grapevine.

Seized a chance to show off its entire life force to this world.

m1zushi: next chapters will be uploaded on my new website mizushinovels.com
with owner MIA and the current lag/login issues i’ve decided it’s safer to move to a new website. Also i can do some crazy stuff with the code since i’m the owner so check out my newest novel My Pets Have All Become Escape Game Bosses ~~ since it’s an unlimited flow, I can use the orv theme for some crazy html in the system’s windows that I tried to do here but it was wayyy uglier lol.

chapter 112 is already uploaded on the new website! Hope to see my dear readers there, cya!

[Synopsis 1]

Ever since Earth became a massive multiplayer online game, survival shifted to clearing game instances to break through. If a player continuously failed the game, they would enter the Confinement Zone— a place rumored to be the game’s very own version of hell.

After Jiang Qi emerged from the Confinement Zone, he always finds himself reuniting with his pets inside the instances.

The Siren in the Lost Sea was actually the little fish at home who listened to children’s songs every day.

The Evil God who negotiated with others using lies and greed was just the little red flower planted in his yard.

The Sun God, revered and feared by tens of thousands, was merely the autistic little bird who cried all the time.

Even You Sui, the number one player, was his long-lost childhood friend.

After Jiang Qi burst onto the scene, his figure was present in almost every event that shocked the masses.

His teammates adored him, living creatures swore loyalty to him, and the world feared him.

Yet, his only goal was to redeem this game.

[Synopsis 2]

When Jiang Qi walked out of the instances, the new names of all the instance bosses were made public.

The deer demon that consumed human hearts and blood was called Xiao Bai, the merman who bewitched human hearts was called Xiao Lan, and the greedy, wicked Evil God was called Xiao Hong.

Even the arrogant Phoenix obediently let itself be called Xiao Huang.

Everyone looked at You Sui, whose relationship with Jiang Qi was growing closer by the day, and eagerly asked what this god’s new nickname was.

Jiang Qi smiled. “Hmm… how about Xiao Hei?”

You Sui tightened his arm around Jiang Qi’s waist. “No, call me your lover.”

• From the Pets’ Perspective: The Daily Routine of an Instance Boss Having Their Cover Blown, When the Boss Inspires an Unexpected Workplace Inspection
• From You Sui’s Perspective: Reunited After Many Years of Amnesia, The Aloof Male God and His Beloved Wife Who Seriously Loves Raising Pets
• From the Fans’ Perspective: My Crackship Actually Became Canon, The God Became His Dragon

(Note: The above book titles are completely made up just for fun; the final right of interpretation belongs to Jiang Qi.)
Cold on the outside but soft on the inside Top Player (Gong) X Master of the Confinement Zone who loves raising “small animals” (Shou)

Tags: Power Couple, Horror, Infinite Flow, Power Fantasy, Lighthearted