Chapter 87: The Endless Reincarnation
Shen Yu’s consciousness drifted into darkness.
Just before his vision faded completely, a familiar system notification echoed inside his mind.
[Affinity CG Available.]
[Current Affinity with Yun Han: 45]
[Play Memory CG?]
Without hesitation—
Yes.
The world before him dissolved into countless ripples.
...
Warm sunlight filtered through a classroom window.
The smell of books filled the air.
A little girl sat quietly by the window, hugging a thick copy of Three Hundred Tang Poems against her chest.
Unlike the frightened child Shen Yu had just protected...
This little girl smiled brightly.
Her eyes sparkled with innocence.
She looked no older than ten.
The scene slowly shifted.
The little girl stood beneath a large camphor tree.
Facing her was an indistinct young man.
His face remained hidden by a layer of white mist.
Yet...
For some reason...
Shen Yu instinctively felt that person was himself.
The girl tilted her head.
"Big Brother..."
"I don’t know why..."
"But every time I see you..."
"I feel like we’ve met before."
Her smile was gentle.
"It feels..."
"...very familiar."
The blurry figure laughed softly.
"Maybe we knew each other in another life."
The little girl shook her head.
"No."
"I think..."
"We really met before."
The wind lifted several fallen leaves.
The young man crouched down before her.
"Don’t worry."
"I’ll save you."
"I definitely will."
His voice was calm.
Firm.
Filled with absolute certainty.
Buzz—
The memory abruptly shattered.
Shen Yu suddenly opened his eyes.
His breathing had become noticeably heavier.
He frowned deeply.
Another missing memory...
Another fragment he couldn’t understand.
His subconscious kept telling him one thing.
Yun Han was the key to this dungeon.
Otherwise...
There was no explanation for why the system had given him thirty points of affinity before he had any memory of meeting her.
Somewhere...
In a forgotten timeline...
They must have already met.
...
Reality returned.
The little girl still lay weakly in Shen Yu’s arms.
Her face was pale.
Tears rolled continuously down her cheeks.
"I’m sorry..."
"I’m sorry..."
"It’s all because of me..."
"If it weren’t for me..."
"You wouldn’t have gotten hurt..."
She sobbed uncontrollably.
Shen Yu forced a smile despite the blood covering his face.
He gently brushed away the tears on her cheeks.
"No."
"You didn’t do anything wrong."
"Never blame yourself."
"You’re already brave enough."
The little girl’s lips trembled.
Her tears only fell faster.
At that moment—
Ding!
[Yun Han’s Affinity +15]
[Current Affinity: 45]
Another notification appeared.
Shen Yu smiled bitterly.
"So that’s how it is..."
Even after losing his memories...
The girl’s feelings toward him continued growing.
Before his consciousness completely disappeared...
He felt tiny fingers grabbing his left arm.
Scratch...
Scratch...
Scratch...
Yun Han’s fingernails slowly carved another spiral-shaped mark into his skin.
The same strange symbol.
Again.
As though she desperately wanted him...
To remember it.
Darkness swallowed everything.
...
Not far away...
Mohan was coughing blood violently.
His entire body trembled.
"Damn it..."
"Damn it!"
He couldn’t accept what had just happened.
"The future..."
"The future wasn’t supposed to be like this!"
"You were alive!"
"You were supposed to survive!"
"Then why..."
"Why are you dying now?"
His voice gradually became hysterical.
"Future Echo..."
"You lied to me!"
Another shovel slammed into the back of his head.
Everything went black.
Nearby...
Taishan collapsed after taking repeated blows.
Lucian struggled desperately as rough ropes tightly bound her hands and feet.
Like livestock awaiting slaughter...
The four of them were dragged across the dirt road.
Long trails of blood stained the ground behind them.
...
The villagers tossed them into a dark woodshed.
Bang!
The wooden door slammed shut.
No guards remained outside.
There was no need.
The four investigators were already too badly injured to move.
Blood dripped steadily from their wounds onto the straw-covered floor.
The sunset slowly painted the sky crimson.
Shen Yu remained unconscious.
Taishan remained unconscious.
Only Mohan and Lucian still retained fragments of awareness.
Mohan’s eyelids grew heavier.
His vision blurred.
Lucian desperately rubbed the ropes binding her wrists against a wooden beam.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The coarse rope refused to break.
Time slowly passed.
The final rays of sunlight disappeared beyond the mountains.
Mohan finally lost consciousness.
Even until the very end...
He still couldn’t understand one question.
Why...
Why had the future changed?
...
Night descended.
Dark clouds swallowed the moon.
Suddenly—
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
A strange sound echoed throughout Huzzang Village.
One after another...
Every household hung white mourning banners outside their homes.
Gray mist slowly rose from every corner of the village.
The peaceful scenery vanished.
The village once again transformed into the nightmare Shen Yu vaguely remembered.
Inside the woodshed—
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Bones twisted.
Flesh squirmed.
Behind the unconscious Shen Yu, Mohan, and Taishan...
Stone tablets slowly pushed through their backs.
The horrifying tombstones emerged inch by inch.
On each tombstone...
A human face gradually appeared.
Each face...
Looked exactly like its owner.
Then—
The three stone faces simultaneously opened their eyes.
At exactly the same moment...
Shen Yu...
Mohan...
And Taishan...
Also opened theirs.
The wounds covering their bodies had vanished completely.
Broken bones healed.
Bleeding stopped.
Even the bruises disappeared.
It was as though death itself had never happened.
Only Lucian remained frozen in place.
Her mouth slowly fell open.
"You..."
"You..."
"You came back to life?"
Before anyone could answer—
The ropes binding her wrists suddenly turned into gray ashes.
They scattered into the air.
She instinctively rubbed her wrists.
"They’re gone..."
"What exactly..."
"...is happening?"
Mohan slowly stood up.
His expression had become extremely ugly.
"So..."
"We really revived."
His eyes immediately landed on Shen Yu.
Everything suddenly made a little more sense.
"If this dungeon allows resurrection..."
"Then Shen Yu’s voice always existing in the future isn’t strange anymore."
"He never truly died."
"But..."
His brows tightened.
"No..."
"Something still doesn’t add up."
"If everyone revives..."
"Then everyone should exist in the future."
"So why..."
"Why was Shen Yu the only person whose voice I always heard?"
Silence filled the woodshed.
Mohan slowly narrowed his eyes.
"There must be conditions."
"Perhaps..."
"Everyone has a limited number of revivals."
"Or maybe..."
"Only Shen Yu fulfills whatever requirement this dungeon demands."
He kept those thoughts to himself.
Taishan simply scratched his head.
"I don’t understand anything."
"I only know..."
"My headache’s gone."
Meanwhile...
Shen Yu lowered his head toward his left arm.
The spiral mark.
It was still there.
Fresh.
Bright red.
Exactly where Yun Han had scratched him.
His eyes narrowed.
Before rescuing Yun Han...
The mark hadn’t existed.
After increasing her affinity...
She deliberately carved it again.
That meant...
The symbol wasn’t random.
It was a message.
A clue.
Something she desperately wanted him to remember across multiple timelines.
Shen Yu rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"This dungeon..."
"...really deserves its reputation."
"So many people failed here."
"And even now..."
"I still can’t see the whole picture."
He began organizing everything he knew.
"First..."
"My affinity with Yun Han started abnormally high."
"That means we’ve definitely interacted before."
"But I don’t remember."
"So..."
"The dungeon erased part of my memory."
"Second..."
"The affinity CG confirmed Yun Han originally came from the city."
"She wasn’t born here."
"She was trafficked."
"Huzzang Village..."
His eyes slowly darkened.
"This entire village..."
"...is built upon human trafficking."
A heavy silence filled the room.
Outside...
Firecrackers suddenly exploded in the distance.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Shen Yu looked toward the sound.
"We need to investigate."
Mohan immediately objected.
"Investigate?"
"Are you insane?"
"We can’t even beat those villagers."
"We almost died!"
Shen Yu ignored him.
Instead...
He turned toward Lucian.
"What do you think?"
Lucian hesitated.
After a long pause...
She slowly nodded.
"I’ll go."
She recalled everything that had happened.
"The villagers beat us."
"They targeted the men."
"But..."
"They never seriously harmed me."
"It seems..."
"...women occupy a different position in this village."
Shen Yu nodded.
"Then let’s continue."
"This time..."
"We won’t repeat the same mistakes."
Outside...
The sound of firecrackers continued to echo beneath the darkened sky.
As if welcoming them...
Into yet another cycle.