First Player

 “What’s the matter?” I said.

 The child stood up and said, "Teacher, when are we going to die? Can you tell us?"

 Her voice echoed in the large classroom, and the expression on her face was innocent.

Reincarnation requires the soul and information to be stored in the life hard drive. Once the soul is gone, a person cannot survive. Therefore, if you want this generation of children to live forever in Jiuyou, they need to "preserve" themselves before they die.

So I replied: "You can die at any time. If you feel that you won't live long, tell the teacher in time and ask the teacher to help you save. If you die too quickly and don't have time to save, then you won't be there." Reincarnated. So in theory, the sooner you die, the safer it is, but you can also wait until the end of your life to save."

What is Li Mingyue’s answer? It’s too cold.

 But I don’t want to deviate from the historical traces, so I won’t interfere with the words and actions of this body.

Several children burst into tears after hearing such a cold answer.

"...Stop crying." I felt myself opening my mouth and saying to the twelve or thirteen-year-old child, my voice still cold.

Li Mingyue from a thousand years ago was really not good at dealing with children. Couldn't his tone be softer?

But I soon learned what Li Mingyue was thinking. After all, his thoughts would also affect me in real time.

 …I thought that such a tone was considered soft.

 In the classroom, the crying gradually became louder.

"Teacher Xia told us... we may never be able to leave again... Isn't that right..."

“Will we still be reincarnated...Teacher, can you tell me...”

 "Will I really die...I don't want to die..."

 The cries were all in one line, and I was at a loss what to do with the child.

 At this time, Xia Jiawen came to the rescue in time. With legs and feet like the wind, he rushed to the children and stuffed each of them with a candy. Soon, the children took the candy and their crying subsided.

Xia Jiawen looked at me helplessly and said softly: "Mingyue. The children are still young and cannot understand many things. Sometimes you tell a lot of truths, why not hand them a candy."

 His title became much more affectionate. When the Millennium Project was not involved, Xia Jiawen's attitude was less solemn, like treating a long-standing friend.

 I was silent.

—But which one is heavier, the candy or the guillotine that is destined to fall?

 Do the children know their duty, which is death?

 …

 Xia Jiawen arranged a room for me, located at the top of the Experimental City. It just so happened that this room happened to be the room assigned to me by Black Magpie a thousand years later.

There is no piano in the room now, and there are no coffee or cookies on the table. I sit on the bed and watch the sunset outside the window.

 I suddenly felt a strong sense of error.

It seems like there will still be someone knocking on the door, bringing me a cup of coffee, and asking me whether the newly written piano score sounds good. However, no matter in the past or in the future, the young man who named himself "Su Mingan-3030" has died. On the rooftop, there would not be a girl with black hair and purple eyes sitting alone on a chair, waiting for the heartbeat to start beating louder.

I looked at my finger. On the blue ring of time, the names of Hei Que and Su Wensheng had already appeared. They were densely arranged with other names, as if a continuous forest of steles had been established between my fingers. .

I walked into the corridor. The blood-red warning light did not go off, the central control room had not been activated, and nothing had happened yet. I walked three-quarters of the way to the corridor, where Su Wensheng died.

 I have stood here for a long time.

 It seems that I can see a young man wearing black earrings walking towards me.

 Until the sunset gradually sets, I start walking again.

The last time I opened the door in the corridor, I saw a young man who looked exactly like me playing the piano, cooking, live streaming, and reading. Now I open the door, and there are only a few children sitting in the room who are doing homework. It seems that this is their student dormitory, full of the atmosphere of daily life.

 This makes me feel wrong.

When they saw me pushing the door open, the children raised their heads. One of them, a boy aged fourteen or fifteen, asked, "Teacher Li, what can I do for you?"

I twitched the corner of my mouth and asked casually: "Are you getting used to living here?"

Although they are destined to be unable to leave Jiuyou, it is very safe here and no outsiders will affect the life here. This is an isolated island that will wait for thousands of years.

“It’s good! You won’t be hungry, you won’t be cold, and you can read books!” responded the skinny monkey-like little boy, his name is Xiao Hou.

 “You can still celebrate the festival tomorrow!”

“Teacher Xia said you can put the gifts next to the peace tree. Fireworks will be set off at night and everyone will open the gifts together!”

“Teacher, look, I built Gundam with my own hands.” The short-haired boy handed over a small robot. His name was Xiaolong and he liked to build machines.

“Teacher, look, this is a board game I designed myself!” A boy with half-long hair raised a box. His name was Lin Shuo.

 “This is an instrument I made myself, teacher, look...”

“I heard that some girls made biscuits and chocolates. It would be great if I could eat them. I haven’t had any desserts recently. Teacher Xia said I was overweight and couldn’t eat them.”

“Haha, Teacher Xia cares about you! If you were an ordinary teacher and faced thousands of students, who would remember your physical condition one by one? Only Teacher Xia can do that..."

 “Teacher Li, let’s celebrate the festival together tomorrow!”

 Children are very enthusiastic.

 I can see their intelligence, which is a kind of intelligence that is favored by the world. Exquisite board games designed by oneself, sweet musical instruments made by one's own hands... These children can be selected into Jiuyou to train for reincarnation as researchers, and each of them has outstanding talents.

 From them, I seem to be able to see the future of the world.

 I promised to spend the Peace Festival together. Since I can't leave Jiuyou for the time being, I can only wait until the life hard drive arrives and the Millennium Plan officially begins.

 After that, I met Xia Jiawen again, and he was drying his pants. It is said that a child fell into the water and he jumped to save him. Several slits were made in his pants.

I opened my mouth and said: "If you don't have suit pants, just wear shorts."

After hearing this, Xia Jiawen smiled sheepishly and blushed slightly: "I don't think it's appropriate..."

 What is he shy about?

 He is a person who does not care about his own appearance and only cares about children. Now I am actually worried about a pair of suit pants.

 Xia Jiawen and I talked a lot, mostly about past experiences. I have been studying Yanling in the past few years, and Xia Jiawen has been teaching students, so I have no special experience.

During the chat, he patted his thigh and expressed that he must find a way to recreate hot pot in the experimental city. He had liked hot pot very much before the war started.

“I will try to make milk tea and cakes in the future, but the food here is still too scarce.” He said:

“We still want to make the children’s living environment better. After all, we are going to spend a long time here...”

"It's not bad to live in this kind of ivory tower all the time without being exposed to the ugliness of the outside world. Mingyue, if you don't have to write a rule book, I even want to invite you to come with me." Through his eyes, I seemed to Looking at the many figures in this world. Planning, watching, running, sacrificing...

 Him and I look forward to an untouchable future together. Hot pot, barbecue, milk tea, amusement park... His eyes are bright. This teacher is really planning their future, a flawless future. For this future, he would pay any price.

It was then that I suddenly realized the difference between him and me, even though I thought he was a good person. But his heart is warm, and there may be nothing in my chest.

 He drank some wine.

 After a few sips of wine, when I turned my head, I actually saw the water in his eyes.

He cried?

Why.

Why is such an optimistic guy crying?

"...Mingyue." His voice was hoarse, his face was tilted, and his lenses deflected several degrees, quickly blocking the slight watery glow under his eyes.

His body leaned toward me. This was a green area of ​​the experimental city with few pedestrians. He could finally reveal his gaffe.

 In the past, he was Teacher Xia, a role model for the children, and an upright fifth manager. At this stage when the Millennium Project is about to be launched, the only person he can talk to is probably me. When he said goodbye to the world forever, I unexpectedly appeared by his side.

“Mingyue, I seem to be locked in a cage.” The young man said hoarsely:

 “I walked, walked, but I couldn’t get out...”

 I held his shoulders and understood what he meant.

The isolated island that has stood for thousands of years is a paradise, but it is also a huge prison.

Isolated from the world, saying goodbye to all my relatives and friends forever, living under the Nine Netherworld all my life, waiting for the unknown result after a thousand years... This is so cruel.

The wind in my ears was a little louder, and the wind mixed with metal powder came from the end of the street.

 There seemed to be something beating in my chest, one sound after another, and I pursed my lips.

 Human beings are just a race in this world. Whether it is the birth of a distant new star, an explosion in a corner of the universe, or the end of a star's life, it has nothing to do with humans. Torrential rains can overwhelm them, flames can consume them, and tsunamis can swallow them up. Although they are desperately trying to build an ark that spans thousands of years when disaster strikes, no one knows what the success rate is.

On this Ark, some people are building decks, some are building seats, some are filling fuel, and some are inspecting the route with telescopes...Densely crowded figures are passing through. Teacher Xia and I try our best, but we can only add one piece to the Ark in our lifetime. Planks, more?

I don’t even know where it will go, who will continue to navigate for us in the end, and what kind of existence we are fighting against.

 In the past, I thought the enemy was a god, but it turns out that there are more profound higher dimensions above the starry sky. The collective term human beings as a species is still small, let alone reduced to one part in eight billion.

 This man beside me.

 …He cried and said he couldn't get out.

 It seems that we have no choice from beginning to end and have been in a cage our whole life.

 In the vast universe, there is no difference between humans and birds. Even if the birds are free, we cannot ascend to the distant starry sky.

 “Teacher Xia.” I held his hand.

 A drop of hot liquid fell on the back of my hand. The drunk man murmured. He had held back his emotions for too long, and his lenses covered his vulnerability.

 “I want a pair of suit pants...” he said repeatedly:

“I really want a pair of suit pants, Mingyue…it’s in a big shopping mall. You can buy it if you want. Instead of having to report to the seventh manager and ask him to help us transport it…”

 “I want to be free to buy a pair of suit pants…really…”

 I sat quietly beside him.

 …I don’t know whether what he wants is suit pants or something else.

 It's just that he didn't dare to talk about more profound dreams, which are too far away and too scarce for us...

Until the last ray of sunset falls, the long night is approaching, the night covers the mountains and plains in white, and the vision sinks into a black and gray vortex.

 I slowly let go of my hand.

 Put a coat on him who is sleeping on the bench.

 …for that purpose.

 We have all worked hard for too long,

too long.

 …

Su Mingan opened his eyes.

 In front of him was a long table lit by candlelight. The first day's daytime session had ended, and he was summoned back to the table.

 …

　　【Last night, Christmas Eve. 】

　　【The following will enter the player discussion session. 】

 …

While Mizushima Kawakora and others were spying on each other's identities, Su Mingan looked at the dimly burning candle on the table and was stunned for a long time.

Although the feeling of returning to a thousand years ago is not as strong as the sense of emotional resonance, it is still the feeling that he was experiencing at that time. Every thought Li Mingyue had at that time would affect him.

 It turned out that the godfather who had lived in Daoya City for a long time and seemed to have no influence was actually the fourth person in charge of the plan a thousand years ago. Li Mingyue's subordinates should also have thousands of troops. If the gods hadn't moved too fast and Li Mingyue was forced to abandon everything and flee into the Nine Netherworld, there should be a lot of power behind him.

 …Those people Su Ming'an took for granted in this world, such as Li Yuxuan, Xiao Jingsan, and Chao Yan, were probably big shots among tens of millions of people a thousand years ago. However, the glorious past years have been lost in the erasure of history.

 And who was the only first leader "General Qin" who has not been reincarnated in this world thousands of years ago?

I’m afraid you’ll only know if you keep reading.

He broke away from consciousness and watched the movement of the overlapping shadow. It's been a few hours, I don't know what the situation is over there.

Looking at it, Su Mingan almost thought that he was in the wrong place.

The sky, which was originally empty, lonely, and distant, has completely changed. The surroundings are no longer surrounded by cold starlight, replaced by soft seats and a dance floor. Dieying was sitting not far from him, shaking a red wine glass in his hand. Although there was no red wine in the glass, his movements looked very classy.

"...Back?" Duiying saw Su Ming'an open his eyes and immediately sat upright. This gesture reminded Su Ming'an of an old man waiting for his children and grandchildren to "go home often."

Su Mingan looked down and saw that there were no new wounds. Duiying had indeed kept his promise and had not harmed him in the slightest.

 “Gone.” Su Mingan coldly withdrew from consciousness.