Ye Shuang had now completely calmed down, sipping goji berry water from his thermos as he pondered.
At the moment, he had no idea how to re-enter that strange state again. After his conversation with An Shiyu, he had tried once more but failed.
The clock was still ticking away in reverse, yet nothing happened.
Perhaps it needed to recharge, like a battery—but how could he choose the specific point in time to return to?
What a headache…
"Systems in novels and TV shows are always so intelligent. Did someone from the future gift me a defective product?" Ye Shuang took another sip of water and shook his head helplessly.
Even if he could alter the past, it wouldn’t change his own future. It would only create a new timeline, like a parallel world—one he couldn’t see or touch.
"If my parents could live well in another timeline, wouldn’t that count as a form of redemption for me?" Ye Shuang murmured to himself.
"……"
If only he could change his own future or stay forever in a certain moment.
Clearing his thoughts, Ye Shuang shook his head and checked the time—it was already the end of the workday. Due to the stalker incident and Gu Wanqing’s suicide attempt, he decided to drive Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke home.
After sending a message to Bai Yuyou, he stepped out of the school infirmary.
"Brother, over here!"
Tang Keke and Bai Yuyou were waiting on the first floor. Spotting Ye Shuang, they waved at him.
"Let’s go. For now, don’t walk home—I’ll drive you." Ye Shuang had originally encouraged them to walk together so they could experience the normal after-school routines of high school girls. But given the recent circumstances, he couldn’t help but worry.
When they reached the underground parking lot, Ye Shuang found his Audi sandwiched between two tiny electric cars—this time in different colors.
Ye Shuang: "……"
Just how many of these "spicy fish heads" did An Shiyu buy?
And were they all modified?
He glanced at the green license plates.
[Yuehai 77777]
[Yuehai 11111]
Recalling the previous Yuehai 66666 plate, did she own nine of these things?
"Brother, these baby buses are so cute! I want to buy one someday," Tang Keke said, eyeing the brightly colored mini cars with curiosity.
"That’s not a baby bus—it’s called a 'spicy fish head,'" Ye Shuang corrected before getting into the car.
As they drove out of the garage, Ye Shuang glanced toward the school gate, where a crowd of reporters and social media creators had gathered. With all the wild rumors circulating, some uninformed onlookers had even started causing trouble.
"Wow, it’s crazy. There are so many people blocking the entrance," Tang Keke exclaimed, peering out the window.
"Yeah." Ye Shuang kept his eyes on the road before turning to Bai Yuyou in the passenger seat. "Were you scared today?"
Bai Yuyou didn’t respond but gave a slight nod.
Ye Shuang reached over and gently patted her head in reassurance.
"How is… the girl?" Bai Yuyou asked softly.
"She’s still in critical condition. I’ve done all I can. Even if she wakes up, she might never walk again—or worse, remain unconscious or spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair." A fleeting image crossed Ye Shuang’s mind—the girl whispering "thank you" before jumping.
As if she had nothing left to hold onto.
"That’s so tragic. I heard the stalker still hasn’t been caught," Tang Keke added, clenching her fists.
"Still at large?"
"Yeah! He’s slippery as an eel. If only we knew where he was hiding." Tang Keke swung a tiny punch. "I just hope no other girls at our school fall victim."
"They’ll catch him," Ye Shuang said.
But then a thought struck him. "How was the girl’s abuse discovered in the first place?"
"I’m not sure about the details, but I heard it was in a daily rental apartment. The landlord heard strange noises and went in to check," Tang Keke explained.
Daily rentals…
Such places were common, even in developed cities—cheap, rundown rooms rented by the day, where no one cared about your identity.
The police were probably already tracking leads, but for now, the stalker remained elusive.
If only he could return to the day the stalker rented that room—maybe then he could uncover clues about the man’s identity.
Ye Shuang’s thoughts drifted back to the reversing clock.
Wait—if the clock could take him to specific moments in time, even if it couldn’t change his own future, he could still use it to uncover crucial information!
For example… who was behind Bai Yuyou’s abduction years ago?
The owner of that phone number.
At a red light, Ye Shuang’s gaze lingered on Bai Yuyou. He rarely stared at someone long enough to trigger the information window—partly because the text was intrusive, and partly because he disliked prying into others’ privacy.
[Character: Bai Yuyou
The adorable girl under your care—perfect for hugs, kisses, and lifting high.]
In the upper right corner, the clock ticked slowly.
Ye Shuang focused on it—
Suddenly, the hands spun rapidly backward!
It worked!
But after a few rotations, the clock abruptly stopped and reset.
Ye Shuang: "……"
Like a deflated balloon, nothing happened.
"Brother, green light," Tang Keke reminded him. The sound of impatient honking snapped Ye Shuang back to reality, and he pressed the accelerator.
"Ye Shuang, what’s wrong?" Bai Yuyou asked.
She had noticed him staring at her, then squinting as if trying to see something clearly.
The girl glanced down at her schoolbag.
Had it… gotten bigger?
As he drove, Ye Shuang considered the clock’s brief activation. It had clearly responded—perhaps it simply lacked enough energy to travel back over a decade to Bai Yuyou’s abduction.
That made sense.
The clock had moved, just not enough to complete the journey.
If only there were some kind of "electronic X-gear" to give it a boost.
"To test my theory, I’ll need to visit Gu Manman this afternoon," Ye Shuang muttered, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
m back to his original world. In the end, he realized he had overthought things. [Hey, why is Shen Manni, the female lead, acting strange? Shouldn't she be fawning over the male lead at this point?] [Zhou Qiaoqiao, are you sick? Weren't you supposed to break off your engagement today?] [Damn it! An Youyi, please do your job as an undercover agent and sell my information to the protagonist, you idiot!] ... At this moment, Xu Mo himself didn't know that these female leads had already heard his inner thoughts. Then they decided not to play by the rules. Xu Mo: Please respect my profession as the big villain!
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
