Game Over

"Tap, tap, tap..." Footsteps echoed down the cold corridor.

Ye Shuang came to the hospital alone. For certain reasons, he still hadn't told Chen Qin and Bai Yuyou about the situation with the two Yus.

If something really went wrong with Chao Yiyu, telling Chen Qin and the others wouldn't help anyway. Furthermore, they didn't even know that there were actually two versions of An Shiyu.

He was very familiar with this place; after all, it was where An Shiyu had been treated before. Even Ye Shuang himself hadn't expected Chao Yiyu's physical condition to deteriorate at a speed far beyond his imagination.

It was like a tower of building blocks. One block after another was pulled out. At first, nothing would happen to the tower—but once it reached a point where it could no longer support itself, the tower would collapse in an instant!

Before long, Ye Shuang saw the short-haired girl leaning her back against the wall outside the ward. Her head was slightly lowered, giving off a deeply despondent vibe. Ye Shuang had seen this exact look on Chao Yiyu before, back when An Shiyu was hospitalized for her heart condition; Chao Yiyu had worn the exact same expression.

Were they the same?

No, they were not.

"You're here." Seeing Ye Shuang, An Shiyu suddenly didn't know what to say. Looking more like a child who had made a mistake, she abruptly asked,

"Is there any way?"

Ye Shuang fell silent. The more he studied medical knowledge, the more he knew that this was impossible.

An Shiyu seemed to have anticipated this response. She averted her gaze, her hands gripping her own arms tightly.

She was trembling.

An Shiyu's body was shaking slightly. Although the tremors were subtle, Ye Shuang took it all in.

"Is she inside? Can I go in and see her?" Ye Shuang asked.

"It's best if you don't go in..." An Shiyu said. Her lips quivered, seemingly unable to explain.

Ye Shuang: "..."

However, he still grasped the handle and pushed the door open to enter.

An Shiyu didn't seem surprised by Ye Shuang walking right in. Lowering her eyes, she followed him inside.

After taking just a few steps, Ye Shuang froze, his eyes filled with disbelief.

On the hospital bed lay a young girl. All her hair had fallen out, and even her skin was wrinkled. If not for the facial features that resembled An Shiyu's, Ye Shuang wouldn't have been able to believe that this person, who looked decades older, was Chao Yiyu.

He couldn't bring himself to believe that the extremely lively girl was connected to the frail old woman before him.

But without a doubt, this face was a familiar presence to Ye Shuang; she had just seemingly aged in an instant.

Perhaps sensing the movement of the door opening, the figure on the bed slowly opened her eyes. She was incredibly weak, finding it extremely difficult to even open her eyes.

"..." But the moment she saw Ye Shuang, Chao Yiyu found a sudden burst of strength from somewhere and grabbed the blanket to cover her face.

As if she didn't want to be seen in her current state.

"You..." Ye Shuang originally wanted to ask how she was doing, but when the words reached his lips, he couldn't say anything. Was there even a need to ask?

They hadn't seen each other for only a short period of time.

The severity of the situation was far worse than Ye Shuang had imagined, otherwise An Shiyu wouldn't have asked what to do.

"Where is the old man?" Ye Shuang asked An Shiyu beside him.

"He went to find a solution," An Shiyu said softly, letting out a helpless chuckle. "He couldn't even cure a heart disease; a method like turning a hard-boiled egg back into a raw one is even more impossible."

The number of times a cell can divide is limited, and a person's lifespan is also limited.

"Let's leave for now. She'll feel more uncomfortable with us in the room," An Shiyu said softly, her gaze landing on the bed.

Ye Shuang looked at the snow-white blanket. Ultimately, he couldn't say a word. He didn't know how to comfort her either, so he just sighed deeply, turned around, and left with An Shiyu.

Although Chao Yiyu's body had weakened to the extreme, she wouldn't die immediately. However, with her organs failing like this, passing away could happen in just a split second.

"..."

Ye Shuang and An Shiyu sat in the small garden of the hospital's convalescent department. There was a lot of vegetation here, and the air was fresh.

Some patients recovering from serious illnesses were strolling in the garden, while others undergoing rehabilitation training were using equipment in the corners to restore their bodies. Everything seemed to be moving in a positive direction.

Except for them.

The vibrant and lively scene in the small garden did nothing to ease the heavy hearts of Ye Shuang and An Shiyu.

"Is there really no way?" Even though she knew the answer, An Shiyu tirelessly asked again.

Even the slimmest hope was better than sitting around waiting for death.

"Probably... not," Ye Shuang answered with great difficulty.

"That makes sense. If there really was a way, humanity would have achieved immortality by now."

At this moment, Ye Shuang's gaze fell on An Shiyu. Her tone was very calm, but Ye Shuang keenly detected the emotional turmoil within her. An Shiyu had probably rehearsed this scenario countless times in her mind, hadn't she?

When things actually happened, no matter how calm one appeared on the outside, it was nothing more than a disguise for the panic inside.

An Shiyu slowly said,

"Even though she... still doesn't have a name of her own."

"Even though she always criticizes what I do and often makes things worse when trying to help."

"She always causes trouble and never listens to me, but..."

"But..."

"She would take exams for me, buy me medicine when I was sick... She would help me handle so many things."

"She would keep me company."

"She still has me."

Without realizing when it started, her voice had grown hoarse. An Shiyu rested her head on Ye Shuang's shoulder just like that.

"Is there really... no way?"

"It seems we both can't stop worrying about each other."

"I probably can't live without her."

Ye Shuang remained silent. He took a deep breath, as if trying to exhale all the heavy air from his chest, but even so, his mood didn't improve.

Reaching out, he gently patted the trembling girl's back.

"..."

...

Meanwhile, on the hospital bed upstairs, Chao Yiyu had sat up, leaning against the headboard. She rubbed the back of her hand—the constant sense of weakness radiating from her body felt as if a countdown had already begun for her journey.

She struggled to reach out and picked up the phone beside her.

"Click." The phone screen didn't light up. Just the reflection in the black screen made Chao Yiyu's heart clench tightly.

"..."

"This is too cruel... not even letting someone die looking a bit cute."

Chao Yiyu reached out and touched her own head. She smiled in a self-deprecating manner, the wrinkles on her face squeezing together.

"I've gone bald, but it doesn't seem like I've gotten stronger."

"Sigh..."

"Now that this moment is really here..."

"I feel like I've realized there are still so many things I haven't done yet..."

"But..."

"It looks like the game... is over."

"Not a bad ending, right? Just didn't get all the achievements, that's all..."