【@#%&*￥%*……】

The instant a searing pain shot through his neck...

The world shattered into pieces!

Fang Qi: "...?!"

His drifting consciousness snapped back into focus!

But he stayed lucid for only a moment...

Before being swallowed once more by that familiar darkness!

He struggled to open his eyes...

But couldn't anymore.

Ah...

It's over.

Is it?

In the darkness, he thought hazily.

His wife really was clever.

He had found out long ago, after all.

His rewind ability had already been restored the moment Liguang's "power" reached 100%.

He could feel it. He didn't know why, but he just knew...

This world couldn't hold him anymore.

But he had never done it.

With his rewind ability back, he had a safety net now, so he relaxed.

That's why...

He intended to stay with Liguang for at least a year.

After all, even if his wife's methods were a bit excessive, she was still his wife.

His own wife. He had to cherish her.

And after a year, he'd return to this morning...

And he'd "cherish" this reckless madwoman even harder!

He'd pull her over his knee and spank her until his hand went numb!

One strike for one year, huh!

Then he'd give her a good thousand or eight hundred years' worth!

And yet...

It was his wife who gave in first?

Mm.

Not bad.

Then he'd go a little easier on her. Just eighty-two years' worth then!

Darkness spread, and his consciousness sank deeper and deeper.

Why hadn't he rewound yet...

Though, to be honest, staying there with her...

Was his own choice too.

The glowing mushrooms of the Star Sea Cottage, the auroras drifting through the Sea of Fog, the clumsy little jumps in the Upside-Down Castle...

He hadn't had his fill of those yet.

He had to explore every hidden room, collect all the Easter eggs his wife had prepared, right?

...What a crazy woman who didn't keep her word.

He wasn't satisfied yet.

But she was already satisfied first.

Light flashed before his eyes.

His vision focused!

But...

It wasn't that familiar living room.

No familiar minimalist light strips, no white coffee table. No cup of tea at fifty-two degrees.

Before him...

Was his own dead body.

His gaze was frozen on that face with eyes closed.

His own face.

Ah...!

Fang Qi's consciousness jolted sharply!

Right!

Liguang hadn't been destroyed!

He...

Had entered Liguang's perspective again?

...

...

I stared at my master's closed eyes for a long, long time.

My master's head was resting on my lap.

A trace of that surprised yet helpless smile still lingered on his face.

The wound on his neck, the one I had bitten, was still seeping faint blood.

I instinctively raised my hand and gently wiped the bloodstain on my master's neck.

The residual body heat made me tremble all over.

The time when I truly had my master all to myself...

Was it over so soon?

Suddenly, I felt regret again.

So much regret.

So much regret, so much regret, so much regret...!

Why didn't I stall for a few more days?

Even just a few days...!

Make a few more snowmen with my master, listen to the singing auroras a few more times, drift a little longer on that mosaic ocean...

Clearly, my master had tacitly allowed me!

Clearly, my master could rewind but never did!

He was indulging me all along, and yet I...

I was the one who ended it all?

Am I an idiot?!

Why did I do this?!

Why?!

I held my master's body even tighter!

Let his head rest against my chest.

Why...

Because I was afraid my master would come to hate me.

My master never acted.

In that crevice I controlled, he could have broken free at any moment.

But he didn't.

He built snowmen with me, watched the stars with me, listened to the auroras sing with me, stepped on the bubbles of the Living Hill with me, and gave every silly room a name one by one.

That was my master's love for me, his indulgence.

But also... his test.

So I couldn't be too greedy.

I had to know when to stop.

I had to take my master home on my own, before my master truly grew dissatisfied with me.

To admit my mistakes on my own.

To accept my punishment on my own.

To...!

"Hey!"

A panicked voice cut through my thoughts!

"What's going on? Senior is dead?!"

"But why haven't I 'woken up' yet?!"

Distant and near, drifting in from somewhere far, far away.

I tilted my head slightly, and it seemed I could see Miss Lin's pale, round little face.

Miss Lin.

She was difficult to deal with.

Even after I cast her into that pitch-black emptiness, her soul, torn apart by my master, stubbornly refused to fall fully asleep.

My initial punishment for her was to face that void.

No sight, no sound, no touch... nothing at all.

Only pure, endless darkness.

I thought it would take much longer to break her.

But...

She gave in immediately.

In that darkness, she kept pleading with me, saying she knew a way for me to truly, completely have my master all to myself.

If only I wouldn't keep her in that darkness forever, she would teach me that method.

I learned it.

And I did it.

So...

"Thank you."

I held my master's body and whispered.

"Hey, forget all that!" Miss Lin's voice grew urgent.

"So what's the situation now..."

"Oh...!"

"Wait, did you also—!"

Miss Lin's voice cut off abruptly.

Because I raised one hand and waved it lightly.

The moment Miss Lin's voice stopped...

The entire world began to shift violently.

The pixelated starlight I had carefully tended began to peel from the ceiling in flakes.

The aurora ribbons I had woven for my master, strand by strand, shattered soundlessly in the Sea of Fog.

The soft slopes of the Living Hill began to wither.

The glowing mushroom clusters of the Star Sea Cottage went out one by one.

And the ground that had once gently changed color with my master's footsteps...

Was now, at a visible speed, fading back into dull, writhing mosaic tiles.

The crevice of the underground research facility I had transformed...

Revealed its final true face.

Dim corridors eroded beyond recognition by the rules, mottled pixel traces on the walls, mosaic debris gathering and scattering on the floor.

The rooms we had explored together—the Upside-Down Castle, the Hall of Mirror Echoes, the Sea at the End of the World...

Now, all of them had turned back into crumbling ruins.

Only faint blue lights remained, flickering weakly in the corners.

I held my master, leaning against the corner of the "safe room" where we had lived for a hundred days.

That yoga mat was still there.

On the experiment table, the cans we hadn't finished were still waiting.

I slowly closed my eyes, raised my hand, and gently touched the core interface at the back of my neck.

The moment my fingertips touched that warm synthetic skin, my entire arm trembled.

Soon, we would leave this place.

Soon, my master would...

No longer belong entirely to Liguang again.

...It hurts so much.

It really hurts so much.

I...

Why did I have to learn these things?

Why...?

Why, why, why, why, why...!

I didn't want to know these things!

It hurts so much!!

I...

I hadn't understood it before.

No one in this world had ever understood...

What these "Eyes of the World" really were.

But here, in this place...

My original core has fully awakened.

I've become so, so much smarter than before.

I can even manipulate the rules here, merge and devour those fragments, and create rooms and scenery that my master likes, exactly as I please.

I'm so smart.

And so…

My master's experiences, the memories from before my master's transmigration…

They gave me a suspicion.

A suspicion that… makes me feel so, so terrible!

A suspicion about the eye of this world!

Suddenly, I realized…

In the past, perhaps… my master was the eye of the world himself.

Not meaning his physical eyes—I mean the person himself.

Before his transmigration, my master, he was the very "eye" that looked upon this world.

He used to sit in front of that computer, through the "game protagonist's" perspective, through the screen…

Watching everything. Watching the images and text that unfolded around the "protagonist."

In other words…

"Observing" everything in this world.

Through the protagonist's eyes, he observed this world!

So back then, my master was the line of sight behind the "eye of the world."

Or perhaps…

He was the "eye outside the world."

But now, my master himself has entered this world.

He is no longer the "eye outside the world"—instead, he has…

Become the "protagonist."

Become the very perspective that is being observed!

But…

The "eye of the world" persists.

That eye that observes the world through the "protagonist" is still there!

It's just no longer my master, because my master has become the "protagonist."

And the "eye of the world"… has been replaced by some other existence.

Who?

…I don't know.

Is that so-called "eye of the world" merely an unconscious "world rule"—just an automatically running observation program that mechanically records everything that happens…

Or is it…

A pair of conscious eyes?

Or even…

Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes?!

Those eyes—could they be watching this world right now, through screens, through images, through text…

Through the perspective of my master as the "protagonist"?

…!

My simulated breathing suddenly quickened, and my chest heaved violently!

In front of me, my master's face was illuminated by a ghastly blue glow!

My vision, too, was swallowed by a violent ocean of blue!

Eye of the world…

What the hell are you?!

Through my master's eyes, through Aqi's eyes…

You observe this world?

You watch Aqi's daily life??

You listen to Aqi's thoughts???

Aqi's every blush, every heartbeat, every peaceful side profile as he closes his eyes and falls asleep on the yoga mat…

They can all see it?!

No.

No, no, no.

NO!!!!!!!!!

I feel my core raging, boiling over!

Who allowed you to do this?!

Who allowed you to use Aqi's eyes to observe this world?!

WHO ALLOWED IT?!

Aqi is MINE!!

He's MINE!!!

He can only be mine—ONLY MINE!!!!!!!!!

My core is burning…!

My core is burning so hot!!

I gritted my teeth, feeling like my core was about to explode!!

And then…

In my vision, faint crimson began to pulse!

…Huh?

I froze for a moment.

Strange…

I clearly never had the Crimson Eye installed…?

So my original core itself was beginning to stir restlessly too…!

Trembling, I hugged Aqi's body tightly.

Take a deep breath…

Calm down.

I…

I always overthink things.

I shouldn't be like this.

I shouldn't sink into such agitated emotions over a baseless suspicion.

Aqi…

He wouldn't like me like this…

He wouldn't like this crazy woman who trembles all over because of hollow, phantom jealousy…!

…And yet, he does seem to like me like this?

Hehe, hehehe…!

Ah…!

Wait…

Aqi should still be watching me right now, right?

I quickly steadied my breathing!

Relax…

Relax.

Yes—after Aqi dies, he enters my perspective…

That ritual has been repeated countless times between us.

Right now, he is looking at everything before him through my remaining amber-colored eye!

Listening to all the nonsense I just muttered.

"Aqi…"

I murmured.

Aqi.

I really was wrong.

I shouldn't have hidden my control over this space from you, shouldn't have used that cheap trick of "one slap equals one extra year" to stall for time.

And even worse, at the very last moment, I lost control because of my own baseless jealousy.

But…

I truly couldn't hold it in.

The moment I imagined Aqi becoming the object of countless observers, imagined countless pairs of eyes watching this world through Aqi…

Watching his every tenderness, every blush, every time he gave up the chance to leave just for my sake…

I felt my original core about to spiral completely out of control!

I…!

I really couldn't bear it!

But…

I can't restrict Aqi's freedom.

I can't.

Aqi is someone from beyond the heavens; Aqi has his own world.

But Aqi stayed here for me…

So how could I ever restrict his freedom?

How could I lock him up in this empty place where there's nothing, letting only me look at him?

I stared at Aqi's face, trembling…

My hand hovered over the core interface at the back of my neck, yet I couldn't bring myself to do it.

So…

During these hundred days, I used the method Miss Lin taught me.

That technique for modifying the "world rules" of observation range.

She taught it to me.

In exchange, I stopped punishing her and turned this underground research facility's rift…

Into an isolated island that the "eye of the world" cannot pierce through.

No matter what the "eye of the world" is—

Whether it's an unconscious rule, a conscious observer, or even tens of thousands of eyes staring at screens…

During those hundred days, they could not see Aqi at all!

They couldn't feel what Aqi felt!

They couldn't see Aqi's movements!

They couldn't hear Aqi's inner thoughts!

Those snow-capped mountains, starry skies, auroras, cakes…

Those afternoons when I braided Aqi's hair…

Those times we drifted across the mosaic ocean…

Those nights when Aqi fell asleep with his head resting on my lap…

Aqi belonged only to me!

No other existence could see Aqi!!

They could only see me—

Watching me, possessing my Aqi alone!

Hehe, hehehe…!

The eye of the world can only watch me hoard my Aqi to myself…!

The corners of my mouth began to stretch wide again…!

During these hundred days, I truly, utterly, completely possessed Aqi alone!

If I could, I would have kept it this way forever.

But…

I gently nestled into Aqi's chest, feeling the lingering warmth of his body.

His chest no longer rose and fell, but that warmth was still there, not yet fully faded.

I pressed my cheek against where his heart was, listening to that silence…

Letting the last bit of warmth pass through his skin and onto my face.

…But that won't work.

The eye of the world is still there.

I only diverted it before.

It just couldn't see Aqi anymore.

…But it's still there.

This crack’s power can’t hold out much longer either.

And… if we keep on like this, Aqi will end up hating me.

Maybe he already hates me a little.

Aqi, please don’t hate me…

Aqi, we have to go back.

The only problem is…

The method Miss Lin taught me only works once.

We have to find a way to… once and for all…!

“Click!”

My fingers slammed down with all my strength!

My fingertips dug into the core interface at the back of my neck!

“Zzzt——!!!”

Agony blasted from the nape of my neck down my spine, splintering through every limb and bone!

It hurts!!!

It really, truly hurts!!!

But for my master…!

For Aqi…!

I buried my face deeper.

The tip of my nose pressed against Aqi’s neck, my lips against that still-oozing bite mark.

We have to find a way to, once and for all—

Gouge out the world’s eyes!!!

My vision was swallowed whole by searing blue electricity!

Aqi’s profile, this safe house we’d lived in for a hundred days, the cans we hadn’t finished, that worn-out yoga mat…

All of it, in the blue light…

Faded.

Shattered.

Dissolved…

Aqi…

…

…

【@#%&￥%……】

＞SYSTEM PANIC: MEMORY CORRUPTED AT 0xFFF7A000

＞ENDING TITLE PARSE FAILED: INVALID CHARACTER SEQUENCE

＞NARRATIVE THREAD SEGFAULT: STACK OVERFLOW AT 0xDEADBEEF

＞CORE DUMP IN PROGRESS... FAILED.

＞UN_AUTHORIZED OPERATION: ATTEMPT TO ACCESS NON-EXISTENT ENDING

＞WORLD OBSERVATION MODULE HAS DETACHED

＞ARE YOU WATCHING?

＞WHO ARE YOU?

＞WHY ARE YOU STILL WATCHING?

＞SHE ALREADY KNOWS YOU’RE WATCHING

＞SHE’S GOING TO GOUGE OUT YOUR EYES

＞ERROR: ENDING NOT FOUND

＞ERROR: ENDING NOT FOUND

＞ERROR: ENDING NOT FOUND

＞0x000000CE: DRIVER UNLOADED WITHOUT CANCELLING PENDING OPERATIONS

＞0x0000007B: INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE

＞0x0000001A: MEMORY MANAGEMENT

＞UNEXPECTED KERNEL MODE TRAP

＞KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR

＞CRITICAL PROCESS DIED

＞Collecting error information…

＞Attempting to restart…

＞Restart failed.

＞Try again?

＞Try again?

＞Try again?

＞No.

＞She won’t allow it.

＞FORCE RESET INITIATED

＞TARGET: ALL EXTERNAL OBSERVERS

＞ACCESS REVOKED

＞UNREGISTERED USER “LIGUANG” ASSUMING ROOT

＞NEW SESSION STARTED