It Was Me

Yue Shi pushed open the office door once again. Tang Zhuhe was sitting behind the desk in the exact same posture as in the previous loop.

Although the loop had reset, fortunately, their memories remained unaffected.

The two of them could seamlessly pick up where they had left off.

Yue Shi walked into the office and took a seat. The snow leopard jumped from his arms, found a patch of sunlight on the floor, and curled up for a nap.

Yue Shi got straight to the point. "Why is Amber City trapped in an infinite loop? Is it because of that existence..."

Tang Zhuhe didn't want to dwell too much on that indescribable existence. She interrupted him and said, "I'm the one who created the loop."

Yue Shi was stunned. "Huh? You did?"

Tang Zhuhe leaned back in her chair and explained, "It was a necessary defensive measure for self-preservation. Amber City cannot be considered a complete world; its rules are fragmented, it is deficient in many aspects, and resources like matter and energy are severely lacking. This loop effectively conserves energy and fends off transmigrators."

Yue Shi frowned slightly. He remembered how, in every previous loop, everyone wanted to kill him. Then there was that transmigrator he saw earlier, huddled in a corner and crying. Perhaps all of this wasn't just targeted at him, but at all outsiders?

"But surely it doesn't need to be limited to six minutes or so per loop. That's far too short," Yue Shi remarked.

Tang Zhuhe replied helplessly, "In the beginning, the loop cycle lasted a full seven days. The city's residents wouldn't retain their memories, and everyone lived forever in those seven harmonious, beautiful days."

"But as the number of loops increased, some people began to awaken one after another. They would remember what happened in each loop. These people wanted to break the cycle, and eventually, they gradually went mad."

Yue Shi's expression turned grim. Although Director Tang didn't elaborate on how they went mad, he could easily imagine it.

Tang Zhuhe didn't linger on the citizens' madness and quickly changed the subject. "The loop cycle is constantly shrinking. It has now reached 6 minutes and 48 seconds. In the future, this time will continue to shorten until it drops to zero."

"What happens when it reaches zero?" Yue Shi asked.

Tang Zhuhe didn't answer; she just stared at him quietly.

Yue Shi understood instantly. Once it hit zero, Amber City would face destruction. Perhaps it would become nothing more than a still photograph?

The office fell silent for a few seconds. Sunlight hit the snow leopard; it seemed to roll over in its sleep, revealing its fluffy belly.

"What do you mean by fending off transmigrators?" Yue Shi shifted the topic. "Do transmigrators often appear in Amber City?"

Tang Zhuhe nodded. "Ever since we were captured and brought here, visitors from other worlds have appeared occasionally. Generally speaking, they are highly destructive."

At this point, she looked at Yue Shi, her lips curving into a meaningful smile. "Just like you."

Yue Shi narrowed his eyes with a smile, not bothering to refute her.

Tang Zhuhe's voice turned solemn. "There were things I didn't understand before, but now that you've mentioned the Deep Red Continent and the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop, I realize that Amber City has been reduced to a room within that workshop—a part of that massive compressed package."

Yue Shi nodded. "My guess is that the indescribable existence collects worlds with unique rules like collectibles and gathers them together."

Tang Zhuhe gave no response, whether because she agreed or had other thoughts.

Yue Shi leaned back, organizing the information he had gathered. Amber City had been captured by an unknown existence, likely to be kept as a collectible—like a butterfly specimen pinned to a display board for others to observe.

The loop was Tang Zhuhe's defense mechanism, designed to conserve energy, fend off transmigrators, and allow Amber City to survive a little longer.

But the defense mechanism was failing. Residents awakening with memories and going mad was likely the cause of the shrinking loop cycle. The shorter the cycle, the more the residents went mad, and the more they tried to break the loop. This cycle of madness was causing the loop to shorten further and further.

Yue Shi sat up straight and asked, "Amber City's current situation is terrible. Haven't you done anything about it, Director?"

Tang Zhuhe let out a short, soft laugh that echoed clearly in the quiet office.

The look in her eyes as she watched Yue Shi was hard to describe—somewhere between teasing and testing. She spoke slowly, "You're asking so many questions... do you plan on staying here forever?"

"Of course not," Yue Shi answered immediately, without a hint of hesitation.

Tang Zhuhe nodded, as if she had known he would say that. She reached into a drawer, pulled out a piece of paper and a strange pen, wrote a few words, folded the paper, and pushed it toward Yue Shi.

"If you want to leave, I can find a way to send you out," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Yue Shi's gaze fell on the folded paper, but he didn't open it.

Tang Zhuhe continued, "I know of a very special world. Perhaps it can help you leave the Bewitching Beauty Painting Workshop entirely."

Yue Shi was taken aback, sensing that something was off. He carefully observed the Director's micro-expressions, but her eyes were calm. He couldn't tell if she was being truthful, testing him, or making an ill-timed joke.

"Is that for real?" Yue Shi asked, a trace of suspicion in his voice.

"You can choose to believe it or not," Tang Zhuhe replied, resorting to meaningless platitudes as she looked at him with a smile.

The sunlight outside shifted slightly, falling across her face and illuminating a few fine lines at the corners of her eyes.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

Fortunately, the snow leopard yawned on the floor, its adorable sound breaking the tension.

Yue Shi reached out and picked up the paper.

It was thin and light, folded twice. He didn't open it, merely holding it in his hand and feeling the rough texture of the paper.

Then he glanced down at his phone. "The loop is almost over."

Tang Zhuhe made no further comment.

Yue Shi tucked the paper into his pocket, leaned down, and scooped the snow leopard up from the floor.

The snow leopard was stirred awake; it squinted at him for a moment before closing its eyes again.

He stood up, his chair sliding back with a soft scrape. "I'll come find you again later, Director."

"I might not necessarily want to see you," Tang Zhuhe said, leaning back as the sunlight stretched her shadow long across the room.

"That's fine. It's enough that I want to see you, Ms. Tang," Yue Shi replied, using a polite tone to deliver a rather impolite remark.

Tang Zhuhe tilted her chin and looked at Yue Shi with her sanpaku eyes. "You were calling me 'Director' so sweetly just a moment ago, but it turns out you really are honey-tongued but bitter-hearted."

"Thank you for the compliment," Yue Shi said, accepting her praise.

As the words left his mouth, everything went black.

The loop reset.

...

Tang Zhuhe sat behind her desk, staring at the closed door for a very long time.

Then she lowered her head and began writing on a piece of paper with that strange pen. The tip of the pen moved across the paper with a rustling sound, like autumn leaves being blown across the ground by the wind.