The lantern hanging from the wooden beam gave off a faint glow, providing the only light. The sound of water flowing through the heater could be heard clearly, while the source of heat was Xu Fang.

The few survivors left in the apocalypse fell into a long silence.

The Daoist priest sighed and muttered to himself, “The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven derives forty-nine, and this is the one that escaped.”

Luo Xiaoming pressed her lips together. Her face was pale, and her long eyelashes trembled. After a long while, she seemed to have made up her mind and raised her head to look at Xu Fang.

“Xu Fang, do you want to leave this false world?”

“Yeah.” Xu Fang nodded.

“Then, as long as I disappear, everything will end, right?”

Xu Fang and Xiao Ming stared at each other. He saw the sorrow in the girl’s eyes.

Here we go again. Every time things reached a turning point, there was always a sacrifice.

Victory was within reach, but the thought of its price left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Empty didn’t dare say a word beside them.

“Why would you think that?”

“I never belonged to this world in the first place. Since I disrupted the balance of the Eternal Life world, making me disappear in the end… would complete the loop.”

They would fall into the hell of eternal life, and everyone would become a slave to immortality. Right now was their only chance to escape.

Xu Fang raised his hand and rubbed Luo Xiaoming’s head. She squeezed her eyes shut, her shoulders trembling slightly.

“Xiao Ming, and Daoist Priest, how about we talk about the definition of so-called bizarre events?” Xu Fang suddenly said something completely unrelated.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Empty only froze for a moment before answering, “Any ‘unreal’ situation can actually be classified as a bizarre event.”

“Then are we a bizarre event in this Eternal Life world?”

“Without a doubt. And it’s the highest-difficulty type mentioned in rumors—the ‘no-hints’ category.”

“Then, within a bizarre event, what’s the relationship between one author and another?”

“Forgive my limited knowledge, but I’ve never truly experienced a bizarre event involving another author. This occasion is an exception.”

“Yeah. Then let’s look at it from another angle. Daoist Priest, how do you view bizarre events?”

“They are ominous affairs. I would avoid them at all costs.”

“You think bizarre events are harmful to authors?”

“That is not merely my opinion; it is the consensus among authors. The endings of bizarre events are often either death or injury. At best, they leave you with psychological trauma. At worst, your body dies and your soul is extinguished. Such calamities should be avoided whenever possible. If there is no way to avoid them, then one must seek to resolve them at the lowest possible cost. That is the way to survive.”

“So the first thing I want to prove is this: bizarre events aren’t necessarily bad.”

“What are you talking about? Weren’t we discussing how to leave the Eternal Life world?” Luo Xiaoming complained aloud, but relaxed inwardly. She knew that Xu Fang had abandoned his plan to make the ‘last person’ disappear.

“This is extremely important. It concerns our fate.”

“Bizarre events aren’t bad… What do you mean by that?” Empty asked.

“Although I’m a rookie author, I’ve experienced several bizarre events… In those events, I gained nothing but positive results. The claim that ‘experiencing a bizarre event always comes at a price’ is false. If something hasn’t been observed, then we assume it doesn’t exist. If it has been observed, then we take it as truth. That’s simply how authors work, so I believe bizarre events aren’t bad.”

“But the other authors observed nothing but bad outcomes.”

“Then let the author who has lived the longest prove it.”

The Daoist priest pondered for a moment. He still found it difficult to convince himself, so he said, “I hope that is indeed the case. What else do you want to prove?”

“The second matter concerns the authors’ way of thinking. Do you understand the game-theory model of bizarre events?”

“I do not.”

“First of all, every bizarre event must have a solution—and there’s never only one.”

“Yes. The authors agree on that point as well.”

“At the last authors’ gathering, I asked every author about their experiences with bizarre events. I discovered something strange.”

“What was it?”

“No author has ever experienced a bizarre event resembling a ‘battle royale.’”

A battle royale usually placed participants within a restricted area and had them fight one another, with the survivors becoming the winners. They slaughtered each other for limited survival resources… This cruel set of rules seemed perfectly suited to becoming the theme of a bizarre event. After all, most authors believed that a bizarre event was supposed to leave you with only a one-in-ten chance of survival.

Many bizarre events had the characteristics of a battle royale: limited resources, a confined environment, elimination rules, and so on. But in reality, as long as they found the correct method, the authors could win without harming one another. Killing everyone else and surviving alone might be one solution, but it wasn’t the optimal one.

In the “Demon Game,” correctly identifying the false rule allowed everyone to survive. In the “Wraith Examination Room,” Xu Fang and Ye Huai were merely “examinee” and “examiner.” As long as all the examinees answered correctly, neither side had to die.

Combining his own experiences with the stories of others, Xu Fang reached a conclusion:

“Bizarre events aren’t zero-sum games.”

“This… I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Do you mean the authors, or everyone, when you say ‘zero-sum game’?” Luo Xiaoming asked.

“Everyone involved in the bizarre event.”

Empty said, “I have another question. Luo Xiaoming isn’t an author, and perhaps she doesn’t count as a ‘participant’ either. Does the zero-sum game still apply?”

“Of course it does. Luo Xiaoming is essentially my personal possession. Losing her would cause me a loss. If I had to suffer that loss in order to win, then that solution might not be the optimal one.”

Luo Xiaoming said, “That analogy is way too weird, hey!”

The Daoist priest stroked his goatee and laughed. “That is a vision I would like to prove as well.”

The wasteland outside was utterly silent. The people remaining in the cave had rallied their spirits once more and were preparing to continue the fight in the next loop. Though the hope of victory had grown increasingly faint, the Daoist priest felt that as long as Xu Fang and Luo Xiaoming were still there, the game wasn’t over.

If Xu Fang’s guess was correct, destroying the Eternal Life Church might not be the optimal solution either… What would become of the authors’ fate?

The Daoist priest let his thoughts run wild before sinking into sleep.

And so, another day passed. Less than twenty-four hours remained before this loop ended.

The authors’ fate was still unclear, but after the Daoist priest awoke, another turning point appeared.

But it wasn’t a turning point that brought hope.

Luo Xiaoming was jolted awake by a terrible pain in her abdomen.

She struggled to sit up and touched her stomach—it was fine. Nothing had burst open.

After experiencing it several times, Luo Xiaoming knew this wasn’t her period.

It was ten times more painful than her period!

“Xu Fang…” she called out, only to immediately realize that her voice was frighteningly weak.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Fang noticed that something was off with Luo Xiaoming.

“I feel awful. Ugh…”

Before she could finish, Luo Xiaoming vomited. What came out wasn’t food or stomach acid, but fresh blood and fragments of internal organs.

Xu Fang looked at Xiao Ming’s body.

Among the people Xu Fang had rescued before, a small number had developed the same symptoms. Their internal organs had begun to break down… They were the same symptoms Moulin had shown before her death.

Their organs turned into scraps, like Ebola accelerated a hundredfold.

This is bad…

When did she get infected?!

He’d thought he had protected Luo Xiaoming perfectly. The food and water had all been prepared in advance, so they couldn’t possibly have been poisoned. The Daoist priest had even tested the air as a “guinea pig,” and it had been normal. Luo Xiaoming hadn’t touched anything harmful, nor had she come into contact with any immortal.

What had the Eternal Life Church done?

In an instant, Xu Fang realized it.

The shockwave from the nuclear blast. That was the only attack that had ever come into contact with Luo Xiaoming’s body.

The Eternal Life Church had detonated a nuclear bomb in the air.

Why hadn’t they chosen a ground-level nuclear detonation that could cause the mountain to collapse? Burying Xu Fang and the others under tons of earth would clearly have been more lethal.

Most likely, it was to let the shockwave spread more effectively.

This wasn’t the real world, so ordinary logic couldn’t be applied. Even nuclear radiation could spread the “Destruction Factor,” so it was difficult to say whether the shockwave could spread a deadly virus as well.

————————————————

Let’s turn back time to the moment Xu Fang proposed his plan to “become an immortal.”

At that moment, alarms rang out in the lower world. The immortal administrators were gathered around a conference table when they saw a book fall out of the void.

Book title: *The Rift in Time_255*.

Number 3 sensed that something was wrong. He turned toward Simpson, only to discover that the man was rapidly aging.

Simpson stared blankly at his own hand, then raised his head to look at Number 3. Then the old man vanished completely.

He had disappeared in the truest sense of the word.

After a moment of silence, Number 4 said, 【Our future selves used the time weapon again.】

【Didn’t we just use it? What happened in the future that made us take a vote?】

【Let’s see what happened first.】

Number 3 picked up the book and projected all of its contents onto the display.

“…”

After reading everything, everyone felt a trace of chill.

Number 3 said calmly, 【Without the time weapon, there’s no way we could be sitting here so calmly.】

The book from the future provided several extremely important pieces of information:

One: Information about the author known as “Rule.”

The author’s real name was Xu Fang. He possessed a special ability called “Thought-Touch.” Immortals affected by “Thought-Touch” would make all kinds of incorrect decisions.

Although the immortals of the future had captured the vast majority of the authors, some immortal administrators had come into contact with Xu Fang before he lost his memory, contaminating their thoughts.

Two: Information about the “Singularity.”

The “Singularity Individual” wasn’t something Xu Fang had made up. It truly existed. Since the “Singularity Individual” wasn’t affected by iteration, its identity remained uncertain. But at least one thing was certain: the “Singularity Individual” wasn’t an immortal and was hostile toward the immortals.

It was precisely because of the “Singularity Individual’s” hint that Xu Fang had recovered his memories.

…

Number 3 said, 【Xu Fang?… I’ve never heard of this author. Have any of you heard of him?】

All the immortals who were asked shook their heads.

【We thought knocking it out of the sky would eliminate the threat, but we didn’t expect it to be the greatest threat of all.】

【Looks like we need to change our strategy. We have to eliminate Xu Fang in this loop.】

【The time weapon marked Xu Fang’s current hiding place with these coordinates: Lat: 42.8 Lon: 44.4… What the hell is this place?】

【Fortunately, our future selves found out. Otherwise, we’d never have located him.】

Using the coordinates, the immortals learned about the surrounding terrain.

【The area is surrounded by mountains. Can a nuclear bomb kill Xu Fang? Remember, he isn’t a carbon-based life-form.】

【No. We don’t need to kill Xu Fang… We only need to eliminate the “Singularity Individual.” Without the Singularity Individual, Xu Fang will never be able to recover his memories, and naturally won’t be able to threaten us.】

【Then we’ll have to add one more ingredient…】

【What should we use?】

【Something extremely effective against living organisms—apoptosis.】

【There’s only a little left. I really hate to use it.】

The Apoptosis Factor—the king of all poisons in the civilized world.

Unlike the Destruction Factor, the Apoptosis Factor only affected living organisms. Its medium of transmission was “waves.”

Any organism contaminated with “apoptosis” would inevitably wither away and die. No matter how diluted the Apoptosis Factor became, it would eventually take effect. It was only a matter of time.

【Poor authors. If we fail, we can start over, but they only have one chance.】

——————————————

The Daoist priest came to Luo Xiaoming’s side, at a loss. “Th-this is…”

“This is bad. I think I’m… sick.” Luo Xiaoming breathed heavily. She was having trouble breathing now.

“There are still more than ten hours until the next loop. You have to hold on.”

“It’s useless,” Xu Fang said. “Her memories won’t be affected by the loop, and neither will her body. Iteration can’t reset her body.”

The immortals had said that the fatality rate was one hundred percent.

If Luo Xiaoming died, would this absurd bizarre event end? Probably not. And the authors wouldn’t have a happy ending either. That was what the Daoist priest thought.

Luo Xiaoming was the only one capable of retaining her memories. If she died, it would be like losing all the saved data from the loops they had cleared. The author would never again have the power to fight the Eternal Life Church.

Luo Xiaoming froze. Judging by the Daoist priest’s reaction, she realized the state her body was in.

“Xu Fang, am I… going to die?”

“I won’t let you die.”

Xu Fang then tried to treat Luo Xiaoming.

After confirming that the Daoist priest and Xiao Ming had the same blood type, Xu Fang transfused some of his blood into Luo Xiaoming.

But it made no difference. The collapse inside her body was happening spontaneously, without using bodily fluids as a medium.

"Waaah, it hurts so much, Xu Fang. Do you have any painkillers?"

She had wanted to be a little more “tough,” so she could at least preserve some dignity. But in the face of extreme pain, human dignity was worth nothing. And Luo Xiaoming herself had never been particularly strong-willed. It wasn’t long before she was nearly on the verge of collapse. She couldn’t catch her breath, and her throat hurt unbearably. She couldn’t even make a whimper, only coughing and gasping constantly as her eyes blurred with tears.

"I’ll give you a sedative," Xu Fang said.

The sedative wouldn’t improve her symptoms at all. It could only lessen the pain somewhat.

To prevent paralysis of the central nervous system, Xu Fang put a respirator on her to keep her breathing.

"Xu Fang, are there any organs of mine that can still be used? Take them. If they can save someone, then it’s all worth it." Empty looked utterly haggard. Blood loss had left his face unnaturally pale.

"It’s useless. This is no longer a problem that physical methods can solve."

After receiving the sedative, Luo Xiaoming curled into a ball, her consciousness scattering. But it was painfully clear that her life was slipping away.

She was dead.

She was going to die.

She would never come back.

She was a Singularity Individual. Resurrection was impossible.

As Xu Fang gazed at the creature that was about to become a corpse, his heart turned cold. He felt deeply uncomfortable.

What made Xu Fang uncomfortable wasn’t “the fact that Luo Xiaoming was about to die,” but how excessively calm he himself was.

Xu Fang realized that he was becoming more and more like the “secondary personality” he had once despised. He had said that he would never become like him. But what about reality?

Because he remained calm, Xu Fang—despite despising himself in that moment—wasn’t swayed by sadness, fear, loss, pain, despair, anger, or any of the other negative emotions. He made the only decision available to him, and perhaps the most correct one.

"Daoist Master, I’m taking Luo Xiaoming away from here to search for one last way out. You stay here and wait."

"Daoist Friend, do you have a way?" Empty held his abacus, as if he had calculated an ominous divination. The expression on his face was awful.

"I’ll make the people responsible pay the price."

"In that case, so be it. In that case, so be it… sigh."

Xu Fang moved the barely conscious Xiao Ming into the “mobile shelter.” The moment he set it down, he heard the girl’s almost inaudible voice.

"Xu Fang, I like you…"

Perhaps, somewhere in her subconscious, she knew that if she didn’t say certain things now, she would never have the chance again.

Xu Fang paused slightly, closed the shelter, and carried it toward the cave entrance on his back. The duplicate had prepared a new plane.