TDU Chapter 394
Chapter 394 The Golden Age
“You mean…” Qi Xia furrowed his brow as he looked at Chen Junnan, “your memory only goes up until today?”
“Exactly.” Chen Junnan nodded. “After I got out, I realized it was already evening. I thought I might have been sleepwalking or suffering from amnesia, but when I returned to our classroom, I saw another me…”
Qi Xia was aware of the rest of the story.
Based on the known facts, two versions of Chen Junnan appeared that day.
One followed the original plan to risk his life in a Terrestrial-grade game, while the other inexplicably showed up in Chu Tianqiu’s underground chamber.
In that case… the Chen Junnan who faced the Terrestrial-grade game had perished in the classroom like an abandoned pawn.
Qi Xia felt a slight ache in his head and could only reach up to rub his brow.
Who exactly was the Chen Junnan standing before him?
Was he any different from the previous Chen Junnan?
For such a long span of time, the two shared merely a one-day difference in memory.
“This… sounds like an ability akin to {Endowing Life Without End}…” Qi Xia murmured softly. “How did Chu Tianqiu activate it…?”
“What…?” Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin both asked in unison.
After a moment, Chen Junnan tentatively inquired, “Are you saying I was… created by Chu Tianqiu using {Endowing Life Without End}? But isn’t that your {Reverberation}?”
Qi Xia remained silent, only rubbing his brow.
This matter was indeed worth careful consideration.
If Chu Tianqiu could mobilize {Endowing Life Without End}, theoretically he could accomplish far more—so why only resurrect Chen Junnan?
After a while, Qi Xia said in a low voice, “What I can be certain of is that I currently have yet to trigger my {Reverberation}, so the one who activated this ability is not me… Among everyone present at the scene, the only one capable of such a reckless act is Chu Tianqiu.”
Hearing Qi Xia’s deduction, Chen Junnan lowered his head and fell silent.
Unfortunately, he had not been present the moment Chu Tianqiu activated this {Reverberation}. What exactly had transpired at that time?
“Chen Junnan, you remember more than I do. What exactly is Chu Tianqiu’s {Reverberation}?”
“Him?” Chen Junnan snorted coldly. “This young master always thought that man was another {Unfortunate One}, yet it turns out he really did have {Reverberation}. But the trigger for his {Reverberation} is rather underwhelming. He must wait until the tenth day, until he sees everyone begin to dissipate, for it to trigger…”
“Hold on a moment,” Qi Xia interjected, cutting him off. “I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Two people have already told me that the trigger for Chu Tianqiu’s {Reverberation} is {Witnessing the End}. I want to ask—how exactly do you know this?”
“Isn’t it simple?” Chen Junnan replied. “Once that punk survives until the tenth day, he retains memory in the next cycle. If he dies at any other point, he has to be reintroduced to everyone. Naturally, his {trigger} falls on the last day, which sometimes forces us to protect that punk. Moreover, even he has stated that his {trigger} is {Witnessing the End}.”
Qi Xia sensed a paradox in all this.
If his memory spanned merely two years, there’s no reason for Chu Tianqiu to be this deranged; it’s obviously abnormal.
Many had been driven insane by {End Point}, yet so few lost their sanity within just two years.
Yun Yao retained two years’ memory—and she had not gone mad.
The members of {Cats} also preserved two years’ memory—and none of them had gone insane either.
Could it be that their psychological resilience simply surpassed that of Chu Tianqiu?
“I have a feeling Chu Tianqiu has been orchestrating something for a long time…” Qi Xia murmured, a chill creeping over him, “he hasn’t lost his memories, and he’s always known who I am…”
“What?” Chen Junnan froze.
“Is it possible…” Qi Xia continued, “that Chu Tianqiu hasn’t lied, but {Witnessing the End} does not refer to witnessing the {End Day}, but rather witnessing {End Point}?”
“Ah…?” Chen Junnan paused, then narrowed his eyes in thought. “So… that means… he would trigger his {Reverberation} immediately upon arrival? He recognizes this young master as well?”
Qiao Jiajin paused for a moment, then asked, “So he also recognizes me?”
Neither of them paid him any mind; both bowed their heads, lost in reflection. If Chu Tianqiu’s {Reverberation} trigger truly is {Witnessing the End}, then the amount of memory he retains is immense.
Zheng Hero, having listened for some time without understanding a word of their conversation, idly lifted his nose to sniff Chen Junnan’s scent, then frowned, muttering to himself, “The subtle fragrance of {Penalty Proxy}…”
As soon as he spoke, he reached up and wiped away the blood streaming from his nose.
A heavy silence fell. After a long pause, Qi Xia looked up. “Chen Junnan, tell me everything.”
“What?”
“Your {earliest memory}.”
Chen Junnan paused thoughtfully before speaking. “Ole Qi, there’s no need to conceal anything here. I can tell you everything, but once you hear it, you’ll realize it’s only good for expanding your acquaintances.”
Under Chen Junnan’s narration, that long-buried memory finally resurfaced. His recollection began ten years ago.
At that time, {End Point} bore no obvious difference from what it is now—except that the sky was not as darkly red.
Above, the dirt-colored sun still hung, its surface streaked with thin black lines crawling inward from the edge. The air reeked with a nauseating stench; even a half-day spent here would leave that foul odor ingrained in one’s bones.
Four massive bells stood at the city’s corners, displaying those who had manifested as {Reverberatees}.
And the two phrases most commonly seen on the screens were always {Penalty Proxy} and {Beckoned Calamity}.
“Actually, that punk Han Yimo wasn’t so bad,” Chen Junnan said to Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin. “The thing is, he spread a scandalous rumor, so this young master has always had a prejudice against him.”
In Chen Junnan’s account, Han Yimo had not gone insane yet.
He constantly worried about the girl wronged by his rumor, and each time Han Yimo died, he would return to reality, trying to find a way to seek her forgiveness.
This incident, however, ruined that girl’s entire life; she would never forgive him.
In her eyes, she had merely rejected Han Yimo once, but he remembered countless refusals, and it quietly shifted his perspective.
“Ole Qi, among the nine of us, there are two {Unfortunate Ones},” Chen Junnan went on. “Across all probation rooms, our {Reverberatee} ratio is already quite high.”
Later, under the lead of Qi Xia, Chen Junnan, and Qiao Jiajin, they kept taking part in the games, and for a time became the most renowned room in {End Point}.
Because Chen Junnan’s and Han Yimo’s {Reverberation} were so easily triggered, the two of them could retain their memories for long stretches of time. Combined with Qi Xia’s meticulous arrangements, seven individuals in their probation room eventually awakened their {Reverberation}.
Among them were:
Qiao Jiajin - {Purge All Power}, dispelling any person’s {Reverberation} with belief and subconscious will.
Li Shangwu - {Probing Pocket}, drawing out whatever he subconsciously believed to exist.
Han Yimo - {Calamity Beckoning}, summoning disasters that he subconsciously believed in, and that could indeed come to pass.
Chen Junnan - {Penalty Proxy}, transferring the misfortune of others through his subconscious, and willingly taking death in their stead.
Zhang Chenze - {Soul Reposition}, transferring the soul of a living being through sheer belief.
Tian Tian - {Skillful Object}, creating and forging intricate objects based on her subconscious understanding.
Zhao Haibo - {Perishing Disintegration}, disintegrating inanimate matter with his subconscious.
“We were a formidable team…” Chen Junnan said with a wry smile. “In most rooms we’ve seen, the number of {Reverberatees} is scarce; a team of four or five is already top-tier, yet we had seven.”
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
