am-books Chapter 970: Hero
Chapter 970: Hero
Chapter 970: Hero
“Hey! I’m talking to you! Are you deaf?!”
“Qi Ying? Dark Horse? Seven Shadow? Jintiannan? Liu Li? Gao Yang?!”
Gao Yang jerked up to find himself lying on a chair, in a strange room with no walls, ceiling, or floor.
The illusion of a room came from old furniture, electric appliances, and posters suspended in nothingness. Under the curtains was a desk, on top of which stood a bulky cube-shaped monitor.
A girl with silver hair and red eyes wore a loose asymmetrical white t-shirt and a pair of gray running pants with black decorative stripes, her bare legs slim and fair. With no shoes or socks on, she scratched her foot with one hand while holding a melting pudding popsicle with her other hand, expression impatient.
“I’m speaking to you. Has your brain turned to mush?”
His forgotten—or displaced—memories returned. Gao Yang realized that this was the room he had seen under the abyss, and the girl wasn’t Fresh Snow, but a higher existence changing faces because they didn’t want to show their true appearance.
“Whoa.” She looked at herself. “Why do I look like this now? You’re a real player, boy. How many girls do you have different feelings for...”
She used the black screen of the monitor as a mirror to check herself, sorting out her hair. “Hm, this girl is pretty though...”
“Gao Yang.” She turned around and cocked her head, batting her eyes. “Please think about me.”
“Change it,” Gao Yang demanded icily.
“Who are you to order me? This isn’t a dress-up game.” She cupped her face in a phony manner. “Gao Yang, I’ll be waiting for you on the Fresh Snow Star. You must visit me...”
“I told you to fucking change it!”
Gao Yang shot to his feet and growled furiously.
Intangible black force surged from Gao Yang's body. Suddenly, the power keeping the objects in the “room” in their places vanished, and they flew away before disappearing like a big bang at a micro level.
Gao Yang stood in the now pure darkness. “Fresh Snow” remained on her swivel chair, expression shocked. Her popsicle fell on her t-shirt with a splat.
“What...what did you raise your voice for?!”
“I was just joking, and you lost it. You have no sense of humor.”
The existence turned into Nainai with an intimidated look concealed by bravado—a familiar look on Nainai’s face.
Gao Yang stared at her, silent.
“What’s wrong with you, Gao Yang?”
“I told you to get out earlier and you refused to, standing there like an idiot. But then you became a different person, someone ready to spit fire.”
“I did nothing to you. Why are you angry at me?”
“Nainai” crossed her arms and legs, tilting her head petulantly.
Gao Yang wasn’t going to fall for it. He knew that the existence before him was acting dumb. The fact that she mentioned the name Liu Li meant that she knew he wasn’t the same Gao Yang as a moment ago, but his consciousness from the future.
And Gao Yang found the answers to his questions.
He had forgotten about what happened in the abyss because the future Gao Yang had temporarily occupied his body, leading to his loss of memory.
For some reason, Gao Yang felt at ease and clear-minded here. He didn’t need Psychic Armor to control his emotions.
Gao Yang pondered wordlessly for a long time, connecting the dots. Time meant nothing here.
“Torture me like you’re better or judge me like you’re entitled to.”
“No matter how much I fall, I’ll stand back up.”
“You cannot stop or eradicate me, or you’d have done it already.”
“You may win ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times, tens of thousands of times, or more.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m lucky. I only have to win once.”
“I’ll take back everything that belongs to me. I’ll restore the world to what it should be.”
“I, Gao Yang, will be a hero.”
“You’ll only be an afterthought.”
...
“Nainai” stopped her hysterical laughter.
Limbs splayed, she lay on the ground with widened eyes, staring into the void as she spoke lazily.
“Gao Yang.”
“You...must honor your words.”
Gao Yang went up to her and knelt down, looking down at her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Let me tell you something before I leave.”
“What?!” She hugged herself, suddenly nervous. “I warn you not to pull anything.”
Gao Yang gave her a disgusted look. “It’s repulsive for you to touch your face after you scratched your foot with the same hand.”
...
Gao Yang opened his eyes, reality settling back around him.
The pod of the Ferris wheel was unusually quiet, like nothing had happened. Gao Yang's expression was still rueful, but no longer despairing.
He calmly cried as he carefully picked up Fresh Snow's treasures from the floor, dusting them and cleaning them with his clothes. Then he put them back into the box.
Clack. Gao Yang closed the lid.
[Congratulations! Your Talents have leveled up.]
[Absolute Defense lv7]
[Teleportation lv7]
[Replicate lv7]
[Fire lv7]
[Double lv7]
[Psychic Armor lv7]
[Lie Detection lv7]