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ntranslator: baumkuchen editor: glitterypanda

nIn the “Space Between Moments”.

nCountless worlds condensed into film reels. As if with physical form, they flowed over one another, intersecting and interweaving.

nThey were memory fragments from hosts waiting for revenge. Even as they were played, threads of transparent energy escaped, the Lord God’s dearly coveted energy entropy.

nThe human brain read through these memory fragments one by one, pulsating as it absorbed the energy. Its dark red surface was subsequently coated in a thin, transparent layer of gloss, making the entire Main Brain look like a huge, glistening, translucent jelly.

nThe Lord God’s exclusive AI watched him for a long time, before asking, “……Are you angry?”

nThe Lord God sneered.

nAI: “……” Looks like he really is angry.

nAfter a long time of browsing through the many worlds, the Lord God paused its movements, inquiring aloud, “……No. 1198’s state of affairs.”

nThe AI searched up Chi Xiaochi’s ID number and transferred his existing information to the digital dashboard.

nHost number: No. 1198

nHost name: Chi Xiaochi

nWorld difficulty level assessment: A Grade

nDegree of world completion: 95 (Currently In-Progress)

nHost status assessment: All functions are fine and stable, task nearing completion.

nTotal entropy value: 116 (Below average of 3310)

nThe Lord God absolutely didn’t dare to believe that last number. “……How much?”

nThe AI said, “116.”

nThe Lord God suppressed his anger, asking in a low voice, “The other values?”

nThe AI dutifully conducted a check, “Contractor 3399, Shen Changqing, cumulative entropy value of 0.”

nThe Lord God, “……”

nThe AI kindly asked, “Do you still want to continue to know more?”

nThe Lord God said, “……Continue.”

nThe AI, “Task target’s goodwill level towards him is 0, and regret level is 95.”

nBefore the Lord God could express his opinions on this, the AI said, “Wait a moment, the regret level has changed.”

nThe Lord God already couldn’t wait to send Chi Xiaochi into the next world, “This world is about to be completed?”

nThe AI said, “The current value is 85.”

nThe Lord God, “……”

nThe AI, “Wait a moment, it’s 73 now.”

nThe Lord God said, “……”

nThe reason for this, was that Chi Xiaochi had gotten up early, gotten bored, and realised that Zhou Kai’s regret level had risen to 95 overnight.

nShocked, he called 061, “Liu-laoshi, Liu-laoshi.”

nAs a system, 061 still occasionally needed to go on standby. After sleeping with Chi Xiaochi in the same bed last night, he naturally reintegrated into Chi Xiaochi’s body. He had been sleeping until now, before being voice-activated by Chi Xiaochi.

nHe didn’t have a hard time waking up in the mornings, but he hadn’t completely awoken. His hoarse voice from just having woken up teased at one’s ears, making them tickle, “What’s wrong?”

nChi Xiaochi, “Look, how come Zhou Kai’s regret level is almost full.”

n061, “&#k2026;&#k2026;” What’s with this disappointed tone.

n061 turned to go check it up. “Last night, because of the pain from his injuries, he didn’t manage to fall asleep before midnight.”

nHe’d completely fallen from grace, lost both his man and his money. He couldn’t help but think about it, and the more he thought about it the angrier he got, wanting to spit out a mouthful of old blood but was unable to spit it out. Of course he’d feel regret.

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nAfter knowing the reason, Chi Xiaochi said regretfully, “A grade difficulty, no? Feels like it wouldn’t be worth it if I didn’t take advantage of the situation.”

n061, “……” May I be so bold as to ask what in the world you’re planning on doing.

nChi Xiaochi said, “I remember that regret points can also be exchanged for stuff. Didn’t you even get me a dog yesterday like that?”

n061 still hadn’t fully woken up. “So……”

nChi Xiaochi said, “So show me around the shop.”

n……Fine fine fine, shop shop shop.

n061 took Chi Xiaochi on an early morning shopping spree.

nBecause regret value was the only set of data that was consulted to qualify one clearing a world, the value of the items in the regret points shop was higher, and the required value was also on the lower side.

nChi Xiaochi browsed through the shop, eventually choosing three expensive high grade cards and two medium grade cards out of the many cards available, also compiling a full set of high, medium and low grade “Brilliant Beauty” cards. It could be said that his gains were quite fruitful.

n061 reminded him, “There’s only sixty plus regret points left.”

nBoldly casting all restraint aside, Chi Xiaochi said, “I’ll earn it back.”

n……Earn it back.

n061 thought, to Zhou Kai, Chi Xiaochi must be his lifetime’s karmic retribution taken human form.

nHowever, in the “Space Between Moments”, the Lord God flew into a huge rage.

n“What’s he trying to do?” The Lord God asked angrily, “Is he picking a fight with me??”

nThe AI didn’t raise any objections, but thought to itself, doesn’t seem like it’s ever been stated that you can’t play like this in the rules.

nIn theory, Chi Xiaochi could stay in that world for however long he wanted, but regret points were hard to earn. Practically all task executors valued them as treasures, even just a one percent increase warranted careful budgeting, so the cards stocked in the regret points shop just collected dust all year, there was rarely anyone willing to waste their points like that.

nChi Xiaochi could be said to be the first to dare to extravagantly spend such large sums of regret points.

nBut it was precisely Chi Xiaochi who had that kind of capital.

nAfter finishing his window shopping, Chi Xiaochi began a busy day.

nHe went to the hospital to visit Help once again, not for anything other than to reassure the original host that might still be in his body.

nAfter playing frisbee with Help for a while, he received a call from a nurse from the hospital, saying that Zhou Kai was making a fuss about seeing him and asking for a lawyer.

nHelp arched its head into Chi Xiaochi’s chest. Chi Xiaochi ran his hand along Help’s soft, fluffy ears, saying, “Could you pass him the phone, please?”

nA moment later, Zhou Kai’s hoarse voice sounded from the other end, “Surnamed Shen, get the ** over here.”

nWithout a hint of hesitation, Chi Xiaochi hung up.

n061, “……If you were going to hang up, why’d you even pick up.”

nChi Xiaochi hugged Help around its neck, “Precisely to hang up on him.”

n061, “……”

nChi Xiaochi, “Heeheehee.”

n061 felt Chi Xiaochi was sprinting towards the ultimate goal of giving Zhou Kai a brain hemorrhage.

nSoon, the phone rang once more.

nOn the other end, Zhou Kai fumed through gritted teeth, “Shen Changqing, you **ing……”

nThis time Chi Xiaochi didn’t even give him the chance to get out a full sentence, firmly hanging up.

nProbably because he’d realised in the back of his mind that if he kept this up he wouldn’t even have the chance to open his mouth, when he called for the third time, he finally curbed his anger by a large extent. “Shen Changqing, I have something to talk to you about.”

nWhile Chi Xiaochi played with Help’s paws, he spoke to 061, gratified, “See, he’s finally learning how to speak like a human being.”

nThe Shen Changqing he was acting as spoke in an amiable manner, “I know, you want a lawyer.”

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nZhou Kai said, “Yes.”

nChi Xiaochi was silent.

nSeeing Shen Changqing hadn’t expressed his agreement, Zhou Kai wasn’t surprised.

nHe grinned, sneering, “Afraid now? Are you afraid that I’ll tell them all about how you colluded with Sam, purposefully struck me into this state, and framed me as an Alzheimer’s patient?”

nIt seemed like when lying idle in bed, he indeed could think through a lot of things.

nThis was probably an actual example of how after both feet left the ground, one’s intelligence would once again occupy the highland.

nChi Xiaochi said, “Go look for one, then.”

nZhou Kai hadn’t thought that Shen Changqing would actually agree. For a time, he couldn’t quite adapt. “……En?”

nChi Xiaochi, “Don’t understand? I said go look for one.”

nNot waiting for Zhou Kai to say anything else, he continued, “However, you’ll need me to help you look. Every lawyer you meet, every word you say, will need to be examined by me first.”

nZhou Kai was silent for a long time. He laughed, enraged, “Shen Changqing, what do you mean? You dare put me under house arrest?”

n“Mister Zhou.” Chi Xiaochi’s tone sounded deeply worried, but there was a shallow smile on his face. “Currently, the doctor’s diagnosis is that you’re suffering from a serious case of Alzheimer’s disease, in addition to a violent tendency to attack. This is a necessary measure in order to be able to assure the safety of the lawyers you would meet. Also……”

nHe raised his eyelids slightly and said, “Mister Zhou, you’d better get used to this kind of life as soon as possible.”

nThe great mansion was on the verge of collapse, no one would be willing to once again stand under Zhou Kai, this dangerous wall.

nAfter Zhou Kai threw the phone down in anger, Chi Xiaochi returned to the villa.

nYesterday, Yi Song and three other servants had been given their notice to leave by Chi Xiaochi.

nEarly this morning, Yi Song had been the last to leave, leaving only Chi Xiaochi alone in the huge villa.

nHe was actually very used to this kind of life. In preparation for Help’s return, he rolled up his sleeves and cleaned up both the inside and outside of the villa all on his own, throwing out all the things Yi Song and the rest hadn’t been able to bring with them.

nMaybe because everything was rushing to appear all at once, when Chi Xiaochi was cleaning, with the television turned on to serve as background noise, he unexpectedly heard a familiar voice in the entertainment news.

nIt was Lily, that model lover of Zhou Kai’s.

nLily, who hadn’t been seen in a long time, was having a new conference. With no makeup on, her cheeks streaming with tears, she apologised towards the public, towards Fiona, whom she insulted and towards Zhou Kai’s actual partner, Shen Changqing.

nIn oversleeves, holding a mop, Chi Xiaochi seriously watched Lily, who’d become extremely haggard.

nShe was truly regretful. At least, her current tears were a lot more sincere than the smile she’d had when doing charity before.

nAfter she finished her speech and it became time for the reporters to ask their questions, 061 sighed, “There are definitely a lot of reporters who want to interview Shen Changqing about how he feels about this now.”

nChi Xiaochi continued cleaning, sweeping melon seed shells out from the cracks in the sofa.

nThey had been from when Zhou Kai was still unconscious, left by Chi Xiaochi and 061 when watching movies in the living room.

nChi Xiaochi, head lowered, said, “If I were Shen Changqing, I probably wouldn’t feel anything.”

n061 thought, that’s true.

n“Emotionally, she owes Shen Changqing nothing. Zhou Kai never loved Shen Changqing, and even if Shen Changqing did before, after those three years, that would have long vanished into smoke.”

n061 said, “Then you would forgive her?”

nAfter all, from the moment her remarks had been leaked, Lily had been doomed to have to say goodbye to all her public activities.

nTo Lily, who had only graduated from junior high school and was accustomed to earning a living in front of a camera, this was a devastating blow.

n“……Forgive?”

nChi Xiaochi put down his mop and walked over to Zhou Kai’s safe. With ease of practice, he asked 061, “Open it up?”

n061, “……Ai.” He opened it.

nChi Xiaochi rummaged through the contents, pulling out a title deed. “What I exposed was her racism. After she apologised, forgiving her is the public’s decision. As for her destroying someone else’s marriage, I can only say that, first of all, the house she’s living in is worth a lot of money; second……”

nChi Xiaochi held up the title deed he was holding. On it, the name filling the house owner column was, astonishingly, Zhou Kai.

nChi Xiaochi said, “She probably never imagined that Zhou Kai would be this stingy.”

nDuring the half-day that Chi Xiaochi had been busy, the Lord God had decided on the next world for Chi Xiaochi.

nQuietly inserting a small Trojan horse into 089’s random assortment system, the Lord God twisted his heart full of fury into a scornful sneer, “Ha.”

n……No one would be able to leave here with the secrets of the system.

nTaskers weren’t an exception, and neither were systems.

nThey were gears, batteries, energy sources. All they needed to do was obey.

nOnly when the gears were worn out, the batteries exhausted, the energy emptied, would they have the right to enter the trash bin.

nIf not for the existence of the supervisory body, and Chi Xiaochi and 061 not having violated any rules, the Lord God was completely capable of doing the same thing he’d done to 061 that year once again.

nAs of now, neither 061 nor Chi Xiaochi knew of the other’s existence. So, the Lord God intended to use the means he was most familiar with.

n—— Giving him a reason he couldn’t refuse, making Chi Xiaochi willingly and gladly stay in a certain world.

nThe author has something to say:

nLou-ge taking his wife out to shop, to play, to mess around everywhere qwq

nTomorrow, we’ll be finishing up with this world, and starting another world~

nclick for spoilery part of author's note (slight spoiler for next world)

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nbaum: speaking of entropy, tsukisuki posted a really comprehensive explanation about entropy in the comments of chapter 21! Thanks tsukisuki, it was really enlightening~ I knew about the scientific meaning of entropy, but I didn’t know it had been used in the same way in Madoka 😮

nalso, we’ll be finishing off this arc next chapter~ After finishing this arc, I’ll be taking a week off before starting the next arc to go through the published chapters again (since I realised the author’s edited some chaps again after I tled them orz) Thank you all for your patience in advance!

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