【00:00:00】
Lin Ye opened his eyes.
The first thing he felt was silence.
Far too much silence.
There was no sound of rain.
No traffic.
No low hum from the air conditioning.
Not a single human voice.
He was lying on a white hospital bed.
A round light hung above him.
It was blindingly bright.
So bright he could barely keep his eyes open.
He blinked several times.
At last, he could make out his surroundings.
It was a hospital room.
The walls were snow-white.
The window was snow-white.
The sheets were snow-white.
Even the door was white.
There wasn't a single other color in the room.
Lin Ye sat up.
The first thing he did was look at his hands.
Whole.
No injuries.
No blood.
Nothing abnormal.
He touched his chest.
His heart was beating.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
He let out a breath of relief.
“I'm still alive.”
The room gave him no answer.
Lin Ye lowered his head.
His phone was gone.
So was his watch.
There was nothing left that could tell him the time.
He got out of bed.
His bare feet touched the floor.
It was cold.
The door wasn't locked.
Lin Ye pushed it open.
Outside was a very long hallway.
Rooms lined both sides of it.
Each door had a name written on it.
He walked forward.
The first door.
【Lin Guofeng】
The second.
【Shen Yun】
The third.
【Lin Guoan】
The fourth.
【Lin Ye】
The fifth.
【Lin Ye】
The sixth.
【Lin Ye】
The farther back he went,
the more names there were.
And every single one was Lin Ye.
Some doors read:
【Lin Ye—14 years old】
【Lin Ye—18 years old】
【Lin Ye—21 years old】
【Lin Ye—deceased】
【Lin Ye—not yet born】
Lin Ye stopped.
“What is this place?”
A woman's voice came from behind him.
“This is your last home.”
Lin Ye spun around.
A woman in a white uniform stood at the end of the hallway.
She looked to be around thirty, with long hair and an expressionless face.
“Who are you?”
The woman didn't answer.
She walked toward Lin Ye.
“You can call me Doctor.”
“This is a hospital?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
The woman stopped in front of him.
“A preservation center.”
Lin Ye frowned.
“Preserving what?”
“People.”
“Dead people?”
“Living people.”
“What difference does that make?”
The woman smiled.
“Here…”
“There is no difference.”
A chill rose in Lin Ye's heart.
“What about my parents?”
“They're both here.”
“I want to see them.”
“You can.”
The woman turned around.
“But before that…”
“you need to complete an identity verification.”
“What kind of identity verification?”
The woman pointed behind him.
“First, you have to prove…”
“that you're Lin Ye.”
Lin Ye looked at the doors.
“How do I prove it?”
The woman said:
“Tell me…”
“When did you first see your mother?”
Lin Ye froze.
“When I was born.”
“Wrong.”
“What?”
“The first time you saw her…”
“wasn't when you were born.”
The woman looked at him.
“You hadn't been born yet.”
Lin Ye's expression changed.
“You know about Number Zero?”
The woman nodded.
“I do.”
“Then who are you?”
The woman still didn't answer.
“Answer me.”
“I used to be Number Twenty-Eight, too.”
Lin Ye stared at her.
“Used to be?”
The woman nodded.
“You're not the only one.”
She turned and walked deeper into the hallway.
“Come with me.”
Lin Ye didn't follow right away.
He looked at the door marked:
【Lin Ye—not yet born】
Beneath the crack in the door…
there was light.
Lin Ye walked over and reached out to touch it.
The door opened on its own.
There was no hospital room inside.
Only a baby.
The baby lay on a white bed.
It wasn't crying.
It wasn't asleep.
It was simply staring at Lin Ye.
Lin Ye's heart jolted.
“Number Zero?”
The baby smiled.
“Big brother.”
Lin Ye stood in the doorway.
“Why are you here?”
“Waiting for you.”
“Waiting for me to do what?”
“Waiting for you to ask your first question.”
Lin Ye fell silent.
“What question?”
The baby said:
“Why are you still alive?”
Lin Ye froze.
He slowly walked into the room.
“Why am I still alive?”
The baby nodded.
“Because you were supposed to die.”
“What?”
“The first time you were born…”
“you died.”
“The second time you were born…”
“you died again.”
“The third time…”
“you survived.”
“The fourth time…”
“you were split apart.”
“The fifth time…”
“you were put back together.”
Lin Ye asked in a low voice:
“Then what am I now?”
The baby reached out a hand.
“You're whole.”
“Whole?”
“Yes.”
“You no longer have another self.”
“But I remember him.”
“Remembering means existing.”
Lin Ye fell silent.
He'd heard that sentence many times before.
But now…
he was beginning to truly understand it.
“What about you?”
“I'm Number Zero.”
“You're not me?”
The baby shook its head.
“I'm the memory from before you were born.”
“Then how can you talk?”
“Because someone woke me up.”
“Who?”
The baby raised its hand and pointed outside the room.
Lin Ye turned around.
At the end of the hallway stood his grandfather, Lin Guoan.
The old man wore a dark gray suit.
He was still holding that pocket watch.
“You're finally awake.”
Lin Ye walked out.
“What did you do?”
His grandfather smiled.
“I merely finished what your father couldn't.”
“ONE?”
“Yes.”
“You said it could create a world without death?”
“Now you see it.”
Lin Ye looked down the hallway.
“Everyone here is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
“Yes.”
“They won't die?”
“They won't.”
“Then why lock us in rooms?”
His grandfather didn't answer.
Lin Ye looked at him.
“You didn't create a world.”
“You just preserved everyone.”
His grandfather's smile slowly disappeared.
“What difference does it make?”
“It makes a difference,” Lin Ye said.
“The world needs time.”
“So do people.”
“Without time…”
“life has no meaning.”
His grandfather looked at him.
“You're still the same as before.”
“How am I the same?”
“You still want to save everyone.”
“Because they're people.”
“So you're willing to let them grow old?”
“Yes.”
“Willing to let them die?”
Lin Ye fell silent.
His grandfather stepped closer.
“Death is cruel.”
“I merely made it stop.”
“You didn't stop death.”
“You stopped life.”
His grandfather wasn't angry.
He only said calmly:
“You'll change your mind.”
“Why?”
“Because you'll see.”
He turned around.
“The real world.”
At the end of the hallway, a massive door opened.
Beyond it was a city.
Lin Ye stepped outside and froze.
The city was beautiful.
The sky was blue.
The sunlight was bright.
The skyscrapers stood in neat rows.
The streets were clean.
Trees grew lush and green.
People walked through the streets.
Some held their children's hands.
Some sat in cafés.
Some rode bicycles.
Some jogged in the park.
Everything was peaceful.
There was no war.
No car accidents.
No disease.
No death.
Lin Ye stood in the middle of the street.
“Where is this?”
“The Fifth World.”
His grandfather stood beside him.
“The ONE World.”
Lin Ye looked at the crowd.
“Do they know they don't have time?”
“No.”
“Do they know they can't die?”
“They know.”
“Then why are they still alive?”
His grandfather said:
“Because they believe.”
“Believe what?”
“That this is happiness.”
Lin Ye fell silent.
A little girl ran up to him.
“Big brother.”
Lin Ye looked down.
The little girl smiled.
“Are you new here?”
“What’s your name?”
“Xiaoyu.”
“How old are you?”
“Eight.”
“When's your birthday?”
Xiaoyu tilted her head.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know your own birthday?”
“We don't have birthdays.”
Lin Ye froze.
“Why not?”
Xiaoyu smiled.
“Because everyone is eight.”
“Forever.”
Lin Ye looked at his grandfather.
“She'll never grow up?”
“No.”
“She'll always be eight?”
“Yes.”
Xiaoyu grabbed Lin Ye's hand.
“Big brother.”
“Yeah?”
“Look.”
She pointed at the sky.
A gigantic clock hung there.
Its hands were forever stopped at:
12:00.
Lin Ye asked:
“Why isn't that clock moving?”
Xiaoyu smiled.
“Because today will never end.”
Lin Ye's heart sank.
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“Every day is today.”
Xiaoyu ran away.
Lin Ye stood where he was.
Suddenly, he noticed something.
Everyone on the street…
though they all looked different,
had the same thing in their eyes.
Nothing.
They smiled.
They talked.
They lived.
But they had no real anticipation.
Because there was no tomorrow.
And no yesterday.
Only now.
His grandfather asked:
“Do you still think this is wrong?”
Lin Ye didn't answer.
He saw an elderly couple sitting hand in hand on a park bench.
Neither had a wrinkle on their face.
They looked to be only forty.
His grandfather said:
“They've been married for seventy years.”
Lin Ye stared.
“Seventy years?”
“Yes.”
“They're still forty?”
“Yes.”
“They don't grow old?”
“No.”
“Are they happy?”
His grandfather nodded.
“Very happy.”
Lin Ye approached them.
“Sir.”
The old man looked up.
“Yes?”
“How long have you been married?”
“Seventy years.”
“Are you happy?”
The old man smiled.
“Happy.”
Lin Ye asked:
“Do you want to grow old?”
The old man paused.
“Why?”
“Because…”
Lin Ye stopped.
The old man looked at him.
“What’s so good about growing old?”
Lin Ye didn't know how to answer.
The old man continued:
“We don't get sick.”
“We don't fight.”
“We don't lose each other.”
“We can sit here every day.”
“And look at the same sky.”
Lin Ye asked:
“Don't you get bored?”
The old man was silent.
For a long time.
Then he said:
“A little.”
Lin Ye looked at him.
The old man smiled.
“But…”
“Boredom is better than loss.”
Those words left Lin Ye silent for a long time.
Because he understood.
His grandfather wasn't completely wrong.
Humans feared death.
That was why they were willing to accept any eternity.
Even if that eternity…
was actually a prison.
That night, Lin Ye was taken to a skyscraper.
His grandfather stood by the window.
“Do you know what the biggest problem with this world is?”
“No death?”
“Wrong.”
“No time.”
“What else?”
“No birth.”
“Exactly.”
His grandfather turned around.
“In this world…”
“there can be no new people.”
“Because there is no new time.”
“So…”
“if someone wants to leave…”
“the world will be one person short.”
Lin Ye frowned.
“Then let them leave.”
“Impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because this world is sustained by memory.”
“If one person leaves…”
“they take part of that memory with them.”
“The world will begin to collapse.”
Lin Ye looked at him.
“So that's why you captured me?”
“Not captured.”
“Protected.”
“Protected me?”
“You're the first complete person.”
“You can carry all the memories.”
“So…”
His grandfather took out the pocket watch.
“As long as you stay…”
“this world will never collapse.”
Lin Ye looked at the watch.
“What about me?”
“What will happen to me?”
His grandfather smiled.
“You'll become eternal.”
“Forever twenty-one?”
“Yes.”
“Never able to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Forever watching everyone live?”
“Yes.”
Lin Ye fell silent.
It sounded like heaven.
But he knew…
heaven without an exit was hell.
“I refuse.”
His grandfather wasn't surprised.
“I know.”
“That’s why I brought you here to see this.”
“You wanted me to change my mind.”
“Yes.”
“What if I still refuse?”
His grandfather pressed the pocket watch.
A gigantic screen appeared in the room.
On it were people Lin Ye knew.
His mother.
His father.
Another version of himself.
All of them alive.
Lin Ye shot to his feet.
“They…”
“They're all here.”
“I want to see them.”
“You can.”
The image zoomed in.
His mother sat in a room.
His father was cooking in the kitchen.
Another Lin Ye sat by the window.
They were all smiling.
Like a family.
Lin Ye's eyes reddened.
“Is this real?”
“It is.”
“None of them died?”
“No.”
“None of them are suffering?”
“No.”
His grandfather looked at him.
“As long as you stay…”
“you can all be together forever.”
Lin Ye stood before the screen.
This was what he wanted most.
His parents.
A complete family.
No disappearance.
No death.
No ZERO.
No reboot.
No goodbyes.
He could even celebrate his birthday again.
Watch movies with his father again.
Be woken up by his mother again.
Go back to being fourteen again.
If this was eternity…
who could refuse?
Lin Ye slowly reached out and touched the screen.
“Dad.”
The father on the screen looked up,
as though he had heard him.
“Xiaoye?”
Tears rolled down Lin Ye's face.
“Dad.”
His father walked toward the screen.
“You're back.”
“Yeah.”
“That's all that matters.”
His mother came over too.
“Xiaoye.”
“Mom.”
The three of them stood on opposite sides of the screen,
yet it felt like they were truly together.
His mother laughed through her tears.
“You've grown up.”
Lin Ye cried too.
“You didn't die.”
His father shook his head.
“No.”
“Not this time.”
Lin Ye looked at his grandfather.
“I'll stay.”
His grandfather smiled.
“I knew you would.”
But Lin Ye suddenly said:
“But…”
His grandfather's smile froze.
“I want to ask one question first.”
“Ask.”
“Are you really them?”
The parents on the screen fell silent at the same time.
Lin Ye's heart began to pound.
“Dad?”
No answer.
“Mom?”
His mother lowered her head.
Lin Ye took a step back.
“You're not them.”
His grandfather's expression changed.
Lin Ye stared at the screen.
“You're only their memories.”
His father finally looked up.
“Xiaoye.”
His voice began to distort.
“Don't leave.”
His mother began to cry too.
“Stay.”
“We'll be with you forever.”
Lin Ye closed his eyes.
“My real dad…”
“wouldn't tell me to stay.”
The screen began to flicker.
“My real mom…”
“would tell me to leave.”
The figures on the screen began to twist.
Their skin rippled like the surface of water.
Their features blurred.
At last, they became two faceless people.
Lin Ye turned around.
His grandfather stood behind him.
“You're smarter than I expected.”
“You never brought them back.”
“I only let you see…”
“what you wanted to see most.”
“Why?”
His grandfather said quietly:
“Because I knew…”
“you would definitely refuse.”
Lin Ye frowned.
“Then why do it?”
His grandfather raised the pocket watch.
“Because the real ONE…”
“hasn't awakened yet.”
Lin Ye's heart sank.
“Number Zero?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
His grandfather didn't answer.
Outside the window,
the entire city suddenly stopped.
Everyone looked up at once.
The clock in the sky began to move.
For the first time, its hands left 12:00.
Forward.
One mark.
Two.
Three.
His grandfather's face changed instantly.
“Impossible.”
Lin Ye looked at the sky.
“What happened?”
“Someone made time move.”
“Who?”
His grandfather looked at Lin Ye.
“You.”
Lin Ye froze.
“Me?”
“You just rejected eternity.”
“So…”
“time has started again.”
The sky split open.
A massive black rift stretched from the clouds to the horizon.
People began screaming throughout the city.
Some collapsed.
Some began to age.
Xiaoyu suddenly went from eight to nine.
Then ten.
She cried as she looked at her hands.
“Big brother!”
“What’s happening to me?”
Lin Ye rushed over.
Xiaoyu's hair began to grow.
Her face began to change.
Eleven.
Twelve.
Thirteen.
She grew up at terrifying speed.
Lin Ye grabbed her.
“Don't be afraid!”
Xiaoyu sobbed.
“I don't want to grow up!”
Lin Ye couldn't stop it.
Fourteen.
Fifteen.
Sixteen.
Time flooded back into the world like a breached river.
The old began to age.
Trees began to grow.
Buildings began to decay.
Every second in the city was rushing past.
His grandfather shouted:
“Stop!”
But the pocket watch didn't respond.
“What did you do?”
Lin Ye looked at him.
“I didn't do anything.”
“You refused.”
“Refused what?”
His grandfather gritted his teeth.
“Eternity.”
“You made time exist again.”
Lin Ye looked at the sky.
Suddenly, he understood.
The real ONE…
wasn't the creation of eternity.
It was the restart of time.
“So…”
“I'm ONE?”
His grandfather didn't answer.
His body began to age rapidly.
His hair turned white.
Wrinkles spread across his skin.
Lin Ye watched him.
“You're aging too?”
His grandfather stared at his own hands.
“I've forgotten.”
“Forgotten what?”
“How old I originally was.”
Lin Ye asked:
“How long have you been alive?”
His grandfather smiled.
“Longer than you can imagine.”
His body aged rapidly.
Seventy.
Eighty.
Ninety.
At last, he collapsed to the ground.
Lin Ye walked over.
“Grandfather.”
The old man looked up at him one last time.
“Xiaoye.”
“Yeah?”
“Don't make the mistake I made.”
“What mistake?”
“Don't let your fear of loss…”
“keep everyone trapped in place.”
The old man closed his eyes.
This time, he truly died.
Lin Ye stood there.
For the first time, he watched his grandfather die a natural death.
No reboot.
No correction from time.
No disappearance.
Only a life reaching its end.
Lin Ye suddenly understood.
Death wasn't an error in the world.
Death itself…
was part of time.
The city began to collapse.
Lin Ye ran toward the preservation center.
He had to find his parents.
Every door in the hallway stood open.
The people who had been preserved were beginning to age again.
Some laughed.
Some cried.
Some embraced.
Some were afraid.
Some didn't even know what was happening.
Lin Ye ran past one door after another.
Finally…
he saw his mother.
She stood in the room,
her hair slowly turning white.
His father stood beside her,
wrinkles beginning to form on his face.
Another Lin Ye stood between them.
All three looked at him.
His mother smiled.
“Xiaoye.”
Lin Ye rushed over and hugged her.
“Mom.”
“You finally did it.”
“I didn't do anything.”
“You did.”
His mother stroked his hair.
“You let us start again.”
His father patted him on the shoulder.
“This time…”
“we can really walk forward together.”
Lin Ye cried.
“I thought you would die.”
His father smiled.
“Everyone dies.”
“But not now.”
His mother smiled too.
“And besides…”
“didn't you say…”
“that as long as someone remembers…”
“a person never truly disappears?”
Lin Ye nodded.
“Yeah.”
The other Lin Ye stood beside them.
His body began to turn transparent.
Lin Ye turned his head.
“What’s happening to you?”
“I’m not an independent person.”
“When time returns…”
“I'll return to you.”
“Will it hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you afraid?”
The other Lin Ye smiled.
“No.”
“Because I don't have to be alone anymore.”
He reached out his hand.
Lin Ye took it.
Light appeared.
The other self slowly disappeared.
At last, only one sentence remained.
“Remember…”
“I've always been you.”
Lin Ye closed his eyes.
The loneliness of those one hundred and seven years…
all returned to his body.
It wasn't pain.
It was a complete life.
At last, he understood.
He hadn't lost an older brother.
He had found a part of himself.
The city returned to normal.
The rift in the sky slowly closed.
The clock began turning again.
The second hand.
The minute hand.
The hour hand.
All began moving forward.
For the first time, the world had a real tomorrow.
Lin Ye stood in the street and watched the sun rise.
This time, it wasn't forever trapped on the same day.
This was a real dawn.
His mother stood beside him.
His father was there too.
Lin Ye looked up.
“What time is it?”
His father glanced at his watch.
“Six in the morning.”
Lin Ye smiled.
“Six.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good.”
His father asked:
“Why?”
Lin Ye said:
“Because after six…”
“there’s seven.”
His father smiled.
His mother smiled too.
But just then…
A razor-thin black line suddenly appeared in the sky.
No one noticed.
Only Lin Ye saw it.
At the center of the line,
a number slowly emerged.
It wasn't 0.
And it wasn't 1.
It was:
2.
Lin Ye's smile slowly disappeared.
His phone suddenly vibrated.
He pulled it out.
There was no signal on the screen.
Only one sentence.
【The Fifth World has stopped.】
【The Sixth World is being generated.】
Below it was a name.
【Lin Ye】
And the final line:
【Please prepare to welcome the real tomorrow.】
Lin Ye looked up.
The black line in the sky split open.
And behind the rift…
stood someone he had never seen before.
The person wore a black suit.
He had no face.
Only a pair of eyes.
Those eyes…
were exactly like Lin Ye's.
The man looked down at Lin Ye through the sky.
Then…
he raised one finger and pointed at him.
Lin Ye's father suddenly turned deathly pale.
“Xiaoye.”
“Run.”
“Why?”
His father didn't answer.
Because the faceless man…
had already spoken.
His voice echoed across the entire world.
“The first Lin Ye…”
“you're finally awake.”
Lin Ye's heart jolted violently.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“I am the Second World.”
BOOM!
The sky shattered in an instant.
Everyone looked up.
Across the sky above the city,
countless unfamiliar memories began to fall.
Like rain.
Like snow.
Like death.
Lin Ye knew.
The new world had arrived.
And the real war…
was only just beginning.
End of Chapter Eight