NOVEL WEB Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Tomorrow, Yesterday, and the Old Days
The intense panting could not calm her inner fear; the pain from the bullet piercing her skull still lingered, and Xia’er remained shocked by the image she had seen, unable to regain her composure.
She instinctively wanted to get up and run out of the house to check on her sister’s safety at the factory, but rationality kept Xia’er seated. She slowly adjusted her breathing.
What had just happened wasn’t real; it was just a vivid illusion…
“The pocket watch…”
Xia’er looked at her hands, which were empty except for a small wound on her right thumb, a reminder of the pocket watch that had once been there.
“What? Thinking about me?”
A bright silver screen unfolded in front of her, following her head’s movements and staying in her line of sight.
Xia’er remembered that after the pocket watch was activated by her blood, some binding information had appeared.
Was the pocket watch directly bound to her body?
“System?”
Xia’er called out.
The screen flickered again, showing several options.
“Simulation”
“Skills”
“Warehouse”
“Point Store”
“P.S.: Next time, just think it in your mind: D”
It really was a system. And a very talkative one.
Xia’er opened the “Simulation” interface, and a familiar screen appeared before her.
“Tomorrow: 2Day (Sheng Year 741, June 19th, 18:58) (Consumes 10 Mortality Points)”
“Yesterday: 1Day (Sheng Year 741, June 16th, 11:55) (Consumes 10 Mortality Points)”
“Old Days: *** Day (??? ) (Consumes 10000 Mortality Points)”
“P.S.: Your simulation of tomorrow is frozen until June 19th, 18:31. Making changes in reality can alter the outcome and extend the days you can simulate.”
Xia’er saw that, besides tomorrow, the dates for yesterday and old days had become random.
“Until the ‘death’ outcome is changed, the simulation days for tomorrow will only be limited to the period before the death event.”
As if anticipating Xia’er’s thoughts, the bright silver screen explained her confusion.
In other words, unless she survived the death event two days later, the future simulations would remain within the current timeframe to 6:30 PM on the 19th?
“Correct.”
“System, if I go back in time, can I change the future?” Xia’er asked subconsciously.
This question was too important. No matter what she did in the past, it could produce unpredictable consequences.
“Simulations of tomorrow and yesterday do not affect reality, while simulations of the old days only affect those specific existences.”
She couldn’t change the past…
It wasn’t necessarily good or bad; at least, her actions in the simulation wouldn’t cause significant damage to reality.
As for simulating the future, without considering other factors, she could easily become rich by betting on horses, as long as she was discreet and controlled her wins and losses, visiting different racetracks each time. Gangsters wouldn’t bother her.
Xia’er exhaled slowly, exiting the simulation interface and processing the information in her mind.
She didn’t want to go to the future again now. Rushing to two days ahead would not only be futile but also mean witnessing her sister’s death again.
First, she needed to understand all the system functions.
Xia’er opened the second tab, “Warehouse,” which contained four empty slots, devoid of any items.
This must be where items are stored.
Xia’er exited the warehouse and opened the “Point Store” below it.
A large interface unfolded before her, filled with numerous categories and slots, though only the first few were highlighted.
“【.450 (11.43 mm) Black Powder Bullet (Slightly Deformed)]”
“Mortality Points: 1”
“【Bern Private Middle School Academy Graduation Certificate (Xia’er)]”
“Mortality Points: 1”
“【Bern Private Middle School Academy Graduation Formal Wear]”
“Mortality Points: 1”
…
Glancing over, Xia’er found herself momentarily speechless.
She recognized these items as those she had carried when entering the simulation.
But she hadn’t expected that the bullet lodged in her skull could also be purchased.
It was almost like a dark joke.
However, she could actually buy things back from the simulation? Wouldn’t this cause temporal paradoxes?
“Items available for purchase are system replicas. Except for unique items, everything else can be bought.”
The system promptly responded, addressing Xia’er’s doubts.
Xia’er’s last question concerned the skills she had gained from the previous simulation.
“Agility Lv. 1.”
As she thought about it, a silver panel appeared before her.
“Agility Lv. 1: Slightly increases your agility, making your movements more nimble.”
Xia’er clenched her fist but felt no increase in strength.
She tried standing up, doing some warm-up exercises. After a few attempts, she realized her body had indeed changed.
She could jump higher and farther than before. Now, she could touch a two-meter-five beam with just her fingertips without using full force, a significant improvement given her previously mediocre physique. At her height, this height was previously unreachable.
Besides, her balance had greatly improved, and she instinctively used some landing techniques to reduce impact.
Xia’er was certain these moves were ones she hadn’t known before.
She couldn’t say she was completely clueless about physical activities before, but rather, she had no experience at all.
It seemed that the [Agility Lv.1] skill comprehensively improved her bodily sensitivity, making her more agile than before.
It’s worth noting that this was merely a reward akin to a consolation prize that she received after running a bit in the future simulation.
If she were to complete other tasks or improve her system score within the simulation, wouldn’t she obtain even more powerful skills?
This ability… is quite impressive.
Sharl almost instantly formed her own judgment on the system.
Suddenly remembering something, she quickly left the living room and ran upstairs to her small room, pulling out a hardcover bound notebook and a graphite pencil from her drawer.
Opening the notebook, the light yellow paper emitted a faint alum scent. Sharl picked up the pen and wrote the first line with Chinese characters.
[Sheng Year 741, June 19th – 6:31 PM (Death Time)]
This was likely the time when the incident would occur two days later, and the time when her sister and she would die.
After some thought, Sharl continued writing:
“From now on, I will record all important events that happen in a day in this notebook. Don’t miss any abnormal details or intuition…
The elegant handwriting flowed smoothly from her pen, and what she wrote on the paper was more like a reminder to her future self rather than a diary.
As she wrote, Sharl paused slightly. The silver-white system interface appeared before her again, and she opened the simulation interface once more.
She currently didn’t need to simulate the past. If she simulated the future, she would reach that point where everything couldn’t be changed anymore.
There was too little room for maneuver.
Because when she simulated the future, she lacked the memory of the intervening period.
For example, today, on the 17th, if Sharl placed a cake beside her bed, and after she used the system to travel to the 19th, the cake disappeared, she wouldn’t know who ate it or why it was lost.
But if she recorded it in the notebook, she could find out why the cake disappeared by checking the notebook.
Even more so, she could leave hints in the notebook beforehand, allowing her future self to handle the situation based on the notebook’s content.
This method, compared to directly entering the simulation, allowed Sharl to gain more information and intelligence that the simulation couldn’t provide.
She needed “herself” to help her investigate.
Through the silver screen, Sharl wrote on the paper on the desk with Chinese characters.
[Eddie will have a conflict with his sister on June 19th, leading to her death]
[Do not go to the graduation ceremony on the 19th. Try to persuade your sister to move to another district with you in advance, away from Clock Tower Lane District, to avoid the conflict]
[The Heishuidang seems to be behind this. If possible, gather information about the Heishuidang]
The Heishuidang was a local gang in Bolun City, controlling all the taverns and underground distilleries in Clock Tower Lane District. Sharl didn’t understand why she and her sister would be involved with this dark force.
After all, Sharl’s actions were very low-profile, even keeping a certain distance from her wealthy classmates at school to avoid being caught in crossfire.
In such a cautious situation, how did she end up catching the attention of the Heishuidang?
At this point, Sharl put down the pencil and refocused her gaze on the silver-white screen in front of her.
During her last simulation of the future two days later, she didn’t retain any memories from the current day to the two days ahead, forcing her to rely on this method to explore different routes in each simulation and document them for analysis.
Sharl wasn’t sure if her method would work, but she knew that anything required a try.
Moreover, there was one thing that Sharl was very puzzled about.
Previously, Eddie had harassed her countless times, but he never directly caused a conflict; instead, he mainly persisted in his harassment. Why did it escalate to a violent confrontation this time?
Could it be because he said something that completely enraged her sister?
“No…”
Sharl subconsciously shook her head.
Her sister would take her reminders seriously. It must have been the other side that made the first move.
Although the news of her sister’s death almost overwhelmed her during the simulation, she could still clearly perceive everything happening around her.
The Heishuidang gang came to clear the scene, and an elderly male voice spoke behind her.
Sharl carefully recalled and soon remembered the words spoken by the old man.
‘6:31 PM… Why is there a deviation in the ritual?’
Deviation… Ritual… What kind of deviation? What ritual?
Could it be that this fight, her sister’s death, and even her own death, were all designed by someone?
Sharl didn’t know, but she knew she could try to investigate.
With this thought, she picked up the pen and wrote another line in the notebook.
[If there is spare time, conduct a detailed investigation into the Heishuidang and the so-called ritual]
After finishing this sentence, Sharl put down the pencil and reopened the system interface.
“Consume 10 Mortality Points to go to the future?”
Sharl checked the notebook to ensure nothing was missed, then closed it and nodded in confirmation.
“Yes.”
The silver needle rotated and enlarged before her eyes until the endless silver filled her vision, losing her sense of her body.
When she felt she could control her fingers again, the silver rapidly dissipated, and the sound of scattered raindrops echoed in her ears.
The silver-white screen in front of her displayed the current time.
「Future」
「Sheng Year 741, June 19th, 6:29 PM」
「Countdown: -23:59:59」