usenovelgroup Chapter 2 Towards the Future
Chapter 2 Towards the Future
Lying on the bed in the master bedroom, outside is the pitch-black night. The night obscures the view, making it seem much more inclusive.
The current time is December 9654, 1999.
Of course, this is the time of Lu Shi.
In the eyes of others, it is 2026, and it has just reached May 6th.
After the fetal leap, Lu Shi became what he is now.
His time no longer has years and months, but only days.
Its overall existence is formed by piecing together each day, like a multi-segmented worm living on a timeline.
Every day, Lu Shi draws upon the power of time to form Time Coins, which are the only means for him to continue growing along the timeline into a new section.
Death only severs the latest segment; it only requires one 'Time Coin' to grow back.
It's like saving the game every day at midnight, and you can restart the day as long as you have time coins.
After taking a sip of the warm water that had been prepared on the bedside table, Lu Shi turned on the night light and the radio. Listening to the voices and songs on the radio, he felt the strange atmosphere around him fade a bit.
Closing his eyes, the snoring of his upstairs neighbor and the sounds of traffic outside made Lu Shi feel a little better.
As a time-based being, he exists simultaneously in more than nine thousand days. However, apart from the latest day that is in sync with the real world, the rest of the time, the world is just a huge empty shell.
He remained largely in the past, while everyone else moved toward the future.
That loneliness drove him mad; he had to acquire more Time Coins to hold onto his future every single day!
The acquisition of Time Coins is closely related to these abnormal things.
I opened my notebook and began to review my records of the trash can head, specifically C1 level number 2256, over the past period.
His work ID, which was also placed on the bedside table, explained his job: a regular receptionist at the Folklore and Metaphysics Society.
In the eyes of the public, so-called folk metaphysics societies are just a group of companies that do frivolous things, provide psychological counseling to comfort people, and are even somewhat fraudulent.
This company rarely hires outsiders, and outsiders cannot join the company through formal channels.
Lu Shi was able to get a job there thanks to this guy, 2256.
The Xuanxue Society's knowledge improved Lu Shi's method of obtaining Time Coins, but Time Coins were only a temporary solution.
To completely resolve his problems, he needs to gain a deeper understanding of abnormal things.
In the Metaphysics Society, the more profound the knowledge of abnormal things, the higher the threshold for a position.
2256 was his main project after joining the company, and if handled well, it would be a significant achievement.
"Why did this guy suddenly change?" Lu Shi frowned. His records of 2256 had been extremely monotonous these past few days.
2256 appears every two to three days, mainly between eight and nine in the morning.
Its erosion level is very low, a standard level 1 erosion state, and only those with 'spiritual vision' can observe the anomalies it causes.
If dealt with in a normal way, such as throwing trash into the bin, this normal action can cover up its abnormal erosion and maintain its safe range.
This fits the characteristics of "abnormal things".
"This doesn't make sense." Lu Shi thought for a while, marveling at the 'normality' of this world.
Because of his special circumstances, he began to disguise himself at a very early stage while carefully collecting various information about this world.
But from childhood to adulthood, the world was extremely "normal" except for himself.
Lu Shi once thought he had the script of being the only one who could act according to the law.
It wasn't until a car accident happened in front of his house, and the human head appeared in the trash can the next day, that Lu Shi got the ticket to rediscover the world.
Time flowed swiftly as my thoughts raced.
As Lu Shi watched the sky gradually brighten, he tidied himself up and, following his previous route, arrived at the breakfast shop at 8:20.
"Give me a five-yuan wonton soup." Lu Shi greeted the proprietress skillfully and ordered another breakfast.
After a while, the wontons were served.
The spoon gently scoops up the steaming wontons; the scallions and oil make them especially delicious.
Lu Shi blew on it a few times, then took a bite, the filling filled with the aroma of meat filling his mouth.
After taking a sip of jasmine tea from the breakfast shop's table to recharge his mouth, Lu Shi finished the bowl of wontons—three for one yuan and fifteen for five yuan—within ten minutes.
Once again, Lu Shi pulled out a tissue and wiped his mouth.
The traffic lights in the distance started changing precisely on time.
「2026.5.6，8:35。」陆时看了眼手腕上玄学社发的手錶，看着上面从1上升到5的侵蚀度。
"The time and intensity haven't changed, so in which direction has the corrective force been applied?" Lu Shi calmly followed the previous method, making eye contact with the person's head, then pretending not to see and throwing away the tissue normally, but his mind was quickly racing.
Over the years, Lu Shi has developed a fairly clear understanding of his own abilities.
He is a time-based being, and his time-based abilities primarily affect "himself," unable to directly alter the normal world.
In other words, the fact that he ate breakfast, observed 2256, and then was hit and killed by a dump truck summoned by 2256 while crossing the road was not reset.
These events still exist.
Lu Shi refers to this kind of thing that has not been reset as a "script".
If Lu Shi wants to change all of this and break out of the script, then he will be subject to the corrective force of world time.
This force is usually applied to Lu Shi's adversaries to ensure that Lu Shi follows the original script.
After recording the timely information from 2256, Lu Shi walked to a nearby electric vehicle, skillfully inserted the key, turned it, powered it on, and then... put on his safety helmet.
Reaching out to touch his neck, Lu Shi drove back to the intersection.
Lu Shi already had experience with scripts.
The general approach should be followed; the more resistance there is, the greater the corrective force becomes.
Some trivial matters, such as whether to eat rice noodle rolls or wontons, are unimportant and will not affect the correction power.
What he needs to do is to act at key junctures, suppress the corrective forces, break away from the script, and move towards the future.
"Towards the future..." Lu Shi murmured these words, his eyes sharpening.
The green light appeared, and Lu Shi set off.
Following the same trajectory, the red light suddenly appeared.
Then a dump truck suddenly appeared out of nowhere and headed straight for Lu Shi.
Unlike last time, this time the dump trucks were much faster, accompanied by a piercing horn sound that was enough to make anyone's head spin.
A car behind them seemed to have been greedy for two seconds of its light, and ended up blocking the back of Lu Shi's electric scooter.
Lu Shi immediately understood that this was the change that occurred under the influence of the corrective force.
Having anticipated this, he decisively abandoned the car, jumped up, and rolled to the side without caring about his image.
At that moment, the dump truck driver, whether startled or for some other reason, suddenly turned the steering wheel.
The dump truck crashed into the land while traveling sideways in this situation.
Lu Shi remained calm upon seeing this; he curled up and rushed into the nearby green belt without hesitation.
He observed that there was a gap in the bushes in the green belt.
The branches scratched at his clothes and skin, but they couldn't stop Lu Shi's movements. He also picked up a cat that was in the green belt.
Conversely, the dump truck got its wheels stuck on the roadbed, and with a bang, it overturned towards the green belt.
But at this moment, Lu Shi had already nimbly slipped to the other side, and without stopping, ran back to the entrance of the breakfast shop with the cat in his arms.
At that moment, gasps of surprise rang out.
Lu Shi's time then deviated from the script and continued to move towards the future.
The ticking of a clock filled my ears.
Lu put the cat down and glanced at his watch.
The erosion level above is rapidly dropping from 18.
At this point, Lu Shi's phone rang.