"There is a meteor shower tonight, it hasn't occurred in a hundred years. I talked with a few old classmates and we are going to the suburbs together in order to watch it, are you coming?" At the other end of the call came an excited voice.
The young man sitting at the computer desk had his head tilted with the phone pressed against his shoulder. Both of his hands were placed on the screen in front of him. In his right hand he held a pen and he continued to draw as he spoke. "The outside is too cold, I'm not going."
"Forget it. Xie Lanlan[1], why don't you laze to death?" Their relationship had always been the same as that of brothers. Lu Yuan had therefore not truly been offended by the youth's crude refusal and proposed. "Well, let me at least take a few pictures for you later."
[1] – The MC's name is actually Xie Luán, I use Tao because it is convenient when translating as MTL mostly translated into it and it has a fitting meaning (Tao = the underlying balance of the universe). In the marked sentence he says "Xie Lán Lán", "Lánlán" is a nickname for Luán and means lazy-lazy. "Xie" can mean the following: To thank, to apologize, to wither (plants) or to decline. Yu Luan might just be addressing him with his nickname but it can also hold a sarcastic meaning: "Thank you Lazy, why don't you laze to death."
Xie Tao responded with a few disinterested "Mm-s" as the other person continued chatting and waited for the opposite person to hang up first. He then lifted a hand to remove the phone and put it back on the far end of the desk.
Xie Tao still wanted to continue working for a while, but when his fingers touched the edge of the drawing board, a stream of light glided past the corner of his eye, and then in the next second a loud bang shook Xie Tao's eardrum. He could even feel the impact through his desk's tremors.
A meteor actually crashed onto his yard…?
Xie Tao held onto his precious drawing board for a second before turning to look out at the yard, he then finally decided to go out and have a look.
Walking downstairs, he discovered that many of his indoor plants had been shaken by the impact and had fallen down, lying broken on the floor. As he went outside to the small yard he also found that his careful grown potted plants were almost all the same, but now was not the time to feel distressed.
Looking around Xie Tao noticed a hole in the ground not far away, the hole was seemingly giving off a golden glow.
It was already a bit late and the sky had begun to darken, many things would shine conspicuously in the dim environment. Xie Tao was thinking about whether he should get closer and take a better look, but the decision was made for him as he suddenly saw something float up from the hole, it was a golden glowing ball…
"…" Xie Tao pressed his lips together and subconsciously took a step back.
Calm down, as a qualified citizen of the 21st century, he had to believe and have faith in science…
However, the power of science obviously couldn't explain what was in front of his eyes and neither could it save him at this moment. He prepared to run, but the floating golden ball immediately saw through his intentions.
Just like a bullet, it shot forward with a speed far too fast for Xie Tao to avoid and in the scene reflected in his eyes, the golden ball got bigger and bigger, then it hit him with a flash.
There was no pain, but Xie Tao's vision immediately darkened and he fell into darkness.
When he regained consciousness, he found that the surrounding area had become a white space with no end.
Science, from a firm believer to completely giving up.
He looked around. The space seemed very unstable. In the distance, far away, he could see that some of the space had even collapsed and twisted.
He felt that he had encountered a very troublesome thing….
However, once this unscientific reality was accepted, Xie Tao was able to cope with the current situation and turned his gaze to the golden light ball that brought him to this space.
He did not know if this ball of light was a conscious being, but it was the only other thing in this space. Xie Tao could only try to communicate. "You…"
"I am Xia Zuo, I am sorry to bring you to this space without greeting you first, but it is only here that I can speak to you." The voice echoed in his head and interrupted what Xie Tao had wanted to say. The voice sounded very weak, but did not stop after the first sentence. "In my world, all the world lines leads to the same ending, even if I go back to the past and make all kinds of different choices, it does not matter. I even tried to kill the root cause of the destruction of the world… but the outcome did not change."
The other did not have much time left and despite the confusion of the young person in front of them, they had to rush through all the necessary things. "The final option requires the help of external forces, so I came to this world to find you."
"This ball of light is my fading consciousness, when arriving in the other world, it will give you the final guidance."
There was absolutely no chance of interjecting and listening to these few paragraphs, Xie Tao's eyes widened. This was something way beyond his ability.[2]
[2] – There was actually an idiom here that read "to drive a duck onto a perch", it means to push someone to do something way beyond their ability.
Putting science aside, Xie Tao actually understood what the other party was saying.
To put it simply, the other party wanted to stop the destruction of his world, but he couldn't change the ending, so he put the last hope on an external force, a person from another world.
Just like when subtracting 4-3, it is impossible to get 0. It is necessary to add a "1" in the formula. Xie Tao was now equivalent to this "1".
"Then I will answer 'OK'." The fact that he was able to adapt so fast to this weird situation made Xie Tao sigh and he raised his hand to suppress the restless hair on his head.
Sure enough, he was in trouble, and he still didn't refuse it.
"Just build a link, don't worry. No matter what the final result is, you will be safe and it will not have much impact on your real life. I'm very grateful…" There was no time to explain more and with the last sentence, the voice echoing in his head faded away.
Will not have much impact on your real life… Real life? Capturing the key information in this sentence, Xie Tao wanted to ponder on the meaning, but his consciousness was once again moved.
The link was established.
Opening his eyes, Xie Tao immediately took a sharp breath and the cold air seeped into his lungs, cooling him further. Looking around, he found himself lying on the ground, his clothes were very thin, and his back was attached to the cold winter ground.
His first reaction was to get up and observe his surroundings. As expected, the scene was completely unfamiliar to him.
He was in a deserted alley, it was very narrow and would at most only let two people walk side by side.
The sky suddenly cast a shadow, he looked up and saw a huge silver-gray starship with an icy metal gleam.
He had really traversed.
The whole world here seemed to be in the high-tech era of an interstellar future. However, despite that, the appearance of the buildings was unexpectedly similar to that of his world.
Xie Tao looked at the sky for a moment, but he quickly adjusted his mind and moved his eyes to the golden ball that was still floating in front of him.
As it came in contact with the youth's gaze, the floating golden light ball moved forward a distance, then stopped and swayed in place, as if to signal for the youth to follow.
Xie Tao easily grasped the meaning of the action and without hesitation started walking in that direction.
This planet was a famous trade planet, starships and airships could always be seen in the sky. Commercial streets were abound and there were many tourists moving around. It could be said that this was a very prosperous planet.
But even in a prosperous place, there must be a relatively old area.
After being led by the light ball for about ten minutes, Xie Tao was taken to a place that seemed to be untouched by the surrounding technology. Finally, the ball of light stopped in front of an old rusty iron gate.
They had arrived.
Xie Tao curiously raised his head, only to be stunned.
Cub… Cub Raising Association?
In this moment, Xie Tao even suspected that the other party had taken the wrong road. Was it not a "save the world" mission? A heroic script that held a nightmare-level difficulty and an exciting adventure?? How could it have changed the script?!
But the golden light ball that arrived at this place had no means of diversion and as a residual consciousness, it could neither understand the complex expression on the youth face.
The golden ball of light sunk and touched the piece of paper stuck to the old iron gate that seemed to be on the verge of being blown away by the cold wind. It was obvious that the young man had to peel off the piece of paper and read it.
The paper was not firmly attached, and Xie Tao could easily remove the entire piece of paper from the iron door. It was a recruitment flyer, the paper was a bit crumpled but it did not affect the ability to read it and at the top it was clearly written—
[Cub Raising Association invites childcare staff]
Xie Tao: "…"
So… saving the world by being a nanny?
He glanced down at the recruitment form held in his hand, then looked at the various kinds of facilities that seemed very old and simple, cub raising association… Xie Tao stood frozen place.
The so-called Cub Raising Association, the definition of "association" here was not the same as the general association of Xie Tao's world. The nature of it was a bit special.
Nursing associations such as the Cub Raising Association was more of an institution. They were almost equivalent to a combination of a juvenile welfare home and a kindergarten. In addition to the adoption of orphaned cubs as appropriate, they would also charge an admission for cubs and would be responsible for their care and education.
Much like the one in front of Xie Tao, the nursing associations had branches distributed on various planets. Like some famous schools, there were countless parents who had tried their best to find a good connection and wanted to give their children a chance to enroll in the best branch of the best association, it was true even for the most powerful families.
This was because, as a club with a high ranking, they would without exception have hired the best caretakers who had passed the Star Alliance S-level evaluation, and of course, the environmental conditions for nursing the cubs were also very good.
Every caretaker who had passed the Star Alliance S-level evaluation could be said to be extremely expensive to hire. Currently there were only six in the interstellar and their low number only made them even more desirable, everyone wanted them.
The reason for wanting was also very simple. One of the core reasons was that the S-level evaluation represented their special ability to guide and motivate the cubs to develop their own abilities smoothly.
For example, a cub who could only develop a single ability could, with the help of S-level caretakers, dig out a potential second ability. This development of potential talents was only effective in early childhood, when they reached adulthood, the potential that was not apparent on the surface would be further weakened and buried deeper.
Another example was a cub who could only develop low-level abilities. After receiving guidance from an S-level caretaker, their potential could be stimulated, and there was a certain probability that a high-level ability could be developed.
Although it was only a probability and may not be 100% successful, which parents would not want their cubs to win at the starting line?
Therefore, there was a phenomenon nowadays. Countless caretakers in the interstellar rankings had tens of thousands expecting parents rushing to send money every year. The caretakers who had passed the Star Alliance S-level evaluation were almost all offered. Couples who were with child would really give a table of tributes and burn incense in worship for them.
However, Xie Tao, who was still standing in a daze, staring at the recruitment flyer in his hand, was still unaware of it all. These beautiful things were not related to him for the time being – after all, at this branch, all kinds of facilities were old and crude, the possibility of it being a high ranking club was almost nonexistent.
Taking back his line of sight, Xie Tao took the job recruitment flyer in his hand and walked in, through the open iron gate.
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The author has something to say:
In the middle of the night, quietly open a text
Kaikeng Daji~ The little angel who posted a message in this chapter today has a red envelope, which is also a late New Year's greeting. =3=
It's been a long time since I wrote a single world, I hope to write a warm story 诶嘿
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Translator's note:
Yay! My first translated chapter! ＼(^o^)／