In the development area of K City, outside the Odd and Cute Pet Shop.
Mu You stashed the jumbo dog cage into the trunk of the van.
"Master, this is the last one. I'll pay you after the delivery."
"No problem, Boss Mu. Contact me anytime when you have cats and dogs for sale!"
"Alright."
...
Watching as the driver drove away with a truckload of cats and dogs, Mu You turned around, looked at the pet shop that was now half-empty behind him, and lit a cigarette in silence.
His parents had died in a car accident two years ago, leaving him this pet shop.
To fulfill his parents' wishes, he quit his job to devote himself to the business, hoping to rejuvenate the pet shop.
Unfortunately, times changed too quickly. Impacted by the pandemic, running a brick-and-mortar business had become an uphill battle.
Starting from a few weeks ago, the pet shop was no longer making ends meet. Daily earnings could hardly cover the costs of pet food. Having no choice, he had to sell all the cats and dogs in the shop and planned to switch to selling flowers, birds, fish and insects which were of a lower cost.
"I hope things will turn around."
Stubbing out his cigarette, Mu You turned and went back inside the shop.
As soon as he walked in, he saw a girl with a ponytail and an apron standing at the counter, staring blankly at the rows of empty cages.
"What's wrong, Little Ya?"
The girl's name was Shen Ya, the only employee in the pet shop now.
"Boss…" Little Ya looked at Mu You, hesitated, and finally said, "Our shop, it's not gonna close down, is it..."
"What are you talking about?"
Mu You knocked on her head with his finger and chuckled, "We are just downsizing."
Watching the girl hold her forehead in distress, Mu You sighed.
Little Ya was an employee hired when his parents first opened the shop. By now, she had worked there for four whole years.
All the other employees had quit one after another in the past six months, but she had always stuck around.
In terms of emotional attachment to the pet shop, she was no less than him.
"Don't worry, unless things really go south, I will not sell the shop."
This shop was a memento left by his parents. It was a place that saw him grow up, so Mu You would never let it close easily.
Moreover, he had other sources of income.
He ran social media accounts on various main streaming video websites. By regularly posting pet videos, he could earn a decent amount of money every month, so it wasn't hard to keep going.
"Oh, that's good then!"
Only then did Little Ya cheer up, "I'm going to wash the turtle's back!"
Watching his ditsy employee run into the pet bathhouse, Mu You walked into the shop, his eyes sweeping over the counter, then suddenly stopped.
"Little Ya, is this U-disk at the counter yours?"
"U-disk? No!" The girl's puzzled voice came from the bathhouse.
"Could a customer have left it behind?"
Without giving it much thought, Mu You planned to put the U-disk into the lost and found box.
But when he picked up the U-disk, he found a note beneath it.
"Open it, and you will discover a new world."
Looking at the words on the note, Mu You paused for a moment.
What did it mean? Was the U-disk meant for him?
Curious, he sat back at the counter and inserted the U-disk into the computer.
Upon opening it, there were only two files in the 16GB U-disk.
A game app named 'The Fool (Beta version 2.41)', and a TXT file named 'Game Invitation Code'.
"A mobile game?"
Mu You looked puzzled.
Are mobile game promotions this aggressive now, offering a U-disk for downloading a game?
Driven by curiosity, he ran a virus scan. After confirming there was no virus, he transferred the APP to his phone.
He installed and registered the game smoothly.
Afterward, he entered the activation code and launched the game.
The intense background music and exquisite game CG images he had imagined did not appear.
Instead, a simple box-style interface popped up.
There were no images, no sound, just white text on a black background popping up one by one on the screen as if someone clumsy was typing on the other end.
[On a snowy night, you wake up in a forest covered in snow.]
[The cold wind howls through the forest. Owls hoot everywhere. The cold moonlight spills onto your feet, and every withered tree around seems like a twisted, crying face.]
[In the scene of drifting snowflakes, you gradually remember the past you had once forgotten.]
[This is a Magic World known as the 'Star Spirit World', where werewolves, vampires, elves, witches, wizards riding broomsticks, heartless tin men, talking mirrors, ghosts in castles... all these legendary magical creatures make up this elusive and dark world.]
[A long time ago, you were also inhabitants of this land. But because your ancestors lacked the ability to wield magic, you were mocked by the wizards as 'fools'.]
[The proud Wizard Association refused to coexist with the fools under the same sky. They launched a war, gathering magic power, building a 'high wall', separating ignorance from truth. A rainstorm that obliterated everything washed away your memories. You were forever locked in the magic-less Forgotten Land.]
[Now, you have managed to slip through the cracks in the 'wall' and return to this homeland.]
[Here, you are loathed and rejected by this world. Every step you take requires caution. Every decision you make will directly influence your fate…]
[If you are ready to face all this, then click 'start' to embark on this journey!]
[Click 'start' to enter the game.]
"So that's what 'Fool' means..."
Mu You was a bit surprised.
He had assumed that the 'Fool' in the game title referred to some item in the game. But after reading the background introduction, he realized that it was referring to the player.
Admittedly, while the game's visual framework may be simply designed, the worldview of its story was tremendously vast. A few sentences were enough to portray a haunting and obscure magic world.
Players accidentally stumbled into this world and would have to explore, find treasures, and seek revenge on the Wizard Association that had once banished them!
"Start!"
Mu You pressed the button.
[Under the shelter of the snowstorm, you have officially set foot on your homeland.]
[However, you emanate an intense aura of an 'Exile.' Therefore, to avoid detection by the indigenous people, you urgently need to disguise yourself as one of them.]
[A floating gift box appears before you.]
[This is a gift prepared by the Fool's ancestors for every returnee. After opening it, you obtain a random ancestral relic. These relics can help you mask the Exile's aura and avoid detection by other wizards. Would you like to open it now?]
Two options - yes or no.
"This must be the beginners' pack, right?"
Thinking to himself, Mu You silently selected [Yes].
[Draw ancestral relic...]
[Draw complete!]
[You acquired 'Time Pocket Watch (Hidden)': Pressing the pocket watch enables you to reverse time, helping you evade dangers lurking in the shadows.]
[Note: There is a one in a thousand chance of drawing a unique hidden relic with powerful effects during the relic draw.]
"Hidden relic?"
Looking at the text prompt, Mu You paused.
Something with just a one in a thousand chance, and yet he got it in one try. It seemed like his luck was excellent today!
...Or perhaps every player always draws a hidden relic on their first draw as a sort of guaranteed draw. This was a common trick in pay-to-win games.
Regardless, be it the colossal worldview or the distinctive gaming mode of adventure treasure hunting through text, both spurred Mu You on to continue playing.
As he touched the screen to proceed, his right hand suddenly felt icy cold, as if he was holding onto something.
Lowering his gaze, he saw a small, round pocket watch resting quietly in his palm.
A brass case, a white dial, a prominent button at the top, and a golden chain fixed onto the button.
Mu You stared curiously at the pocket watch in his hand.
Where did it come from?
He didn't remember having any of these old-fashioned pocket watches at home. Besides, how did a watch simply appear out of nowhere in his hand?
"Boss, are you reading palms?"
A voice suddenly sounded next to his ear.
Looking up, he saw Little Ya standing there. She had approached unnoticed and was leaning over the counter, her hands propping up her cheeks, looking curiously at his open hand.
"Reading palms?"
With her question, a strange thought suddenly surfaced in Mu You's mind.
"Little Ya, can't you see this pocket watch?"
"Pocket watch? What pocket watch?"
"The pocket watch in my hand!"
Mu You even deliberately lifted the pocket watch to show her.
"Bo-Boss, don't scare me... You clearly have nothing in your hand..."
Little Ya drew back with a horrified expression, as though she had seen a ghost. Accidentally, her elbow hit the cup on the edge of the table.
The cup fell, shattering to pieces, scattering fragments of glass and tea all over the floor.
"Ah, sorry..." With a blush, Little Ya instinctively started to pick up the shards.
"It's just a cup..."
Mu You was about to wave it off when his finger accidentally touched the button on the pocket watch.
The next instant, he could only feel a flash before his eyes, and everything around him began to rewind at an alarming speed.
Spilled water seemed to be collected back, and the broken cup got mended!
When everything returned to tranquility, he opened his eyes.
The shards and the puddle on the ground had disappeared without a trace.
The cup, unharmed, was back on the table.
His right hand was still seizing the pocket watch, as if ready to show it.
And Little Ya was back in her original position at the front desk, staring at him with the same ghost-seeing expression.
"Bo-Boss, don't scare me... You clearly have nothing in your hand..."
The familiar dialogue sounded again, leaving Mu You dumbstruck: What's happening? Am I dreaming?
The next second, Little Ya's elbow knocked the cup again, and the cup fell once more.
Mu You's pupils contracted, and he shot out his right hand like a bolt of lightning, narrowly catching the cup flying in mid-air.
"Ah!"
With a cry of surprise, Little Ya watched as Mu You caught the cup in time. She patted her chest, saying shakily, "Thank goodness you responded swiftly, else the cup would have been broken."
"..."
But Mu You didn't say anything. He was staring at the cup in his hand, dumbfounded. He had lived through the same scene twice and, in addition to that, he had altered the outcome...
He instinctively shifted his gaze back to the screen of his phone.
A new prompt had popped up on the game's interface.
[Time Pocket Watch: A pocket watch that's been blessed by the Time Fairy. Pressing the button will reverse time and take you five seconds into the past. A cooldown of five seconds will follow after each use.]