"By the way, boss, what did you say about the watch earlier?" Coming back to her senses, Little Ya asked.
"Oh, nothing, I was just joking..."
Mu You quickly collected himself and nonchalantly slipped the pocket watch into his pocket, "I don't expect many customers today. You can get off early for the day. I'll close up later."
"Well then, I'll leave early today. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Mu You watched Little Ya leave before his smile gradually turned into a serious expression.
He pulled up today's CCTV footage on the front desk computer.
With such oddities as time reversals happening right under his nose, he didn't have the mind to do anything else but confirm who had left the flash drive.
Mu You sped up the CCTV recording. Throughout the entire morning, there was nothing on the front desk.
Yet, at 4:15 p.m., a flash drive had suddenly appeared on the desk!
Yes, it simply materialized out of nowhere!
Despite having no one around, one moment the desk was completely empty, and in the next frame, a flash drive had obtrusively appeared!
Mu You, increasingly aware that something was off, tried searching for "Fool" but all he found were irrelevant results. The internet showed no record of this game.
"As I thought, something is off…"
Mu You furrowed his eyebrows and decided to abandon the pursuit of the game's origin. Given the unnatural abilities of this game, all of his efforts would be futile if it didn't want to be traced.
Moreover, the game now showed that it was in beta, suggesting it could possibly go public in the future.
That is, there may come a day in the future when all of humanity could download this game…
Mu You didn't dare to continue that thought. If it came to that, this game would indeed bring profound changes to the world!
At present, he was simply luckier to have accessed this game ahead of most people. Therefore, he should actively explore the game and gather as much information as possible before it is released to the public.
[Under the moonlight, you step out from the thorny bush and onto a path in the forest.]
[The crunchy sounds of the snow-capped leaves under your boots echo through the forest. The slight sound could awaken the flock of birds, while the echoing hoots of the owls resonate near and far, serving as a reminder of the dangers that lurk within this forest. The longer your stay, the more dangerous it becomes. It would be best to find a nearby village as soon as possible.]
Two options pop up: [Begin the journey] and [Continue to stay].
Mu You chose 'Begin the Journey'.
[Guided by the moonlight, you set sail on your journey.]
[Three paths appear in front of you.]
[The path to the left is covered in fireflies. The reflection of the moonlight making it look like a dreamy wonderland. In a trance, you seem to see that there is an Elf Fairy with wings calling out to you from the branch of a tree. 'Come, adventurer, I can fulfill your wish.']
[The middle path has a drunken bruiser lying listlessly in the middle, an axe and a bottle of alcohol in his hand, dressed in a prison uniform—he is likely a dangerous fugitive. You should keep your distance!]
[The path on the right is desolate, void of any human presence. The winding road extends into the dark depths. Although there are no visible obstacles, your intuition warns you that the dark path may conceal even more deadly dangers.]
[So, Fool, which path will you choose?]
Mu You looked at the three options below: left, right, and middle.
He ruled out the middle one first!
The description of the fugitive on the middle path made it quite evident that it would inevitably lead to a fierce battle.
The description of the left path seemed to be hinting that there was a fairy who could fulfill wishes up ahead.
Mu You was skeptical of such good fortune so early in the game. This seemed more like a trap.
But who said he could rewind time? There wouldn't be any loss in trying.
His pocket watch could turn back time by five seconds, with a cooldown period of five seconds, forming a perfect cycle. This means, as long as the time of the current option popping up doesn't exceed five seconds, he could loop within this option indefinitely and try out all possible outcomes.
Mu You chose [Left].
[Brave adventurer, you made the decision to respond to the fairy's call and embarked on the path to the left.]
[With anticipation, you stepped on the fluorescent snow trail and moved towards the enchanting silhouette perched on a tree branch.]
[However, as you move closer, you realize that the silhouette is not an Elf Fairy, but a Nightmare Bat hanging upside down! Nightmare Bats love creating illusions at night, luring passersby closer, then feasting on their brain tissues.]
[You realize it's a trap and try to run, but it's too late. The Nightmare Bat is swooping towards you.]
[You have been killed by the Nightmare Bat!]
[You are dead! Lifespan -1, remaining lifespan 57 years.]
Damn it, I knew it wouldn't be so smooth!
Mu You curses under his breath, but what catches his attention first is the last sentence of the prompt: remaining lifespan 57 years!
Could it be that the "lifespan" here is his actual lifespan...?
If it were any other game, Mu You would never make such a baseless assumption. But as it stands with this bizarre game, anything goes.
So, does that mean he only has 57 years left to live?
And if this speculation is true, that means every time he dies in the game, he permanently loses a year of his life...
What a real-life draining game!
No wonder this game was so generous, starting him off with an incredible magic pocket watch, but at the cost of playing for his life!
Mu You takes a deep breath. These thoughts flicker through his mind in an instant. As he sees the time quickly approaching five seconds, he hastily presses the pocket watch switch.
Everything around him goes in reverse again, quickly returning to how it was five seconds earlier.
The game also returns to the previous decision point.
However, as if the game can sense the pocket watch reversing time, the text does not directly return to its original state, but subtly changes.
[Lucky fool, your relic just saved your life, preventing your death.]
[Time rewinds, you return to the previous crossroads, please make your choice again.]
The options below are still left, middle, and right.
Knowing full well that bats are on the left, Mu You of course would not go there again. This time he chose to go right.
[You've chosen to take the bleak path on the right.]
[There seems to be no obstructions ahead, it looks like a smooth road.]
[Suddenly, a black spotted spider springs out from the roadside, hurling a sticky spider web towards you, leaving you unable to move.]
[You were killed by the black spotted spider!]
[You are dead! Lifespan -1, remaining lifespan 57 years.]
Damn it, did I guess wrong again?
Mu You is dumbfounded.
So the correct answer was the fugitive in the middle?
... or could it be that even the fugitive is wrong? For all he knows, there is no correct answer in this game and choosing anyone leads to death?
No worries, let's backtrack first!
[Time rewinds, you once again return to the familiar crossroads.]
[Recurrent deaths have not discouraged you yet, so, fool, where are you heading this time?]
Mu You nervously clicked on 'middle'.
[You chose to approach the fugitive in the middle, hoping that he could take you back to the village from afar. But in the run-away fugitive's eyes, anyone's approach would only make him more frantic. He lifted his axe, his eyes filled with intent to kill ...]
The moment this text appeared, Mu You had a bad feeling: I'm afraid I'm screwed again!
Luckily, that's not the end of the narrative.
[Unfortunately, the fugitive turned out to be a coward. He didn't dare to take any real action. As you approached, he fled from the scene in a panic. You survived.]
"What do you mean, 'unfortunately'? Are you disappointed that I survived?"
Mu You curses under his breath again, but at the same time, he heaves a huge sigh of relief.
Nasty tongue-in-cheek commentary aside, it seems the game had some boundaries. It didn't set him up with a choice that would inevitable lead to his death.
Those introductory choices were very misleading. Only the ability to rewind time could have saved him from losing.
With this in mind, Mu You became even more satisfied with the 'Time Pocket Watch' he got by chance: it seemed that he randomly got a pretty amazing relic!
In a text-based adventure game like this, players are expected to make a series of choices in the text, with each choice leading to a different outcome.
And being able to rewind without limit means he will always be able to make the best choice in any situation he encounters in the game!
Could there be anything more suitable for this game?