Li Yichen looked at the ceiling, bare and white. Although similar, it had different patterns. Instead of tiles, it was a random pattern resembling distorted stars.
Trying to turn his head to look around, he fell flat on his stomach. Looking down and moving to the side, he started to crawl. Feeling embarrassed by the fact he was crawling, he went back to his original position. Lying on his back, he stared back at the ceiling.
Focusing on his mind, he called out to the system. At that moment, a screen appeared. Checking the system function, he clicked a scroll symbol and saw a quest.
Recalling when he had first regressed, he remembered having the option to regain his fragmented memories.
His long years spent in space had almost completely overwritten his memories on Earth. After finding out that he could regain his memories, he felt like he could change things.
Thinking back to the other two options for his memories which he had not gotten the chance to regain, he pondered what he would need to do. Thinking back on when had regained his memories from his childhood and when the Earth was destroyed, he remembered the headache he had and the exhaustion he felt.
Considering the side effects of fixing his fragmented memories, he decided for now that he wouldn't try to regain his teenage memories. The headache he received was from useless memories and a year's worth of important details from 2023.
Thinking of the best time to regain his memories he decided that he would do so in a year. It was not best to try regaining everything he had forgotten in a short period.
It can overload the brain and cause issues in the future. Furthermore, he does not know how painful the headache will be.
For the next few months, he acted like a baby. He cried at important times so he did not receive too much attention nor too little attention.
Although he knew everything from his childhood, he decided to not change anything even if it was embarrassing to remember himself eating coins or even trying to stuff a toy in his ear. After all, he was just a baby. No need to fret over tiny mistakes. There was no need for him to cause a butterfly effect by fixing a mistake he made.
He was tired of the fact he needed to act like a baby. He sighed inwardly and opened the system with his thoughts. The system opened to the options to regain his memories before him. Yichen tapped on the option of 'teenager' to regain his memories from back then.
A surge of memories flooded into his head. His head started to give a stabbing pain and his eyes began to water. Yichen put his hand on his temples to massage his head. The memories he gained were overwhelming. Even if he had waited longer, there was no doubt it would still give him a headache.
After the headache, he tried to organize his thoughts. He closed his eyes, starting to rethink and organize his memories to make sense of the recollections that had come flooding into his mind.
After a while, he opened his eyes and started to plan out how he could prevent the destruction of Earth.
Even with his teenage memories and new plans, he was missing quite a lot of essential information. He didn't know what caused the destruction of Earth, or even who had the authority to initiate such a thing.
Thinking back on this moment, he figured that he should wait a few more years to regain his adult memories. Judging from the pain he had suffered when he had regained his memories of his teenage years, he pondered on what time would be most optimal to regain his memories after the age of 18.
Recalling fragments from his past, he remembered his twelfth birthday. He had received lots of gifts, and it was his first year in middle school. His mind was also more developed.
I will choose to regain my adult memories when I turn twelve.
He felt relieved that he could regain his shattered memories before he started high school.
Just like waiting a year for the chance to regain his memories before, he will need to wait 11 years before actively pursuing his plans. Unless something happens within those 11 years or after, it would go smoothly.
As he started thinking once more, he saw his mother come into his room. She looked down with a sweet smile that warmed his heart. Feeling the warmth, he smiled back at her. He reached out his hands trying to grab his mother's hand.
His mother grabbed his hands and wrapped her arms around him to pick him up. With a smile, she started poking his chibi cheeks. Yichen gave a small pout. This made her smile even brighter than before.
He looked up at his mother and gave a childish laugh. Yichen tried to hug his mother but grabbed her hair. She looked at him with affection and started patting him on the head. Feeling relaxed, he had not felt that way for a long time. Curling up and getting tired, he lay in his mother's arms and went into a deep sleep.
While he was sleeping in her arms, he gained consciousness. As he woke up in his dream, he looked around.
The area around him was a scene like no other. The sky was dark, and you could see the countless stars in the sky. The stars were bright but looked more artificial than alive. The ground was of water that reflected the stars above him, and every step he took made a ripple within the water.
Within the sea, he was able to see himself in the stars. Seeing his reflection, he saw his original teenage body. Instead of being in the body of himself as a baby, he was like he had gone back to his most thrilling days.
As he walked around the area, he wondered for a long while. He noticed that the energy within the ground seemed to glow like the water itself was light energy. Although the water reflected the sky which was a sea of countless stars, it was not a reflection that followed the laws of nature.
As the sky was black and stars shone, the water was bright blue and mirrored the stars in the sky within its light blue sea.
Watching the stars, he looked down at the bright sea in front of him and reached down to touch the water. Scooping a handful of bright glowing water, he watched as it dripped off his hand, leaving no evidence of its existence. He could not feel the normal wet feeling of the water. It felt like a hologram that followed the flow of his hand, connecting back to where it had come from.
"Where am I? It's really beautiful."
Wait, didn't I just fall asleep in my mom's arms? Shouldn't I be dreaming? Why am I walking on this sea?
Looking around and seeing how empty the area is, he once again felt the loneliness of outer space. He sat down on the bright sea to see if he would be able to swim in the sea.
Within his thoughts of trying something dangerous, a window popped open in front of him. The system that was with him had once again appeared. The window had given a notification that would inform him of where he was at.
He looked at the screen before him while he was confused by everything. Nothing made sense. It was all new. Even if he had regressed from space, this place was not something he wished to dig deeper about.
[Sea of Conscience]
Details: This is your mind–the conscience where your soul can wander freely. Within your consciousness, you can create and destroy whatever you need. Everything will be considered your territory.
Level: 1
"Why am I here instead of dreaming in my sleep?"
[Because this place will be helpful to organize your newfound information. Think of it like your own personal world! You can create a library within your mind. ( ´▽｀)]
[Just think hard to create what you want.]
Closing his eyes, he began to think and try to remember what a library would be like in this world. Imagine a column of books and within each column, it created an area with stairs and a center with a star.
Opening his eyes, he saw a scene before him.
The dark sky was within a dome. He was practicing in a whole other area. The rows of books surround the center of the area. The center area was beautiful, with countless stars within a bright light, symbolic of the sun. It was a galaxy. Within his mind, a single thought surfaced 'Maybe the Milky Way'.
He came close to the array and reached out to touch the stars. Suddenly, the area he nudged had become big. It showed our solar system as well as the inner and outer asteroid belt. Seeing the Earth within the group, he touched the figure once more. It became bigger, with only the earth visible.
The Earth itself showed the seven continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, and Oceania.
Looking around, he saw a search bar. He clicked it and entered his school. Looking at his school, he saw the building. The building of his school was in his view, and he scrolled to see everything.
He noticed that it was only the building and no humans within the buildings.
"So this system only shows the view of non-living things. But doesn't this remind you of something?"
[Nope. Nothing at all.]
As soon as the system replied, another system message appeared. It showed the details of the created area within his conscience. The system was now asking him to name it.
[Name it, since you did create everything with your mind. You can also name different things within your library.]
"OK. But first, how did this place change?"
[It is because it morphed into another place within your consciousness, which you created. The other one still exists, so you can recall it by thinking hard to recreate the stars in outer space.]
"That does make sense."
Now a name.
"I will name this library 'The Library of Consciousness' and the galaxy in the middle 'The Map of Cosmos' How's that?"
[Unique.]
"Aha. Thank you?"
He clicked out of the system and started to go to the bookshelves. He reached out and grabbed a book. Looking within the book and flipping through the pages, he only saw blank pages with nothing.
"So, I put my memories in these books. This is quite useful."
Yichen closed his eyes again and started to imagine his memories within the books from his birth to his memories of his teenage years.
He skipped a few shelves, leaving them empty for when he regains his adult memories. Once more, he opened his eyes to see the book in his hand begin scripting words within the pages.
He watched the words appear like they were being written, each word being bright to life with a gold spark. As he flipped through the pages of the book, he reached the end and, once more, closed the book. Like a novel, it had a title. The words Birth of 'Monarch of the Endless Stars' were engraved. Yichen started to blush out of embarrassment at his cringy name.
"P-please stop. Let me change it. I can't bear the embarrassment."
Yichen sat down and hid his face. He was red and silently sobbing. Looking back up, he saw the blue screen, which gave a smug look. He knew that the screen was plotting something.
[It seems like the thousand years in space were not long enough for you to outgrow the Chuunibyou phase, AHA!]
[Maybe I should have given you a harder time, I wonder what other name you could think of.]
"No! Please, just kill me! It was just in the spur of the moment. Nothing was working. It was the only one that worked after so long."
[Acceptance is key to happiness(˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)]
I need to change the topic.
"How do I get back to Earth?"
[That's easy, just walk out that door.(・ω・)ノ]
"What door?"
Yichen looked around to see a white door in the middle of the sea that was not there before. He looked back at the screen in shock and spoke to the screen once more.
"That wasn't there before. How did you do that?"
[Why do I have to explain everything? I wish I could quit my job(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻]
[Basically, you just gotta think of a door back to the outside(˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)]
Sighing, he walked to the door before him and stepped through it.
He was back on Earth, still as a baby. Although he had fallen asleep in his mom's arms, he had woken up in his crib.
Missing his original form within his conscience, he sighed. It felt like he had woken up from a dream. He asked the system to come back. He needed more information.
"What do I call you, and what else do I need to know?"
[I have no name. You can just name me whatever you want, and I can only give you more information when your physical age is 12.]
[Just live life for the next 11 years.]
[You can also change whatever you want until then; your actions over the next 11 years won't affect the future(●°u°●) ]
"No, it is fine. I will just change how much I study. Everything else should stay the same as it is."
[As you wish. Very boring, I know how you humans wish to change regrets from an early age, so I never expected that someone would not change so many embarrassing childhood moments.]
"It is more that nothing needs to be changed. Those regrets are minor and do not affect me later."
[How unique. Call me when you need me. I am gonna take a nap(=￣ ρ￣=) ..zzZZ]
While reminiscing about the memories he had gained, he looked out the window to see the bright white ground blanketed in snow.
"I wish this feeling could last forever."
Looking back at the door, he saw his mother walking once more. Filled with joy at the sight of her face, he reached out his hand, trying to call his mother over. Wishing to hug her again, she noticed the joy on her son's face and approached him.
She lifted him gently and rocked him as she took him to the kitchen. It was morning and breakfast time. He sat in his high chair, waiting for his food. Looking around him, he saw the kitchen he missed and the house he once lived in.
His mother walked over and brought his baby food. It was mashed and liquidy, but nutritious. Content with the life he lost, he ate everything his mother made with a smile.
I will live how I want to.