Chapter 68 Regret Medicine

Chapter 68: The Regret Pill

Lin Jianyuan’s heart instantly pounded.

Yet, two seconds later.

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

The "Regret" wasn't moving?

What Lin Jianyuan had imagined encountering "Regret" would be like: Triggering the boss, the BGM starts playing, "Regret" lunges forward and unleashes an ultimate move.

What actually encountering "Regret" was like: The first time passing by, mistaking "Regret" for a person. The second time passing by, still mistaking "Regret" for a person.

Not only did he mistake "Regret" for a person, but he even scolded them thoroughly.

And even attempted to grab and pull.

Then got knocked back.

...Aside from the final "knocked back," "Regret" really had none of the boss-like gravitas anywhere else.

Lin Jianyuan looked skeptically at the bronze man sitting by the fountain, frowning as he examined him.

Is this for real?

Why hadn't "Regret" done anything yet?

Was he charging up a big attack?

Just as Lin Jianyuan was completely baffled.

Ding—Dong—!

Music began to play!

Lin Jianyuan was shocked, instinctively recoiling, thinking, *Whoa, there really is BGM!*

The next second.

The fountain began spouting water!

The bronze man sitting by the fountain’s edge was soaked from head to toe.

Lin Jianyuan: "..."

The face-covering bronze man wailed: "I knew I shouldn’t have sat here, how could I be so stupid? Isn’t this obvious at a glance... Why did I sit here? Oh my god, what am I even doing? I’ve wasted the whole night here again without doing anything..."

As he spoke, he took out a handful of pills from who knows where and swallowed them.

The fountain retracted.

The bronze man’s body was dry again.

But because the bronze man hadn’t moved, still sitting in the same spot, the next second.

Ding—Dong—!

The bronze man was drenched once more.

The bronze man screamed in frustration: "Aaaah!"

Bronze man: "Why did I blow it again? I’ve already come back, so why am I still sitting here? Why do I always just watch the moment slip away..."

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

Is this guy really the legendary "Regret"?

Is he really not just an ordinary human NPC infected by "Regret" or an escapee from No. 700 Jiangchuan North Road?

Just as Lin Jianyuan was skeptical, he suddenly realized a fact.

He had actually stepped back several paces again!

This is...

He quickly looked around and found that he had returned to the spot he was in two minutes ago.

And while he was thinking, his legs were still moving backward on their own.

He was stepping back, step by step. Getting further away.

Away from the man sitting by the fountain.

—This bronze, face-covering man has to be "Regret"!!!

"Hey!" Lin Jianyuan shouted loudly. He tried to step forward, "You..."

"Regret" covered his face with both hands: "Ah, someone’s calling me, how can he see me? Who is he? He’s calling me, what should I say? No, he can see me, he must be someone special, I can’t not answer. But what should I say? Let me try again. What should I say this time..."

"Regret" looked up.

Swallowed another handful of pills.

Lin Jianyuan’s legs suddenly uncontrollably moved back another step!

He was shocked, almost losing his balance, but found that he didn’t lose his balance.

He wasn’t forced back.

He was "rewound" back!

He had been rewound back to the spot he was in half a minute ago!

The spot where he had yelled "Hey" half a minute ago!

"Regret" continued covering his face with both hands, mumbling into his hands: "What should I say this time? He only said 'hey'... What should I say..."

Lin Jianyuan had already figured out the principle behind all of this.

He was about to speak when a flood of images suddenly flashed before his eyes!

The Management Bureau. The upside-down spire. The web of madness.

The deepest prison cell of the spire.

A bronze statue sitting in the darkness, head bowed, covering its face and muttering to itself.

"No, no, no!" he cried.

By the fountain, the bronze statue suddenly screamed, "No, I don't want that! I can’t! I shouldn’t pretend not to see him now—I should—"

The bronze opened its mouth—

Swallowed the pills—

Lin Jianyuan’s warning bells screamed in his mind. He reached into his pocket:

A tripping stone, gibbering and grumbling, flew toward the bronze statue!

But—clang!

Before the small stone could even touch the bronze, it was repelled by an invisible wall of air!

At the same time, the bronze covered its face again and uttered the rest of its sentence:

"I should—kill... him..."

Lin Jianyuan’s expression changed, and he spun around to flee!

But his body suddenly lost control again.

He turned around, only to be wrenched back.

Turned again, forced back again!

Over and over, again and again!

Lin Jianyuan was dizzy from all the wrenching!

Lin Jianyuan: "Fuck!!!"

Instantly furious, Lin Jianyuan pointed at the bronze and cursed, "Are you crazy?! If you wanna kill me, then do it! Are you messing with me?! Do you have any idea who I am?! I’m—"

Suddenly, his vision exploded with kaleidoscopic images again!

Lin Jianyuan’s pupils dilated violently; his entire body froze in place!

A sea of blood churned.

Something at its center wailed mournfully.

The bronze rang out, struck violently, shattered!

"You killed him..."

Rage, despair, frenzy, resentment—countless negative emotions converged into a familiar voice.

That familiar voice shrieked sharply:

"You killed him!!!"

Boom!

It felt like a small grenade had exploded before Lin Jianyuan’s eyes. The shock sent a pain through his chest, and he stumbled backward, sent reeling!

"Agh, no, no, no! I can’t! No! I can’t do it!"

The bronze clutched its face in agony, burying it in its palms as it screamed, collapsing, "No, he’ll tear me apart! I can’t, I mustn’t, I can’t handle it… Reset! Reset! Reset!"

Frantically swallowing pills!

Gulping down huge handfuls!

Lin Jianyuan: '.'

He was exhausted.

But he finally understood what this moron was up to.

This weathered bronze, rather than being called "Regret," might as well be called "The Regret Pill."

Because it is filled with regret every single moment.

It regrets its actions, regrets what it hasn’t done.

Regrets, cracks under the pressure, then takes the regret pill. Goes back to before it decided.

Then makes the decision.

Regrets again.

Takes the pill.

Regrets again.

The cycle repeats itself.

Lin Jianyuan wasn’t sure what those images he just saw were.

Were they from some timeline that actually happened?

Or just sheer illusion?

No way to know.

The only thing Lin Jianyuan knew for sure was this:

This S-class entity is pathetic.

It refuses to attack, because it thinks attacking will make it regret.

It won’t flee, because it thinks running will make it regret.

It chooses to do nothing, but doing nothing also makes it regret.

It’s trapped in its own remorse.

If there really were a Regret Pill in this world, maybe it would be just like this.

Forever imprisoned by itself.

It’s really quite tragic.

But that’s no excuse for forcing me and my wife to work overtime!!!

Lin Jianyuan checked the time and instantly exploded with anger again.

Fuck!!! It’s almost 2 a.m. already!!!

"What kind of sane person ends up pulling overtime with their hubby on the very first day of work?!"

"It's two a.m.!!!"

"They have a flight to catch tomorrow—no! Today!"

"They have to rush to catch their flight today!!!"

Lin Jianyuan swiftly whipped out a black trash bag and roared, "Maw of the Abyss! Open wide!"

Though the Maw of the Abyss looked utterly confused, the overwhelming pressure made it obediently comply!

The Maw of the Abyss skillfully opened its mouth wide and retracted its teeth.

Lin Jianyuan: "Go! Bag it up!"

Maw of the Abyss: "???"

It looked in the direction Lin Jianyuan was pointing, then back at itself.

"Huh? Me???" The Maw of the Abyss was utterly shocked. "I'm supposed to bag Regret?!"

Lin Jianyuan snapped, "Look where I'm standing! With this distance as the radius, open your mouth wide! At this range, it won’t deflect you! Stop wasting time! Before it takes the Regret pill! Hurry!!"

The Maw of the Abyss was still reeling: "T-this distance?! M-my mouth... isn’t that big..."

"Can't handle it? Useless!"

Lin Jianyuan had no patience left. Fuming, he shoved the useless piece of trash aside.

Then he raised his left hand toward the sky and shouted:

"Xie Yu!!!"

The sky instantly shifted!

A massive, flesh-red shadow spread out in an instant!

The bronze figure by the fountain seemed to sense something and began shaking its head frantically, in a state of breakdown: "No no no, this isn’t right either, I regret it, this isn’t the way, no no no, I should have run away, yes, I should at least try to escape once, I shouldn’t just sit here waiting to be captured, I should run—"

The bronze figure opened its mouth—

Tilted its head back—

Lin Jianyuan pointed at the bronze and yelled: "Eat it!!!"

The flesh-red shadow took a bite!

*Clang!*

The sound of metal grinding!

As if some metal had been brutally snapped! The flesh-red shadow swallowed the entire fountain in one gulp!

The sky returned to its normal color. The enormous shadow slowly shrank, condensing.

Finally, it coalesced into a familiar-looking figure.

Lin Jianyuan leapt into his arms: "Wife!!!"

Pink offal: *Chomp chomp chomp.*

*Gulp.*

After swallowing, the roommate asked Lin Jianyuan curiously:

"What did you just tell me to eat?"

The gradually recovering little toys: "?"

Huh?

What just happened?

The Maw of the Abyss, scared out of its wits by the real Maw of the Abyss: "I-It, it, it's so huge!!! How is it so big?!"

Little toys: "?"

Who? What’s so big?

Whose what is so big???

...

Though it was all pretty abrupt.

The roommate still returned with a bellyful of Regret, along with Lin Jianyuan.

After hearing Lin Jianyuan’s report, the Director: "..."

It was already 2:30 in the morning.

The Director sat at the desk, hands clasped, resting under his chin.

"You’re saying Regret is now... in Evil Domain’s stomach?" the Director asked cautiously.

Lin Jianyuan: "Not anymore, he just went to the Containment Department to spit it out. That thing isn’t edible, it’s raw and smells like rusty copper. He went to vomit it as soon as we got back."

Director: "..."

Xie Yu nodded, curling his lip in disgust: "Yeah. Suuuper~ gross."

Director: ".................."

The Director wasn’t quite used to Evil Domain speaking in this tone, and for a moment couldn't tell if it was being sarcastic or something else.

The Director tried to analyze the emotional subtext here.

Still the Director: Oh no. Evil Domain seems to be acting coy.

Still the Director, again: Wait? Evil Domain is acting coy?

Evil Domain???

Is???

Acting coy??????

The Director’s pupils shook violently.

No wonder he's the Director.

He quickly composed himself and said calmly, "Mm."

Lin Jianyuan: "Huh?"

Director: "Mm, ah. Uh. Ah."

Lin Jianyuan: "?"

After a series of filler sounds, the Director seemed to finally gather his thoughts. He cleared his throat and asked:

"So, is Regret solidified now?"

Xie Yu said, "No. It's indigestible."

The corner of his lips curled slightly, his tone carrying a hint of mockery. "After all, I'm not a god."

The Director fell into deep thought.

"Lin Jianyuan, what do you think?" He turned to Lin Jianyuan with an inquiring look.

Lin Jianyuan: "Haa—"

He was in the middle of a yawn.

Director: "."

Lin Jianyuan was dead tired; he hadn't even heard what the Director just said.

After finishing his yawn and noticing the Director looking at him, he forced his dry eyes open and asked, his throat a bit sore:

"What?"

The Director waved a hand dismissively: "Nothing, we'll talk later! Go back and get some sleep for today!"

"Oh, okay."

Lin Jianyuan was so damn tired. After everything that happened today, even an iron-clad donkey would be worn out.

He waved at the Director and took his roommate's hand.

As he pulled out his phone: "I'm so tired, I'll call a ride... Baby, are you sleepy... Haa..."

The roommate chuckled softly.

Hearing his roommate laugh, Lin Jianyuan instinctively glanced at him.

Then it dawned on him.

He laughed too.

After playing the madman for so long, he kept forgetting his roommate wasn't human.

So funny.

Clearly, no matter how you look at it, his roommate isn't "human."

How did he manage to deceive himself for so long?

Lin Jianyuan held his roommate's hand, swinging it back and forth.

A smile spread across his lips.

Alright, let's go.

Time to go home and sleep!

Got a flight to catch tomorrow!

Gotta teleport home quick and get some rest!