After leaving the branch headquarters, Shi Tiexin walked alone through Shaluo City's bustling commercial district.
Here, he had indeed found his bearings.
Yet that sense of being lost still refused to disperse.
In truth, the instant he had said, "I'll think about it," Shi Tiexin had already sensed that something was wrong. He knew he should not have said that. He knew he should have agreed outright and signed the Gambling Agreement.
But he still did not change his words.
The moment he walked out of that office, he could not help but begin to smile bitterly.
He was disappointed in himself, disappointed that he had somehow lost faith in himself.
And that disappointment only further deepened his lack of confidence.
Wandering aimlessly down the street, Shi Tiexin could not help sighing. "My luck really isn't very good."
If, back in Tokyo, when he had been fearless and free of doubt, he had possessed a good environment and made proper preparations, and could have begun his Sharp Will breakthrough with forty bottles of Primordial Essence, he surely would have rung out nine chimes in one burst.
After all, from childhood to adulthood, though he had endured hardship, he had never known despair. And recently, his days had only grown better and better. Everything was rising, the future was promising and the road ahead vast. It was precisely the time when his Sharp Will was boundless and his spirit soared.
But when Youyou turned to ash and drifted toward the sea, he had despaired.
He had truly, forever, lost the person he cherished.
There was no way to undo it, no chance to begin again.
Neither the Vision System nor the Alternate Worldline—no cheat of any kind—could change that reality: Youyou was dead. Dead was dead.
He had thought that more