Does This Count as Rebirth?

Given how society had developed, a girl throwing herself at your doorstep was either trying to scam you or looking for an honest man to take the fall.

Su Jiang had no intention of being a sucker.

He calmly pulled his hand back.

Then he glanced at the girl.

She seemed to be smiling.

But he hadn't heard any laughter.

Su Jiang knew which character she was cosplaying.

He had started getting into anime and related subcultures back in college, and he had remained in those circles ever since.

Although his enthusiasm had faded, he would still arrange to meet up with a cosplayer during holidays.

After all, after his divorce, custody of his daughter had gone to his ex-wife. His home was empty, and he needed some way to vent his emotions, or he would die of loneliness.

And this girl, whose entire body seemed to radiate a fragile message of "Come bully me, ravage me...," was cosplaying Tokisaki Kurumi from "Date A Live."

Su Jiang looked away.

To stop himself from looking at her again, he took out his phone and scrolled through the news to distract himself.

"Meta World"?

Su Jiang saw this suddenly trending news item on all the major forums.

His face filled with confusion.

Could this be another attempt to hype up the metaverse concept and scam people out of money?

At the same time, the electronic advertising screen inside the subway displayed: "Next-generation gaming has arrived! The debut of virtual gaming—Meta World will launch in one week!"

The debut of virtual gaming?

Was it VR?

But VR equipment still wasn't widespread. Even with overwhelming promotion, not many people would necessarily be willing to spend tens of thousands on a VR setup.

Su Jiang found this suddenly popular topic strange.

Then he classified it as a Ponzi scheme. The "Metaverse" that had been hugely popular two years ago was a classic example of one.

The metaverse really was a future trend, but the concept had only just begun to emerge when a bunch of people started using its name to fool others and scam them out of plenty of money.

All he could say was that there were too many fools and not enough scammers.

"The train is arriving at White Cloud Station. Please mind the gap between the train and the platform."

The arrival announcement sounded.

Su Jiang put away his phone.

He glanced at the girl who had been teasing him.

Her wine-red eye was fixed on the advertisement on the electronic screen.

Her cherry blossom-like lips were tightly pursed.

Seeing her exquisite, seductive face, Su Jiang couldn't say he had no other thoughts.

But there had been too many scam incidents in the past two years. The male leads in those cases all ended up covered in disgrace—socially ruined, losing their jobs, getting looked down on whenever they went out... Even if they later proved their innocence, their lives would never return to normal.

Su Jiang didn't dare think too much about it.

Without a solid transaction clearly defining both sides' relationship, he would not get involved with a girl of unknown origins like this.

He quickly left the subway station.

Half an hour later, Su Jiang returned home.

He pushed open the front door.

The lights inside were blazing.

I didn't turn off the lights?

That was Su Jiang's first thought. He wondered if he had forgotten to switch them off before going to work.

Impossible.

I never even turned on the lights before leaving for work, so how could I have forgotten to turn them off?

He picked up an umbrella from just inside the doorway, gripped it tightly, and cautiously walked in.

Then he saw a girl in a dark red dress reclining against the sofa. One of her black-stockinged feet rested on the sofa, while the other was casually draped over the coffee table, swinging from side to side.

She was also holding his Switch, skillfully pressing the buttons.

That was exactly how Su Jiang looked when he was relaxing.

Why did this girl's movements resemble his own mannerisms whenever he loafed around?

Su Jiang was full of doubt, along with a growing sense of unease.

How had this girl gotten into his home?

"Yo, you're back—"

The girl smiled brightly. Her exquisite face was like a blooming blood rose, beautiful as an abyss that lured people in.

She spoke without making any sound, like an actress performing in a silent play.

Su Jiang had read those words from her lips.

Her faintly moving cherry lips looked like delicious jelly, making people want to take a bite.

Though Su Jiang wanted to throw the girl out immediately, to avoid physical contact, he could only carefully keep his distance from her. He turned on his phone's recording function and asked sternly, "Who are you, and why are you in my house?"

The girl helplessly shrugged.

She bent down and rummaged through the cabinet beneath the coffee table.

Su Jiang frowned, completely unable to understand what she was doing.

The girl pulled out several old items and casually tossed them aside.

Before long, she found a notebook and a pen.

She placed the old, yellowed notebook on the table, opened it, removed the cap from the ballpoint pen, and began writing and drawing inside.

The brilliant evening sunlight spilled into the room.

The orange-yellow sun shone across the girl's face and hair.

Her heavy bangs swayed in the breeze.

Su Jiang saw the girl's golden clock-like left eye.

Even a professional cosplayer couldn't possibly cosplay this perfectly, could they...?

The girl scribbled on the paper for a while, then finally sighed.

She had failed to leave behind any writing. There wasn't even the faintest scratch from the pen tip.

The old yellow paper looked exactly as it had when she first opened it, completely unchanged.

The girl gave up and muttered, "Forget it. Successfully coming back is already incredible enough. I should handle the important business first."

Su Jiang had no idea what the girl was muttering.

Her lips moved too quickly for him to read clearly.

The next moment, an antique rifle appeared in the girl's hand.

The pitch-black muzzle was aimed at Su Jiang.

Su Jiang's pupils contracted sharply. His body tensed, and his nerves tightened.

What is that?!

A gun?

Leaving aside whether it was real or fake, how had it appeared? It had seemed to appear the instant he blinked!

Su Jiang suppressed his shock. If the gun was real, there was no way he could dodge at this distance, nor was he confident he could seize it before she fired.

He hurriedly raised both hands, threw away the umbrella, and forced a fawning smile. "I surrender! Whether it's your magic trick or you really are Tokisaki Kurumi herself, I never intended to hurt you..."

The girl had no intention of saying more. The antique rifle erupted with a flash of fire!

There was no sound, no smoke, and Su Jiang didn't even have time to react.

A streak of red light shot directly from the muzzle and struck Su Jiang in the head.

Intense pain exploded instantly.

"It hurts..."

Before Su Jiang could react, boundless darkness engulfed him.

In the last remnants of his vision, he only saw the girl walking toward him.

Am I going to die?

Before his eyes closed completely, a trace of regret flashed through his mind.

I should've called the police first...

The next day.

Nine in the morning.

"Ring, ring, ring—"

The alarm he had set went off.

Su Jiang jolted awake, gasping for air like someone who had just been rescued from drowning.

"Where am I..."

He looked around and found the surroundings somewhat unfamiliar.

But more than that, his head was splitting apart, and he felt dizzy as though he had a hangover.

He clutched his head and sucked in several breaths of cold air before the pain gradually eased.

He casually picked up the alarm clock beside his bed and checked the date.

His expression turned strange.

2023?

This was ten years before Meta World launched!

Had he been reborn?

"Something doesn't seem right. It feels like a dream..."

Su Jiang recalled the fragmented memories in his mind.

Suddenly receiving ten years' worth of future memories had caused his head to ache unbearably.

His brain was now protecting itself by blocking out most of the information, leaving him with only scattered fragments.

From those fragments, he saw Tokisaki Kurumi use the ability of Twelve Bullets to send a clone back, followed by the scene from last night where she had shot him unconscious.

"Twelve Bullets (Yud): Devours and stores enough time to send a target into the past."

"In other words, Kurumi sent my experiences from the next ten years back to before the game launched?"

Su Jiang pondered.

He vaguely remembered that Kurumi had a skill like this.

"Ten Bullets (Yud): Hits a target and transmits memories from the past to them."