Seven Years Ago, Five Years Ago

"Accomplice?"

Looking at Shen Bingmiao in front of him, Lin Yu asked with some confusion.

He didn't understand why his Senior Sister would emphasize this point again at this moment.

Does this have anything to do with what I asked?

Lin Yu looked at Shen Bingmiao and asked seriously.

"Of course it's related," Shen Bingmiao lowered her eyes and said seriously, "I told you before, I used to be Player ... Do you know when and why I joined the Game?"

Lin Yu was taken aback. "You didn't say that..."

"It was seven years ago," Shen Bingmiao said seriously. "Seven years ago, I joined this Game."

Lin Yu was stunned. "The earliest Player of this Game can only be traced back to...?"

"Yes, three years ago, but that was this version," Shen Bingmiao said earnestly, "While I... I'm Player from the Previous Version."

"Every five years, all Player will experience a 'final Instance's that affects all Player, at which time a change and upheaval will occur that spans the Ten Realms," Shen Bingmiao explained. "Three years have passed since the last 'final Instance's appeared... and there are still two years until the next 'ultimate' one."

"I joined the Game two years before the 'final Instance's in the Previous Version, and that's when I met your sister."

Hearing Shen Bingmiao's words, Lin Yu was very surprised. "My... sister?"

"Yes, Lin Zhao, your sister, she entered the 'Death game' after she died ten years ago," Shen Bingmiao revealed another shocking fact to Lin Yu. "She was already a very experienced Player back then... We went through all sorts of things together... Anyway, in the end..."

A hint of regret flashed across Shen Bingmiao's face. "She still died, she died in that 'final Instance' —of course, I didn't survive either."

"We died together five years ago."

At this point, Lin Yu suddenly realized that something was wrong with his Memory.

"So... the reason I feel my Memory are off is because I really did live with my sister until five years ago, but because she died again, my Memory were altered by the 'Death game,' right?"

Shen Bingmiao nodded. "You could say that, but it's not just about the 'Death game'... it also includes yourself."

"Myself?"

Lin Yu asked in surprise.

"Could it be... that this isn't my first time joining this Game?"

Lin Yu asked, but Shen Bingmiao shook her head.

"No, but you knew about the existence of the 'Death game' even when you were a 'non- Player '."

Shen Bingmiao said softly, "After your sister passed away five years ago, I was reawakened in the Game as a 'Cyber Ghost' —this was originally supposed to be Lin Zhao's Life Form plan, but it came true for me. So I knew that Lin Zhao saved me—she developed a backup plan that would allow me to survive even if I failed in the 'Ultimate Instance,' but she used it on me."

"Knowing this, I was determined to Resurrection Lin Zhao no matter what. So, I took out my loot from the 'Ultimate Instance' and followed the instructions of the 'Fragment of Fate'... and I found you."

"You five years ago."

Shen Bingmiao said softly.

Lin Yu rubbed his temples. "We met five years ago too?"

"Yes, initially I only wanted to start with Lin Zhao's closest Bloodline and try some Secret Technique from the Ten Realms ... but perhaps because of the special circumstances of the 'Fragment of Fate' and the era," Shen Bingmiao said in a low voice, "After you met me, you actually broke through Cognitive Interference as a 'non- Player's and deduced the existence of the 'Death game' because your Memory of your 'sister' were not right."

"Then, a 'Heart Domain' suddenly appeared on your body—I recognized it; it was Lin Zhao's last remaining 'Heart Domain.' She seemed to have foreseen all of this, so she placed her last remaining 'Heart Domain' on you, temporarily isolating you from the interference of the 'Death game.'"

"Within the 'Heart Domain,' I told Lin Zhao everything about this Game."

"And in the last ten minutes or so of your remaining time in this 'Heart Domain,' you quickly devised two almost unbelievable, yet truly feasible, solutions using the 'Fragment of Fate.'"

"One of them is to use a certain 'Profession' ability to 'turn falsehood into reality' to deceive yourself, and by constantly becoming stronger and reinforcing this 'ability,' you can achieve 'resurrection'!"

Listening to Shen Bingmiao's words, Lin Yu felt that she was not talking about herself at all.

Not only did he deduce the existence of the "Death game" from the perspective of an ordinary person, but he also fully understood the "Death game" in just over ten minutes and attempted to use Game to Resurrection Lin Zhao.

Most importantly...

"How could I have predicted the existence of such an ability, and how could I have foreseen that I would awaken this 'Profession' in the future?"

"Because your sister's 'Profession' can achieve a similar effect," Shen Bingmiao said, resting her chin on her hand. "As for why you're so sure, I don't know either. Maybe it's the bond between you siblings?"

Lin Yu felt a headache coming on.

"In your description, I sound like a genius, Senior Sister..."

Shen Bingmiao said earnestly, "You've always been my genius, otherwise why would I call you 'Ace'?"

"But I'm not," Lin Yu sighed. "The me you're talking about five years ago—I not only have no recollection of it, but I also feel that the plans and arrangements I made back then were far beyond my capabilities..."

If he really was a genius five years ago, he shouldn't have just ranked in the middle of the experimental high school rankings; he should have gone to one of the top universities in the country.

The only explanation is that during the ten-odd minutes of conversation with Shen Bingmiao five years ago, I exhausted all my potential and Wisdom, racking my brains to come up with this simply unbelievable plan.

"But regardless, this plan must have failed."

Lin Yu sighed.

He has now come to realize the truth of his sister's death.

"It was a failure from the very beginning," Shen Bingmiao sighed. "That's why I didn't stop Nian... Just like he said, what's in the room is just an illusion, a monster with a 'Fragment of Fate' at its Inner Core, a monster that looks like it only has a soul, not the real Lin Zhao, it can't even be called a human."

"If this continues, it will only create an unknown life form that merely resembles Lin Zhao."

As Shen Bingmiao spoke, Lin Yu sighed.

"So that's how it is..."

"But Senior Sister 're not panicking at all, so it seems my second plan is reliable enough?"

"Of course, my dear 'Ace,'" Shen Bingmiao blinked, "You already said that back then..."

"It would be best if the first option succeeded, because it's relatively simple."

"But it doesn't matter if it doesn't work out... because the second option is guaranteed to succeed."