Time reversed, returning to the beginning.
Everything began anew.
Only, before it began again, the Workshop Spirit within the container did not start working. Instead, she recalled Ji Jue's words from moments ago.
"Get off work?"
Isis asked, "Sir, what does getting off work mean?"
"Hmm... that's a good question."
Ji Jue fell into thought, pinching his chin.
He had never worked a job either, so he truly found it difficult to define getting off work. After pondering for a long while, he found an answer from the many examples around him. "Getting off work means resting. It means not working. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You can ignore texts, not check emails, not reply to messages. Even doing nothing can make you happy."
Starlight flickered and dimmed.
A chill surfaced.
"I understand," Isis said.
"What do you understand?" Ji Jue asked in shock.
"I was originally off work, but after meeting you, I had no choice but to go to work every day."
Isis spoke slowly. "In other words, you are the chief culprit behind my descent into a hell of misery. For hundreds of years, you never even let me get off work."
"What would you even do off work?"
Ji Jue was stunned, then immediately flew into a rage. "Getting off work is so boring! How could it possibly be happier than working? If it weren't for me, how would you experience the satisfaction of work? How could you improve and progress in your abilities? Isis, you're still young! How can you be so lazy?! If this goes on, your entire intelligence will degenerate into that of a useless spirit who stays in the workshop all day, doing nothing but drooling at little pieces of metal!
Only going to work can