Work Text:
Spring has returned and all the flowers bloom radiantly to welcome it. Colourful petals glistering under the sunlight, decorating the trees and chasing away the last winter spirit.
Mobei Jun stands under the tree at the border of the northland with eyes gazing into the distance and mind wandering into the past.
‘My King, I… I have to go settle something so I must leave this place for a bit. I’ll be back soon!’
‘Where’
‘I um… I can’t explain, but please believe me that I really have no say in this. My King, your servant’s hands are tied.’
‘Then…’
‘I promise that I’ll hurry and return, what I have to do is something necessarily…. ACHOO!’
Mobei Jun took off his cloak and draped it on Shang Qinghua, adding another layer to his thin frame. The King of northland frowned when he grabbed Shang Qinghua’s cold hands.
‘Brrr The winter here is so harsh… My King, I’ll be even quicker than the wind and return here in no time. Who knows, maybe you’ll see me in springtime! That isn’t so far away, is it?’
‘...’
‘Trust me, My King, I must do this. You have the duty to this land, I have my own problem to solve too ah. Don’t worry. No matter what, I’ll follow you forever.’
‘Spring…’
‘Huh?’
‘Only until spring.’
Then you are not allowed to leave my sight again...
That time, Mobei Jun watched Shang Qinghua walked away tensely, and yet, he kept his word and waited patiently.
Spring came visit the northland at last, but it did not bring Shang Qinghua along.
It never did, neither the next year, nor the year after that.
Four years had passed, Mobei Jun planted a tree he once heard Shang Qinghua implied that he liked it. Once it’s springtime, the flowers would bloom to welcome him back.
The tree grew taller and taller, even taller than the Demon King now. Its flowers still waiting for a certain someone to come see them.
Spring comes and goes, year after year. Time flies away, however, something stays just the same. Those flowers still bloom beautifully every year, waiting anxiously just like the person who planted them.
They both still wait… for someday, ‘he’ might return.
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‘You have been logged in for a long time now, the system need to temporarily disconnect you from this account for an upgrade and maintenance.’
"WHAT!!? You’re gonna go DC on me? And what would happen to me?"
‘Please rest assure, the system will send you back to your world during the upgrade. When it is done, you can choose whether you want to log in again or not.’
"Upgrading huh… this is quite annoying. How long would it take?"
"The upgrading would require some times."
"I know, but how long is this ‘some times’?"
‘The upgrading would require some times.’
"Don’t fuck with me. Seriously, how long? 2 hours? 3 days? A month?"
"The upgrading would require some times."
"A year?"
‘The upgrading would require some times.’
"You son of a &@&*#$+%"
Shang Qinghua never foresees that the ticket to ‘home’ would be shoved down his throat like this.
Home? Could he really call his world that? Where is his home now?
Ah… what a stupid question. Isn’t it obvious?
‘My King… I’ll be back soon’
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Shang Qinghua wakes up and finds himself lie coiling under the computer table. His fingers are ON FIRE. The pain bursts from the fingertips and travel through his entire hand.
Well, this is to be expected when you are electrocuted enough to transmigrate…
He rolls out, sit up and glances at the remain of the instant noodle.
He’s back. He really is back.
This world might be his, but… everything just feel so out of place. It’s like the itch that he can’t reach. It’s like…
...like he doesn’t belong here anymore.
‘Nah, just think this is a vacation’, Shang Qinghua keep repeating this to himself.
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Shag Qinghua has already forgotten how he lived before the zapping incident. Since he doesn’t know what else to do, he settles for reading his novel. Shang Qinghua glances briefly through the words with an empty feeling in his heart. He can’t help but think that this is downgrading! It’s like, he has been watching 4DX and suddenly he’s back to 144p. To have only mere words now after all those first-hand experiences is really too frustrating.
...And don’t forget about the original plot.
Don’t get him wrong, he loves his novel. But…
Luo Binghe. Shen Qingqiu. Mobei Jun. Shang Qinghua….
He just can’t shake off the feeling that he likes the way everything turns out for everyone now more. He’d rather it becomes like this.
What to do when you’re not satisfy with your creation anymore?
Shang Qinghua moves the mouse cursor to the ‘Delete’ button.
“System.”
Out of habit, he calls out to it before realizing that he wouldn’t get any answer.
‘Right… I’m on my own until the damn upgrade is done’
‘How can I help you?’
“AHHH!!!”
Shang Qinghua falls off the chair.
“You follow me here!!?”
‘Right now you are in the system’s lobby. When the maintenance and upgrading is done, the system will immediately notify you.’
“Hey, um if..”,Shang Qinghua trails off. He stares at the delete button. “Let’s say. If I were to delete the entire novel, would it affect my trip back to the other world?”
‘The system need to run a test. Please wait a moment.’
Shang Qinghua waits in silence for about 5 minutes before the system speaks up again. ‘Deleting the novel will not affect your reconnection to ‘Shang Qinghua’ account.’
Shang Qinghua takes a deep breath. This novel is his flesh and blood without a doubt. How many times has he pull an all-nighter to write it?
But when he thinks about everyone, especially Mobei Jun, he knows he’s already decided.
Shang Qinghua clicks the delete button, the confirming menu pops up.
‘Ahhh All the sisters! No matter how big or small your boobs are, I’ll miss y’all! What a pity, there’re so many papapa scenes I haven’t written----’
‘Wait… that’s not the point.’
Shang Qinghua shakes his head, clearing his mind from any disturbing thought. He won’t hesitate anymore.
The world where Mobei Jun is alone with no one on his side will cease to exist now. This is the end of the original Proud Immortal Demon’s Way.
He moves the cursor to ‘Yes’ and clicks again.
His head is bombarded with siren voice, hot pain flares up to the point that he feels like his brain is splitting.
‘EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! THE SYSTEM WILL SHUT DOWN TO REPAIR AND INSTALL A NEW PACKAGE. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.’
After that, Shang Qinghua is left with nothing but dead silence.
“Fuck you system! Fuck you to your 8th generation! Didn’t you tell me that deleting the novel won’t affect my connection!!? HEY, answer me! I’m not done with you! Get back here!”
-------------------
Shang Qinghua wastes his time walking back and forth with nervousness in his small room for a whole day before he could hear the system’s monotone voice again.
‘New package installed. You can now choose to login as ‘Shang Qinghua’ again or not. This decision is final.’
Shang Qinghua, who is about to say yes, goes rigid. He asks, “What do you mean by ‘this decision is final’?”
‘You have deleted the Proud Immortal Demon’s Way, resulting in the rupture of the bridge between 2 worlds. The decision is hereby final. If you choose not to log back in, it means you’ve decided to renounce your right over ‘Shang Qinghua’ account and you will never be able to login again. Vice versa, you can not come back to this world again if you choose to reclaim ‘Shang Qinghua’ account. This connection is created from tracing back to your account in the other side, you have 24 hours to decide before the trace is gone.’
Alright, he has to admit that the system didn’t lie to him. Deleting the novel really doesn’t prevent him from logging back in. But the system could have told him first that it would created this one huge messy trouble instead, thank you so much.
He will stop existing here then?
It doesn’t sound any different from being dead.
This is what it feels like then to be told you have only one day left in this life.
It’s sad, but it also lighten his heart.
Shang Qinghua smiles all day. He goes visit places, eat all he could, basically just do everything he wants.
He doesn’t remember how many cups of instant noodle he has eaten. He walks around the city until his legs ache. He even calls his dear parents.
Maybe he shouldn’t have done the last part, it does nothing but put him in a small depressed mode. Still, he’s happy he has chosen to do it.
His heart holds no regret now.
---------------------------
‘Your time is up. Please decide whether you want to reclaim ‘Shang Qinghua’ account or not?’
‘Login process started.’
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‘You have successfully logged in! Due to the rupture between 2 worlds, the system could not operate in this server any longer. Starting up uninstall process. The system would like to thank you for using our service until today.’
Holy cow!
“System!!! You’re gonna just.. leave me like this?”
‘The accounts under the name ‘Shang Qinghua’ and ‘Airplane shooting towards the sky’ are now merged together.’
‘The system would like to inform you that time moves differently in two worlds. 2 hours in your world equals a year in this world.’
Shang Qinghua stops breathing after hearing that. He spends about 2 days in his world, so it’s roughly 48 hours which means…
24 years…
24 years has passed here…
‘My King!’
‘Uninstall process finished. Once again, the system would like to thank you for using our service. We wish you the best.’
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Spring has come again… Flowers blossom all over the high tree, and under said tree, someone is still waiting.
But today, the long-wait is finally over.
“My King! I’m back!”