Chapter 278: 10.19

James Grind lost his grip on the glass railing and slipped.

"JAMIE!"

Yunyu felt that his body got ten times heavier as he plunged into the rocky cliff. Long Zhen's terrified face was the last thing he saw before his head hit the rock. Yunyu lost his life instantly. His soul floated around in front of his absolutely crushed body.

[Ah, this is my first time to actually do a restart. This is a new experience.]

[Pupa: You will restart in one hour, sadly, we will need to restart with that same -50% Fatemeter and -60% Breakmeter again.]

[Aw… this world is so twisted and so difficult. But I guess I already know how to handle this. I think Long Zhen should understand what love truly is, rather than chaining me like a dog.]

Yunyu was waiting for Pupa to set up the restart process. It had already taken ten minutes. Bored by waiting, he had an idea.

[I want to watch Long Zhen's reaction right now!]

Yunyu's soul floated up to check on Long Zhen, who was still on the balcony. He thought Long Zhen would be nonchalant, or maybe he would cry? Anyway, Long Zhen was still very unpredictable, mainly after he shot his father without hesitation.

'Long Zhennn, boo! I'm scaring you—'

Yunyu gawked when he saw Long Zhen on the balcony. He was not scared, terrified, but he was also not nonchalant.

Long Zhen had a hole on his temple that pierced to the other side, his body laid on the ground with blood seeping out of his temple.

Pupa got curious because Yunyu was still up there. It floated up while still processing the restart. 'What are you doing here?'

Pupa paused when he saw Yunyu's soul stood in silence in front of dead Long Zhen/Long Shen. Yunyu was in shock because he didn't expect Long Zhen to kill himself after seeing his death.

'Oh no…'

In an instant, the world started crumbling. Pupa and Yunyu got sucked by a black hole before Pupa could do the procedural restart. This meant that…

Long Zhen's restart was earlier than theirs.

Pupa and Yunyu floated into nothingness again. They finally saw Long Shen sitting in front of a monitor, just like before.

Long Shen stared at the flashback of his previous life, his 16th life, when he locked up James Grind like a pet to fill his emptiness. He slowly stretched his hand to touch James Grind's cheek on the monitor. Inevitably, his heart was pained because he kept on remembering James Grind's crushed face when his head hit the rock.

"I… I am sorry," Long Shen said. His tears started dropping and streamed down on his cheek. "I didn't know that my treatment hurt you. I am a lonely guy, James Grind. I have unknowingly attached myself to you. I don't even understand this feeling myself. I just…"

"I need you to stay beside me, so I can feel less lonely."

"But I treat you like a pet instead."

Long Shen was still wondering if he really fell in love with James Grind or not. Because in his life, Long Shen had never fallen in love and didn't understand what falling in love truly felt.

But indeed, he got attached to James Grind for an unknown reason.

"Maybe I don't love you at all, Jamie. Maybe I just need you to stay beside me…" Long Shen said. "But I will make sure to treat you gently, I promise…"

Long Shen kissed James Grind's cheek on the monitor gently before his body dissipated again, meaning that he had transmigrated back to that agent/spy world.

[Pupa: Ding! Fatemeter increases to 10%.]

[Pupa: Ding! Breakmeter increases to 10%.]

Pupa and Yunyu watched how Long Shen was so heartbroken by James Grind's death. But still, his Fatemeter and Breakmeter stayed at 10%. Yunyu was the first to say something, "He is an actor before transmigrating, right?"

"Yes," Pupa replied.

"Is he like Han Ye, who is popular since he is just a child? And has been surrounded by spotlight since birth?" Yunyu asked again.

"Yes, to think about it. Long Shen and Han Ye's character is very similar. Even their real age is also similar. The only difference is… Long Shen has never fallen in love with anyone. But Han Ye is currently in love."

"Han Ye is in love?! Han Ye of my world?!" Yunyu was shocked. He was as close as a private fan could be. How could he miss this?

"Yes, I don't know who is his lover or his crush, but it is specified here that his lover or crush is a girl."

"A girl? Which one?!" Yunyu started remembering all the leading actresses who partnered with Han Ye in his movies.

"Unspecified, we need to return back to your real-world to know. Let's just finish all the worlds to see," Pupa said.

Yunyu paused for a moment, and he nodded. He hugged Pupa and said, "Let's go, Pupa."

***

Long Zhen opened his eyes again. He was standing on the balcony of his mansion, with the sight of that spy/assassin ready to kill him, Pan Ming.

"I'm here again…"

Long Zhen laid on his bed again, like before. He acted as if he was already sleeping soundly when Pan Ming jumped in, ready with his knife. Pan Ming used his syringe again, and Long Zhen caught his hand… again.

"What are you doing?" Long Zhen asked.

Pan Ming tried to attack him with his other hand, which Long Zhen readily countered, and he smashed Pan Ming to the ground. Without remorse, he stomped on Pan Ming's heart until his rib was broken and his heart was crushed.

The same mundane thing for Long Zhen/Long Shen.

Maybe because he did it so many times, he didn't even wince when he saw the sight of blood. Long Zhen washed his feet and went to sleep because tomorrow would be his day again to meet James Grind.

***

Long Zhen sat in the same VIP seat as the last time. He discussed a deal with his client while he took a side glance at James Grind. His heart felt warm when he saw James Grind was alive and breathing.

His beautiful face hadn't been crushed and stained with blood.

'It is better this way, indeed,' Long Zhen thought.

After the deal with his client was done, James Grind approached again, with the same word like before.

"Master Long, it is quite rare for you to have a meeting in this humble bar. May I entertain you with my not-so-humble presence?"

Long Zhen almost couldn't handle himself. He wanted to hug Yunyu and said sorry for hurting him so bad. But tried his best to cover that emotion and replied, "Depends, whether your entertainment will be worth my time or not."

"Then, maybe we can talk somewhere?" James Grind asked while leaning closer to Long Zhen.

Long Zhen gulped and nodded silently.

In the original timeline, he killed James Grind 14 times, and then he suddenly had the feeling that he wanted to let the 15th version of James Grind live. But at the end of the 16th version, he had indirectly killed James Grind with his confinement.

And he didn't want to repeat that nightmare again.

"I will bring you to a nice place," Long Zhen said.