Miracle
About how to connect with “God,” Qiao Yu had thought of many methods, and finally settled on this plan after discussing it with the system.
‘My bosses are indeed concerned about what the host knows.’
At that time, the system’s voice was very serious, and it became even more serious after hearing Qiao Yu repeat the conversation between her and Mi Yi when they were in the exile world.
‘Because this should be a secret known only to them, people chosen like the host to execute missions should not know, let alone ordinary people like Lin Qing.’
‘So… I think it’s better not to tell Lin Qing about this for now.’
‘And, if the host earnestly seeks out the results, I believe they won’t just stand idly by.’
So Qiao Yu began to take action, and today went to her grandmother’s grave, filling in the missing piece deliberately omitted before, the one lacking in the deduction, in order to confirm whether she and the Qiao Yu of this world were truly the same person.
Everything progressed smoothly, or perhaps too smoothly.
Qiao Yu’s consciousness slowly awakened, and in the state between waking and not, it was easiest to subconsciously think of certain crucial things.
‘I am under strict prohibition; the truth of this world cannot be disclosed to the host through me.’
‘It can only rely on the host’s own efforts.’
‘I believe, when the host discovers the truth… ‘God’ will definitely come.’
Recalling the last words heard from the system before taking action, at that moment, Qiao Yu only felt grateful to the system for helping her a lot from a different standpoint, but now she began to feel a bit doubtful.
Before losing consciousness, the system’s voice had turned into a stranger’s voice.
…So, from what point did her system in her mind get replaced?
“Still not awake?”
Qiao Yu abruptly opened her eyes.
The voice was just like the one in her mind before losing consciousness, only this time it came from a distance in front of her, rather than directly echoing in her mind.
Qiao Yu realized she was now sitting in a chair, and she subconsciously lifted her head.
In the vast expanse of grey-black mist, there was only one dazzling figure made up of countless points of light.
A place so familiar it becomes repulsive.
As Qiao Yu beheld this scene, she felt her blood rushing crazily, her heart pounding uncomfortably, forcing her to press her chest, gasping for air, trying to expel this suffocating sensation from her body, but to no avail.
Something viscous and putrid slowly seeped into her body from the exposed skin touching the air, the mist eagerly engulfing her, spreading from the soles of her shoes to her entire body, like sinking into a swamp, gradually being consumed.
The overwhelmingly terrible feeling made Qiao Yu feel an urge to vomit. They came with such force that she was rendered powerless to fight back. She knew what this was; this was the most resistant sequelae she had brought back from this exile world. Even if her chest was torn open, her ribs pulled out, gruesomely broken and burned to ashes, it would still persist stubbornly in that pile of ashes.
For Qiao Yu, who had tasted love and embraced it, it was the most unbearable, lonely feeling.
It was like having glimpsed the light only to have it taken away again. Qiao Yu was abruptly pulled back to this place, caught off guard. She could only bite her lip hard, using the pain to remind herself that this was not another exile. The ‘God’ she sought was standing right in front of her, watching her, and she shouldn’t show such weakness.
She was with Lin Qing. She wouldn’t return to that loneliness again.
Just by silently repeating Lin Qing’s name, Qiao Yu inexplicably calmed down. Her body still trembled nervously, but at least there was a moment to catch her breath.
“Oh my, I didn’t do anything.”
The voice came late, and Qiao Yu speculated that it was probably processed as well, making it difficult to discern the gender. She could barely detect a tone of surprise and resignation.
“It seems you really don’t like this place,” the voice said disinterestedly, with a kind of bystander sympathy. “No worries, let’s change the scenery.”
Almost as soon as the words were spoken, the ground Qiao Yu was staring at transformed from mist into solid wooden floorboards. The surrounding light and atmosphere changed with it. Suddenly, she noticed even the chair she was sitting on had turned into a sofa. The surroundings became so familiar they couldn’t be more familiar.
“How about this? You should like it here.”
The figure said as it walked towards Qiao Yu. It seemed to squint its eyes at the dazzling light shining from it. Halfway there, it suddenly exclaimed, and its appearance began to change rapidly as it approached, shedding the layer of light to reveal its altered form.
“Should I say… welcome home? Qiao Yu.”
The surroundings were the living room of Qiao Yu’s home before she lost consciousness. The person in front of her, smiling warmly and reaching out to pat her shoulder, was Lin Qing’s face.
Qiao Yu’s anger flared up instantly. She gritted her teeth and swatted away that hand, shouting in a suppressed voice.
“…Don’t become like her!”
“The first thing you say after seeing a god is this… What an impolite young person.”
Said the “god” wearing Lin Qing’s appearance, revealing an exaggeratedly wounded expression. It leisurely assessed its surroundings, then elegantly spun around.
“I thought you would at least have a moment of suspicion that Lin Qing might be the mastermind behind this world—she’s really beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Don’t become like her.”
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Unable to tolerate its frivolous tone any longer, Qiao Yu stood up, clenched her fists tightly, and stared at her coldly.
“Alright, alright, I won’t let you say it a third time. I was just trying to make you happy… Well, I guess I’m just a talkative god.”
The person in front of her muttered as it transformed back into light, and soon after, a new figure formed.
“What about this time?”
“Cong Ye” uncomfortably rubbed his wrist, furrowing his brows as he looked at Qiao Yu.
“…”
Qiao Yu gradually calmed down, finding it difficult to comprehend the thoughts of this god, looking at it with confusion.
But her expression seemed to be misunderstood as dissatisfaction. A helpless expression appeared on “Cong Ye’s” face, and he exaggeratedly sighed.
“This guest is too difficult to please—really, this is the last time, okay? If you’re not satisfied this time, I won’t change again. Gods are busy too, don’t delay my off duty time.”
It grumbled indignantly, then changed its form once more.
“Alright, enough of that. Let’s get down to business.”
The reconstituted figure puffed out its cheeks, casually pulled a chair from the dining table, sat down squarely across from Qiao Yu, and snapped its fingers. Suddenly, a variety of snacks and two cups of juice appeared on the empty coffee table.
“Don’t be shy, it’s all real food. I bought it earlier.”
It—she said, picking up a bag of potato chips, tore it open with a rip, and began to eat them with relish, her eyes and brows pleasantly curved.
“After all, it’s my first time meeting guests from another world, so I had to prepare some hospitality.”
“Oh, just call me ‘God.’ Haven’t you always called me that? I quite like that title.”
Qiao Yu looked on coldly, her mood particularly complex.
After the final transformation, this person seemed to perfectly mimic even the voice of the past, sounding both unfamiliar and familiar in her ears.
Qiao Yu looked at the face identical to her own, chewing the chips casually, and suddenly felt that this scene was quite different from what she imagined a meeting with a god would be like.
“When was your system replaced with mine?”
“Qiao Yu”—or should I call her ‘God’—paused her hand from grabbing chips, her expression seeming somewhat helpless.
“…Well, let me explain. The system is essentially like my subordinate.”
“And it’s the kind of subordinate whose every piece of information it receives I can see, without any privacy, after all, it’s something I created.”
“But usually, I wouldn’t be constantly monitoring a subordinate because it receives a lot of information every day, and I have many subordinates. If I were to monitor each one individually, I wouldn’t be able to do anything else.”
She paused suddenly, furrowing her brows in thought for a moment before shrugging as if giving up.
“Since it’s come to this, I suppose it doesn’t matter if I tell you everything. The system of this world was singled out by me for attention some time ago.”
“…After I returned from exile?”
Qiao Yu asked without much surprise, but she saw the god shake her head.
“You might not believe it when I say it…” The god seemed somewhat pleased for some reason, flashing a toothy grin. “Do you remember when your system mentioned it had been infected with a virus?”
“…”
At a time far earlier than expected, Qiao Yu’s eyes widened in astonishment, pleasing the god with her reaction, who proudly puffed out her chest.
“Yes, from that moment on, I’ve been keeping an eye on your side!”
“And not only did I handle the virus, but I also rewrote it into its later form. I even left a backdoor for myself to conveniently come and take a look from time to time, using its identity—”
“That means…”
The god looked happily at Qiao Yu, whose face had turned pale, and smiled contentedly.
“—When you weren’t paying attention, I’ve actually switched with it many times, you know?”
“Peeping Tom!”
“…That’s a bit too much.”
Even seeing the hurt expression on her own face, Qiao Yu didn’t stop her criticism: “What exactly are you trying to do! Why do you still sneakily come to look around!”
“No, it’s because I’m very interested in you.”
The god perked up in frustration, defending herself.
“…You should know, we’ve had so many hosts for missions, but you’re the first one like you.”
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“…”
Qiao Yu suddenly fell silent, feeling inexplicably guilty, and closed her mouth.
“So, of course, I couldn’t help but want to come and see what’s going on. Gods also love gossip!”
The god became more and more confident as she spoke, and then added something she remembered.
“But don’t worry, I definitely didn’t see anything I shouldn’t have seen, absolutely not.”
“Don’t say weird things with my face…”
Qiao Yu’s ears inexplicably grew warm, and she weakly placed a hand on her forehead.
“…Let’s get to the point.”
“Indeed.”
While chatting, the god finished a whole bag of potato chips, wiped her hands with a tissue, and casually began to speak.
“Firstly—your deduction about the world branches is correct.”
“Your original world and the current world are parallel worlds.”
“The branching started with an accident when you were five, right? It was a car accident, wasn’t it?”
“…”
Qiao Yu remained silent, lips pressed tightly together, seemingly realizing she wasn’t going to interject. The god continued unabated.
“At that time, your family went out for dinner. Besides your parents and grandparents, there were others present, and a total of two cars were involved.”
“Which person got into which car was a random event. No matter what choice was made, it wouldn’t be surprising. And it’s precisely events like this that lead to the divergence of world lines.”
“In both worlds, you got into the car that would have the accident. However, the person sitting in that car was different in each world.”
The god paused briefly, continuing in an emotionless tone.
“In your original world, it was your parents sitting beside you, protecting you when you were still very young. Both of them perished in the accident.”
“So, you were raised by your grandmother from a young age, and your family’s situation changed dramatically. You didn’t have the opportunity to come to Beicheng again, let alone attend a prestigious school.”
“So you missed the chance to meet Cong Ye and consequently didn’t have the opportunity to meet Lin Qing.”
After delivering the facts straightforwardly, the god’s tone shifted, becoming more relaxed.
“As for the development of this world, I believe you’re already quite clear about it. In any case, it’s your grandparents who took care of you—compared to your original life, their influence on your life would be relatively smaller.”
“I’m already aware of everything up to this point.”
Finding it difficult to digest her own bloody past, Qiao Yu interrupted the god’s words and moved on to a new topic.
“—You should also be aware that the task you’ve given me is now impossible to complete.”
“Now, if I want to remove the punishment measures… can you help me?”
“Quite straightforward.”
Although saying this, the god didn’t mean to joke or avoid the topic. Instead, she pondered seriously for a while before speaking.
“Fundamentally speaking, it’s impossible to remove the punishment measures.”
“…”
Qiao Yu shuddered all over, unable to conceal her disappointment as she lowered her head.
“Because it’s all part of a set. I also have superiors. If I’m found out for removing the punishment measures on my own, I’ll be in big trouble—don’t make that expression yet, listen to me first.”
She pondered in confusion if the gods also had hierarchical relationships. Qiao Yu looked back up at her, seeing a familiar smile on her face.
“But I have a way to help you. And I’m willing to… or rather, I want to help you.”
“…!”
Just as the extinguished hope reignited, Qiao Yu stared blankly at the god, her expression possibly amusing because she saw the god clearly suppressing a smile.
“Are you wondering why I would help you?”
Before Qiao Yu could speak, the god took the initiative to ask for her, smiling and winking at her.
“Listen to me, Qiao Yu.”
“You may not fully understand my identity, and explaining it might be a bit difficult, but all you need to know is that I exist in a different world from yours. My world discovered the existence of parallel worlds long ago and conducted extensive research on them.”
“So, I’ve observed countless, countless parallel worlds. Conducted countless studies. I’ve brought in hosts like you countless times—mainly to explore the possibilities of the world. We’ll discuss the specifics later.”
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“The world lines are very mysterious things. Sometimes a very casual action can cause a divergence, and the future can become completely different, like a butterfly flapping its wings causing a hurricane.”
“Each world will spawn so many unimaginable world lines. In simpler terms, it’s like the branching options in a game leading to subsequent changes in the plot. It’s a very interesting thing.”
With a plethora of information coming at her, almost like the setting of a science fiction movie, Qiao Yu furrowed her brow, seemingly understanding yet not quite grasping. The god intentionally paused the conversation there and shifted the topic.
“All of the above is just the prelude. What I really want to say is…”
“Qiao Yu, you and Lin Qing exist simultaneously in many worlds. Sometimes you’re strangers, sometimes acquaintances, sometimes you even become close friends, but—”
“But, in all the worlds I can see, the future where you two become lovers only exists in your world.”
The god chuckled, her smile resembling Qiao Yu’s gentle and soft smile.
“Even after you came to this world, countless world lines that branched off here are the same.”
“In those world lines, you were late too many times on the first day, missing out on the storyline involving Lin Qing and Cong Ye. When invited to travel to Japan, you chose to refuse. After being exiled, you couldn’t hold on, and even if your satisfaction level rose again, it couldn’t save your fading spirit, forever lost in that mist.”
“You’ve had so many choices along the way, each leading to vastly different futures.”
“So, you can be proud of how you got here.”
The god extended a hand, pointing towards Qiao Yu’s head. Qiao Yu suddenly felt something light descending upon her head. Looking up, she saw numerous colorful tiny pieces of paper falling from the sky, as if celebrating, landing on her bewildered head and body.
She heard the god’s voice again, unabashedly praising.
“I wouldn’t mind if you and Lin Qing became even happier.”
“Because we usually call something that only happens once in countless world lines a miracle.”