188: Chapter 188 The Bronze Gate Symbolizing the Past: Rewriting the Established Facts of Fragments of Memory

The space behind the bronze door was completely different from the deck; there was only an endless expanse of Chaos and countless translucent fragments suspended in mid-air.

These translucent fragments, resembling broken mirrors of various shapes, each clearly reflected scenes from the [Past]—the figures of the seven Hosts during Hapi's [Rest Time] after the second round of Gambling ended, which were the very "unchangeable" established facts existing in Gemini's memory.

Each fragment radiated a heavy bronze luster, and merely bringing one's hand close created a pull as if one were about to be sucked inside; every fragment represented a third-person perspective of what Gemini had personally experienced or witnessed.

Gemini looked up at a fragment drifting past. In the scene, Wu Doumi was devouring a large platter of slime meat mixed with rice, the black Dream Spirit [self-healing wristband] on his left wrist was slowly turning white, and his stomach was returning to its round shape at a rate visible to the naked eye;

In another fragment nearby, Swift Shadow was leaning against the corridor wall, the pink crystal wall lamp casting a layer of pale pink halo over her cloak, her pen tip rapidly writing and connecting unknown symbols from the doorplate onto the pages of her notebook, her focused profile visible beneath the cover of her cloak;

In another fragment, Muscle Maniac was enjoying an Advanced fat-reduction meal specially customized for him, the [Power Belt] at his waist shimmering with his every breath;

In the scene within the fragment, Passerby Man was in a sorry state, his body half-submerged in the Chocolate swamp, his hands flailing forcefully in a desperate attempt to escape.

All the fragments were repeating the same period of time, like a movie with the loop button pressed, drifting wantonly through this chaotic space behind the bronze door.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft~ Welcome to the Gambling venue with the [Past] theme—the [Land of Memory]," Hapi the Monochrome Bear hopped through the bronze door, its red mechanical eyes flashing in the darkness.

"These are all the memory fragments you experienced or witnessed during [Rest Time]. Every single fragment is an 'established fact,' just like the plot written in a story~ Unchangeable~ Generally speaking, that is~"

Hapi jumped onto a floating fragment, its round body causing the fragment to sink slightly. "For this [Gambling], your victory condition is very simple—use these three cards to successfully rewrite the 'established fact' in any one memory fragment. You only have three chances~"

With a wave of Hapi's small round hand, three cards glowing with a bronze luster landed lightly in Gemini's hand.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft~ In this [Land of Memory], you can view these memory fragments at will. Once you choose to use a card, you can modify the plot according to your ideas. The memory fragment will automatically deduce the subsequent plot. As long as the plot you modified successfully rewrites reality, then you win~ After all, the [Past] creates the [Present]~ Hahaha~"

Gemini looked down at the three bronze cards in his hand capable of changing the [Past].

The first one is the [Accident Card]. The back of the card depicts a broken bone pattern, and the front of the card is inscribed with: "Can arbitrarily create one logical accidental event."

The second one is the [Status Card]. The back of the card depicts a circular halo, and the front of the card is inscribed with: "Can attach any one special status to a target."

The third one is the [Exchange Card]. The back of the card depicts two crossed arrows, and the front of the card is inscribed with: "Can arbitrarily exchange two items."

Gemini rubbed the three bronze cards with his fingertips; the patterns on the matte card surfaces seemed to come alive, emitting a bronze radiance. He looked at the countless memory fragments repeating their actions before him, and a familiar, cynical smile curled at the corners of his mouth—rewriting "established facts," something originally "impossible," truly made him feel pleasure.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft~ Hurry up! Hurry up! I can't wait to see you fail~" Hapi lay on a memory fragment, its round body swaying gently with the fragment's movement, its red-flashing mechanical eyes fixed intently on Gemini's actions, looking forward to Gemini bringing it a [Pleasure] comedy.

Gemini ignored Hapi's urging, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the memory fragments, finally locking onto the memory fragment of the Unlucky Egg [Passerby Man]. Gemini clearly remembered that this was the scene he had seen in the dome light screen of the cabin where Hapi was located.

In the scene, [Passerby Man] had just been stuck to a cookie wall by a honey syrup trap and was struggling to break free. After stumbling a few steps, [Passerby Man] accidentally stepped on a super-bouncy candy trap, was launched near the Chocolate swamp, and a huge toffee bomb was slowly rolling down from a distant mountaintop.

Gemini applied the [Accident Card] from his hand onto the memory fragment, and the bronze card turned into points of light and slowly dissipated.

In the scene, [Passerby Man] still accidentally entered the Chocolate swamp, but this time, a Marshmallow tree that had accidentally fallen by the swamp became his lifeline. [Passerby Man] arduously climbed onto the fallen Marshmallow tree bit by bit, using his hands and feet to successfully escape the Chocolate swamp.

Just as [Passerby Man] breathed a sigh of relief, the huge toffee bomb falling from the sky crashed straight into the Chocolate swamp in front of him and slowly sank.

With a "Boom," only a deep pit remained of the Chocolate swamp, and a shower of Chocolate rained down on [Passerby Man]. [Passerby Man] looked in horror at the crater blasted out in front of him, retreated two steps, and accidentally stepped on a piece of super-sticky toffee. After struggling to pull his tightly stuck left foot out, because he used too much force, [Passerby Man] tumbled into the deep pit. Standing up in the pit, [Passerby Man] did not notice the red door behind him, but was stunned in place by the Chocolate sauce surging into the pit in front of him.

With a "Thud," a fragment of the toffee bomb fell from the sky, hitting [Passerby Man] squarely on the forehead. [Passerby Man] covered his forehead with both hands, retreated two steps in pain, and stepped right into the red door.

"Interesting!" A flash of light shone in Gemini's eyes as he watched the scene of [Passerby Man] entering the red door again in the memory fragment.

Hapi's mechanical eyes lit up, and it mocked, feigning sympathy for Gemini: "Pfft, pfft, pfft~ You chose the unluckiest [Passerby Man] and even specially created a life-saving accident for him. [Gemini], you are truly kind~ Unfortunately, his Talent [Cursed by Misfortune] is not something a small accident can influence~ Memory fragment modification failed!"

Gemini did not mind the failure of the first memory fragment modification, nor did he pay attention to Hapi's mockery; he applied the second bronze card, the [Status Card], in his hand to the memory fragment in front of him.

The scene in the memory fragment was of [Wu Doumi] gorging himself in the restaurant cabin; judging by the black wristband on his hand, it could be confirmed that this was the scene after he had experienced contamination by [Deep Sea Power].

As the [Status Card] dissipated into specks of light, [Wu Doumi], who was replenishing "reserve energy" in the memory fragment, did not notice the octopus tentacles slowly growing out from his back.

Just as [Wu Doumi] was using both hands to stuff the melt-in-your-mouth [Ice Spring Boneless Eel] into his mouth, several extra octopus tentacles suddenly curled up several [Ice Spring Boneless Eel] and stuffed them into [Wu Doumi]'s mouth. [Wu Doumi] subconsciously said "thank you" with a slurred voice, but immediately realized something was wrong. He turned his head to see several octopus tentacles extending from his tattered clothes on his back, immediately placed his hands on his shoulders, and attempted to secrete strong purifying potion from his palms to purify the sudden contamination of [Deep Sea Power], muttering: "Could it be that the previous [Deep Sea Power] contamination wasn't purified completely?"

But this time, the octopus tentacles did not twist crazily as before; instead, as if possessing intelligence, they bound [Wu Doumi]'s arms, fixing him in place in the shape of a cross. Even though the milky white strong purifying potion secreted from his palms purified the octopus tentacles, causing bursts of black smoke, the twitching octopus tentacles did not give up on restraining [Wu Doumi].

Countless suckers began to spread from [Wu Doumi]'s back to his whole body. [Wu Doumi]'s lower body had already turned into eight octopus tentacles. Just as [Wu Doumi]'s spirit was gradually being affected by the contamination and his eyes began to lose focus and roll back, the Dream Spirit [self-healing wristband], which had originally turned black due to excessive absorption of [Deep Sea Power] contamination, sensed its master's crisis and began to desperately absorb this inexplicably appearing [Deep Sea Power] contamination. The color of the [self-healing wristband] became deeper and darker, but [Wu Doumi] did not regain self-awareness, and his entire body began to transform into a mollusk.

At this moment, the Black and White Bear leaned close to this memory fragment, looked at the scene within, and teased: "Pfft, pfft, pfft~ [Gemini], to win, you are actually willing to be so ruthless to a friend, letting [Wu Doumi] be contaminated by [Deep Sea Power] a second time~ If the memory fragment modification succeeds~ then you will have personally turned your friend into an octopus monster~"