23 The Man Who Does Not Exist

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"Flame Annihilation!"

What a domineering move! Qi Xi widened his eyes, silently marveling at this guy’s power. The name was a little childish, but this wasn’t the time for sarcasm, so he kept it to himself.

The scorching flames surged forward, more like a beam of searing light than fire. The instant the brilliance and heat appeared, the surroundings were transformed into a land of flames.

Qi Xi squinted, feeling the crisis between life and death. Though he was no longer panicked and remained calm, faced with imminent death, he couldn’t help feeling anxious.

He frantically recalled everything that had happened in the previous world: the sensation of genetic evolution, all the skills and energies he had mastered.

Countless fragments of information whirled through his mind.

Meanwhile, he was also keeping track of the time: less than forty seconds had passed since he encountered this opponent, meaning he still had twenty full seconds left.

Though twenty seconds was short, it was more than enough right now, because from this moment to the likely instant of his death, he had at most five seconds.

The energies and powers from each world couldn’t be brought back physically to the Realm of the Gods, but they could be awakened. The things hidden deep in his mind could not simply vanish with the loss of their material form.

For example, the Thunder Blade technique from the first world, or, from the second world...

Qi Xi was convinced he could do it.

Genetic information and sequences churned madly in his mind.

But the girl’s flames crashed down—there was no time left.

When the fire touched Qi Xi’s skin, it instantly ignited. The agony was indescribable: a searing, soul-rending pain no human could possibly endure. Was such suffering even possible in this world?

He suffocated, despaired, and went mad.

But more than anything, he was unwilling to accept this fate.

In truth, a person without panic rarely manages to awaken abilities from past worlds. Fear, though a negative emotion, can in moments of life and death greatly stimulate the body’s potential. Devoid of fear, Qi Xi had no shortcut to awakening; this made it harder for him than for others. It was a cruel irony: to gain some things is to lose others.

But even so, Qi Xi refused to admit defeat simply because he lacked fear.

He would not be a failure.

He might not possess absolute talent, nor could he use fear as a catalyst, but he had a will more powerful than anything, and an unyielding spirit. He was determined to awaken!

Suddenly, his mind cleared. His body became lighter, and with the surge of his will, his body began to change in subtle ways—his genes were mutating!

He had succeeded!

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Qi Xi was wild with joy!

Though he wasn’t as invincible as in the previous world, stopping the flames or even catching his opponent off guard and killing her was now possible.

But Qi Xi didn’t do that. After blocking the attack, he looked at the winged girl, whose face was full of anger, and gave a faint smile. “Back.”

Back—meaning, to retreat.

Time rewound.

Time turned back sixty seconds.

To the very moment when everyone had arrived at the bathroom door and heard the cry for help.

What Qi Xi had whispered to Xigua at the start was—“The one calling for help is a traveler; I just rewound time.”

Xigua immediately understood.

Then came the scene that followed.

With time rewound, Qi Xi saved the girl. The four of them proceeded together, not splitting up. The current time was September 14, 2013, 22:28:22.

There was about an hour and a half left before Qi Xi’s golden finger would recover.

The moment his genes recovered, the illusions in Qi Xi’s mind were dispelled. At that moment, Qi Xi looked at those lingering illusions, and a look of confusion crossed his face. So, just as the four entered the bathroom and began to investigate, Qi Xi suddenly spoke.

“By the way, Yuu Nishi. Do you know Daisuke Oshii?”

From the start, Yuu Nishi hadn’t known Daisuke Oshii. The situation was strange: classmates should at least recognize each other, even if they don’t remember names. After all, there was only one Hakutaku Konda in the class. Yuu Nishi was also quite popular. How could she not recognize a fellow classmate?

But at the time, no one thought much of it. Now, with the illusions gone, Qi Xi instantly understood why.

Because Daisuke Oshii didn’t exist in the class at all.

“That’s right. I don’t know him,” Yuu Nishi replied, startled.

“What are you talking about, Yuu Nishi! You don’t know Oshii?” Jiro Mizukami was baffled.

“I don’t know Daisuke Oshii either. I just realized there’s no trace of him in my memory,” Qi Xi suddenly stopped in his tracks, lowering his head, his face pale, as if searching his memories. Jiro Mizukami, hearing this, felt his hair stand on end, staring in disbelief at Hakutaku.

“What are you saying?”

Qi Xi lifted his head, looked Jiro Mizukami in the eyes, and said word by word: “I just remembered. Weren’t the accommodations in groups of four?”

“Daisuke Oshii is the extra person!” Even as he said this, Jiro Mizukami felt something was wrong.

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“Think about it carefully—does this person really exist?”

“This…”

“Have you ever seen his bed?” Qi Xi suddenly recalled: when they were in the room, there was no bed for Daisuke Oshii.

Daisuke Oshii had never existed from the very beginning!

“This—this!” Jiro Mizukami’s eyes went wide in terror as he jerked his head up. “Muramasa is in danger!”

“Indeed.” Qi Xi nodded grimly.

“We have to save him!” Jiro Mizukami broke into a run.

Qi Xi and the others hurried after him.

At that moment, Jiro Mizukami was engulfed by a boundless fear. That someone who had never existed had been with them all along—and they hadn’t noticed! It was too bizarre. All the memories of Daisuke Oshii in their minds were false.

Damn it!

Beside them, Miki Akasaka and Xigua felt a chill of terror as well. The bizarreness and the unknown filled them with dread.

Meanwhile—

In the room.

Kojima Muramasa, pulling off his pants and grumbling, said, “The light’s broken—stupid haunted house! Oshii, do you have a flashlight?”

“Flashlight? I do,” Daisuke Oshii replied with a sinister smile.

“Hand it over, then. My suitcase is full of stuff, hard to find anything,” Kojima Muramasa scratched his head irritably.

“Sure. I’ll get it for you.” Daisuke Oshii approached.

As Kojima Muramasa removed his pants, he suddenly felt the room grow freezing cold—just like that chilling sensation when he’d first been alone with Hajime Konoe and Daisuke Oshii.

“Why is it so cold all of a sudden? Give me the flashlight…” As Kojima Muramasa took the ‘flashlight,’ he immediately sensed something was wrong. By the light coming through the door, he saw what it really was. “What—what is this!” He spun around, and let out a shrill, piercing scream!

“Aaahhhh!”