The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

Chapter 218 The First Formula of the Time Law

"Man, you have indeed asked an interesting question."

"I'm from Earth, of course there's only one of me."

"In which timeline and spacetime am I, and in which timeline and world is the final result that I chose?"

"Therefore, the situation you imagine, where there is a 'me' in every parallel universe, is not true. In essence, there is only one A-Yun."

"I am A-Yun, the original A-Yun, the original A-Yun of Blue Star."

"Is it understandable that I'm saying this?"

A tiny ball of fluff flew around the villa's lobby, talking as it explored the new and exciting environment that Li Can had just moved in.

It was as if they were just having a casual chat, without the slightest hint of tension.

Li Can watched as A Yun floated to the crystal chandelier high in the ceiling. Suddenly, a gust of evil wind blew out from his body, making the crystal pendant rattle loudly.

Dust settled gently, passing through the light filtering in from the window and leaving behind a unique luminous effect.

"...I understand." Li Can pondered A-Yun's words and finally understood.

He had been wondering about the strange phenomena that had been explained, otherwise he would have been constantly thinking about the relationship between his different selves and A-Yun in parallel universes.

Although he had anticipated and guessed this, now that he had received a definite answer, Li Can still felt genuine sadness in his heart.

While the laws of time are beneficial, they cannot alter the fate of a world already existing within a given timeline.

That is, his family, friends, and the entire human community who grew up in the same spacetime as his original self did indeed die in the apocalypse controlled by the pseudo-star ten years ago.

Regret is regret. Even if he and Ayun tried to mend things using the laws of time, there were still people on one timeline who died for it.

Cherish the people in front of you.

Li Can knew that after successfully mastering the laws of time, under A Yun's guidance, he would encounter all sorts of people from other times.

One day, when he brings up the past again, he may have the same attitude as A-Yun: he is completely immune to these things and no longer bothered by them.

...Although it's hard not to feel regretful and want to sigh...

"Over the years, the lesson I've learned most from the laws of time is to cherish the people around me."

"No matter how many times I go back in time, those cracks in the past, those broken mirrors, will never be perfectly repaired."

"I know." After thinking it through, Li Can nodded and stopped worrying about it.

A-Yun floated to Li Can's side, circling around him. Finally, seemingly admiring his ability to accept and comprehend, she bobbed her cloud body in approval.

"Very good. My successor needs someone with your physique and qualities, so I don't waste my energy trying to reshape your worldview."

"Hehe..." Li Can laughed emotionlessly.

There is no such thing as the most suitable person. It is just a helpless situation after doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate, knowing that things are beyond one's control.

"Then, from this moment on, I will begin to teach you the first rune of the Law of Time."

"You must be fully alert and memorize this carefully."

"The law consists of twelve rule runes, which are obscure and difficult to understand, and each corresponds to the natural development pattern of the twelve months on Earth."

"Just learning this one law of time could take anywhere from a year (twelve months) to several years or even decades, so there's no need to rush."

Li Can listened attentively to A Yun's explanation, but couldn't help feeling worried.

"It will take at least twelve months? Does that mean our current version of Earth from the past timeline will be destroyed? We won't be able to spare any energy to deal with things there during our studies..."

"Does all the effort I've put in before just go to waste and be completely worthless?"

Li Can knew that even though that timeline had failed, A Yun would eventually find a way to open a new one.

He just couldn't let go of the people he had known before.

If we were to start over, it would be tantamount to returning everything to square one, where they were strangers to each other.

"Don't worry, since I chose to leave behind the past timeline that you can contact and see, it must be the one I'm most satisfied with among all the historical developments."

"It certainly won't be destroyed easily."

Ah Yun explained slowly and calmly.

Li Can captured the key phrases in its words: "in all historical contexts," and "choose the most satisfactory one."

What does that mean?

It's quite simple: among the countless choices that lead to forks in the road, which path is the most likely to lead to the perfect ending that Ah Yun envisions as the optimal solution?

No wonder... Li Can had some plans in mind. No wonder A Yun chose this one out of so many timelines.

But if this is already the optimal solution, does humanity really have to endure so much hardship...? Compared to what A-Yun gave up on, isn't that an even more brutal reality...?

"So, what will you do?" Li Can asked, looking at it.

A dazzling golden light gradually emerged from Ayun's cloud, and a circular time compass appeared in front of it.

The disc is decorated with twelve main characters in an intricate script, scattered at even intervals along its edge.

On the central axis column, there are hands that look like hour and second hands.

At this moment, they are pointing in different directions, one above the other.

Li Can observed that the overall size of this thing was currently about the size of an ordinary palm-leaf fan.

If you don't look at it closely, it doesn't look much different from an ordinary clock.

If someone unfamiliar with the subject saw this, they would probably think it was a clock that didn't recognize the language or writing system of the country.

"This is the first rune formula that I will teach you in the laws of time."

Ah Yun's voice grew louder and louder, filled with power, each word clearly penetrating Li Can's mind.

In the empty villa hall, the time compass that had originally appeared as small as a palm-leaf fan suddenly expanded, filling the entire hall.

Li Can stood on the ground, and what used to be able to look up now had his field of vision completely occupied by the suddenly enlarged time compass.

He had to step back and summon a vulture to carry him to the second-floor stair railing, where he could barely get a full view of the compass.

Both the Time Compass and A-Yun emitted a dazzling golden light, like a giant sun rising slowly indoors.

"You need to see people clearly from the start."

"I will not demonstrate it a second time."

"The first formula of the laws of time is: time stops."

"Void Lock, freeze!"

A-Yun's words became law, and the giant time compass displayed a real-time image of Blue Star from more than ten years ago, which was the time and space that Li Can had been communicating with.

He strained his eyes to see what was happening, and in the image, many unfamiliar faces of all shapes and sizes flashed by.

A few familiar faces occasionally appeared among them, which Li Can caught.

The sound of a timer counting down could be heard from inside the empty villa.

Every drop was crisp and clear.

"despair……"

"despair……"

"despair……"

The image on the time compass freezes, locked by a void lock.