A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 171 Time to wake up from the dream
The crisp chirping of birds and the distant sound of bells came from outside the window. The first rays of morning light shone through the curtains onto his face, and Quinn suddenly sat up in bed.

"Holy crap. Where did that 'one shot' come from?"

He looked up and saw the ceiling of Ankuya's house. The walnut wood ceiling was the kind of style that old Qian, who was in his forties or fifties, liked.

The headache caused by mental exhaustion disappeared, and I felt better than ever, like I had just woken up naturally after a good night's sleep.

His injuries disappeared, and most strangely, his clothes turned into pajamas.

Quinn reached out and opened the window. It was a bright daytime outside, and the sun was still far away on the western continent. From here, all you could see was a golden dot in the distance, exactly the same as the sun you saw when you woke up this morning.

Rather
Everything is exactly as it was this morning.

Quinn's brow furrowed.

[Future Hint] The system's solution is to control Grindelwald's Eye to fire at the crowd inside the airport.

Although Quinn couldn't understand it, based on his trust in the system's calculations and having no other choice, he could only try his best.

"Lin," or rather, the so-called Colossus, had his memories end after he controlled the Eye of Grindelwald to fire the cannon.

no, wrong
Quinn's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, as if recalling a bizarre dream, and upon waking, sitting alone on the bed, picking up the details that were about to be forgotten, piece by piece.

The moment the Eye of Grindelwald was launched, the tower finally could not withstand the burden of continuously activating ninth-order arcane magic and began to collapse.

The crystal ball shattered into countless fragments, the tower crumbled into pieces, and mana spilled everywhere. As far as Quinn could see, the phantom of "Lin" still floated there, like an unaffected machine awaiting orders, showing no reaction to anything that had happened.

Light and heat filled the city. There were no screams, shouts, or sounds of people. Quinn could only hear the faint, electromagnetic-like noise of mana rubbing against the space.

According to Ankua's prediction, the original target of Grindelwald's Eye was Lin. The little girl's defensive arcane magic would withstand most of the arcane power. However, even so, the aftershocks of the ninth-tier arcane magic would destroy the entire airport and even affect the surrounding streets within hundreds of meters.

What if we fire directly at the ground?

The most down-to-earth citizens of Hiroshima, Japan, have probably seen this scene before. Quinn could roughly guess what would happen, but the problem was...
This will save Lin? Will it allow her to kill the Demon King and return to Earth?
no, wrong
Quinn was completely bewildered.

What followed felt like a dream.

Two or three seconds after the arcane bombardment was launched, the Eye of Grindelwald was finally destroyed, along with the tower hundreds of meters in the air, which naturally could not escape the destruction.

But the anticipated destruction did not come.

His will detached, and his perception of his body became unreal, like a third-person observer witnessing everything that happened.

He saw time begin to reverse.

Light and heat were drawn back into Grindelwald's Eye, destruction was replaced by clamor; he saw the crystal ball and the tower's fragments coming together piece by piece, and he and "Lin" repeated their words in reverse; he saw himself moving backward, and Anquaria and Professor Barbas reappeared.
He returned to the middle corridor and engaged in a battle played in reverse with Ike; before the party began, Lynn waved to him, and the two exited the airport together, everyone moving backward, speaking in reverse; every clock in sight was spinning counterclockwise, and the setting sun slowly returned—

He returned to the afternoon, where Celia walked towards him from beside her adoptive father, repeating her confession; he returned to the piano, listening to the chaotic and eerie rewinding of the music; in the morning, the crowds left the museum like water being released from a dam.
Time rewound faster and faster until he could no longer hear anything around him, and all he could see was the receding light and shadow of the shuttle, until finally only a vast expanse of white remained—

I opened my eyes and sat up in bed, as if nothing had ever happened.

Quinn's pupils trembled as an almost absurd truth was laid out before him.

时间
It flowed backwards?
Impossible. Even in this mysterious and magical other world, time reversal is a fantasy beyond mythology. Is all of this just a dream?
However, when he picked up the briefcase placed beside the bed, the four intact arcane scrolls and the Starflower glass jar containing the Eye of Grindelwald's authorization spell were still there.

Or perhaps he had a dream so real it was absurd.

Or perhaps he really did go back to a day earlier.

The method to verify all of this is very simple.

Quinn quickly brought up the system, but before he could even open the [Future Hint], his gaze suddenly sharpened.

[The conditions required to advance to the next level of the 'Brave' destiny are:]

【1. Collect a total of 10000 Soul Shards. (38345/10000) — Achieved.】

[2. Consume a Sequence 8 potion of any fate and fully digest it—achieved.]

3. Defeat a Sequence Transcendent of any class, using Shadow Transmigration Twice to dodge a fatal attack and execute him with Parry—Unachieved.

The thief's traits... completely digested?!

Quinn finally understood why this moment was slightly different from the morning he remembered. The Sequence Eight ability had completely merged with his soul. When he subconsciously sat up in bed and threw off the covers, he didn't even make a sound—all the abilities of the [Thief] were integrated into his every move, which was a symbol of the fusion being complete.

What did I steal? The fusion progress was less than a quarter complete before, and now it's all done?

Putting aside the matter of extraordinary characteristics for the moment, Quinn looked at the system with a puzzled expression as nearly 40,000 Soul Fragments appeared out of nowhere.

Where did it come from? Did the system add a tariff on soul fragments?
Quinn's body stiffened. Even if an ordinary person was killed by him, he would provide at least a little soul fragment.

More than 30,000. That's nearly 30,000 people.

If the Eye of Grindelwald had hit the airport, given the population density of Cloud Drive near the Eye of Grindelwald at the time, the death toll would have been perfectly reasonable.

Has time really reversed?
But the system is unaffected, so it included the kill from that shot in my count?

Quinn, who was sitting on the bed, suddenly grinned.

"Heh, now I'm the king of kills in another world."

I thought it was a speed bump. I'll talk to Aiswell Insurance.

Such an almost playful, abstract idea flashed through Quinn's mind, and as he laughed, he fell into deep thought.

Strange, what's wrong with me?
He shouldn't feel indifferent even if time could be reversed, since more than 30,000 innocent people died because of his own actions.

Why can I laugh at such a hellish joke that relates to myself?

He subconsciously asked himself, 'System, what is the price for this future hint?'

[Querying.]

[Query complete: You have paid the system one of the seven virtues, 'Justice'.]

The Seven Virtues. Justice?

Quinn was slightly taken aback, subconsciously wondering if he originally possessed such a fine virtue as 'justice'.
Can virtue come at a price?

Quinn was never the kind of good person who would help old ladies cross the street or volunteer to care for the elderly when he had nothing better to do. He was already exhausted from his life. Doing good deeds was a luxury that only those with extravagance deserved. What did he mean by taking away his own justice?
He sat on the bed, lost in thought for a full ten minutes, reflecting on everything from his first instincts about how to conduct himself to his views on all things, and comparing them with his memories of himself, only to find that nothing had changed.

He scratched his head, seemingly unaffected.
A feeling of relief welled up inside me. This was the most powerful effect of the [Future Hint] yet the least costly.

From name to five-year lifespan, I finally won a big prize in the gacha game.

System, I'm never criticizing your ridiculous talent again.

After thinking for a while, Quinn quickly changed his clothes and went downstairs.

He needs to determine three important things: 1. Whether today has truly come back to normal.

2. Do people other than yourself have memories of the time before it went backwards?

3. Why does time travel actually happen?

The moment Quinn saw Ankuya at the dining table, he was almost certain of his first question: today was truly a second chance.

Because she had lingered in bed for a while, Aqua had already finished her breakfast and was leisurely wiping her mouth with a handkerchief.

"How did you sleep?"

With the exact same questions and tone as he remembered, Ankuya waved his wand and brought breakfast to Quinn.

Ham and egg sandwiches, along with a mental energy boost made from insect body fluids.

Quinn took a deep breath.

"I slept so well, I dreamt that after the battle I went back to my hometown and got married."

"?"

Ankua was completely bewildered, only to see Quinn quickly pull out a chair and plop down, leaning forward solemnly as he said, "Don't be afraid of what I'm about to tell you."

"explain."

"Time has gone backwards."

"???"

Quinn asked impatiently, "Do you have any memories of today? The tower exploding, Tirecia, Lynn attacking in her Titan form—"

Ankuya pressed his hand against Quinn's forehead. "A fever in a superhuman could be a sign of impending loss of control."

"Really nothing? You don't remember anything?"

Ankua blinked; Quinn's expression didn't seem to be speaking abstractly.

"I don't remember. I finished meditating half an hour ago, and that's all I remember about today. What happened?"

Quinn paused, realizing why the [Thief] trait had been digested so quickly.

The thief's operating principle is 'theft.'

Unlike the 'stealing' in 'thief,' theft requires placing oneself in a dangerous place, entering a dangerous location, and then stealing things without anyone knowing.

Concealing his identity and practicing against villains and superhumans in the underworld to gain experience—this is similar to the role-playing logic of thieves, so he can grow stronger after each battle.

But taking away Tiresia and the Giant Warrior's secret before time could turn back, which no one knows about, is also theft.

The theft of the Level 0 containment object, Heaven's Gate, caused the Sequence 9's fusion rate to surge by more than half. If we calculate the value based on the 'value of the stolen item', then Tiresia and Lin's true identities are so valuable that they can be instantly digested by the Sequence 8's characteristics?
After thinking it over, Quinn came up with a somewhat risky idea.

Since nothing happened today, and assuming that no one has any memories of the time reversal, then Tiresia, who is hiding in the academy as Professor Barbas, is actually an asset to me. She seems quite happy to see me kill the hero and leave this world, although the reason is unknown.
But that legendary elf who stands at the pinnacle of magic, the wife of his fellow villager, and one of the members of the hero's team who once defeated the Demon King, will be one of the few helpers he can have to bypass the Demon King.

The premise is that he uses this information gap to further cooperate with Tiresia.

Therefore, Anquya cannot be told about Tiresia.
The risk is that Quinn is unsure whether the Demon King has memories of the time travel period.

After all, they are gods. If they existed, it would expose the deception.

But perhaps it's okay to play dumb for a bit.

Quinn began to recount what happened before time reversed.

But he omitted the date with Celia and revised the most crucial part—

"Lin is not a hero. Although I don't know what that is, I'm certain she's not a hero, but rather a creation like a magical artifact."

"Lin isn't a hero?!" Ankuya suddenly stood up.

"But for some reason, Ike, the leader of Golden Wind, sensed something was amiss with the glass jar. After I managed to drive him away, I saw Lin's clone, who called herself 'Giant God Soldier'."

"Giant God. Weapon?" Ankuya sat back down in the chair, his expression incredibly interesting.

"I don't remember very clearly," Quinn said, rubbing his forehead in anguish. "I wanted to go up and tell you not to fire. But the second shell hit the crowd below, and then time went backward."

Why shouldn't I listen to your advice?

Quinn shook his head with difficulty.

I'm not sure if I've managed to persuade you.

Ankua fell into deep thought.

After a long silence, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "Are you sure? Is this true?"

"I caught you on a date with Peipei."

“…” Ankuya glanced to the side. “I was ruling out uncertain risks. That seems to be true.”

He then added, "If time could be reversed, you would wait here."

Ankuya left quickly and headed towards the study. About ten minutes later, he returned with a grave expression.

"I contacted the school administration's specialists around the world, but no one has issued an anomaly report. It seems only you have the memory of today's time reversal. Some high-sequence individuals can do this, but it's extremely brief and limited to time within their own bodies; it can't affect reality."

"What about arcane magic?"

Ankua shook his head.

"It is said that the 'Root' is outside of time, but no one except Merlin knows what it is. The Dragon Lord of the Eternal and Time Cult preaches nothing more than stopping time, which is 'stillness' rather than 'reversal'."

"Can't even the gods do it?"

“It’s impossible,” Ankuya said firmly. “No god, not even the sun god, can manipulate time.”

"This is going to be fun."

Quinn leaned back in his chair, looking at the 38,000 Soul Fragments balance that only he could see in the system, and said in a complicated tone, "I have a guess. Although it is outrageous, it may be the closest to the truth."

"explain."

"The second shot from Grindelwald's Eye has hit the true hero."

"And the time reversal system is the time traveler system he uses to save his life."

(End of this chapter)