Chapter 1360 Losing A Round

The doctor reached out and gently placed a hand over his.

"If you want, we can help you bring these painful years to an end."

Michael looked at her. The woman smiled kindly.

"It would be peaceful. You wouldn't have to suffer anymore."

"…"

For a moment, everything seemed completely natural.

Michael was a terminally ill patient. The woman was his doctor.

His condition had deteriorated beyond recovery, and she was offering him a way to escape the suffering he had endured for so long.

There was nothing particularly strange about the conversation.

At least, that was how it initially appeared.

However…

"…"

Michael suddenly smiled. He looked directly into her eyes.

At that moment, his previously black irises slowly turned green.

"Yū Meng."

"…!"

The doctor's expression changed.

Michael's smile widened.

"It seems you've never visited an actual hospital, have you?"

"…"

The woman froze. For a brief moment, the gentle expression on her face disappeared. Seeing this, Michael suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

Fuck!

Despite his laughter, Michael was cursing inwardly.

That was close!

He had nearly fallen for it.

Even now, the memories of his life in Aurora were only gradually returning. He hadn't noticed anything unusual when he first appeared in the hospital.

His memories had been altered so naturally that he genuinely believed he was once again the terminally ill young man who had spent years struggling to survive on Earth.

Even the doctor's words had initially sounded reasonable. However, the moment she suggested ending his suffering, Michael finally realized something was wrong.

And if he had agreed…

I wouldn't necessarily have died, but I definitely would have lost something.

Whatever that loss turned out to be, it would have placed him at a disadvantage in the battle of fate. Perhaps he would have lost part of his lifespan. Perhaps some of his memories would have disappeared permanently. Or perhaps the consequences would have been something even more troublesome. Michael didn't know.

Fortunately, Yū Meng had made a mistake. Her approach had been far too direct.

Perhaps doctors behave like this in her world.

But on Earth, not many doctors would be so direct about suggesting that a patient end his life, especially when that patient was still spending his inheritance to keep himself alive.

Few doctors would have the 'heart' to make such a suggestion so casually. Even when recovery was impossible, conversations about ending or limiting treatment were far more complicated than the woman had made them appear.

Yet this supposed doctor had calmly suggested that he end his suffering almost immediately after informing him of his latest medical report.

What a ridiculous woman.

Of course, Michael wasn't about to complain. After all, her lack of understanding had just saved him from suffering an unnecessary loss.

Across from him, the doctor's expression had become completely indifferent. The warmth in her eyes vanished. Her beautiful face remained unchanged, but Michael could no longer sense the slightest trace of the kindness she had displayed earlier.

Before either of them could do anything else, cracks suddenly appeared across the hospital room.

Crack!

The walls split apart. The bed beneath Michael began to disintegrate. The medical equipment, the ceiling, and even the woman seated beside him shattered into countless fragments. Then everything disappeared.

When Michael opened his eyes again, he found himself in a training ground, wearing a traditional set of training clothes. In his hands was a wooden sword, but what caught Michael's attention was his body.

He was now in the body of a young woman.

Yes.

It was finally his round. Although Michael hadn't been able to sense Jester since the battle began, he could still feel the effects of his efforts in the background.

Unfortunately, it seemed that their attempt to obtain information had failed this round as well.

"Fuck, it hurts!"

Michael suddenly clutched his stomach and dropped his sword, his knees buckling as he doubled over in pain.

By now, the difference between their approaches had become clear. Since Yū Meng was trying to kill him, the scenarios she created were naturally intended to harm him. Michael, on the other hand, was attempting to extract information from her by exploring the memories and possibilities opened during their exchanges.

Unfortunately, Yū Meng could still defend against this method.

Like now, although it was technically Michael's turn to attack, Yū Meng had apparently sensed his intentions and interfered with the memory he entered.

She had managed to send him into a memory pocket from when she was still a mortal.

It would have been fine if that were all, but she had specifically chosen a period when she was experiencing menstrual cramps.

"Fuck."

Although Michael knew menstrual cramps could be painful, this was something else entirely. The pain was even worse because he could sense that it had been artificially intensified beyond what her mortal body would normally have experienced.

Not wanting to deal with this anymore, he closed the round and returned to the dark space, where the two immediately resumed attacking each other.

The rounds that followed were no less strange. Sometimes, Michael emerged victorious. Other times, it was Yū Meng who gained the upper hand.

There was no telling what kind of situation either of them would encounter next. Sometimes, he wasn't even human. Other times, he witnessed events that had never actually happened or experienced memories from thousands of years ago.

This was one of the most troublesome aspects of fighting through fate. There were countless possibilities, and both sides were constantly attempting to manipulate them to achieve their objectives.

Naturally, Michael suffered several losses, including reductions in his lifespan and the disappearance of certain memories. It would have been worse if he hadn't possessed a way to offset most of the damage.

Fortunately, Yū Meng wasn't the only one gaining something from their exchanges. With Jester's assistance, Michael's efforts to extract information from Yū Meng were starting to bear fruit.

For example, he obtained information concerning Origin Energy, a subject he had always been particularly interested in since acquiring the Mausoleum of Endless Dominion and the Awakening Temple.

The former required Origin Energy to strengthen itself and unseal the mysterious World Seed within it, while the latter depended on the origin energy to awaken people.