Chapter 229: This World Exist

Wang Gege stared at Jiang Zhaoyuan, unable to immediately process his words.

"Help you... and in return, you’ll help us return to our previous world?"

Jiang Zhaoyuan nodded. "That is the arrangement."

For the first time since he had revealed that he was the supposed main character of this world, there was no trace of amusement in his expression. He looked completely serious, as though he had already considered the risks of making such a proposal.

Wang Gege unconsciously tightened her fingers around the edge of her sleeve.

Going home.

Those two words had once been nothing more than a distant wish, something she had cried about in the middle of the night when the unfamiliarity of this world became too much. She had thought about her old life, the people she had known, the world she had left behind, and everything that had happened after she opened her eyes inside Shen Taotao’s body.

Now, someone was telling her that returning might actually be possible.

But before Wang Gege could say anything, Xie Rong spoke.

"What exactly do you want us to do?"

Jiang Zhaoyuan looked at him, "Restore my role."

Xie Rong’s brows furrowed slightly.

"My story was supposed to begin after the events we have already experienced," Jiang Zhaoyuan explained. "But those events should not have happened the way they did. The storyline has already deviated too far from what Bibi remembers."

Bibi nodded seriously.

"THE CURRENT STORYLINE HAS DEVIATED FROM THE ORIGINAL RECORD."

Wang Gege glanced at the little red ladybug. "So you actually have the original storyline?"

Bibi hesitated. "Some of it."

"Some?"

"THE SYSTEM’S MEMORY IS INCOMPLETE." Bibi replied with a robotic tone.

Jiang Zhaoyuan sighed. "Which is why we need to restore some of the storyline that Bibi remembers."

Wang Gege exchanged a glance with Xie Rong before lowering her gaze. There were still too many things she could not piece together, and the more answers she received, the more questions seemed to appear.

"I’m still confused about everything," she admitted. "I was told that I transmigrated here because I originally came from this world, and the person who took my place before had already completed her mission, which caused the connection between the two worlds to pull me back."

She paused, trying to organize the thoughts that had been troubling her for so long.

"I mean..." Wang Gege sighed softly. "If everything is in the novel, then was everything about my story real or not?"

Her fingers slowly tightened around her sleeve.

"Was my life really supposed to happen that way? Was Shen Yurou really supposed to marry Xie Rong? Was Xie An’an really supposed to become that person? Were all those things written in the novel actually the future of this world, or were they only someone’s version of what might happen?"

She looked toward Jiang Zhaoyuan, her expression unusually serious.

"I just want to know the answer before I can decide..."

Her voice faded.

Before she could finish, Xie Rong quietly reached over and held her hand.

He did not ask what she was going to decide.

Perhaps he already knew.

If the novel was real, then the world they were living in had once been destined to follow a completely different path.

And if it was not...

Then perhaps none of them had ever been meant to follow a predetermined story at all.

Jiang Zhaoyuan remained silent for a while, his gaze resting on Wang Gege.

"I understand what you’re asking."

He glanced toward Bibi, who had also become unusually quiet.

"If the story written in that novel was truly the original course of this world, then the events recorded inside it should have happened exactly as written. But if the novel only recorded one possible timeline, then everything you remember may have been nothing more than a story describing another branch of this world."

Wang Gege frowned. "Another branch?"

Bibi slowly nodded, "That is possible."

Jiang Zhaoyuan continued, "Bibi told me that worlds can develop along different paths. Some are connected through timelines, while others become parallel branches. If that is true, then the novel Wang Gege remembers may be a record of my timeline."

Wang Gege’s expression changed slightly. "Your timeline?"

Jiang Zhaoyuan nodded. "If the novel truly recorded the events of this world, then the story you remember may have described the original course of my life, before everything changed."

Xie Rong’s gaze darkened. "But that would mean the novel wasn’t necessarily fiction."

"Exactly," Jiang Zhaoyuan replied.

But Wang Gege frowned deeply. "Am I dumb?"

She turned to Xie Rong as if hoping he could somehow make all of this easier to understand.

"It’s really hard for me to understand everything. You just told me that this world might be a different timeline, but then you said the novel I remember could be a record of your timeline." She sighed, looking increasingly frustrated. "So... is this world not fiction? Because you just told me this is inside a novel. I mean... a novel."

She rubbed her forehead.

"When I first arrived here, I really did think this whole world was either a novel or some kind of short drama. But now there are parallel worlds, timelines, systems, rewinds, and stories that may or may not be real..."

Wang Gege looked at the three of them helplessly.

"This is becoming harder and harder for me to understand."

Xie Rong looked at her for a moment before calmly answering, "You are not dumb."

Wang Gege immediately looked relieved. "Good."

"But you are trying to understand something that even the systems don’t completely understand." Xie Rong finished his words.

Her relief disappeared, "That doesn’t make me feel better."

Jiang Zhaoyuan almost smiled. "Perhaps we should stop calling it a novel for now."

Wang Gege blinked. "Then what should we call it?"

"A world." Jiang Zhaoyuan blinked.

She stared at him.

Jiang Zhaoyuan continued, "Whether someone in another world wrote a novel describing it, whether your world created a story based on this world, or whether the novel was simply a record of another timeline, none of that changes one fact."

He looked around the hallway.

"This world exists."