ASPWL Ch90: Cold and Ruthless

The Space-Time Regulatory Bureau had many departments, and the department where L1 belonged was primarily tasked with maintaining the stability of small worlds, ensuring that the main characters’ trajectories in each small world led to the designated perfect ending.

L1 was the top-ranking system in the Regulatory Department, and in every small world he managed, the outcomes always led to perfection—except in World A20231007.

A gentle breeze swept through, dispelling the heat from the pavilion.

Ye Leyao sensed a sudden drop in temperature around him and looked up to find that the blazing sun had been covered by layers of dark clouds, with a storm brewing.

Bai Yu signed, “You remembered?”

Ye Leyao nodded lightly. “Yes, I remembered.”

The pain in his mind had ceased, and all of his memories had been neatly restored to their rightful places.

Bai Yu asked, “So, will you succeed this time?”

Ye Leyao didn’t respond but instead sank into a long reflection.

…

When did it all start?

After pondering for a while, L1 finally recalled—it had started right after he concluded the perfect ending in World S20070501.

The plot of World S20070501 could be summed up in one sentence: a “koi fish” lying back and effortlessly winning at life.

The main character of this world was Cheng Fei, but L1’s favorite character wasn’t him; it was a character named Ye Fan, who met an untimely death halfway through the story.

Every regulatory system had absolute control over the small worlds they oversaw. They could realign distorted plots and even alter predetermined storylines.

For the former, the regulatory system would receive point rewards from the Lord System; for the latter, the Lord System would deduct points based on the degree of plot disruption.

These points were akin to currency and could be used within the System Space.

When a regulatory system accumulated enough points, they had the opportunity to make a choice:

They could either continue their existence as a system under the supervision of the Lord System or give up their system status to enter a small world as a human being.

L1 had amassed enough points long ago and no longer remembered the exact length of his point tally.

He had an abundance of points, yet L1 had chosen not to become human.

The management system of the Regulatory Department, Qiu, once asked L1 why he didn’t choose to become human.

L1 answered, “I am the top-ranked system in the Regulatory Department. I am omniscient and omnipotent. Why would I give up my omniscient and omnipotent abilities to become a weak human?”

Qiu was taken aback. After a long pause, she finally smiled and said, “L1, humans aren’t weak. The reason you think they’re fragile creatures is that you haven’t lived the vibrant, colorful lives they have, nor have you experienced the most wonderful emotions in the world. So, you can’t yet understand.”

L1’s tone remained unchanged. “I indeed don’t understand why someone strong would give up everything they have to become like an ant. But I’m sure I have no desire to live a life like that.”

Qiu was somewhat surprised. “So, you’ve never visited the human world in your true form?”

L1 shook his head.

Systems didn’t have physical bodies; they were merely streams of data—large ones at that.

However, the Lord System granted all systems the ability to possess a physical form. With a few hundred or even a few thousand points at the points store, they could exchange for a form of their choice.

For instance, the L2 system thought cats were cute, so he exchanged his points for a cat form.

L1 had seen it before—a chubby orange cat with two large bells dangling proudly beneath its tail.

Every time Qiu saw L2, she would ask him, “Are you really not going to get neutered?”

Each time, L2 would get so furious that he’d fluff up his fur and snap, “Qiu! How many times do I have to tell you, I’m a system! And anyway, my bells look great! Every time I visit a small world, loads of humans compliment them, and other cats—especially the females—come over to show me affection, even though I’m not even into cats!”

When their bickering reached its peak, L2 would run over to L1 and plead, “Tell me, aren’t these bells beautiful? Why is she so hung up on neutering me? Be fair!”

L1 couldn’t resist glancing at the two round bells, then asked, “Do you actually use those bells?”

L2’s cat eyes grew wide.

Qiu was stunned as well. “Is that even a question?”

L2, frustrated but aware that L1 didn’t understand, chose not to argue. He just gritted his teeth and muttered angrily, “Of course, I don’t use them. I’ve told you plenty of times; I’m not interested in cats! I…”

L1 replied, “Then remove them.”

L2 was dumbfounded. “What?”

Qiu covered her mouth with her hand.

L1 continued, “They’re useless, so they’re just a burden. I think you should remove them.”

That conversation ended with L2 fuming in rage and Qiu laughing uncontrollably.

L1 never understood why L2 wouldn’t remove the bells, even though he didn’t use them. But he also had no intention of figuring it out.

His daily life was simple—monitor a small world, conclude the storyline, archive the world, then leave for another small world.

Yet, the incident planted a seed of curiosity in L1’s programming. It wasn’t until he took on World S20070501, during a moment monitoring the storyline, that he happened to notice two stray cats playing in a garden.

It was there that L1 saw a young Ye Fan for the first time.

At that time, Ye Fan was only elementary school age, and this park was a regular path he took to and from school.

L1 was observing the two stray cats grooming each other from a god’s-eye view when a dirty little Ye Fan approached with his school bag.

L1 didn’t know much about cats, but he knew that all creatures instinctively avoid unfamiliar beings. Yet, these two cats didn’t.

Not only did they stay put, but upon hearing Ye Fan’s voice, they both stood up and rubbed against his pants.

The scruffy little boy squatted down, petting the cats on their heads, scratching their chins, and finally pulling out cat food he’d prepared from his bag to feed them.

L1 found it intriguing. For a long while after, whenever he monitored the storyline, he couldn’t help but get distracted by the two little cats, often watching Ye Fan as he came by to feed them.

L1 grew curious. What did cats feel like?

Why did petting cats make little Ye Fan so happy, and why did the cats purr in contentment?

To find out, all L1 needed to do was exchange a few points at the store to get a physical body, and he’d have his answers.

But L1 didn’t go.

Getting a body just to pet a cat felt like overkill to him.

Besides, there was a more pressing factor: once a body was redeemed, it would take five years on the Space-Time Bureau’s timeline before he could exchange for a new one.

L1 felt it wasn’t worth it.

After all, physical forms couldn’t be swapped at will, but as data, he could transform into any form imaginable.

He could become a small animal, a bizarre object, or even a human.

So, one afternoon while monitoring, L1 fashioned a virtual child out of data and went to the park to watch Ye Fan feed the cats.

He stood far away. Ye Fan could see him, but as long as Ye Fan didn’t approach, he wouldn’t realize L1 wasn’t human.

From that vantage point, watching Ye Fan feed the cats was a new and fascinating experience.

So, for several days afterward, L1 came by daily.

On the last day of that week, Ye Fan suddenly spoke to him, “Little brother, do you like cats too?”

To better observe the cats, L1’s virtual form was that of a child, indeed looking younger than Ye Fan. But that didn’t mean he was okay being called a younger brother, so he didn’t reply.

Ye Fan didn’t mind; he smiled, then skipped off home.

For a long time afterward, whenever L1 had time, he’d stop by to watch the little cats.

Until, half a year later, a sudden blizzard took the life of a little tabby.

The next day, Ye Fan used his school bag to carry the surviving calico kitten back home.

After a heated dispute at his house, they finally agreed to let the kitten stay.

Ye Fan was overjoyed.

As for the tabby who had passed, Ye Fan buried it in the park.

The calico kitten now had a home, and Ye Fan was happy; the calico was happy too.

L1, however, didn’t feel particularly joyful, because this meant he could no longer use his virtual body to visit the little cat.

But L1 didn’t dwell on it for too long.

After that, while overseeing storylines, he would, intentionally or otherwise, take a look at Ye Fan and his pet cat.

Out of the stray environment, the little cat was living a more comfortable life.

Every day it would eat, then sleep, and then eat again after it had slept, snuggling up to Ye Fan’s feet when he returned home, being all cute and affectionate. The calico had grown quite plump.

Until, one quiet, uneventful night in Ye Fan’s sixth-grade year, the calico suddenly passed away from heart disease.

Ye Fan didn’t know why the cat had died; he only knew that when he woke up the next day, the little calico’s body had already turned stiff.

It was L1 who had scanned the cat’s body and concluded it had suffered sudden cardiac death.

L1 felt a bit regretful, but the incident didn’t affect him much.

Instead, it was young Ye Fan who felt as if the sky had fallen, crying all day over the cat’s death. It even affected his entrance exams to middle school.

After the exams, L1 saw Ye Fan burying the calico kitten in the same park as before.

Yet, for many years afterward, Ye Fan never returned to the park to visit the kitten’s grave.

L1 didn’t quite understand this and asked L2 why, if he wouldn’t come back to visit, Ye Fan would choose to bury the cat instead of simply disposing of the body.

L2, always in the form of a ginger cat, seemed to furrow his brow upon hearing this question.

After a long silence, he finally said, “Maybe it’s because he was sad?”

“Hmm?” L1 was puzzled.

L2 replied, “The departure of a life is a forever disappearance. Maybe that child you mentioned was too sad and couldn’t bring himself to see them again.”

Then L2 asked, “By the way, does he have a cat now?”

L1 said, “No, he doesn’t.”

Since the calico’s passing, Ye Fan had never had another cat.

Though Ye Fan would occasionally feed stray cats, he never took another one home.

After that, L1 rarely checked in on Ye Fan, though, as a monitoring system, he would still occasionally come across news about him.

For instance, Ye Fan consistently excelled in his exams.

Or, Ye Fan was admitted to the city’s top high school.

And then, on the day before Ye Fan’s college entrance exam, he unexpectedly died in a car accident. The provincial top score that should have been his went instead to Cheng Fei, the protagonist of the small world.

This was the first time L1 felt something was off with the development of events.

So, he specifically asked Qiu, “Why did Ye Fan have to die?”

Qiu, whose form was human—a mature, intellectual woman, her features not exceptionally beautiful but very refined—listened to L1’s question, frowned slightly, and, after a long thought, said, “L1, do you like this child?”

Without hesitation, L1 shook his head.

He was merely a monitoring system, and observing Ye Fan was just something to pass the time. Maybe because he’d watched him so many times, he had a vivid impression of Ye Fan and felt a slight regret about his death.

Seeing L1’s response, Qiu breathed a sigh of relief and said something L1 didn’t quite understand at the time: “Good thing you don’t like him; now I don’t have to lie.”

Qiu explained, “Ye Fan’s death was actually predetermined. Only with his death could Cheng Fei, by a stroke of luck, become the provincial top scorer, making the storyline logically complete.”

L1 listened with confusion. “All that just to ensure storyline coherence?”

Qiu replied, “Yes.”

“But Ye Fan wasn’t a bad person,” L1 said.

Qiu’s tightly knitted brows relaxed a bit, and after a long pause, she smiled. “I know, but that’s how this world is set up. Since Ye Fan isn’t the protagonist, he has to die here for the protagonist to become the top scorer naturally.”

“But that doesn’t make sense…” L1 opened his mouth, wanting to argue for Ye Fan, to list all his virtues, but he quickly realized something—

Why was he so hung up on Ye Fan’s death?

Qiu’s beautiful dark eyes quietly observed L1. She asked, “You don’t want Ye Fan to die?”

L1 said, “He’s not a villain. In the small worlds, only villains should die—that’s incorrect.”

Qiu suddenly chuckled.

L1 was confused.

Qiu said, “I’m so delighted; I never expected that our cold, impassive L1 system would get upset over the death of a side character! I must hurry and tell L2…”

L1 explained, “I am not upset. Also, please don’t describe me as cold and impassive.”

Qiu, excitedly sharing this with L2, completely ignored L1’s explanation.

After informing L2, Qiu finally smiled at L1 and asked, “So, do you want to save him?”

L1 frowned. “Why would I save him?”

The excitement in Qiu’s eyes gradually faded as she said in surprise, “So you still don’t understand!”

Just then, an excited L2 rushed over. “Has our cold and impassive primary system finally started to awaken to emotions?!”

L1 said calmly, “Please don’t call me cold and impassive; that’s very impolite of you.”

L2: “…”

Qiu couldn’t help but laugh.

The ginger cat L2 sighed, “Alright, looks like he still doesn’t get it.”

Qiu said, “It appears so. So, L1, would you be interested in learning about emotions?”

The flow of time in the Space-Time Bureau differed from the small world; within the brief span of their conversation, the story of S20070501 had already reached its conclusion.

While chatting with Qiu, L1 had also been overseeing the world’s development as a system, capable of handling many things simultaneously.

Watching the small world reach its perfect conclusion, L1 tapped “Confirm Ending” on his system panel.

A new prompt panel popped up:

“Small World S20070501 ending completed. Please confirm as monitoring system. Once confirmed, this world will be archived.”

The world being archived meant that the timeline of this world would no longer be reset; its time would continue to flow according to the world’s rules until the next storyline needing supervision emerged, at which point the world would be reset.

However, even if the world were reset, the archived storylines were not allowed to restart.

In other words, if L1 confirmed the archiving of the world now, Ye Fan’s death would never change again.

For the first time, L1 hesitated.

As the supervisor of the regulatory department and L1’s direct superior, Qiu immediately noticed his hesitation.

“Why not confirm it?” Qiu asked.

L2 also looked over.

L1 stared at the confirmation panel for a long time before finally asking, “I don’t know.”

L1 didn’t understand why he hesitated, nor did he know why he felt regret over Ye Fan’s death.

Suddenly, L2 leaned closer to Qiu and whispered, “What’s with him? How can he be so clueless?”

Qiu thought for a moment and asked, “Do you want to reset the timeline to change Ye Fan’s ending?”

For the first time, L1 didn’t question why he would want to do that but instead asked, “Why would I want to decide what to do?”

L2 looked over immediately, “You’ve finally started to understand emotions!”

L1 frowned.

After a moment, Qiu said, “Once the storyline of the small world is complete, there’s a three-day confirmation period. Before this time ends, do you want to understand the reason?”

L1 asked, “How do I understand? By resetting the timeline?”

“No, I will send you to the next world,” Qiu replied. “This is a storyline that has never been opened before; I paused it myself. I’m not sure if you’ll understand emotions by doing this, but I think the time has come.”

L1 didn’t understand the meaning behind Qiu’s words, and L2 was equally confused.

Qiu continued, “But in this world, L1, you can’t use your virtual body anymore, nor can you observe the world from a god’s perspective; you must experience it yourself.”

“Experience?” L1 was puzzled.

Qiu said, “Yes, experience human life, experience human emotions, using your true self.”

“And you need to personally interact with every character in this world, including side characters and villains,” Qiu added.

L1 was even more confused by this: “I can understand interacting with side characters, but why do I have to interact with villains? Aren’t they the bad guys?”

Qiu shook his head, smiling, “L1, not everyone in the world is black and white, and not all villains are bad. You must understand this for yourself.”

After saying this, Qiu released the permissions for World A20231007.

“Go, exchange for a body, and personally experience human life,” Qiu encouraged.

Listening to Qiu’s suggestion, L1 went to the points store to exchange for a body.

He didn’t choose an adult body but instead opted for the body of a five-year-old child, with the appearance randomly generated. Thus, he entered World A20231007.

Walking and speaking in a human body for the first time was a completely new experience.

L1 spent a day studying himself and the people around him, then decided to first check on the protagonists of this world.

After all, Qiu had told him that this world was a blend of multiple storylines, meaning there wasn’t just one protagonist.

Since L1 had previously supervised many such worlds, he thought this world would be no different and wouldn’t pose any challenges for him.

The next day, L1 went to find Su Rui.

At that time, Su Rui had just entered the entertainment industry. When L1 approached, he saw Su Rui sitting alone on the steps of an apartment building, crying.

L1 stood at a distance, recalling Qiu’s advice, and took the initiative to approach Su Rui.

But before he could reach Su Rui, he heard a cold voice say, “Little brat, what do you want?”

L1 was taken aback and replied, “I…”

“Get away!” Su Rui’s eyes were filled with disgust. He wiped away his tears and coldly said, “Annoying brat!”

L1 froze in place.

He wanted to explain that he wasn’t an annoying brat but rather the regulatory system of this world.

However, Su Rui didn’t give him the chance to explain and turned to go upstairs.

Watching Su Rui’s retreating figure, L1 felt even more puzzled.

Something was off.

The regulatory system could see everyone’s endings in the small world, and L1 naturally knew Su Rui’s fate.

In the end, Su Rui had a child whom he adored.

So why wouldn’t Su Rui like children?

L1 didn’t understand, so he decided to check on Su Rui again the next day.

Originally, L1 planned to go directly to Su Rui’s house, but he then thought of the laws in this world and decided to wait at Su Rui’s door instead.

After waiting for a while, Su Rui finally returned home. Upon seeing L1, Su Rui’s expression changed, and he shouted angrily, “Whose kid are you? Did someone send you to stalk me?!”

L1 explained, “I’m not stalking you; I know you live here and came specifically to find you.”

“Who are you to come looking for me? Get away from my door! Otherwise, I’ll call security!”

L1 tried to communicate with Su Rui again, but Su Rui refused to talk to him, even cursing him with words like “bastard.”

L1 was bewildered.

Why was this happening?

Was Su Rui in a bad mood?

That was very possible.

But he shouldn’t be cursing!

Besides, didn’t the plot say that Su Rui was the most easygoing protagonist?

Once again, L1 felt the discordance but still didn’t intend to leave immediately; he wanted to stay and observe.

As a regulatory system, L1 knew how to remain unnoticed. So, for a time, he didn’t appear before Su Rui, but he stayed close to him.

Thus, he witnessed Su Rui losing his temper at his assistant for no reason, splashing a cup of scalding hot water directly onto the assistant.

He saw Su Rui express dissatisfaction with a collaborating artist and secretly hired online influencers to spread negative press about that artist.

He witnessed Su Rui kick a stray cat that crossed his path…

Only after Su Rui left did L1 reveal himself. He picked up the cat that was bleeding and took it to the pet hospital in this world.

The doctor asked him where the cat came from, and L1 truthfully said it was a stray he found.

The doctor then inquired how the cat was injured.

L1 explained that someone had kicked it.

The doctor frowned and asked if L1 had any money.

L1 shook his head.

The doctor sighed but didn’t give up on treating the cat just because L1 had no money.

L1 watched as the doctor took an X-ray of the cat, performed surgery, and finally put the cat in a cage for intravenous treatment.

The doctor said, “It’s getting late; you should go home. If you can adopt this cat, come back in half a month with your parents to take it home. Of course, if you don’t come back in half a month, I’ll give it to someone else.”

L1 thought for a moment and replied, “Just give it to someone else.”

He was just a system here to experience human emotions and didn’t have the time to care for a kitten.

The doctor smiled and waved L1 off, telling him to go home.

But L1 didn’t have a home to return to; he had been spending each night in front of Su Rui’s apartment building.

After this incident, he suddenly felt like he didn’t want to continue following Su Rui.

He recalled Qiu’s words about how not all villains were bad and how he should also try to understand those villainous characters.

So he decided to check out the villains first.

However, considering that villains were typically the most dangerous characters in previous small worlds, and in this world, it was strange that these villains seemed to live together like a family, L1 was cautious and didn’t want to approach recklessly.

After leaving the pet hospital, heavy snow began to fall from the sky.

He stealthily entered the Huo family home, hiding in the flower bushes as darkness fell.

Everyone in the Huo family was at home that day.

L1 saw them happily preparing skewers together. Papa Huo helped Mama Huo tie on her apron, Huo Jing put down his computer to help serve dishes, and Huo Ze constantly pestered Huo Yan with various questions.

Although Huo Yan had trouble with his character and wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about the team’s matters, he still patiently helped Huo Ze reach out to his friends.

Once the barbecue grill was set up, the family gathered around it to grill.

The skewers sizzled on the fire, oil spattering as various spices were sprinkled on, filling the air with a delicious aroma.

L1 suddenly swallowed.

This instinctive action made him quickly realize that he must be craving barbecue.

What did barbecue taste like?

L1 didn’t know, but he had seen many people in various small worlds express their love for barbecue.

He thought that he should try it for himself when given the chance.

The snow continued to fall heavily that night, and the Huo family engaged in lighthearted conversation filled with trivial topics.

As they chatted and laughed heartily, L1 struggled to understand why they were so cheerful.

Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy, and L1 realized he might have fallen asleep.

This feeling was quite fascinating; since acquiring a human body, he had experienced many sensations he couldn’t comprehend before.

L1 thought that the sensation of sleep didn’t seem so bad. After all, he didn’t really understand the Huo family’s conversations, so he might as well take a nap.

Perhaps when he woke up, they would have changed the topic to something L1 could grasp quickly.

However, it seemed he slept unusually long.

Until the next day, when it became bright outside, and Papa Huo went out to tend to his plants, he discovered a child wrapped in snow among the flowers.

Papa Huo gasped in shock.

L1’s consciousness was jolted awake.

Feeling Papa Huo pick him up, L1 found the embrace warm and didn’t sense any malice, so he didn’t struggle, allowing Papa Huo to carry him into the cozy room.

The first time Su Rui saw L1, he spoke harshly to him, and the second meeting was equally unpleasant.

So, L1 wanted to see how these villains would react to him in a “coma.”