Chapter 275: New Life

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Chapter 275: New Life

【Dear Keke, welcome back to the System Space.】

Shang Ke was dazed for a moment. He spent five seconds settling his emotions and organizing his memories, then suddenly noticed how the System was addressing him. It had gone from “Host,” to “Dear Host,” and now to “Dear Keke.” It was becoming more and more personable.

【Dear Keke, you have successfully completed every cursed reincarnation. From this point onward, you will enter the cycle of normal reincarnation.】

“What exactly counts as a normal reincarnation?”

【You will no longer be restricted by curses or missions. You may freely build an ideal life entirely of your own choosing.】

Shang Ke’s eyes lit up. At long last, all the suffering seemed to have paid off, leaving him with the exhilarating feeling of finally holding his head high.

【Dear Keke, would you like to reincarnate immediately, or would you prefer to stay in the System Space and play for a few years first? The System can provide all kinds of fun simulation games~~】

Shang Ke thought for a moment, then smiled. “I’ll stay here and play for a few years first.”

He had long since realized that the System was a fragment of Chen Xiao’s soul. It was precisely because that soul fragment existed that he and Chen Xiao had been given chance after chance to change their fates and survive situations that should have been hopeless. Since it was part of the man he loved, Shang Ke naturally loved it too.

【Okaaay (^_^)~】

Shang Ke remained in the System Space for three years. Every day, he accompanied the soul fragment as they fought monsters, leveled up, and learned new skills. The time passed in the blink of an eye.

Only when he entered reincarnation again did Shang Ke truly understand what the System had meant by “normal reincarnation.”

Everything began from the beginning. He was reborn as a newborn baby and started an entirely new life. The only difference was that he still retained the memories of his previous lives.

Lying in the nursery, bored out of his mind, Shang Ke asked the System mentally, “Can I choose to seal my memories?”

【Of course. Would dear Keke like the omnipotent System to seal them for you?】

“…No, no need. I was only asking.”

【All right. If Keke ever needs it, you can summon the System at any time. The System guarantees a painless, traceless solution to all memory-related troubles.】

Shang Ke: What are you, an abortion clinic? “Painless and traceless,” seriously…

Since he had plenty of time, Shang Ke asked the System for a general overview of this world. It was a beautiful planet of abilities, rich in resources and highly technologically developed. Ability users made up roughly one percent of the global population. Every awakened ability was different, and most were noncombat types used in everyday life, science, technology, and other fields.

Abilities generally awakened within the first three months after birth. For that reason, newborns spent those three months in specialized nurseries where their ability data could be monitored at all times.

Shang Ke was now two months old and still showed no sign of awakening an ability. He did not care. This world did not discriminate against ordinary humans; even without an ability, a person could still make something of themselves.

Every day, new babies were brought into the nursery while babies who reached three months old were taken home by their parents.

Between eating, drinking, sleeping, and filling diapers, the thing Shang Ke thought about most was whether his man had been born yet, where he had been born, what he looked like—and whether he was still just as much of a scumbag.

One day, Shang Ke happened to turn his head and saw a nurse carefully place a newborn into the transparent bassinet beside his. The baby’s skin was pale pink all over, his tiny face wrinkled into an expression of profound suffering, and only a few sparse strands of brown baby hair grew on his head. He was about as ugly as a newborn could possibly be.

Shang Ke’s eyes widened. Wasn’t this fucking baby the man he had been thinking about day and night?

After so many reincarnations, Shang Ke had discovered that the most broken skill he had acquired was the ability to recognize his man at a glance. Even wrapped in the pure, innocent appearance of a newborn, that unmistakable scumbag aura radiating from the soul could not escape his eyes.

Hey, darling. Nice to meet you for the first time.

Shang Ke cheerfully waved toward the neighboring bassinet.

The baby next door merely lifted his eyelids, then went right back to snoring.

Shang Ke rolled onto his side and critically inspected his man’s physique. Short arms, short legs, skinny and wrinkled, and even his sleeping posture lacked any aesthetic appeal. Shang Ke pointed at him and babbled emphatically: “You’d better eat properly, kid. If you still look like this when you grow up, I’m definitely not keeping you.”

Baby male lead: “…”

Shang Ke’s daily routine became eating, drinking, sleeping, filling diapers, and teasing the future husband next door whenever he had time. The little guy ate a lot and grew quickly. In barely ten days, the uneven pink tone faded from his skin, leaving it healthy, soft, and fair. Half a month later, he awakened an A-rank ability said to be an extremely rare dual type combining intelligence and combat.

By comparison, Shang Ke was much less impressive. Aside from being so adorable that everyone loved him, he never awakened any ability at all. Once his three months were up, he had no choice but to leave with his parents.

Before leaving, Shang Ke memorized the other baby’s name: Shang Que.

They lived in the same city. They would meet again eventually, so Shang Ke was in no hurry.

Shang Ke grew carefree until the age of six, when his parents sent him to kindergarten. For someone with an adult’s memories, kindergarten life was admittedly rather boring. Fortunately, he was excellent at finding his own entertainment. He quietly appointed himself the class’s “volunteer principal” and took responsibility for watching the other children whenever the teachers were overwhelmed or could not keep an eye on everyone at once.

Within a few weeks, Shang Ke’s class had become the most harmonious and affectionate class in the entire kindergarten.

He had assumed this peaceful life would continue. Then, at the beginning of the next semester, a new student transferred into the class.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Shang Que.”

Shang Ke looked at the straight-backed little boy onstage with his half-inch buzz cut and thought: Fate really is a marvelous thing.

Shang Que’s arrival brought a storm of change into Shang Ke’s life. The reason was simple. Just as Shang Ke had recognized him at a glance in the nursery, Shang Que seemed to choose Shang Ke at first sight on his very first day of kindergarten. From then on, he followed Shang Ke everywhere like a personal bodyguard.

Once, Shang Ke was crouching in a corner, staring blankly at a boy playing with a water gun. Perhaps his vacant expression looked too yearning, because Shang Que mistakenly decided Shang Ke desperately wanted the toy. He marched over looking murderous, snatched the water gun away, shoved it into Shang Ke’s arms, then planted himself in front of him to stop the other boy from taking it back.

The boy stared in shock for several seconds after his beloved toy was suddenly stolen, then burst into earth-shaking sobs. The teacher rushed over at once, comforting one child while scolding the other and delivering a lengthy lesson.

Shang Que stared contemptuously at the boy who had run crying to the teacher at the slightest disagreement, then coolly delivered his two-word verdict: “So childish.”

Shang Ke: Is there something seriously wrong with this man’s worldview…?

“We’re not playing with brats like that anymore.”

Shang Ke: He never wanted to play with you in the first place…

At mealtimes, Shang Que always sat pressed close beside Shang Ke. Lunches usually included both meat and vegetables, along with a bowl of hot soup.

Shang Ke had just finished his cabbage and cucumber when a pair of chopsticks suddenly reached over from the side, removed the chicken roll from his bowl, and replaced it with more cabbage and cucumber.

Shang Ke turned his head.

Shang Que said considerately, “I’ll give you all my cabbage and cucumber. I’ll eat the chicken roll you don’t like for you.”

Shang Ke: This brat clearly has no idea that some people save their favorite food for last…

Probably interpreting Shang Ke’s stare as one of profound “unfulfilled desire,” Shang Que reached into the bowl of the child beside them and helpfully transferred that child’s cabbage and cucumber to Shang Ke as well.

Shang Ke: “…”

The other child did not even like vegetables, but having food stolen straight out of his bowl for no reason immediately set off his little temper. A minor argument escalated into shoving and kicking, which eventually triggered a full-scale cafeteria brawl.

Watching the cafeteria descend into total chaos, Shang Ke had a dark premonition that the harmonious, loving class he had worked so hard to create was about to become a thing of the past.

His husband’s character education had to begin from childhood! As the self-appointed volunteer principal, Shang Ke decided he would teach by both word and example and reform Shang Que into a future pillar of society with impeccable morals.

Between Shang Ke’s combination of carrots and sticks and his bewildering assortment of skills, handling a little boy who had not even finished growing his teeth was naturally easy. Shang Que himself possessed both intelligence- and combat-type abilities, so his learning capacity was far beyond that of an ordinary child. Anything Shang Ke taught him, he quickly understood and absorbed. After witnessing just how capable Shang Ke seemed to be at everything, the proud and arrogant Shang Que became both thoroughly convinced by him and increasingly fond of him.

Their relationship deepened day by day. Whether studying, playing, eating, or sleeping, they were always together. When Shang Que did not want to speak, Shang Ke would speak for him; when Shang Ke disliked doing something, Shang Que would do it for him. They understood one another almost instinctively and worked together with perfect tacit coordination.

The two spent an inseparably close year together in kindergarten. They were already happily imagining elementary school when Shang Que’s father was transferred for work and the family had no choice but to move.

The day before they separated, Shang Que hid in the bathroom at Shang Ke’s house and cried as though the world were ending, apparently determined to cry himself to death in there. Given his personality, he had probably never cried that hard in his life.

Leaning against the bathroom door, Shang Ke said softly, “Stop crying and come out. I have something to give you.”

The crying gradually quieted. Two or three minutes later, Shang Que emerged. He tried very hard to act as though nothing had happened, but his eyes were as red and swollen as peaches and betrayed him completely.

Shang Ke took two necklaces from a box. “I carved these lock charms myself. One for each of us.”

The lock charms were shaped like leaves, with their names engraved on the backs. Shang Ke gave Shang Que the one engraved with his own name.

“Take good care of it. Don’t lose it.” Shang Ke fastened the necklace around Shang Que’s neck.

Shang Que picked up the other necklace in turn and fastened it around Shang Ke’s neck.

“I’ll write to you.”

“Mm. I’ll write back.”

After their reluctant farewell, Shang Que still left with his parents. Shang Ke had thought he might get to raise his man from childhood in this life, but apparently plans could never quite keep up with reality.

When they met again, ten years had passed. By coincidence, both of them had been admitted to the same university.

Throughout those years, Shang Ke had continued paying attention to any news of Shang Que. At first they exchanged letters, but after Shang Que’s family moved overseas, they lost contact completely.

Shang Ke had even considered using his hacking skills to track down Shang Que’s address abroad, then finding a way to get admitted to the university he attended.

But before Shang Ke could put that plan into action, Shang Que found him first.

When Shang Ke saw the tall, handsome young man smiling as he walked toward him across the university grounds, a strange certainty settled in his heart: this time, they would never be separated again…

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