Peach-Orange! – Chapter 343 – The Desperate Cycle

“I actually came back from the future!”

The words the girl wanted to say stuck in her throat. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make a sound.

In that instant, she had lost her voice.

No matter how frantically she gestured, she could only move her lips like a mute, unable to produce any sound.

Her inexplicable actions confused Su Tao. To outsiders, the girl was simply throwing a tantrum.

Once again, Su Tao sighed. “Xiaocheng, I have important things to do too. You’re an adult now. Try to be a little more mature.”

Prompted by Ye Liang, she turned and left.

The girl’s mouth hung open. She reached out, trying to grab the retreating figure, but a car horn blared in the distance, warning her not to take another step forward.

Was it going to be the same as last time?

Just like the orb said, endless accidents would follow until she died without ever seeing Tao-Tao again?

‘All because our fates are being controlled?’

‘All because we’re so-called “novel characters,” forced to act as others dictate?’

‘Without even our own thoughts?’

The girl clenched her fists, straining to shout with all her might. But after opening her mouth for a long time, only a faint, helpless whimper escaped.

Reаⅾ oո KаtRеαԁіոɡCαfе

She looked at the approaching car and smiled faintly.

Then took a step forward.

BANG—!

…

It hurt.

Being hit and sent flying, then skidding across the pavement… every bone in her body felt shattered, the pain making her tremble.

They say the moment of death isn’t painful.

Once dead, all sensation disappears. Consciousness fades, and the body’s pain signals can no longer be received.

But when you can revive, the residual agony carves itself deep into your memory.

So much so that every time the girl woke up, she would exhale heavily several times, or curl up on the ground, clutching her chest to ease the soul-deep pain.

The small orb floated to her side and said calmly, “See? You rushed again. You always rush. You wasted another chance to cycle, and couldn’t even discuss your so-called plans with me first?”

The girl whipped her head toward the orb. “Why couldn’t I speak earlier? If I could just tell Tao-Tao I’m from the future, explain what’s going to happen, she’d definitely come back to me!”

The orb radiated exasperation. “I just finished saying Su Tao, as the female lead, is under intense surveillance by that outsider. If you blurt out that you can reset time in front of her, you might as well be selling me out!

Rеαd оո ΚatRеаⅾіոɡCafе

“If we’re exposed, I’ll be in huge trouble. And you’ll lose all chances to try again. The ending you’ve experienced will become permanent.

It tried to reason with her. “I can’t stop you from acting, but our goals align. We can return to that point in time anytime. Even if you spend ten years thinking here, your Su Tao won’t suffer accidents just because you paused.

“When you step through that door again, it’ll still be the same familiar beginning.”

Perhaps the repeated deaths had exhausted her, or maybe she finally listened, the girl’s emotions stabilized somewhat. Biting her lip, she replied, “I won’t stop.”

The orb said quietly, “Do you know why I said you need to survive first before worrying about Su Tao?

“That outsider is, in a way, its ruler.

“Like me, it can’t directly interfere with this world. But it can use people, events, or material means to create ‘accidents’ that achieve its desired outcomes.

“Su Tao is the protagonist. Of course she can’t escape the world’s control. Even her thoughts can be influenced. Your argument with her is predetermined fate. No matter what you say or do, she won’t be swayed in that moment.

“This argument is a turning point for major plot developments later. It’s also one of the reasons Su Tao clings to hope after your death. There’s no avoiding it.

“That’s why, no matter how many times you try, Su Tao will always push you away at the start.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “So you’re saying that ‘world will’ can directly control Tao-Tao’s thoughts?”

“Not exactly.” The orb clarified, “More like psychological nudges, slowly steering her mindset.

“The more complete a character’s persona, the higher their narrative weight, the harder it is to break free from the world’s control.

Reαd οո ΚаtRеаԁіոgCаfе

“So if you want to save your Su Tao, you have to make her ‘not herself.’ Make the world’s will lose interest in her. You need to survive first, then throw the original novel’s plot into chaos.

“Only when the waters are muddied will there be opportunities.”

The orb had no better solutions. It couldn’t intervene directly, just as the world’s will couldn’t either.

At most, it could help Chi Xiaocheng avoid pitfalls and set goals so she wouldn’t charge in blindly to her death.

But how could someone’s character be destroyed so thoroughly they became unrecognizable?

Yet its words calmed the girl.

Surviving four months was easy.

If she just avoided Tao-Tao entirely, she should live, right?

But if she let things unfold, wouldn’t Tao-Tao fall completely for Ye Liang’s lies? If Tao-Tao kept hating her, what was the point of surviving?

The girl pondered, but the more she thought, the more agitated she grew.

The good news was, she had direction now. She knew that when she reset, she’d face the same rejection.

So maybe… instead of focusing on Ye Liang, explaining things to Tao-Tao first would work better?

The girl couldn’t plan too far ahead. She wasn’t the scheming type.

Rеαd оո ΚаtReaⅾіոɡСαfе

Growing up, she’d been sheltered by Su Tao most of her life. Her family was poor, but under that moonlight-like girl’s care, she’d still had happy memories.

She racked her brain but couldn’t devise a better strategy.

Deciding to try once more, she stepped through the door again.

Cycling endlessly through despair.

Enduring the pain over and over.

At first, she’d reset to beg Su Tao’s forgiveness. Then, realizing she couldn’t change the initial outcome, she started using her lives recklessly, becoming a “speedrunner.”

Ignoring the first argument, she engineered encounters later to explain things to Su Tao.

Sometimes, her emotions would collapse mid-cycle. She’d confess her feelings desperately, pour her heart out, then flee, only to repeat the futile efforts.

The floating screens in the white space, once just a few, multiplied to dozens as cycles piled up.

The body never adapts to pain, but the mind and spirit grow numb.

After dying so many times, the girl’s desperate drive to save Su Tao seemed to dull.

Or rather, it hardened into an obsession, pushing her forward.

Those once-clear eyes inevitably gained streaks of crimson.