Ethan Wu was utterly bewildered.
Why was Chloe Mu still in his room? It wasn't possible! For a thousand years, over 365,000 days, Ethan had experienced attachments with women, but every time he woke up again, he was alone.
He'd long since become accustomed to waking up to an empty bed.
"Hah! I caught you! You don't even know what to say, do you, you big liar?" Chloe clutched a baseball bat, looking ferociously fierce.
Yet, her attempt at looking fierce wasn't intimidating at all because her true appearance, with her makeup removed, was simply adorable. She had a baby face—big eyes, a high nose bridge, a slight bit of baby fat on her cheeks, and fair skin.
Bang!
Suddenly, Ethan leapt out of bed and dashed toward the bathroom.
"Don't run!" Chloe thought Ethan was trying to hide in the bathroom. She started to get up to chase him, but as she moved, she let out an "Ow!" and sat back down, feeling a little sore.
Ethan ran into the bathroom. His clothes were still in there; last night, he had brought Chloe in and carried her back out, leaving both their clothes behind. He quickly pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket.
Ethan didn't have a clock at home. In modern society, people rarely bought clocks; they'd just check their phones instead.
"July 8th… it's July 8th! Hahaha! It's July 8th!" Seeing the date, Ethan burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face. He slammed his hands against the wall, laughing maniacally, nearly out of control.
The time on his phone read: 7:03 a.m., July 8th.
Time was finally moving forward!
A thousand years had passed!
Ethan felt as if he had finally escaped from a prison, like a caged bird set free. No one knew how he had endured those thousand years.
Every day reset, which meant he had infinite time; he couldn't die, and he wasn't afraid of injury or death—he could do anything in the world.
But because each day repeated itself, everything reset besides his memories. He could do different things, meet different people, but any connections, any relationships, would always restart from scratch. He could never build meaningful bonds or maintain relationships. Every day, it would start over.
At first, he felt like the luckiest man alive. He could speed through the streets, rob banks, become a city hero, kill people, destroy public property, or provoke powerful figures—reckless, wild, and unstoppable!
There were no consequences to worry about, for there would be no consequences at all.
He thought he'd feel liberated, but it didn't take long for him to grow weary.
Nothing he did would last. He began to feel no sense of accomplishment, no satisfaction. He started questioning the meaning of his life, which seemed increasingly pointless.
He could do anything, break any rule, but in truth, he could do nothing, change nothing—because everything would reset. Whatever he did would always be erased.
The people he killed would be alive again the next day, right before his eyes.
The skyscrapers he'd graffiti would be spotless by morning.
The women he slept with wouldn't even recognize him the following day.
The robberies he prevented would still happen again the next day.
The people he helped would still need help again the next day.
With limitless time, he could learn every secret of the city, even the world, and could befriend anyone he chose. But in the end?
There was no outcome.
He grew tired. And for a while, he even became depressed.
He felt like a wandering ghost, floating between realms, detached from the world's natural order. He couldn't understand his existence or what it was supposed to mean.
Normal people had fleeting lives of a mere hundred years, during which they experienced birth and death, joy and sorrow, moments of pride, and times of struggle. That was life.
A mother's joyful smile upon hearing of her son's success; a honeymoon photo with one's spouse; the anxious waiting outside a delivery room for a daughter's birth; walking with one's partner through a park carpeted in autumn leaves, reminiscing about old times… These moments made up life!
It was a life that everyone had, yet one that Ethan would never experience.
If he had merely been given an endless life, he wouldn't have felt this way. He could live on, constantly changing the world, making friends, finding love, feeling a purpose to his existence.
But Ethan didn't have endless life. He was, instead, stuck in a loop of constant resets, in a twisted form of immortality.
He had tried to end his life.
He tried hundreds of methods—poison, trains, jumping from heights, slitting his wrists, burning, and even boiling himself. Each time, he would endure excruciating pain, then fall into darkness.
Only to wake up again, on the morning of July 7, 2020, at 7:00 a.m.
People feared death; Ethan, however, could not die even when he wanted to.
Ethan feared he would lose his mind, or worse, that he would want to lose his mind, for then he might be freed from pain.
Thankfully, he eventually came to terms with it.
He realized that although he could not impact the world, everything he did would reset, and nothing would change. But his memories—those remained.
So, he decided to change himself.
It was still somewhat meaningless, but over those thousand years, Ethan learned hundreds of languages, mastered every mainstream instrument, trained in martial arts, driving, shooting, cooking, dancing, acting…
His hacking skills were world-class!
His reproductions of Picasso's artwork were indistinguishable from the originals!
His hair-styling skills were on par with any renowned stylist!
He spent those thousand years transforming himself into a true polymath.
Yet he was still fearful deep inside. He feared a day would come when he had learned everything there was to learn and would once again face that terrifying void, questioning the meaning of his life.
Though there was no end to learning, Ethan's limitations prevented him from conducting complex experiments, which would have required more than a single day. Hence, he couldn't learn everything.
But fortunately…
He had endured!
Today, he was finally free from the endless cycle!
"Hahaha! I'm free! Hahaha! The world awaits me!" Ethan laughed freely, uttering a phrase that sounded childish, yet came from the depths of his soul.
"Ding! The Host has passed the thousand-year trial. The Time Cycle System is now active, and the Host is bound to it!"
"Ding! Reminder: The Time Cycle System is now fully operational. The Host may choose to lock and reset the current date. The first reset of the same day will consume 1 Temporal Unit. The second reset will consume 2 Temporal Units, the third reset 4 Temporal Units, and so on."
"Ding! The Host currently has 365,000 Temporal Units."
An ethereal voice echoed in Ethan's mind before a data interface appeared before his eyes.
[System Host]: Ethan Wu (Permanently Bound).
[Base Attributes]: Strength 7, Speed 9, Stamina 8, Mental Strength 10,158.
[Time Reset]: Usable (Current consumption: 1).
[Temporal Units]: 365,000.
[Host Abilities]: French LV9, English LV9, Piano LV9, Martial Arts LV9, Shooting LV9… (Total: 1354 skills, can be expanded for details).
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]