Absolute Choice
Absolute Choice - Chapter 483: The Imitation that Vanished

Infernal King's chamber

Shi Xiaobai was lying in bed with his eyes tightly closed while he remained unconscious.

Sunless was sitting on a chair beside the bed. Her eyes were dull as usual, but her gaze was on Shi Xiaobai's face, having not left it for a prolonged period of time.

The Infernal Queen lay languidly on a sofa in the distance. Her eyes were closed as she had dozed off.

As time passed, the chamber remained silent with only the occasional sounds of breathing heard. No one moved, as though they were three petrified statues.

Suddenly, the corners of Shi Xiaobai's eyes twitched lightly.

No matter how minute the change or how ephemeral or fleeting it was, nothing could escape Sunless's eyes. A glint flashed in her dull eyes as the corners of her mouth moved but she did not make a sound. Her hands were clenched into fists but she did not get up.

Instead, it was the Infernal Queen who leaped up and landed beside the bed after sensing the change in Shi Xiaobai's breathing.

"Darling!"

"You've finally awakened!"

During the long three days, the Infernal Queen would only occasionally take a glance at him. Yet, at that moment, she showcased a worried look as if she had been arduously waiting all this while. Sunless glanced at the Infernal Queen without any expression. Her gaze was slightly cold but she did not say a word.

The Infernal Queen gave Sunless a provocative glance, and just as Shi Xiaobai was slowly opening his eyes, she lunged her face over.

Therefore, the first thing to enter Shi Xiaobai's vision was that gorgeous face.

Shi Xiaobai blinked his eyes gently.

The Infernal Queen gave a coquettish smile as she uttered, "Dar..."

The intimate and passionate address came to a halt because Shi Xiaobai had heartlessly turned away and looked at Sunless.

Sunless's mouths twitched slightly, but not a sound came out of it. It was not that she had nothing to say, but that the things she wanted to say were too much for her. It left her at a loss as to what to say.

The two gazed at each other for a moment when Shi Xiaobai's gaze suddenly landed on her shoulder.

Sunless's expression changed slightly.

"Sorry."

Shi Xiaobai's gaze turned slightly gloomy as he whispered. His voice was hoarse and deep.

Despite having lost control of himself, he still had a tiny bit of his consciousness left in him. Even though he did not completely remember what had happened, he still clearly remembered the intolerable pain that he experienced at the instant when he stabbed the girl's soft shoulders with his hands.

He had nearly ripped off her arm, hurting a girl he should not have hurt at all.

Sunless faltered slightly and said with a shake of her head, "Not you."

The 'Shi Xiaobai' that injured me isn't you, so why is there a need for an apology?

Shi Xiaobai sighed, but he did not speak any further.

Even if it was an instant, he could still see a worry that quickly disappeared in her eyes.

Compared to the lingering fear of having nearly lost her arm, she was more concerned about the blame he felt from the remnant memories he had. However, the ineloquent her could not say something beautiful to relieve him. All she could say were the two words, "not you".

"Yea."

Shi Xiaobai tersely answered as a smile that came from the bottom of his heart suffused from the corners of his mouth.

He could not blame himself, else she would blame herself.

"Yea!"

Sunless answered with a solid 'yea', as she felt relieved.

The Infernal Queen rolled her eyes. Seeing Shi Xiaobai ignore her and 'yea'-ing with Sunless, she immediately found it meaningless as she turned to walk towards the sofa.

At that moment, a knock came from the door. Pulp Farmer and Feng Yuanlin had inquired if they could enter.

"The third wheels have come just in time."

The Infernal Queen chuckled softly as she waved her hand, opening the door to the chamber.

Pulp Farmer and Feng Yuanlin were slightly dumbfounded as they looked each other in the eye before walking in.

...

The mood suddenly turned awkward in a baffling manner.

Shi Xiaobai had just woken up, and his mind was still in a daze. It was unknown what should be said.

Sunless was never one to take the initiative to speak. All she did was silently look at Shi Xiaobai.

The Infernal Queen sat on the sofa as she prepared to watch a good show. She had no intentions of interrupting.

Pulp Farmer and Feng Yuanlin clearly had things to say, but they exchanged furtive glances at each other, as though they were trying to signal the other to say the first word.

Therefore, it suddenly turned silent.

Feng Yuanlin finally lost the 'glance war', so he could only bite the bullet and said, "Ahem, Boss Shi Xiaobai, how much do you remember about the events at the Silent Desolate Lands?"

This question was clearly inappropriate. The memories regarding the Silent Desolate Lands was a memory that Shi Xiaobai and the others wished to forget if possible.

However, the answer to whether Shi Xiaobai had any impression of him accidentally killing Speechless determined the development of the plan which involved hiding the truth from Shi Xiaobai. They had to ask him to be sure.

"Only some blurry scenes."

Shi Xiaobai pondered for a moment as he tried his best to recall the memory of him being overwhelmed by 'anger'. The bits of fuzzy memories began to flash through his mind. From protecting Dawn Li to killing Field Marshal Awesomo, Earthbound Yaksha, and Shadow Wraith, the memories were all extremely vague. Many of the details could not be recalled at all, but as the memories continued on, a surging 'pain' made him widen his eyes.

It was as though something important had disappeared.

It had disappeared from this world and from his memories.

What was it?

What could it be?

"Dawn Li!"

Shi Xiaobai suddenly gasped as his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly asked the people beside him, "Where is Dawn Li?"

In his blurry memories, he seemed to see with his own eyes the blond girl vanish in front of him into nothingness. His consciousness was extremely hazy, but the pain he experienced at that instant was still extremely clear.

It was not a mistake, nor was it a dream, much less a memory error!

The 'nightmare' of the blond girl suddenly vanishing in front of him was a reality that had previously happened!

Tiny beads of cold sweat oozed out of Shi Xiaobai's forehead. All sorts of guesses filled his mind, but they all pointed at a particular cruel possibility.

"Dawn Li?"

Everyone noticed that Shi Xiaobai looked nervous and anxious as they immediately turned flustered. They tried their best to recall the name Dawn Li.

"Isn't Dawn Li...the Hero King's name? Oh, I understand. Shi Xiaobai, are you asking about the imitation that was created by the assessment program?" Pulp Farmer was the first person to recall the impression he had in his memories.

Shi Xiaobai immediately turned extremely pale. "Imitation? ...Did she...vanish?"

Regardless of how real and warm the blond girl had made him feel, Shi Xiaobai always had a worrying thought that 'she might be a fake existence'. However, this reality that he did not wish to face had been exposed completely.

"She vanished. Before she vanished, she revealed the truth. Just like our guesses from before, she was indeed an imitation created by the assessment program." Pulp Farmer did not remember what complications the fake Hero King had with Shi Xiaobai. In fact, his memory of the fake Hero King was also very fuzzy. However, for some reason, he had a deep impression that she was a fake imitation.

"..."

Shi Xiaobai sighed silently. He repressed the tumultuous emotions he was feeling, but he did not express it. He did not wish to believe that the blond girl that had accompanied him through life and death was a fake existence, but he had no way of convincing himself of such a ridiculous hope he wanted.

She had vanished.

They could no longer meet again.

Even though he had been mentally prepared after liking the girl, Shi Xiaobai still felt pain, as though his heart was being wrenched at that moment. IChooseDogLeading (我选择狗带) when read in Chinese sounds like I Choose Go Die. It was a meme that resulted from a former member of famous Korean boygroup, EXO, TAO (Huang Zitao). At a concert, there was a part in a rap that where he said "", but due to a mispronunciation, it sounded like he will not easily choose to be led by dogs. This phrase now means 'I'd rather die/I choose death'.