I can rewind time to prevent death

Looking at this task information prompt, Yan Junze was somewhat puzzled.

"This guy developed a deep hatred for cameras, hence his strangeness takes a weird form." What does that mean? Could it be that his strangeness is different from other strangenesses?

Task prompt—perhaps I need a tool.

What tool? Yan Junze was completely baffled.

Just then, he heard rustling sounds coming from somewhere not far away, seemingly... from that darkroom.

Yan Junze still lay on the sofa without getting up, listening intently with perked ears.

By this time, any trace of sleepiness had vanished, his concentration was at its peak, and after listening for a while, he confirmed that the noises were coming from the darkroom.

The sounds weren't loud and resembled a mouse rummaging, producing extremely sporadic noises.

At this moment, Yan Junze couldn't help but admire Gu Bai; the kid was still asleep in his bedroom, yet he could hear these sounds—he must be exceedingly sensitive.

Yan Junze believed that if it were not for the task prompt popping up and his own persistent vigilance, even in sleep, maintaining alertness, he would never have noticed this peculiarity under normal circumstances.

After setting up Rewind, Yan Junze slowly sat up from the sofa.

The sofa was quite old and made creaking sounds as he got up. During this time, the noises from the darkroom suddenly ceased; there was no further movement.

Yan Junze didn't dare to move any further, just sitting quietly without turning on any lights or the flashlight on his phone, sitting in the dark, listening attentively.

About two or three minutes later, the sound started once again.

This time Yan Junze heard it clearly; the noise seemed like something being nibbled on, just like a rat stealing food.

"It couldn't really be just a rat," Yan Junze thought with a sense of oddness.

But the task prompt had already appeared, it couldn't be that simple.

He stretched his feet to the ground, slowly put on his shoes, and then Yan Junze slowly stood up, leaving the sofa behind.

His movements were very slow, as he feared making any loud noises, even deliberately reducing the number of times he breathed.

Still, the moment he left the sofa, the damned sofa made a noise again.

Once more, the activity in the darkroom stopped.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yan Junze just stood there, motionless. This time, it took at least five minutes before the sounds resumed from the darkroom.

At this point, Yan Junze began to move, quietly approaching the darkroom. Knowing he was moving at night, he had switched to a pair of soft-soled sneakers before coming, and at this moment, his movements were cautious, without making a sound.

Standing at the entrance of the darkroom, Yan Junze noticed that the door of the darkroom wasn't shut tight. After lifting the heavy black curtain, he could push the door open and enter directly.

Taking a deep breath and touching the door gently, he exerted a bit of force and tried to push the door of the darkroom open at the slowest possible speed.

It was nighttime, and the outside area of the shop was also very dark, so opening the door to the darkroom wouldn't cause any sudden exposure that could ruin the photos inside.

Fortunately, it seemed, the darkroom wasn't completely dark but bathed in a hazy dark red light that allowed anyone entering to still see.

Yan Junze didn't rush in, but instead lifted the black curtain and stood beneath it, pushing the darkroom's door open just enough for someone to slip in sideways, then stood still at the doorway to observe.

With the aid of the dark red light, his current position was actually darker, which made it easier to observe the inside.

On closer examination, the row of tables inside the darkroom was neatly lined with large quantities of film rolls and stacks of developed photos. The row closer to him had a rectangular sink for developing film, which still contained soaking chemicals.

Above the sink were multiple lines strung across, with photos clipped onto them, hanging to dry.

However, Yan Junze noticed that many of the photos drying weren't complete—either a corner was missing, or half of the photo was gone.

The door to the darkroom was thick and didn't make a sound when pushed open; Yan Junze then pushed it a bit wider.

He widened his eyes, looking carefully. He even crouched down to inspect closer to the ground.

He saw nothing. There was nothing out of the ordinary where his gaze fell.

But the rustling sound persisted.

He looked up again at the darkroom's ceiling, half-expecting to see a strangeness lying there, staring down at him without blinking.

But there was nothing.

"How come there's nothing?" Yan Junze was somewhat puzzled.

With a thought, he released Long-tongued Zhenzhen.

Normally, when completing tasks, depending on the task, it was not appropriate to release other strangenesses for help. But the situation of this task was different.

The mission briefing was simple, exterminate this scum. That was the goal. No matter the method, as long as the strangeness was exterminated, it would suffice.

But the problem was that he couldn't find it at all now? That suggested that this creature might be incredibly adept at hiding itself.

Therefore, releasing Long-tongued Zhenzhen to help find and kill it should be the right move.

Explore stories at empire

Long-tongued Zhenzhen was a high-level Wandering Spirit. Yan Junze didn't believe the strangeness in this photographing studio was above a Semi-Sculpting Spirit, otherwise, the mission level wouldn't be as it was.

Even if Long-tongued Zhenzhen couldn't handle it, didn't he still have the club in his hand? If all else failed, he would just smash it dead!

After Long-tongued Zhenzhen came out, Yan Junze directly pushed open the door of the darkroom and entered.

"What's the situation?" Long-tongued Zhenzhen followed behind and asked.

"There's a strangeness here, help me find it," Yan Junze said. "If it resists, kill it immediately."

Long-tongued Zhenzhen nodded and immediately began to look around.

As soon as Yan Junze entered the darkroom, he closed the door and stood by the entrance, not moving.

Then he released the club into his hand, holding it while his gaze wandered among all the suspicious spots in the darkroom.

"There's nothing! I don't see anything," Long-tongued Zhenzhen turned back and told Yan Junze.

"Nothing? Even you can't see it?" Yan Junze felt even more bewildered.

At that moment, the rustling sound started up again from inside the room, and soon Yan Junze felt something tug at his trouser leg, as if it was caught by something.

He immediately looked down, only to find nothing there.

The next second, a stabbing pain shot through his leg, and a terrifying wound appeared on his thigh. His trousers tore, a large chunk of flesh was missing, and blood gushed out.

Bam!

Long-tongued Zhenzhen's tongue swept in, striking hard just next to Yan Junze's wounded leg against the darkroom door, denting it with the impact.

But it struck nothing; there was nothing in front of Yan Junze's leg.

Yet the flesh from his thigh was gone, and that was the bloody truth.

"It's invisible!" came Long-tongued Zhenzhen's voice.

Rewind!

Having been injured, he definitely couldn't complete the task normally anymore, and the high-level Wandering Spirit, Long-tongued Zhenzhen, couldn't even see the opponent. This was getting interesting.

Enduring the sudden pain, Yan Junze chose to Rewind.