The lost memories turned out to be the "Tomorrow's Battle" from the Housemates' year-round project.
Shen Yuyuan suddenly understood—
No wonder she had forgotten this part; it was exclusive content for SVIP members, and her SVIP had long since expired.
Remembering this at last, Shen Yuyuan re-examined the entire process:
In the first episode, Pu Yixing had already been acting strange, letting slip a "divine prophecy."
Huoshu was the same; he had once told her to turn up her phone's brightness to ease the darkness of the transmission tunnel.
In the second episode, Xiao Qi had asked her to take a screenshot of her phone to help enter the administrator password.
...
Back in 2019, they shouldn't have known about the features available to her in 2024.
Even shortly after entering the abandoned school, Huoshu had stated with absolute certainty, "She and you are not in the same year."
And A Pu had even accurately said that she was from five years in the future.
The interactive playback was a new feature launched by Melon TV in 2024, and she was the very first person to win the prize.
They,
it seemed, came from an even more distant future.
—
"Teacher Huo," Shen Yuyuan spoke up again, "I remember now."
"You're only just remembering?" Huoshu frowned, "That took way too long."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Shen Yuyuan instantly retorted.
"Wasn't that telling you?" Huoshu looked completely innocent. "Besides, we still had to act it out a bit, otherwise it would have ruined your interactive experience."
Maybe? Was he right?
Even Shen Yuyuan found it absurd—
She had been so immersed in the joy of her privileges that she hadn't noticed so many obvious hints.
"When did you guys come back from?" Shen Yuyuan decided to get to the bottom of it once and for all.
"I came back a month after the interactive mode went live; I wanted to see what was going on." Huoshu was still trying to pick the lock. "Too bad I only had one fragment, so I can only come back this once. If I'd known that thing actually worked, I would have swindled a few from Wen Tao. He found seven, what a waste."
"I seriously doubt you could swindle anything out of Wen Tao," Shen Yuyuan said with disdain, continuing her questioning, "Are all of you doing this for the first time?"
"Oh, this is the second time for A Pu and me." Xiao Qi also secretly crept closer to the camera. "This is his last chance, so I came back a bit early to keep him company."
"So did anything change when you used your fragments last time?" Shen Yuyuan pressed Xiao Qi.
"I didn't really have a chance to change anything." Qi Sijun smiled. "When I met Zhou Junwei, he was already... I'm just here for the experience."
Shen Yuyuan understood what was contained in the words he left unsaid, and she couldn't find the language to comfort him.
"It's fine." Qi Sijun understood Shen Yuyuan's silence and ended up comforting her instead. "That guy will be back later on; we're all just heading to higher places, no need to be sad. Want to ask about something else?"
Shen Yuyuan sighed secretly. "What about A Pu?"
"Is it possible that the timeline you're in is already the one he changed?" Qi Sijun said softly.
"But Nanbei aren't together."
Qi Sijun thought about it and finally replied, "Maybe he thought that was the ending Wen Tao wanted."
"......What the f—" Shen Yuyuan's curse words almost slipped out.
She managed to hold them back. "I had no f—ing idea... my ship was supposed to be sweet!"
"What ship is supposed to be sweet?" Wen Tao suddenly appeared in the camera frame.
"......Jiuming!" Shen Yuyuan softened her tone as much as she could. "Jiuzhou and Mingming! The bright moon illuminates Jiuzhou!"
"......Oh, that's a cute ship." Wen Tao, who had known about their relationship all along, nodded gently. "You came up with the ship name? It sounds pretty good."
"Find the three-digit password." A Pu's head leaned in too, changing the subject.
Everyone scattered to check the computer desks and chairs.
Pu Yixing, just like in the original timeline, picked up the note next to the computer:
"I weighed a bottle of drink out of boredom, and the weight of the empty bottle happens to be my lucky number."
"Where's the scale? Where's the scale?" A Pu turned around to ask Xiao Qi.
"Right here, right here, right here." Wen Tao took the initiative to step forward.
Shen Yuyuan in front of her phone looked at the two of them with quiet satisfaction.
"Come on, drink up." "Bottoms up!"
...
The chorus of jeering and egging on was endless.
"Wait a minute, we're going to play rock-paper-scissors, and whoever loses has to chug this drink," Mingming barged into the Nanbei camera frame.
"Little Taro Ball, place your bets! Guess who's going to lose."
Though the timeline had shifted, the result of the rock-paper-scissors game shouldn't go wrong, right?
"Wen Tao!" Shen Yuyuan blurted out.
—
After a few rounds, only three people were left without a winner or loser—
Mingming, Wen Tao, and A Pu.
Why is A Pu here?
Shen Yuyuan felt a surge of doubt.
Just like in the original version: Mingming threw scissors, and Wen Tao threw paper.
And A Pu, who shouldn't have been standing here at all, also threw paper.
The only ones left losing were Nanbei.
"That's about it, let's split it fifty-fifty," A Pu concluded the game on his own and handed the drink to Wen Tao.
"Hey!" Huoshu's voice rang out.
"Shen Yuyuan, you lost your bet!" Mingming was focused on something else.
Jiuzhou chimed in as well: "You've lost your magic touch!"
"......Right." Shen Yuyuan looked bewildered. "Why did I lose my touch?"
Pu Yixing had already made his escape, walking over to the computer desk alongside Xiao Qi.
"Pu! Yi! Xing!" Shen Yuyuan caught him in the act. "You! Such a! Simp!"
"Every one of them has a student ID card," A Pu laughed, calling the others over. "Jiuzhou, come take a look."
"Oh! This must be monitor Tao Jie's computer desk!" Jiuzhou hurried right over. "The weight of the drink bottle is the password!"
—
Wen Tao drank the beverage in one gulp and started weighing it.
"You finished it all by yourself?" Pu Yixing leaned in. "Without even waiting for me?"
"Finished it," Wen Tao turned his head. "Count it as Shen Yuyuan winning her bet."
"Little Taro Ball, look at Wen Tao, doesn't he look like a total simp too?" Xiao Qi chimed in casually.
Shen Yuyuan thought about it for a moment and nodded along. "Now I think those two are being so sweet it's giving me a toothache."
"Did you weigh it?" A Pu asked Wen Tao, holding back a smile as he overheard the conversation.
"34.5," Wen Tao ignored the teasing in his ear. "Add it up by 0.5 grams at a time."
"Or you could subtract," A Pu added.
"Oh oh oh!" "Oh oh!"...
Jiuzhou announced loudly: "340 is correct!"
"Who said 340?" Mingming asked, clueless.
"You did," Pu Yixing casually pointed at Mingming.
"I didn't say that," Mingming was even more confused.
"You did," Wen Tao backed up A Pu's words.
"Did I really say it?" Mingming asked Jiuzhou.
"Since they all say it was you, you might as well take the credit," Jiuzhou gladly helped Mingming claim the achievement.
"Little Taro Ball, did you hear me say it too?" Mingming looked even more lost.
"......You said it," Shen Yuyuan joined in helplessly.
"Then... am I just that awesome?" Mingming said the exact lines he had uttered in the original timeline.