Chapter 4: C3 – An Everwinter Forest

The least enjoyable part of every job was cleaning up. That's why they simply employed the independent cleaner services that worked for anyone willing to pay a bit. A team of three quickly dispatched to the site and began cleaning up the bodies. 

The boy scurried away as fast as his feet would take him, but Bai wasn't focused on the rats moving around. She was focused on how she was going to move and sell this metric ton of Canned Happiness.

Canned Happiness was a government project to ensure every single citizen was happy. They succeeded, but also succeeded in drawing a massive target on their back, and it was said that the production of this substance resulted in the fall of the Stellaris government. The substance was relatively easy to produce, but induced ecstasy incredibly fast, and without any negative side effects. 

Now, its production is heavily restricted. The method of creation is impossible to locate, and the greatest income source of the most wealthy remains the export of this Canned Happiness. 

But, naturally, liquidized assets take priority. Exploring the office that the boy had taken her to, she saw stacks of cash laying around opened cans of Happiness. A few passed out drunkards passed on with friendly assistance from Bai. Maybelline flew through the other rooms, checking for anything of note.

'Hey, Bai. Found this strange locked room. Try and find the key. It's totally sealed, and I cant find a gap to get through.' Bai looked around, and found a solitary key within a drawer with a note under it. 

'Remember to deliver ten cans per day. Do not forget, fool, or it'll be your head. The code in the machine is 1512022.'

Bai made a mental note and grabbed the key before rushing over to May. 'Got it. It seems to be some sort of delivery machine? Some new tech by the Stars, perhaps?' Bai unlocked the room to reveal a strange, metallic door with a number pad on it. She rushed to dash in the code - 1152022. The door whirled to life, buzzing into being, and forming a giant suction motion, dragging Bai into it. She let herself get dragged, ever-interested in the unknown. 

She was violently thrown out face-first into a bed of snow. Snow? 

Bai attempted to get up, before feeling a sharp object at her back. She stopped her motion to give a small smile, before realizing she was face planted in snow.

'How did you find this world? Who are you with?' A smooth voice projected from behind the incapacitated Bai.

'May, assessment?' Bai thought quickly. It seemed that a certain amount of smooth talking was going to be necessary.

--

Maybelline may act cavalier, but when the time comes to act, she acts fast. 

Dashing through the air, she took an aerial view of the situation. A snowy forest seemed to stretch as far as the eye can see, broken only by a river fed by a nearby waterfall. Critters and birds roamed around in search of food, but surprisingly it seemed to be abundant. The plain white floor seemed immaculate in covering the entirety of the ground.

May dashed back to the ground to assess Bai's captor. A black suit that seemed to match Bai's own complimented the tall stranger. His pink hair created a drastic dissonance in the clean and professional attire he sported. His blue eyes seemed to pierce the silence that Bai was creating whilst trying to buy time for May's analysis. A hovering needle hovered near Bai's back.

A hovering needle? 

A bloody stopwatch was in the man's palm, cutting into his flesh. His foot was pressing into Bai's back, ensuring her lack of mobility. 'Explain why you are here. Fast.'

You are reading story Rewind at novel35.com

'Bai, we seem to have teleported. The guy seems to be using some sort of magic. This definitely isn't normal. Be careful.' 

Bai nodded mentally. 'Explore the world, now, May. See if you can find anything of use. I can hold my own.' 

--

'I've come to deliver the Canned Happiness you ordered, sir!' Bailey attempted to put on her most positive tone of voice. 'The boss said you ordered ten!' 

The man looked confused, before sighing deeply. 'Some sort of drug? Delivery? How did you even get this World?’ 

‘Uh, I entered the number on the note? I think?’ Bai thought for a while, before asking May. ‘May, check what the number was, versus what I entered?’ Three seconds passed before May responded in a flat tone, ‘You swapped two numbers.’

Oh. 

‘I seem to have swapped two numbers?’ Bailey laughed sheepishly, cut short by the force of the foot driving harder into her back. 

‘My hidden world was found… was found by some idiot drug dealer entering the wrong number into the Transporter?’ Bai could hear the man facepalm. ‘Do they not tell you that accidentally hitting an unknown number could lead to instantaneous death via void consumption?’ A tinge of frustration coated each individual word. ‘Well, I may as well take your life and send you back…’ 

‘Wait! Woah, we don’t need to go that far! Let’s all calm down here, allright?’ Bai quickly shouted. The man seemed to pause in confusion for a while. ‘Are you… are you not from Homeworld?’ 

‘What the hell is a homeworld?’

--

Bai found herself on her feet once more, following the man into a cave behind the pouring waterfall. ‘Bai, there’s a bedroom here. It seems to be where the guy is staying. By the way, what do you think of him?’ Maybelline transmitted mentally. 

‘What do I think of the guy who threatened to end my life? I don’t know, what do you think, buddy?’ Bai thought, frustratedly. Apparently, her frustration was easily noticed, as the man looked back at her and picked up his pace immediately. 

‘I’m Jordan. Let’s have a talk, and then I’ll wipe your memory, and you can return to your normal, lovely life, and I shall continue with mine.’ He continued trudging through the snow, drawing closer to the waterfall. Bailey stopped in place out of shock. ‘Wipe my memory? How?’ 

Jordan looked back at her, frustrated with the interruptions. ‘Just how regressed is the world you come from? You lot haven’t even found memory manipulation? Don’t tell me you haven’t even harnessed your Universe Core yet?’ His stare was met with a blank face. ‘Oh, incredible. Just amazing. Well, leave it. There’s no point in talking to you, at all.’ Jordan grasped his pocket watch, blood dripping down his hand, and into the metallic object. 

‘Wait, can you- wait, what are you doin-’ Bai protested, before witnessing blood-red floating runes materialize around her. They rotate swiftly before collapsing on her, making her black out immediately. The last thing she sees is the pink-haired man turn his back on her, and continue walking forward.

You can find story with these keywords: Rewind, Read Rewind, Rewind novel, Rewind book, Rewind story, Rewind full, Rewind Latest Chapter