Chapter 55: Time Flies...

  "This world averages 4.3 cycles of reincarnation, and where you are will experience a 'time anomaly'."

  My eyes twitched slightly at the corner, and I was speechless! So to say, his more than 3,500 times of being played by his father is still just a small case?

  It has already been reincarnated... at least 15,000 times!!

  August 17th to 31st, two weeks, nearly six hundred years... Nine lives were stunned, looking at the girl standing quietly in front of him with a bit of incredulity, "So, you've experienced nearly six hundred years! What about the others?"

  "Other people's memories will reset along with the world at midnight on August 31st back to August 17th... Can I crouch down?"

  While explaining, Nagato opened the makeup box in her hand, and Kurenai's eyes twitched slightly. Was she really going to put on makeup? Could this small box be of any use?

  At least ten boxes!

  "Ah, you're really in a tough spot." Kurenai Yuu crouched down beside her, and the makeup box in Toudou Himiko's hand transformed into a small spray bottle...

  Transparent as water, **sprayed out from the spray bottle**, Jiǔ Mìng felt something solidifying on his face, and the faint gray gas that had been scattered over his body was sealed. His eyes shifted slightly to one side, and he saw a shadow on the ground. Hmm, there's actually a shadow? How amazing is this?

  "Thank you very much for the exchange." With a slight nod, Nagato Yuki's spray bottle in her hand transformed back into its original small makeup box, "It allowed me to discover some 'mistakes' that appeared within myself in time."

  "Huh?" Jiǔ Mìng's mouth twitched slightly, as if he couldn't quite get the words out. If only this fuzzy memory could become clearer!

  "Sorry."

  "What? Why?" Nagato Yuki slightly raised her head, looking at Kurenai with a hint of confusion and a flicker of doubt in her eyes.

  "Many memories from that abnormal time are not very clear to me." Jiǔ Mìng knocked on his own head.

  "This is normal, it's already dangerous to be squeezed by the time difference between two times, and if memories are blurred, it's just a small matter. Didn't you receive the note I left for you?"

  Jiǔ Mìng rubbed his brow and thought carefully, seeming to have this memory, but it was somewhat vague. "It seems... I had it before, but I seem to have ruined it all... Wasn't I acting normally during that abnormal time?"

  "Of course." Nagato Yuki grasped Konomi's wrist as if taking her pulse, analyzing something. "In your current state, having 73 more experiences like this will require some special measures to recover normally. Having 136 such experiences will result in severe side effects. Having 155 such experiences will lead to an irreversible disappearance that cannot be sustained..."

  "Hmm...alright, I guess I'm still pretty lucky." Jiǔ Mìng let out a breath, and indeed his soul almost flew away.

  "By the way, I came into this world in a rather strange way, do you know what the reason is?"

  Nagato Yuki nodded, "In the previous three cycles of this world, we went to your place again. You personally promised Suzumiya Haruhi that you would come here in the form of a proxy."

  "What's that so-called 'remuneration'?"

  "The cost of coming here for sightseeing is all borne by SOS team and does not require you to pay."

  "Alright." Jiǔ Mìng nodded, and as expected, it was another losing business.

  It's true that talking about feelings is expensive!!

  "How long did I spend in that abnormal period of time?" For a moment, there were no more questions, and Jiǔ Mìng asked the question he most wanted to ask. He... perhaps unknowingly became a middle-aged man!!

  "The number of abnormal time encounters you've had is 3,650 times, with an average duration of 240 hours each time. Calculated according to the time in this world, the cumulative time spent going to your place within fourteen days is ten days..."

  "...... I've grown old." He was stunned for a while, and it wasn't until nine lives later that he came back to his senses. This was simply too unbelievable! In other words, that one minute of time had been stretched out by 14,400 times!!!

  All in all, he had experienced a full hundred years... although compared to Nagato's nearly six hundred years it was really nothing.

  "Wait, why does it take so long to rewind every time? With a fourteen-day cycle, how did Haruhi Suzumiya end up spending ten days at my place?"

  "Because in these 365 days, she completely took your place as the main location for spending the remaining summer vacation."

  "I get it." Jiǔ Mìng sighed, unaware that he had lost even the qualifications to be a great uncle. "It seems that not being human also has its advantages. If I were human, who knows when I would have died of old age?"

  "That's right." Nagato Yuki nodded in strong agreement.

  Watching the nine lives still unaware of some things, Nagato's eyes slightly narrowed, hiding some words that were about to be spoken, such as why she didn't stop the nine lives' meaningless behavior.

  It's not like that, the obstruction has been there for a long time, she had given him warnings equivalent to nine lives a long time ago, but in abnormal times, he also had reasons to refute, in order to become stronger!

  The compression of time difference made his soul more tenacious, the long experience elevated his spirit, although it was all passive, but the promotion would still be there, she also believed in this reason at first, just reminding Jiǔ Mìng to pay attention to himself.

  How incredibly naive.

  "Even if it's a vague memory, I won't use that excuse every time, will I?"

  "As per your request, I have already recounted this reason 3417 times."

  "...". Zhang opened his mouth, and Jiǔ Mìng felt that he had been confused many times today. What was this? He was setting himself up... He always felt that there was something else that Xi hadn't said, like the note he had kept.

  When he was about to ask something else, a slightly irritated voice came from Haruhi Suzumiya, "It's been so long, isn't it okay yet?"

  Next time then, shook his head, Jiǔ Mìng re-examined himself, the only places with shadows were his hands and head...

  Thoughts are really meticulous.

  "Ah, ah, not bad, not bad, it's just like real skin." After circling around the Nine Lives and sizing them up, Suzumiya Haruhi nodded her head, hugging her arms in thought. "If it's just the head and hands... we can still find some clothes to cover up with, but swimsuits are definitely out of the question. Sigh, don't they have any waterproof makeup?"

  "I don't like getting in the water." Jiǔ Mìng hastily shook his head... Alright, actually he had never been to a swimming pool before, and he couldn't even swim. Even though he was already a non-human now, when he saw water, he still felt a bit apprehensive. Even if he wouldn't drown, sigh, he really didn't want to try the feeling of falling into the water.

  "What a pain, just come and watch from the side...". She waved her hand, thinking that Kyouko wouldn't be able to get in the water after all. But then Haruhi surprisingly showed some rare consideration, "Seriously, you're not even human yet you're afraid of water?"

  "I've never been to a bathhouse before, except for the bathtub." He pulled at the corner of his mouth, and Jiǔ Mìng didn't know how to respond, he couldn't say that he was weak in his past life, could he?

  "Really, Haruhi, you're the last one to arrive, so go get it!" said Yuki Nagato with a commanding tone.

  "Ah! Why is it me? I clearly arrived 15 minutes early, but everyone else got here before me. What's going on?" Although he was complaining, Ah Xū still pushed off the bicycle that had been parked to one side.

  "Go get one of your clothes."

  "....aren't you hot wearing two layers of clothes?"

  "These clothes of mine are just an illusion." Jiǔ Mìng said, snapping his fingers, and the short sleeves on his body instantly transformed into a stylish windbreaker, "It's completely a part of my own body."

  "This is just running naked!"

  "Unfortunately, you've spoken of a fact that makes me feel helpless and yet I have to admit it." With a sigh, he rubbed his temples, gazing at the half-exposed head of Aisaka Taiga peeking out from behind her backpack, who was on the verge of laughing hysterically, as well as Haruhi Suzumiya, who was similarly laughing wildly. When he opened his eyes again after rubbing his temples, his expression had turned dark and terrifying.

  "Why don't you also experience what it's like to be a ghost!"

  “……”

  "Hmph, as expected, people are forced to come out. Looking at Ah Xū riding away on his bicycle, Jiǔ Mìng's expression returned to normal and he twitched the corner of his mouth, 'Hey! Your gaze!! This is genuine clothing, you know!!'"

  "Is that so? What a pale and weak argument." The corner of her mouth slightly rose as Kaguya Himegami softly laughed.

  "Nonsense, humans love to randomly add definitions to things they don't understand." Jiǔ Mìng shook his head and pulled up his sleeve to his elbow, raising half of his arm. "Look! Look! What do you know?!"

  "It's just a hand, who would believe it?" Haruhi Suzumiya glanced at Kyon with a light and airy tone.

  The corner of his mouth twitched, and Jiǔ Mìng grasped the hem of his shirt with a sudden jerk. With a ripping sound, the torn piece of fabric seemed to disintegrate into ash-like fragments in his hand, "Foolish humans!"

  Nagisa Furukawa slightly turned her face, and Saki Kashima's half-exposed face from behind the backpack also showed a hint of strangeness, as did several others who were stunned.

  "This, I really can't tell." With wide eyes, Haruhi Suzumiya seemed to have seen something unbelievable, "I originally thought you were the type who would look weak even with muscles when wearing clothes, but unexpectedly, you're genuinely 'weak', this figure... except for not having a chest, everything else seems better than mine! I somewhat understand why you don't like swimming now."

  I'm really sorry for being so weak, rubbed my forehead and let out a helpless sigh. In fact, I regretted it as soon as I cooled down earlier. No matter how strong I become now, my physical body seems to have been completely set in stone, no amount of training will change anything.

  "Was I weak before? Can't build any muscles, do you have an opinion?" She hummed lightly, and the upper garment that had been torn off by Jiuxing quickly regenerated, covering up her 'weak' upper body. "Your expression of regret is really infuriating!"

  "Huh? You can tell, huh? It's really a shame that you don't have a girly face." Shaking her head, Suzumiya Haruhi looked regretful, as if she had missed out on something.

  Nine lives clearly popped out of his forehead with several tens of characters protruding.