Lu Ci died forty-seven times on the same day. Each time, he died at the hands of the same person - Shen Du, a veteran with gray-green eyes. A seven-centimeter folding knife was placed between the fifth and sixth ribs on the left. His heart stopped for 23 seconds. Exactly.
He tried running away, resisting, hiding. Useless. No matter where he hides, Shen Du will always appear on time at 8:03 in the evening and complete the set of actions that are accurate to a millimeter. There was no murderous intent in those eyes, only the calmness of being put back together again after being crushed repeatedly.
It wasn't until the forty-seventh reincarnation that Lu Ci decided not to hide anymore and walked into Shendu during the day - the auto mechanic who would hand out a bun to an empty place next to him when buying buns in the early morning. He found that Shen Du had a band-aid on the tiger's mouth of his left hand. When he walked, his right shoulder sank slightly, leaving a gap of exactly 165 centimeters.
That empty seat was once his.
They knew each other before reincarnation began. The rules of the cycle were written from the beginning - every time Shen Du killed Lu Ci with his own hands, he was providing energy to the system that trapped them. The anchor point was the trust that Lu Ci subconsciously never really resisted.
There is only one way to break the cycle: turn the blade towards the person holding the knife.
But this time, Lu Ci put the knife on the side of his neck.
"I didn't resist not because I trusted you," he said, "I didn't resist because I couldn't bear to let you live alone on November 16th."
The blade fell. This time, no one has to wake up alone.
Concept: In the endless cycle of death, the body is more honest than memory