The serious version:
He had never imagined that awakening would happen to him.
The pain of his past life had become the road that led to happiness in this one. If everyone’s present life was like that, why was he the only one who was different?
Marcus closed his eyes and let his consciousness sink into darkness, into the embrace of a figure from long ago.
His past self said he had come for him.
Bearing the weight of cause and effect, turning the future around. Life and death could not simply let souls wander aimlessly, and he moved among them, watching himself and watching others sink into this place.
The prisoners in the jail laughed and joked. He moved between several organizations, a silver-tongued smooth talker who easily won people’s trust. He became the leader of a rebellion, and the jailer’s most trusted subordinate.
The king of the night leaned against a branch, allowing the darkness to embrace him. He snuffed out the last glimmer of light at his fingertips, with only a dim floral fragrance lingering around him.
The jailer strode forward and faced the gaze of thousands. From the defendant’s stand, he delivered his verdict to everyone: not guilty!
The right to judge was his by birth. In this life, he would judge and imprison all the souls who had known no peace in their past lives, until the end of time.
Cause and effect, life and death: he was both cause and consequence, both origin and ending. He stood at the two ends of a Mobius strip, linking past and future.
In the end, he would link their fates together completely.
The not-so-serious version:
If he was going to pass judgment, he obviously needed detailed information about the other person. Marcus had nothing to his name, and knew absolutely nothing about anyone except his own father.
Since things had come to this, he could only...
"Jailer, do me a favor. I’ll try my best not to let Druid find out about our relationship."
"...You’d better."
"When you find the treasure, you can come to the Kingdom of Night and find me. I’ll be there to welcome you."
"All right."
"An exchange of benefits goes both ways, dear leader, esteemed Mr. Bojin. What do you think this information is worth?"
"Perhaps we can discuss it in detail."
"The story of October City is tragic, but that doesn’t stop you and me from dancing together, does it, Chief?"
"Of course not. It would be my pleasure."
When his subordinates mess up, he goes to the jailer. When he’s bored, he goes out with Peregrine Falcon. When he needs information, he goes to Bojin. When he wants a change of scenery, he goes to the chief adviser. How could anyone have dreams this colorful?
Alva, who had already grown completely numb after watching souls in all those bodies: "Don’t do this. At least let me see your face, will you?"
What was he supposed to say to a bunch of pixelated faces?!
And that kid Marcus had such terrible luck. How had he become a regular at the infirmary, too?
An absurdist sweet romance, a sequel to the previous book that continues its ending and opens a brand-new chapter.
The overall tone is lighter than the previous book.
Pairings: Taiyin, side pairing Qu Shuo
The viewpoint is from the top's perspective.
Cover pose reference: Nan Zhai on Xiaohongshu, used with permission.
Cover and character illustrations: Hua+ and Buzhi Molan.
At heart, this is a crack ship. Please don’t flame me. I’m just a fanfic chef trying to cook for my favorite characters. Apologies for any out-of-character moments.
Tai is chaotic neutral. The stories and experiences of the characters in this work are entirely fictional. The major families have not been fully defined yet, so the whole story is fictional. Please refer to the game text for canon.
This story was finished before it was uploaded. It was completed on May 26, 2026, after two and a half months of writing. Much of the plot was completed before it came out in the game, so I apologize if anything doesn’t match the game. I won’t be making any changes later on.
Also, the only secret identities in the main story are the Insulator Envoy, Final Chapter of the Night, and Free Leader. I wanted to include Xiancha Tuilu, too, but I was already halfway through writing by then and really couldn’t fit them in.
Finally: Xiancha is so cute, and everyone agrees Tai is a little cat.
Theme: Cherish the life you have now. All the beautiful things in the present were laid as a foundation by who we were in the past
