Aashish_Kookna

“If you could relive your life—not to chase fame or fortune, but to right your deepest regrets—would you dare face your own past?”

Yun Fei was an ordinary man in his thirties, living a life soaked in the bitter wine of missed opportunities and mistakes. A failed business, a broken family, friendships turned sour, and the loss of the only girl who truly loved him—his world was a long list of what-ifs and if-onlys. He wasn’t evil, but he had been weak. Not cruel, but often silent when he should have spoken. His was a life not ruined by one catastrophic event—but by a thousand small regrets that, over time, swallowed him whole.

And then he died.

Not in glory, not in battle, not even in some poetic tragedy.

Just… alone. Forgotten.

But death wasn’t the end

Born Again with My Future Regrets

Yun Fei walked to school under a gray, overcast sky. The city felt distant—its colors muted, its sounds dulled. Ever since the Mirror Test, something had changed within him.

He didn't just see people anymore. He saw the possibilities they didn't even know they carried.

But there was no comfort in knowledge.

At the school gates, Yun Fei spotted something unusual.

A man stood just beyond the fence. He wore a gray coat, no umbrella despite the drizzle. His face was expressionless, almost… unrendered. Like a sketch that hadn't been filled in.

"Yun Fei," he said, voice flat, accentless. "You have diverged. Emotional Core progression abnormal. Index evolution unauthorized."

"Who are you?" Yun Fei asked, already bracing to run.

"I am Architect-Observer Class 3. Identification: Null Unit 447. My purpose is to maintain systemic integrity."

"Li Qiren's interference accelerated your path. Unauthorized data fragment detected. Recalibration recommended."

"Recalibration?" Yun Fei's voice tightened. "You mean a reset."

"Affirmative. Emotional deviation has exceeded 12.3%. Possible timeline destabilization."

The figure blinked, a subtle mechanical click echoing in the air.

"Denial detected. Initiating recalibration in 15 seconds."

Status: Sentient Host Override Requested

"Do you accept the trial of preservation?"

> Override Engaged. You now enter the Dream Ring. Defeat the Observer's Projection to retain autonomy.

The world around him shattered into shimmering dust. When it reformed, he stood in an arena of mirrors—each one showing a different version of himself.

In the center stood Null 447, but now his coat billowed like a cloak. His face remained unfinished, but power pulsed from him like heat.

"I am here to remove unnecessary divergence," it said. "You will comply."

Yun Fei summoned the courage, the clarity, the memories of Zhao Min, Jiang Chen, Lin Xiya.

"You're not deleting me. I've only just begun to understand why I was sent back."

Null 447 was fast. His strikes weren't just physical—they were mental, throwing Yun Fei into fragments of his past.

—The moment he humiliated Jiang Chen in public.

—The day he ignored his sister's tears after their father's funeral.

—That one winter night he let Lin Xiya cry alone.

"I've seen my mistakes," he growled. "And I'm choosing growth, not erasure."

He summoned the Regret Index itself.

"Weight Bearer Command – Bind the Observer!"

Chains of light wrapped around Null 447. It screeched—a sound that bent glass—and collapsed into static.

New Title Earned: "Defiant Threadwalker"

Trait Unlocked: "Echo Immunity" – You are now immune to fear-based memory attacks.

Architect Mark Removed. You are now off-grid.

Yun Fei jolted awake—lying on the grass near the school gates.

Students walked past him, unaware.

Lin Xiya found him during lunch, face pale.

"I had a dream," she whispered. "You were trapped in a hall of mirrors. You screamed, but I couldn't reach you."

Yun Fei's hand tightened around the feather.

"It wasn't just a dream," he said softly.

"Something's coming, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "And I think the real story… is only beginning now."

Chapter 10: The First Architect