Fortunately, Tony Snow didn't have much to carry. He quickly packed up and left the library, not wanting to hold up the library staff at closing time.
Stepping outside, a cool breeze brushed past his face—refreshing, even slightly chilly.
"Did the temperature drop today?" he muttered, pulling his phone out of his pocket. It had powered off sometime during the evening.
Once it rebooted, he checked the weather. Sure enough, the temperature had begun to dip steadily starting in the evening and was expected to keep falling until morning—a drop of nearly thirteen degrees Fahrenheit.
"A few days ago, I was still complaining about the heat, and now this? That's a serious swing." He tucked the phone away and summoned the Life Simulator in his mind.
Tony had just completed the task that required over 24 hours of focused study in the library. He hadn't realized it at first; during dinner, he had checked the task status, and it still hadn't hit the mark. But now, the panel confirmed: task complete.
Seeing the option to simulate again, Tony could barely contain his excitement. He tapped the mental "yes" button without hesitation.
After experiencing firsthand how useful the knowledge reward could be, Tony had become a firm believer in the system's power. In the days since his last simulation, he'd been reflecting deeply—not just on the system's design, but on how to use it to reshape his life.
He now understood what knowledge and experience rewards provided. The first gave him a direct academic edge; the second gave him fragmented insights into his future. Both were helpful. But the third option—skills—still remained a mystery.
"Would you like to use the Life Simulator?"
"Yes."
Tony slowed his walking pace as he selected the simulation—just in case something unexpected happened.
[Age 21 – You begin preparing for grad school. A girl from the year below approaches you in the library. You dislike her looks but politely decline conversation.]
[Age 22 – You fail to get into your dream university. Instead, you're accepted into an average postgraduate program.]
[Age 24 – You graduate, aim for the civil service exam, fail, and settle for an ordinary job.]
[Age 25 – Still single.]
[Age 26 – Family pressures intensify; you're urged to settle down.]
[Age 27 – You finally start a relationship.]
[Age 29 – You're betrayed. In a fit of despair, you drive drunk and die in a car crash.]
Tony stared at the panel, both baffled and frustrated.
Again?
His first simulation had ended with him collapsing from overwork. The second—stabbed over a relationship. And now the third? A betrayal, followed by a fatal car crash?
"Why do I keep dying in these depressing ways? I've never even been in a relationship, and now these future versions of me are either being cheated on or stabbed?"
He couldn't wrap his head around it.
Still, he found a small silver lining.
"Well, at least I passed grad school this time. Even if it wasn't a top-tier school, I made it."
Tony selected the knowledge reward again.
That familiar cool wave flowed into his brain. He stopped walking and waited for it to pass.
When he recovered, he resumed walking, mentally sorting through the new academic knowledge he'd gained.
"It's not that different from last time. A bit deeper in some areas, but not a huge leap."
It seemed like accumulating knowledge from different versions of his future stacked in depth—not breadth.
With this third simulation, Tony also came to a clearer understanding of how the system worked.
Each simulation started from the moment he chose to simulate.
The first simulation showed a version of his life where the simulator had never existed.
The second began after he had already used it once and received a reward. It simulated a future where the simulator vanished and his life continued.
The third? It followed the version of him who had used it twice, received two rewards, and then gone on without the system.
So each use of the simulator added a new "fork" to the path of his life—a deviation from what would've been.
"Does that mean I'm creating a new version of myself every time I use it?" Tony thought. The implications made his head spin.
Shaking off the thought, he checked for the next task.
[Do you want to use the Life Simulator? Complete the following task to unlock it again.]
Task: The Early Bird Catches the Worm
Description: Wake up before 7:00 AM for ten consecutive days. Failing to do so on any day will reset progress and block simulator use for one month.
Tony frowned.
"So, ten early mornings in a row? Guess I'm not getting another simulation anytime soon."
He dismissed the panel and, by now, had arrived back at his dorm building. Taking out his phone again, he set an alarm for 6:50 AM—no risks.
That night, however, sleep didn't come easy.
What you think about during the day often becomes your dream at night.
Tony found himself in a vivid, unsettling dream.
In it, he was using the Life Simulator as usual. But when he pressed "yes," the panel didn't respond—it simply vanished.
Gone. Without a trace. As quietly as it had appeared.
Though he had only used it a few times, Tony had already developed a strong dependency on the system. Its sudden disappearance sent a jolt of panic through him—even in the dream.
He awoke with a start, heart racing, drenched in cold sweat.
Sitting up, he instinctively called out to the system.
The panel responded immediately, glowing faintly in the darkness.
Tony let out a long sigh of relief.
"Hoo... thank God."
He picked up his phone and checked the time: 3:00 AM. Still early.
Reassured, he lay back down and drifted off again.
By the morning of the 6th—the second-to-last day of Founders' Week—students had started returning to campus. Tony was shaken awake by his alarm, still half-lost in that vivid nightmare.
He got up, dressed, washed up, and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.
"That dream was too real," he thought, chewing on a breakfast roll and sipping coffee.
"I haven't dreamed like that in ages. And never that clearly."
A troubling thought crossed his mind.
"What if every time I use the simulator, I create a version of myself in another timeline—one who loses the system after I take the reward?"
He slurped the last of his coffee, not even realizing the cup was empty.
"The Life Simulator came out of nowhere. No explanation. It's not impossible that it could just vanish one day, without warning. What if it disappears the very next time I use it?"
He stared at his tray, sinking into deeper thought.
After a long pause, Tony exhaled slowly.
His expression hardened with resolve.