Chapter 002: Equal Treatment

[No exact count, but probably several dozen times]

"You mean I've been repeating the same thing every day?"

[Without a doubt, host. The time in this world seems trapped in a very strange loop, resetting every day, and you've already spent dozens of cycles within this reset. This is the first time I've seen you realize it; it seems you've grown accustomed to this loop.]

Wang Bo narrowed his eyes, pondering. Time loops, though rare, were not unheard of.

In fact, in many worlds, such phenomena existed.

For instance, Groundhog Day, Happy Death Day, Edge of Tomorrow, and even The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya had once featured a time loop.

But the causes of these time loops were all different.

So Wang Bo couldn't immediately figure out what was causing the time loop in the Kingsman world.

However, Wang Bo was certain that this was not a phenomenon unique to the Kingsman world.

Because in Kingsman, there had never been any such thing as a time loop, so the cause must be external.

Therefore, Wang Bo had to find that cause to break the loop. Otherwise, he had no way to search for the time traveler.

In fact, Wang Bo suspected that the person causing the time loop was likely the time traveler.

"By the way, I haven't asked yet—how many time travelers are there this time?"

[One]

Wang Bo let out an "oh," growing more suspicious that the time loop was caused by this dubious time traveler.

But he still wasn't sure where this time traveler was.

So Wang Bo took out his predictive diary and wrote a sentence in it.

In half an hour, I will encounter the time traveler on Privet Drive.

Then, Wang Bo put away the diary and headed to Privet Drive. Over ten minutes later, he arrived and wandered around for a while. After half an hour, Privet Drive was empty.

Not a trace of the time traveler, not even a ghost.

Thus, the predictive diary had failed again; the time traveler could resist its influence.

This was troublesome.

If the predictive diary was useless, how could Wang Bo find the time traveler within a single day? And he couldn't be sure if he would retain his memory in the next time loop.

Fortunately, this worst-case scenario didn't occur.

A new cycle began.

When Wang Bo opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on a narrow street. The memories of the time loop remained intact in his mind.

[Welcome to the Kingsman world, host.]

"You've already said that," Wang Bo remarked.

[It seems you've fully adapted to the time loop, host.]

"Enough chit-chat. Let's begin."

In the previous cycle, Wang Bo had confirmed that he couldn't use the predictive diary to influence the time traveler in this world, so this time he planned to try a different approach.

He brought Friday out of the time villa, explained his plan to her, patted her head, and said, "I'm counting on you, Friday."

"Leave it to me, master."

Friday nodded without hesitation, then hacked into the world's networks, from London to Paris, from Paris to New York, from New York to Shanghai, Shanghai to Tokyo, Moscow, Mexico City, Toronto, Seoul...

City after city fell under Friday's control.

In just over ten minutes, Friday had taken over every signal on Earth.

Televisions, phones, computers, satellites—wherever there was a signal, Friday covered it. Instantly, every TV and phone in the world repeatedly broadcast a message:

"We are looking for you, the one causing the time loop. We can help you, send you back home. If you need it, contact us."

"If you want to end this loop, come to Privet Drive in London in the next cycle. I'll be waiting for you there."

This signal played from morning until night.

Looping countless times.

Wang Bo believed that the person causing the time loop would surely see it.

In the next cycle, aside from Wang Bo and the time traveler causing the loop, probably no one would remember this message.

So the two could meet calmly on Privet Drive.

As for the uproar this cycle caused, Wang Bo paid it no mind.

Even after the message aired, soldiers had cordoned off Privet Drive in layers, but it was all futile.

When the time loop started again, everything would return to normal.

Thus, a long day passed.

The time loop began again.

Wang Bo once again appeared on that empty, narrow street just after arriving in London.

This time, he leisurely made his way to Privet Drive.

He found a chair on Privet Drive, sat down, and waited from day to afternoon, from afternoon to evening, until the next cycle began. Still, he hadn't seen the person causing the time loop.

This left Wang Bo somewhat frustrated.

He wondered if his analysis was wrong.

Perhaps the cause of the time loop wasn't a time traveler but some object. Or maybe the person causing the loop wasn't aware they were in a loop.

But that possibility was low.

Of course, there was another possibility: the person causing the time loop wasn't in the UK and had no money, so they couldn't travel to Privet Drive within a day.

Therefore, it was only natural that Wang Bo couldn't meet them.

After all, a time traveler in this world was essentially an undocumented immigrant, with no money and unable to fly—not surprising.

After some careful thought, Wang Bo had Friday take over all the world's networks again and told the time traveler:

"In the next cycle, I will deploy a robot to every city, and that robot will appear at the base of the tallest building in each city."

He also attached a photo of the robot.

Unsurprisingly, this high-profile move once again drew global attention. Though they frantically searched for any trace of Wang Bo, it was useless.

When the next cycle began, they would remember nothing.

After the new cycle started, Wang Bo, as promised, deployed identical-looking robots to every city in the world—whether poor or prosperous, treating them all equally.