Chapter 40: Juncheng and Lou Ling
In the profound darkness, only I and the table remained.
I aimlessly played the host console I used during a previous competition. Originally, I wasn’t good at hardcore adventure games due to my clumsy hands, but now I can clear them without dying.
Time really changes many things.
A few days might not feel like much, but after a few months, you’ll notice significant changes in someone. If you haven’t seen them for years, you won’t recognize them at all.
…Furthermore… decades, centuries, millennia…
Those are immeasurably long periods, long enough to forget the very act of forgetting.
Reincarnation, birth and death repeatedly, and then, by the time it reached me, nothing was left.
“No matter how important something is, in the end, will it be forgotten…
I finally found that what I needed to do wasn’t ‘searching,’ but ‘waiting.’
I feel like my previous lives were all in vain…
“In vain…
It’s not entirely true.
Like the game I’m currently playing, it’s incredibly difficult, filled with the developer’s malicious traps that cause players to die frequently.
But every death is meaningful. I gained experience, skill, and the determination born from unwillingness to give up.
And there were the countless encounters. I met ‘them.’ Even if this was predetermined.
When I learned my life was already set, I expected to be furious, to grieve the futility of my existence.
But in the end, I didn’t feel that way, because the experiences weren’t fabricated.
Moreover, Zihua and Zi’ai, those two truly put on a shocking reversal, so ‘she’ couldn’t wait any longer, could she?
Well, it’s true that meeting here isn’t quite a ‘reunion.’
I played game after game for a long time. Originally, I intended to stop playing after dying once, but I didn’t die at all.
Finally, I reached a certain outdated, notorious game. While challenging the NMNB mode, I died at the very end.
So boring.
When will I be able to get out of here?
SH
SF Light Novel
When I get out, what will the situation be outside?
If Lan and Xinran are the only ones facing Lianbing, the outcome should be decided quickly.
But I have a feeling things aren’t that simple, otherwise, ‘she’ wouldn’t have had room to interfere.
Speaking of which, she doesn’t even have a chance to appear now. What is she planning to do?
Ugh, I hope things don’t get out of control…
Although I’m considered a relatively easygoing person, if they really cause a lot of unmanageable trouble, I might have to teach everyone a lesson, a comprehensive education from body to spirit.
But I can’t go out now, so I can only stay here. I’ve played most of what’s available, and I can’t create anything ‘new’ here, so I can’t watch new anime or manga updates.
I decided to make a super comfortable bed and added pillows, blankets, and bolsters. Then I lay down.
Looking up at the end of the endless darkness, there was a faint, rainbow-colored light, somewhat like the glow of a chandelier.
Seeing this strange phenomenon, I started to get a clue about where I was.
It was the first time I realized rainbows were round. Witnessing such a sight makes one involuntarily want to praise the world.
Blessings to this beautiful world.
Although, in reality, there isn’t a world here yet… As ‘she’ said, this place is ‘nowhere.’
Perhaps this is the place called ‘ the end of the world.’
The end of time and space, the terminus of the universe, one of the ‘endings’ predicted by humanity.
This is ‘her’ true location.
Waiting for me in a place like this…
It seems… something is there?
The sole rainbow-colored light was blocked by something and became unseen.
It’s falling towards me… is it something…? No, looking at the shape, it seems to be… a person?
It’s actually a person!
I quickly got up and extended my hands, wanting to catch her!
I must catch her, otherwise, in this hellhole, there’s no ‘bottom,’ just like that coin earlier, it would fall infinitely!
If that happens, I won’t be able to catch her. I have to catch her successfully in one go.
I aimed for a long time, then extended my hands to catch… and she slipped out?
I thought I had it this time, but when she reached my hands, she bounced off due to the speed and slipped out again.
What kind of joke is this!
I lunged forward, acting as a cushion beneath the person. A soft, fleshy landing.
It seems the person falling is fat… or a young girl.
Given my own characteristics, the latter is more likely.
Then, the voice from above confirmed my thought.
“…What’s going on?”
“Um, could you get up for a moment? It’s not particularly heavy… but also, to prevent you from being embarrassed, so…”
However, my tactful words did not elicit a shy reaction from the girl.
As she stood up, she directly asked me three words.
“Juncheng An?”
Startled, I stood up and turned to see a girl with an ethereal beauty.
“Hm? Lou Ling?”
Huh? Why is Sekai-chan here?
Did ‘she’ send her in?
Indeed, only those she allows can enter here.
…No, with Sekai-chan, it’s not impossible for her to come here.
Or rather, Sekai will definitely reach here eventually—.
Whatever, regardless of how she got here, I welcome her with open arms.
“Wait, where is this…?”
“Hm? Can’t you tell? I thought you would definitely know where this is.”
After all, you are Sekai, you should know about things here.
But Lou Ling frowned, looking confused, and said,
“What are you talking about… I don’t understand anything you’re saying. Did you bring me here? Juncheng An? What do you want to do to me…”
Eh? Could it be that this Lou Ling isn’t the all-knowing Sekai-chan?
Ah, though that Sekai had said that this girl, Lou Ling, was the true Sekai, and she only chose to forget her identity to adapt to human form.
She currently seems to mistake me for a perverted maniac who kidnapped her to a dark room, preparing to do unspeakable things to her.
Hey, hey, you’re really blaming the wrong person.
Who am I, Juncheng An? A gentleman, as my name suggests! Would I be an evil villain with ill intentions?
I’m not bragging, but beautiful girls have always scrambled to be the ones to “pursue” me, wanting to do perverted things to me. I’ve never done anything like that myself!
…It doesn’t seem like something to be proud of.
…Although many girls can simultaneously like me, I won’t exchange with you now because they won’t accept you, and even if they did, they would probably be eaten to the bone. Pervert… hahaha…
Me? Haha… Losing bones is a small matter. The me outside right now is scattered. Calm down. In such a dark environment…
Lou Ling herself doesn’t truly suspect my character. She simply woke up to find herself in this place unexpectedly. As a beautiful girl, remaining unfazed is impossible.
If an uninformed person arrived here, they would also feel they were captured by an evil villain and immediately…
It’s like those movies where the character’s name starts with the first letter of the twenty-six English alphabets.
But that kind of scenario won’t happen.
Lou Ling is a rational woman. She immediately knew I wasn’t lying and apologized, lowering her head.
“I’m sorry, I misunderstood you…”
I quickly interjected. “Before losing consciousness…”
“It’s okay, it’s natural to panic when you just wake up and find yourself in a place like this. By the way,
do you remember…?”
“Hmm?……”
Lou Ling pressed her head, thought for a moment, and shook her head.
“I don’t remember. My last memory was at home… Why am I here?”
How should I explain this? It’s such annoying trouble.
This is too troublesome. Explaining all these messy things to an ordinary person who knows nothing is so…
Besides, even if I finished explaining, she wouldn’t believe me.
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She’d just think I’m crazy and talking nonsense.
After all, she doesn’t know her identity right now and still considers herself an ‘ordinary girl.’
Just like I was before… No, I still feel pretty ordinary now.
No, why am I trying to understand her instead? It’s unhelpful to describe the current situation, I’m such an idiot.
So I vaguely said, “We’ve probably both been confined to the same place. Until things outside are over, or at least until one of us is satisfied, we can’t leave here.”
“…Who is that person?” It’ll be a long time.
“I told you, you wouldn’t know. Besides, you shouldn’t worry about that. Before it’s over, we still have…”
I was just thinking it was boring, and now I have a playmate. This is really opportune.
“So, what should we play first? Starting with a hardcore game might not be good. How about we play…”
“Racing? Or is it Monster Hunter?”
“You don’t like these games? Then you can play solo, and I can guide you. But someone giving advice constantly can be annoying…”
“Ah? Ah, you don’t like people giving random instructions when you’re playing games, I see. Indeed, that can… irritate your mood. Uh, but if I’m silent, won’t the atmosphere become dull? How about this, I’ll try to offer objective opinions, and won’t…”
“That’s not it at all!”
The girl roared. “…in this inexplicable place!”
“How can you be so calm! We’re trapped! And not just anywhere, we’re trapped in this…”
It seems Lou Ling is genuinely anxious. The usually indifferent girl is now shouting excitedly.
I scratched my head, looking troubled, and said.
“If we can’t get out, we can’t get out… If I could get out, I would have left long ago.”
“You… Forget it! I’ll figure it out myself!”
I’ll just watch her perform from the side.
Go for it, girl. I hope, without much expectation, that you can break the deadlock and take me out together.
