Chapter: 32. Limited to the Second Cycle
“Then, brother, please rest well here.”
The time shifts back a little earlier.
Tian Yu, after finishing her conversation with Nagi, stood up somewhat anxiously.
“This attack might just be a diversion; their real target isn’t here—”
Tian Yu, based on the underground intelligence network she had established, was aware of the significant events currently happening on campus.
Someone had infiltrated Ark Academy and murdered a professor from the Moon Academy.
Judging from the reactions of Ark Academy’s higher-ups, these individuals likely aimed for the “item” the professor brought for academic research, and they did not wait for it.
This attack could very well be a scheme to divert the academy’s attention.
Their true purpose was possibly to infiltrate Noah Hall again and locate “that thing.”
“If you’re worried about this, I think you don’t need to be anxious,” Nagi’s calm voice appropriately interrupted Tian Yu.
Tian Yu was momentarily stunned.
Because she hadn’t disclosed the information she had to Nagi.
But thinking about it, since her brother was once a savior, gathering this level of intelligence must be a trivial matter.
“Brother, why do you say that?”
“Have you heard of ‘Schrödinger’s cat’?” Nagi did not directly answer Tian Yu’s question but threw another one at her.
“I know, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t know this theory now.”
Schrödinger’s cat.
A well-known hypothesis in quantum mechanics.
Once regarded as an almost sophistic viewpoint that sparked great novelty, over time this hypothesis gradually became ubiquitous, frequently cited in works or examples.
“Then I won’t dwell on the hypothesis; I’ll briefly mention the conclusion—everything exists in a contradictory yet superimposed state, and the outcome can only be determined through observation.” Nagi provided this hypothesis’s explanation within the context of the “Star Drawing” universe.
“A kind of extraordinary ability evolved from this hypothesis—”
“The Black Box.”
“Black… Box…?”
“It’s a name for a type of container,” Nagi explained. “This is a very special container that, under normal circumstances, exists in a superimposed state and cannot be detected by any means.”
The Black Box is a mechanism within the “Star Drawing” original universe.
Its function is to restrict certain powerful items from being obtained by players in the first cycle.
Because its principle is “if you don’t know the true nature of this thing, then you cannot observe its existence.”
It is a reverse “Schrödinger’s cat.”
If you don’t know whether the cat in the container is alive or dead, then you can never open the container.
But if you can’t open the container, you’ll never know whether the cat is alive or dead.
The method to break this paradoxical infinite loop is—
Game multiple cycles.
Players can know what is inside the Black Box by the late stages of the first cycle, so in subsequent cycles, they come with the answer to open this Black Box.
It is a setting that emphasizes the “player’s perspective” and the “framework of external story rules” off-screen.
“So, unless someone knows the answer to the Black Box, no one will be able to find it, even if they were to raze Noah Hall to the ground with indiscriminate carpet bombing, the Black Box would sustain no damage.”
“… Because only those who know about it can attack it?” Tian Yu quickly grasped what Nagi was trying to convey.
A special container that can only exist in the world if one knows its true form.
“Exactly.”
“I see… This is why Ark Academy didn’t conduct an immediate carpet search of Noah Hall after the incident…” Tian Yu finally understood.
Since the item the professor brought was so important, why didn’t the chairman initiate a search right away?
“I believe soon, the Moon Academy will send someone in the know to retrieve the Black Box.”
“So Ark Academy is in such a hurry to identify the traitor to prevent another traitor from taking that item,” Tian Yu realized, but then she quickly noticed something strange.
“… Since it’s such a special container, how does brother know—”
“—No, wait…” After Tian Yu’s question had half escaped her lips, she became aware of another important aspect.
“If that’s true, then brother you—”
“That’s right; I’m probably the only person on this island who can find that Black Box,” Nagi acknowledged this fact.
Once a hardcore player of “Star Drawing,” Nagi naturally knew what was left inside Noah Hall.
The sound of footsteps approaching disrupted Nagi and Tian Yu’s further exchange of thoughts.
Noticing that the visitor was Kanade, Tian Yu hurriedly gestured for Nagi to lie down, acting more like a seriously ill patient.
Then, she stepped out first to intercept Kanade, buying some time for Nagi.
Thus.
Tian Yu stepped out of the hospital room, pretending to have just met Kanade, who had come to visit.
In response to Kanade’s anxious expression, Tian Yu recited the diagnosis Nagi had provided as if she was reciting a script.
Because Tian Yu’s thoughts were more focused on the unimaginable thing Nagi had just mentioned, she failed to notice the change in Kanade’s facial expression immediately.
Otherwise, the observant Tian Yu would have found a more suitable way to avoid triggering Kanade’s emotional outburst.
But the fact was—
Once Tian Yu finished speaking, Kanade didn’t even express gratitude to her and hurriedly rushed into the room where Nagi was.
In the stark white hospital room, Nagi lay quietly on the hospital bed.
The blue and white striped hospital gown she wore, combined with her extremely pale complexion, gave a sense of tragic despair as if she were living on borrowed time.
“Little Nagi… I…”
Witnessing this scene, Kanade’s face twisted in anguish.
He initially wanted to show a smile in front of Little Nagi to reassure her, but the wave of sadness welling up made his eyes uncontrollably overflow with glistening tears.
It was as if Kanade’s face was twitching uncontrollably.
“… Kanade, Kanade-kun?”
Nagi, squinting through her half-closed eyes, was startled to see this.
She quickly wanted to comfort him but then remembered that her current “condition” did not allow for such large movements.
This made Nagi’s weak call sound to Kanade like words spoken on the verge of death.
This caused Kanade to suddenly lunge forward to Nagi’s hospital bed, trembling hands grasping onto Nagi’s.
“Little Nagi, yes, I’m here—”
“Ah… mmm… Kanade-kun…” Just as Nagi intended to show that she was indeed quite spirited, rather than merely having a moment of clarity—
“Little Nagi, I will take responsibility—”
“?”
“Even if it’s only for a moment… Little Nagi—will you be my wife?”
“Ha, ha?!” Little Nagi’s face uncontrollably flushed with a deep crimson.
