Chapter 339

"How beautiful… time forever stops at this golden moment, a golden dream. The tavern's fool and Yi Ting's rememberer, the wandering vagabond and the company's envoy, the nameless passenger of the Astral Express… and me."

——

Miss Kaguya wants me to confess.

"Hehe, hehehe…"

In the Shuchi'in Academy student council room, Fujiwara Chika looked up at the image on the sky screen, continuously letting out an 'hehehe' auntie laugh.

Miss Liuying, as beautiful as a painting, the morning light refracted into tiny specks on her skirt's hem; the distant, barely audible female-voice BGM that didn't overpower anything seemed as if the dream itself were playing.

Fujiwara Chika well understood—the atmosphere had reached this point; only the most crucial step remained!

"With my love detective Fujiwara Chika's reasoning, there's a 99% chance that—"

"Just go straight A." Ishigami Yu sighed helplessly. "Fujiwara-senpai, do we even need to reason? Even a blind person can see those pink bubbles practically overflowing in the scene."

…

Meanwhile, in the principal's office on the other side.

The principal, who had just finished a phone call with the board, walked to the window and curiously looked out: although it was class time, there was none of the usual sound of studying on campus, not even the teachers' lectures.

He curiously pushed open the door and came to the hallway outside Class 3-A; through the glass window, he saw the teacher sitting in front of the podium, the whole class as if petrified by a spell, all holding their breath, dozens of eyes unblinking, fixed on the sky screen.

"Almost there!" the girls in the back row tightly gripped each other's sleeves.

"What is this…?"

The old principal finally realized, he looked up at the sky screen, inside which seemed to be exactly the atmosphere of a confession.

"I see, then I'll leave the time to you all." He smiled, stroking his fine beard, "Youth is truly great…"

——

"Everyone here falls asleep equally, regardless of reason, although we indeed each have our own purposes…" Liuying took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slightly, as if making a decision, she turned to look at Xing: "... Sorry, Xing, I am indeed a 'stowaway'."

"I know." Xing gave a faint smile.

"As expected, I can't hide it from you." Liuying walked to the railing, her eyes reflecting the awakening Pinokangni, "My homeland was destroyed long ago, possibly by the Legion, or maybe by the Swarm… I am an interstellar refugee, just like many of the 'locals' of Pinokangni."

"Harmony embraces all people, including those who have come from afar. The family accepts them, but they… ultimately do not belong here. In this splendid metropolis, some people's dreams are named Pinokangni, while others' dreams are no different from reality. I am the same; in reality I have an unattainable wish—it is too strong, so I turn to dreams…"

"What is that wish?"

Liuying slowly turned her head: "Entropy Loss Syndrome. Have you heard of this term?"

"It's a strange phenomenon. Those who suffer from this condition have their physical structure fall into irreversible chronic dissociation. This means you are slowly disappearing, and this disappearance is even hard to notice to others—"

"You can still run, jump, and communicate with others. Everything looks normal, except you are always just a little bit slower than others… and then ever slower, until the outline of the whole world becomes blurry. You can't tell reality from dream, because they have become equally fragmented."

"So, how should I refuse… can you imagine? In this dream, I can actually… I can actually avoid staying in the cold 'medical chamber'…"

——

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

"Waaah… Miss Liuying is so pitiful!" Hestia hugged her knees and sat on the sofa, sobbing with snot and tears, "She really is a terminal patient! Waah… at this time I actually start looking forward to the 【Abundance】 Star God, hoping it can completely cure Miss Liuying!"

"Lord Divine, your idea is too dangerous…" Bell wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Curing her should be fine, but considering the Devilish Form, Miss Liuying would probably rather die than become that kind of monster."

She brought Xing here, also wanting to leave her brief yet beautiful side to someone important. If she became a Devilish Form, even if she survived, she'd probably never dare to see Xing again for the rest of her life.

"What about Miss Ruan Mei?" Liliruca set down her tea cup, lowered her head and thought: "Miss Ruan Mei can even recreate the envoy of 【Fertility】, so reconstructing a healthy body for Miss Liuying should be no problem, right?"

Fearing Bell might not understand, Liliruca emphasized again: "It's not about patching up her current broken body, but creating an entirely new flesh."

"Even if it could be done… given Miss Ruan Mei's personality, she probably wouldn't easily agree."

"Hmph, if I were to say, she still owes Xing a favor! Xing helped her clean up that huge trouble, not to mention made Xing suffer. With her ability, cultivating life on an entire planet is more than enough; letting her help treat an ordinary girl—this would be a piece of cake for her."

Liliruca's cheeks puffed out in anger.

"If it really doesn't work, just have Xing ask Lady Black Tower to step in! I don't believe that so many world-shaking geniuses can't handle an 'Entropy Loss Syndrome'! It's not like we're asking them to cure a heinous criminal; they'll definitely be able to cure Miss Liuying!"

——

"I can cast the doctor's words aside, using my own body to freely listen, see, touch, think, and comprehend. Although this world is not real, this feeling is incredibly precious."

Her gaze traced Xing's brows and eyes, she gave a gentle smile: "Just like this very moment."

"Sorry. For some reasons, some things… I still can't fully confess to you now. But there are also things I should be honest with you about." Liuying lowered her eyes: "The horologist's legacy is indeed my wish, but we don't have to part ways and become opposites—at least… I don't want this to happen."

"I hope so too." Xing lightly nodded.

"... Thank you." Liuying turned to look at the distant city gradually awakening: "I dreamed of a barren land, a new sprout breaking through the soil, it blossoms facing the morning sun, whispering to me."

"Do you still remember the question on the invitation—why does life fall asleep?"

"Look." She pointed to the streets in the city gradually bathed in sunlight: "In this land of dreams, everything is permitted, everything is possible. The past we cannot bear to recall scatters like foam, the future we refuse to face will never come. Why do people choose to sleep? I think…"

"It's because they're afraid of waking from the 'dream'."