Chapter 658: NO.27: There will always be someone who sums up this kind of thing

NO. 27: There will always be someone who sums up this kind of thing.

Often, people overlook minor abnormalities.

Just as no matter how advanced modern medical technology is, they remain indifferent to small scrapes, minor colds, and similar ailments.

Eyelid twitches, brief chest tightness are also seen as occasional normal conditions; one only visits a nearby pharmacy or directly schedules a simple check-up when they become somewhat more serious.

This attitude is hard to praise; rather, it's precisely because medical technology is sufficiently advanced that they feel they have a high tolerance for error.

And as source energy develops deeper, even the demise of the body is no longer considered life's endpoint.

The yearly increase in the number of cyber mercenaries is precisely because people nowadays are becoming less and less afraid of death.

Some even regard death as a return, eagerly awaiting a lawful transformation into electronic spirits to journey into the cyber universe and game worlds.

I'm heading to the 2D world tonight. jpg

Of course, such people are still rare; after all… if real life is going smoothly enough, one wouldn't even think of remaking oneself in the electronic world.

In this world there always exists some hope, even to the point of 'sunk cost', which keeps you from giving up—just like certain mobile games you often think are stupid and feel like imprisonment, yet you never delete.

People live like this; life isn't a program you can arbitrarily start and stop, its operation consumes a lot, so much that you often overlook harmful processes.

Some will call it numbness, others will define it as recklessness, but the essence of it all stems from a habit of taking things for granted.

Minor wounds and illnesses are no big deal; occasional nightmares are likewise irrelevant.

Disrupted sleep schedules cause no urgency; sudden drowsiness is only natural.

It aligns with the cognition of contemporary youth, and also with Xin Tiaoxi's self-perception.

When tired, just sleep!

Although she slept relatively early, too early to wait for the little snake that runs out at night to return home, but the little snake has such a good temperament that it surely doesn't mind this!

Holding this thought, she went straight to wash up and sleep.

Before bed she didn't forget to greet the still-in-her-room Xin Universe to turn off the lights, and she didn't mind that the person was sitting at her computer desk.

Indeed, the Xin Universe who turned off the lights as told, upon returning to the seat, saw her already asleep on the bed, puzzledly tilting her head; the distinctive ahoge on top of her head impossibly stretched slightly then curled back.

It wasn't a clump of hair, but more like some kind of stress spring.

Although she had only known Xin Tiaoxi for a day, not really acquainted, and thus wasn't sure whether the other's unusually fast sleep was normal, she indeed 'detected' it.

"An unusual wavelength? That kid's explanation is still so hard to understand."

"Not hard to understand; simply put, it's a curse. Directing negative energy through a specific release ritual, converting it across a great distance, merging and guiding your spiritual negative energy."

The Gundam‑headed guy said blandly, handing a cup of black tea to Xin Tiaoxi sitting beside the bed.

It was still the tea leaves left over from when he brewed tea for Suzi earlier.

Although he prefers the coffee machine's smart mode, which can yield an 'industrial coffee' scoring 74 points.

But unfortunately, one reason Xin Tiaoxi and Suzi get along so well is their shared dislike of bitterness.

Moreover, even if he once said to her in her dream, "It's only nine o'clock," that doesn't mean he's urging her to stay up late.

Although there are unique groups for whom caffeine fails to stimulate, there's no need to gamble on whether Xin Tiaoxi is one of them.

Evening coffee had better be saved for himself, Aomo thought.

Trainers have the right to nap a bit on duty, while students doze in class…… The demon folk may not mind a girl leveraging her fame for certain campus‑activity conveniences, but they care deeply about her classroom performance.

"Will you also lecture on curse‑system source‑energy techniques in class?"

"I won't explain the principle! At most I'll say how to defend…" The pink‑haired girl, holding her tea cup, took a sip, then happily gulped a big mouthful, and immediately added dissatisfiedly, "But first you need to be able to extract source energy, right?"

"I only have a little talent for telekinesis!"

"That's why you have nightmares."

"Can that also count as a nightmare?"

"You don't think it counts?"

"Uh…" After pondering a moment she felt a slight headache, then, hesitating, suddenly shouted, "Anyway, little snake, don't barge into the girl's dream! Isn't Universe‑chan okay?"

"But when you see me, you look…"

"No saying that! You have to consider the girl's sense of shame!"

Would you be embarrassed by this? Aomo, silent for two seconds behind his helmet, glanced at the still‑seated Xin Universe at the computer chair: "Universe, can you still sense that wavelength?"

"'Coordination,' achieving unity," the Xin Universe gazing at Xin Tiaoxi gently shook its head, also causing the spiral on its head to sway, "The wavelength is steady."

"All right, you still need to thank the Xin Universe for the reminder, otherwise you'd have to stay there a long time."

"That's truly appreciated, Universe‑chan… I'm actually more curious how you did it."

The person who had just been thanking, without missing a beat, turned his head; his silver‑white face showed no fluctuation: "A doctor, out of respect for Qianming, gave me a strange Dongyan book that not only teaches how to digest negative energy but also notes some simple tricks, including dream entry."

"Dealing with curses isn't hard either, especially since the curse you bear is unusually fragile—perhaps the caster isn't capable, or perhaps there is no caster at all."

"What do you mean by 'there isn't any'?"

"An example I got from a certain horse‑girl: one's own obsession plus some 'heaven‑earth advantage' can let even the earth's lingering fixation merge with a person's remnants—have you recently come into contact with any dangerous monster carcass chunks?"

"What's a monster carcass chunk? That's just monster material, alright!"

"What monster carcass chunk?"

"Um, weapon fragments of Su Na Gui, fur of Mageton."

"The real thing?" Aomo blinked.

The latter, as a frozen beast akin to a woolly mammoth, has so much fur that gathering it isn't troublesome; even the monster graveyard in the Land of Light can yield it, whereas Su Na Gui, this otherworldly earthly spirit sharing the essence of a ghost‑lover……

Annihilation and sealing are both eco‑friendly and pollution‑free, but weapon fragments… if they truly existed, one would probably have to collect them on the spot.

How so? Are there still folks from Dikka World crossing over to our side?

Although Mr. Shizukuma Kokoku from Treguya directly provided a case in the show, it's merely an isolated example.

Raising a hand to touch the nose bridge, he could only feel the cold helmet—Aomo felt somewhat bewildered.

Just coming over would be fine; the chance of bringing weapon fragments over…

They really didn't just find the way back and start reselling between the two worlds, did they?

It can't be that the weapon fragments crossed over on their own, can it?

"Genuine goods, the items are still left at the school."

"Your school principal's heart has grown somewhat lenient."

"Not at all lenient—I went through plenty of certification procedures! It's fully compliant and legal, getting him to admit that the stored item is completely problem-free!"

"And then you crashed?"

"Just a minor bump—how can that count as a crash? You said that curse is extremely fragile; it barely sustains an annoying dream."

Miss Xintiao's mouth seemed quite stubborn, her final words also seemed purely instinctive, but Aomo couldn't help admitting that her words were indeed correct.

That faint negative-energy interference, to produce a non-stimulating, bland and disgusting dream, is the limit.

This isn't a dangerous situation requiring anyone's rescue; it's just that Aomo overreacted a bit.

After all, he had only recently experienced Aimu Zhiji's situation, and the letter from Miss Naoman further brought that memory closer.

Looking back, there are two perspectives on this matter.

One is like Aimu Zhiji's view—seemingly a small matter but actually involving considerable careful targeting; the other is like Ailisuzhi's research perspective—calmly viewing it—there were some minor issues in the pre- and post-handling of the test subject.

Such a situation is not unfamiliar to any researcher.

It's far from the point of abandoning research, or even destroying the test subject.

"Learn the lesson, be more careful from now on."

He could only sigh like that, putting the matter aside: "Take a few photos of that material for me later, preferably also recording the test site."

"Don't nag like an old man! I've already done things formally there; the experiment will of course be fully recorded and archived, and I'll also later re-standardize the warnings of the experimental process!"

Upon hearing that, Aomo fell silent for a moment; just as Xintiao Qian thought he had let his guard down, he quietly said:

"... I recall your school is just an ordinary high school."

"Ahaha… Xiaoshe, you should be going to work, don't stay up late because of me, okay!" She lowered her head to look at her monster pajamas, as if suddenly realizing, "I'm still wearing pajamas! Don't peek with the helmet!!"

"..."

Aomo gave a slight nod, too lazy to criticize Miss Xintiao Qian's abrupt cutoff of the topic, who only now 'awakened her feminine consciousness'.

Although she usually acts as if she doesn't care about exposure, even calling for Aomo to hand her a towel when she forgets to bring one while bathing—whether it's the shadow outline of the bathroom door or reaching out through a crack—none of it resembles a shy, conservative demeanor.

Moreover… she has indeed more than once come alone to Aomo's room to play with her phone and handheld console, acting like a lonely kid eager to badly disturb an elder's work—

But!

But, she suddenly started caring.

Then let's just assume she really does care.

The silent youth wearing the helmet would only give her a quiet glance, then turn toward the new universe, greet her and bid her good night early… a middle schooler's sleep time should be relatively early.

"Furthermore, I will inform the observer of the strange 'wavelength'."

"Don't say it as if it will appear again! Yuzhoujiang, that would be impolite!"

"Mmm…" The new universe, suddenly hugged and had its cheeks pulled left and right by Qian, could not muster a proper response.

Could only weakly wave at Aomo, a determined gaze on his expressionless face.

That caused the other to silently smile; the emerald eyes of the angel's helmet glowed brightly, responding with a wave, then immediately departed.

Then he sat down in front of his own computer.

He didn't turn on the light, because taking off the helmet had the same effect.

He raised his hand over the keyboard and entered—Sukunaoni (Hostnagi), Margodon (Magaton), sales, etc., as keyword searches, repeatedly switching between Dongyan script and Hongwen English, then refining and filtering to lock onto those few companies.

While scrolling through the data page, he slightly frowned, looking at the intertwining folklore and urban legends above, as if recalling a certain special-effects director's 'new generation script'.