Shifting the Blame

Fang Qi's back was already drenched in cold sweat.

An Lian...

An Lian!

An Lian... she was also a crucial NPC!

Could she... have also had this dream?

This... dream about the previous playthrough?

The An Lian from the previous loop...

Fang Qi's eyelids twitched wildly!

She had... mobilized a fleet of armed helicopters and surrounded the entire island!

But... she never managed to catch them in the end.

So she took the blame and resigned, even bowing in apology at a press conference.

On the news, her aloof face was practically buried under the table!

Looking exhausted, her eyes red...

This aloof, professional older woman had clearly cried before the press conference!

He remembered it perfectly, the news playing on that broken TV in the island's convenience store...

Commissioner An Lian's mobilization of armed forces yielded no results, and she was held accountable for a major operational failure...

Not only did she have to resign, but...

She even had to bear criminal responsibility and spend several years in prison!

The An Lian of the previous loop...

Her life was mostly ruined by his elopement with Liguang!

This... this was practically a blood feud!

If she also had that dream, if she also retained the memories of the previous loop...

What would she think?

What... would she do?

A freezing chill instantly shot up Fang Qi's spine!

He gripped the coffee cup in his hand tightly!

Moreover, in this playthrough...

He hadn't built a good relationship with An Lian's best friend, Gu Xi, the beautiful police officer who was the only one capable of keeping An Lian in check!

Gu Xi didn't even know him in this loop!

...The sky was falling!

He... he...

If he went to An Lian's door right now to give her a gift, would it still be in time...?

But then he took a deep breath...

Forcing himself to wake up!

No...

Wait!

Be calm, be calm!

He couldn't be too pessimistic!

He forced himself to suppress the chaos in his mind!

...An Lian wouldn't necessarily make a move!

Because in the current situation, whether it was Liguang or Lin Xiaoyou...

They both just treated that experience as a dream!

The crazy woman's memory was so profound, yet even now she thought it was just a dream!

Lin Xiaoyou had also just said... So dreams can be this real!

To them, it was just a dream!

He couldn't project his own concepts onto the people of this world!

They... had absolutely no concept of a previous playthrough or a reset!

These were things only he, an outsider from another world, would know!

Unless it was like Liguang before, possessing all his memories... otherwise, it was impossible for them to even think in that direction!

They would only feel...

That they had a particularly realistic dream!

Nothing more!

An Lian was the same!

If she really had this dream...

With her personality that was professional to the point of being rigid, she would absolutely not take a dream seriously!

She would probably just think...

That she had been under too much stress lately, and that what you think about during the day, you dream about at night.

Yes.

That was it!

Besides, this time he and Liguang had returned early. They hadn't stayed on the island at all, making the situation completely different from the dream.

Didn't this indirectly prove... that it was nothing more than a nightmare!

Therefore, even if she really dreamed of the previous loop...

She shouldn't be suspecting anything now!

She was probably in her office right now, staring at the data reports of Liguang and the other AI companions, doing her inspections!

At most, she would rub her temples, feeling that she was too tired lately and wondering if she should take an annual leave...

She would absolutely not run over here crying and questioning him like Lin Xiaoyou!

Nor would she be like Liguang, worrying about gains and losses and projecting the dream into reality!

She wouldn't, absolutely not!

She was a super corporate worker!

He had to have faith in the rationality of a super corporate worker!

A super corporate worker...

Would not take a dream seriously!

Fang Qi desperately built up his psychological defenses in his mind, trying to suppress that creepy feeling!

And at the same time, he also felt...

The small hand holding his was trembling very violently.

That small hand that had just been desperately trying to please him, drawing little hearts on the back of his hand...

Was now gripping his fingers tightly.

The fingertips were ice-cold!

The silver-haired girl was still sitting upright, her lips still pressed into that standard gentle smile.

But that smile was overly stiff; one could tell at a glance that something was wrong.

The halo in her amber left eye was still trembling, while the scarlet in her red right eye had completely stagnated.

She was staring at Lin Xiaoyou.

That look was no longer jealousy, no longer possessiveness, and no longer morbid...

It was a bone-deep terror of why is something from a dream appearing in reality!

Fang Qi's heart also clenched.

The crazy woman... was truly, truly terrified.

In the previous loop, he had also searched for her for a long, long time, but he knew...

His despair was not even a fraction of hers.

Because in his subconscious, he always had a way out, so he would never truly despair.

His choice to keep searching for Liguang... was nothing more than his own wishful stubbornness.

In the end, he had still miserably reset the timeline.

But Liguang was different.

She had truly experienced the deepest despair, shutting down all her senses and sinking into the deep sea, weaving a final dream with her last 5 percent of battery.

But thinking about it now... he hadn't actually experienced her true despair alongside her.

And that was...

How long could that 5 percent battery actually last?

Perhaps, even Liguang herself didn't know.

This might have been the deepest despair hidden in her heart.

Even though she had woven a dream, she was wide awake, falling bit by bit into ultimate despair.

She knew clearly that even this small extravagance she had woven for herself would eventually come to an end.

When the battery ran out, everything would return to nothingness in the deep sea.

And this... was perhaps the reason why, after the reset, she didn't blank out, didn't show disbelief, and didn't cry silently...

But instead immediately threw herself excitedly into his arms, sobbing loudly!

The her from the previous loop had probably never fully immersed herself in her own little dream.

Even in the dream, even while being held as they drifted, she had always, always been living in the deepest fear!

But now...

Lin Xiaoyou was standing in front of her, crying and saying she had also had that dream.

Telling her that the dream wasn't just her dream.

So those things in the dream might really happen.

That incomparably desperate ending might just be the future.

How could she not be afraid?

She was so scared she was going crazy!

Fang Qi squeezed her hand tightly, very, very tightly!

That small hand was still trembling, trembling so much that his heart shuddered with it!

And opposite them, Lin Xiaoyou was still shedding tears.

One by one, they slid down her cheeks and dripped into the cup of coffee in front of her, rippling out in small circles.

She looked at Fang Qi with teary eyes, the corners of her mouth still trying hard to pull up into a smile...

But her smile looked even worse than crying.

Senior...

Her voice was raspy, carrying a heavy nasal tone.

You were really so brave in the dream...

Grabbing Liguang and running... shouting so loudly...

I just stood in the back... watching you run away...

As she spoke, tears welled up again.

Her best friend beside her held her hand tightly, eyes also red, constantly whispering, Xiaoyou, stop talking, Xiaoyou, stop talking...

But she kept talking.

Intermittently, between sobs...

Digging out the fragments of that dream piece by piece!

I was thinking at that time...

Senior, you are really so handsome...

Liguang... is really so happy too...

The small hand in Fang Qi's grasp was trembling more and more violently.

And Fang Qi... his own hand was trembling too!

They had just come out happily for a date...

How did the crisis level suddenly max out?!

For a moment, his brain couldn't process such a massive shock and volume of information!

He was sitting here right now, with a trembling little yandere on his left, and a crying girl across from him...

And hanging right above his head was a sword named An Lian!

He didn't even know if, right now, outside the window...

...there was someone secretly watching them!

He was seriously losing his mind!!!

He just wanted to have a nice, normal romance, buy his wife some pretty clothes, and then go home and cuddle her to sleep!

Why...

Why did it have to be so hard?!

Just as his mind turned into a jumbled mess...

Lin Xiaoyou slowly turned her head...

Those tear-reddened almond eyes looked toward the silver-haired girl.

Teary-eyed, she stared straight at Liguang's... stiffened, pretty face that was still trying hard to maintain a smile!

Then, she opened her mouth.

Senior, did you know...

The Liguang in the dream, she has already...

She didn't finish her sentence, just getting stuck right there.

Her lips were slightly parted, teardrops still hanging on her eyelashes, hesitating to speak.

She only said half of what was on her mind.

But Fang Qi's pupils shrank sharply!

Hey... hey...!

What are you trying to say?

What happened to the Liguang in the dream?!

...Don't say it!

Don't say it out loud!

His mind instantly cleared up!

He knew what Lin Xiaoyou wanted to say!

The Liguang in the dream, she has already awakened.

Senior, has the current Liguang... also awakened?

Damn...

Damn it, damn it, damn it...!!

Fang Qi felt like his heart had stopped beating!

He absolutely, absolutely could not let her say it out loud!

Liguang was trying desperately to maintain that normal AI companion smile, desperately telling herself...

Master, Liguang is fine, Liguang is still acting, don't worry Master...

But her entire body was trembling; she was on the verge of a breakdown!

If Lin Xiaoyou was allowed to say that word, if she heard the word awakened again...

She would completely break down!

Fang Qi's mind became instantly clear!

Clearer than at any moment before!

...He couldn't panic!

He had to step up!

Right now, he was the only one who could hold the situation together!

This time... it was his turn to be the pillar of support for Liguang!

It was his turn to soothe the anxiety and fear in her heart!

As for the problem with An Lian... put it aside for now!

For now, he would just trust in that older sister's rationality!

Right now he had to... resolve the immediate problem right in front of him!

He took a deep breath.

And then—

Xiaoyou.

His voice wasn't loud, forcefully carrying a hint of casualness.

Like carelessly interrupting someone's idle chatter.

He picked up his coffee and took a sip, suppressing the unease in his heart, and looked at the teary-eyed girl across from him.

Then the corners of his mouth forced a slight upward curve, revealing a helpless smile.

Xiaoyou... dreams are fake.

Don't let a dream affect your mood in reality.

His voice even carried a hint of coaxing a child.

...He had to interrupt what Lin Xiaoyou was about to say first.

He couldn't let her agitate Liguang any further.

As expected...

Lin Xiaoyou's lips trembled slightly, her words cut off.

But her tears flowed even more fiercely!

Dreams are fake... are they...

She murmured.

But why... did Senior's feelings for Liguang in the dream... feel so real...?

Beside Fang Qi, the silver-haired girl trembled even harder!

Even Lin Xiaoyou's ponytail-wearing best friend looked at him with a hint of...

...the resentment of what kind of bullshit are you talking about!

The corners of Fang Qi's mouth twitched slightly.

His previous sentence really was a bit of nonsense.

...But it didn't matter, he had already figured out a way to resolve the current situation.

Since he couldn't solve the problem...

Then he would divert the conflict!

He put down his coffee cup, his expression suddenly becoming solemn.

His gaze looked straight into Lin Xiaoyou's crying red almond eyes.

Xiaoyou, I know that you like me.

His voice was very serious.

But have you ever thought about...

He paused, staring into Lin Xiaoyou's teary almond eyes...

And asked word by word:

Exactly why...

...do you like me?