It's Time to Wake Up from the Dream

Fang Qi froze.

...What did she mean?

A dream?

What dream?

...A dream?

Before he could wrap his head around it, beside him...

A faint blue light suddenly flashed!

Liguang's left eye flared!

The entire metal room was illuminated in an eerie blue!

The moment she leaped up, her black, white, and silver figure blurred into an afterimage!

In the next second, she had already dashed to the door!

From complete stillness to explosive movement, it happened in an instant!

But...

She was still a fraction too late.

Bang!

The heavy metal door slammed shut just a moment before her fingertips could touch it.

A dull and heavy thud, accompanied by the grinding sound of mechanical gears interlocking...

Clank!

The whole room trembled slightly!

Hearing the noise, Fang Qi snapped his head around!

Huh?

What was going on?

The door closed...?

...Why?

The next second...

Hiss—

A soft sound.

It suddenly echoed in the sealed metal room, instantly making his hair stand on end!

Then, he caught a whiff of a strange odor.

Slightly pungent, a bit sweet, it seemed like...

Some kind of chemical agent?

The moment the smell entered his nose, his head spun slightly!

...?!

Poison?!

Meanwhile, Liguang had already deployed her laser blades!

Bzzzt!

Bzzzt!

Scarlet beams slashed furiously against the metal door!

Sparks flew everywhere!

The sizzling sound was incredibly harsh and ear-piercing!

It immediately gave him goosebumps!

And in the air, that strange smell became even more foul after being scorched by the high heat!

...Ah?

Fang Qi could hardly react to this sudden turn of events.

He just watched as Liguang kept hacking away...

But the door wouldn't budge an inch.

Not even a decent scratch was left behind!

Liguang struck a few more times... then stopped.

She spun around, her phoenix eyes staring straight at the round-faced girl slumped against the wall!

Lin Xiaoyou was still smiling, watching everything Liguang did.

"...Are you looking to die?"

Liguang glared at her, lowering her voice!

But Fang Qi could tell this wasn't a threat, but rather...

A question?

She seemed to be confirming a conclusion she had reached through analysis?

Wait...?

Lin Xiaoyou... was seeking death...?

The poison gas was making his head spin!

He quickly pushed himself up from the floor!

But his body swayed slightly, almost losing his balance!

The cloying, sweet smell in the air was growing stronger. Every breath seemed to dull his mind a little more!

He shook his head vigorously and narrowed his eyes at Lin Xiaoyou.

"...What is going on?"

He didn't panic, and his tone remained relatively steady.

After all, he had experienced the brink of death too many times.

His nerves had long been tempered to be far tougher than a normal person's.

But...

What on earth was Lin Xiaoyou trying to do?!

She just said...

A dream?

Fang Qi rubbed his dizzy head, but the effects of this strange gas...

Made his thoughts feel rusty, struggling to turn!

Lin Xiaoyou remained sitting against the wall, smiling as she watched him and Liguang.

Her face had clearly started to flush...

Her breathing became rapid, her chest rising and falling several times faster than before!

She was poisoned!

"Huh, didn't you know, Senior?"

Her voice was still as light and playful as ever.

"A lot of times, people can only wake up from a dream by dying in it."

Her small, round face was still beaming with a smile.

Fang Qi:

"...?"

Dying in a dream?

A dream?!

Wait...?!

His eyes suddenly widened:

"You...!"

Suddenly, a slightly cool little hand clamped tightly over his mouth and nose!

Liguang had rushed back to his side!

Her crimson and amber eyes were flashing simultaneously! Eerie blue and scarlet lights intertwined chaotically!

"Master, this room has been completely sealed, and..."

"A new type of chemical poison gas is being released!"

She spoke extremely fast, but very clearly!

"Do not inhale too much, or you will die!"

She paused, her heterochromatic eyes staring straight into Fang Qi's.

"Master, right now..."

"Breathe through your mouth!"

With that, she pulled away the hand covering his mouth and nose, cupped his face with both hands, and lowered her head...

Those warm, soft lips pressed directly against his!

Air was passed over from her mouth.

It was pure air, untainted by any toxins, carrying a faint, sweet scent of strawberries.

Fang Qi's mild poisoning symptoms were immediately relieved.

His dizzy brain instantly cleared up a bit!

But Liguang's movement was so forceful that his legs gave out, and he fell backward.

Thud.

His back hit the metal floor, but the back of his head was steadily supported by a small hand, preventing it from striking the ground.

Liguang lay on top of him, her other hand propping her up on the floor beside him. She continued to kiss him, passing him clean air.

Her mismatched eyes, though so close, weren't looking at him, but... looking to the side.

Looking at Lin Xiaoyou, who was slumped by the wall!

Fang Qi inhaled the sweet, strawberry-scented air through his mouth and followed her gaze, glancing over from the corner of his eye.

Lin Xiaoyou was also watching them at this moment.

She watched the scene of Liguang tackling him to the ground and kissing him, and she was still smiling.

The corners of her mouth were turned up, her almond eyes curved, and she even tilted her head, admiring this amusing picture.

"Oh my, oh my~ How scandalous~"

Her voice was growing weak, but it still held that punchable playfulness!

"However..."

She raised a hand and tapped her lips with a finger:

"This poison gas is really quite something!"

She giggled, as if the gas truly wouldn't kill her!

Yet, an unnatural flush had already begun to spread across her small, round face!

Her breathing grew even more rapid, a clear symptom of inhaling too much poison gas!

"Looks like it won't be long before I 'wake up'~ Hehe~"

...?!

Fang Qi's pupils contracted sharply!

...Wake up?

Was she talking about...

"Waking up"?

Hey...!

...She said earlier that this was a "dream"!

A dream?

But this wasn't a dream at all!

This was reality!

This was a secret research facility in reality. She had genuinely brought him here, given him a tour, and told him the story of her past!

All of this was real!

How could it be a dream?!

But...

Fang Qi's eyes widened in shock!

...What if time resets?

What if he died here?

He would regress back to the morning of the ninth day!

Then everything happening right now...

For Lin Xiaoyou...

Wouldn't it become a "dream"?!

Just like the events of the previous loop, the loop before that, and the loop before that!

They had become "dreams" for Liguang, and for Lin Xiaoyou...

They had also become "dreams"!

...?!

Wait...

...This isn't right?!

How could she know...?!

The pure air Liguang passed to him gradually cleared his mind!

Staring from the corner of his eye at that smiling, round-faced girl, he suddenly felt his hands and feet turn slightly cold!

Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoyou's breathing had grown even more frantic.

Her chest was heaving violently!

Every inhalation carried a faint wheezing sound!

The flush on her cheeks had also started to spread down her neck.

The toxic gas was rapidly eroding her respiratory system!

Her time seemed to be running out.

But she kept talking.

Muttering to herself.

And yet, it also seemed like she was explaining things to him.

"Ah, it really is about time to wake up."

"In this dream, I've done... so many things I never dared to do before!"

Her voice was growing increasingly hoarse.

But she was still as cheerful as ever, still wearing that grinning expression!

"Even though there are so many 'eyes' watching, I actually dared to bring you to this secret base, Senior!"

"Let me tell you, Senior, whenever we're together, there are super, super many 'eyes' around us!"

"We are constantly being watched!"

"And I even went street racing! A super flashy, high-speed drag race!"

"And the result is..."

She tilted her head, blinked at Fang Qi, and then pursed her lips.

"The location of the secret base was just exposed to all those 'eyes'!"

She smiled, looking almost a little embarrassed.

"But this is my and Xiao Qing's secret base..."

"I only wanted to share it with you and Liguang, Senior. I didn't want to share it with anyone else!"

Fang Qi felt mouthful after mouthful of air being passed to him by Liguang, staring fixedly at Lin Xiaoyou in front of him!

Lin Xiaoyou took another deep breath.

Her unnaturally flushed face was even beginning to turn slightly purple.

The toxic gas made her voice even hoarser.

Yet she was still smiling:

"I even... dared to drag you along to commit suicide by poison with me, Senior!"

"This is actually... my first time killing someone in my entire life, I'm honestly a little... embarrassed."

She lowered her head, looked at her slightly trembling hands, and then looked back up...

Her smile was incredibly radiant!

"But... luckily, this is just a dream."

"Once we wake up from this dream..."

"I won't have brought you here, Senior, and I won't have killed anyone. And also—"

She raised a finger and tapped her temple.

"I won't... be leading the way for you anymore, Senior!"

"If you still want to come, Senior..."

"Then you'll have to come by yourself, okay?"

She giggled:

"Otherwise..."

"The eyes will find out!"

Fang Qi... glared at her.

The silver-haired girl pressing down on him was still continuously passing him air.

The faint blue data streams on his face were flashing faster and faster!

Liguang didn't speak, nor did she look at Fang Qi. Her gaze...

Remained firmly locked onto Lin Xiaoyou!

She was analyzing Lin Xiaoyou's every expression, every word, and the frequency of every breath!

But...

Fang Qi felt that he probably didn't need Liguang's analysis anymore.

He should...

Have already figured it out!

Lin Xiaoyou's hints were simply too obvious!

If he still couldn't figure it out, he would truly be an idiot who couldn't even solve a basic elementary school math puzzle!

But...

Wait a minute...

Is this right?!

Is it really what he thinks it is?!