Why Do We Long for This World

“Tilis! Wait a moment!”

Luo Wei was so angry that he laughed, “Isn’t what I just said correct? Why are you still insisting on killing me? You don’t need to kill me at all!”

“No! It’s not the same!” Tilis glared at him.

“According to my analysis, you don’t even know how you traveled through dimensions, and you certainly don’t know about the existence of the Gate and the Key! This is completely different!”

“Since you make it sound so simple, then let me ask you: if I send you back, can you go back?”

Her eyes burning with intensity, she questioned him.

“That’s not possible...” Luo Wei admitted with resignation.

“There you go!” Tilis immediately widened her eyes, “You, the argumentative and deceitful one, almost had me tricked!”

“I must die! This is an unquestionable prerequisite, the only way to success!”

She coldly stared at him, “And you must die too!”

Luo Wei looked at her, falling into silence.

Tilis curled her lips into a sinister smile, “So? Scared?”

“You were just preaching to me earlier, claiming you love me! If you truly love me, let me kill you!”

Luo Wei remained silent.

Tilis gazed at Luo Wei and suddenly frowned.

“No, no, no...”

Immediately, she calmly said, “You must have other concerns, don’t you?”

“Is it because you still have lingering thoughts about them, that’s why you’re unwilling to leave with me?”

“If I say yes, what then?” Luo Wei looked directly at her, “Helena is still outside. Her situation is still very dangerous, and I can’t leave her behind.”

Mentioning another name in front of Tilis might trigger unwanted consequences...

But Helena is a special case.

In Tilis’s eyes, Helena is her sister, someone she would even think of when buying gifts. Tilis wasn’t completely devoid of affection for Helena.

To Luo Wei’s surprise, Tilis quickly offered a solution.

“That’s simple!”

“I’ll kill her too, won’t that solve the problem?”

“Ah?” Luo Wei was taken aback.

“Don’t misunderstand~” Tilis said with a sweet smile, “What I mean is to extract Helena’s spiritual entity and transfer her into a new body. Then we can take her with us, live together as a happy family of three. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“I thought you didn’t want to bring anyone else along...” Luo Wei muttered inwardly.

“I’m not that selfish~” Tilis softened her tone, “Helena is your sister. You’ve always relied on each other, and your bond is deep. I understand that.”

“I’ve already thought through how to handle Helena.”

Tilis smiled softly, “Do you remember the gift I gave her?”

Luo Wei looked at her, “The wooden doll?”

“Exactly!” Tilis nodded with a smile, “That will be her new body.”

Luo Wei stared at her in astonishment, completely caught off guard by her idea of “handling Helena”...

Tilis observed his shock and gently caressed Luo Wei’s cheek with a smile.

“Being too close to your brother won’t do, little sister~”

“You’re always stuck together like glue...”

“If you ever step over the line, do something you’ll regret, it wouldn’t be good, would it?”

“I’m just thinking of your well-being~”

Luo Wei looked at her dumbfounded, “You’re indeed very considerate. Please accept my gratitude on Helena’s behalf—from the bottom of my heart.”

“No need to thank me~” Tilis replied with a smile.

At this point, Luo Wei was completely speechless.

Whether it was the feasibility of the plan or every detail, Tilis had thought of everything and had it all figured out...

Everything was in place, all that was left was for him to die...

He felt a strange sense of absurdity.

Tilis gripped Luo Wei’s hand tighter and led him slowly toward a certain spot.

“There shouldn’t be any doubts left now, right?”

“Since you understand everything, let’s get started!”

“I’ve even carefully studied how to kill you, my method is painless!”

“You’ll just take a little nap~”

Luo Wei gave a dry laugh, “I’m really grateful for your thorough consideration...”

“Think nothing of it~” Tilis sweetly smiled, “Because I love you!”

Tilis led Luo Wei’s hand and they walked step by step toward another section of the underground laboratory.

Luo Wei noticed numerous skeletal specimens here, confirming that this part of the lab was indeed dedicated to studying life and death.

As they embarked on this path to his death, Luo Wei found himself surprisingly calm.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid of dying; in fact, he was terrified of it.

Nor was he truly swayed by Tilis.

When it came to dimensional travel, he no longer wished to experience it again; he didn’t want to return to his original world.

Initially, he might have held that desire, longing to escape the endless cycle of death.

But gradually, that thought faded away.

Despite what Tilis claimed—that this world is utterly rotten and far worse than his technologically advanced home—he had grown attached to it.

Saint Callen’s weather was always awful, and its “chefs” couldn’t cook to save their lives...

Sometimes he felt like shoving a hundred pounds of potatoes down their throats—if they love cooking so much, let them eat their way to self-destruction!

But...

This world held special meaning for Luo Wei.

Because here...

He found friends, a sister, a lover.

And the best teacher one could ask for...

In his original world, he was a lonely orphan.

So he was content now.

Moreover...

He had promised Helena and Ophelia that he wouldn’t disappear again, that he wouldn’t leave them behind.

And he intended to keep that promise.

So, to hell with some fantasy of a “new world”!

The real reason he didn’t resist, the reason he appeared willing to walk to his death, was—

Well, he was here already...

He and Tilis, teacher and student, shared the same curiosity about the Gate.

After all, it was just his first life—might as well witness it...

If things went south, he could always use his 【Insight Vision】 ability to trigger a mental break and reset.

However, he still found the whole idea dubious; Tilis’s plan was likely doomed to fail.

“Thinking about something?”

Tilis led Luo Wei to a seat, made him sit down, and began adjusting various devices.

“Not really.” Luo Wei had no interest in engaging her.

Tilis stopped and looked at Luo Wei’s expression.

She tilted her head curiously.

“Worried?”

She comforted him with a smile, “Don’t be afraid. The success rate for this soul extraction is quite high.”

“Oh.” Luo Wei casually responded, his interest lukewarm.

And then...

He suddenly sensed something was off.

His eyes widened.

“Success rate?”

“Wait, this thing could actually fail??”

Tilis nodded honestly, “Of course, such a complex procedure has a success rate.”

Luo Wei stared at her in exasperation, “You’d better tell me it’s ninety-nine point nine percent.”

“Close enough~” Tilis chuckled, “The success rate is around ninety percent.”

“Ninety percent?” Luo Wei glared at her.

“That’s way too low!”

What if his luck wasn’t good and he fell into that ten percent failure rate? He’d just die for nothing!

“The success rate is already very high,” Tilis emphasized, looking at him seriously.

“When I extracted my own spiritual entity, the success rate was less than fifty percent, yet I succeeded.”

“I became worried about the risks afterward and kept running experiments on test subjects, over and over. Eventually, I raised the success rate to around ninety percent through countless trials. Success is now highly likely.”

“And what if I’m that unlucky one percent?” Luo Wei frowned, questioning her, “What happens then?”

“You’ll just leave behind an empty shell, a body, while your spiritual essence fails to materialize and dissipates into the air.” Tilis explained.

Luo Wei immediately couldn’t sit still.

If this plan holds water, he's willing to give it a shot. He's also curious about what's behind that door.

But then you tell me there's a good chance I won't even make it off the operating table before I kick the bucket?

He only has five lives! That's not something to be squandered!

"Tilis!" Luo Wei stood up, "I think we can wait a bit longer, until you increase the success rate..."

Before he could finish, Tilis gave a cold, mocking smile.

With just a slight raise of her hand, Luo Wei's entire body froze in place.

[Black Magic - Puppetry]