Chapter 184 The Mission of the Dream Incarnation
The deathly aura emanating from a Witcher is not a physiological change, but a demeanor.
I've seen this before in the immortal monsters and shadow-shifters; when they realize they're doomed, the look of utter despair on their faces is very similar to the Witcher's current state. But the latter's will to die is many times stronger than the former two.
You could even sense that his breathing was gradually slowing down, and his heart was slowly stopping beating.
He's dying.
The young girl, Lu Chan, said calmly, "Wait, don't die yet."
The witcher paused slightly, surprisingly refraining from dying, and then asked, "Is there anything else you need me to do?"
"Lu Chan, what's going on?" I asked. "He seems to remember things from before the reboot, and he's about to die?"
“Consciousness inherently possesses the attribute of transcending time and space, but humans are bound by the common sense of the material world and cannot manifest it at will. The reason why divination can collect information from the past and future is actually by utilizing the transcendent attribute of consciousness,” the girl Lu Chan patiently explained. “Although Dr. Silver Mask has restarted this base countless times, countless pains and deaths have already accumulated in the souls of all the test subjects here. After accumulating to a certain limit, it is easy to feel déjà vu, or even overflow past memories.”
"He didn't really remember the past; he just developed some awareness. At the same time, because he realized that he had died many times, his soul could not bear the truth and was about to self-destruct."
“That’s how it is…” the Witcher asked bitterly, “Lu Chan, why did you awaken me?”
The young girl, Lu Chan, answered frankly: "We need to operate covertly for the time being and do not plan to increase the number of personnel. But what if you cause trouble if we neither liberate you nor restore your memories?"
"So... you don't actually have anything for me to do?" the Witcher asked.
"Not entirely. We'll need to find a way to destroy this stronghold later; perhaps we'll need your help then," the girl Lu Chan said coldly. "So don't rush to die. Anyway, you'll be resurrected after you die this time, and then you'll continue to suffer, die, and restart."
"Instead of doing that, it's better to wait and await my instructions. Once we succeed, you can finally rest in peace."
"...Okay, I'll trust you one more time."
The Witcher closed his eyes wearily, but for the time being, the thought of death no longer surfaced in his mind.
The guards outside had already passed our usual route, and we no longer needed to hide in this cell, so we returned to the corridor and continued on our way.
I glanced back in the direction of that cell and then asked, "You just said 'Rest in Peace'... Aren't you planning to rescue all the demon hunters here?"
"They are beyond saving."
The young girl, Lu Chan, didn't turn her head. I walked beside her and could see a hint of melancholy on her profile.
She suppressed her sentimental emotions and continued, "Vegetables can live without a heart, but people die without a heart. Dr. Silver Mask's power to restart time allows them to be resurrected repeatedly and forget the fact that they died; and as long as they haven't remembered their death yet, their souls can remain intact."
"However, this convenient situation is only limited to the time when they are living in the time before they die. Once they are returned to the normal flow of time in the outside world, death will immediately come upon them."
"They are now both living people and earthbound undead from this secret stronghold of the Humanitarian Department."
The image of the witcher's utterly despondent expression flashed through my mind, as did the young researcher's attitude toward his sins.
Then, I looked at the girl Lu Chan again.
“Then… what about you?” I asked. “If I destroy this place, will you die too?”
“Yes, I will die too,” she said calmly. “As I said before, I am the ‘incarnation of a dream’ that could not exist under normal circumstances. Although this place is probably not a dream, I have a feeling that I am an extra-legal existence that can only exist here. If this place is destroyed, I will also perish.”
As she finished speaking, she turned to look at me and smiled slightly: "What, are you reluctant to do it?"
As she spoke, she raised her right hand, as if to pat the top of my head. She realized her mistake halfway through and awkwardly withdrew her hand.
I currently appear to be twelve years old, while the girl in front of me, Lu Chan, is fourteen or fifteen. Compared to my actual age, she's my "younger sister," but standing in front of me, she seems like my "older sister" (who would have guessed she's actually a man?). Although I really want to complain that everyone treats me like a child, those are normal reactions, and I wouldn't actually get angry.
"I'm sorry, it seems I've been led astray by the original body and have been forced to inherit some strange settings," she said in a defensive tone.
"What's the setting?" I asked curiously.
"That Lu Chan outside likes young women. His biggest fantasy about women is having a little girl treat him like a child and be gentle with him." She said seriously, as if she were talking about someone else.
"Hmm, I know, he seems to have mentioned it?"
Actually, I'm not entirely sure; I just have a vague impression of it.
"Huh? He mentioned it?" She was taken aback.
"But doesn't he despise women? Why would he still have such fantasies?" I asked.
"The reason he looks down on women in real life is because he has an idealized version of the opposite sex in his mind, even though it's very unrealistic. This applies not only to his views on the opposite sex, but also to many other things," she said shyly. "So, well, how should I put it... let me make this clear beforehand, I'm not some kind of pervert, it's just that the Lu Chan outside is an incurable lolicon, so the me here might..."
"Okay, I understand, you don't need to say anymore." I immediately changed the subject. "Speaking of which, you're practically a loli now, right? Could it be that you became like this because of that kind of influence?"
She looked completely bewildered and said, "Huh? You're saying I'm a loli? My body looks over fourteen years old, I'm practically an old woman now."
"ah?"
I feel like I'm about to glimpse the darkness in Lu Youxun's heart in some other sense, so let's stop here for now.
"Compared to this, Lu Chan, are you really okay?" I asked. "Even if you disappear along with this stronghold, it doesn't matter?"
"Yes, it's alright. For me, there's a more important mission to accomplish than simply continuing to live."
The expression on her face when she said those words was not one of unwavering resolve in the face of death, but rather an inhuman optimism.
At that moment, I suddenly realized that she was not human, but a supernatural being with a view of life and death that was completely different from that of humans.
“I hope that I can recall the dignity of fighting for the weak in the past, and the courage to challenge even in the face of a seemingly hopeless future…” she said. “For this, I must return myself—Lu Chan’s dream—to him.”
Lu Chan's dream was to "become a hero".
In this world on the verge of chaos, we must save the people from suffering and prevent the collapse of the great edifice.
Even for him at the peak of his career, that was an unrealistic wish.
Lu Youxun, who let go of such delusions, was probably the wise one.
“…However, I certainly cannot accomplish this mission on my own.” The girl Lu Chan looked at me. “So I beg you to help me.”
"What do you want me to do? You will disappear when the stronghold is destroyed. I can't possibly bring you to Lu Youxun's side, can I?" I asked.
"I don't know either, but there must be a way."
She smiled first, then said, "...I absolutely do not want the person outside to return to their original self, because that would not only require him to accept the things he least wants to accept, but would also be tantamount to killing his existing spirit. He would definitely cry and shout 'No!' at that time, so please don't go easy on him."
“I’ll consider it,” I said noncommittally. “However, whether we can destroy this stronghold is still uncertain. Let’s solve this problem first.”
I have carefully considered the method that Lu Chan, the young girl, mentioned earlier—to break the deadlock by force without killing Dr. Silver Mask.
Although she thought I couldn't expand the range of my "Shattering the Void" to the entire stronghold, theoretically, if I evenly scattered hundreds of "fireflies" throughout the stronghold and then had them release mana exceeding the level of a certain number at the same time, I should be able to expand the range of "Shattering the Void" to the entire area.
If I want to control so many "fireflies" at the same time, I must first enter fire element form; but once I enter the active fire element form, I will inevitably be logged out of this base before I can make the next move. This is a dead end.
“You mentioned before that there was another old method that was rejected, and you said you wanted me to listen to it as a reference… What was that method?” I asked.
“This method is based on the assumption that ‘this base is a dream.’ Although it’s practically impossible to achieve, I’ve received noteworthy feedback from my past attempts, so I’m telling you first,” said the girl, Lu Chan. “In short, this method is to kill everyone in this base.”
"Would this destroy this independent reality space?" I wondered for a moment before it dawned on me, "...is it to kill all the 'dreamers'?"
“Yes, assuming this is a dream, the ‘dreamer’ is an indispensable element. Everyone participating in this dream actually meets the criteria; we are all dreaming,” she said. “This also explains why you can distort the objects here based on your own perception—because while participating in the dream, you are unconsciously adding to it, acting as an unconscious builder.”
"In the second prison break operation, after I discovered that this stronghold had no exit, I had the demon hunters kill a large number of guards and researchers, thinking that doing so would change the situation at the stronghold."
"At first, nothing changed, but after the demon hunters sacrificed almost everything to kill the then-complete-level dragon, a violent earthquake suddenly struck the stronghold, and the space began to blur."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com