Chapter 254 The Third Player

"Does Mochizuki know about 'books'?"

"What?"

"It is not a general term for ordinary books, but a 'book' that can rewrite the world, something like the core and foundation of the world. As long as the content written on the blank pages of the 'book' conforms to the cause and effect in reality, it will be realized one by one in reality."

"As long as the cause and effect are met, anything can be realized? It sounds very interesting, and it seems like a setting that would appear in a light novel. Does such a thing really exist in the world?"

"If you want to resurrect someone, the book can't do that. Of course, it's not something made up in a light novel, but something that really exists in every world."

"Every world?"

"Yes, every world."

"It sounds like the 'book' is a bit like the Holy Grail or Dragon Balls... it can fulfill all the wishes of the owner."

"No, the 'book' cannot fulfill all wishes like Dragon Ball or the Holy Grail. When you were writing, did you suddenly change your mind and rewrite a new plot for a certain character or a certain plot?"

"Eh? Of course there have been some changes, including one where the murderer originally thought of as the murderer turned out to be one of the victims."

"So the relationship between the story after the change and the original story becomes like two different branches branching off a tree, right?"

“Although it was one story at the beginning, the content of the story naturally changed because the idea changed in the middle, and it naturally became a new story in the end.”

“This is exactly how the ‘book’ changes reality. The ‘book’ contains infinite possibilities, and according to all changes and different choices, countless possible ‘pages’ will appear in the ‘book’. Everything written in the ‘book’ is actually just a possibility hidden in the pages. The moment it is written, the content of the page will be presented in the real world.”[1]

As if stating some objective truth that should exist, "Dazai Osamu" spoke in a voice that could not be more rational.

"..." Mochizuki Xun was silent for a moment, and then after a long while, she blinked her eyes half a beat late and said hoarsely: "What a magical prop."

"Then how did Dazai-kun know about the 'book'?" he asked.

"Well, maybe it's because I'm a psychic whose powers have been nullified." "Dazai Osamu" said: "When I was 15 years old, I touched the book, and used this characteristic to trigger the 'special point', so I forced to see all the possibilities (Pages) in the 'book'."

"However, not all the 'me' in all the worlds have the same experience as me - from all the possibilities I see in the 'book', the people who hold the 'book' in almost every world are different. And I am the only one who can see other possibilities through the 'book'... From this perspective, could the 'book' also be a product of some kind of supernatural power, or the most authentic core of supernatural power? Although no one has been able to, or no one has dared to confirm the answer to this question, it is obviously correct to regard it as something like the 'core of the world' and the 'foundation'... Ah, it seems that I have said too much by accident."

As he spoke, "Dazai Osamu" couldn't help but let his thoughts wander and gave Mochizuki Kaoru an insincere apologetic smile - obviously, he didn't think there was anything to apologize for having talked about so many "irrelevant topics".

Mochizuki Kaoru didn't care either, and her response to his question returned to her original calm state, as if she didn't care about these words from "Dazai Osamu" that were enough to shock the whole world and change the world's superpower landscape in the eyes of others.

He just asked again: "So Dazai-kun's appearance in this world is also a possibility that Dazai-kun saw in the 'book', hidden in another world, or in the 'book' in this world?"

"Well... I don't know either."

"Dazai Osamu" smiled helplessly: "When I touched the 'book', it triggered the special point. Due to the special nature of my ability, new 'possibilities' were born in the 'book'. Those were pages that I could not see. When I jumped down from the Honghei Building in the original world, I took the 'book' with me, but when I appeared in this world, the 'book' was no longer with me. So I can't be sure what caused me to appear in this world."

"So the 'book' of the other world was originally in your hands, Dazai-kun, but now it is in Dazai's hands - Dazai-kun, is this what you mean?"

Mochizuki Kaoru's voice was as cold as ever. He turned his head slightly to look at "Dazai Osamu". The lenses of the glasses wrapped in the thin gold wire frames flashed a faint light, making it impossible to see the expression of the eyes hidden behind the lenses.

Dazai Osamu stared at him and said, "This is just your guess, Mochizuki-kun."

Mochizuki Kaoru said, "But you didn't deny it, Dazai-kun."

"I just pointed out the irrationality of the 'me' in this world suddenly ordering the Hong Kong blacks to kill me."

"Dazai Osamu" said: "Because the 'I' who wanted to kill was actually another me who suddenly appeared here - that is me. Whether it is me or him, we are both 'Dazai Osamu', right?"

"So, are you also aware of the reason why Dazai wants to kill you?"

Mochizuki Kaoru raised her eyebrows slightly, "If you want to say who knows Dazai Osamu the best, I think besides Dazai Osamu himself, it should be another Dazai Osamu, that is, you, Dazai-kun."

As he spoke, he suddenly changed the subject: "So, Dazai-kun, there must be something hidden in what you just said - about the contents of the 'book', besides what you just said, is there anything else in the 'book' that you didn't say?"

"Dazai Osamu" was stunned.

"Yes, although the person who holds the 'book' can write on it to change the content of reality, the person who writes must also pay a certain price. Using the 'book' is not without cost. Also, after the 'book' realizes those possibilities and turns them into reality, it seems that there will be a beautiful result, but after the result, if the price paid is not enough to meet the needs of the 'book', it will only lead to a worse result in the future after the change."

Mochizuki Kaoru was silent for a while again.

"So what price did you pay to be here, Dazai-kun?"

"Nothing at all." "Dazai Osamu" smiled without any surprise.

"Come to think of it, aren't you afraid that what I said is all a lie?"

As if trying to clumsily change the subject, Dazai Osamu suddenly asked.

Mochizuki Kaoru seemed to be thinking: "Then why did Dazai-kun lie to me?"

"Dazai Osamu" blinked in surprise: "Hey, isn't this something that you need to deduce and guess on your own, Mochizuki-kun?"

Mochizuki Kaoru was also surprised: "Is that so?"

He suddenly smiled and said, "Okay, then I guess, maybe something went wrong in the other world?"

"If, as Dazai-kun just said, the 'book' is the core of a world, and you took the 'book' with you when you jumped off the building, will the 'book' be destroyed due to the death of the owner, or will the subsequent effects caused by the 'book' be eliminated?"

"What if the 'book' from that world still remains in the other world? What if that 'book' ends up in this world with you, Dazai-kun?" the young man said solemnly, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Dazai Osamu's mood suddenly became subtle: Why did he feel like he was being teased just now? What's going on? Was it an illusion?

He quickly put the thought behind him.

"Mochizuki-kun guessed half right."

He said.

"Normally, the 'book' would just change its owner, and this would have no effect on the 'book'. However, I am a psychic whose psychic powers have been neutralized."

Dazai Osamu smiled faintly: "If I die, the 'book' in my hand might disappear into that world with me, and will no longer play any role."

"It's a pity that I didn't meet the death I had been waiting for, but came to this world instead. As for the disappeared 'book', I don't know whether it stayed in that world or came to this world with me."

His face looked a little pale, and his lips had lost color due to blood loss and soaking in water. He looked tired at this moment, his eyelids were slightly drooping, and his long and thick black eyelashes covered the color of his eyes.

At the end, his voice became softer and softer, "If we were left in that world, the one who picked up the 'book' would definitely be Chuuya. If not, it would only be Atsushi-kun or Akutagawa-kun. Then everything would be fine. If it was in this world... I don't know what the impact would be. After all, this is the first time I've encountered such a thing. It's a completely unexpected result."

The fact is already very clear: the young man in front of him jumped down from the building of the port mafia in order to destroy the "book" of that world.

As for the "book" that was originally in his hand, it most likely appeared in this world with him, or even in Dazai's hands - this would reasonably explain why the Port Mafia suddenly had an order to hunt down "Dazai Osamu".

This is also the deep meaning that Dazai Osamu had vaguely revealed in his previous conversation with Mochizuki Kaoru.

"Thank you very much for your advice, Dazai-kun."

As if she didn't notice the signal released by "Dazai Osamu", Mochizuki Kaoru said calmly: "Regarding the question Dazai-kun mentioned earlier, I also have another question I want to ask Dazai-kun."

"Before Dazai-kun told me, I never thought that he would tell me these things. To Dazai-kun, these are all secrets from the depths of another world. I think even in that world, Dazai-kun should not have told anyone else, so why would he suddenly tell me here? To Dazai-kun, I should be a complete stranger."

Having said that, Mochizuki Kaoru suddenly changed the subject and asserted in a rational voice without any emotion: "... and, Dazai-kun said before that in his memory, there is no existence of me at all - I can understand that Dazai-kun means that in all the possibilities (Pages) you see in the 'book', there is no such person as 'Mochizuki Kaoru' or 'Mochizuki Kurumi'?"