Under the setting sun, two overlapping shadows stretched especially long, and after Su Ya slightly lowered her head, their heights, already nearly identical, matched perfectly.
After those initial words, Su Mu finished the remaining walk in silence and peace—a moment that, in a dream, seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
Right now her mind was a mess, unable to think of anything.
She pushed open the door, kicked off her sneakers carelessly, and padded toward the bedroom in her socks.
By the time Su Ya hurriedly changed her shoes and came in, all she heard was a bang.
The wooden door to Su Mu’s bedroom slammed shut, followed by the sound of the lock turning from inside, making Su Ya’s heart sink halfway.
Her hand hovered, wanting to fall on the door, but stopped just before touching it, not daring to invade Su Mu’s small world any further, afraid of being rejected even more.
On the other side of that single door, Su Mu was busy leaning against it, tilting her head back to stare at the mottled ceiling.
Only after the footsteps outside gradually faded did Su Mu finally slide weakly down along the door until she was sitting limp on the floor, her eyes still lacking any light.
‘Irina, are dreams always this absurd?’
“Yes.”
Su Mu just wanted to light up the remaining memory points, not intending to further sink into the mire of the past.
The moment she saw Su Ya, the intense sense of wrongness almost reset her sinking progress to zero.
It meant she was nearly scared awake by Su Ya, which was even more stimulating than dreaming of a female ghost attacking her at night.
‘She can’t be some kind of monster that sneaked into my dream, taking on this form just to confuse me, right? Otherwise, how could she become so… strange?’
Su Mu originally wanted to use the word “weird,” but the words caught in her throat.
Maybe she couldn’t bear to keep hurting Su Ya; she also wished this dream was actually reality.
The more she understood her own thoughts, the clearer Su Mu became about the chasm between reality and dreams.
It was so vast that just thinking of Su Ya again felt absurd.
“If you’re tired, why not rest for a bit? Let’s call it a day for now. You won’t be able to get up for your eight a.m. tomorrow even if you don’t ask for leave.”
‘Yeah, I’m so tired, my head is spinning.’
‘Let’s just… call it a day.’
“Little Mouse , did you see the photos I sent you? I’ve already tidied up your room for you, even the bedding is something I paid for myself. All you have to do is move in with your bags. So, what do you think? Tempted yet?”
Su Mu looked suspiciously at the mattress that clearly showed signs of use.
“Are you sure you paid for it yourself and didn’t dig it out of some clothing donation box?”
“Hey, do you really think that badly of me? I’m one hundred percent sure! My mom bought it for me for my tenth birthday.”
Ye Wanqing crossed her arms, looking full of confidence, leaving Su Mu speechless.
But at the mention of “my mom,” she still couldn’t help but space out.
“I’ll reluctantly agree, but I have my own stuff for the bed. Put your old relics away and help me make up the new ones while you’re at it.”
Su Mu spoke absentmindedly, while sending the rental contract to her dad.
When she got a reply with an “OK” gesture, Su Mu put her phone away without a care.
Hearing Su Mu’s words, Ye Wanqing’s eyes immediately lit up and she put her hands on her hips in excitement, but when she noticed Su Mu’s lost expression, she became somewhat worried.
“What’s wrong? Is the rent too much? If it’s really tough, I can pay half.”
“Really?”
Seeing Su Mu suddenly snap back, Ye Wanqing wished she could swallow her words.
‘Ah, my damned soft heart!’
“We already agreed, I’ll help you make the bed. I just saw you were feeling awful, that’s all.”
Su Mu smiled faintly, no longer teasing Ye Wanqing.
“Just kidding. But since we’ve agreed, you have to fulfill your duty properly, okay? At least don’t turn the place into a garbage dump!”
“I can’t stand that myself!”
Realizing she’d been fooled, Ye Wanqing puffed up her cheeks and tugged at Su Mu’s hair, making the latter’s body shudder with pain.
The two girls quickly tangled together on the sofa, their long red and pink hair soon becoming a messy knot, like a giant multicolored ball of yarn.
Tang Nai quietly withdrew her head from the stairwell and walked back step by step to the balcony.
‘It’s nice to be young. You recover so quickly.’
Thinking of Su Mu drenched in sweat last night, Tang Nai took a gentle sip of milk tea.
‘I want something sweet today. Last night I was too busy helping her wipe off and didn’t get a chance to take a photo, but it probably wouldn’t have looked good anyway.’
‘Speaking of which, things with Motes have already been taken care of, so why do I still have this lingering sense of foreboding? Since things are as they are, might as well drink some tea first.’
***
This morning was Luo Jialan’s transfer exam—that’s her current state of mind.
“Jialan-chan, you have to treat the customers nicely… Why are you poking her nose with the ice cream cone? Hurry and wipe it off! Sorry, customer, she’s new and still a bit unaccustomed.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, we actually know each other, just messing around.”
Hearing this, the manager let out a long sigh of relief, whispered a few instructions, then turned and went back to the kitchen.
Su Mu, meanwhile, started working hard to lick the ice cream off her nose, looking quite comical.
But Luo Jialan still looked lifeless, which again made Su Mu think of Su Ya.
‘Something’s a little off these days. Why does everyone I see remind me of her?’
“Su Mu, will there be another transfer exam next year?”
“Don’t be so down, what if everyone does badly?”
Luo Jialan pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and slowly voiced her worry.
“The answer sheet seemed to be vertical, but I filled it out horizontally.”
Now Su Mu didn’t know how to comfort her, though she knew there was a shortcut that could help Luo Jialan quickly forget her worries.
But that was a bad habit that could become addictive, so best to avoid it no matter what.
“It’s okay, the Philosophy Department is pretty good. At least you’ll gain some wisdom.”
“Really?”
Luo Jialan looked up at a 45-degree angle at the sky, her light purple eyes faintly reflecting two bearded philosophical giants standing side by side.
Unfortunately, that was just the cover of the philosophy textbook—Luo Jialan only remembered the cover.
“By the way, when do you plan to break the shackles?”
Right now Su Mu really didn’t want to go back to her own dream, otherwise she’d just get tangled up again.
That Su Ya who appeared out of nowhere seemed to have settled into her home in the second-level dream.
Su Ya didn’t usually show up, and rarely disturbed her sleep, but whenever Su Mu saw her, she’d feel completely ill at ease.
It really felt like “my mom’s been acting strange lately,” especially since, according to Irina, she might actually be a pseudo-person.
But Su Mu really didn’t want to believe a pseudo-person could be so gentle, and just as clumsy as herself.
When the two of them sat together, they could only awkwardly look at each other, neither knowing what to say, like two socially anxious people trying to interact.
Silence between acquaintances is even more deadly.
Helpless, she could only think about switching to Luo Jialan’s dream for a change of pace.
Now, just thinking of Luo Linglan’s cold face gave her a strange sense of comfort.
“I can do it anytime, as long as you’re ready. What’s meant to come will always come.”
Luo Jialan had already made up her mind, and didn’t waver anymore.
“It can’t be avoided, huh?”
Su Mu muttered, and the next moment, the ice cream was poked onto her nose again—this time, it was because she was distracted.
“Ah—”
“Jialan-chan!”
“This time it wasn’t me, manager!”
***
Walking through the campus, Su Mu couldn’t help but breathe more freely.
A university campus was so much better than the dream world—even the air was filled with a sense of freedom.
Elective classes must be skipped, compulsory classes are selectively skipped, teachers and students are polite and distant, both hoping they don’t have to see each other again next year—truly one of the world’s most harmonious partnerships.
When the teacher tapped the blackboard and started outlining the exam scope, all the students would raise their heads in unison and listen intently.
But Su Mu didn’t have to worry about failing, since she was pretty good at exams.
Back in middle school, aside from surfing the internet, all she did was study.
Like rice noodles, Su Mu had a pretty good memory—most of what she saw, she’d remember.
But ever since she started staying up late for online arguments, that ability had gradually faded, especially now that she’d become a laid-back college student.
However, now that Su Mu had become a Magic Girl, her Magic Index was improving, slowly helping her regain that ability—even sharper than before.
After her last deep-dive into the dream, Su Mu trained for a while at the dojo, and her Magic Index finally reached the normal human limit of 10%.
She was no longer just a weakling who could be pushed over by ordinary people.
But improving beyond this point would only get harder and harder.
Still, Su Mu wasn’t worried about that now.
She was only worried about her old physical fitness test results.
“Su Mu, right? I never noticed you before, but I heard from those boys that last time you ran 1000 meters in 3:05. That’s a really good result for a girl. Have you thought about joining track and field?”
“Ah, I just got lucky, really, I’m no good at that stuff, ahaha…”
Su Mu forced a smile, looking at the sporty girl in front of her who looked a bit like Gu Xiaobei.
“It’s okay, if you’re interested, you’re always welcome. I’m Gu Xiaonan—Nan as in south. You can come find me at the Track and Field Club anytime.”
What a small world.