As expected, such a “rebellious” outfit was naturally blocked by the main gate, but unlike Su Mu, Luo Jialan was not immediately sent back to her original place; instead, she only felt a slight resistance.
Unlike Su Mu, who was familiar with this place, Luo Jialan was a guest and therefore subjected to more tangible restrictions—but as long as she exerted force, she could easily break through them.
At this moment, the resistance Luo Jialan felt came from Su Mu’s subconscious.
Of course, Su Mu’s will was constantly trying to repel her, but this kind of flirtatious resistance was obviously not enough to stop her.
With the sound of glass shattering, Luo Jialan’s figure effortlessly broke through the invisible restraint, leaving a spreading web-like crack on the sky dome.
This was proof that she could easily break through Su Mu’s defenses.
In the face of the gap in Magic Power, the barriers between people seemed as fragile as paper.
“Su Mu, are you playing hide-and-seek with me?”
Luo Jialan stood on the school rooftop, looking down at the campus below.
This was the highest point in the entire school.
It wasn’t actually very high, but it was deadly enough—the school was so nervous about it that they had locked the stairs to the top floor tightly with iron chains.
“I can’t see anything.” Luo Jialan narrowed her eyes.
The overly enclosed architecture of the school made it hard to see much inside, let alone pick Su Mu out from the crowd.
Although she was sensitive to Su Mu’s aura, what she couldn’t understand was how the plain school uniforms, almost indistinguishable from one another, could block her perception of Su Mu entirely, leaving her clueless.
Maybe I really have to go down and search bit by bit?
On the other hand, it was very easy for Su Mu, the Dreamscape’s owner, to sense Luo Jialan’s location.
It was like feeling a foreign object invading her body—the deeper it went, the more clearly she could sense it, even wanting to tightly wrap, squeeze, and expel it.
What Luo Jialan was feeling now was exactly that—the air in Su Mu’s Dreamscape was like a glue thicker than water, hindering her movements.
This should have been a disadvantage for Luo Jialan, but her desire-filled thoughts were peculiar—does this mean Su Mu is holding me tightly?
‘It must be!’
With that thought, Luo Jialan decisively kicked open the iron gate and headed downstairs.
‘I’m coming for you, Su Mu.’
***
On the other side, Su Mu tightly wrapped herself in her school uniform and stuffed her hair into a baseball cap, nervously looking toward Luo Jialan’s direction while continuously contacting Irina.
Thanks to her ability to blend into the crowd unnoticed, Su Mu wasn’t worried about being found quickly—unless Luo Jialan went on a rampage and wiped out all these illusions of students.
As for the baseball cap on her head, she had grabbed it casually while passing by a classroom.
Although these illusions all belonged to her in name, it still gave her a strange feeling of guilt, like when she first went online to insult someone.
‘You said it’s possible to change the flow of time inside the Dream World?’
Irina nodded.
“Yes. I told you there were ten hours left before. Now it’s roughly eight hours. By accelerating time, it could be shortened to an experience of about eight minutes at most, but I’m not sure if this will affect Luo Jialan at the same time.”
‘What happens if it doesn’t?’
“Uh, worst case scenario, because of the time acceleration, your thinking slows down by dozens of times, but Luo Jialan remains the same, so before you even react, she would have already…”
‘Stop, don’t say it, I know. It’s a terrible idea!’
“I’m kidding. Actually, it can affect her, but it’s hard to achieve such an outstanding effect. Anyway, you still need to stall for sixty minutes. How about that, relieved?”
Seeing Su Mu’s tense expression, Irina suddenly chuckled, then spoke with a slightly lighter tone.
Of course, the ill-timed joke didn’t improve Su Mu’s mood.
‘Don’t joke with me at a time like this!’
Su Mu puffed her cheeks, looking slightly annoyed, but the flush of anger on her pretty face made her look rather adorable.
“You do need to relax a bit; being too tense isn’t good.”
‘Ugh! Then what should I use to stall you for sixty minutes, hide-and-seek?’
“Don’t rush. I have another idea. In the Dream World, you can summon your past illusions and scenes, you must be able to feel that, right?”
Hearing Irina’s serious tone, Su Mu calmed down and nodded.
She had felt this long ago—in a dream controlled by someone else, she was almost free to do as she pleased.
Summoning a few “Little Su Mus” shouldn’t be a problem.
“Then quickly throw out each version of yourself from your Memory Points, let them appear one after another in front of Luo Jialan to deceive her. I guess she has enough patience to watch.”
‘Are you joking? That means I have to expose my entire past to her, just like I saw her past in the Luo Linglan Dreamscape.’
“Almost, but isn’t this a good idea?”
Su Mu fell silent, seemingly recalling something, her cheeks gradually burning red.
“Hey, I say, you’re not thinking about…”
‘No way, absolutely not. Back then, I was a pure boy. I can’t bear to let Luo Jialan see that now.’
Luo Jialan, who was intoxicated by desire, would definitely do it.
She could easily do that kind of thing!
‘What nonsense are you thinking about? Those are just illusions. How could that be possible, how could it be…’
Irina’s face also flushed, her voice becoming as soft as a mosquito’s buzzing, low to the point of inaudibility.
“Look on the bright side, you can restore your glory.”
‘I don’t want that kind of glory!’
Moreover, for some reason, Su Mu especially hated the idea of Luo Jialan knowing about her past.
It was as if the version of herself around Luo Jialan had to be a pure Magical Girl, a little kitten to be trampled beneath her.
‘Have I already started to hate my past self?’
“Actually, you can beautify it a little…”
‘It’s fine, let’s just do it as you said.’
At those words, Irina was momentarily stunned, then inexplicably relieved.
“Then I’ll tell you how to lure her into a virtual scene.”
On the rooftop, Tang Mo, sensing the two had come close and were holding hands, laughed shamelessly and wildly.
Such a wicked, reckless laugh was completely out of character for her.
Tang Mo shared the same neat, black hair and that damn elegant air as Tang Nai in the Dreamscape, making her laughter sound discordant and grating.
After all, in all the time Su Mu had known Tang Nai, no matter how ridiculous her actions were, she had never laughed like this with her mouth wide open.
Tang Mo’s excitement was not only because the plan was about to succeed, but also for one crucial reason.
Tang Nai, my lofty older sister, you’re about to suffer a defeat at my hands.
This would definitely be considered a great feat even in the family.