Chapter 49: Loading Failed?

No way!

Xu Lin held his breath; his heart rate spiked.

From all the countless dream loops he remembered, this was the first time Lin Shen Xue had ever shown that expression.

A terrible premonition hit him.

Sure enough, Lin Shen Xue slowly raised her head, about to look in a certain direction.

The exact spot where the witch’s hat floated.

Fortunately, only one final step remained.

And their forward momentum hadn’t stopped.

So Xu Lin threw caution to the wind and took that last big step.

He successfully touched the witch’s hat.

Purple light burst forth, instantly enveloping his entire body.

The scene before him began to disintegrate.

“Young Hero, you have successfully withdrawn from the dream.”

Before his consciousness faded, Li Zhi Ran’s words echoed in his mind.

※

Where… is this?

The surroundings left Xu Lin bewildered.

Rows upon rows of bookshelves stretched before him, every shelf packed full.

The place was deathly quiet, as if he were the only person there.

…The library?

How did I end up here? I still haven’t woken up?

Shh-shh.

The sound of a pen scratching on paper came from nearby.

He followed the sound and saw a figure seated at a table, writing intently.

It was a girl with long, cascading black hair, wearing a high school uniform.

From his angle he could only see her profile, but even that profile alone was enough to know she possessed breathtaking beauty.

Suddenly her hand stopped; she stared fixedly at the paper in front of her.

From where he stood, Xu Lin could just about make out the contents.

Focusing, he saw nothing but incomprehensible mathematical formulas.

So she’s a straight-A student.

But the question was—who was she? And what was he doing here?

Thud.

A muffled sound—like a book falling.

The girl seemed startled by the abrupt noise and looked toward the source.

A book had landed right in front of her.

…

“Who on earth brings this kind of book to the library?”

Xu Lin inwardly roasted the cover.

On it was a 2D girl, and beside her, in cute bubbly font, were the words “Witch’s Journey.”

A light novel.

The girl stared at the light novel for a moment, then looked around.

Seeing that, Xu Lin’s body involuntarily tensed.

She wouldn’t notice him staring like this, right?

Yet when her gaze swept toward him, it was as if she saw nothing at all—her eyes simply passed over him.

“She can’t see me…”

Only then did Xu Lin relax.

“No, wait!”

Suddenly, the girl’s face flashed through his mind again.

“She looks familiar…”

…

“…It’s her!”

He quickly recognized her.

Though the hair color was different and her features a little more youthful, that face was undoubtedly Li Zhi Ran—the Witch!

So she actually had normal moments like this.

Xu Lin marveled, but the marvel was quickly swallowed back down.

High-school-era Li Zhi Ran picked up the book, flipped it open, and began reading with obvious relish.

“…Could this be the origin story of the Witch…”

By now she had completely abandoned the paper and pen in front of her.

Several dozen minutes later, she turned to the final page.

She closed the book, a look of lingering fascination on her cool, aloof face.

At that moment, the girl in Xu Lin’s vision began to blur.

Everything before him grew hazy.

“This time I should really wake up, right?”

The moment the thought crossed his mind, nothing but white light remained.

His consciousness gradually faded.

…

“…Wait a second…”

Just before it vanished completely, something occurred to him.

“…That book looked kind of familiar…”

He didn’t have time to confirm before his consciousness dissolved entirely.

…

Xu Lin regained awareness once more.

The patter-patter of water sounded in his ears.

The air around him was somewhat hot; every breath carried thick humidity.

He opened his eyes—everything was foggy.

Steam.

Through the mist, he vaguely saw a figure.

Soon he was fully awake; his vision cleared.

“…This is Li Zhi Ran’s bathroom.”

“Young Hero, finish washing quickly. There are still important things to do next.”

Li Zhi Ran’s admonishing voice rang out.

“It’s the bath scene with Li Zhi Ran!”

The memory hit him instantly.

“No, wait—why am I still not awake? Do I have to finish this sequence too before I can fully escape?”

“Young Hero?”

Li Zhi Ran’s puzzled voice drew closer.

He instinctively stepped back; her entire body came fully into view.

His retreat froze; his gaze locked in place.

“N-No!”

His voice trembled.

“What’s wrong?”

Li Zhi Ran asked, confused.

Right now, before Xu Lin’s eyes, was nothing but bare, uncovered skin.

Where’s the swimsuit?

This isn’t right!

Could it be—loading failed?

Then what comes next…

The moment the future scene flashed through his mind,

White light exploded before his eyes.

Like a monitor switching off, everything went black.

This time he completely lost consciousness.

※

Who knows how much time passed before awareness slowly returned.

Xu Lin opened his eyes to a pitch-dark ceiling.

He sat up and looked around.

Not the dorm…

“This is Li Zhi Ran’s place…”

Everything came back to him at once.

“So I finally woke up normally?”

The memories replayed clearly in his mind: repeating the same scenes with Lin Shen Xue in the dream, Li Zhi Ran appearing, guiding him to escape via the beacon.

After that, he seemed to have had a few more dreams.

But like most dreams, they left no impression.

“Where’s Li Zhi Ran?”

He didn’t see her in the room.

He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and checked the time.

The room was too dark to tell otherwise.

A little past seven in the morning.

“She must have seen I safely left the dream, decided not to disturb my sleep, and went back to bed herself.”

Seeing the time made everything clear.

“Everything’s fine—that’s good.”

Xu Lin got out of bed and stretched.

His whole body felt light; his spirit refreshed.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had woken up feeling this good.

He turned on the light, illuminating the entire room.

He sat on the edge of the bed, spacing out for a while before getting ready to wash up.

“Right.”

Just as he stood, he remembered something and touched his forehead.

Nothing there.

He turned back, checked under the pillow—nothing inside either.

“Looks like Li Zhi Ran already took everything away.”

“But how did she manage to remove stuff from under the pillow while I was sleeping on it? Was I really that dead to the world?”

He couldn’t figure it out, so he stopped trying.

Xu Lin shook his head.

“Wash up first, then wait for Li Zhi Ran to wake up and talk about the dream.”

With that in mind, he prepared to leave the bed.

But the next second, he froze.

His gaze fixed on the pillow—specifically, the spot right beside where his head had been.

Something was there.

He reached out and pinched the newly discovered object.

It was thin, long, and silver.

“A strand of hair? This color… it’s Li Zhi Ran’s…”