Chen Xiao's dimly lit room gradually vanished, a soft glow piercing the fog—it was the light from apartment 603. He found himself already sitting on the sofa in the apartment, surrounded by the same objects as when he had just written the word "Okay."
However, the clueless writer was nowhere to be seen.
Chen Xiao didn't feel even a hint of unreality about the shift in his surroundings, a mocking smile playing at the corners of his mouth, "You think this can fool me?"
...
...
A quiet 10 seconds passed—nothing happened.
Then, Chen Xiao swiftly got up, felt under the sofa with his hand, pulled out his phone, and turned it on. At the same time, his other hand reached into his jacket pocket, took out the paper with the Array drawn on it, glanced at it, then walked to the living room window, opened it, and took a deep breath, a comfortable expression on his face as he habitually licked his lips. Next... with a loud "bang," he banged his head against the window frame.
"Aaahhhh!!!" he screamed while simultaneously checking the phone's signal and time. After this, he quickly stuffed his phone into his pocket, pulled out a pen, and threw it out the window. Only after the pen hit the ground with a "snap," did he sit back down on the sofa, adopting a thoughtful pose.
This entire sequence of actions, tightly connected between each movement, took about 5 seconds.
...
Any sane person witnessing Chen Xiao's bizarre and seemingly senseless behavior would think, "This guy must be insane!"
Yes! That thought isn't wrong, but it's only half true. Chen Xiao is indeed insane, there's no doubt about that.
But at this moment, his actions, well, had some significance.
Firstly, the moment he opened his eyes and saw the scene of "Apartment 603," he speculated, "Is this space the real 'Apartment 603'?"
Meaning, could this also be a separate space like the small cabin was?
If the so-called "Angel" sister really could see into people's minds, then she most likely could also access people's memories, since thoughts are built on memories. Thus, she definitely knows every detail inside "Apartment 603."
This leads to another question!
In conversations with the "Angel" sister, she always seemed to be guiding Chen Xiao to believe that this space is a "cage," that she is trapped here, and she studies those symbols to escape.
Let's put aside the truth of the "Separate Space" setting for now. Assuming that the "small cabin" is indeed a separate space, how can it be verified that the "Angel" sister is trapped?
Could it be likely that she is using this "Separate Space" to hide herself because she is afraid of something and is avoiding something, and those Formations aren't meant to allow her to leave but to bring other things in?
If so, then she could definitely create a space identical to the "Apartment 603" in Chen Xiao's memory to confuse him, though his purpose remains unclear. Still, such a verification was necessary, or else Chen Xiao would never leave the "low thinking" mode.
Therefore, he immediately displayed a mocking expression, as if he'd already seen through her tricks.
But this was also just a test; after all, it's almost useless to plot alone against someone with the "Mind Reading Technique."
So next, Chen Xiao felt under the sofa to confirm whether it had been just his consciousness wandering or if his body had also traveled to another space.
And the information he got was that there wasn't much warmth under his buttocks. This was similar to his experiences in the "small cabin."
Then of course, he checked the time and whether the paper with the Formation was still on him. There wasn't much to say about that.
Next, to verify the authenticity of this "Apartment 603," Chen Xiao opened the window. After confirming that the air and the indoor and outdoor spaces were still connected, he threw a pen out the window, only slightly reassured after noticing the slight delay between seeing the pen hit the ground and hearing the sound.
Of course, while doing this, he didn't forget to conduct an old-fashioned "Pain Test" on himself by banging his head and screaming.
"Hmm... where did that clueless writer go?" he wondered aloud, though he didn't really care much because she most likely had gone to call the police.
Sure, someone suddenly vanishes, even a naive person should react somehow.
But now, Chen Xiao really couldn't care less about these trivial matters; he was eager to recall his encounter with the "Angel" sister, as nearly half an hour of forcibly suppressed thinking was torturing him deeply.
So first, he recalled the first glimpse of her, those organs floating outside her body, obviously immersed in a special nutrient solution designed to extend their lifespan, just as she said—her body was merely a container, seeming so easily replaceable. Considering the grotesque figure of "Eyeball Guy" next to her, alright! For now, let's assume she really had that ability.
Thus, the "her" that Chen Xiao saw wasn't truly her. Although her subtle movements and demeanor appeared to be those of a young girl of about 20, that really proved nothing, and the "body" served as camouflage, making everything Chen Xiao saw possibly just what she wanted him to see.
In other words, she all but admitted that observing her was pointless, essentially telling Chen Xiao, "You can't see through me, so don't bother trying."
At this thought, Chen Xiao laughed nervously a few times, seeming quite delighted,
So, let's recall the conversation next!
During their conversation, Chen Xiao had abandoned active thinking and completely followed her lead, so he couldn't set traps or schemes. However, even in "low thinking" mode, Chen Xiao still had many doubts about what she said. First of all, Chen Xiao had doubted the authenticity of the "Mind Reading Technique," although he'd verified it using the method of "mental questioning" at the time. It seemed she indeed possessed something like the Mind Reading Technique, but why did she tell me about it? If she hadn't said anything, couldn't she have just read my thoughts at will? To say she blabbed like a naive 20-year-old sister would be something he would never believe! So, he was almost certain her telling him was deliberate, to make him lower his guard and conceal something else. Of course, if she really intended to conceal something, Chen Xiao couldn't just speculate wildly as that would not only prevent him from finding the correct answer but might also lead him astray.
"But if it's not 'Mind Reading Technique,' how did she know what I was thinking at the time?" Chen Xiao pondered for a while but couldn't find an answer. Or rather, there were too many possibilities; he couldn't pin down what it was since he had no understanding of her range of abilities. At the moment, all he knew was that she possessed knowledge in "alternative medicine" and something similar to "Formation." At the end of the conversation, she even carelessly mentioned "equivalent exchange," blatantly informing him that she was researching something like "Alchemy." Of course, even these were what she let him see. When he first appeared in the "cabin," those books and bottles had been placed beside him, almost as if they were begging him to check them out.
Apart from that, the matter with "Eyeball-kun" was also significant. He had only seen it from start to finish, never touching it at all. So was it really just a strange creature put together by "alternative medicine"? There were also the "isolated space" and "Formation" setups. Even if the "Angel" girl was telling the truth, with his current level of understanding, he couldn't delve deeper into these matters... And anyway, she didn't seem like she was telling the truth!
Thinking this, Chen Xiao realized he couldn't be certain of anything apart from what the "Angel" girl had explicitly told him.
"Hmm... Come to think of it, she was desperately making me follow the path she guided from the very beginning. And she took great pains over it," Chen Xiao thought, pulling out the paper with the strange formation drawn on it, finding it very sturdy, presumably made from tough grass mixed with animal oil.
"All this effort, just to have me place those 'anomalous items' in this pattern? Sounds like some sort of sacrifice. And she even added, 'There will be a reward for you.' Heh heh heh."
Next, Chen Xiao stared closely at the strange pattern for a long time until he could draw the "Formation" with his eyes closed without a single mistake, yet he still couldn't discern any pattern.
Eventually, he tucked the parchment in his pocket, giving up on studying it.
By now, one and a half hours had passed since he had written "OK" on that piece of paper.
"Sigh... Let's go. Who knows if that 'idiot' got lost by himself!" he muttered to himself and headed straight for the door.
But then, he noticed a piece of paper stuck where the door frame met the wall, which was a blind spot from where Chen Xiao was sitting, so he hadn't seen it before.
It read:
This apartment is given to you as a gift, so Mr. Chen Xiao, you must be my friend!
————Qiu Mujin (smiley face)
Chen Xiao raised an eyebrow; this mysterious line made him think of many things instantly.
From the phone call Mr. Zhou received in the "Area 15 Biological Research" interrogation room, to the taxi that pulled him near this place, to the sudden appearance of a "Class D anomaly" only a few streets away, followed by the "Angel" girl, and finally to this note stuck on the wall.
All these pieces of information popped into his head.
However, he didn't seem too surprised, just pulled out his phone and opened the map.
As expected, the small red circle indicating the "D-Class Anomaly Zone" had disappeared, and below the task, it was written in green font: "Anomaly Cleared!"
...
Chen Xiao nodded, his expression one of realization.
"I thought so! What a coincidence!" Chen Xiao grinned, talking to himself, "Truly an interesting person..."
"Hehehe————Hahahaha!"
He burst into laughter, his voice shrill and grating, terribly annoying; the light outside was triggered by the noise, neighbors were startled, the downstairs cat bristled and with a "meow" dived into the corner of the wardrobe.
...
Well... okay, what this part of the story really means is that Chen Xiao finally has a place to live!