Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 58: Combing Through the Details

The voice seemed to come from a distant place, faint and intermittent, mixed with a vague, crackling noise. It was like an old radio, not properly tuned, struggling to transmit the few words it could catch.

Xu Wang couldn’t help but tremble.

The little calico kitten in his arms raised its head and gently rubbed his chin with its head.

The old doctor continued his cleaning work diligently, not lifting his head.

[Owl: You… Who are you…]

Before any response came, the voice persisted, asking a second time.

“Who… Who are you?” Xu Wang mustered all his strength to finally ask back.

[Owl: Owl…]

“Owl?” Xu Wang was momentarily confused but quickly remembered that the owl symbol was under the word “Owl” on the arms of those four people.

[Owl: No… This isn’t right… You shouldn’t be here…]

Xu Wang was speechless. He hadn’t even said who he was, and already he wasn’t supposed to be there? Moreover, it wasn’t like he wanted to be there!

“Right, I shouldn’t be here, so hurry up and send me back.”

[Owl: Twenty-three… submissions… and regain your freedom…]

“Submit? Submit what? Is this an exam?” Xu Wang couldn’t keep up with the other’s train of thought. What did twenty-three refer to?

[Owl: No… You’re not chosen… You can’t submit…]

“Stop talking to yourself.” Xu Wang felt like going crazy. “I’m good at studying. You don’t even need to give me a scope. Just tell me what twenty-three is. I’ll study it myself. I can definitely submit it!”

[Owl: Not chosen… You can’t…]

“…” Xu Wang was exhausted. This person simply didn’t make sense.

[Owl: Not chosen… Why… are you here…]

[Owl: You… Who are you…]

Great, after rambling nonsensically, it circled back to the beginning.

“You win,” Xu Wang surrendered and honestly gave his name. “Xu Wang, double ‘Xu’¹, ‘Wang’ from hope².”

¹Clarity: [Xu] (徐) with double (双人). This is referencing the first radical (彳) of the character [Xu] (徐) to distinguish which type of Xu his surname is.
²Clarity: [Wang] (望) from hope [xiwang] (希望).

[Owl: Double ‘Xu’… ‘Wang’ from hope…]

“Now that I’ve told you who I am, can you tell me how to get home?”

[Owl: The first time… someone… can hear me speak…]

Great, back to the “I’m not listening, I’ll only say what I want” mode.

[Owl: Help me… Help… Help me…]

The sudden plea caught Xu Wang off guard. “What?”

[Owl: No… It’s no use… you will forget…]

“Don’t just jump to conclusions!” Xu Wang was fed up. “I won’t forget! What exactly do you want me to help you with?”

No response.

But suddenly, something lightened in his arms.

Xu Wang instinctively looked down. The little calico kitten he had been holding had disappeared, leaving only a curled-up little kitten keychain lying quietly in his palm.

Suddenly, his palm and the keychain flickered twice, creating a blur.

But Xu Wang hadn’t moved at all.

He looked up in panic, only to find the surroundings beginning to distort and warp, just like in the corridor earlier.

Was he… going home?

He was going home!

Perhaps because it felt so similar to the sensation when he arrived, his intuition was almost certain!

[Owl: Don’t… forget… me…]

This was the last sentence Xu Wang heard.

……

Class 7, Third Year.

A minute ago, Xu Wang disappeared. Turning around to find no one behind him, Wu Sheng was bewildered for half a minute. Never in his life had he experienced a moment of mental blankness, until tonight, twice in succession.

The first time was when he pushed Xu Wang away, lasting about five or six seconds. The second, when he realized Xu Wang was gone, lasted a full thirty seconds.

Half a minute later, he immediately started searching, with their just-vacated classroom, Class 7, Third Year, as his first stop.

Before he could do any searching, Xu Wang was standing next to his own desk.

At the sight of Xu Wang’s figure, Wu Sheng leaned gently against the doorframe, almost collapsing in relief.

Half a minute of anxious waiting, it felt like running 10,000 meters. He thought to himself in amusement that this must be the ratio of mental to physical exhaustion.

Taking a deep breath and calming his heartbeat, Wu Sheng walked into the classroom and approached Xu Wang from behind.

He didn’t try to step lightly, so his approach wasn’t exactly stealthy, but he was almost upon Xu Wang before he even stirred.

“Xu Wang?” Wu Sheng finally sensed something amiss.

The thunder drowned out most of his voice, but being close enough, Xu Wang slowly turned his head.

However, his gaze was vacant, taking a long time to focus on Wu Sheng’s face. “Huh?”

Wu Sheng was speechless. Shouldn’t he be the one saying, “Huh?” What kind of logic was Xu Wang following, mysteriously slipping back to the classroom with such an innocent look?

“Oh.” As if finally understanding the unspoken words in Wu Sheng’s eyes, Xu Wang reached for his phone on the desk and showed it to him. “I forgot my phone.”

Wu Sheng knew it. He must have left something behind.

As for running off without a word… On a normal day, he could have criticized him, but today, he really couldn’t blame him.

“The rain has stopped.” Xu Wang looked out the window.

Wu Sheng looked up, and indeed, the rain had ceased, and the night suddenly seemed much more peaceful.

“Let’s hurry back,” he said, worried it might start raining again.

“Yeah.” Xu Wang put his phone in his pocket.

Wu Sheng turned first, heading for the door.

Xu Wang followed but stumbled upon something with his toe.

Bending down, he picked up a small cat keychain.

This was his seat. This was after school, so he snuck back and sat there for half the night. He was certain this keychain wasn’t there before.

The only other person who had been there was Wu Sheng.

The keychain was still new, its color shining brightly even after falling on the floor.

“What’s up?” Wu Sheng turned back, alert, fearing he might lose Xu Wang again.

“Nothing.” Xu Wang quietly slipped the keychain into his pocket.

Having liked someone for so long and deciding to give up, he allowed himself this one act of caprice—a keepsake.

A memento of unrequited love.

He didn’t regret having liked Wu Sheng.

But from tomorrow on, he needed to focus on preparing for exams.

He would get into a good university, find a stable job, not seeking glory but self-sufficiency—it might sound unambitious, even mundane, but it was the only expectation his mother had for him.

……

Ten years later, Beijing, Xu Wang’s bedroom.

Confronted with the keychain, memories flooded in, unstoppable like a tide.

The “Owl” was right. As soon as he came out, he forgot everything about the “Owl”. His memories were cut and reassembled: one second, he was with Wu Sheng in the corridor, the next Wu Sheng was turning back to find him, and then, at the splice, a pretext of “returning for his phone” was inserted.

Seamless and plausible.

Back in Dongying, the banner in 3/23 only reminded him of following the team into the infection disease building. Only now, looking at the keychain, did the even more bizarre part of that memory resurface.

Unable to stay calm, Xu Wang got up and went back to the living room, sharing this “ten-year-old adventure” with his three teammates in its entirety.

Aside from the “lost love” part, which had no value for discussion, he openly shared everything else without reservation.

This wasn’t only because he wanted to be honest with his teammates but also because it involved the correspondence of the ‘Owl’ with reality, time, and other issues. Without linking it to reality, it was impossible to study.

His three teammates listened from beginning to end.

Throughout the process, Wu Sheng’s expressions varied greatly, yet he remained steadfastly silent; Qian Ai, in the first half, frequently wanted to ask questions, but by the latter half, was completely baffled, no matter what was said or heard; as for Kuang Jinxin, it was like listening to a story, becoming more and more fascinated as it went on, eyes shining so brightly that it would be embarrassing to tell it in a dull manner, requiring vivid and lively descriptions to be at ease.

After finishing within one breath, Xu Wang’s throat felt parched. He drank two full glasses of water and waited for questions.

Wu Sheng was definitely the quickest to understand and the fastest and most comprehensive in organizing questions. However, Xu Wang looked at him several times, and this teammate kept his eyes lowered, neither asking questions nor revealing the windows to his soul, quiet to the point of being mysterious.

“I can’t take it anymore,” Qian Ai burst out, pacing around the room with a belly full of questions. “The ‘Owl’ talked to you? Asked for your help? Without specifying what? This is maddening—”

“And that old doctor, why did he throw away the vaccine? What were we fighting for?!”

“That’s not right. If the ‘Owl’ can alter memories, how can you be sure your current memory is true?”

“I know there’s the keychain. You say it’s a phantom object, but it looks just like a keychain to me…”

With an almost inaudible sigh, Wu Sheng finally looked up. “Lao Qian, calm down.”

“Class Monitor, you can’t expect us ordinary humans to have your level of composure…” Qian Ai was still stuck in ‘ten years ago’, even reverting to youthful titles.

“I tend to believe Xu Wang,” Wu Sheng said. “Otherwise, there’s no explanation for how we suddenly aced the challenge last night.”

Wu Sheng looked at Qian Ai.

Xu Wang stared at Wu Sheng.

This ‘tendency’ tone of believe it or not was infuriating…

When they reunited, Xu Wang thought Wu Sheng hadn’t changed, but now, looking back, he realized the youthful Wu Sheng was much more adorable!

He knew Wu Sheng was stubborn, confronting him about lying late at night, even running back to the school building in the rain… Although the outcome was sad, time had passed, and the memory was more sweet than bitter.

“Wait.” Qian Ai, catching the most obvious branch in the ‘ten-year foggy forest’, turned to his advisor and asked, “When you saw Xu Wang disappear, you had no reaction? Or was your memory erased too?”

“I can’t guarantee that my memory hasn’t been tampered with,” Wu Sheng said rigorously. “But based on the data I currently have, I didn’t see him disappear. Instead, the first time I turned back, I saw him…” A twinge of pain pricked at the tip of his heart, and Wu Sheng restrained his gaze. “Watching the rain. The second time I turned back, he was gone. There was about a minute in between—enough time for him to silently return to the classroom.”

Xu Wang looked down, pretending to fiddle with the keychain.

He wasn’t watching the rain.

He was crying.

It turns out Wu Sheng had always known.

“Even if returning for the phone makes sense, shouldn’t he have said something?” Qian Ai still couldn’t understand. “Just ‘whooshing’ back to the classroom without a word, isn’t that strange?”

“There was no sound,” Kuang Jinxin chimed in. “If it really was a ‘whoosh,’ anyone would’ve turned back immediately!”

Qian Ai frowned. “I was just making an analogy…”

“Too much happened that day,” Wu Sheng explained carefully. “Him not wanting to talk to me was normal.”

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin naturally thought Wu Sheng was referring to “Xu Wang’s mother’s passing”.

So, the former blamed him for not being alert enough. “If it were me, I would have asked then. Maybe we could’ve discovered the ‘Owl’s’ secret ten years earlier!”

The latter gently admonished. “Sheng Ge, sometimes, you don’t need to rationalize everything yourself…”

Qian Ai settled back on the sofa, indicating the initial “shock phase” was mostly over.

“If there are no more urgent questions, let’s start analyzing from the beginning,” Xu Wang said firmly. “There are too many oddities here.”

Qian Ai and Kuang Jinxin agreed.

Xu Wang nodded and looked at Wu Sheng. “Please start your analysis.”

Suddenly being spotlighted, Advisor Wu was caught off guard, with a dumbfounded, cute expression.

Xu Wang’s lips curled upwards, slightly smug about his successful sneak attack, but the trust in his eyes was genuine and solid. “You must have already thought it through. Go ahead. We’re listening.”

Wu Sheng finally snapped back to reality, glancing at him with mixed feelings, then adjusted his mood and happily began Advisor Wu’s Mini-Lecture.

“First, the coordinates. The coordinates on 3/23 were in Dongying, which isn’t even in the same province as our school. There are two possibilities: either the coordinates of 3/23 ten years ago were at our school, or there was an issue with the Owl, mistakenly pulling Xu Wang into 3/23.”

“Second, the time. When Xu Wang entered the Owl, it was midnight Beijing time. According to the setting of 3/23, it should have been 6 p.m. inside, but it was actually late at night. Of course, this could be a normal change and adjustment of the content of the 3/23 level. However, Xu Wang stayed inside for at least forty minutes to an hour, but in reality, from the time I noticed he was missing to when I saw him back in the classroom, only one minute had passed. Now, when we’re clearing levels, time inside the Owl passes synchronously with real time, which is why we can use our phones to check the time.”

Classmate Qian raised his hand to speak.

Advisor Wu waved his hand, indicating that he understood. “The Owl could have tampered with my memory of time; that’s one possibility. But it’s also possible that there’s a problem with the Owl itself.”

“Third, Xu Wang’s own state.” Which was of most concern to Wu Sheng. “To the level clearers, he is ‘non-existent’, but to the buildings, objects, and NPCs inside the Owl, he ‘exists but is ignored’…”

Xu Wang, anxious to hear more, jumped in. “There are also two possibilities here. Go on.”

Unexpectedly, Advisor Wu changed tactics. “No, just one. The world of the Owl mistook you as one of its own, so you didn’t receive the Owl pattern that symbolizes the identity of a level clearer. In other words, if you could be seen, then you would be an NPC.”

Xu Wang: “But they can’t see me—neither the level challengers nor the NPCs.”

Wu Sheng: “So, you’re a bug.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Wu Sheng: “Next, I’ll focus on analyzing the conditions for the appearance of this bug and its future prospects.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Qian Ai: “……”

Kuang Jinxin: “Sheng Ge, slow down. I’m taking class notes.”

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