Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

At some point in the night, snowflakes fluttered outside the window, dotted with conspicuous pure white in the lead-colored sky.

The bitter cold wind brings the freezing temperature, and walks into the room through the gaps in the windows.

I seemed to be lying on the side of Su Erin's hospital bed, and slept all night in a daze.

The cold wind blew my cheeks and penetrated into the gap between my clothes and my skin. I seemed to have lost even the instinct to tremble, and my thoughts were like a blank blueprint.

The cell phone tightly squeezed in the hand conveyed a cold touch. I turned my eyes and stared out of the window, lost in thought while watching the drifting snow.

One of the messages I received just now was a message from my father last night, asking me if I would not be home tonight, and the other was from Xue Xueer not long ago, and the content of the letter was being displayed on the screen.

"It's the 93rd day. How are you thinking?"

It's a good thing she can count the time so clearly. I have told her my answer more than once, I don't want to go back to the dream, but I don't know how persistent she can be.

However, judging by the way she phrased it, maybe she was about to give up too?

I let out a long breath, put the phone in my pocket, and ignored her message. The light outside the window gradually turned bright, and the door of the ward was knocked open by someone outside.

Chen Xue, who held the dinner plate in one hand, looked around the room twice, as if confirming that I was still in the ward. She narrowed her eyes slightly, and she was holding a lollipop with her small mouth and smiling like a crescent moon.

"Wow Aniki, you really stayed here all night~"

Chen Xue, who had changed into a private server, still had a lollipop in his mouth, and his voice sounded vague. She walked briskly to my side and handed me the tray.

"Here, here it is~ I just thought I was in the hall all night, why didn't I see you come out."

I was flattered and didn't know how to respond to her words, so I had no choice but to accept her kindness.

"Thanks."

In fact, my memory of this girl is very delicate. I don't know why she called me "ANIKI", and I don't know what relationship there was between her and me.

The current impression of her is basically established after the end of the domination war.

After opening the lid on the dinner plate, I couldn't help but doubt my eyes and fell into a long thought.

It's not because of how rich it is, but I haven't seen anyone whose breakfast needs to prepare three extra lollipops on the side.

"this is?"

Puzzled, I picked up an unpacked lollipop and pointed it at Chen Xue.

"Oh, you don't need to thank me for such things~"

Chen Xue stretched out his index finger and scratched his cheek, his eyes dodging left and right seemed inexplicably cute. She stepped on pink canvas shoes, mobilized her feet and walked to the wall, leaning back and looking at me.

For some reason, Chen Xue's dress and weird personality reminded me of Qianyan. For a moment, the emotion called nostalgia swirled in my heart, and I suddenly opened my eyes, and this feeling was like a forgotten memory reappearing before my eyes.

"So, is that so..."

Last night's dream seemed to cause a shift in my state. I seem to have regained the ability to control dreams. At the same time, the memory lost due to the loss of lucid dreams was also restored.

The dusty shackles on the name "Qianyan" were suddenly broken, and her appearance clearly appeared in front of my eyes. I couldn't help thinking about her.

What happened to Qianyan after that, did she leave in a fit of anger because I forgot about her without authorization?

Or is she always by my side when I forget her?

besides. A previously blocked memory also revived - it was about the decisive battle.

"Yesterday afternoon, Chen Yong also came to the hospital~"

Chen Xue's seemingly unintentional speech interrupted my thinking, and I paused for a few seconds before continuing to move my chopsticks.

"Really... is he here again?"

After the domination war ended, Chen Yong and I met in reality several times. Chen Yong has been living and writing in Haibin City since he quit the domination war. At the same time, I did not tell Chen Yong the fact that the domination war was over.

If it wasn't for Xue Xueer's persistent questioning, I probably wouldn't tell anyone about this absurd thing.

Although I didn't say anything, Chen Yong still knew about Su Huilin's hospitalization.

"Su Erin became like this, which obviously has nothing to do with him. It's the black cat's fault. He is not the one who should feel guilty and repent. There is no need for him to visit her all day long, right?"

I was babbling to myself when suddenly I heard footsteps in my ears, followed by the sound of plastic "啦啦啦啦".

I raised my head in confusion, and a sweet smell came into my mouth unexpectedly, blocking my words. Chen Xue stuffed the strawberry-flavored lollipop into my mouth, bent down with his hands on his waist, and stared at me.

"No, it's not that it has nothing to do with him."

"The matter of Su Huilin has nothing to do with him."

"I didn't specifically mention this matter. Not only Chen Yong, I'm also quite worried about your appearance like ANIKI."

This made me startled. Could it be that Chen Yong often took the trouble to take care of my sister because he was worried about me?

"Let me guess. Seeing that you are so upset, ANIKI, is your trouble related to domination of the war?"

Chen Xue hit the nail on the head with what was on my mind, and I couldn't help but my eyes wandered from side to side. Seeing my expression, Chen Xue got the answer naturally, and couldn't help smiling at me.

"BINGO~ I was right."

Chen Xue straightened her body, stretched out her index finger to her lips, thought for a moment and said:

"So, although you kept it from me, ANIKI, the domination war is actually over, right?"

"No..." I frowned, and just wanted to keep concealing it, but in the end I simply gave up the idea of ​​concealing it, and asked, "How do you know?"

"Hmm..." Chen Xue pretended to be mysterious and shook his index finger, "Because I have the magic to see through other people's minds."

Seeing the displeasure on my face, Chen Xue leaned down again and grinned.

"I'm just kidding~ Don't be so serious, ANIKI."

Chen Xue leaned back his upper body, and sat freely on the side of the bed opposite to Su Huilin's hospital bed. She dangled her legs hanging in the air, and looked in other directions with her eyes wandering.

"Every time ANIKI comes to the hospital, isn't there a girl who follows you?"

I was stunned for a moment, and then I realized that the person she was talking about was Xue Xueer.

"I talked to her once."

After getting her response, I lowered my gaze as if nothing had happened, and continued to pick up the chopsticks with a little force with my fingers.

"Oh, I see?"

After I responded to her pretending to be understated, a burst of irritability suddenly passed through my heart.

＊＊＊

"Hey—wanderer of the imaginary clock, would you like to become the ruler of dreams again?"

On the way to school in the snow, the voice that I often heard recently sounded again in my ears. The invitation appealed to by this awe-inspiring voice repeated itself over and over again like a curse, stinging to the point where I buried the memory deep in my memory.

I vaguely remember the day that led to the beginning of this—

【Then, please give me more advice from now on~】

Xia Yinci sat in the middle of the princess bed, stretching out her little white hand to me. Show a heart-warming smile.

Suddenly, snowflakes fell on the tip of my nose and melted into water droplets in an instant. I clenched the straps of my schoolbag tightly, and couldn't help speeding up my steps, as if I wanted to drive away the harassment of memories.

In the morning, the second class just ended. Xue Xueer found the classroom of our class as usual, poked his head cautiously at the door, and showed a relieved expression as usual after seeing me.

But this time I stood up directly. Before she came in, I walked to the door of the classroom, grabbed her arm by the way, and walked towards the stairs.

The confusion on Xue Xueer's face showed that she really didn't expect me to do this, but she didn't mean to reject me, and followed me to the rooftop with doubts on her face. The snow in the lead-colored sky gradually became denser.

"Xue Xueer, why did you tell Chen Xue about controlling the war?"

Before she could ask a question, I immediately questioned her.

Xue Xueer tilted her head slightly, the doubt on her face stayed for only a second, she quickly understood what I meant, she turned her clear eyes to look elsewhere, stretched out her finger and scratched her cheek embarrassingly.

"Well... I just wanted to see if I could get useful information, and she happened to have something she wanted to ask me~ Out of professional instinct, I just...well, I exchanged information with her for the time being."

Noticing that my expression became more serious, she immediately put her hands together and made a sincere apology.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask your opinion first!"

I stared at her for a long time, let out a sigh of relief, raised my hand and rubbed my temples.

"I know you don't believe what I say, but what I tell you is the truth of the matter."

"But...how can I believe this?"

Xue Xueer frowned in a rare way, and I couldn't help feeling sad and helpless at the fact that we were being tricked by the gods at will.

"Whether you believe it or not, it's true."

When I said this, I swallowed the bitterness that was stuck in my throat, as if I wanted to vent all the annoyance that had accumulated so far on her, and said incessantly:

"The domination war has been a prank carefully planned by the gods from beginning to end. This is the truth you want—the truth that is more boring than anything else. But, how can there be so many traceable things in this world?"

Seeing me like this, Xue Xueer inevitably showed a little panic, but she didn't mean to shrink back because of it, and the persistence to find the truth in her clear eyes was a little deeper.

"You're getting one thing wrong. If what you're saying is the truth, I can't possibly think it's the boring truth."

This time it's my turn and I can't figure it out. Xue Xueer unhurriedly turned to the side of the railing, and lightly clasped the cold railing with both hands. The snow attached to the railing melted away due to her body temperature. She explained in a quiet tone:

"You mean nothing more than 'we and the Domination War are pawns created by the gods to dispatch boredom'? If it's true, don't you think this truth is also interesting?"

"You are simply unreasonable! Fate is at will, don't you feel sad at all?"

"If you look at it as an ordinary Xue Xueer, I would indeed find it very sad. However, the person standing in front of you is Xue Xueer who is a reporter, so this kind of sad thing is also in the category of "interesting"."

Xue Xueer's eyes showed nostalgia, as if someone had said the same thing to her before.

"Really? Is that how you see it?"

Inexplicably, I felt that her words made me sick to my stomach, and the memories that suddenly flooded into my mind broke through the barriers and hit my chest endlessly. I couldn't help gritting my teeth and said to Xue Xueer:

"What you said now reminds me of Xiao Luoluo."

"Hmm. But I don't think it's a wrong value for black cats to hunt interesting things. For example, Chen Yong, the author of light novels, will definitely create a tragic ending in order to create an interesting story."

"Okay. Since you think so, since you think the truth is not boring... Since this is already the big news you want, then you should be satisfied long ago, right? Why are you still pestering me now? "

The mind is getting more and more restless. I was so passionate that I no longer considered whether the words I used were appropriate, and the words I said turned out to be very extreme even to my own ears. I couldn't help feeling remorse and clenched my fists.

My words made Xue Xueer's shoulders tremble. She gripped the railing tightly and turned to look at me.

Under the snow falling with the wind, Xue Xueer's figure looked so thin. The color of sadness was reflected in her eyes again, Xue Xueer no longer concealed her helplessness, which made my heart throbbing uncontrollably.

"Su Ruoyang, you should have noticed it a long time ago? I care about Lin Yu very much."

I calmed down, pressed the pain of my nails into my palm against the throbbing pain in my chest, and nodded to her.

"Um."

At first, I couldn't understand why she was so persistent. However, now that my memory is gradually recovering, I understand more and more that the reason why Xue Xueer is obsessed with my answer is because of Lin Yu.

Xue Xueer really wanted to know where Lin Yu was going.

"I want to know where Lin Yu and Chamao went. Besides... as I said just now, I don't think the truth you told me is boring, and it's not that I don't trust you."

Suddenly, a feeling of uneasiness passed over my heart,

"Since this is the case, why do you still ask me the truth of the matter?"

The girl's eyes tightly bound my sight. I didn't avoid her eyes either, and fixedly stared at her.

"Because I think you are hiding something." Xue Xueer said every word, "About the outcome of this domination war, you must have some crucial part that you didn't tell me."

"I don't understand what you mean. Besides, what are you relying on to conclude that I have reservations about the facts? Don't tell me it's your reporter's intuition. I've said it dozens of times, and I've told the truth— "

Speaking of this, the words that I was about to blurt out got stuck in my mouth for no apparent reason, as if something was stuck in my throat. Xue Xueer seemed to have expected such a reaction from me, and sighed softly.

"You know what? It doesn't look to me like you don't want to go back to the dream gap. You seem to be afraid to go back there."

Suddenly, Xue Xueer's words hit my memory with an indescribable despair.

——The memory of the decisive battle that broke through the confinement this morning.

Under the crimson-engulfed sky, there was silence everywhere. I sat on the edge of the only clock that was still running time, waiting for Lin Yu's arrival.

I don't know how long it has passed, Lin Yu has not kept the appointment, and his patience has gradually worn out to the limit.

"Hey, Lin Yu, what the hell are you doing?"

I tried to contact him through the communication channel between me and Lin Yu, but I didn't get any response from him.

"If you're scared, it's okay to let me take you to the Xinghai Tavern!"

Lin Yu is not a character who retreats from battle. I gradually became aware of the discord in the air.

"Don't get me lost..."

I immediately drew the handle of the sickle to my shoulder, stood up and prepared to leave the clock and look for Lin Yu. However, when he was about to jump off the clock, dull footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

"Tch... you're finally willing to come."

As I spoke, I straightened my pointed hat slightly, turned around, and quickly swung my sickle at the opponent.

Lin Yu hid his body under the black cloak, as if he didn't hear my words, he approached step by step defenselessly.

"Hey, what do you mean?"

Lin Yu didn't respond to my doubts, and just walked up to me unarmed and stopped. As long as the tip of the sickle in my hand moves forward a little bit, it can cut the opponent's neck.

So, he raised his trembling hands, and slowly took off the hood that covered his face. The man under this heavy disguise finally showed his true face, but the figure hidden behind the cloak was obviously not Lin Yu.

The young man neatly tied his purple hair into a ponytail, and stared straight at me with sharp eyes under slanted bangs.

"Alcatel!"

I called out the other person's name in disbelief, so I couldn't help frowning.

"Why are you here? Where's Lin Yu?"

Alket's attire did not look like a knight, but it still did not diminish his chivalry.

If my conjecture is correct, what the black cat said before clearly told me that she killed Arquette and the ruler of clock number three. However, Arquette is actually standing in front of me now.

"If Lin meets him, he won't come over."

Arquette clutched the cloak tightly, as if suppressing a strong emotion. I don't know why his sight drifts to my back from time to time, as if someone behind me will come.

However, even if I turned around, I couldn't see anyone.

"Why?"

As I spoke, I took a step back. I would inevitably be wary of Alket's sudden appearance, and he knew that Lin Yu's failure to attend the appointment was also arousing suspicion, so it shouldn't be his turn to tell me no matter what.

"Hey——if there is a Creator in this world, what kind of existence do you think he would be like?"

"Wait... Arquette, aren't you dead?"

"This kind of thing is not important, Su Luoyang. Answer my question!! My time is running out."

Alket's tone was so hasty that he seemed to disappear at any moment, he rushed towards me, I swung the scythe almost instinctively to attack his chest, but he quickly blocked the scythe with his hand, and the blade pierced into his chest abdomen.

"Hey you..."

"answer my question!"

Arquette lowered the corner of her mouth in pain, but grabbed my shoulder with great effort, and looked into my eyes seriously.

"I have no idea."

"There is no time for you to think about it. Listen carefully, the Creator will definitely not be an omniscient grandpa, but a giant baby with inexhaustible power. You and I are both crippled creations."

"You, how can you be sure about such a thing?"

"Because you are my substitute. This kind of thing will continue in the future."

Arquette gritted his teeth as he resorted to these words, his eyes shifted to my back again, and he shook my shoulder anxiously.

"It's coming soon! Su Luoyang, you must understand the truth of this world as soon as possible! Only you can do it now. Sorry, I didn't realize these things earlier, so I can only leave it to you."

"Arket, hey! What are you talking about?"

Confusion builds up in the mind. The more I heard the back, the more I couldn't understand what he meant.

Arket raised his finger to himself with a pained face, and he put his hand to his throat, as if he was trying his best to tell me something that he was not allowed to say, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the words out.

"Damn it. It's too late..."

Alkaite suddenly grabbed the button fastened around his neck tightly, and quickly threw off the cloak on his body, so he realized that the nostalgic knight's armor and the rapier around his waist all appeared in front of my eyes very clearly. .

At the same time, a gust of cold ran down my back, and the sting suddenly brushed my cheeks, and then stabbed directly at Arket's battered body, piercing his armor.

My eyes widened in disbelief, and the sound of howling wind came from behind me one after another. I immediately drew out my sickle to block the scattered long knives, but I still couldn't block all the sword lights.

Dozens of long knives shining with silver light pierced Arkaite's body one after another. Even though his eyes had lost their luster, the remaining few knives hanging in the air still pierced into his body spattered with azure crystal shards. .

The sharpness and strength of the knife directly nailed Alket's body to the clock dial. During this period, no long knife came towards me, which proved that the target of the other party was not me.

"That's not okay. I don't like children in the rebellious period."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind that was so ethereal that it was difficult to distinguish its authenticity. I just wanted to turn around and throw the sickle at the opponent, but my body was first bound tightly by a pair of invisible hands and I couldn't move.

"Who the hell are you...?"

The other party responded to my question with a light laugh, and the shallow gasp lingered in my ears and could not dissipate. She seemed to be right behind me, but I couldn't control my body, not even back to the capital.

"Wow ❤You are so cute. You are the best~ I really want ❤ to see you broken."

Her panting gradually increased, and she spoke in a wet voice.

"However, you are not needed in the observer's war, and someone who is more suitable than you has changed his mind. So, it is not your turn to appear now~ I will endure it, and you should go back obediently first~"

Before I could discern the meaning of her words, her voice and her vague sense of presence disappeared behind. Immediately afterwards, there were hands behind my back, and I was suddenly pushed back from the dream side to reality.

This departure lasted for half a year.

My previous memory was disconnected from the appearance of Arquette, and because what I wanted to do before this happened was to find the missing Lin Yu, so my brain seemed to automatically complete the unreasonable memory based on this incident.

The version told to Xue Xueer is indeed missing an important part of the truth.

Therefore, my ability to control dreams has not disappeared for no reason. At that time there was a third person besides Arquette and myself. She killed Arquette, who was still alive, and took away my right to lucid dreams.

Not only that, but also the memories recorded through the dream control ability were also imprisoned in the depths of consciousness.

Last night, after 14 days of no dream phenomenon, I once again experienced the dream half a year ago.

That dream caused me to gain the ability to control dreams again, and the ability to remember the dream also returned to normal. Afterwards, memories related to the domination war were gradually released, cruelly appearing in front of my eyes.

The stagnated depressed mood spread rapidly, hitting me with a strong sense of despair.

I gripped tightly to the clothes that were close to my chest.

William, Watanabe Kaede, Xiao Lulu, Black Cat, Sato Kazuhiko, Chart, Elus...

From the beginning to the end of the Domination War, these figures I have only seen in dreams are all reflected in front of my eyes. How many things happened to us in the past, I have lost count.

Tears soaked my eyes. People who were abandoned by the real world and threw themselves into the dream world were summoned to the world between dreams by this group of observers who claimed to be gods, and participated in this cannibalistic game of rulers.

Obviously they can lick each other's wounds, but because of the so-called ultimate reward, in order to grasp the possibility of dominating reality and taking revenge on the world that abandoned themselves, they fight and put each other to death.

Suddenly, a faint fragrance came as the girl's figure gradually approached.

"Hey. What are you hiding?"

Xue Xueer put her hands behind her back, raised her upper body backwards, raised her head and looked straight into my eyes.

"I……"

As soon as I uttered a word, those eyes that were staring at me and Arquette rushed to the skin on my back with anxiety. It made me feel a chill all over my body. I suddenly lost the urge to tell the truth.

"Even if there is something to hide, it's nothing more than an unimportant matter."

I swallowed the words stuck in my throat. Thinking carefully about the pair of icy eyes I dreamed about last night, and the torrent that destroyed me on the other side of the mirror, it seems that the essence is very similar to Arquette's situation half a year ago.

The boy I often saw when I was a child, and the young knight I got acquainted with dominating the war. These two people who were not directly related to each other told me inexplicable things one after another, but they seemed to be for the same thing.

The increasingly intense dizziness came to me as the memory came back. Following this dizziness, I took a few steps back as if I might fall, and barely stopped until I leaned against the railing.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Seeing that I was staggering and unable to stand still, Xue Xueer took a step closer to me worriedly and grabbed my arm. Although her body looked delicate, she supported my weight unexpectedly firmly.

However, I'm still a little worried that Xue Xue'er insisted on not speaking, and felt that she couldn't bear my weight.

"I'm fine... just let go."

Even though I am relatively thin among boys of the same age, I am still an 18-year-old male, and my weight is more than 50KG no matter how light I am.

However, Xue Xue'er didn't seem to think so, instead she raised her right eyebrow slightly and cast a look of confirmation.

"Then I let go."

After that, she let go of her hand without hesitation. Although I asked Xue Xueer to do this, but she let go so suddenly that I had no time to adjust my center of gravity, and my body immediately fell forward.

When I was about to fall, Xue Xueer unhurriedly stretched out her arms to support my body.

"Oh, the word 'nothing' in your dictionary is used to describe this kind of situation?"

Xue Xueer was joking with me while gently helping me up.

"No, I'm just not ready-"

"Don't be brave with me. Thanks to someone, I'm not as weak as you imagined." Xue Xueer said here, a trace of sadness flashed in her eyes, "Speaking of it, she seems to have expected that she would leave..."

"You mean...a tea cat?"

Xue Xueer cast her gaze towards me with a little surprise in her eyes.

"Well. She happened to meet me a month before she left. We were not acquaintances, but she entertained me to Lin Yu's house and taught me a lot. At that time, I thought she was simply lacking, now? -"

She didn't go on talking, she smiled faintly, and changed the subject:

"I just think...if I can go back to the cracks in the dream, at least there will be clues to find Lin Yu and the tea cat."

The light in the girl's eyes was very dazzling, and her persistence reached the level that I dare not look directly at her.

"But you also know that I can't go back there after withdrawing from the domination war."

Xue Xueer's tone even had the meaning of pleading, and the force on my arm suddenly increased a little bit.

I looked into her eyes and sighed softly.

If I was still hesitating whether to agree to her invitation before, then the answer for me now is 100% sure - I absolutely cannot take her there.

In the world over there, there must be someone other than the Observer who has been observing this domination war from beginning to end, and has never shown up. In order to hide something, she even took away my ability to control dreams.

If I promise Xue Xueer to take her back there, it will definitely drag her into an extremely dangerous situation. I cannot allow the tragedy that happened to Su Huilin and Elus to happen to Xue Xueer again.

therefore. My answer can only be -

"I'm sorry. I can't take you to the gap between dreams."

Xue Xueer's eyes couldn't help trembling, so she gently let go of the hand holding my arm.

"Then you won't tell me the truth about the war that dominates it, right?"

She no longer looked at me, she reached out and stroked her long hair that was blown by the wind, and brushed her hair behind her ears.

I didn't answer, just nodded my head.

Xue Xueer sighed softly, and forced a forced smile at me, I couldn't help lowering my head, avoiding her sight.

"If you change your mind, you can always text me."

As soon as the words fell, the sound of her no longer light footsteps rang in her ears.

I gripped the railing hard, the snowflakes floated to the back of my hand and melted, I raised my voice and shouted at her:

"What's the matter? You sound like you mean that I won't see you every day in the future."

Xue Xueer suddenly stopped in her tracks, and I looked up, only to see her moving her head with her back turned to me.

"Yeah~ After all, you're right. I've spent too much time on you. In fact, 'they' have been urging me, so... I should probably give up on you."

After Xue Xue'er said these farewell words, she gracefully tore away the hair tie that bound the two ponytails.

The ice-blue long hair fell down naturally on her back.

"Thank you for giving me a definite answer today."

She turned her back to me and waved lightly, and I hummed to her back, responding to her farewell.

"See you."

Of course I understand what this farewell means.

From now on, the girl named "Xue Xueer" will also withdraw from my life.

Just when I was about to turn around and face the railing, Xue Xueer suddenly stopped, stood at the door of the roof and shouted at me from a distance:

"Ah! I forgot to tell you something. The 'give up' I said was only for a while."

——Maybe, there is nothing in the hand of "God".