Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

The bleak autumn wind swept into this deserted hospital like ruins.

The blue-haired boy leaned against the door with his arms folded, fingers restlessly scratching the hair on his forehead, and looked in the direction of the front desk from time to time.

——The girl buried in the black robe sat on the front desk dangling her legs, the book in her hand turned to the last page.

"The boy didn't know that the blade he swung was not aimed at the so-called intruder, but the girl guarding him."

She sadly read the last words on this page, closed the book lightly, and jumped down from the front desk. Almost at the same time, a young figure appeared in the center of the hall. The black-robed girl was walking in the direction of the boy, as if she had expected him to appear at this time.

The boy in the worn-out school uniform felt weak in his feet and couldn't stand upright. I wanted to stand up, but my body only shook a few times before falling to the ground again.

And he didn't even bother to take into account his own weak condition. He half supported his body on the ground and staggered forward a few steps. His dizzy eyes wandered in the empty hall, and it was difficult to focus on one point.

"Where is this place... Where is Xia Yinci!? Quickly tell me where Xia Yinci is?" I asked anxiously and angrily stretched out my hand tremblingly, my eyes turned from anxiety to fear, " I stabbed Xia Yinci with my own hands... right?"

"Don't make that kind of expression——" The teenage boy at the door turned to me at some point, and approached me slowly. He said lightly, "Everything you saw just now was a few years ago."

"But to me, it's like it just happened last second!!"

"After all, the so-called "reminiscence dream" of sneaking is to experience what happened in the past~"

"So... I really did that to Xia Yinci, isn't that right?"

"When I asked you if you really wanted to recall the past, you answered me 'I really want to do this from the bottom of my heart' without even thinking about it. Why are you acting like you don't want to believe it now?"

I did say that. Before recalling all this, I was so desperate to melt the ice over the truth.

【Why did you bring me to my dream palace? 】

【oh? In your eyes, this place has only this meaning? 】

Suddenly remembered what the boy said, I couldn't help but look back and look around the hall for a week, so my feet couldn't help but started to walk into the depths of the corridor.

Familiar and unfamiliar corridors.

Familiar yet unfamiliar elevators.

Familiar yet unfamiliar wards...

Even though this place has been turned into ruins, as long as I pass by the place I remember, I can remember its original appearance. And the memory that comes with it.

The pace finally stopped in front of the ward where I once slept soundly. My outstretched right hand was hanging tremblingly on the handle, but I dared not open it.

The Shuguang Hospital hosted by this core research association is also the place where I meet my mother every time, and the place where I first came into contact with domination wars and lucid dreams.

"Aren't you going in? That ward is your real "Dream Palace"."

——The ruler's dream palace is the place they fear most and least want to go to.

What I used to be really terrified of was good things, because I felt like I was the complete opposite of an angel, and would set myself on fire the moment I touched a good thing. So, what I had seen on TV—the "land of the sky" in Bolivia became the last place I wanted to go.

But after all, I don't really hate beautiful things, but more because of the fear that I can't touch them, which produces a distorted psychology that is better than the second disease. So, instead of Sky Realm, this place that created my actual nightmare. Until now, even if the memory is lost, it is still my dream palace.

"After remembering everything, you don't dare to go in, do you?"

"There are very few people in this world who truly face their fears. Those who can muster up the courage to enter the Dream Palace are a minority. Even those who enter, some do so out of necessity, while others do so on impulse... In the end And most of them forget the purpose of coming in because of fear. How dare I?"

I know that I just want to find a suitable excuse to cover up my timidity. In this regard, I am far inferior to my past self. At least he dared to go to his dream palace desperately for the intruders who broke into the dream. It was only when I fell into an abyss that I felt a little fear.

"Come on, you're just afraid. People in the world are not afraid like you. Even in this war of domination that you are participating in now, there are not a few people who go to the Dream Palace. Your companion Elus is also one of them." one."

"Learning to fear is also a hallmark of maturity. The reason children are always so adventurous is that they are the only ones who really don't know what fear is."

"Oh...? Really?" The teenage boy raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders to show that he didn't care about it.

"Besides, Elus wouldn't dare to face her own past without me."

"I don't want to know who is responsible for this kind of thing. I just want to know how you think now after you recall all this?"

"I don't understand... What does my matter have to do with you...? If you are an observer who dominates the war, then you should not interfere with the affairs of the ruler." I paused here, "Or, does every ruler get the attention of a dream madman?"

For some reason, the young man fell silent, and he looked sideways at me in displeasure. The girl in the black robe also sighed softly at this time, showing a troubled look.

I can't help thinking that I have successfully gained the upper hand in this round of dialogue. This feeling may be due to my aversion to them themselves, or the fact that I have been involved in domination wars more than once. Unwilling. In short, there are some reasons for not seeing the light.

As for why they came to me, to be honest, I'm not interested in understanding at all. But just when I was about to get rid of them and go to see Xia Yinci, I suddenly felt a strange pressure from behind, which made me rush forward a few steps.

The body got closer and closer to the ward, and the young man next to the door also took advantage of this moment to grab the handle and turn it lightly, trying to stop his feet, but his body came to the other side of the door full of strong light first. end.

As the sound of the door closing broke into my ears, what I saw within my sight immediately turned into pitch black. Consciousness was also torn into isolated fragments.

...

In the empty ward, there is only a computer displaying various fluctuating values, shining with electronic light. But it is weak enough to illuminate any corner of the room. I buried my head hard into my arms, and the abnormally clear consciousness caused waves of nausea in my abdomen to overwhelm the sea.

I don't know what factors are affecting it. At this moment, my consciousness is so clear that I can even hear the sound of the patient turning over in the next ward. And this made me have to face the facts that happened in front of me just now, not to mention that the blade was still lying quietly not far away, dripping with bright red blood.

"Su Huohuo...why...why..."

"why?"

「Why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why

"Hey...why did you do this to me, Su Royang."

I finally couldn't bear it and raised my head. The breath covered in my arms for a long time made me feel short of oxygen for a while, and gasped for breath. I quickly stood up with the help of the wall, and my vision was briefly darkened. But I didn't have time to take into account my dizziness at this moment, I just rushed out of the quiet and oppressive ward.

I stepped on the blade inadvertently under my feet, and the soles of my shoes were stained with blood that was not yet dry. After I ran out of the ward, I left blood-red footprints in the corridor. The farther and farther away from the ward, the color of the bloodstains on the floor became lighter and lighter.

Passing the corner, I accidentally ran into a young nurse who was still in the intern, and the bag of potato chips in her hand spilled potato chips all over the floor.

"Hmm! Where's the kid... don't run around in the hallway!"

The intern nurse had a lollipop in her mouth, which made her speech slurred.

"Did a girl be sent to the operating room just now!?"

"Girl...? I don't know the gender or something, but it was confirmed that someone was sent to the operating room just now."

"where are you now?"

"ah?"

"I asked where did you have the surgery?!"

"...C-302 on the second floor."

It was too late to get involved with her too much... I even forgot to throw down the words of apology and thanks. After getting her response, I hurried forward and continued running with my head depressed. The potato chips on the ground were cracked by me. The girl behind complained "Ah".

"They said don't run away in the hallway! Huh? Is this... blood?"

He quickly pressed the button of the elevator, but the elevator didn't come up for a long time. I looked around and finally locked my eyes on the fire exit sign. I took one last look back at the elevator and ran down the dimly lit stairs of the emergency exit.

Thinking seems to have completely stopped, the only thing I know is that I must see Xia Yinci to make sure she is safe and well.

Pushing open the heavy iron door of the emergency exit, the vision was instantly pierced by the light in the corridor. After the eyes got used to the light, the small sound of large equipment starting to move could be clearly heard in the silent corridor.

When I realized that the operating room was not far away, my pace began to slow down instead. My field of vision slowly turned around the corner, and the medical automatic door of the operating room and the three words "in operation" in red on the automatic door clearly broke into my sight.

The shaky vision shook violently with the heartbeat, and my eyes finally fell on Su Huilin who was on the bench with red eyes. She just looked at her feet quietly, even though there was nothing there. The right foot in the espadrille is slightly tilted.

"Where's Xia Yinci?"

"..."

Su Huilin didn't even look at me, she didn't need to think about it to know that she ignored me on purpose. The heart skipped a beat—the fact that he stabbed Xia Yinci, leaving her in a situation where her life and death were unknown, was defined by the slow and timid brain as a real event.

I don't know what kind of expression I should put on to comfort Su Eirin? But I don't know what to do. Fortunately, Su Huilin didn't intend to look at me at all. Even if she didn't cover her ears, she must have closed her hearing and wouldn't listen to what I said.

Dazzling and nausea filled my sober brain, I adjusted my breath as if I would suffocate, and sat weakly beside Su Huilin.

"Don't sit next to me."

A cold voice sounded from the side. Su Huilin still lowered her eyes, which made me doubt whether the voice just now came from her.

"sorry.."

All the words were swallowed back and turned into a heavy breath. I stood up and sat down across from her. I thought she wouldn't talk to me again, but I didn't expect that as soon as I sat down, Su Huilin raised her head and stood up at the same time, walked in front of me aggressively, and pushed me on the shoulder.

"Tell me why?"

The back of his head hit the wall behind him heavily. I glanced at Su Huilin in a daze, only to find that her eye sockets were so red that it was unbearable to look at them, and there were obviously a few bloodshot eyes in her eyes. I couldn't help lowering my gaze, but Su Erin stretched out her hand and firmly fixed my head, making my eyes look at her.

"Answer me! Su Ruoyang, why did you do such a thing?"

What flashed in Su Huilin's pupils was not only anger, but also sadness, powerlessness, disbelief and a series of other complex emotions. All I could do was move my lips apart, but not even a single word could come out of my mouth.

Xia Yinci's abdomen was stained red with blood. The blood-stained blade is gripped tightly in my hand. ——This is an indisputable fact.

But I have no self-knowledge that I have done these things, so how should I explain to Su Huilin?

"Are you trying to tell me you don't know anything? Nah?"

"I... really don't know anything."

"Didn't you do this?" Su Huilin's eyes flashed a trace of doubt, and the force she pushed towards my shoulder became a little weaker.

"No.. there is no one in the ward except me.. it could only be me. But I.. don't know anything."

There was a sudden burst of burning pain on his cheek, and then the back of his head hit the wall again, his vision suddenly dimmed for a moment, and then gradually improved.

"What do you mean by this distressed expression... this ambiguous statement?! Do you want to get rid of all the crimes by saying "I don't know anything"? ! "

"I'm sorry...but I really...don't know anything. By the time I have Realization, I've already..."

"whispering sound.."

Su Erin pinched my shoulder hard, and finally let go. The pain on the face and shoulders still affects the pain nerves intermittently. Until then, I realized another thing, that is, every time I fought with Su Huilin in the past, she didn't fight hard. Maybe this time there is still room.

"Although I don't know anything...but I still have to take responsibility..."

I was thinking, if it is the question "will you be responsible for the mistakes you have forgotten or never remembered", my answer will always be the same "yes" no matter when.

"What if Xia Yinci...can't come out of the operating room? If the doctors can't help..."

Su Huilin didn't continue to speak, those moist purple eyes fixedly stared at me, there was no longer the pride in the eyes, her tone was full of uneasiness and fear apart from questioning and responsibility.

"I...."

I don't know how to answer this time either. After finally making up his mind, because of what she said at this time, his eyes that could have looked directly at her sank.

"sorry."

I stared at somewhere under my feet, and my unsteady breathing also condensed in my chest. My sight gradually began to wander around, but none of the surrounding things could be focused by my sight, and my sight might simply be escaping from something. The sense of powerlessness and humble self-knowledge made me squat down on the spot.

The reason why I don't sit back on the bench is that if I do so, my consciousness will not be as clear as when I was sitting. Now I am looking forward to the vaguer the consciousness, the better, until I can not think about anything.

But at this time, the pain in the shoulders affected the muscles of the back inappropriately, and I couldn't help but leaned back, and the body that was about to squat became completely sitting on the ground. Even squatting would be hindered, I couldn't help but smile wryly when I realized this.

"Su Ruoyang...can you accept that person's invitation for your mother?"

To this day, I still remember how it all started. That day I told my mother what I had encountered in a lucid dream, and a strange man invited me to participate in a dreamer's game. Suddenly, my mother's eyes flickered with light that I had never seen before.

"Mom has never had such talent as you, can I ask you to do an experiment for me?"

I agreed to her request without any strings attached.

It's not without "conditions". For me, being able to be entrusted with expectations is what I most expect to happen. I no longer need to hide alone in a corner, someone expects the results of my return-this is the "condition" for me to participate in her experiment.

Looking back now, in the final analysis, whether it is lucid dreams or dominating wars, when I heard others talk about it, I just regarded it as a way to escape the truth.

I also thought that I could hide in dreams forever, that I could live as the Black Death God until the end of the domination war, and the things after that... I will think about it at that time. But I never expected that the dream would kick me back to reality in such a cruel way.

"Then you at this moment, didn't you just continue to avoid the truth in another way?"

I don't know whose words came from my ear. That's not Su Huilin, the voice is more like my own.

"You still try to blur your thinking, you just want to avoid the door of the operating room, so that it doesn't come into your field of vision. Obviously doing this can't change any facts, it's just a way to prevent yourself from feeling the inferiority of reality .”

The sorrow and grief quickly spread outward from my heart, and the wet mist suddenly covered my vision. The back of the hand also felt the touch of liquid droplets falling down.

"No...it's not like this...I know better than anyone what happened to Xia Yinci!"

"But it was you who did it. If Xia Yinci dies because of this, you are the only suspect in this murder case."

His breathing became more and more heavy, and his vision became dizzy little by little due to anger, covered with a blood-red filter. I clenched my fist tightly, but I didn't know where to swing it. I don't even know if that voice came from me talking to myself.

Traces of wetness ran across the cheeks coldly, and condensed on the chin, which was precarious.

I heard from the maid of Xia Yinci's family before that it is possible for a person to go crazy when he is truly powerless. Thinking about it afterwards, I had the idea of ​​pulling out the other me hiding in my head and beating me up, maybe I was already on the verge of madness?

However, what pulled me back to reality in an instant was the warmth I suddenly felt behind me.

"..."

Lifting her jaw, Su Erin unconsciously stopped standing in front of me. I thought she would never talk to me again after she said those words, but I didn't expect that she would come around behind me, back to back with me, and we leaned against each other, sitting on the cold floor.

The night outside the window is still very low. An unsettling and unsteady red light flickered in front of the operating room.

We sat back to back at the door of the operating room, using each other's backs as support. It just seemed to calm me down a little bit.

"Hey... If this is God's punishment, don't try to escape... I won't abandon you again."

Su Huilin's meaningless words made my heart skip a beat.

"No...you never left us. Seeing you leave the circle you should blend in and come to my corner...I've always felt guilty."

Because of this, I can't always look at Su Huilin directly. Always make some inappropriate jokes, or make childish bets to hide your true feelings. I have always been very grateful that she would come to my world with Xia Yinci, even though she always put on that aloof appearance.

"It's not just your fault. I've noticed that you guys are hiding things from me, but I didn't have the courage to ask you guys."

"You don't have to take matters to yourself."

Su Erin didn't respond to my words, but felt her chest slightly raised behind her, breathing heavily. Faintly, I think she is sobbing. And I'm not much better than her, tears still come out of my eyes without hesitation.

After being silent for an unknown amount of time, Su Huilin took a deep breath, and gently pressed the back of my head against the back of my neck.

"If Xia Yinci can wake up...can you promise me that no matter what happens in the future, you will never hide it from me again."

I also put away my dull breathing, raised my head, and the dazzling light refracted by tears no longer allowed me to escape.

"Well...if she can wake up."

The night outside the window is turning brighter than the naked eye can detect.

The girl and I are still leaning against each other.

In front of the operating room, the red light is still flashing.