Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

The icy temperature came quietly, as if the whole body was frozen and unable to move; darkness and light intertwined, making the hazy consciousness restless.

Suddenly—a voice sounded in the void.

"Hey. What you don't remember is something that never happened?"

The other party's ethereal and ethereal words were followed by gasps that seemed to disappear at any moment. Seems to be waiting for my response. I moved my mouth dryly, then narrowed my eyes drowsily. The body is so stiff that it cannot be manipulated, or it cannot be moved by itself. The eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist, which seemed a little blurry, and it was only vaguely discernible that the surrounding area was a completely enclosed space.

I was sitting on a not-so-firm wooden chair, and my limbs were tied tightly by invisible ropes. Someone is sitting across from me, and I can glimpse their bare feet through the void under the table in front of me.

"If it's my problem... If everyone else remembers and I'm the only one who forgets, then it really happened."

"Then you...will you be responsible for what you forgot? Are you responsible for it?"

"Maybe I feel uncomfortable being responsible for things I don't remember, but I have to be responsible, right? It would be too far-fetched to use forgetting as an excuse."

At this moment, I don't know whether I am answering his question according to my own will, but the answer is blurted out.

Perhaps, through the glass called "eye", from the perspective of a bystander, I just heard someone outside the window talking to another self.

"It's quite a "worldly" answer. You seem to be unable to abandon the "society" issue. But what I want to ask is the real answer to this question in your heart."

No voice - "I" did not respond to the question. It seems to be thinking, but also seems to want to ignore and not answer.

I don't know how long I have been wandering in the long river of time that is no longer flowing, "I" raised my head, and my eyes slowly moved up, passing over the knees covered by the shadow of the table, and finally fell on the opponent's facial features. I wanted to squint my eyes and focus my field of vision vigorously, but I still couldn't see his appearance clearly. It was like looking at each other through frosted glass, only the colors mixed together confusingly.

"Being human cannot be separated from society. Even if it is the answer in my heart, I cannot abandon this question."

"You're still confused. Maybe I came early." He tilted his face and leaned his head, knocking on the table a few times with his index finger restlessly. "Speaking of which, how can you be sure that what you forgot must have happened?"

"Because everyone around me says so. If so, then it's true."

It seemed that he was not very satisfied with "I"'s answer, he let out a long sigh of relief, put his arms on the table, and moved his head closer to "I".

"I said, things that everyone else remembers may not be the truth, right? Your delusion may not necessarily be a delusion. Whether everyone is awake and you are drunk alone, or everyone is drunk and you are alone. You can't be sure."

"In my opinion, living is to prove myself in front of the world. The natural world is too far away for me, and I can't see whether they approve or not. It's better that I take everything recognized by the world as the truth. My world—what you call the "human world", I can survive as a part of the world without being excluded as a different kind."

"It's because I came early. You haven't understood the "world" that you regard as everything now. "The chair was pulled slightly, he stood up and walked towards the void wall, "No matter what, my arrival will definitely change something."

"Are you going to leave so soon?" I can't tell whether the tone of "I" is unwilling to let the other party leave, unwilling to be alone again, or telling the other party in this way that I am curious about what he means.

"Well. Before I go... I have one more thing to remind you——please believe what you should believe at the end of the day."

Immediately afterwards, there was an extremely shocking tremor that pierced through his bones. I was suddenly swept out of this space by the strong turmoil, and opened my eyes again. My right shoulder was a little heavy, and the dim vision was occupied by the brightness that was considered dazzling compared to before. I couldn't help raising my left hand to cover the light. The sweat behind him was sticky, and the sweat on his forehead wet his bangs. Not to mention the icy temperature just now, it is not an exaggeration to say that the current temperature is hot.

——Everything in this second forms a very tearing feeling with the previous second.

I gradually got used to the brightness and put down my raised hand. People wearing masks came and went, and sometimes hurried past a few doctors.

Slightly turned around. Xia Yinci's head rested gently on my right shoulder, no wonder there was weight on my shoulder. That's when I realized I was just dreaming.

"Have you been crushed by a ghost again?" I murmured. Speaking of which, it was not the first time that the visitor in the dream had come. Every time the "ghost press" is visited by him. And all my pitiful cognitions about him became blurred after waking up, and were gradually forgotten.

I sighed, being careful not to disturb Xia Yinci, while looking at her pretty profile, I turned my numb left arm. This is the first time he has been "sleep paralyzed" after participating in the domination war. I really didn't expect to master the "dream control" ability of lucid dreaming, but fell into sleep paralysis again, and I didn't even realize that I was dreaming just now.

It's because my ability to control dreams is not too proficient compared to other rulers.

＊＊＊

A coquettish whisper came from my ear, and the slight weight on my shoulders disappeared quietly. I couldn't help but stop the swinging arms, and slightly turned my eyes to the side. Immediately afterwards, the itching on the neck where the hair was teased disappeared. Xia Yinci beside her raised her left hand that was loosely clenched into a fist, rubbed her eyes lightly, and gave me a dazed look.

"Good morning~"

"It's still afternoon... don't you think we slept all night in the hospital?"

"Well... then good afternoon~"

Xia Yinci snorted casually, and shook her feet back and forth. Compared with before, it has increased a bit of vitality. I tilted my head and looked at her hazy side face hidden by the slender black hair, and the sleepiness that dissipated from waking up appeared in the clear eyes. Seemingly noticing that I was looking at her, Xia Yinci turned her head slightly, and I couldn't help trembling because of this, and met her gaze.

I didn't mean to avert my gaze. She was only slightly confused, and then she showed a nice smile.

"Why are you looking at me like this? I won't sneak away~" She stretched out her slender index finger and poked the infusion tube aside, as if indicating that I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. Clearly meant as a joke.

"That's not true." I followed her words and denied her words a little seriously. She smiled and said nothing, as if there was something strange about me, staring at me fixedly made my heart itch.

I simply put on a look of indifference and let her look at me like this. After spending this period of time together in the dream, I gradually got used to Xia Yinci's uncharacteristically flirtatious eyes. I just retracted the thin line of staring at Xia Yinci, and couldn't help but think about the things in the dream —that indistinct but vaguely important conversation.

"Hmm...do you have something to say to me?" Xia Yinci's voice was very soft, always pitiful. This moment pulled me out of my consciousness and back to reality. I stared at her for a moment. Xia Yinci looked at something in front of her and said softly, "If you have something to do, you might as well tell me~"

"Do I look worried?" I scratched my cheek and asked her, Xia Yinci nodded at me seriously. I always feel that there is some worry in her eyes. I couldn't help smiling when I saw her expression, "There is indeed one thing that I am more concerned about - although it is not a day's work to control lucid dreams. But I was crushed by ghosts again."

"Ghost press? Just now?" She asked in a daze. Seeing me nodding my head, he seemed to be thinking about my words very seriously. After a long time, he turned his eyes back to me and said, "Actually, it's not a very rare thing. It's better to say that as long as your subconscious mind understands the dream Let go of your vigilance, dreams may be dominated by your subconscious mind..."

As if she wanted to say something, her eyes became complicated. I couldn't help frowning when I saw her like this, and somewhere in my heart seemed to be tightly grasped by her eyes.

"Xia Yinci, you look like you have something on your mind... What's the matter?"

My words made Xia Yinci's shoulders tremble, she looked at me cautiously, sighed softly, and lowered her eyes again.

"You will be crushed by ghosts... Maybe it has something to do with me." Her voice was soft and soft, but it came very clearly. "Probably because of the discomfort of the past two days, I have had ghosts pressing the bed these two nights~ On the contrary, when you and I fell asleep together just now, I slept more peacefully. Now that I think about it, it might be you Sleeping next to me, our dreams are connected through this, so I entered your dream because of it."

"Then you should thank me well." My half-joking words made Xia Yinci giggle, and she raised her fist and lightly hammered my shoulder without any strength. "But, if that's the case, you don't have to... show such a worried expression, do you?"

"Yeah. You noticed it." Xia Yinci gradually put away her smile, "According to the trend of being haunted by ghosts in the past two days, maybe I won't be able to enter the state of lucid dreaming for a while—this way Come on, then I can't go to the cracks in the dream. Even so, the time of the dream is passing while I'm dreaming. Now it happens to be the time when the ruler's clock is destroyed, and it is very likely that William and the others need me."

Xia Yinci raised her eyes slowly when she said this, and those vivid water-blue pupils stared at me tremblingly. I didn't know what to say for a while, so I avoided her direct gaze. I want to tell her not to worry so much, but how can I make her who cares so much about dominating the war feel at ease?

Just as she was thinking, Xia Yinci rubbed her messy hair and said quietly, "If this continues, it will definitely affect the domination war over there. Maybe the clock was completely destroyed by the dreamer because of the vacancy during this period. If we don't want to cause trouble for them, there is only one way...well, there is only one way."

Her words made me stunned for a moment, and then I suddenly understood what she was talking about——

"Hey, Xia Yinci, I'm warning you! Don't try to stop the passage of time in dreams for you by not sleeping." I grabbed her hand rubbing Qingsi with some excitement, and the voice came from her palm A gentle yet persistent coolness. "People who are sick should take a good rest! Please don't think about the things in that world for a while... just treat it as a rare vacation?"

Xia Yinci stubbornly wanted to pull her hand away, while shaking her head left and right. Seeing that I was determined not to let go, she said anxiously: "But... you also know what it means if the ruler's clock is destroyed."

This sentence slipped quietly from my ear and drilled straight into my mind, uncovering the fact that William just told us not long ago——

"The world of the number ten clock rulers whose ruler's clock was destroyed by the dream madman is probably out of control and on the verge of destruction."

Seeing my expression, he was stunned for a moment. Xia Yinci frowned her beautiful brows, and said softly, "So, compared to the clock being destroyed...it's nothing to me, isn't it~"

Xia Yinci, who has always been free and easy, uttered such a humble speech, which undoubtedly detonated the fuse that was tied in my heart. I finally couldn't hold back my impulse, and suddenly blurted out the words I hadn't been able to muster up the courage to say just now—"You just sit aside and rest obediently! The matter of controlling the war... just leave it to me!" I said. Clenching his fists tightly, he almost roared at Xia Yinci and said this.

Xia Yinci's eyes widened in disbelief, and the trembling eyes were filled with incredible emotions for a moment. Seeing the strange eyes cast by people passing by around me for a moment, I coughed slightly in embarrassment.

"So. You don't have to worry. I promise I will stand on the intact Dominator Clock to greet you when you come back."

Although my words sound so irrational, like an impulsive answer when I have nothing to do, after all, it is an answer that I have seriously considered for the time being.

"Is this... okay?" The waves in Xia Yinci's eyes gradually calmed down. Although the eyes are still full of doubts.

"What's the matter? Don't you trust the ruler you personally selected?" I recalled when she unreasonably told me that I couldn't withdraw from the domination war, so I naturally asked her back with a little joke.

"Of course not."

"Then you can rest assured and leave it to me."

"But..." Xia Yinci seemed to want to say something, but at this moment a nurse came. She gently raised her eyes to look at the infusion bottle hanging on it, and signaled Xia Yinci to raise her hand. She skillfully withdrew the needle from the skin on the back of Xia Yinci's hand, and pressed the cotton held between her fingertips to the scar that started to protrude bright red. During this period, Xia Yinci kept staring at me while suppressing her words, which caused the nurse to give me a strange look.

"Um, then you stay here, I'll pay the bill first." I said and stood up. Under her unrecoverable gaze, she took the medical record card and walked towards the stairs.

What I didn't notice at this time was that when I was going downstairs, I was thinking about how to use my dominance to help William and the others... Xia Yinci looked at my back and squeezed the cotton in frustration, smiling wryly , murmured softly——"But even though it must be like this, I still don't want you to be in danger..."

After finally queuing up in the hall and paying the fee, when he wanted to go upstairs to find Xia Yinci, he saw that she had already gone downstairs and came to meet him. I didn't blame her for not listening to me and waiting for me to come up. I walked out with her from the air-conditioned hall of the hospital to the outside of the hospital, facing a burst of lip-smacking heat.

It was still light outside, but the sun was setting. It happened to be dusk when we arrived at Xia Yinci's house. She didn't know why she was silent all the way, and she stared at her feet all the way and didn't know what she was looking at. Her little hands were hidden in the pockets of her coat, and occasionally she coughed weakly. But it's not as sick and weak as I saw in the morning. That look in the morning was really worrying.

"Remember what I said. You must pay attention to rest." I didn't enter her house, but told me in a self-indulgent way at the door.

"I see. Are you an old man? I'm almost tired of hearing it said so many times." Xia Yinci rubbed her hair with a little disgust, and gently took off the mask.

"What, aren't you afraid that you, a stubborn and forceful guy, will go in one ear and out the other?"

"Tch. I don't want you to care so much." Her expression was very much like a cat whose tail was stepped on. Although vaguely, there was a smile in her eyes. Should it be said that Xia Yinci is really a duplicity guy? However, Xia Yinci, who folded her arms and made such an expression, is really cute. Well, I kind of want to hold her in my arms like this. I really want to know what kind of expression she will show if she does this.

Eh... wait. Since when did I start thinking this way? I shook my head, and suddenly felt that the figure in front of me was in a trance. There was an inexplicable throbbing in my heart.

After leaving the unit building of Xia Yinci's house, students passed by talking and laughing in the streets outside the residential area one after another. I had just walked not far away, and faintly felt someone's gaze. I looked back at the window of Xia Yinci's bedroom, and there was a faint figure there, who seemed to be waving at me.

"Why didn't I see you at school when school was over?" Suddenly, I seemed to hear someone whispering in my ear.

I was taken aback, and quickly glanced to the side. Su Huilin raised her eyes slightly, squinted at me, and turned her eyes forward again.

"Uh huh... I took Xia Yinci to the hospital after just one class."

"Really." Su Huilin responded coldly. "Is she okay?"

"She has a high temperature. Rest for a few days and she will be fine."

"Oh? Why do I feel that you are blushing as if you have a fever?" Su Huilin glanced at me again with a smile in her eyes, and said so intentionally.

I immediately raised my hand and touched my cheek, it was really hot. Seeing that Su Erin beside her was still smiling badly, I immediately reached out and grabbed her braid tied with pompoms dangling in front of her shoulders.

Su Huilin didn't break free, but there was a bit of doubt in her eyes.

When I was a child, I used to playfully pull her braids like this. She would just as silently let me do it as she is now. For this reason, I thought for a long time that Su Huilin was the kind of girl who is gentle and kind to the bottom of her heart. It was only later that I realized that there was a sleeping demon hidden behind that layer of "gentleness". However, this does not affect my ability to continue to pull her braid like this.

As for why she did this... First of all, it was naturally because of her gloating expression. In addition, grabbing her braids when the brain is almost lost to a blank, seems to refresh my consciousness or calm me down.

It was half dark outside when I got home. Mom and Dad didn't come back until nearly seven o'clock, and both of them had a faint smell of alcohol. No need to think about it, my dad went to the "Taoyuan" bar on Rongtan Street again, and my mom probably followed.

Thinking of the star sea depicted on the oil painting hanging on the wall in Taoyuan Tavern, a thin layer of white mist was cast in my heart again.

Today's news did not report any more incidents about terrorists who issued multiple explosion warnings. But Dad still stares at the screen intently from time to time.