I was completely dumbfounded.
"Sorry, I didn't understand."
"What didn't you understand?" Maza asked.
"Wait, wait..." I pressed both hands down in the air, signaling her to pause.
Let me make one thing clear first: I considered myself extremely open-minded. I had already prepared myself to accept, at least provisionally and unconditionally, any identity or background she might reveal, no matter how absurd it sounded.
Even if she claimed that she had discovered some dark, top-secret documents belonging to the government or a major corporation and was currently being hunted by countless assassins; or if she told me, like something out of a fantasy story, that she was an artificial superhuman who had escaped from some mysterious research facility, I could still first approach the matter from a position of believing her.
But time travel, the end of civilization, and the arrival of the apocalypse?
Hadn't the scope of her narrative suddenly leaped way too far? Wasn't I supposed to be dealing with a modern Ghost Story or a crime thriller? Why did it sound more like one of those sci-fi disaster blockbusters I used to watch... Surely the next thing wouldn't be some terrifying robot villain traveling from the future to hunt her down, or trying to assassinate some important person in this era.
Besides, as a time traveler, shouldn't she have kept her secret and used priceless information from the future to maximize her own profits? Or was I thinking that way only because I had read too many webnovels? Perhaps someone from the apocalypse who had never been influenced by webnovel culture simply wouldn't think of that right away?
I might as well hear her out. Even if she was making the whole story up to amuse herself at my expense, she should at least tell me a story entertaining enough to serve that purpose. I could simply listen as if I were hearing a storyteller. As for today's class, I could use my phone to ask the school for leave later. Classes could be attended anytime, but a conversation this fantastical was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"How many days ago did you travel through time?" I asked that first.
"If I only slept for one night beforehand, then it was yesterday." Her answer came too quickly to sound improvised.
"Yesterday... You mentioned the 'apocalypse' just now. What exactly was this apocalypse like?" I asked again. "Was it a virus capable of turning people into walking corpses spreading across the world? Or did an asteroid fall from the sky? Or had nuclear war finally broken out?"
She had obviously noticed my skepticism, but she decided to continue the conversation all the same.
Compared with when she had pretended to be asleep and ambushed me at the beginning, her attitude had somehow softened.
"I don't know what caused the apocalypse or how far human civilization fought against it... Ever since I became aware of the world, it had already been the Doomsday era. For a very long time, I even thought that was simply how the world was supposed to be..." For a brief moment, she genuinely revealed a trace of reminiscence. Then she composed herself and continued patiently. "Compared with the world now, the greatest difference is space-time—the time and space of the apocalyptic world are distorted, and survivors could encounter bizarre and inexplicable phenomena at any moment.
"On top of that, countless powerful monsters roamed the land. Even with Blessed Cultivators among humanity, they still couldn't reclaim the lost territory, much less revive human civilization. They could only decline step by step, while their way of life grew increasingly twisted throughout that decline."
So it wasn't a sci-fi disaster blockbuster, but a fantasy wasteland story... As I listened, my ears caught a term I couldn't simply ignore.
"What is a 'Blessed Cultivator'?"
"In the terms of this era, they should be called 'superhumans'?" she said uncertainly.
"So there really are superhumans in this era too?"
"Probably. I've heard that there are... But unlike in the Doomsday era, the superhumans of this era seem to be obscure."
"Could it be that there are very few of them in this era, while their numbers increased dramatically after the apocalypse due to some factor?" I thought of the settings in many online apocalypse novels.
"No... I can't guarantee whether there are many or few, but I heard that they possess an extremely powerful force in this era..." The subject had clearly entered unfamiliar territory for her. She could no longer answer as fluently as she had at first, and her voice became hesitant. "As for why they remain obscure, I don't know... Perhaps there are some taboos and rules involved. When I arrived in this era yesterday, I already asked around for clues about them, but I couldn't find anything right away."
It would have been strange if she had managed to find them right away. I had visited many famous mountains and scenic waters in search of immortals and ghosts. I had also tested many fortune-tellers and Feng Shui Masters who pretended to possess supernatural powers, and investigated countless urban Ghost Stories passed around by word of mouth. In the end, every attempt had ended in disappointment.
Did this era really contain a powerful superhuman faction? Even if some kind of taboo or rule existed, surely I should have accidentally run into it at least once?
Was she really deceiving me?
I swallowed the words in my heart. At the same time, I noticed that the conversation had been pulled in another direction, so I first steered it back.
"Since you're a time traveler, how did you travel to this era?"
"You misunderstood... I didn't come to this era by using some method. I don't know why I traveled through time either. The last thing I did in that era was work with my friends to escape from the Great Demon's grasp..." A look of loneliness appeared on her face. "But the difference in power between the Great Demon and us was far too great. No matter where we ran, we were caught up with. In the end, I tried using spatial transference to make one last struggle and take my friends with me, but somehow I transferred only myself to this era. I don't know where my friends went... It must all be because of me..."
"—Hm?" I noticed the key points. "You? A difference in power? Spatial transference?"
"Right... I forgot to explain." She pointed at her chest. "I'm the Blessed Cultivator I mentioned just now."
"So you have superpowers too?"
"Yes."
"To be honest, I can't believe a single punctuation mark of what you just told me. You suddenly started talking about the Doomsday era, and all I could think was that it sounded completely fantastical." I spoke frankly first.
"I thought so." She nodded without surprise.
"But since you have superpowers, everything becomes simple." I stared at her intently. "As long as you use your superpower at least once in front of me, I'll believe you. I'll believe anything you say."
I was being sincere.
Yet she fell silent, as if hesitating over whether she should answer honestly.
Only after a moment did she reply with difficulty. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"My soul was scorched while I was escaping from the Great Demon. After coming to this era, I still forced myself to use my blessing—that is, my superpower. That only worsened the damage to my soul." She gritted her teeth as she spoke. "While you were talking with the police earlier, I already tried using my power in the room. The result was that I couldn't do it."
Apparently, admitting her weakness in front of me made her extremely unwilling.
"If that's what you're saying, then I can't trust you..." I said. "And when all is said and done, why would you tell an outsider like me something so important?"
At first, she had been bristling all over, with an overbearing and forceful tone, presenting an intimidating front to me.
Now, although she still maintained an obvious wariness and distance, she was willing to spend a great deal of time explaining things, answering every one of my questions earnestly as if she had no scheming nature at all.
I didn't know what kind of emotional journey she had gone through. Was it because I had protected her in front of the police? Or had my earlier lines and acting as a good person really been so brilliant that they had even touched her cold and suspicious heart?
She answered my question again.
"It's actually not that complicated. Although I don't know why I came to this era, I've already figured things out. If my time travel truly carries some great significance, then perhaps it was to let me prevent the apocalypse from arriving in this era." She became solemn. "I must warn more people about the coming apocalypse, and you just happen to be the first. I wanted to test how someone who 'lives before the apocalypse' would react to my prophecy, so that I can gain the trust of more people in the future."
"Then you've already gotten your result. As long as you use your superpower, most people will at least believe half of what you say. Unfortunately, you can't use it." I jabbed at her lightly.
"Hmph..." Her expression soured at once, and she immediately retorted. "Say whatever you want. In any case, I'm done bothering you. I'm leaving now. I don't have time to keep accompanying—"
As she spoke, she braced herself on her knees and tried to stand up from the bed, but her body suddenly went limp and she collapsed.
Many people with low blood pressure or low blood sugar would see blackness before their eyes if they suddenly stood up after squatting. Her symptoms were very similar, or perhaps even worse. I hurried forward and caught her soft, petite body, but she had already fainted again.
What a troublesome girl.
I laid her flat on the bed, then went over and sat beside the desk. As I watched her young, adorable face, I mulled over the information about the apocalypse she had told me.
The arrival of the apocalypse, time travel, Blessed Cultivators, and superhumans...
In my eyes, Maza didn't quite match the image of a "cold-blooded, cruel, selfish apocalypse survivor" formed by my preconceived notions. At most, she was merely a mysterious beautiful girl with exceptional skills and an eccentric personality. "The arrival of the apocalypse" and "time travel" sounded even more absurd. I couldn't immediately believe that these "settings" truly existed in reality.
But I believed that superhumans truly existed in reality.
The words my friend had once spoken surfaced in my mind.
—Since you've never seen any genuine supernatural power, why do you keep investigating Ghost Stories and legends?
—There has to be some positive feedback... Some relevant evidence or clues, so I can keep going. Isn't that how it works?
Yes, I had.
I had clues and evidence that supernatural powers truly existed.
That was me.
I was a superhuman.
Before you continue