Alright, setting aside that subtle distance for now, Jiu Ming had been calculating all along. The distance from here to his home had reached nine kilometers. Within this range, he could sense that the environment was "real," rather than the kind of "simulated reality" he could alter at any moment. ...
Beyond that distance, it reverted to a simulated state. At last, he realized where that extra little change after returning had come from! The reality within the Mysterious Shop had expanded outward—and over quite a considerable range at that. Standing on the boundary between the two, Jiu Ming could sense the difference with exceptional clarity!
In other words, with the Mysterious Shop as its center, everything within a nine-kilometer radius had unknowingly undergone a very peculiar change... Hm?
Standing on that boundary, Jiu Ming had remained in a state of intense concentration. For one instant, he abruptly felt the range of "reality"... expand by a tiny fraction?
Not even half a millimeter—so little that he had nearly taken it for an illusion.
Two hours later, C.C., who was sitting nearby, had a few more traces of worry in her eyes as she looked at Jiu Ming, who was still standing motionlessly. She wondered whether some screw in his head had come loose, for he was standing there stupidly without even blinking... A gap only one centimeter wide divided this place apart. He could come back and observe it later; then he would know whether it had been an illusion or not.
"Ahhh!! Accept the Regiment Leader's punishment!!"
With a muffled bang, Jiu Ming took a brutal headbutt to the chest and felt a distinctly stifling ache. As expected of the great Haruhi—one mere headbutt was enough to make him feel such an unwarranted sense of suffocation...
The rules of