The Master of the Marvel Universe

A flat, even somewhat cold response.

Good. That was so Shiki.

"A virtual world, a data world, or whatever else you want to call it. I used brainwaves to transmit information from a computer-generated world into your brain. Your body is still asleep right now; I merely pulled your consciousness in here." Shen He paused, slightly hesitant. "You... know what happened, don't you?"

"The summoning?"

Shiki Ryougi did indeed have information about that in her mind.

During that time when she had fallen into eternal nothingness, that information had been the only thing reaching her from the outside world.

"That's not what I mean." Shen He lowered his gaze slightly. "I mean... your other personality... you're alone now."

[Shiki] and [Ori] were the two personalities within this body—or rather, within the girl named Shiki Ryougi. [Shiki] was the personality representing yin, affirmation, and femininity, while [Ori] was the male sub-personality representing yang and negation. After that accident, only [Shiki] remained.

Shiki Ryougi stared blankly at this stranger.

She understood what he meant, but it did not feel real.

She remembered every memory from the past, yet it also felt as though she had lost all of them, because those memories did not match the personality she was supposed to possess now.

When she looked at her past self, her present self felt like nothing more than an observer.

Even the name Shiki Ryougi seemed to belong to someone else.

"There's a hollow within you now." Shen He understood how she felt. Of course he did. "The old you belonged to both [Shiki] and [Ori], but now only [Shiki] remains. That's why you can't experience the emotions you should be able to draw from those memories. But that isn't a problem. You can fill that hollow with new memories. I think that was Ori's wish as well... Don't let Ori's sacrifice be in vain."

Shen He did not know whether the newly awakened Shiki Ryougi could understand what he was saying.

But he felt an urgent need to say it all.

He understood how Shiki Ryougi felt now. He understood that suffocating anguish of trying to imitate her past self, trying to reclaim the past while overlooking the present. She did not even have a tangible sense of being alive.

He wanted Shiki Ryougi to escape that anguish as quickly as possible.

"You seem to understand me very well." Shiki Ryougi looked around. "That's strange. You aren't in my memories. Or is this... merely an illusion? Are you someone I imagined?"

"Then just think of all this as an illusion." Shen He smiled faintly.

He suddenly spread his arms. At that instant, a refreshing breeze swept through the air, stirring the grass beneath their feet as the entire world transformed. The sound of wind gradually gave way to birdsong. The flying blades of grass formed verdant trees, along with a lake glittering with a golden sheen beneath the sunlight, an elegant wooden pavilion, and crimson maple leaves spinning in the breeze.

Shiki Ryougi, dressed in a kimono, stood amid the breathtaking scenery. Her lovely black-silk hair drifted in the wind. "Beautiful surroundings always lift one's mood. This is a good place to recuperate." Shen He admired the picturesque girl.

Shiki Ryougi had always possessed an androgynous beauty—feminine in men's eyes and masculine in women's eyes. Her features were sharp yet almost too perfect. Placed within such an old-fashioned setting, her exceptional aura always brought to mind a dreamlike martial world of galloping horses, and that had always been what Shen He liked most about her.

"Then I'll be leaving for now. There's food and water in the pavilion. If you need anything else, press the contact button at the lower right of your vision." Shen He bowed like a gentleman. "I'll come again."

After pressing the exit button, Shen He's body slowly dissolved like starlight.

As his five senses returned to his own body and he removed the helmet, the sight he had just seen still lingered in his mind.

Sure enough, drawing Shiki Ryougi had been wonderful.

"Any changes?" Shen He looked at Saiki beside him.

"Yes. Her heart rate increased by twelve percent. Her fingers twitched eight times, and there was even one movement of her arm. It looked as though she was about to wake up."

"That's great!" Shen He could not help clenching his fist.