Interlude: Speculation and a Trade

"But I did once hear a theory," White Line said. She broke off abruptly.

She lifted her coffee, took a small sip, then blinked and smiled at Xia Lun.

Xia Lun met her gaze without reacting.

After a few seconds, White Line looked away and sighed. "I'm trying to build suspense here. You're so calm it's discouraging. Xia Lun, could you play along?"

"So what's the theory?" Xia Lun asked with a laugh.

"One theory says that although the game's Scenarios span vastly different settings, they may all be connected. They might even take place in the same world." White Line raised her right index finger and waved it.

Xia Lun's mouth twitched. "Isn't that an obvious guess? Why make such a mystery of it?"

He paused, then narrowed his eyes.

"Besides, if every Scenario takes place in the same world, how does that explain the same person appearing in Scenarios with completely different settings?"

White Line nodded. "Which is why that isn't the theory I wanted to tell you about. There's another one."

"It sounds absurd at first. It says every Scenario exists independently, and that Players encounter the same people in different Scenarios because of Attraction."

Xia Lun thought for a full ten seconds, then shook his head. "I don't get it."

"You know what Attraction is, right?" White Line asked after a sip of coffee.

Xia Lun considered it, then nodded. "The Snail Statue's item description mentioned Attraction. I took it at face value, though maybe what it draws together isn't something tangible, but something more abstract."

White Line rested her chin on the back of her right hand and studied him with interest. Then she gave a soft laugh. "Exactly. That's why I like talking to you. You always get to the heart of things so