A World's Sense of Presence

"What did she figure out, exactly?" Even after Moon Shadow was long gone, Qiu Wuji was still asking Chu Ge that question.

Chu Ge came out of the bathroom, drying his hair, and changed the subject. "That girl is really wary of people. She left the moment I came out."

Qiu Wuji suddenly exploded. "Chu Ge! Give me back my good name!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Why hit me because someone else got the wrong idea?" Chu Ge assumed a defensive posture. "We're completely innocent, with nothing on our consciences. As long as we know that, who cares what anyone else thinks?"

"Pah!" Qiu Wuji thought, That's different. I really do want to take this girl back with me. I'm the sect master there. It's different, completely different.

She said rather petulantly, "If Moon Shadow can find a place and move somewhere else, so can I."

Chu Ge looked her over sympathetically. "From what we've seen so far, your money-making methods won't get you there..."

Qiu Wuji asked, "How much does this place cost?"

"It's out of the way, so it isn't expensive. Including the building fees, utilities, internet, and all the rest, it comes to just under three thousand a month."

"Just?" Qiu Wuji froze for a moment. "Rent alone costs three thousand? You spend a whole month writing, and a third of your earnings goes into this?"

"Yep. It's still close to a shopping district, after all. Somewhere farther out would be cheaper, but that gets inconvenient. Besides, we have two bedrooms and a living room here. Renting a single room would be a lot cheaper."

"This place is already tiny, and you're talking about a single room? How could anyone live in that?"

"...Right, the Cloudreach Sect has a thousand miles of green mountains. Sorry for the hardship, Sect Master Qiu."

Qiu Wuji asked, "What if you bought it?"

"That isn't expensive either. A little over twenty thousand per square meter. This place is eighty-something square meters."

Qiu Wuji did a rough calculation. Robbing someone more than a hundred and sixty times, like she had that day, would almost cover a home. Hmm, even robbing one person every day would require six months of diligent work. Once a month would take more than a decade.

And that was without spending anything on food or drink.

You call that inexpensive?

"You said you earn over ten thousand a month and live better than most people," Qiu Wuji asked. "Then who do other people rob to buy a home?"

Chu Ge said, "...Yourself, your wife, your parents, and your parents-in-law. That makes six wallets. Of course, you still need a bank loan."

Qiu Wuji said, "..."

Chu Ge glanced at her, his look practically spelling it out: If we pool our money, that's two wallets. My parents could chip in too. With no parents-in-law, I'll just have to work harder and fill in for them myself...

Qiu Wuji's desire to buy a home vanished outright, and even the idea of renting lost much of its appeal. Suddenly, she asked an apparently unrelated question. "By 'square,' do you mean a flat surface?"

"Yes. Square meters. Area."

"That nightclub looked much taller inside than our home. If the heights are different, why calculate it by area? Shouldn't you use cubic meters?"

The question actually stumped Chu Ge. He rubbed his chin and thought for a long while before answering uncertainly, "Maybe... money's easier to make in two dimensions?"

Qiu Wuji didn't understand. "I've heard you use that term several times. What does it mean?"

"Well, it means fantasizing about falling in love with flat characters from books or drawings... uh..." Chu Ge abruptly shut his mouth.

Qiu Wuji gave him a sidelong look, her expression inscrutable.

And here I thought it was some strange term. Isn't that just you?

Chu Ge retreated awkwardly to his room. "I'm going to meditate and sleep. It's late."

"Wait." Qiu Wuji hesitated. "Is there any way to let Moon Shadow enter our world?"

Chu Ge sighed. "I knew you were thinking about that. But it's impossible. I can't even get in myself. How could I send someone else in?"

"What if you added her as a character later in the story?" Qiu Wuji asked. "You keep introducing new characters, don't you? Wouldn't you just need to work out her character details?"

"Of course I could. But even if I wrote a new character exactly like Moon Shadow, she'd only be a character 'modeled on Moon Shadow.' They'd still be two different people. Just like how I originally meant the protagonist to be me, but he isn't actually me."

Qiu Wuji rested her elbow on her knee and propped up her chin.

Seeing her ponder how to write a novel, Chu Ge couldn't help laughing. "Hey, you're getting more and more knowledgeable about writing. Want to write the rest yourself, following my outline? The heroine writing her own actions-I've wanted to see that ever since you first crossed over. It'd be hilarious."

Qiu Wuji's eyes brightened. "Would it work?" "Whether it would work or not, I wouldn't dare let you write it. I was kidding. Our writing styles couldn't possibly match, and if readers found out someone else was writing for me, I'd be done for. If you really want to write, learn my style first. Once you've got it seventy or eighty percent down, we could probably give it a try. I think it should work then. That world can't possibly decide how to develop based on who physically types the words. As long as the style is consistent and the plot follows my ideas to continue a coherent world, it should work."

At this point, Chu Ge paused and said very seriously, "I've always felt that the fundamental meaning behind 'it only takes effect if it's internally consistent' is that only what convinces readers takes effect."

Qiu Wuji froze. She had never considered that angle. Somewhat hesitantly, she said, "If it has to do with readers, then the power of our world should also be influenced to some degree by their numbers. A world many people read about shouldn't be the same as one read about by only one or two people."

Chu Ge thought for a long time, lost in contemplation, then shook his head slightly. "No, not the world's power. That's already fixed by its setting. Its upper limit is only so high-a mortal realm where people have yet to ascend. Whatever happens, it can't escape that framework. What's affected is probably... its sense of presence and its influence."

He spoke as though murmuring in a dream. "How real the things I write can become, how much can manifest... because the more people read the book, the deeper its imprint on this world naturally becomes, and the stronger its presence. It's like how people believe there was a Diaochan at the end of the Han dynasty. Whether she actually existed in history no longer matters. Her presence feels more real than that of many actual historical figures, so she exists."

Qiu Wuji listened, a little dazed.

She had originally thought it would be enough for him to finish the book, whether it flopped or not. But looking at it this way, perhaps that did matter?

"Once it reaches a certain point, your world will become relatively more real too. It'll definitely establish a more stable connection with this world. I'll be able to enter, your original body will be able to come out, and maybe I really will be able to send more people in." Chu Ge reached his conclusion. "I don't know whether that counts as influencing my ability, but how much of my ability I can use must be positively correlated with it. They reinforce each other."

Qiu Wuji was silent for a long moment, then said quietly, "Then why isn't our Father God hurrying off to write?"

Chu Ge said, "..."

Chu Ge trudged off miserably to write, while Qiu Wuji slipped back into her room to go online. This time, she didn't watch videos. She read Chu Ge's earlier books.

Was she studying his writing style?

In the apartment across the hall, Moon Shadow lay curled up in bed. At some point, Qiu Wuji had treated the wound in her lower abdomen, but the simple healing technique hadn't fully cured it. It still ached faintly.

She lay with her eyes open, her thoughts unreadable, staring blankly through a sleepless night.

Elsewhere, at the Divine Miracle Nightclub.

Lin Wuyang led his officers through the nightclub's entrance. The pole dancing had long since ended, and the guests were dancing and drinking quite normally. Everything looked peaceful.

Someone came up to greet them. "Oh my, officers, still working so hard this late at night. Thank you for your efforts. Would you like some tea?"

Lin Wuyang didn't answer. He walked around the premises with the man, seemingly at ease. Ever since learning from the Wall-Passer that the nightclub hosted underground boxing, he had spent the past two days planning a surprise inspection.

But he couldn't get a search warrant approved, so it could only be a routine spot check, meant to occupy the person in charge while Gu Ruoyan searched for leads on Moon Shadow through other channels.

The "staff passage" had already been sealed behind a concealed door. Naturally, a routine inspection found nothing.

Instead, it merely alerted the enemy.

Lin Wuyang wasn't disappointed. There was no question of alerting them; they must have been prepared already.

He listened intermittently to the man's evasive chatter, then suddenly turned, looked him in the eye, and asked, "What's underground?"

His ability activated, forcing the truth!

The man smiled faintly. "There's some equipment for the rising stage underneath. Would you like to take a look, officer?"

Lin Wuyang frowned. Could there really be nothing there?

He shook his head and continued, "Are you the owner here? I don't think it was you before."

The man kept smiling. "Yes. It's a family business. I only took over a few days ago."

Lin Wuyang recalled the Divine Miracle Nightclub's registered legal representative. It had indeed changed just a few days earlier.

That was the truth.

The new legal representative's surname was Zhang...

The man introduced himself before he could finish the thought. "A struggling newbie begging for a big shot's... oh, my name is Zhang Qiren. I hope you'll look out for me, officer."

Thanks to A Salted Fish of 666 for the 99,999 tip.

To Even I Feel Tenderness for the 10,500 tip, Keep It Up Ah Zhai for the 5,000 tip, Dao Nine Heavenly Venerable for the 2,000 tip, and Dragon City Sword Song for the 1,500 tip.

I've probably missed quite a few others... please forgive me...

(End of chapter)