Not Yet Awake

Looking at the Rover's expression, which seemed to see through everything, Lu Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly: This woman's intuition is just too sharp.

He lowered his head, glanced at Little Aemeath was still sleeping soundly in his arms, and then raised his head to meet the gaze of the Rover.

Lu Yan's lips curled into a knowing smile. He put a finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture.

Then, in a very low voice, he replied, half-jokingly:

"It's nothing, our hero just displayed his might today and easily cleared out a few white monsters that had invaded his territory, and also carried out a thorough post-battle cleanup."

Upon hearing this answer, the Rover's gaze lingered for a moment on Lu Yan and the sleeping Aemeath.

A rare, gentle glint flashed in her usually aloof eyes.

She had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but she didn't choose to expose the white lie.

"Is that so?" The Rover walked to the fireplace and stretched out his hands to warm them.

The firelight illuminated her cold and beautiful profile.

She turned her head, looked at Lu Yan who was serving as a human pillow, and said calmly:

"However, considering how well you've taken care of this little rascal... I'll just pretend I didn't see the post-battle cleanup."

After an unknown amount of time, Little Aemeath on Lu Yan's lap stirred.

Little Aemeath slowly woke up from his comfortable lap, rubbing her eyes groggily. Her pink twin ponytails fell messily onto Lu Yan's knees as she moved.

With a soft, sleepy voice, Little Aemeath looked up at Lu Yan and asked, "A-Yan... Rover back?"

"Yes, Rover is back." Lu Yan smiled, his fingers running through her pink hair one last time.

In that instant of conversation, Lu Yan sensed that the tangible sensation of his fingertips touching his hair was rapidly fading away. He looked down and, unsurprisingly, saw familiar, tiny golden specks of light beginning to appear on the edges of his hands. That weightless feeling of his soul being about to be pulled from his body, like a rising tide, irreversibly overwhelmed his senses.

I'm leaving.

Little Aemeath also noticed the changes in Lu Yan's body.

She simply sat up straight from Lu Yan's lap very obediently, placed her hands on her knees, and looked at him with an almost calm gaze.

However, deep in her eyes, a profound reluctance remained.

"A-Yan, are you going to fight monsters again?"

Little Aemeath uses the same settings she had when playing the game before; her childish voice reveals a heartbreaking maturity.

"Yes~" Half of Lu Yan's body had already turned into golden particles. He held on to his last bit of consciousness and tried his best to make his smile look gentler.

"So, little hero, keep up the good work on your upcoming adventures!"

Lu Yan smiled gently.

He raised his head and met the Rover's calm, golden eyes.

The Rover remained as aloof and composed as ever.

"From now on, I'll leave Xiao Little Aemeath in your care, Rover." Lu Yan gave a silent entrustment with a look that only the two of them could understand.

The Rover still maintained that aloof and unapproachable demeanor.

But in the firelight, she gently nodded, her voice unusually carrying a touch of the tenderness of an older sister:

"Don't worry, I'm here, she'll be fine."

Having received the savior's promise, Lu Yan finally completely relaxed.

His consciousness began to sink into darkness, and under the gaze of Little Aemeath and the Rover, his body finally transformed into countless golden specks of light, silently dissipating in the warm air of the Glimmering Lakeside Lodge.

"A-Yan... goodnight."

Little Aemeath clutched the glowing amulet to her chest, whispering softly towards the spot where Lu Yan had disappeared.

The familiar darkness.

The familiar feeling of weightlessness.

Lu Yan closed his eyes, drifting along in the darkness.

Based on experience, when the feeling of falling stops and he opens his eyes again, he will be back in the real world, on that familiar double bed.

He was ready to greet Aemeath's soft, milky-scented body and give her a sweet good morning kiss.

A solid thud echoed beneath my feet.

A solid sensation came from the soles of my feet.

Lu Yan suddenly opened his eyes.

There was no early summer breeze, no floor-to-ceiling windows, and certainly no fragrant Aemeath in his arms.

What comes into view is still that familiar wooden ceiling, and the same dry air carrying a faint scent of pine. In the fireplace not far away, the firelight flickers, casting long shadows throughout the room.

This is the Glimmering Lakeside Lodge.

Lu Yan froze on the spot, a look of disbelief and astonishment flashing in his golden eyes.

He subconsciously raised his hands and clenched his fists tightly.

His joints were clearly defined, his strength was abundant, and there was absolutely no sense of illusion about to dissipate.

He looked down at his clothes again; they were still the same Black Shores uniform.

Are you kidding me!

This is the third time.

After a brief pause, Lu Yan's brain began to work frantically, and an indescribable chill quickly spread throughout his body up his spine.

Previously, when he entered a dream, it was always "entering the dream - jumping to the next period of time - returning to reality". But this time, after he disappeared in the dream, he didn't wake up, but instead started a second time jump!

He walked quickly to the window of the cabin.

The ground outside the window was covered with a thick layer of snow, and the sun shone brightly in the sky.

This was clearly no longer the night he vanished.

"Judging from the thickness of the snow and the condition of the vegetation outside... how long have I been jumping this time? A month? Or two months?" Lu Yan muttered to himself.

But what terrifies him even more is the speed of time in the real world.

If dreams are continuous, what is your current state in reality? Are you asleep? Or are you in some kind of deep coma?

If Aemeath finds herself unable to wake up no matter what she does, she will definitely be very worried!

Just as Lu Yan was gripped by extreme anxiety and unease, his mind in turmoil.

A sudden change occurred.

A strange and extremely dangerous feeling crept up Lu Yan's back like a bone-deep infection.

At this moment, Lu Yan's physical instincts reacted faster than his brain.

I feel like I'm being watched by something.

It's a feeling that can't be described in words.

The viscous, playful, and almost morbid scrutiny was like countless tentacles woven from dangerous vines in the dark night, silently wrapping around his neck. If he dared to make the slightest move, he would face a fatal strangulation in the next second.

Lu Yan's body tensed up instantly, like a fully drawn bowstring. His right hand unconsciously clenched into a boxing stance, and all his muscles tensed.

The air seemed to freeze completely at that moment; the low pressure was so heavy it was suffocating.

Just as the two invisible Frequency fluctuations were about to collide in the air...

"Hey! A-Yan! You're back--!"

A cheerful, clear voice suddenly rang out from the large sofa in front of the television.

The terrifying sense of oppression that almost devoured Lu Yan vanished without a trace the moment he heard the name "A-Yan," like snowflakes in spring.

The stagnant air inside the Glimmering Lakeside Lodge began to flow again.

A cold sweat broke out on Lu Yan's back.

He let out a long sigh of relief, and looking in the direction from which the sound came, feeling somewhat exhausted.

When he saw the scene over the sofa, he froze in place once again.

On the once tidy sofa, a strikingly beautiful, even alluring, young woman was now sitting undignifiedly.

She wore a strange black and white dress with a red hem that looked as if it had been burned. Her right leg was covered by a white bodysuit, while her left leg had no white bodysuit from the upper thigh down, only white flower-shaped ornaments.

She had striking short white hair tied into two pigtails at the back, with a black ahoge (cowlick) hanging down in front.

She was slumped on the sofa, completely lacking any decorum.

She had a pair of eyes that were both mad and alluring. Those eyes had black pupils with red irises.

On that exceptionally beautiful face was a mischievous smile, even tinged with the slyness of someone who had pulled off a prank.

She is Tsubaki, a core member of the Black Shores.

Beside Chun, Little Aemeath was holding a game controller high in her hand, her eyes shining brightly, preparing to launch herself off the sofa and pounce into Lu Yan's arms.

"Oh my... So you're the A-Yan that Little Aemeath keeps talking about?"

Chun raised her pretty eyebrows and casually tossed the game controller aside.

She scrutinized Lu Yan with her eyes, which seemed to see right through people, and revealed a sickly yet extremely charming smile:

"I'm so sorry about that. I thought it was the Fractsidus, and they brazenly sneaked into Rover's secret base."

"To protect our lovely Little Aemeath, I almost knocked you out, hehehe..."

She let out a soft, bell-like laugh that carried a hint of danger, but the hostility in her eyes had completely vanished, replaced by pure curiosity that seemed to thrive on chaos.

Lu Yan rubbed his temples, somewhat amused and exasperated, and saw that Chun's previously tense body had completely relaxed.

He walked over, skillfully caught the Little Aemeath who rushed towards him, and held the heavy little pink bundle in his arms. Then, he looked somewhat helplessly at the red-haired girl sitting on the sofa with an unseemly posture.

"Miss Chun, since it's a misunderstanding, could you please give me a heads-up before taking action next time? My heart isn't very strong, being just an ordinary person."

"An ordinary person? An 'ordinary person' who can directly reach the threshold of the Calamity Class under the guidance of Rover's swordsmanship?"

Chun shifted her position lazily on the sofa, looking like a boneless white Persian cat, her tone teasing, "That sword intent you exuded, belonging to Rover, actually stung me right away."

"A-Yan, A-Yan! Sister Chun is a good person!"

Little Aemeath, nestled in his arms, lifted her rosy cheeks and excitedly skipped around, explaining to Lu Yan, "These past few days, when Sister Rover wasn't around, Sister Chun secretly came over to play games with me!"

"Look, we were just playing the online version of 'Space Warrior Katya'!"

When Lu Yan heard the words "sneaked over," and then recalled that Chun had secretly come to Aemeath's backstory so that the Rover wouldn't know, he immediately understood.

"Miss Chun... you didn't secretly sneak out of the Black Shores behind Rover's back, did you?" Lu Yan raised an eyebrow and asked tentatively.

Upon hearing this, Chun, who had previously appeared completely at ease, showed a rare hint of guilt on her beautiful face.

She sat up abruptly, put a slender index finger to her lips, and made an exaggerated "shh" gesture towards Lu Yan, her eyes even glancing nervously towards the closed door.

Shh! Keep your voice down! You rude jerk!

Chun lowered her voice, glaring at Lu Yan with a hint of embarrassment and annoyance. Her mischievous demeanor had completely lost any of its previous intimidating aura.

"That's called proper rest and recuperation while injured! That bot on Black Shores kept me locked in a cold, lifeless treatment pod every day; I was so bored I was about to die!"

"I just... just happened to be passing by, yes, just stopped by to see Rover and Aemeath!"

At this point, she playfully put a finger to her lips, winked at Lu Yan, and muttered softly:

"However, this is an absolute secret~ You absolutely, absolutely cannot tell Rover."

"Why?" Lu Yan asked instinctively.

"Because..."

Chun sighed with some distress, resting her delicate chin on her hands, her pretty face filled with the thought, "I am very fragile."

"I suffered a minor injury, but that old-fashioned guy Rover, insisted that I stay obediently in Black Shores to recuperate, and wouldn't even let me leave the house. It's so boring!"

"That's why I sneaked out to see Rover. Later, I saw that Little Aemeath was bored at home alone, so I played games with her to keep her entertained."

At this point, Chun raised an eyebrow with a hint of smugness:

"If Rover knew that I not only didn't lie there obediently, but also came here to find her, she would definitely nag me for a long time with that aloof expression."

"Just thinking about that scene gives me a headache!"

Looking at Chun, who was playing Little Aemeath on the sofa, showing no trace of the sickly demeanor she had put on in the game, Lu Yan rubbed his temples in exasperation.

"A-Yan! A-Yan! Come here quickly!"

Little Aemeath didn't care about the adults' affairs. She got out of Lu Yan's arms, excitedly grabbed his hand, and pulled him towards the television.

"My sister Chun played games with me for a long time today!"

"Look, we've defeated the Formless Egg Demon King from Chapter Two! Come sit down, let's play together as a trio!"

Looking at Little Aemeath's noticeably brighter face, Lu Yan felt the anxiety he had felt from the third time he had entered her dream vanish in the cheerful and slightly absurd atmosphere of everyday life.

"Good."

Lu Yan obediently let her pull him to sit on the sofa, and casually took the third controller that Little Aemeath.

"Oh dear, there's one more person here." Chun shifted her lying position, her white-stockinged leg dangling in mid-air.

"Then let's play a PVP game on Rinascita! Let me see just how skilled this older brother that Little Aemeath is so obsessed with is~"