Across Dimensions

Lu Yan felt the softness against his arm, along with the heavy pressure.

He suppressed the urge to ask questions. "Aemeath, let's go inside first."

He bent down and picked up the keys that had fallen to the ground.

The motion-sensor lights in the old apartment building's corridor had been broken for a long time. Only the area outside his door was lit by the flickering blue data streams surrounding Aemeath, making it look somewhat distorted.

"Okay~" Aemeath replied brightly, but instead of letting go, she clung to his arm even tighter.

Aemeath's pink ponytail swayed in his field of vision, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

To her, their reunion at this moment was like a road movie finally reaching its ending.

The lock clicked as the key turned.

Lu Yan pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Aemeath enter first.

"Um, you don't need to change your shoes." Lu Yan looked at the ankle boots on her feet, then at the slippers by his door, and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

Aemeath hopped lightly into the room like a little pink cat surveying its territory.

She looked around the small room curiously, glancing at the computer that was still on.

"Is this where you live?"

Aemeath walked over to the computer desk and looked around. "It feels like... this place is full of your scent."

Lu Yan closed the door behind him and drew the curtains more tightly shut.

A girl wearing an extremely revealing, skintight combat suit, with special effects around her, too.

If Auntie Chen happened to see her passing by, word would probably spread throughout the entire residential complex by tomorrow that he had brought a cosplay model home.

A soft chuckle came from behind him.

Lu Yan looked at Aemeath in confusion. She was standing in the middle of the room, hands behind her back, looking at him with a gentle smile.

"That look on your face..." Aemeath paused. "Don't tell me you think other people can see me?"

Lu Yan's hand froze on the curtain.

"In this state~" Aemeath took a step forward, the streams of data flickering slightly with her movement, "only you can see me."

Her tone was light as she spoke, but her eyes stared straight at Lu Yan without blinking.

Lu Yan's Adam's apple bobbed. Before he could say anything, the streams of data around Aemeath suddenly receded like the tide, disappearing completely.

Her boots began to make sounds as they stepped on the floor.

Aemeath looked down at her hands and clenched them into fists, then looked up and smiled at him.

"Here." Aemeath reached out and took his hand, interlacing their fingers.

Her hand was warm. Its temperature was a little higher than an ordinary person's, like hot milk cupped in his hands in winter.

"Well?" Aemeath swung their joined hands. "Now I'm a warm and toasty Aemeath."

Lu Yan stared at her, utterly bewildered. "Can you switch between them whenever you want now?"

"Of course~" Aemeath looked at him with a smile.

Still full of questions, Lu Yan let go of her hand and pointed to the computer chair, then pulled over a small stool and sat down. "Let's sit down and talk it through."

After obediently sitting down, Aemeath looked straight at him.

He looked at the girl before him and took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.

"What... what exactly is going on with you? How did you get here?"

Aemeath sat in the chair, her posture playful. She tilted her head and looked at him, her tone relaxed. "At first, I entered a Sonora that was very, very dark."

"I heard a lot of voices, until..."

Aemeath paused, the light in her eyes softening. "Until I felt your frequency."

Aemeath's gaze wandered elsewhere as she went on, "So I followed that frequency and came to this world."

Lu Yan froze. "So that's how you got here?"

"You could put it that way." Aemeath stood up and walked over to Lu Yan. She bent forward, braced both hands on his knees, and gazed at him from close range.

They were so close that Lu Yan could smell an unusual fragrance and a faint scent of osmanthus.

"From now on, I'll be here," she said softly.

Lu Yan leaned back slightly under the force of her presence.

The weight of these feelings that had come from nowhere put him under pressure like he had never felt before.

"Then do you count as a human or an electronic ghost now?"

"Ehe, either one works." Aemeath blinked playfully.

"Whatever I am, I'm a ghost who belongs only to you." With that, Aemeath winked and playfully stuck out the tip of her tongue.

Lu Yan sat there stunned for a long moment, finally coming to terms with the fact that Aemeath had come to this world.

He looked at the proud Aemeath before him and gave a helpless smile.

Aemeath straightened up and patted her chest. "I'll be very good!"