"So, for you, this entire world is a dream?"
"Yes! To be precise, it's an incredibly realistic phantom dream. Every time I fall into a deep sleep in the real world, I wake up in this dream world!"
"And when I fall asleep in this dream world, I wake up back in the real world."
A long line snaked before the bank tellers. Those in no hurry chose to wait in the bank's seating area. On a sofa against the wall, a man and a woman were talking and laughing in low voices.
"Then isn't it possible that this world is the real one, and the other one is the dream?"
"Absolutely not!" Chu Bamboo said decisively. He didn't wait for the woman to retort before giving his answer. "Because if I die in this world, I can choose to wake up in the other one."
"The next time I enter the dream, I'll reset to a random point in time within twenty-four hours before my death. Of course, I can also choose not to wake up in the other world and just force a reset to a random point within those twenty-four hours."
"It's just that doing it that way feels awful," Chu Bamboo said, sitting lazily on the sofa. He thought for a moment before offering a rough analogy. "It's like pulling an all-nighter. Of course, as awful as it feels, sometimes when I'm stuck, or when I'm desperate to solve a certain mystery, I'll force myself to push through until it's completely resolved."
"But that was in the past, when I was young and could handle it... Now, if I reset five times in a row without waking up in reality, I feel like I'm about to actually die!"
After a brief pause, Chu Bamboo continued, "Would you consider a world where you can return from death to be real?"
"You're a really interesting guy. What's this about 'when you were young'? Are you saying you're old now?" Lu Muxue, her hair dyed red, was intrigued.
"But, going by your logic, doesn't that mean this world has already been reset in your eyes countless times? And 'desperate to solve a mystery'? You treat the world like a dream, like a game! So, you think you're like a player in a game, with a God's-eye view, knowing a lot about this world?"
"I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm like God. After all, I'm still a long way from being omniscient," Chu Bamboo chuckled. "But I know about sixty percent of what goes on in this city under our feet."
"So, you only know what happens in this city?" Lu Muxue blinked.
"I know about other places too, but the farther away they are, the less I know," Chu Bamboo shrugged. "It's all the same, though. Because if I want to know something, I will inevitably uncover its truth in the end."
After a moment of thought, Lu Muxue laughed coquettishly. "Kiddo, is this your method for hitting on older women? Too bad, you're not my type. But hey, the wild imagination of a teenage boy is certainly interesting! I don't completely dislike it, you know. Why don't you come talk to me again when you're a little older?"
"Too bad it's all true," Chu Bamboo said, as composed as ever.
"How is that possible?" Lu Muxue found it laughable. "No matter how young you are, you should know how sensitive this kind of information would be if it were true, right? What would you do if I leaked it? Aren't you afraid I'd tell someone, and some bad guys would capture you and torture you?"
"Like I said, it's just a dream," Chu Bamboo said noncommittally. Then he added meaningfully, "And, if nothing unexpected happens, you won't remember any of this soon anyway."
Lu Muxue: "Hmm?"
According to what he said before, time would reset if he died. Did that mean he was about to die? Or was he planning to kill himself? 'No, that's not right!'
Lu Muxue found the whole thing increasingly ridiculous. 'How did I get so caught up in his narrative?' Shaking her head, she casually pulled out her phone.
"In about twelve seconds, your mom is going to call you. She'll tell you she can't make it anytime soon," Chu Bamboo said abruptly, his tone as languid as ever. "The specific reason will be that she ran into a close friend she hasn't seen in ages. They got to talking and lost track of time, so you'll just have to be the one who suffers..."
"After all, whatever you're here for today isn't urgent!"
Lu Muxue's hand froze as she was unlocking her screen. She gave Chu Bamboo a strange look. "So, you actually know my mom? No way. Has she stooped to setting me up on blind dates with kids like you now? She wouldn't be that desperate... would she?"
Just then, her phone rang.
Lu Muxue froze. Her brow furrowed as she mentally calculated the time. 'Has it really been about ten seconds?'
She answered the phone, exchanged a few casual words, and hung up.
"Alright, I don't know what she paid you to play this prank on me, but now," Lu Muxue's eyes darted slyly as her tone changed, "I'll pay you double to help me prank her back, how about it? Just..."
"Ten!"
"Huh?"
"Nine, eight, seven..."
Watching Chu Bamboo calmly count down as he got to his feet, Lu Muxue inexplicably recalled what he had said before...
If he dies, time will reset! And—
...if nothing unexpected happens, you won't remember any of this soon anyway...
'Wait, how am I getting more and more tangled in his words?'
"Five, four..."
Chu Bamboo moved faster, grabbing Lu Muxue's wrist and calmly pressing her—and himself—into a corner. A wall on one side, a pillar on the other. It formed a natural... spot for pinning someone against a wall, a place with no escape?
Lu Muxue: "???"
'No way. I thought he was a puppy, but it turns out he's a big bad wolf... or is he?'
「The next moment.」
"BOOM—"
A deafening explosion, like thunder from a clear sky, ripped through the air, causing the entire bank to tremble violently. The powerful shockwave shattered the glass curtain wall, sending countless shards flying in all directions like deadly projectiles.
Lu Muxue: "...Huh?!"
She blinked in a daze, wondering if she was dreaming. She stiffly turned her head to survey her surroundings.
Flames, the smell of burning, people screaming and wailing.
The once-tidy lobby now resembled Hell. Desks, chairs, and counters were blown to smithereens. Splintered wood and metal parts flew everywhere, with some fragments embedded in the walls.
Some customers and bank employees had been slammed against the walls, their bodies twisted into unnatural shapes. Blood gushed from their mouths, noses, and ears, staining the ground around them red.
Farther from the blast, some were pinned beneath the collapsed ceiling, letting out faint cries for help. Others had been slashed by flying glass, their wounds deep enough to reveal bone. Still others were engulfed in flames, rolling on the ground in agony.
Everything was so real... it was sickening.
"You!" Lu Muxue turned her head back dazedly to look at the composed Chu Bamboo. A sea of fire raged behind him, yet he was completely unscathed—not even his clothes were singed by the flames.
'You could tell me we're shooting a movie right now, and I'd believe you.'
"Saved you once," Chu Bamboo said calmly, but then he chuckled. "Then again, you won't remember any of this soon... After all, nothing that happens in a dream has any real meaning, does it?"
Lu Muxue: "..."
Chu Bamboo placed a hand on Lu Muxue's shoulder and pressed down gently, making her sit on the floor. He then grabbed a nearby money tree—tattered and half-burnt from the explosion—and pulled it over, piling it up to completely conceal her.
"Don't come out if you don't want to die. And now," Chu Bamboo said, turning away as he pulled a fox mask from his pocket and fastened it to his face, "it's time to do the story quest!"