Chapter 1085: No Next Time

Gao Yang woke up to darkness—no, he soon realized that he wasn’t in the dark, but in a strange space. There was no front or behind—well, there were, but he couldn’t sense nor cross them. It felt like being stuck in the gap between two cliffs, each rocky wall perfectly molded to his body.

Front and back didn't exist for him, yet he could still perceive up, down, left, and right.

Gao Yang tried to turn his head. He did, but it didn't feel like he had moved at all. The sensation was alien.

On his left was a white line. With the lack of perspective, the white line seemed both distant and close, like a vertical horizon. It encompassed his entire field of vision.

Within this white vertical horizon was a black line, approximately Gao Yang's height. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the line varied in darkness and wobbled slightly.

“You’re awake.” The black line spoke. Strangely, the voice sent a signal directly to Gao Yang’s brain like Nine Frost’s Telepathy would.

“Yeah.”

Similarly, Gao Yang’s thought was transmitted to the black line as a signal.

Since the voice lacked any distinguishing traits, Gao Yang asked, “Who are you?”

“Baili Yi,” said the black line.

“Am I in your diary?”

“Yes, we’re in a two-dimensional world.” The wobbling black line grew slightly longer and clearer. Baili Yi was approaching Gao Yang. “Of course, this isn't actually two-dimensional, but a space infinitely resembling one.”

“Ah.” Gao Yang found himself oddly calm. Perhaps it was the lingering effect of the potent sedative, or maybe being two-dimensional had altered his mental state.

“There must be many questions you’d like to ask me,” Baili Yi said.

Gao Yang didn’t immediately say anything.

In the past, he would’ve seized Baili Yi by the shoulders and asked him question after question for three days straight, but now, there was only one thing he cared about.

“Mr. Baili—”

“Call me Baili.”

“Baili, you called us the only hope of the world. Are the death monster on the opposing side of hope?”

“You want to know if we have to kill the death monsters.”

Gao Yang didn’t respond to that, but his silence spoke volumes.

“I have my own conclusion, but I can’t tell you the answer. I can only share the facts I know. You’ll make your own conclusion and decision.”

Suddenly, the black line vanished. The space shuddered, and wind whispered over Gao Yang.

Two seconds later, Baili Yi appeared before him, no longer a black line but a slowly unfolding flat portrait of a middle-aged man in a white coat.

The moment lasted briefly before Baili Yi entered Gao Yang's eyes and disappeared. Gao Yang felt his sketched body complicating. It was like a patch of shadow cast through leaves and branches merging with another shadow filtered through the canopy. Two becoming one more intricate shape.

“What is this?” Gao Yang asked.

Baili Yi chuckled. “Someone’s playing a prank.”

...

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Dr. Jia’s old laboratory, southern desert, Ni Nation.

The basement, now stripped of most equipment, housed dozens of humans. All awakeners outside of Dragon had followed the emergency retreat plan, entering Ni Nation through official channels after receiving the message.

Fortunately, the death monsters hadn't immediately hunted down the awakeners upon awakening. This allowed them to reach Ni Nation and gather in Dr. Jia's old laboratory, though it wasn't suitable for long-term shelter. They would wait for Gao Yang to wake up before discussing future plans.

Currently, Zhang Wei, Dr. Jia, and Gregor sat around a small round table. Baili Yi's diary lay open in the middle, showing two simple sketches—Gao Yang and Baili Yi.

“Look!” Zhang Wei called out. “He moved!”

Indeed, the sketched Gao Yang had opened his eyes. Simultaneously, Baili Yi's mouth began to move, as if speaking. The two figures conversed like a stop-motion animation.

“Interesting!” Dr. Jia studied the moving drawings. “Painter is fascinating. I have to study it when I have the chance.”

Zhang Wei had been put in the diary, too. Thinking back to the unusual experience, he asked, “Dr. Jia, do the two-dimensional figures see each other as a line?”

“More or less,” Dr. Jia said.

“They will never get to see each other’s faces or hug each other. That’s a lonely life.” Gregor had been prone to melancholy recently.

“So?” Zhang Wei said. “That’s the case for many people in the real world, too.“

“Ha, haha.” Gregor felt the words like a personal attack. He pretended to be shocked. “There can’t be someone like that, can there? That’ll be pitiful!”

“Hug...” Dr. Jia found the thought interesting. “In theory, it’ll be impossible. But with the intervention of those in the three-dimensional world, the 2D existences can embrace each other.”

“How so?” Zhang Wei asked.

“Look.” Dr. Jia took the diary and folded one page to stack Gao Yang and Baili Yi together. “Done.”

“Whoa!” Zhang Wei clicked his tongue. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Dr. Jia cackled. “There are things two-dimensional creatures can never do in their lifetime that those in the three-dimensional world can easily help them do; that’s the dimensional advantage.”

“When you put it like that, the three-dimensional world is better,” Zhang Wei said.

“Better how?” Dr. Jia continued to pontificate. “We live under so many restrictions. The most obvious point is how we are all trapped by time—unless you have Time-Space Spirit.”

“Those in the four-dimensional world see us just like how we see those in the two-dimensional world. We can fold a piece of paper to let 2D creatures hug, and 4D beings can easily flip to any point in time from our birth to our death. They can stay at a single point for however long they want to. There won’t be a concept of life or death.”

Zhang Wei began to daydream. “That’ll be awesome. It’ll be the greatest if I can stay in the period of time when I’m happiest.”

“Pathetic!” Gregor judged.

“Oh, and you’re such a saint you wouldn’t want that?” Zhang Wei countered.

Gregor imagined it. If he could stay in the moment of great joy when he had written a story he was completely satisfied with...

He stuck out a thumb. “Yep, awesome!”

“Haha, the four-dimensional world isn’t anything. In theory, there should be a world existing in even higher planes with more dimensions, as many as ten—”

His spiel was interrupted by two flashes of white light from the diary. The sketches vanished as Baili Yi and Gao Yang materialized in full form.

The basement fell silent. Everyone turned to look at them, their gazes settling on the young black-haired man—their spiritual leader and compass, someone they could trust in the most desperate situations.

They all knew what had happened and worried for him, yet couldn't find the right words of comfort. Even the typically confident and talkative Zhang Wei remained silent.

Finally, Vermilion Bird stepped out of the crowd and said gently, “You may rest a little longer if you’re tired, Gao Yang. You don’t have to push yourself.”

“Thank you, but I’m fine,” Gao Yang said calmly, his voice slightly lower than usual. “How long have I been out?”

“Around three days.”

Gao Yang nodded after a bemused moment. Then he walked to the center of the crowd and addressed everyone, “I made a critical mistake three days ago and almost doomed us all. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be so hard on yourself,” Vermilion Bird offered. “Had any of us been in your place, we wouldn’t have done any better.”

“Stop defending this brat!” War Tiger snapped with a burning cigarette in his mouth. “A mistake is a mistake. There’s no changing that!”

Gao Yang nodded. “I accept the criticism.”

“There won’t be a next time, Gao Yang, you hear me?” War Tiger said harshly.

“No next time.”

“Good.” War Tiger went up to pat Gao Yang’s shoulder. “Still, as your friend, I have to say you’ve had it fucking hard. If you need a drink, I’m always game.”

“Maybe another day.” Gao Yang turned to look at everyone. “Since all of you are here, let’s have a meeting.”