...
"...If this world is never dispelled... what will eventually happen to it?"
"This world is not as eternal as you might imagine. Even without outside interference, it will only take my brother roughly a few tens of thousands of years to completely wash away the influence of Delusion.
"In fact, during those millennia, Delusion will actually shield his consciousness from being eroded by the sheer, crushing volume of information. So, you could say that when this Cocoon is finally broken, my brother will have undergone an evolutionary leap as a Herrscher.
"And correspondingly, the next civilization will receive a gift—a fully matured, transcendent Herrscher who genuinely loves humanity."
"...Then... what about me?
"What if I don't leave?"
"...You will spend the remainder of your life here, naturally passing away long before my brother awakens. You will not accompany him into the next era.
"Of course, if you can make the resolve to reinforce the future, then tens of thousands of years from now, my brother's first wish upon opening his eyes will be to see you.
"So, are you willing to wait and greet him in the future?"
"...I..."
"Can you abandon the 'present'?"
"..."
...
Most of the time, no one can truly predict exactly how their life will unfold.
Just like Shu never imagined that one day, he would actually embark on a long-distance road trip.
When did his life suddenly start to change?
Was it the day they went to the amusement park? Or the very first time he actually left the house to take Kiana to the mall?
Shu knew the exact answer.
It was the moment Kiana first appeared in front of him. No, even earlier than that—the moment she first arrived in this world, before she had even found him.
From that second onward, his life was destined to change like this.
Yes, destined. Shu generally despised fatalism, but sometimes... he felt a person was allowed to be a hypocrite at least once in their life, right?
...Okay, fine, he still hated the concept. He hated casually attributing one person's hard work and merit to another person's "destiny." He despised the arrogant narrative of the entire world revolving around a single individual.
Did the change in his life have even a cent to do with him?
It was Kiana who dragged him out the door. It was Kiana who gave him the courage to step outside. It was Kiana who set the goals, and it was Kiana who continuously fueled him with boundless energy.
All of this was solely Kiana's achievement. Even if Shu were the most shameless, despicable scum on the planet, he absolutely refused to force a share of the credit onto himself by simply claiming, "I got lucky."
There was only one conclusion he could draw:
If Kiana can do all this... maybe I can try too...?
Try it and die.
Shu had a very clear understanding of himself: he was fundamentally useless.
Forget kicking down someone's mental door and barging into their world like Kiana did. Shu was overly cautious even when enjoying his own little world, terrified of causing trouble.
So he was perfectly at peace with the fact that he could never do the things Kiana did.
What else could he do? He just had to cautiously enjoy the ride.
—
"The beach! The ocean!! A yacht!!!"
Kiana was sporting denim cutoffs, her white dress shirt tied in a knot at the front to expose her midriff.
Holding his breath, Shu firmly and unquestioningly intercepted Kiana just as she was about to bound onto the sand. With unyielding authority, he forced a light jacket over her shoulders. Only after confirming she was sufficiently covered did his expression soften back to normal.
This was officially the third stop of their trip. After the amusement park, the aquarium, and the mountain hike, their next target was naturally the actual ocean.
Just looking at it through a tunnel wasn't enough. Kiana was going to drag Shu to experience the real thing!
Sunlight, beaches, waves, and bikini-clad beauties!!
She absolutely had to make sure Shu experienced all these wonderful things!!
"Come on, I'll take you to pick up girls!" Kiana declared, her eyes predatory as they instantly locked onto several targets. Her words made Shu's heart skip a beat—but out of sheer terror.
"What the hell?!!" Shu launched himself out of the beach chair, staring at Kiana in absolute disbelief. "You want to take me to do what?!"
"Pick up girls... Uh, I mean, train your social skills!" Kiana's instincts were terrifyingly sharp. The moment she sensed Shu's violent objection, she instantly course-corrected, swapping to an excuse Shu "couldn't refuse."
But Shu refused anyway!
He wasn't some idiot who could be fooled by a simple change of phrasing!
No way! Absolutely not!
There was no way in hell Shu was going to approach random people on the beach!
And so, he was physically dragged across the sand, ruthlessly hauled toward Kiana's designated targets.
"When we're traveling! We have to—meet—new—people!!" Kiana felt like an ox plowing a field, and Shu was the plow—legs stiff, digging his heels deep into the sand.
Shu was straining so hard he couldn't even speak, terrified that if he opened his mouth, he'd lose all his leverage.
But all his struggling amounted to were two deep trenches trailing behind him in the sand. Ultimately, Kiana forced him to spend the morning awkwardly wedged into a group of energetic young women.
And as a grand prize, he earned a moderate case of sunburn.
Kiana swore to God she had never met anyone as physically fragile as Shu in her entire life.
She had always thought the phrase "sunburned until your skin peels off" was just a hyperbolic joke. That is, until Shu literally demonstrated it for her over the course of a single morning.
And he spent more than half of that morning actively hiding from the sun!
After hastily saying goodbye to the new friends they would likely never see again, a guilt-ridden Kiana escorted Shu to the hospital. By evening, they stuck to the original plan and boarded their chartered deep-sea fishing boat.
Kiana confidently declared that she was going to catch Shu a massive fish so he could properly nourish his frail body.
Well, a massive fish definitely showed up.
It was a little too massive.
They had paid six thousand yuan to board the boat. When they disembarked, the captain shoved sixty thousand yuan into their hands, deliriously insisting he take them out for an authentic, premium seafood feast.
The rugged, fiercely scarred forty-something captain grinned so hard he looked like a sycophantic Tom Cat. After reluctantly waving them goodbye, he immediately threw himself onto the tuna lying on the deck—a monster that was literally larger than he was.
This absolute leviathan had burned out the electric reel! It took the combined, screaming, physical effort of every single hardcore angler on the boat to haul the beast in!
These were guys who normally threw their lines in and immediately went back to the cabin to play mahjong. Last night, they had stayed up with the two youngsters, completely wired, chugging down the ocean breeze until dawn.
Thank god they actually landed the fish. Otherwise, for the next two years, the regulars would be telling exaggerated tales about "the whale that got away."
And so, their journey continued—