Chapter 39: Wow, and Wet...
"What exactly were you sawing just now? I know I heard a noise."
March 7th leaned through the doorway, her pink-blue eyes narrowed in deep suspicion.
"I sawed this notebook." Rekka pointed casually to the small, leather-bound book resting in his palm.
"You sawed a notebook?" She took two steps closer, leaning in to inspect the perfectly intact object. "There isn't even a scratch on it. Who are you trying to fool?"
"I sawed it apart and then put it back together." Rekka extended his hand, offering it to her. "It was originally a notebook that brings bad luck, which is a very bad thing to have lying around. So, I performed physical transcendence on it using the Chainsword. Now, it is perfectly balanced."
March 7th carefully took the notebook, treating it like an unexploded bomb. She flipped the cover open. The pages inside were entirely blank. Aside from a slight yellowing at the edges of the paper, it looked like the most ordinary, unremarkable stationery imaginable.
"Physical transcendence..." Her mouth twitched. "Fine, if you say so. What use is it now?"
"It is now a Wishing Notebook. As long as you write a wish in it, the wish will come true."
"A Wishing Notebook? Real or fake?" Her eyes instantly lit up. Her fingers tightened around the leather binding. "Anything I write will come true?"
"Of course. But—" Rekka drew out the syllable, raising a single finger to stall her rising excitement. "Everything requires balance. What you gain, you must give up. Therefore, at the exact same time your wish is granted, you will encounter an equal degree of misfortune."
The bright anticipation on her face froze solid.
"An equal degree of misfortune? Isn't that just wasting my time!" She tossed the notebook onto the nearby table with a huff. "I thought it was something good. What if I wish for a million credits, but then get hit by a speeding starskiff and break my leg the moment I step outside? What good is the money then?"
"That is exactly where the wisdom of the wisher is tested." Rekka picked the notebook back up, spinning it casually between his fingers. "You cannot wish for massive, fate-altering things. You have to wish for small, inconsequential things. For example, you wish you could eat strawberry cake tonight. The corresponding misfortune might just be choking on a sip of water, or accidentally stubbing your toe on a doorframe while walking."
"Stubbing your toe hurts!" she retorted immediately.
"Then do you want to eat strawberry cake or not?"
"...Yes." March 7th hesitated. She stared at the little book on the table, her expression a battlefield of conflicting desires. "Are you absolutely sure the misfortune is only on the level of stubbing a toe?" she asked, her voice dropping an octave in uncertainty. "It won't suddenly summon a swarm of bugs or a giant void monster, right?"
"I guarantee it won't. The law of balance is incredibly rigorous. It will precisely calculate the exact cosmic value of the wish and then match the corresponding price." Rekka plucked a pen from the desk and held it out to her. "Why don't you try? Just consider it a field test for the results of my modification."
March 7th took the pen. She stood there for a long time, chewing on her lower lip.
"What should I write..." She lightly bit the cap of the pen, racking her brain for the safest possible idea. It absolutely could not be an outrageous request, or the resulting backlash would be unbearable. "How about I just write the simplest thing?"
She hovered the pen tip over the blank parchment, hesitating to make the first stroke.
"For instance, I want a glass of starlight-colored juice. Room temperature, no ice, and preferably a flavor I have never had before but still tastes good. This wish should be small enough, right?"
"Quite practical." Rekka nodded in approval. "It fits human nature perfectly. The intrinsic value of a single glass of juice is incredibly low. Even if the misfortune triggers, at most you will get a fruit seed stuck in your teeth while drinking it, or the aftertaste will be slightly sour. Write it down. I am watching right here. Even if something truly bizarre happens, I can pull you out of trouble."
"You have to keep your word!" March 7th glared at him. She took a deep, steadying breath, and with the solemnity of someone signing a major peace treaty, she neatly penned the line of text onto the blank page.
The moment the final letter was finished, she practically threw the pen aside. She clamped both hands over her head, hunched her neck down, and squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact.
One second.
Two seconds.
Five seconds passed.
The room remained completely quiet. Not a single sound disturbed the air.
"Is that it?" March 7th cautiously raised her head, peeking left and right through her fingers.
Rekka walked over and glanced down at the open notebook. The neat handwriting she had just applied was slowly fading, the ink dissolving into the parchment until it disappeared completely, leaving the page blank once more.
"The words are gone, which means the wish has been accepted by the notebook."
"Then what about the juice? Will it fall from the ceiling? Or just magically appear in my hand?" She warily stared up at the ceiling panels, half-expecting a cup to drop on her head.
"That is hard to say." Rekka pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing his arms comfortably. "The operating mechanism of the Wishing Notebook is a complete black box. It might deliver the juice directly to you, or it might alter probability to lead you to obtain it through a series of bizarre coincidences. Of course, the equivalent misfortune operates on the exact same principle."
March 7th waited another minute. Realizing she was still just staring at empty air, the tight tension in her shoulders finally eased. She lowered her hands and let out a long, dramatic exhale.
"What the heck, all thunder and no rain." She pouted, crossing her arms. "I think your stupid notebook isn't working at all. You keep talking about balance, but I haven't even seen a shadow of any juice."
"Do not rush it. Let the bullet fly for a while." Rekka stood up, stretching his arms high above his head and letting out a lazy yawn. "I got covered in dust from our last exploration anyway. Coincidentally, didn't you say yesterday you hadn't had enough fun? Let's go relax on the Hyperion. Maybe the juice is waiting for you over there."
"Go swimming?" Her eyes lit up with renewed energy, the disappointment instantly forgotten. "Great, great! I will go get my swimsuit right now!"
She spun around and sprinted for the door, but skidded to a halt right at the frame. She turned back, pointing a stern finger at Rekka.
"Don't you dare secretly add any weird settings to my wish while I am gone!"
"Today I am the epitome of balance," Rekka replied smoothly. "The absolute, fair, and beautiful referee."
Half an hour later, the atmosphere shifted entirely by the swimming pool aboard the Hyperion.
The massive overhead dome was still set to its transparent mode, offering a stunning view of the cosmos outside, but the environmental controls for today's scene had been adjusted to simulate an open-air hot spring. Thick, curling steam drifted lazily across the surface of the water, carrying the faint, relaxing scent of minerals.
Rekka leaned comfortably against the smooth stone edge of the pool. The warm spring water lapped against his chest, the soothing heat seeping into his muscles and washing away the lingering fatigue brought on by their recent exploration.
March 7th sat on the tiled shore a short distance away. Her two fair calves were immersed in the steaming water, her feet occasionally kicking up playful splashes that disrupted the calm surface.
As she casually rested her hand against the tiles beside her, her fingers brushed against something cool.
She blinked, looking down. At some unknown point, a tall glass filled with starlight-colored juice had silently appeared right beside her hand.
"Wow! There really is starlight-colored juice!"
She lifted the glass, holding it up to the light. The liquid inside presented a captivating, deep blue-purple hue, dotted throughout with fine, suspended silver sparkles. As the liquid swayed against the glass, it truly looked as though a miniature starry sky had been bottled up just for her.
"The wish has been granted, which means the law of balance has been officially activated." Rekka watched her from the water. "You can start looking forward to the equivalent misfortune now."
"It is just a glass of juice, how bad can the misfortune possibly be?" She dismissed his warning with a wave of her hand. She tentatively took a small sip.
Her eyes instantly widened in delight.
"Wow! It is delicious! Sweet and sour! But I wonder what kind of fruit it is made from..."
She happily swung her calves, her feet kicking up a few more splashes in the hot spring water. Throwing caution to the wind, she tilted her head back and took several large, eager gulps, only stopping to catch her breath when the juice in the cup was half gone.
"Drink slowly, do not choke," Rekka advised mildly. "I warned you, the price of balance is bound to arrive. The more you ignore the details, the more likely problems are to arise."
"This lady isn't afraid of anything—Achoo!"
Before she could even finish her confident declaration, March 7th suddenly felt a violent itch strike deep in her nose. She let out a massive sneeze without a single second of warning. The force of the sneeze came so suddenly that her entire body jolted forward.
Her grip on the glass faltered. The cup wobbled violently in her unsteady hand.
With a soft, wet splash, the remaining half glass of starlight-colored juice sloshed over the rim, spilling directly onto her lap.
The deep blue-purple liquid quickly streamed down her warm skin. The sticky juice not only stained her bare legs but also rapidly spread across the delicate white gauze skirt tied around her waist, soaking the thin fabric until it clung tightly to her skin.
Rekka stared.
Wow, and wet...
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]