"Seele, the real key to breaking this loop might be on you."
Lin Wei's voice was as gentle as ever, and in a slightly more euphemistic way, he gently spoke the cruel and excessive answer: "The real answer is for you, Seele, to get on the operating table again."
Clearly, it was still cruel...
It made sense. Seele had become a wandering ghost in the Sea of Quanta because of the X-10 experiment, separated from her closest loved ones by "life and death." Now that she had finally escaped from this dark prison, she had only fallen into another prison of eternal recurrence.
The familiar orphanage, the familiar friends, the familiar faces, the familiar people and things—a world that was exactly the same as in her memory, but it was just a seemingly real but false world, where the same experiences were replayed over and over again...
Was there a more malicious joke in the world?
The answer was: yes.
You want to escape all this and get on the road home? Fine, go through the X-10 experiment again!
What was this, seeing things through to the end?
Perhaps it was all just a coincidence. But in Lin Wei's opinion, this was simply cruel to the point of being vicious to Seele!
Thinking of the accidental discovery Schrödinger had told him about not long ago, perhaps she herself had already realized it. He had just been the one to break the news...
---||---
For some difficult and painful choices, people can naturally make up their minds with a moment of courage and awareness, but that is often based on not knowing the specific consequences.
Although the unknown can bring fear, ignorance can also bring courage.
Now Seele had already suffered the tragic price of one failure. The endless darkness seemed to be able to make people sink forever. Now that she finally had the chance to see the light again, would she still have the courage to go through the same thing again?
After all, who could guarantee that this time it would definitely succeed?
Even Lin Wei couldn't guarantee it.
After all, just an hour ago in his memory, at the end of the last loop, even he himself had almost had an accident, hadn't he?
"I..."
Seele's whole body trembled, and she couldn't help but take a step back. Her mind exploded, and an uncontrollable fear surged from her heart. Her face instantly turned pale, and she almost collapsed to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Seele. It's really a bit much to talk to you about this as soon as we meet. I just feel that I shouldn't hide it from you."
Lin Wei tried to slow down his speech as much as possible to avoid stimulating this poor girl, who was like a frightened little rabbit, and comforted her. "It's okay if you can't accept it. You don't have to take this risk. We have plenty of time now. We can look for other methods with Dr. Schrödinger."
Yes, time.
But in each individual loop, time passed in a hurry, and everyone didn't have enough time to do much before it was over.
But if they didn't care about the shackles of the loop and no longer raced against time, then the time they had was almost endless. They could think, hesitate, and waste as much as they wanted.
Lin Wei had thought that Seele would need some time alone and was already preparing to get up and leave. But he didn't expect that Seele's response would come much faster and much calmer than expected.
"It's okay, Mr. Lin Wei. Seele... can overcome it!"
Seele felt as if a huge rock was pressing on her chest, making it difficult to breathe, but she still tried to control the trembling in her voice and said in a weak but firm tone, "I should have thought of it a long time ago... No, in the last loop, when I returned to Mother Cocolia's laboratory, I had already realized it..."
"Oh?"
Lin Wei was surprised.
Schrödinger had once said that she had discovered some abnormalities in Seele at the end of the last loop. Lin Wei had originally thought that this was because Seele had already realized the truth, but was unwilling to face it and didn't dare to admit it, so she had carefully hidden it and not shown it to anyone.
So, Lin Wei had come to break this news, to tell her that being an ostrich was meaningless.
But that was all. If Seele was still unwilling to face it, Lin Wei wouldn't force her too much.
After all, in a world that was constantly looping, time itself had lost its meaning. Seele could slowly hesitate and think. And he himself wouldn't just sit there and wait. He would use this time to find other ways to break the loop.
But he didn't expect that he had just given her a little hint, and Seele had quickly made the most positive response, even though she looked like she was about to cry from fear.
So brave, so sincere?
Lin Wei looked at Seele with new eyes. Compared to her frankness, his own thoughts seemed shamefully hypocritical...
"Mr. Lin Wei's physical condition in each loop will affect his next loop. If he gets sick in one loop, he will still be unable to recover in the next loop. But I, I'm not like that..."
Seele recalled her experiences in each previous loop and slowly explained the similarities and differences between herself and Lin Wei. "No matter how seriously I was injured in the last loop, everything would return to the starting point at the beginning of the next loop. Except for my memory, my body was reset again and again in the loop. Compared to Mr. Lin Wei, Seele is more like Bronya Oneechan and the others..."
Her consciousness and memory were not affected by this loop like Lin Wei, but her body was completely in sync with this world.
"If there is an anomaly in this world, it must be me... me."
It was obvious that Seele had also thought about this seriously during the time Lin Wei was absent. But from her tone, it seemed that she was also very lacking in confidence.
It was obvious that even now, she was full of unease, even worry and fear, about such a result and future. But she still chose to face it.
"You're much braver than I thought, Seele."
One should look at a person with new eyes after a three-day separation. If Bronya saw the current Seele, would she be happy for her growth, or would she feel sorry for her?
"Actually... Seele is not brave at all. Even now, thinking about what I've been through, I still feel scared in my heart..."
Seele said with some embarrassment. "But, only in this way can I return to the real Bronya Oneechan's side. And only in this way can I return the real Seele to Bronya Oneechan..."
The Bronya Oneechan here has already done enough for me. I can't be so selfish!
Seele took a deep breath and expressed her determination in a weak voice that was still trembling. "Since only I can end all this, then let me end it!"
I'm already in the Sea of Quanta. How much worse can it get?
She silently comforted herself. Since Mr. Lin Wei has the courage to go through it, why can't I?
What's more, she had another self who had always been with her, never abandoning her. Thinking about it, those dark days didn't seem so lonely and unbearable...
Thinking about it, the worry in Seele's heart unknowingly faded a lot.
"Thank you, my other self..." she thought silently in her heart.
"?"
Veliona was about to fly into a rage because of Seele's arbitrary decision, but when she suddenly heard this sentence, she was at a loss for words.
What did I do?
"Nothing, I just wanted to say..."
Seele hesitated for a moment, then said shyly, "With you by my side, I don't seem so scared anymore."
"Uh..."
Veliona was stunned. She felt that all the anger she had just felt had suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon. In the end, she just waved her hand impatiently. "Forget it, I can't be bothered with you!"
What else could she say?
"Is that so?"
Lin Wei didn't know how rich her inner activities were at this moment. He just gestured toward the door and asked, "Do you want to tell them here?"
Even though this was a new loop, Lin Wei was still unwilling to treat Bronya and the others as complete strangers, and he believed that Seele was even more so.
"I..."
Seele hesitated for a moment, shook her head, and said, "It's better to wait until it's over and let the Seele here tell Bronya Oneechan everything... Oneechan..."
As she was speaking, Seele's expression suddenly became extremely frightened. She collapsed to the ground without any warning, as if she had been frightened by something. She kept scrambling backward, crying out in grief and terror, "No... don't!"
BANG!
The thin wooden door was violently broken open in an instant. Bronya, who had been waiting outside the door, heard the terrified cries in the room and rushed in like lightning, her face full of terror. She lunged at Lin Wei almost without thinking.
Lin Wei had no choice but to retract the arm he was about to use to help Seele up and block her powerful kick.
"No, stop!"
It was Seele's cry again. Although it sounded very similar to the one just now, this time it was no longer terrified, but simply astonished, as if she was also in disbelief at her own sudden and drastic change.
"You've been calling for so long, you're finally out!"
It was still Seele's voice, but this time it sounded extremely irritable, and she shouted in a fit of anger, "Seele, don't stop me, let me teach her a good lesson!"
It turned out that Veliona had come out from the realm of consciousness.
What's the meaning of this? Has Seele's schizophrenia gotten worse? Has a third personality appeared?
The innocent Lin Wei, who had been caught in the crossfire, was completely dumbfounded.
Bronya's attack was blocked. She was just about to wrap her arms around Lin Wei's neck, but she was pulled back by Seele impatiently. "Alright, stop!"
The next second, the irritable expression on her face melted away like ice and snow, replaced by a gentle expression like water. She looked at Lin Wei and the bewildered Bronya with guilt. "I'm sorry, that was my fault just now..."
"What on earth is going on?"
Bronya was silent. Even if she was a fool, she could see that there was something wrong with this Seele.
The next second, Sin also rushed in from the doorway in a hurry. Then, more children were attracted by the commotion just now, and the corridor was packed.
"What are you looking at? Go back!"
Sin kicked and pushed the irrelevant people away, then walked over again, looked suspiciously at the strange Lin Wei and the not-quite-right Seele, and asked seriously for once, "Bronya, what happened?"
"..."
Bronya shook her head silently, her eyes still fixed on Seele. She was also waiting for an answer. So Sin also locked her eyes on her face.
"I..."
Seele's heart tightened under their gaze, and for a moment, she didn't know how to say the words in her heart.
"Hmph, useless!"
Sin snorted disdainfully. Seeing this, Seele couldn't help but become even more nervous.
"Alright, I probably know what's going on..."
Lin Wei, who had been on the side, spoke first. "Seele, the change just now, was that the 'Seele from here' you mentioned?"
With one sentence, he attracted the attention of all three of them. Lin Wei didn't feel anything. He gestured to Bronya and Sin with his eyes to "calm down," then continued to look into Seele's eyes and asked softly in a low voice, "Can you tell me, is the you now the Seele I know, or the original Seele from here?"
At this point, how could he not have realized that Seele had not completely covered and replaced her self in this world bubble, but had always existed in this body.
No wonder her body also looped with the world. I see, Lin Wei suddenly realized.
"Mr. Lin Wei, I'm sorry, the me from here, she's hiding again..."
Seele was both helpless and confused. She also didn't know why it had become like that just now.
She only knew that the Seele who had never appeared before suddenly jumped out and took control of her body, which scared her a lot. The other her was angry because of this and wanted to teach this impolite guy a lesson.
She was slow to react and hurriedly gave up her body to the bad-tempered her, while she herself returned to the realm of consciousness, intending to have a good talk with the third her, whom she had never met before.
But she didn't expect that she had only been out for a moment, and then, as if she had exhausted all her courage, she had shrunk back into a corner where no one could find her.
Helpless, she had to give up and come back to clean up this unexpected mess for "herself."
"What is this..."
Lin Wei facepalmed in frustration. What is this? Three Seeles make a scene?
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"
Sin, on the side, had lost her patience. She walked up to Seele and questioned her loudly, "Who are you, and what did you do to Seele?"
Bronya also looked at Lin Wei uneasily, wanting an explanation for what was happening before her eyes.
"This matter is both simple and complicated. Let me explain."
Seeing the troubled and pained expression on Seele's face, Lin Wei didn't want to make things difficult for her anymore. He took on the job and said to Bronya, "This should be the third time we've met in this world. Now, let me tell you and your friends a story. It's about Seele, and it's also about you..."