Chapter 240 Kevin, Wake Up!

“Crackle——”

Kevin pinched the top of the quilt and turned over. This way, the quilt would not change much during the turning process, so as not to take away Mei’s half.

Perhaps she noticed the empty space beside her in her dream, Mei whispered softly, turned over, and pressed her front body tightly against Kevin’s back.

“…”

Kevin snorted softly, and his back just felt a little cold, but it warmed up under Mei’s body temperature.

Moreover, it was not just warmth, but the fatal softness directly made his consciousness, which was already unable to fall asleep, even more awake.

He frowned tightly, and finally couldn’t help but sigh and opened his eyes.

He carefully reached out his hand and patted the alarm clock on the bedside table. The alarm clock lit up a little: [4:13]

“…It’s okay. Anyway, I have two days off and I have finished my overtime work. It’s not a big deal if I can’t sleep.”

Kevin comforted himself in his heart.

As if he felt that this was not enough, he continued to remind himself:

"It's okay, it doesn't matter if you can't sleep now, you can fall asleep easily at night."

He knew these words by heart. A long time ago, as a student, if he played games too late on weekends and was too excited to sleep, he would get up with the comfort of these words...

Continue playing games.

But he knew very well that these words could not comfort him.

It's not that the self-defense words he had used countless times are no longer suitable for him at this age, after all, he is facing different things.

But he knew clearly that he said these words in the past to fight against the phenomenon of "insomnia" itself.

But what he feared now was not insomnia itself, but the reason for his insomnia.

Is it because he got too many things he dreamed of at once, and then he felt uncontrollably excited, so he couldn't sleep all night?

It should be like this, Kevin felt that even if he had insomnia, it should be because of this reason.

But the fact is obviously not.

He was very calm. He didn't feel the sleepiness he should have felt, nor did he feel physically tired. He didn't seem particularly excited or thrilled.

Why was that?

Was it because none of these things were what he wanted?

Impossible.

A world without collapse, a tiring, ordinary but stable job, and... a happy life with Mei.

This was what he wanted, and what he hadn't dared to dream of in the past few years, even in his most satisfying dreams.

But why did he feel so calm at this moment?

It was as if he had gained so much at once, but it didn't make him feel any more "joy".

Why... why?

[4:14]

The numbers on the fluorescent screen jumped, waking him up from his contemplation. All the thoughts that had been tangled in his mind just now were only less than a minute in the end.

He felt that a long time had passed.

Perhaps the consciousness's perception of time was indeed different from the actual time in the physical sense.

Was it because the speed at which information was transmitted in the nerves was faster? It seems not. Sometimes I think about a lot of things in my head, and then time doesn't pass much in reality, but sometimes I don't think about things in my head, but time passes for several hours.

Yes, he has passed seven or eight hours in his dream, and he doesn't know what's happening outside...

This idea just came up and was quickly extinguished by him.

"Why do you think about these things? Didn't you say before that this might be a paradox like a trouble in a jar? Maybe the world full of collapse, which is completely inconsistent with the scientific concepts learned in school, the world where the nose is filled with the smell of blood, rotting corpses, or rust, pungent oil, and sweat day and night is a dream, and this ordinary, ordinary, stable, warm world where you can smell the fragrance of plums at any time is the real world?"

When Kevin sighed again, the muscles from the chest to the throat tightened a little, so the exhaled breath also trembled.

First trembling, then rapid.

He turned around again quietly and hugged Mei's warm and soft body into his arms, trying to express his attitude to his subconscious mind in this way - don't doubt it, this kind of life is real.

But behind Mei, his fists were clenched tightly.

"Why? Why can't such a beautiful world, a world that satisfies all your wishes, keep you? Can't I keep you?"

Mei in his arms suddenly spoke.

"I'm sorry, I..."

Kevin didn't know how to express it for a while.

"These are all what I want, that's right. But... it doesn't seem to be what I want."

Mei didn't speak, just hugged him tightly.

Kevin didn't know, the so-called characters in the dream... really have their own consciousness?

No no no! He wanted to slap his head!

He clearly wanted to treat this so-called dream as reality, but why did he have to constantly remind himself of the facts?

Why why why!

"Hehe..."

Mei buried her head in her arms and chuckled twice.

Kevin's mood also calmed down a little.

"Kevin, your heartbeat is a little fast."

She rubbed her face, leaving the touch of her eyelashes, nose, and lips to Kevin, and the latter's heartbeat gradually slowed down.

"Mei...Are you really Mei?"

After hearing Kevin's question, Mei was silent for a long time.

Behind her, Kevin's hand was clenched, and a piece of ice cone soon appeared in his palm, and the tip of the cone was against the end of Mei's hair.

His vision was a little blurry. If... if the person in front of him was not Mei, but a puppet created by the Eighth Herrscher, or the Eighth Herrscher - before he entered the dream, he saw the gray-haired girl on the roof of the opposite building. He was sure that it should be the Eighth Herrscher. After all, the general emperor-level Houkai beast should not be enough to make him fall asleep.

Mei naturally felt the chill coming from the back of her head, but she was not afraid. Instead, she raised her head, and her hands passed between the two tightly pressed bodies, gently holding Kevin's face.

She exerted a little force with both hands, and Kevin sat up with her movements, both confused and obedient.

The two of them just lifted the quilt and half-sat on the bed facing each other.

The ice cone in Kevin's hand also dissipated into nothingness, because he already understood...

"You understand it too, right?"

Just like the other half of herself in the mirror, she and Kevin spoke almost at the same time, saying exactly the same words:

"Of course you are not Mei, but you are indeed [Mei]. It is not the Eighth Herrscher who made you, but me, myself."

"Of course I am not Mei, but I am indeed [Mei]. It is not the Eighth Herrscher who made me, but you, Kevin."

The two of them were silent for a few seconds again. Kevin lowered his head and wanted to speak again, but he closed his mouth after all, letting her voice lie here. Echoing in the small bedroom:

"The Eighth Herrscher hastily made you fall asleep in a dream filled with the things you desire most. As for the specific dream, she had no time to make it up - yes, Kevin, this entire dream, including me, is the extension of your own consciousness."

"..."

"In your own consciousness, you constructed an image of Mei through your memory of Mei that may be different from her, but is the image of Mei that best fits your cognition, that is, me. So, if you want to say that I am Mei, it's okay."

Seeing that Kevin still bowed his head and remained silent, Mei held his face again.

"Yes, Kevin, everything you see now is derived from the deepest and most simple wish in your heart. This is your real thought. Since the thought is real, then isn't this a real world?"

"The real world is the real world, and the dream is just a dream."

Kevin said lightly, and once again condensed an ice cone in his hand, but he did not take the next step.

"How can it be so simple? Kevin, there is nothing absolute in this world. You think this is just a false dream, but how can you know if there is really such a branch on the tree of imaginary numbers, where Kevin and Mei live the same life as today, and what you dreamed of is just a projection of that world."

"No, you clearly... you just said that this whole dream is my own consciousness..."

"Hmm? It seems that you have realized it again - what is the so-called consciousness? Is it the transmission of information in neurons? Is it the soul? Is it Soul? Seele? душа? Anima? 霊hun? If so, what is the soul? Why does the [time] experienced by your soul always differ from that of your body?"

Kevin tilted his head and thought for a while, and said:

"That's not you... No, it's the theory of relativity that Mei talked about before, that stove... uh..."

Inexplicably, he felt that he should be able to remember every word Mei said, but at this time he couldn't think of the metaphor Mei used.

On the other hand, the [Mei] across from him easily found that memory.

"That... that is not so much an explanation of the theory of relativity as it is a story I made up for you. It has something to do with the theory of relativity in physics, but it cannot be simply understood as the theory of relativity."

"Then what do you think the soul is?"

Kevin stared at the pair of purple eyes, and he himself didn't know whether he was asking [Mei] a question or asking [himself] a question.

"Of course I don't know. But if it was Mei, she would definitely say: Um... Kevin, have you heard of the [single electron] hypothesis?"

"Huh? That is to say, there is only one electron in that world, and what we observe is just its projection in different dimensions?"

"Although the description is a little biased, it is still the same. Then let's assume that there is only one so-called [Kevin's consciousness], but he has left his own projection in all the worlds. In this case, it is not incomprehensible that your consciousness can see Kevin's life in another world?"

"Yes... Wait a minute, why are you talking about this again?"

[Mei] spread her hands, indicating that you asked it first.

Kevin searched up along his memory, and belatedly remembered that they seemed to be talking about whether this world was real or not.

But...

"Anyway, if this is really the world that Kevin's projection has experienced, it is not the world that another Kevin's projection has or belongs to!"

"Then why don't you leave here?"

[Mei] shook her head, got off the bed, and opened the floor-length curtains. There were sparse lights outside.

Kevin was speechless at this moment.

He wanted to argue, he wanted to say that he didn't know how to leave here, but his consciousness immediately sent him a signal, telling him-

If you want to leave this dream, just think about [leaving] in your mind.

"Even if you know this very clearly, what's the use? You can't leave here after all... No, you don't have the courage to leave here after all. You know, in your original world, your comrades and your lover are fighting the Eighth Herrscher, but you still selfishly want to stay in this world for a while, even for a second, and you have been holding this thought, so you have stayed here for so long, right?"

Kevin remained silent.

This is just like... he gets up every morning.

The first thing he does when he opens his eyes is always recalling the dream. If it is a beautiful dream, he will close his eyes involuntarily, dreaming of being able to continue that dream.

"Hehe."

[Mei] chuckled again and opened the window.

The cold morning breeze poured in instantly, but for Kevin, this level was not cold at all.

He glanced at [Mei] who was shivering at the window, and finally sighed, walked to the window, and held her in his arms to keep warm.

"Kevin, let's go back to your initial doubts."

"What?"

"Why? Why do you still not feel happy in this dream that concentrates all your inner desires?"

"..."

"Kevin, because in this dream, all these things you desire are obtained in an instant - without spending any effort on your own. But is this really a good thing?"

Kevin inexplicably recalled his childhood, always wanting this complete set, wanting that snack.

But after actually buying it, he felt a kind of... lack of interest.

Many classmates I met at Qianyu College were like this before. The easier it was to establish a relationship, the faster and more ruthless the breakup would be.

"Right?"

[Mei] once again easily saw through what he was thinking.

"Because the joy of getting what you desire does not come only from the desired thing itself. In other words, that joy mostly comes from the process of your continuous efforts to get it. So the feelings for toys that you didn't buy with your own money when you were a teenager, and the girls that you easily chased after when you grew up, are actually very fragile, because you didn't pay too much for them."

"It's different, Mei... You and I... Although it can't be said that we were together easily, there shouldn't be too many twists and turns, right?"

He knew that this [Mei] was not that Mei, but he couldn't help but say so.

"Hey! There are always exceptions."

Then there was a long silence.

Kevin originally thought that [Mei], as the extension of his consciousness, wanted to keep him in this dream.

But the more she talked, Kevin felt that what she really wanted was for him to leave.

"Isn't it strange? Actually, it's not strange. Can my transformation be regarded as the contradictory change of your own thoughts, Kevin? Compared with the initial pure desire to stay in this world for a while, now you seem to want to return to reality and help your comrades."

"Maybe..."

"Then let me add more fuel to the fire-Kevin, have you ever thought about why you have been fighting?"

Kevin's eyes were empty and completely confused.

He initially joined the Fire Moths just because Mei joined the Fire Moths, and he couldn't leave Mei. As for what he had contact with the Fire Moths in Luluye before, those were actually not very important.

He just couldn't and didn't want to leave Mei, that's all.

So what is the so-called fighting for?

Most of his comrades fought to protect the people they loved, but what about him?

Was it to protect Mei?

It's not wrong, but most of the time, he seemed to just follow Mei's instructions rigidly.

Whatever she asked him to do, he did.

Because he imagined that Mei's decision must be correct, just as Mei believed that he could do those things.

But in the final analysis, he has always lacked an active goal to attract him to move forward.

He was more like being forced to this step by Mei.

Of course, before this, the question of "why to fight" had never appeared in his mind.

Thinking back, he was really confused for so many years.

"It's actually very simple, Kevin, recall everything that has happened since you fell into the dream. The relaxed campus life, the ordinary, tired but stable life after growing up, and me who has always been by your side... Kevin, if you really want these, please return to the world you should be in, and then set this dream as your end point. Every step you take is leading to all you desire. I said these, you can... No, you must understand."

"I understand."

Kevin suppressed all emotions, as always, answering in a seemingly cold and calm language.

But he soon found that [Mei] in front of him disappeared.

What he was holding in his arms was nothingness.

It turned out that when [Mei] said those words to him, he somehow thought of the word [leave] in his mind.

Many things are like this. Maybe a lot of effort and sweat are spent on this single thing, but the final shiver cannot even be detected at the first time.

Kevin turned his head and looked around at the pale people. The corners of his mouth gradually rose into a smile. He couldn't tell whether it was bitterness, ridicule, or a smile of relief.

He closed his eyelids, plunging his vision into darkness.

When he opened it again, he saw a strange yet familiar ceiling.

"Well……"

Because of sleeping for a long time, all the muscles in the body felt a little uncomfortable.

It's not sore, but it's a feeling more unacceptable than soreness.

It's like a spring that has been pressed and won't relax, and there's a chance it won't bounce back.

He quickly sat up and stretched as if no one else was watching. His overly exaggerated movements accidentally tore off the needle of the nutrient solution inserted in his right hand.

"Gulu—Gulu—"

He covered his stomach, feeling really hungry.

But the professional instinct of a warrior finally returned at this time, and he finally realized that this was not the usual idle time just waking up from sleep, but the present moment when the Eighth Herrscher had appeared.

"I wonder how Mikael, Ellie, and Sakura are doing..."

He was a little worried about his comrades who also participated in Operation De Moana Chino. But this worry is not very strong - he doesn't think Mikael is as fragile now as before.

After all, even Kevin can escape from the dream. Even if Mikael really falls into the dream, he won't linger for too long.

But as long as he is here, it won't be a big problem.

Kevin thought so and turned his head.

He quickly noticed the empty hospital bed on his left. Although no one was lying on it, the neatly folded tofu quilt and the flat sheets like bronze mirrors all pointed to the fact that someone had rested here...

Moreover, as far as Kevin knows, there is only one type of person who can keep the house in such neat order...

Sure enough, there were blue flip headphones and blue hairpins on the bedside table.

There are two long knives placed on the wall of the ward.

"Sakura?"

He looked around again - in fact, this action was unnecessary, because the ward was not big and he could see clearly without any effort. There were only two beds.

"No, no, no! It's not just me and Sakura who have fallen into a dream! It's over, it's over! Mikael and Alicia will definitely die laughing, they will!"

He covered his face in despair.

After a while, he turned over and got off the hospital bed.

Anyway, it seemed that no one was paying attention to him, and the base did not flash red light like the Herrscher attack usually, which made him a little confused and didn't know what happened.

The ward door is obviously not locked, but in this so-called "VIP" ward, even if the patient walks out of the first door, it is not considered to have walked out of the medical area, because there is a larger area outside the ward than the original ward. Equivalent to a two-bedroom "visiting area".

The first thing to enter is naturally the so-called "living room".

He quickly found three acquaintances beside the coffee table——

Ellie, who was holding a book upside down and yawning uncontrollably, Eden, who was drunk until she was drunk, and Sakura, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa with her palms facing up, closing her eyes and meditating.

The sound of the ward door opening was particularly harsh, and the three of them turned their attention to Kevin at the same time.

"Uh... you look like this. Has the eighth collapse been resolved?"

Kevin scratched his head.

"Of course not!"

Ellie spread her hands innocently, and uncharacteristically, she lowered her voice and spoke in a breathy voice.

"Anyway, the commander now is Mikael. He has his own ideas. At least now we still have time to rest for a while, right, my good Eden?"

"Uh-uh-uh-ah-"

"..."

"But, having said that, Alicia, why do you speak in a lowered voice?"

Ai Li blinked innocently:

"Aren't you afraid of waking up Mei who is resting in the back? Oh, let me see, well, she has been sleeping for eight hours, and it's time to get up... Hey, it seems that she has woken up first!"

Kevin turned his head suddenly and saw Mei leaning lazily on the door frame of the "Family Lounge" and smiling lightly at him.

Kevin instantly remembered something that happened in his dream, and moved stiffly and quickly to the sofa.

In the subsequent Honkai Impact, I feel that there is not much suspense about combat power. I thought, how about this, mainly to make up for the growth of other heroes?