Doomsday Wonderland

Lin Sanjiu had a dream.

She was no longer Lin Sanjiu but seemed to inhabit the body of a young girl. She could feel herself sitting in a steamy bathroom. With the sound of rushing hot water and the heavy mist obscuring her view, she recognized who stepped into the bathtub, who sat behind her, and who reached out, gently whispering "big sis" in her ear. The girl tilted her head and closed her eyes.

What was this place?

Lin Sanjiu's fleeting thought passed and was forgotten. She heard the voices of men from outside. Hastily standing up, as they nervously pushed open the bathroom door, she saw the girl's husband seated ahead. He looked at her, his face reflecting pity—perhaps for himself—a hint of realization, and a touch of despair. He chuckled and said, "This is why you kids never grow old."

Lin Sanjiu couldn't recall who these people were anymore.

She felt as if she was living within the bodies of everyone simultaneously yet forgetting her identity as Lin Sanjiu. Somewhere deep in the universe, she found herself inexplicably involved in the lives of others.

"Lin Sanjiu," a distant voice suddenly called out.

In an instant, all the mist dissipated.

What was previously a foggy, steamy bathroom now seemed like a devouring darkness. But as she abruptly sat up and opened her eyes, she was still greeted by dimness. Feeling someone move aside to avoid her, she barely stopped herself from colliding with them.

"What?" She was still groggy, unsure of where her husband had gone, and even who he was. His words, however, still echoed in her mind. "Who... who are you?"

In the darkness, the figure didn't respond. There was a slight movement, followed by a 'click', and a light illuminated the space.

The clarity of the light shattered the haze of her recent dream. After a few seconds, her senses returned. She realized she was sitting on a hard, cold floor, which was moving downwards. She looked up to see a rectangular well of darkness stretching upwards until the light was consumed. After some time, it finally dawned on her: she was in an elevator.

Yu Yuan was sitting under a hanging lamp, its light flickering, casting dynamic shadows over his features, giving the illusion of emotion on his face. When he spoke, his tone was as ever, calm and unwavering. "Do you remember?"

Remember what?

Lin Sanjiu felt an intense headache, to the point where she couldn't even remember why she was in an elevator. She held her temples, inhaling a cold breath, as fragments of her memory slowly trickled in. "Did... did I use that ability to traverse worlds... that Advaita power?"

Yu Yuan nodded, his eyes looking deep and fathomless in the darkness. "Before you used Advaita's power, you asked me to decipher you, and I agreed."

"Yes... I did make that request," Lin Sanjiu murmured, attempting to stand but feeling a sudden weakness in her limbs. "Then... what happened to me?"

"After deciphering you, you used the Advaita ability to move through the elevator door and ended up on top of the elevator where Lily was, which is the one you're sitting in now," Yu Yuan explained calmly. "I think you meant to enter the elevator directly, but due to a positional error, you landed on top of the elevator cabin."

Yu Yuan continued, "You anticipated that I would have a reason to follow you and wouldn't let you disappear alone with the elevator in this building. Hence, as you envisioned, I fabricated Advaita's traversal ability for myself and came in after you."

That was indeed her intention at that time. Lin Sanjiu didn't need to elaborate; once Yu Yuan deciphered her, he would naturally understand the situation and follow her in.

"So, what happened to me just now?" she asked, even though she had an inkling.

"You couldn't handle such frequent spatial traversals in such a short time, leading to your mental breakdown," Yu Yuan replied. "The reason you wanted me to decipher you is precisely this. Once I realized your mental breakdown, I restored your data to its state before the breakdown."

Does that mean the girl in the bathroom was just an illusion from her breakdown?

"If my data has been restored, how can I still remember the hallucinations in my mind during my breakdown?" Lin Sanjiu asked, reaching towards the top of the elevator. Perhaps the hum of the elevator masked sounds inside, making it eerily silent, as if Lily wasn't there at all.

"I restored the data set from when you broke down. I didn't touch the new data set, so it remains as a memory," Yu Yuan replied. He didn't help her open the top of the elevator but instead posed a question, "I accessed your data, but still don't understand why you think I'm not an enemy, daring to let me decipher you. You're well aware that I'm now part of the Veda."

After searching for a while and not finding an opening, Lin Sanjiu banged hard twice, sensing the elevator halt again—unsure which floor they were on now. Taking advantage of this momentary pause, she composed herself and replied with feigned calmness, "If you accessed my data and still don't know the answer, doesn't that mean I don't know either? Maybe I believe deep down you're still Yu Yuan, and you wouldn't hurt me."

She was lying.

Even though she knew that the person beside her was no longer Yu Yuan, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help but feel that she was lying to Yu Yuan.

Yu Yuan, or perhaps the Veda that chose to present as Yu Yuan, silently observed her for a few seconds.

"You're well aware, a Veda is a Veda. There's no 'deep down' for us," he stated matter-of-factly.

Lin Sanjiu swallowed hard. She had her reasons to allow Yu Yuan to decipher her; however, facing Yu Yuan's face always made her feel guilty for lying to a friend.

"Can you help me open this elevator?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes," Yu Yuan replied, glancing down. "But after you see her, I won't be much help for a while. When you see her, I hope you won't be too shocked—remember, human emotions are a heavy burden."

"Are you taking care of me?" Lin Sanjiu said, forcing a smile as she watched him place a hand on the elevator. Thoughts of Lily's predicament flashed through her mind, but she quickly suppressed them.

"No, it's in my best interest for you to stay calm," Yu Yuan said without looking up. As he finished his statement, lights inside the elevator cabin sprang up beneath his hand—an opening just big enough for someone to crawl through appeared on the top. The white light danced around the stationary elevator. Suddenly, everything felt eerily quiet without a trace of Lily's voice.

"Enter quickly," Yu Yuan advised, stepping back and watching Lin Sanjiu from the dimness. "This elevator was original, pre-apocalypse, so modifying it wasn't difficult."

Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath, glanced down, but didn't see Lily inside, only a small portion of the elevator floor. She shouted, "Lily, it's me!" and then placed her feet into the hole, supporting herself with her hands on the edge, and leaped into the elevator.

Before her feet even touched the ground, she realized something was wrong.

The space inside the elevator should've been empty; even if Lily was there, the area near the ceiling should've been free. But as she descended, her back, shoulders, and limbs kept being brushed or occasionally hit by something elongated. She clumsily made her way down through the gaps.

Moreover, since when was an elevator this spacious? She seemed to freefall for a few seconds before her feet finally hit the ground with a thud.

Straightening up, Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath and slowly raised her head to look around.

Yu Yuan had also jumped in after her, descending into the elevator. Lin Sanjiu didn't even need to make room for him because when he landed, it was at least several tens of meters away from her. In this space, which had been magnified by an unknown factor, Yu Yuan was standing right below the end of the right flick of the character "合."

While stepping back, Lin Sanjiu looked at him—or more accurately, at the character next to Yu Yuan. For a moment, she even doubted whether her illusion had ended.

Yes, beside Yu Yuan was a giant character "合" that stood from floor to ceiling in the elevator, towering as tall as several people.

Upon closer inspection, it didn't seem to be a purely Chinese character. Just like recognizing a shape when reading Japanese, she recognized it as the character "合." But its strokes were more intricate and detailed than the regular "合." If one stared too deeply, it felt like they could get lost in the complex layers of the character.

Startled, Lin Sanjiu pinched herself, her gaze slowly sweeping over the word "Lily" inside the elevator.

With a hue resembling silvery white metal and strokes that seemed like they were forged by a blade, yet possessing the elegance of spring mist, the three characters spelling out "Lily" stood serenely in the enlarged elevator space.

She had never seen such beautiful writing in her life, yet it felt cold like a snowy mountain.

The strokes of the characters were solid, appearing like metal sculptures made on the spot. Lin Sanjiu even thought she could walk through them—of course, she wasn't reckless enough to actually walk through the adjacent "和" character.

"What... what is this?" She looked at Yu Yuan, hoping for an answer.

"This is truly a decoding method I've never seen before," Yu Yuan said as he stared intently at the characters beside him. "To manifest a person in the form of textual structure... Ah, yes."

He turned to look at Lin Sanjiu. Under the elevator's light, the ink tattoos on his face and neck seemed to shimmer with a blue tint.

"These characters represent the Lily you know."

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