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Xü Beijin thought about the Nightmare with the Space Agency for a bit, before saying, “even so, that Nightmare is on the upper floors…”
“No,” quietly mutters Su Enya, “at least, not anymore.”
XĂź Beijin, surprised, furrows his brows in confusion.
Su Enya explains, “when I returned to the bottom floor of the Tower… I brought the Nightmare along.”
Xü Beijin appears absolutely aghast, exclaiming, “that’s impossible!”
Su Enya starts chuckling with a lower tone of voice.
Something is changing in her appearance. From her voice, to her physique, to her facial features. They are all gradually changing.
She, or, right now, he, says, “NE must have screwed up somehow. It punished me by sending me back down here, but did it mean to let me return here and reprise my original role on the bottom floor, or, return to the bottom floor, as that Tower resident?”
XĂź Beijin watches the Actor, now appearing rather androgynous, in silence. His expression seems more grave than usual; it is hard to deduce what he might be thinking about.
The Actor continues to tell him, “I have already secured another house for this. I only need you to spread the news. Let the Missiontakers know to enter that Nightmare. Let them… learn the truth.”
XĂź Beijin narrows his eyes. He is seeing the situation crumbling drastically now.
What is NE even doing? Could such a bug really have occurred by coincidence? Of letting any Actor to have two roles simultaneously, and two Nightmares to boot?
That sounds downright outlandish.
… Or, there must have, as he suspected, some dramatically unexpected changes to have occurred.
Under Su Enya’s gaze, Xü Beijin remains quiet for quite a long time, but he finally acquiesces, “alright;” this is not the first time he has needed to do something like this, as his earlier cooperation with Dai Wu would attest, but he continues, “there is one more thing, however.”
The strange-looking Actor asks, “what is it?”
“Not only the Missiontakers want the real truth,” Xü Beijin looks like he is staring straight at Su Enya, or perhaps, straight through him, at something else. He then continues, “but so do the Actors.”
Su Enya seem to have thought of something from that, and murmurs, “right, right… Some Actors, they’re… unlike me. They do not know the truth or what happened, but they only want to spend their days in ignorance…”
Xü Beijin tells him, “I know an Actor who has this organisation he runs…”
Su Enya cuts him off to ask, “Dai Wu, presumably?”
XĂź Beijin is looking surprised.
Su Enya looks at Xü Beijin’s reaction, and then starts giggling out of nowhere, “whatever Dai Wu has told you, I would advise you against putting your trust in him.”
Xü Beijin raises his brows, nonplussed, and asks, “why?” Then he adds after a moment of thought, “he seems interested in the truth as well.”
“I suppose you would know about his principle of the ‘Second Life,’” says Su Enya, “but you cannot forget that this is only a game! How can it ever be anything more than that, to be a ‘Second Life’?”
Xü Beijin looks at Su Enya, and merely sighs, but doesn’t say anything else.
Seriously, the Actors, and the Missiontakers, for that matter, why do they all have their own adamant convictions and beliefs? Isn’t it better to purely be in pursuit of the truth like Fei and Wu Jian, or in pursuit of escaping the Tower like Mu Jiashi?
These people always want everything to conform to their own views in addition to that. They try to cram their own rules into this world based on their own conjectures; they want the world to revolve around them.
And obviously, the world couldn’t care less for what they wish it to be.
Xü Beijin finally answers, “whether it’s a Second Life, a game, or anything in between; I’m a pragmatist, so I only need to find a solution to the current challenge. Working with Dai Wu is the most efficient way forward here.”
Su Enya is still knitting his brows. He still seems reluctant.
Did he have any personal grudges with Dai Wu? Xü Beijin can’t help but wonder why he seems oddly against the idea of working with Dai Wu.
Though the curiosity doesn’t last long, before it is overshadowed by the poignant tragedy of how these Actors are still hating and undermining each other even when everything is coming to a head. Humans will be humans, huh.
Missiontakers bicker, quarrel, and pull the rug out under each other in Nightmares, and so do the Actors.
Xü Beijin shakes his head at the thought, then concludes, “and honestly, I know of no other Actor who can even help you with this.”
“What about Missiontakers?” Su Enya seems to be in disbelief staring at Xü Beijin, asking, “you’re absolutely famous on the bottom floor of the Tower; can’t you ask any of them you know?”
XĂź Beijin is feeling a bit offended right now.
He asks out of nowhere, “I’m curious, why you’re not doing it yourself but asking me instead. If I didn’t visit you today, would you have done nothing?”
“I would, but since you visited already, I’m sure you want the truth as well. So…”
Xü Beijin cuts her off, “what I’m curious about, is why you seem convinced I do not know the truth?”
Su Enya looks like he’s confident Xü Beijin’s desire for the truth will compel him to work for him as he pleases, for example, rejecting Xü Beijin’s suggestion to involve Dai Wu.
The Actor seems almost childishly naïve to be as confident as he is that he knows the truth – and yes, he is already completely a ‘he’ now, as his feminine features have already been completely wiped away.
… It is almost like he is one of those Missiontakers from the higher floors, becoming arrogant and insufferable simply for having achieved some True Ends.
Su Enya, after being stopped, then starts murmuring, “right, I see. You even know about that Nightmare already…”
The Actor starts curling up a bit more. He is looking at XĂź Beijin with fear again; probably wondering again who XĂź Beijin really is, and is deeply unsettled by the thought.
Xü Beijin calmly tells him, “I will do it, but I will be deciding on my own thoughts and methods. As for Dai Wu…” he says, “I will consider your advice, but it isn’t a bad thing to work with him.”
Su Enya remains quiet.
Xü Beijin says, “ultimately, we all have the same goal.”
Su Enya looks like he wants to say a word, but in the end, he merely nods.
XĂź Beijin parts with him, and leaves the house to return to his bookstore.
It has been a few days.
XĂź Beijin opens his eyes in a certain Nightmare.
He takes in his surroundings, and narrows his eyes. Ah, this settles it. NE must really be up to something.
This is a library.
Xü Beijin is currently in some office of this library; he is probably an employee here, but it doesn’t matter what precise job he has.
His mind is really only occupied by one thought right now, that yes, he really is in that Nightmare now.
… Su Enya’s, Nightmare.