XĂź Beijin finds himself back in his bookstore when he opens his eyes.
He stands motionless for a moment, before telling the viewers goodbye.
This stream was really long. It was roughly four hours long from his estimate, but really, it isnât truly over yet for him â the impact of this Nightmare on XĂź Beijin is still ongoing.
Bubble teaâŚ
Uh, no, not that, the other thing.
The thing about how he could intervene more proactively in Nightmares.
The Server did not prohibit his leaking of information he acquired through other Actors and the stream itself. It seems NE has interpreted them as information he can know and can disseminate to others, the same way Actors can all tell each other about their own experiences.
There is still the fundamental divide between Actors and Missiontakers, though.
So XĂź Beijin is thinking about doing more in-depth attempts and analyses in the next Nightmare.
Though while his thoughts churn enthusiastically ahead, his body involuntarily yawns from sleepiness.
He stands up and walks next to the window.
Not the big, street-side window, but the opposite side. In the Tower, the physical location of your door, your house, is irrelevant, because there is always a window opposite your door when inside that shows the scene outside the Tower.
A dense fog. The heavy, grey smog smothers the entire world, wherein lies the Tower.
There has never been a ray of sunlight; there has never been a drop of rain. This desolate, barren wasteland is and always has been so. It plants fear and anxiety into all who gaze upon it.
The curiosity the Missiontakers had towards this vastness of grey ended quite early on, when some of the nosier Missiontakers treaded into the grey fog, only to never return again. Those sacrifices occurred so long ago, it was almost right after humans realised they were trapped in the Tower.
Back then, perhaps XĂź Beijin was doing the same thing; standing next to his bed in the bookstore, watching the dense fog outside of the Tower in silence, in gloom.
He allows his memories to further digress, not even noticing the passage of time. He is recalling things from many years ago, recalling he when he just arrived in the Tower⌠It really was so long ago.
He is even allowing himself to remember what it was like on Earth, perhaps no doubt inspired by revisiting a shopping centre so reminiscent of home in the last Nightmare.
⌠Then, he recalls Shen Yßnjß all of a sudden.
He regrets his thought exercise already, because he has no interest in facing those things at all.
Shen YĂźnjĂź has said that he knew the commercial area back on Earth.
He was hiding something further still, XĂź Beijin could see it, and he even has a vague idea on what it might be.
But⌠There is no meaning to it. Whether Shen YĂźnjĂź decided to talk about it or not, the situation remains unchanged. In fact, he canât have been the first person to ever realise something is off about all of this after all these years.
Yes, certainly, someone must have.
Then why do their lives remain unchanged?
Or⌠not⌠perhapsâŚ
XĂź Beijin is looking at the swirling greyness outside of the air.
Recently, havenât there⌠been undercurrents⌠no?
Though, so what? He canât⌠XĂź Beijin is about to activate his habitual, pessimistic inner cynic when he suddenly remembers that, this is not correct anymore. He is now able to use the information in the stream⌠to intervene, to actively participate in Nightmares!
He is energised thinking about that again, when suddenly, knocking interrupts his thought processes.
⌠Whoâs here for him?
XĂź Beijin tilts his head in confusion; Lin Qin? It canât be?
⌠Oh shit, that possibility is actually quite high.
He slowly trudges over to the door, and takes a deep breath before opening the door⌠Then, his eyes widen in surprise.
Outside the door, presenting a friendly smile with some cans of drinks in his hand, is the self-anointed âloser,â âuseless trashâ â Mu Jiashi.
He is here to visit XĂź Beijin, as was his promise.
XĂź Beijinâs surprise is genuine as he introduces Mu Jiashi inside, his brain wholly distracted with other questions.
Mu Jiashi⌠He didnât go back to a higher floor? Did he choose not to head up, or⌠did he, once again, fail on a higher floor?
It is an awkward question to ask; Mu Jiashi brings it up himself, though, telling him, âI did not head to a higher floor.â
XĂź Beijin looks slightly uncomfortable with the awkward opener, asking, âand the reason beingâŚ?â
Mu Jiashi seems surprised he followed up, but then shakes his head to explain, âoh, sorry about that, itâs not because I had the promise with you, butâŚâ he sighs before continuing, âIâm a loser, do you get it? If I canât come to terms and adjust my state of mind, there is no point in me going back to higher floors.â
XĂź Beijin stays quiet as he doesnât know what to say.
Mu Jiashi changes the topic then, saying, âI was going to come right after that Nightmare ended, but I felt like bringing some drinks alongâŚâ he pushes the drinks he brought towards the front, offering, âit took me a while to gather all these, so I couldnât come as soon as possible.â
XĂź Beijin asks, âa while?â
Mu Jiashi is hesitant to answer, âyou know⌠the dalao, Lin QinâŚâ
Oh, great. Heâs managed to artificially cause a market shortfall, hasnât he?
XĂź Beijin maintains his poker face while feeling speechless inside.
What he does not know, though, is that it was actually Ding Yi, who, in preparation for that Nightmare from before, has procured all the stock on drinks she could and put them all into a single house to trade with Lin Qin â it was a stock constituting more than half of the supplies on this bottom floor of the Tower.
While the most common brands of drinks on the bottom floor have also been seized by Lin Qin prior, it was still nothing compared to what Ding Yi could get her hands on.
Even the raves and orgies of the Missiontakers fallen to debauchery are filled with complaints these days.
Though because XĂź Beijin doesnât know, he is speechless towards Lin Qin instead.
Mu Jiashi is actually observing XĂź Beijinâs expression; he sees the man as calm as usual, and looking as deep as usual. Even the mention of the name Lin Qin did not seem to bring any disturbance to that mask, save for some minor reactions.
He is wondering why. Perhaps XĂź Beijin isnât on such good terms with Lin Qin yet? Or⌠is he just acting like he doesnât care?
Mu Jiashi cannot tell.
Just like a few years ago, if XĂź Beijin did not suddenly lash out and throw that over-the-top Missiontaker out of his bookstore, then all the Missiontakers will probably still have thought of this bookstore owner as someone without a temper, ever.
The truth, though, is that angering him really is not a commendable course of action.