Chapter 293: Not Just A Dream
Tonight, Wang Heng did a lot of preparation before going to sleep.
First, he prepared a notebook and a pen, planning to place them beside the pillow.
Wang Heng had read some popular science articles about dreams, which said that people dream many dreams every night, but the vast majority are forgotten immediately upon waking, and only a very few can be remembered. He himself had experienced that: right after waking up, he still remembered the content of the dream, but after getting out of bed, he forgot half of it, forgot another half while brushing teeth and washing face, and completely forgot everything by the time he ate breakfast.
Of course, recording was necessary in theory, but the mobile phone had a built-in recording function, and the mobile phone was definitely something he always carried with him.
And tonight, since this dream might be very important, he naturally had to make preparations to avoid forgetting details after waking up. The probability of forgetting might be very small, but what if?
Then he ran to the campus supermarket and bought earmuffs and an eye mask to avoid disturbances from his roommates. But after paying, he suddenly realized a problem.
“Why do I have to sleep in the dormitory?”
So Wang Heng stuffed all these things and the hamster’s cage into his schoolbag, then shouldered the bag and left the campus, arriving at his newly bought new house.
He released the hamster from the cage and stared at the little guy, asking, “Is there anything else that needs preparation?”
Hamster: “This isn’t a ritual, no preparation is needed, just lie down and fall asleep.”
Wang Heng: “Can you reveal in advance what kind of dream it is?”
Hamster: “You’ll know once you sleep.”
Seeing that he couldn’t get any answers, Wang Heng stopped talking. He quickly took a shower and lay on the bed.
In the darkness, staring at the ceiling, he suddenly realized another problem.
“It’s only a little past ten now, I usually sleep at twelve…”
After being stunned for a while, Wang Heng rolled out of bed and found the hamster in the living room.
Borrowing the glow of the streetlight coming in from outside the window, this little guy was leisurely strolling on the floor.
“What if I can’t sleep? Can you trouble you to get some melatonin or something?”
The hamster looked up and glared at him: “Lie there, don’t think about anything, listen to hypnosis music… The pharmacy is closed, where do you want me to buy it for you! And wait, since when does a hamster go shopping!”
Wang Heng: “Aren’t you good at stealing?”
Hamster: “Heh… Hypnosis drugs can’t be bought now, but physical hypnosis is possible, do you want to try it?”
Wang Heng shook his head and turned back to the bedroom, sitting on the bed with a helpless expression.
At this time, the hamster also followed in, jumping from the floor to the bedside table to the windowsill with parkour-like operation.
Then the hamster asked: “Do you want to do it yourself? It might make it easier to fall asleep.”
“Hey, good idea.”
Wang Heng picked up the notebook, placed it on his legs, and opened it, but saw the hamster still lying on the windowsill staring at him.
He said seriously: “I’m about to jerk off, can I trouble you to get out?”
Hamster: “This old man has seen everything…”
Wang Heng: “Get out!”
The hamster shook its little head, jumped down, and ran away.
Wang Heng closed the bedroom door, returned to the bed, but suddenly found that he had no interest even in watching action movies.
In the end, his current predicament was caused by girls, especially Lu Qi’s kiss, which made his heart race and sweat coldly— of course, whether the specific reason was thrill or fear was hard to say.
Probably, both?
After silently contemplating for a long time, he found his state of mind becoming increasingly irritable. So he played gentle piano music, lay back on the pillow, closed his eyes, tried to think of nothing, and cleared all cluttered thoughts.
Just like that, after an unknown amount of time, he finally fell into a deep dream.
————
“Ding ling ling ling ling—”
The urgent bell rang, startling Wang Heng, who was lying on the desk, awake. He lifted his head and found himself in a classroom.
The invigilator walked up, collected the test paper on the desk, and walked to the next person without looking back.
And at the instant the test paper was collected, Wang Heng glimpsed the title on it.
English Gaokao test paper.
This is… back to the beginning of the second playthrough? Third playthrough?
A voice suddenly rang out: “No, this is a dream.”
From the tone, it was impossible to tell if it was male or female, like a voice from artificial intelligence, but the tone was very familiar. Although it was just a few short words, Wang Heng could immediately tell—it was the time-space administrator, that is, the hamster.
But just as he was about to speak, he found he couldn’t make a sound.
He couldn’t control this body. Neither a single finger nor the vocal cords were under his control.
“You are now a first person perspective observer. Because this dream is all history that has happened, you can’t change it. Just treat it as a VR movie, except it might be a bit long…”
As that voice spoke, ‘Wang Heng’ also moved.
Undoubtedly, the body in the dream was also Wang Heng, as could be seen from the reflection in the glass when passing by—it was himself.
After leaving the exam room, ‘Wang Heng’ didn’t go home, but came to another residential community, standing foolishly at the doorway waiting… After a long while, a girl walked up, that was Han Yixuan.
‘Wang Heng’ went up to her and stood still in front of the young girl.
Han Yixuan’s expression was clearly a bit surprised: “Classmate Wang Heng, is there something wrong?”
‘Wang Heng’ clenched his fist, gritted his teeth and was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he bravely spoke up, though the volume was a bit low: “I like you.”
Han Yixuan: “…What did you say?”
“I said, I like you!”
The young girl was immediately stunned there.
‘Wang Heng’ seemed to finally go all out, raising the volume a bit: “Actually, I’ve liked you since a year ago, but at that time we had to prepare for the Gaokao, had to study hard, I was afraid… I thought you wouldn’t agree, and I didn’t want to disturb you. But now it’s fine, the Gaokao is over.”
Han Yixuan lowered her face and asked softly: “But in two or three months we’re going to university, won’t we still have to separate?”
‘Wang Heng’ persuaded: “But we haven’t filled out our applications yet, it’s not too late. As long as we apply to the same school. Our mock exam grades are about the same, and if we perform normally this time, it should be fine too.”
Han Yixuan still kept her head down and didn’t make a sound.
‘Wang Heng’ asked: “So I just want to ask you, what do you feel about me?”
Han Yixuan suddenly lifted her head and stared at him, blushing as she countered: “Why do you dare to confess? If you didn’t feel anything, how would you dare to confess?”
So it was confirming the relationship with Han Yixuan after the Gaokao… but this development is wrong!
“I know what you’re thinking,” that voice said leisurely, “In your memory of the first playthrough, it was clearly Han Yixuan who confessed to you, and it was a few days later. But now, it became you confessing proactively, and the timing has changed too.”
That’s right, completely different from the development in his memory.
“Because this is the real first playthrough.”
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