After the Little Crybaby Enters the Nightmare Cycle

Chapter 114

New Life

Every year in February, there was an extra day.

Before 12 o’clock, You Yu had already turned the calendar to the 29th.

He laid out the red velvet cake on the table and 20 candles were inserted into the cake.

No one knew Chi Nan’s true birthday, but he had been celebrating his birthday on February 29th for the past 11 years.

You Yu always had a guess. Did Chi Nan’s real birthday happen to be February 29th?

After all, Chi Nan was able to successfully enter the 229 School instance. Chi Nan might’ve used his body, but there was a bug when reading the ‘maximum age’ rule. Chi Nan’s age wasn’t displayed according to You Yu’s physical age.

You Yu suspected that the system read Chi Nan’s real birthday, but it didn’t disclose it to him.

According to this speculation, he and Chi Nan had the same birthday.

You Yu thought of this and had a subtle happiness in his heart.

He didn’t like sweets very much. He could give all his cakes to Chi Nan and Chi Nan would definitely be able to destroy all of them.

Time passed minute by minute. You Yu waited a long time until the clock finally pointed to 12 o’clock.

You Yu closed the window to isolate the endless rain and night. There were countless warm candles flickering in the confined space.

You Yu made a wish. Then he lowered his eyes to look at the dancing candle flames, as if quietly waiting for his wish to come true.

The candles burned quickly. He had just blinked a few times and the candles were already half burned. The colored wax melted and dripped on the cake. You Yu carefully removed the wax from the cream and continued to wait patiently.

However, until the candles burned out and extinguished, his wish hadn’t been fulfilled.

Fortunately, You Yu had prepared enough candles. He put new candles on the cake, lit them, and waited.

The rain outside the window became heavier and knocked anxiously on the glass of the window. The candles on the cake also matched the rhythm of the rain and burned faster and faster.

The candlelight reflected You Yu’s dark and dull eyes. As the candle flames were extinguished, the luster in his eyes gradually faded.

Everything became lifeless.

The rain smashed against the glass, cracking, slipping, and silently losing its original shape.

You Yu was trapped in the absolute quiet of his sense of self. He picked up a knife as if to save himself and cut a piece of the creamy red velvet cake in the darkness.

He mechanically put a spoonful of the cake into his mouth, but the taste seemed to be blocked. The cake that should’ve been sweet felt like a wax block in his mouth, without any taste.

Maybe too much wax had dripped on the cake…

It wasn’t just his sense of taste. His senses of sight, smell, hearing, and touch were also degenerating little by little. Everything became nothingness in the silent, rainy night.

Did Chi Nan really exist?

It was the first time in the six months since Chi Nan disappeared that he doubted his insistence.

If his existence itself wasn’t established, then there was no way for him to disappear.josei

You Yu could only eat the cake non-stop, barely maintaining the seemingly unfounded wait through his mechanical eating actions.

You Yu had just finished eating a whole piece of cake and was about to continue cutting the second piece when the interface of the main system flashed.

This time, the main system interface wasn’t the cool white color of the past, but a familiar green color.

However, the system only flashed and didn’t issue any instructions.

You Yu waited a while as his sanity gradually returned. He put down the plate of cake in his hand and asked in a deep voice, “Do you have any instructions?”

The green light became brighter. The next moment, a familiar voice came from the system.

“Is it delicious?”

You Yu was stunned.

The voice was unable to get an answer and continued to speak, “Is the cake delicious?”

You Yu’s eyelashes fluttered and all his lost senses returned in an instant. The soft sweetness of the cake in the air became clearer and clearer.

The strong sweetness filled his mouth and the corners of You Yu’s lips raised. “Do you want to taste it?”

His tone changed back to what it had been before, a bit mischievous.

He clearly guessed that Chi Nan, who was trapped in the system, wouldn’t be able to enjoy the cake.

Chi Nan: “……” This guy definitely did it on purpose.

You Yu saw that he didn’t reply and laughed. His voice trembled in a slightly suppressed manner, “Brother Nan, welcome back.”

“Yes…” Chi Nan’s voice sounded like he had just woken up. It was a bit lazy and hoarse. “Thank you.”

“How can I let you taste the cake?”

You Yu skillfully hid the emotions he had suppressed for half a year. He wasn’t in a hurry to ask for the entire story. Now, the most important thing was how to let Chi Nan eat their birthday cake.

Before Chi Nan could speak, the system’s mechanical voice was heard.

[Dream maker 229 can choose to open the sensory system to achieve sensory sharing.]

“Sensory sharing?”

[Yes, once sensory sharing is turned on, the system will synchronize your senses.]

You Yu asked Chi Nan in the system, “So are you hiding in my system now?”

“You can understand it like that.”

In other words, once the sensory synchronization was turned on, Chi Nan could feel everything he perceived.

This level of sharing and synchronization was enough to make him tremble with excitement.

This was a closer and deeper contact than when Chi Nan had used his body before.

The one he loved the most was sharing all his senses with him.

[Can I ask if Dream maker 229 is willing to open the sensory system? After sharing, you will still have absolute control over your body and the system will only act as a passive receiver.]

The system reconfirmed it and explained.

You Yu replied, “I am willing.”

He smiled imperceptibly after saying this. He always felt that they should exchange rings next.

There was a ‘ding’ sound and the system seemed to have completed some type of connection. [The sharing system is set up. Thank you for the support and contribution of 229.]

Then the system disappeared with a ‘pop’ and the room returned to darkness.

However, You Yu could clearly feel Chi Nan’s presence in his body and consciousness.

For a moment, both of them were silent. The sound of the rain hitting the window became slow and gentle.

You Yu’s eyes gradually got used to the darkness. Then he picked up the plate containing the red velvet cake and put a spoonful of the cake into his mouth.

Unlike his mechanical stuffing before, this time he chewed slowly and allowed his taste buds to fully perceive the sweetness of the cake.

“Is it delicious?” After a long time, You Yu asked Chi Nan softly.

Chi Nan spoke in his consciousness, “Yes, it is just a bit less fresh.”

You Yu smiled. “I’ll go get a fresh one later.”

“Don’t worry. Wait until the rain stops.”

The two of them fell silent again. Through the sharing of the senses, Chi Nan could clearly feel You Yu’s eyes becoming wet and hot. It was as if he just needed to blink slightly and tears would roll down uncontrollably.

Was it due to eating the sweets? Was the problem of his tears also transmitted to You Yu through the sharing system? It didn’t seem to be the case…

You Yu didn’t turn on the lights, and he didn’t know if it was the sound of the rain outside the window or the tears rolling down from the corners of his eyes that made the night more humid.

“Why are you crying?” Chi Nan asked.

You Yu was silent for a moment. Then he answered in a very light but reassuring tone, “It is because you are back.”

He had been waiting for so long. Wasn’t it okay to feel wronged?

Chi Nan said, “That…the tears you owe me before for the acting class can be offset by this.”

You Yu clicked his tongue. “Are you so clear about these things?”

“Yes, it has always been you watching me cry.” Chi Nan thought for a moment before saying, “Turn on the lights and let me see your tears.”

You Yu didn’t turn on the lights according to these words. Instead, he picked up the last remaining candle and inserted it into the cake that wasn’t fresh, lighting it.

The light from the candle soon illuminated the whole room.

“Brother Nan, make a wish first,” You Yu said.

“Yes.”

You Yu closed his eyes in front of the cake and made a gesture of making a wish for Chi Nan. It was even more pious than when he made his own wish.

“I hope this is the last time I see you cry,” Chi Nan directly expressed his wish.

You Yu lowered his eyes and looked at the candle on the cake. “This wish is very easy to come true. It will be fine as long as you don’t leave again.”

He walked to the mirror as he spoke. You Yu found that his right eye had turned a pale green color.

Through You Yu’s eyes, Chi Nan saw his own color in the mirror.

“I thought the connection sharing system was just for the senses. I didn’t expect it to change your eye color.” Chi Nan was a bit sorry about changing the other person’s appearance without permission.

You Yu was very happy. “It is very good-looking.”

After all, the color of his right eye was proof of Chi Nan’s existence.

“It is beautiful,” You Yu emphasized it again while admiring his ‘reflection’ in the mirror.

After a while, Chi Nan said in a low voice, “You Yu, you really are narcissistic.”

You Yu smiled. “Yes.”

***

The rain outside the window stopped and You Yu turned on the lights.

He sat in front of the mirror and couldn’t seem to get enough of seeing his right eye, which had turned green.

“I was basically unconscious at first. It felt like I was a bubble floating in nothingness,” Chi Nan started to describe what he had experienced after he disappeared, “The only sound I could hear was someone calling my name all the time.”

“It kept calling, but I couldn’t wake up. Even so, this familiar feeling was reassuring and I knew that I existed.” There was only one voice left in Chi Nan’s world like a lighthouse in a foggy sea. “However, I couldn’t get closer to the voice.”

You Yu was very patient and followed Chi Nan’s train of thought. “How long did this situation last?”

“I’m not sure. The concept of time was very vague. I don’t know how long it took. Then, the unconscious state gradually shortened. Every time, the familiar voice could always wake me up. I followed the direction of the voice and could see some scenes, like a cut up movie. The protagonist was always the same.”

You Yu nodded silently and Chi Nan declared, “You Yu, that person was you.”

You Yu was stunned for a moment before smiling. “So you’ve been watching me.”

“You were looking for me.” Chi Nan admitted it. “Only you remembered me.”

You Yu wondered, “Brother Nan, were you sad when everyone forgot about you?”

Chi Nan corrected him, “Not everyone. You remembered me.”

“If you had forgotten me, I might’ve been sad… The others aren’t so important.” Chi Nan was very honest.

You Yu’s heart thumped fiercely when he heard this. Chi Nan could clearly perceive the changes in his body and was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

You Yu couldn’t control the upward motion of his lips. “Nothing, I’m just a bit proud.”

Chi Nan: “……” Few people would say that they were proud of themselves.

“What happened then?” You Yu asked.

Chi Nan continued, “I started to try to understand my situation. The bugs appeared due to my existence and only my death could end the bugs. This was why the system wanted me to die.”

He paused for a moment. “However, the system didn’t seem to really want to kill me, because after I was obliterated in the ghost tunnel, the system collected my consciousness and sealed it up inside the system. Then I started to slowly wake up and adapt until I could fully survive in the system as I am now. After that, I asked it to take me to you.”

“Is this what the system told you”

“I’m not sure. I wasn’t told these things through words. They seemed to have been implanted in my consciousness, as if these thoughts directly entered my consciousness and grew naturally.”

You Yu didn’t comment on the unclear things and simply asked, “Did it tell you what to do next?”

“No, the system didn’t tell me this,” Chi Nan replied, “Nevertheless, I want to continue to retrieve my memories and find out the truth about my identity.”

“Then, if possible, I want to get my body back.”

“Yes. Until you find your body, you can live with me in peace. I won’t charge you rent.” You Yu held back a smile. “In any case, aren’t you used to living here?”

“…Thank you.”

You Yu suddenly said, “As the landlord, I want to do something now.”

Chi Nan felt that he had bad intentions. “What is it?”

“Let’s take a shower.”

Then You Yu carried a change of clothes to the bathroom.

TL: I am holding my annual translation anniversary celebration event with the possibility of winning cash prizes just by participating. Please check out the details below.

Event Details

Proofreader: Kat